Category: Torquere Books

Get Hot and Heavy with Julia Talbot’s Georgia Knights Book tour and contest!

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Book Name: Georgia Knights
Author Name: Julia Talbot

Author Bio: Julia Talbot lives in the great Southwest, where there is hot and cold running rodeo, cowboys, and everything from meat and potatoes to the best Tex-Mex. A full time author, Julia has been published by Torquere Press, Dreamspinner Press, and Changeling Press. She believes that everyone deserves a happy ending, so she writes about love without limits, where boys love boys, girls love girls, and boys and girls get together to get wild, especially when her crazy paranormal characters are involved

Author Contact:
. Find Julia at @juliatalbot on Twitter, or at http://www.juliatalbot.com

Georgia KnightsPublisher: Torquere Press Inc
Cover Artist: Alessia Brio
Pairing:  M/M/F  Menage

Sales Links:  Amazon         All Romance             Torquere Books

Georgia Knights Blurb:

When anthropologist Georgia Cortez heads to rural Georgia from New Mexico, she’s on the trail of a juicy old legend. Haley Falls seems like just the place for old-time ghost stories and spooky hauntings, but she’s on the hunt for something far rarer, a survival of an old sect of medieval knights.

Caid and Alton are Haley Fall natives, and they used to be best friends. A falling out years ago ended in them not speaking, even after Alt left town and returned older, if not wiser. They unite when it comes to a nosy scholar like Georgia picking apart their heritage, and putting their whole town in danger. When boys meet girl, though, they decide wooing is far better than scaring the lady off, and they set about distracting Georgia in the best way.

While their three way romance heats up, so does the intrigue in Haley Falls, until the three of them are facing a danger far worse than falling in love with each other.

Categories: Bisexual, Contemporary, Ménage, Thriller

Georgia Knights Excerpt:

“Boys…” She felt all flushed and tipsy, like her skin was too hot. It was amazing.

“Alt…” Caid stared at Alton over her head. “You. Damn it.” There was no anger there. Just a strangled heat.

Alton lifted one eyebrow. “Whut? We’re all adults here. There’s no reason not to enjoy ourselves.”

Well, that was true enough. She sure was enjoying them. A lot.

Georgia took a bit of pizza and offered it to Caid, holding it up to his lips. “Want some?”

“Mmmhmm.” Caid nipped it out of her fingers, licking at a little sauce that slid down to her knuckle.

She watched as he licked her finger clean, then offered a bite to Alton, going from sweet smile to wicked grin.

“Tasty.” Alton was more blatant, nibbling her fingers along with the pizza, loving on her.

Her nipples were hard as rocks, her belly taut and tense.

“Lord, Caid. She smells good, huh?” Alton leaned on her, smiling across at Caid, hand pushing Caid’s against her under the table.

“You both do.” Caid said it on a moan, Adam’s apple bobbing.

“Y’all are enough to make me breathless.” Talk about mating rituals. Jesus. She could write a bestselling erotic thesis about them.

“You’re the hottest thing I’ve seen since I laid eyes on Caid, and he’s been resisting me for years.”

Oh. Oh, God. Alton obviously had no filters. She took a moment to visualize that — fine bodies moving, rubbing. Kissing. Oh. Pretty.

Caid made another one of those noises, sounding almost pained. “Y’all.”

“I. Is there somewhere… The cook’s watching us.” And she wasn’t putting on a show for the sixteen-year-old, acne-ridden mouth breather.

“My place.” Alton threw a bunch of bills on the table, waving to the little teenagers who watched them avidly. “I need a box, kids.”

“Alton has a place almost up to the falls,” Caid whispered, breath hot on her neck.

“Okay.” She sounded like a phone sex worker, all breathy and husky.

They packed up the pizza and headed out, Alton hustling them back to her little rental SUV. He didn’t give either one of them time to think, either, just groped them both impartially.

“Alton, you’re dangerous. Sit in the back seat.”

“What? Why?” He pouted at her, but Caid punched his shoulder.

“Because no one can drive with you all over them, Alt. Get.”

She gave in to her baser instincts and went up on tiptoe to kiss the corner of Alton’s mouth. “I have to focus, huh?”

“Oh.” Alton blinked, those pretty gray eyes bright. “Got it. I’ll just sit in the back and…” He made an unmistakable motion with his hand.

She swatted him, chuckling. “Now, now. Don’t pop too soon.” She winked at Caid, offering him a quick kiss, too.

Caid surprised her with a kiss that curled her toes, capturing her mouth for a long moment before moving away. He went and sat in the passenger seat, staring, focused.

“Oh.” Wow. Okay. Driving.

Driving would be good.

KnightsBadgeTour Dates: September 29th, 2014

Tour Stops: Parker Williams, Love Bytes, Inked Rainbow Reads, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Andrew Q. Gordon, Prism Book Alliance, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, MM Good Book Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Fallen Angel Reviews, Iyana Jenna, Amanda C. Stone, Velvet Panic, Havan Fellows

Contest:  Rafflecopter Prize: 25.00 Torquere Press gift card.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Use the Rafflecopter link for the entry form and for additional contest  details.

