Category: Publishers

In the Book Spotlight: Andrew’s Prayer by Ashavan Doyon (excerpt and giveaway)

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Book Name: Andrew’s Prayer by Ashavan Doyon
Release Date: July 8, 2015

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Goodreads Link
Publisher: Torquere Press
Cover Artist: Brandon Clay

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Sales Links:   Torquere Books

STRW Author BookSynopsis

For Andrew Tuttleman, sex is a means to an end. With a mother too sick to pay the bills on her own and college bills to pay, Drew has spent years resorting to sex with strangers to keep a roof over his mother’s head and keep himself at school, far away from the hell where he grew up. This summer, his usual tricks are still paying the bills. But there’s a new one, Grant, who never got the memo that a trick is a no-strings deal. Convinced that Drew is the answer to a hopeless prayer, Grant seems ready to pursue Drew to the ends of the earth.

Drew, on the other hand, isn’t so convinced. Grant comes with trouble in the form of a wife and three kids, not to mention a single and unwavering requirement: that Drew give up his livelihood. Grant’s kiss makes Drew ache for more, a romance that he never dreamed possible. He finds himself unexpectedly willing to try. Can Drew weather Grant’s angry father, wife, and a daughter determined to kick him in the shins so hard that he’ll leave Grant’s life forever? It all relies on Grant’s faith in an impossible prayer.

Pages or Words: 76,300 words

Categories: Contemporary, Erotica, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, New Adult

STRW Spotlight Book Excerpt

Andrew Richard Tuttleman approached the ramshackle cinderblock house cautiously. There was another car parked in front, off the side of the road, and his mom didn’t drive. The voices inside were loud, and not in any sort of good way. Drew’s car was parked in the driveway, filled with suitcases and a few boxes that he’d left there. He’d stored more back at the University, but he wasn’t certain just what sort of reception he’d get. Not now that his mom knew.

Coming home hadn’t been a difficult choice. Sure, it was over a thousand miles. Sure, it was going to be hot, sticky, and miserable. It was still home. His mom was the only person in his life who’d said “I love you” that he had believed. She’d even said it after she found out. She’d been in tears, she’d screamed. But she’d still said “I love you,” and Drew never doubted for a moment that she’d meant it.

The screaming in the house got worse. It took only moments for Drew to reach the house and fling open the door. Any other time it would be kept locked in a self-delusional attempt to pretend safety, but the three chains that helped secure the door hung limply from the wall. A towering white man with a bushy black beard and a shaved head stood threateningly over Drew’s mom. He was in jeans and leather vest — no shirt.

“I done gave you your extra week. Now where’s my fucking money, b–“

“Don’t you dare finish that,” Drew said. He felt his leg for the comforting distension the knife he always carried made in his pants.

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

Ashavan Doyon spends his days working with students as part of the student affairs staff at a liberal arts college. During lunch, evenings, and when he can escape the grasp of his husband on weekends, he writes, pounding out words day after day in hopes that his ancient typewriter-trained fingers won’t break the glass on his tablet computer. Ashavan is an avid science fiction and fantasy fan and prefers to write while listening to music that fits the mood of his current story. He has no children, having opted instead for the companionship of two beautiful and thoroughly spoiled pugs. A Texan by birth, he currently lives in New England, and frequently complains of the weather.

Ashavan went to school at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, getting his degree in Russian and East European Studies, with a focus in language and literature. He has two incomplete manuscripts from college that he goes back compulsively to fiddle with every so often, but is still not happy with either of them.

He still loves fantasy and science fiction and reads constantly in the moments between writing stories. 

Ashavan loves to hear from readers and can be reached at ashavandoyon@gmail.com

Where to find the author:

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/ashavandoyon.writer
Twitter: @ashavandoyon
Website: http://www.ashavandoyon.com

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Tour Dates & Stops: July 3, 2015

Parker Williams, Molly Lolly, Full Moon Dreaming, My Fiction Nook, Andrew Q. Gordon, Happily Ever Chapter, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Bayou Book Junkie, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Love Bytes, BFD Book Blog, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Mikky’s World of Books, MM Good Book Reviews, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Inked Rainbow Reads, Jessie G. Books, It’s Raining Men, Michael Mandrake, Velvet Panic

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Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘Andrew’s Prayer’.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.
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Southern College Boys in Love: University of Southern Georgia: Davy & Tony by Heath Greenfield (excerpt and contest)

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University of Southern Georgia: Davy & Tony by Heath Greenfield
Series: University of Southern Georgia
Release Date: July 1, 2015

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Goodreads Link:
Publisher: Torquere Press
Cover Artist: BS Clay

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Sales Links:   Torquere Books

STRW Author BookSynopsis

Love is a funny thing…it happens when and where you least expect it.

Tony has been having a rough couple of days. His dad caught him with a dirty magazine, which would have been embarrassing enough. But when his dad realized it was a gay magazine, he chased Tony down the street. Luckily, Uncle Alfonso and Aunt Luciana have taken him in. Now, he’s out to the world, going to school during the day, and working in the family restaurant at night.

