Category: Riptide Publishing

In the Spotlight Tour and Giveaway: Running on Empty (Havoc #3) by S.E. Jakes

Running on Empty (Havoc #3) by S.E. Jakes

Riptide Publishing
Cover Art: L.C. Chase
Published April 29th 2019

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Amazon

About Running on Empty

After years of running wild, Linc might’ve finally run out of road.

After a brutal capture at the hands of the Heathens Motorcycle Club, Linc is just trying to heal, mentally and physically. But he’s got men in his life who are complicating everything. There’s Mercy—a Havoc MC biker and the man he is falling fast for—plus an undercover ATF agent and a rogue Havoc member.

But Mercy’s keeping him at arm’s length, and Linc is spinning. In an attempt to regain his equilibrium, he heads to the bar where he first met Mercy. Night after night, he escapes Havoc bonds and continues down his merry path of mayhem . . . mainly in the hopes that Mercy will give chase.

Since Linc’s capture by his old MC, Mercy’s been dealing with the fallout of his guilt. He’s trying to give Linc space and still watch over him—all without Linc’s knowledge. But with Linc’s old job calling and a threat to Havoc MC heating up, can they make their way back together?

Now available from Riptide Publishing.

 

About the Havoc Series

Welcome to Shades Run, where the notorious Havoc Motorcycle Club runs wild and free. Havoc’s got a long reach and strong community ties, and is always on the lookout for infiltrators like ATF agents, car thieves, and others who might harm their enterprises. Havoc’s community is tough to penetrate, but once these hard-living motorcycle men have taken you in, saved your life (maybe after threatening it a few times), or even fallen in love with you, you’re Havoc MC forever. Unless you’re one of their enemies, in which case you’re completely out of luck.

Check out Havoc today.

 

About SE Jakes

SE Jakes writes m/m romance. She believes in happy endings and fighting for what you want in both fiction and real life. She lives in New York with her family, and most days, she can be found happily writing (in bed). No really…

SE Jakes is the alter ego of New York Times bestselling paranormal and romantic suspense author Stephanie Tyler.

Connect with SE:

Giveaway

To celebrate this release, one lucky person will win an ecopy of Running Wild, the first book in the Havoc series! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 4, 2019. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

A MelanieM Audio Review: To See the Sun by Kelly Jensen and TJ Clark (Narrator)

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Survival is hard enough in the outer colonies—what chance does love have?

Life can be harsh and lonely in the outer colonies, but miner-turned-farmer Abraham Bauer is living his dream, cultivating crops that will one day turn the unforgiving world of Alkirak into paradise. He wants more, though. A companion—someone quiet like him. Someone to share his days, his bed, and his heart.

Gael Sonnen has never seen the sky, let alone the sun. He’s spent his whole life locked in the undercity beneath Zhemosen, running from one desperate situation to another. For a chance to get out, he’ll do just about anything—even travel to the far end of the galaxy as a mail-order husband. But no plan of Gael’s has ever gone smoothly, and his new start on Alkirak is no exception. Things go wrong from the moment he steps off the shuttle.

Although Gael arrives with unexpected complications, Abraham is prepared to make their relationship work—until Gael’s past catches up with them, threatening Abraham’s livelihood, the freedom Gael gave everything for, and the love neither man ever hoped to find.

As both a fan of Kelly Jensen and science fiction, I was looking forward to how well the combination of the two worked out.   After listening to the wonderful audio version of To See the Sun by Kelly Jensen as narrated by TJ Clark I had a definitive answer.  It was everything I could have hoped for.

A detailist in her contemporary romances, that same aspect of her writing is found here and used to great advantage when building her alien worlds, their cultures, and the sciences that enable them to exist.  From farming in crevasses on a hard mining world with acid rains and methane mists to beautiful city that discards its evil and its refuse in a walled off underground city beneath it, each place, location, and world, becomes fully alive here as it’s so multidimensional in every way.  From the air filtration systems such as they are, the way the underground city is lighted, methods of payment and transit.  Jensen has thought it all out, and clued our minds in, whether the description is lengthy or a brief mention.  Nothing here to make your mind stop and thing “wait, how would that work here” because she’s thought of it.

Then with her foundations in place, we get great characters. With a horrible past history, we have poignant, suffering man in the person of Gael, and his “complication”,  lonely, gentle, and competent in the person of Bran, the man who sent for a companion.  As well as other secondary characters of note on the mining world.  It’s Gael we first meet and it’s quite the impression.  It serves to connect us indelibly to him as it opens him up in all his suffering and compassion.  We see his kindness, gentleness and inability to go on and survive in the world he is living in.