Rafflecopter Code:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Tour & Contest: Starling by Erin McRae & Racheline Maltese

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Whistle Stop Tour for Erin McRae & Racheline Maltese’s

Starling!

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Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese have stopped by to talk about Starling, their latest release from Torquere.

We’d like to do a giveaway of a free e-copy of “Lake Effect,” our short story from the wedding-themed anthology They Do, also from Torquere.  To enter to win, leave an comment with your email address included.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Contest ends 9/20.

Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese Talk About Inspiration and their latest book, Starling!

Starling was inspired by a question, and then by our own fascination with the unglamourous parts of fairytale of fame.

Racheline and I started writing together more or less by accident. We met through mutual friends and share loves of television, backstage stories, and romances that are a little dark and a little messy.

But loving backstage stories when one of you is a SAG-AFTRA actor and the other has a long history of working crew in school shows can be hard. There’s so much to fantasize about, people don’t always get the reality right.

But what if? We asked each other. What if a guy who never wanted to be famous, became famous? And then, email by email, we started telling each other a story. And once we started, we didn’t stop. A year later, we’ve sold two novels — including Starling — a short story, and a novellete, have a half-dozen projects currently in progress, and several currently out with publishers for submission.

For Starling and its sequels, we wanted to tell a story about the wonder and the terror that is fame. Starling may be a fairytale — that discovered in a diner narrative always is. But it’s not a the Disney fairytale. Rather, it’s much more Hans Christian Andersen or Brothers Grimm.

Since Starling is a contemporary romance, it’s not that there are monsters lurking under the bed, but we are huge fans of magical realism and wanted to see how we could bring those ideas to a story, both magic and real, set in Hollywood.

As Alex, our guy who becomes famous, and Paul, the guy he falls for, navigate their way to their happy ending, things are hard and occasionally dark. Because life, after all, isn’t easy, and fame and success don’t make figuring out how to get, and keep, what — and who — you want any easier.

STARLING COVER Maltese McRaeTitle:  Starling
Authors: Erin McRae & Racheline Maltese
Publisher:  Torquere Books
Cover artist:  Brandon Clay

Sales Link: Amazon

 “Starling” Blurb:

When J. Alex Cook, a production assistant on The Fourth Estate (one of network TV’s hottest shows), is accidentally catapulted to stardom, he finds himself struggling to navigate both fame and a relationship with Paul, one of Fourth’s key writers. Despite their incendiary chemistry, Alex’s inexperience and the baggage they’re both carrying quickly lead to an ugly break-up.

Reeling from their broken hearts, Alex has an affair with a polyamorous co-star and Paul has an ill-advised reunion with an old flame. Meanwhile, the meddling of their colleagues, friends — and even the paparazzi! — quickly make Alex and Paul’s real life romance troubles the soap opera of the television season.

But while the entertainment value may be high, no one knows better than Alex and Paul that there are no guarantees when it comes to love in Los Angeles.

Authors Bios:

Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese’s gay romance series Love in Los Angeles, set in the film and television industry, is published by Torquere Press. The first novel, Starling, was released September 2014; its sequel, Doves, is scheduled for January 2015. Racheline is a NYC-based performer and storyteller focused on themes of sex, gender, desire and mourning. Erin McRae is a writer and blogger based in Washington, D.C.

Contact Links:

Focusing In On Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming by Kiernan Kelly, Julia Talbot and BA Tortuga (contest)

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Welcomes Kiernan Kelly, Julia Talbot and BA Tortuga

and their latest anthology,

Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming!

Rope, wolves, leather, vampires, demons, hats, bears.

Rodeo.

 

Kiernan Kelly, BA Tortuga, and Julia Talbot have combined their wild imaginations and talent to come up with the Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming Anthology.  It’s an irresistible combination of “rope, wolves, leather, vampires, demons, hats, bears”…and the rodeo!

When offered an interview, I grabbed at the chance to float some questions by these terrific authors.  My interview with them follows directly.

Today there’s a contest to enter, an excerpt to read and much more.    The link for the Raffecopter contest can be found here and at the bottom of today’s post.  Winner receives an eBook copy of Midnight Rodeo:Homecoming.  So don’t forget to enter to win.  As always you must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Good luck and Happy Reading!

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Contest:  Rafflecopter Prize: E-Book of Midnight Rodeo.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Visit this link or the one at the bottom of the post to enter.

Book Title: Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming

Authors Name: Kiernan Kelly, Julia Talbot, BA Tortuga

 

 

A ScatteredThoughts Interview with Kiernan Kelly, Julia Talbot and BA Tortuga! 

 

 

STRW:  You all have been friends/SOs (congratulations to B.A. and Julia on their wedding) and co-authors for a long time. Has that affected each other’s writing styles, do you think?

  • Julia Talbot: Thank you! I think it definitely affects our writing. I mean, for one thing, we were all kinda pioneers in taking m/m from online chats and boards to mainstream fiction, so we set our own “house style” if you will. Then there’s the fact that we’ve all co-written and been critique partners for years. Bound to spill over some in each author’s work.
  • BA: Oh, lord yes. There isn’t a single thing that Julia has written that I haven’t read as she worked on it and vice versa. I get to see Kiernan stories chapter by chapter. We all listen to each other talk and visit together. We all share a part of the brain. 😀
  • KKelly: think our writing styles are naturally similar enough to blend nicely in an anthology, yet still remain distinct enough for a reader to recognize the author’s voice in each one.