Davy has become what he always dreamed of being: an Army Ranger. He loves everything about it. He’s assigned to Fort Benning and works as an analyst. He also happens to be gay, but even with the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, he’s careful not to let his personal life get in the way of his professional goals. His friends know, but he’s never introduced them to anyone he has dated…until he meets Tony, who changes everything.

Between their sexual chemistry and their deepening friendship, their love seems fated, but when Davy is about to be deployed, he finds out something that rocks him to his core and makes him doubt both Tony and himself. He’s left wondering if he’s strong enough to win this battle.

Pages or Words: 31,200

Categories: Contemporary, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

STRW Spotlight Book Excerpt

Monday morning dawned with red in the sky.
Rolling himself out of bed, Davy dressed in shorts and a T-shirt and went for a run. The park, woken by the sun, stretched out in early morning beauty. The birds called revelry, and the squirrels their chattering. The park was large enough to encompass several trails, and it was made up of gentle, rolling hills. The trails were smooth and kept mulched to encourage walkers and joggers to use them. The trails intertwined liberally with the sidewalks and, with them, little stands where food carts met the needs of the morning rush. He thought it was an odd but comfortable intersection of those enjoying time away and those rushing to get somewhere.
Davy’s muscles uncoiled as he ran. His strides lengthened, and joy filled him as endorphins rushed throughout his body. He was master of his fate.
He passed a few early morning joggers, then saw a runner whose path was merging with his just ahead. Not jogging, but flat out running as though hellhounds were loosed upon him.
As their paths met, Davy realized that it was Tony…the elusive librarian/waiter. His face was plagued with sorrow, and his pace ate away at the ground. Tony pistoned around each curve chopping away at the distance. It looked like his body was an automaton separate from his mind.
“Hey,” Davy called out. “Tony, wait.”
At first, nothing happened, but then, as though the words had needed time to sink in, Tony turned his head toward him. Davy was shocked to see a black eye and jagged scrapes across Tony’s cheek.
Tony slowed and stopped. He looked so lost.
Davy’s heart ached at the pain in Tony’s face but he stayed quiet for the moment and nodded toward a coffee stand off to the side of the path where it joined up with the sidewalk. Tony hadn’t said a word…he just sort of floated to the sidewalk beside him.
He ordered two coffees and when Tony indicated, doctored up one with milk and sugar. Walking over to a grassy rise off to the side of the walkway, he waited for Tony to sit. Tony stretched out his long legs.
“Here.” He handed him the coffee, then sat down next to him.
“Thanks.”
They sat there silently for about ten minutes before he had the ability to speak.
“What happened?”
Tony laughed, a slightly high pitched noise that held no humor.
“My dad…he doesn’t approve of my…life choices.”
“Mm.” Davy grunted, but he kept still.
“He doesn’t want a faggot for a son.” Tony slid his gaze sideways as if to assess Davy’s reaction.
“That’s rough,” Davy said, but he bit back more.
“Sorry if I shocked you,” Tony said.
“Of all the things I am, I’m not shocked.”
“No? Then what are you?”
Davy gave him his own assessing glace. He smiled a little. “Glad.”

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

Sharing adventures, love, passion, and even sadness informs us as humans. That’s what motivates Heath Greenfield’s writing. Heath sits at the computer in Daytona Beach and wishes thoughts could just flow straight onto paper. Assisted by two cats, a schnauzer, a boxer, and the best mutt ever, the author gets to write novels…and considers it the best job ever!

Where to find the author:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008744179016
Twitter: https://twitter.com/heathgreenfield
Blog: http://heathgreenfield.blogspot.com/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/117892188593521718157/posts

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Tour Dates & Stops:
Parker Williams, Full Moon Dreaming, Andrew Q. Gordon, Happily Ever Chapter, Michael Mandrake, Bayou Book Junkie, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, BFD Book Blog, Bike Book Reviews, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Mikky’s World of Books, MM Good Book Reviews, Boys on the Brink Reviews, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Jessie G. Books, Inked Rainbow Reads, Velvet Panic

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Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘University of Southern Georgia: Davy & Tony’.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prizes provided by the author and   Pride Promotions.

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Rafflecopter Code:
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A MelanieM Review: Lessons for Idle Tongues (Cambridge Fellows #11) by Charlie Cochrane

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Cambridge, 1910

LessonsForIdleTongues_600x900Amateur detectives Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith seem to have nothing more taxing on their plate than locating a missing wooden cat and solving the dilemma of seating thirteen for dinner. But one of the guests brings a conundrum: a young woman has been found dead, and her boyfriend is convinced she was murdered. The trouble is, nobody else agrees.

Investigation reveals that several young people in the local area have died in strange circumstances, and rumours abound of poisonings at the hands of Lord Toothill, a local mysterious recluse. Toothill’s angry, gun-toting gamekeeper isn’t doing anything to quell suspicions, either.