The story and action moves swiftly at first, the pace of the narrative pulling us into Gael’s life and situation.  Later it will smooth out to flow with the life of a farmer/miner on the edge of the galaxy.  A element I enjoyed because it felt so natural, a slower life suited to life on a farm. And that was the pace of the development of Gael’s and Bran’s relationship as well.  It’s more of a slow burn as they get to know one another to see if this arrangement could actually work out, as fraught with pitfalls as it was.

I really don’t want to go into too many actual plot details here because it would venture into spoiler territory and that would be a shame.  There is so much here to love.  All the relationship dynamics are believable and constructed in such a way that they will grab onto your heart, but slowly, just as they are working it out between them. There is suspense, and drama, and yes, some heartbreak, however, temporary, because this is a HEA story, which I deeply love.

The narrator,TJ Clark, did a wonderful job with the story. Only his ‘girlish child’s voice’ made me stumble a bit.  Then I got used to that.  That is a hard one to do right, especially when it’s such an important role here.  But his voice made the story a captivating one and pulled me into the drama, making it hard to stop for breaks when necessary.  I will definitely be listening to more books from this narrator again.

Cover By: Garrett Leigh.  Love this cover, bright and filled with the sun, an important element.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Audible | Amazon | iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Audible Audiobook
Listening Length: 9 hours and 7 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Audible.com Release Date: April 4, 2019
Language: English, English
ASIN: B07Q49HTR7

A MelanieM Review: The Doctor Takes a Detour by Bren Christopher

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

An unexpected detour sets two men on the path to love and healing.

After being attacked by a drug addict, Dr. Josh Parker fled New York, his career as an ER doctor, and a failed relationship. Determined to start fresh, he takes a job as a concierge doctor to the wealthy older population of sunny Naples, Florida. Nothing to fear there. No trauma. No stress.

It’s a good idea that doesn’t last long. Traveling to his new home, he discovers a car accident and is forced to make a detour to render aid. There he meets sexy paramedic Ian Manolas.

Since Ian returned from the Army, every day has been a struggle to atone for past mistakes. The Glades Free Clinic is his chosen path to redemption. The people Ian helps are a world away from Josh’s wealthy clients though. Addicts, prostitutes, gang members: they all come to Ian’s clinic for help, not judgment. He’ll do almost anything to keep the clinic going, including roping in one reluctant—and hot—ex-ER doctor.

The attraction is immediate, but Josh wants nothing to do with Ian’s clinic. For them to have a future, both men must work together to find a path to love, while helping those who need them most.

The Doctor Takes a Detour by Bren Christopher represents a new contemporary romance by a new to me author.  After finishing the story, Bren Christopher is a writer whose backlibrary and future releases are on my list to be read.

Well written, characters I got quickly invested in, and a story that pulled me in,  The Doctor Takes a Detour was a smooth ride of a contemporary romance, one I really enjoyed.  The author has a mixture of serious elements here, PTSD, addiction, that are addressed through both characters. One through Josh’s past history, a traumatic ER attack, the other through paramedic Ian Manolas.  Both men were compelling, interesting, and I would have loved to have had an expanded section containing more of both men’s backgrounds,  It would have added a richness to the story and depth to their characters.

The author has so much in place to have given this a 5 star novel.  The setting was lush and vibrant, in some cases you could almost feel the Palmetto bugs and mosquitos!  The clinic had an authentic gritty, beat down feel to it.  Same goes for its patrons and staff.  This was a clinic you might see barely existing on the outskirts of towns of this everywhere where someone tries or tried to make a difference.

I loved the relationship and romance between the men, the dynamic was hot and the chemistry believable.  As I said I thought the book came close to a much higher rating..  As it is it’s a terrific read and a romance you will definitely enjoy.  It is one I recommend.

Cover Art: L.C. Chase.  Light, colorful.  In keeping with the title although not the seriousness of the story which deals with PTSD and drug addiction.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Amazon

 

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 214 pages
Published April 6th 2019 by Riptide Publishing
ASINB07QGQH2FM

A Lila Audio Review:Trick Roller (Seven of Spades #2) by Cordelia Kingsbridge and Wyatt Baker (narrator)

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

It’s the height of summer in Las Vegas. Everyone believes the serial killer Seven of Spades is dead—except Levi Abrams and Dominic Russo—and it’s back to business as usual. For Levi, that means investigating a suspicious overdose at the Mirage that looks like the work of a high-class call girl, while Dominic pursues a tough internship with a local private investigator. The one bright spot for both of them is their blossoming relationship.