STRW:   Which comes first? The anthology idea or similar stories you are all working on?

  • KKelly: I usually work on stories simultaneously, with preference given to whichever deadline is looming.
  • BA: I would say that the anthology idea almost always comes first. We go…Ooh! Shiny idea! And then we go… Oh, look. Look at this boy! 😉
  • Julia Talbot:  The anthology idea, generally. We get together at cons and someone says, what if there was this bar…

STRW:  Between the three of you, you all have written about a multitude of professions. Which is your favorite profession to assign a character and why?

  • BA: Well, I’m a cowboy fan, for sure. Rodeo cowboys, working cowboys, country western singers in Stetsons. Honestly, I love a blue-collar working man.
  • Julia Talbot:  Mine is pretty broad. Someone pointed out recently that I like uniforms. Military, cops, doctors, skinwalkers. I like the trappings of a false skin.
  • KKelly: That’s a good question. I like blue collar workers (I find something inherently sexy about a man who works with his hands), but I’ve written lots of white collar professions as well. My favorite (even if I’ve only done it in one story, Change of Heart, and its sequel, Change in Attitude) was to make a shifter a veterinarian. In Change of Heart, the shifter is hit by a truck while in wolf-form, and ends up in his own vet clinic. That was a great deal of fun to write.

STRW: BA, Bullriders or wolf shifters?  Do you have a favorite?  I have been waiting for a wolf shifter bull rider to arrive (although I am not sure that would work due to the predator prey nature) and it looks like I will get my wish along with other supernatural beings.  How did that come about?  Did it involve alcohol or a yarn binge?

  • BA (only):  Well, the funny thing is that the whole idea happened because I couldn’t decide between bullriders and werewolves. They tell you, as a writer, you have to pick a genre, and I was stressing it. Do I write cowboys or werewolves? Cowboys? Werewolves? Ack! Then I went…Oh.

OH!

PARANORMAL COWBOY BUTTS OMG.

And then I may have sparkled. 😉

STRW:   Historical fiction (westerns included) is among the hardest genres to write. Supernatural fiction probably the most fun. Do you each have a favorite type of story to write?

  • KKelly: I write in every genre, but I love to write paranormal romances because the usual laws of physics don’t necessarily apply. My particular favorite are shifters, although I tend to favor unusual creatures over the more familiar wolves. My “In Their Own Skins” trilogy features just about every type of animal-form I could think of – hawks, horses, bear, T-Rex, velociraptors… You just can’t do that in a contemporary romance. LOL
  • Julia Talbot:  I have a long love of historicals. They’re not hard to write for me as I love research. They are a harder sell, though, because they’re so much more subjective. What if someone really hates 16th century Spain? I also love paranormals, because I love the animal nature of shifters, the alien apex predator nature of a vampire.
  • BA: I love my westerns, modern and historicals, but it’s very very difficult for the paranormal elements not to creep in. I also adore writing horror. 😀

STRW:   Cowboys and rodeos are a real passion for many, including myself. Can you all explain why they act as a muse for your writing? Is there a particular bull rider on the circuit today you root for? Or even a bull for that matter?

  • KKelly: I was introduced to bullriding back when I wrote “Riding Heartbreak Road.” I knew next to nothing about the rodeo, but I had this image in my head of a hunky cowboy wearing nothing but his hat and chaps. I knew if I wanted to write the scene, I needed to do research about the rodeo, and since I liked the idea of cowboys trying to stay on the back of a two-thousand pound monster for a mere eight seconds, I narrowed my research to bullriding. I began by watching PBR (Professional Bull Riding) on television, and became so involved in the sport that I began to go to local PBR events. I’ve always been a fan of Guilherme Marchi and Mike Lee, and little Gage Gay is just so darn adorable, I’d like to pick him up and carry him around in my pocket.
  • Julia Talbot:  Oh, my grandpa was a cowboy, and to some extent so was my mom. I married into a family of them. I tend to root for the Brazilian bullriders now, but my all-time favorites are Chris Shivers and Mike White.
  • BA: I grew up with cowboys – my daddy’s a cowboy, my brothers are cowboys. Those are the people I know and love. I can’t imagine choosing another muse. I am totally old school, and currently I’m rooting for the Brazilians in the PBR. Guilherme Marchi makes me fluttery. Will Lowe is my favorite PRCA rider. My all time favorite cowboy is Ty Murray. No, Jim Shoulders. Wait…

STRW: (for BA) I find the older bullriders/bronc riders especially poignant.  It’s such a young man or woman’s sport.  I know and love BA’s Rough Stock series that has some retired cowboys.  But any plans for a story or series about the bull riders or rodeo riders who are forced to retire or leave that lifestyle behind?

  • BA: I actually do have a series in the works called Out to Pasture featuring the ‘old guys’ – old guys in Roughstock are, what? 25? 😉

STRW:  . The PBR and Gay Rodeo circuits…any overlap that you see these days? Has the PBR gotten any more LGBTQ friendly? Or is your writing a way to bring that element to the mainstream?