But even with a gun to his head, Jonty can tell there’s more going on in this surprisingly treacherous village than meets the eye. And even Orlando’s vaunted logic is stymied by the baffling inconsistencies they uncover. Together, the Cambridge Fellows must pick their way through gossip and misdirection to discover the truth.

When I first fell in love  with Orlando Coppersmith and Jonty Stewart in Charley Cochrane’s first Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Lessons in Love (Cambridge Fellows, #1), I had no idea I was letting myself into a long time love affair with these characters and this amazing author.  Yes, the  attention to time period minutiae was perfection, as was the way the author folded it into the story.  Yes, even the conversations were spiced up and made relevant to the era and social strata by the appropriate language and verbiage the author employed to great impact in her narrative. So much so I often had to resort to some research of my own to figure out what certain terms and slang meant to a modern-age American.  Some of the elements of the story were steeped in English history and others simply in the English culture but whatever my temporary source of bafflement, my interest in this unique and fascinating couple never wavered…not once.

Orlando and Jonty were so very different in those early days.  They had the struggle to adjust to each other’s presence, and then to each other’s attraction and then the unalterable fact they were falling into love…all during a time when this mean jail and often death.  And it was carried out in the somewhat cloistered halls of St. Bride’s College, a place of high learning, occasional high spirits and hijinks until murder finds its way there.  And then the sleuths were off on a perilous investigation that included self discovery and more than a little affection.

I have laughed and bawled my eyes out along the way as Jonty and Orlando moved through the years and the vagaries of their changing culture and historical events.  And with each book, mystery, and time frame, I fell completely under their spell and forever in love.  And that’s due to the superb talent and depth of characterization that Charley Cochrane employs.

Like punting along a waterway (as Jonty and Orlando are fond of doing), all can seem serene in one of  the Cambridge Fellow Mysteries but it’s what lurks underneath that gives these characters and their stories such dimension and sometimes shocking humanity…and you would never suspect that its there, at least not at first.  Because the civility and tone of the story and language lulls you into a state similar to a promenade or arm in arm stroll in the gardens. It’s a lovely feeling, carefree and delightful. Until murder strikes or some horrific fact pops up to let you know that the deep waters were there all the time and you were merely treading water.

Here in the 11th story, that is never more apparent.  A simple mystery leads to the deeper, more complex one, and then the smoke and shadows of multiple lies or omissions lead Orlando and Jonty into a maze of betrayals, murder, and complicity.  And even as Cochrane is leading us and our Cambridge Fellows on a deep and convoluted trail, she manages to allude to some of this series most horrific elements and facts with a deft turn of  phrase or haunted look.  I will tell you that Orlando can suffer from deep depression (a fact that figures greatly into the earlier stories).  And that something extremely damaging happened to Jonty in his early days at boarding school.  And nothing more.  For those momentous discoveries, I will send you back to the beginning story and ask that you wind your own way through the various stages of their relationship and personal disclosures.  It’s a journey not to be missed and one you will take again and again.  And that knowledge will enhance your enjoyment here in Lessons for Idle Tongues (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #11).

I didn’t figure out all the intelligent clues and facts strewn about the story.  How I adore that!  There are wonderful literary allusions, more terminology to investigate (Bertillon measurement, anyone), and that magnificent Stewart family as a whole to enjoy and revel in.  I laughed, frowned in puzzlement, and throughly enjoyed myself at every page.  And then started the story all over again.  Lessons in Idle Tongues is amazing, Charley Cochrane’s writing is deftly accomplished, the pace sprightly for a complicated mystery, and the whole story comes together just as it should and will leave you still wanting more.  Thank goodness, we are going to get it.

Can you read this as a stand alone story?  Probably (I say with great reluctance).  There is enough context here that you don’t need to have read the other stories to get great pleasure from Lessons for Idle Tongues.  But that statement comes with a caveat…the same cannot be said for the earlier stories.  This especially holds true for the books All Lessons Learned and Lessons for Survivors (#8 and #9).  Remember as the men are moving into their relationship, the years are changing as is history.  Those have to be the two most memorable books Cochrane has yet written for Orlando and Jonty.  But their power and impact is built upon the foundation stones of the previous stories.  Why not grab up all of them together and binge read? Riptide and Samhain Publishing are working together so that’s possible.  Two new books and a complete set of stories…I love it!  Charlie Cochrane’s Cambridge Fellows Mysteries remains one of my most highly recommended series.  Lessons for Idle Tongues  is a marvelous new addition to that amazing group of novels.

I have listed them all for you at the bottom.  Use it as a checklist or TBR list, whatever works best for you.  Don’t let this story or any of those books pass you by!

Cover art by Lou Harper does the couple and series justice.  I love it!

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing |  All Romance (ARe)  |  Amazon  |  Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 241 pages

Published June 29th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626492714
edition language,English
url http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/lessons-for-idle-tongues
series Cambridge Fellows #1

Cambridge Fellows Mysteries in the order they were written and should be read (imo):

Get 30% off books 1-8 of the Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, exclusively in a bundle from Samhain!