But things aren’t so simple. Soon Levi is sucked into a dangerous web of secrets and lies, even as his obsession with the Seven of Spades intensifies. Dominic knows that Levi isn’t crazy. He knows the Seven of Spades is still out there, and he’ll do anything to prove it. But Dominic has his own demons to battle, and he may be fighting a losing war.

One thing is certain: the Seven of Spades holds all the cards. It won’t be long before they show their hand.

Trick Roller is one of those rare books in which the sequel is better than the first book. It’s also slower and less complicated. The reader has more time to get into the characters and be part of their growth instead of concentrating primarily on solving the mystery.

I enjoyed the amount of detail in the story. It’s not info dump, but a great characterization. The author takes time to plant small details about the characters, their past, present, and hard times. The story is an intricate web of events and personalities that move the plot forward.

Levi and Dominic aren’t perfect, which makes the book interesting. They can be anyone we know dealing with their everyday issues. Their relationship also develops in this book and I’m glad they were in sync during the story. It was them against the world. The book has an ending, but the series ends in an interesting cliffhanger.

This time around, the narration by Wyatt Baker wasn’t as bad. Yes, I still had issues recognizing the speaker but I was familiar enough with the characters.

The cover by Garrett Leigh has elements from the story and it matches the previous book in the series.

Sales Links:  Riptide | Audible | iTunes

Audiobook Details:

Narrator: Wyatt Baker
Length: 7 hours and 56 minutes

Published: March 19, 2019 (Audio Edition) by Riptide Publishing
ASIN: B07PJM5QS7
Edition Language: English

Series: Seven of Spades
Book #1: Kill Game
Book #2: Trick Roller

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: A Chip and a Chair (Seven of Spades #5) by Cordelia Kingsbridge

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Cordelia Kingsbridge rocketed to the top of my “must buy” author list when she released Kill Game and hooked me on the lives of Detective Levi Abrams and PI Dominic Russo. Adding in the serial killer, the Seven of Spades, just made my addiction to this series that much stronger.

That being said, this finale was outstanding, but it was not my favorite of the series. Why? Because in this book, the MCs are not only still trying to find and stop the Seven of Spades, they’re tied up in trying to stop Utopia, a Neo-Nazi militia group—terrorists who plan to knock “Sin City” to the ground. Rather than the conflict between the couple, and the conflict within the department and Levi’s coworkers, and the search for the killer, this installment focused more on the terrorist acts and the MCs efforts to stop them from destroying Las Vegas. And I didn’t realize how much I missed the heartbreak of seeing Dominic and Levi break up, or the horror of the deaths caused by the Seven of Spades, or even the rollercoaster ride of emotions as more and more kills stacked up and the killer taunted Levi, until Dominic and Levi worked together as a solid couple and the focus wasn’t all on the serial killer.

The conflict with the Seven of Spades was not as sharp in this one. And though we don’t learn who it is until the latter part of the story, we finally get the big reveal—and then we get the serial killer helping Levi and Dominic in their race against time to stop a supreme act of terrorism. It’s nail-biting, heartbreaking, frightening, and amazing! The author is truly gifted in plot macramé as each of the clues and threads in the previous books come together. And, of course, once the killer is revealed, it all makes sense. [head-desk slam] Why didn’t I think of that? Honestly, I was so far off base I was in a different ball park with my guesses. 

If you love action, adventure, suspense, intrigue, and a very cleverly told tale, by all means, read this series. As I noted in one of my previous reviews, if I could give this series ten stars, I would. I very highly recommend this book and this series to anyone looking for an action-packed, law enforcement adventure in combination with MM romance. 

The cover by Garrett Leigh features a straight back chair in an apparently deserted room, while blood drips from the words of the title onto the chair. It keeps to the theme of the previous stories and is perfect for this finale.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 382 pages
Published March 11th 2019 by Riptide Publishing
Original Title A Chip and a Chair
ISBN 139781626496415
Edition Language  English
Series Seven of Spades :

Kill Game

Trick Roller

Cash Plays

One-Eyed Royals

A Chip and a Chair series finale