  • KKelly: I’m not sure if the doors are open yet on the PBR circuit. You don’t hear about gay riders. They’re probably there, but they keep it on the down-low. I’m afraid the PBR isn’t the most open operation, and definitely not as welcoming to everyone as the IGRA (International Gay Rodeo Association). I think the PBR is still very much a “good ol’ boys” network.
  • Julia Talbot:  I wouldn’t be able to speak for any organizations with any certainty. My writing of cowboys in particular is a fantasy of how I would love people to react to all things LGBTQ.
  • BA: All I’ll say on that subject is that, once Julia and I came out the closet, our attendance has gone from 10-12 events a year to maybe 1 a year. I write a fantasy world wherein love is accepted.

STRW:   Vampires or werewolves? Do you all have a favorite and why?

  • Julia Talbot:  Werewolves. I mean, I am a vamp fan since Dracula at 11, and later, Anne Rice and Poppy Z Brite. But I adore writing werebeasts and exploring how their animal side makes them react to human situations.
  • KKelly: Again, I’ve written both, but I do favor werewolves over vampires.  I think there are many reasons for my preference – I’m an animal lover (no, not in THAT way, thank you very much), so the wolves play into that. I like that wolves mate for life, and I enjoy exploring the pack mentality. Wolves are affectionate with each other, strong, agile, and noble creatures. Vampires…yeah, not so much. Vampires are by nature solitary, decadent creatures, usually interested solely in their own survival. Plus, with vampires, unless their love interest is also a vamp, you need to worry about the whole immortality-watching-your-love-age-and-die thing. Werewolves need to worry about three things: the full moon, silver bullets, and wolfsbane. That’s about it. Vampires, on the other hand, need to watch out for garlic, crosses, running water, sunlight, holy water, crucifixes, wooden stakes, etc. In other words, vampires are high maintenance.
  • BA: Werewolves. I mean, I love vamps, but werewolves!!! 😀 I love animals and the whole concept of pack structure and being driven by instinct makes me incredibly happy.

STRW:  Next projects up for each of you?

  • Julia Talbot:  A menage novella called Georgia Knights out in September from TQ. I have the third Elemental Ops book with Changeling Press out in August and a long novella contemporary out in January or February with Dreamspinner. Find all the things at my website, http://www.juliatalbot.com
  • BA: I am working on a m/m contemporary about kids and cowboys tentatively titled “Ever the Same”, Brazilian bullriders, the next story for the Cereus universe, and a contemporary m/m about a redneck musician and his bodyguard. I’m also finishing up a f/f YA novel currently titled, “Stealing Bases”.
  • KKelly: I’m currently working on an m/m YA titled “Mad About the Hatter,” a short story for the next book in the “Butt” series, Butt Babes in Boyland, which I’ve tentatively titled, “Elf Esteem,” and an m/m novel about a vampire (I know, I know – high maintenance) and an angel/vampire hybrid titled “Riding Lucifer.”

 STRW:  That was a butt load of questions and the answers from all three of you were wonderful.  Thank you so much for taking the time to spend a little  time here with us today!

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Author Bios:

  • BA Tortuga:

Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing porn sites in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.

Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has answered the call of the high desert mountains. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery menages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head.

Links:
Website: http://www.batortuga.com
Twitter: @batortuga

  • Kiernan Kelly:

Kiernan Kelly lives in the wilds of the alligator-infested U.S. Southeast, slathered in SPF 45, drinking colorful tropical, hi-octane concoctions served by thong-clad cabana boys.

All right, the truth is that she spends her time locked in the dark recesses of her office, writing gay erotic romance while chained to a temperamental laptop, drinking coffee, and dreaming of thong-clad cabana boys.

Sigh.

To date, Kiernan has over a dozen novels in print and ebook, and a plethora of short stories in both formats.

Links:
Website 
Email:  KiernanKelly@KiernanKelly.com
Facebook

 

  • Julia Talbot:

Julia Talbot lives in the great Southwest, where there is hot and cold running rodeo, cowboys, and everything from meat and potatoes to the best Tex-Mex. A full time author, Julia has been published by Torquere Press, Ellora’s Cave, and Changeling Press. She believes that everyone deserves a happy ending, so she writes about love without limits, where boys love boys, girls love girls, and boys and girls get together to get wild, especially when her crazy paranormal characters are involved.

Find Julia at:
Twitter  at @juliatalbot
Website  
Facebook

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Midnight Rodeo Homecoming coverMidnight Rodeo: Homecoming
Authors: Kiernan Kelly, Julia Talbot, BA Tortuga
Cover Artist: Anne Squires
Publisher: Torquere Press

Buy Links:    Torquere Press

Blurb(s):

What happens when rodeos start to get too tough for humans to compete in? Midnight Rodeo, of course, where supernatural creatures like shifters and vampires work for the prize money, and for the awe of their audience.

In Welcome to the Pack by BA Tortuga, when head bullfighter Denton is killed by a demon bull, his twin, Denver, comes back to take his place. Denver was gone for years, working mundane rodeos and missing his twin. He’s not sure the pack can heal him since the other bullfighters challenge Denver at every turn. All except Blaine, who’s an outcast himself, and who knows Denver is like no one he’s ever met.

In Oklahoma Rain by Kiernan Kelly, psychic Blaze scouts locations for the rodeo company, Darque and Knight, where he finds another psychic talent, Zack, who’s hot as the Fourth of July. Zack is complicated, though, thanks to his sidekick, Mikey, a damaged kid. Blaze invites the pair back to the rodeo, but not everyone is as happy as Blaze to have them there.

In Big Bear, Little Bear, by Julia Talbot, bear shifter Ben is returning to the rodeo after a long injury recovery. Big bear shifter Ozzie is the barrel man and clown, and he’s been waiting for Ben to come back to the big show. But is Ben ready to ride again, let alone be the lover Ozzie is ready to take on?

Excerpt:

Denver was– wow.

Denton had been stunning, making Blaine stare a lot. A lot. Still, Dent had been off-limits, and he’d bet Denver was, too. No one could be that hot and be like Blaine.

He was the weird one, the one brought into the pack by a she-wolf who had already had a single pup. Blaine figured he was lucky no one had killed him when he was a kid.

Everyone else was broad and wide, shaggy headed with eyes like green glass. All of them came from the same line. Denver was the spitting image of Denton, really. A little harder around the edges, a little more wild. A shit ton more bruised.

The guys had been taking turns. Two a night, just like clockwork, they’d come and challenge Denver. One at midnight, one at three a.m. Greg and Vince went, then Carter and Caul, and finally Hank and Mike. Boom.

He supposed Denver was waiting for him, now. Blaine sighed. He had no intention of trying to take the pack. God, the very idea made his head hurt.
The real question was, were they going to just start over, or was Denver going to get a night off, a chance to sleep before they settled in town for tonight’s show?

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Tour Dates/Stops: 7/28 – 8/22

 

BadgeMR Homecoming Rev
7/28: Prism Book Alliance
7/29: Parker Williams
7/30: Up All Night, Read All Day
7/31: Amanda C. Stone
8/1: LeAnn’s Book Reviews
8/4: Love Bytes
8/5: Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, Jade Crystal
8/6: The Hat Party
8/7: Night Owl Reviews, Because Two Men Are Better Than One
8/8: The Novel Approach
8/11: Decadent Delights
8/12: Wake Up Your Wild Side
8/13: Tara Lain
8/14: MM Good Book Reviews, Emotion in Motion
8/15: Iyana Jenna, Rainbow Gold Reviews
8/18: Fallen Angel Reviews, Velvet Panic
8/19: Hearts on Fire
8/20: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Dawn’s Reading Nook
8/21: Book Reviews and More by Kathy, Kimi-Chan
8/22: My Fiction Nook, Smoocher’s Voice
Contest:   Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Rafflecopter Prize: E-Book of Midnight Rodeo

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

A MelanieM Review: Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming by Kiernan Kelly, Julia Talbot, B.A.Tortuga

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Midnight Rodeo Homecoming coverDoes just the thoughts of a rodeo fill you with anticipation of fun, knuckle cracking suspense and danger?  And good looking cowboys too?  What happens when you take all that and add in demons, vampires,  weres of all types, and a ghost or two?  The answer to the last question is Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming ,a collection of three stories by authors Kiernan Kelly, Julia Talbot and BA Tortuga.

The Darque and Knight Rodeo is famous for its wild bulls, great bull riders ,over the top bullfighters and much, much more.  If only the humans who came to watch knew who and what were really behind the gates and stands when this rodeo came to town.  Three stories look into the lives and loves of the Darque and Knight Rodeo. This rodeo is run and employees nothing but Supes as the Supernatural are known, in search of a home, love and a family.

Those stories are Welcome to the Pack by BA Tortuga, Oklahoma Rain by Kiernan Kelly, and Big Bear, Little Bear, by Julia Talbot. Don’t miss out on a single one!

This book checked all the boxes for me.  It’s got the rodeo and cowboys (as such), it’s got  weres (both cat, wolf, and more), vampires, demons, and paranormals…all on the search for love, home, and a family.  It’s also by Kiernan Kelly, BA Tortuga, and Julia Talbot, a trio of authors who always manage to bring it home with their stories and viewpoints.  All three stories are centered around the Darque and Knight Rodeo (love that play on words).

I’ll be taking a look at each story as they appear in the book.  First up? A werewolf homecoming of sorts in “Welcome to the Pack”.

“Welcome to the Pack” by BA Tortuga – 4.75 stars

Bullfighter Denver returns home when his twin brother and pack Alpha, Denton, is killed by a bull at The Darque and Knight Rodeo.  Denver left the pack when it was decided that Denton would be the Alpha and now Denver is returning to reclaim the role and get the pack in order.  It’s been decades since Denver has been back and the pack isn’t all that happy to see him. Denver must fight for the right to be Alpha and try to heal the hole caused by the loss of his brother.  Only another outcast, Blaine, seems to be in his corner.  A necessary support to have when all the bulls they fight are possessed by demons!

My favorite story of the three but not by much.  The universe building here is superb.  I can’t get enough of this rodeo and all the beings that make up this rodeo!  This is a tale of two brothers, really.  One has died by the beginning of the story but Denton’s presence is felt throughout as Denver greatly misses him and is often compared to his brother.  Denver has been working the “mundane” rodeo circuit as humans are called and now returns to his former pack in disarray.  They’ve gotten sloppy, mean, and not exactly welcoming to Denver.  As Denver fights his way back into the pack, he finds a mate and a home.  Along the way the readers finds out such details as there is a caged demon inside of each bull.  I’m sure that many cowboys would find this entirely plausible! The cat shifters, a pride, that runs the cafeteria, food stands, and give massages to those they care for.  I would love a story about that Pride and its members.

Blaine, an outsider by way of his unusual birth and size, is a wonderful character.  I adored him and his relationship with Denver.  This is the longest story of the three and could easily have been its own book.  And series.  Plus there is a Russian tiger shifter, Dimitri, in need of a mate.  I need that story as badly as he does his HEA!  I wonder if BA Tortuga takes bribes?

Oklahoma Rain by Kiernan Kelly – 5 stars

Blaze Morgan  looks like a mundane but he’s not.  Instead Blaze has a hidden psychic talent that allows him to scout out the locations in small towns along the rodeo circuit where Darque and Knight can set up for a while.  Blaze supplies patches when holes appear in the magic wards that kept their real identities masked and the magical nature of their rodeo hidden from the mundanes that buy the tickets at each stop. Blaze even has a talent for mind control but that only applies to the humans he meets and not any Supes he comes into contact with.  That proves to be a problem when Blaze finds a homeless pair hiding out on the deserted farm where Darque and Knight are getting ready to set up for a run.

Zack and 10 year old human Mikey have been using the farm as their home for a while and Blaze’s appearance shattered the temporary home they have made together.  Telekinetic Zack saved Mikey from abusive kidnapper, and the farm has served them both as a place for Mikey to try and heal and a  haven for Zack.  Blaze invites them to join the rodeo as they can always use another psychic but not everyone is happy to have a human child around.

This story got me too.  Loved poor damaged Mikey and his relationship with Zack.  Zack, Blaze and Mikey make a wonderful family but not everyone is happy to have them there.   Kelly builds the suspense and anguish skillfully as she does the love and bonding between the two men and the wounded child.  As it all comes to an explosive ending, the reader is fully engaged and ready to do battle along side Zack, and Blaze to keep their family safe and together.

Loved this story too as so many other types of beings appear here to deepen the universe all three authors are building.  Vampire Cody and Demon Philip own and run Darque and Knight, dragons are used as barrel racers and a single burp can set the tents on fire.  Cheetah shifters and wolf shifters and so many others are bull riders, barrel racers, and more.  There is even a Grand Wizard Dermid who sets the spells that enchant the rodeo to keep it safe. It just keeps getting more fascinating the more you know about it.

Big Bear, Little Bear, by Julia Talbot – 4.5 stars

Grizzly bear shifter Ozzie is the barrel man and clown for Darque and Knight Rodeo. Little Black Bear shifter, Ben, trains and supplies the best rodeo horses while managing on being the worst bulldogger. And Ben has the biggest crush of Ozzie but Ozzie thinks Ben’s too young and inexperienced. Then Ben is badly hurt and sent home to recover. When Ben comes back, Ozzie is surprised how much he has missed the little bear. But there’s something different about Ben, something he’s hiding and Ozzie is determined to get to the truth and let the little bear know how much he cares.

Of course, the barrel man and clown is a Grizzly shifter! How perfect!  And Julia Talbot gets the feel of a bear in human form just right as they lumber along with their love of honey, fruits, and finally each other.  The author brings the natural history of bears into her story in subtle but genuine  ways and it just elevates this story up another notch.  Ben’s injury almost killed him and the ensuing trauma has had enormous side effects, as it should.   Ben’s gentleness and forlorn demeanor plays off beautifully against the jovial good nature and confidence of Ozzie.  They are made for each other and Julia Talbot’s lovely story charts the  path of their romance  from start to finish.  More please, much, much more!

I really adored Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming.  I can only hope that this book is a precursor of more stories to come.  Darque and Knight Rodeo is full of amazing beings, each with their own stories to tell.  How did Philip and Cody get together? A demon and a vamp?  What about Dimitri and the Pride of cat shifters?  Plus there is Denver’s triplet brothers to get in trouble and surely other paranormals that could use a job at a rodeo?  I can think of character after character with a story that needs telling and these three authors are just the ones to do it.

I highly recommend Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming.  Its fun, lively, engrossing….just a great read.  Pick it up and become involved in the lives of the supernatural and paranormal as they find their way to HEA and a home.  You will be happy you did.

Sales Links:  Torquere Press           All Romance eBooks (ARe)              Amazon                    Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming

Cover by Anne Squires.  Love this cover.  I only wish there had been a bit of a supernatural air about it, maybe claws on the hand or something.

Book Details:

ebook, 228 pages
Published July 16th 2014 by Torquere Press
ISBN 1610407776 (ISBN13: 9781610407779)
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=76&products_id=4220

Review: Designated Bottoms by B.A. Tortuga , Katey Hawthorne , Julia Talbot , Sean Michael, Shannon West, Kiernan Kelly , K.C. Wells

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
designatedbottoms700Some men are bottoms by birth, others by choice. Whatever the reason, a designated bottom is someone who’s happy to surrender, to submit, or just catch instead of pitch!  Inside the covers, you will find seven stories by seven terrific authors, each with a different bent on the subject of love, romance, and bottoming.  They are:

➤Czech Me Out, by BA Tortuga, Korde discovers what it’s like to fall for someone when food truck owner Josh takes on the cowboy virgin.

➤The Mistell by Katey Hawthorne who’s gamer grad student Paul doesn’t date. He keeps things strictly physical. So why is Sammy so important to him ?

➤Faster Bobcat by Julia Talbot. A Lynx shifter and stripper Aleks doesn’t mix business with pleasure, but he thinks Rafe, a jaguar shifter, might just be the master for him.

➤Little Square of Cloth by Sean Michael.  Peter isn’t sure about the club his friend takes him to, especially when Doms start hitting on him. Experienced Dom Rupert is happy to help, explaining about that little piece of cloth stuck in Peter’s pocket .

➤Sgt. Hardass by Shannon West. A recent ex-Army man Jake meets up with a man he has history with, and Chad isn’t sure he can explain himself and defuse Jake’s anger.  Explosive?  Absolutely and also very hot.

➤ Prince of Paupers by Kiernan Kelly.  Prince Liam and longtime friend Deacon have to go back to Deacon’s Appalachian home, much to the prince’s dismay. What happens when royalty and the plain folk of the Applachians clash?  Can love be far behind?

➤ Switching It Up by K.C.  Wells. Jay knows he looks like a twink, but only hunky Dean understands that looks can be seriously deceptive.  When twink meets hulk, who comes out on top? Or bottom?

What a fun anthology!  Each story presents a totally different take on romance and challenges to love.  There is something and some story for everyone to enjoy!

It starts off light and swift with BA Tortuga’s Czech Me Out.  Korde and Josh had me wanting to reach for a Kolache or two.  I felt it was missing a little substance in the boys back histories but still found it loads of fun.

Katey Hawthorne’s gamer lads of The Mistell are wonderful.  It’s funny, current, and you will love these nerds on the path to happiness and love.  I learned what a mistell is and the ones Katey Hawthorne created had me snorting. I loved Paul, Samir, and the rest of the WW gaming group.  At the end I also wished that a certain sweet, if dim ex would also find his HEA.  Maybe the next story.  This was one of my favorites.

Faster Bobcat by Julia Talbot had me purring like a kitty.  Loved both Aleks who needs structure and the hot jaguar shifter who supplies it along with love.  Put this one at the top.

Sean Michael’s Little Square of Cloth is Sean Michael doing what he does best.  Making BDSM seem hot, and exactly right for the people involved.  In this case, Peter gets more than he ever expected when a friend plays a prank on him.  Sean Michael lovers, this is for you!

Sgt. Hardass by Shannon West is a that bit of angst missing in the other stories.  West delivers a painful breakup, and even more painful reunion and hot makeup sex!.  This is one of the stories I wish had been a little longer.  The characters were well done but I needed more about Chad and Jake to make their reunion and  rapid reconciliation feel real.

I adored Kiernan Kelly’s Prince of Paupers and wanted much, much more of this story because of the small touches and comedic elements she included.  More of Alfred the butler and the grubby little boy. That scene was priceless!  Or Liam down in the “holler” learning why there is no “George” pig to go along with Ringo, Paul, and John. Still giggling over that one.  I need a full on, enlarged version of this story and so will you.  This is my favorite of the anthology.  And it ended way before I was ready for it to be resolved.

The last story, Switching It Up by KC Wells had me a little perplexed for a while.  I thought the author was heading in one direction with the romantic interest and she was headed in another opposite direction.  Was it a case of red herring or was it just me?  Not sure but it threw me off just enough that I didn’t enjoy it as I might have.  Still, its a fun story and make a good addition to this anthology.  Don’t think I would have ended the collection with it however.

My ratings  fluctuate between a 3.75 and a 4.5 for the stories individually (you can guess which is which).  That averages out to a 4 rating overall.  I do recommend picking this anthology up!  It’s stories are fun to read, highly sexy, and some will definitely leave you giggling and wanting more.

Cover art by Anne Squires.  I love that cover.  Great design and yes, what a great bottom!

Buy Links:     Torquere Press           All Romance eBooks (ARe)             Amazon                  Designated Bottoms

 

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 253 pages
Published July 29th 2014 by Torquere Press
ASINB00M8Y421Y
edition languageEnglish

Bottoms Up? On Tour with the Designated Bottoms Anthology – Authors Katey Hawthorne, Kiernan Kelly, Sean Michael, Julia Talbot, BA Tortuga, KC Wells, and Shannon West! (contest)

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Top? Bottom?  Let’s find out more with the wonderful group of authors whose stories can be found in the new m/m anthology, Bottoms Up!  

To celebrate the release of Bottoms Up, Pride Promotions and the authors have brought along a $25 Amazon Gift Card to give to one lucky person.  To enter to win, visit HERE for the entry form and all the contest details.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.   Contest information repeated at the end of the post.  Contest ends 8/6.

Book Name: Designated Bottoms
Author Name: Katey Hawthorne, Kiernan Kelly, Sean Michael, Julia Talbot, BA Tortuga, KC Wells, Shannon West

Author Bios:

Contributors:

BA Tortuga: Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing porn sites in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.

Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has responded to the call of the high desert mountains. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery menages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon- holed by anyone but the voices in her head. Find her at http://www.batortuga.com

♦Katey Hawthorne is an avid reader and writer of superpowered romance, even though the only degree she holds is in the history of art. (Or, possibly, because the only degree she holds is in the history of art.) Originally from the Appalachian foothills of West Virginia, she currently lives in Ohio. In her spare time she enjoys comic books, B-movies, loud music, Epiphones, and Bushmills. Find Katey at http://www.kateyhawthorne.com/

♦Julia Talbot lives in the great Southwest, where there is hot and cold running rodeo, cowboys, and everything from meat and potatoes to the best Tex-Mex.

A full time author, Julia has been published by Torquere Press, Ellora’s Cave, and Changeling Press. She believes that everyone deserves a happy ending, so she writes about love without limits, where boys love boys, girls love girls, and boys and girls get together to get wild, especially when her crazy paranormal characters are involved. Find Julia at @juliatalbot on Twitter, or at her website  

♦Sean Michael: Often referred to as “Space Cowboy” and “Gangsta of Love” while still striving for the moniker of “Maurice,” Sean Michael spends his days surfing, smutting, organizing his immense gourd collection and fantasizing about one day retiring on a small secluded island peopled entirely by horseshoe crabs. While collecting vast amounts of vintage gay pulp novels and mood rings, Sean whiles away the hours between dropping the f-bomb and persuing the kama sutra by channeling the long lost spirit of John Wayne and singing along with the soundtrack to “Chicago.”

A long-time writer of complicated haiku, currently Sean is attempting to learn the advanced arts of plate spinning and soap carving sex toys.
Barring any of that? He’ll stick with writing his stories, thanks, and rubbing pretty bodies together to see if they spark.

Sean’s available for interviews, by the way. He can always be talked into, well talking about himself. Find Sean at http://www.seanmichaelwrites.com

♦Shannon West: Shannon West currently lives in the South with her husband and family. A lover and avid reader of M/M romances, she began writing them a few years ago and now has over forty short stories, novellas,and novels to her credit. Her series about wolf shifters, the Dark Hollows Series and the sci fi series, Love Slaves of the Alphas, produced sixteen bestsellers with four of them going to number one on the third party sites. She was a finalist in the Rainbow awards for 2013, a nominee for best sci fi series in the Love Romances Café and very honored to be named an All Romance ebooks top ten author for 2013. She writes BDSM and some ménage as well. She loves men and everything about them, and believes that love is love, no matter the gender. She mostly spends her days at the keyboard, trying to elude housework, which stalks her relentlessly.

Links:   Website     
Twitter: @shannonwest8
   Amazon Author Page  Facebook

♦Kiernan Kelly: Kiernan Kelly lives in the wilds of the alligator-infested U.S. Southeast, slathered in SPF 45, drinking colorful tropical, hi-octane concoctions served by thong-clad cabana boys.

All right, the truth is that she spends her time locked in the dark recesses of her office, writing gay erotic romance while chained to a temperamental laptop, drinking coffee, and dreaming of thong-clad cabana boys.

Sigh.

To date, Kiernan has over a dozen novels in print and ebook, and a plethora of short stories in both formats.

Links:   Website      Facebook  email: KiernanKelly@KiernanKelly.com

♦KC Wells: Born and raised in the north-west of England, K.C.Wells always loved writing. Words were important. Full stop. However, when childhood gave way to adulthood, the writing ceased, as life got in the way.

K.C. discovered erotic fiction in 2009, where the purchase of a ménage storyline led to the startling discovery that reading about men in love was damn hot. In 2012, arriving at a really low point in life led to the desperate need to do something creative. An even bigger discovery waited in the wings – writing about men in love was even hotter…

K.C. now writes full-time and is loving every minute of her new career.

The laptop still has no idea of what hit it… it only knows that it wants a rest, please. And it now has to get used to the idea that where K.C goes, it goes.

K.C. can be reached via email (k.c.wells@btinternet.com), on Facebook or through comments at the K.C. Wells website  K.C. loves to hear from readers.

designatedbottoms700How Bottoms Up Came To Be:

So, what happens when you get a bunch of m/m writers together on a panel at a steamy little convention called Authors After Dark in Savannah?

In this case, we all sat around with the readers who came to our panel and chattered and laughed like idiots, and we talked about what we liked to read and write. There was a lot of smutty puns, and it was all fun and games until someone uttered the fateful phrase, “Right, and every story has to have a designated bottom.”

The writer and editor in me both went, “ooooh”. And I said, “Hey, does anyone want in on an anthology for next year with this theme?”

Enough of the writers at that panel, and a few who weren’t, said yes, and Designated Bottoms was born. When I sent out the call, this is what I said.

You’ve heard about Designated Drivers? Well, what about a Designated Bottom? The theme is open to all m/m stories where one man is a designated bottom boy, Whether self-imposed or by the Dom/lover/alpha of the pack or simply (either true or not) by society. Feel free to play with burly bottoms who surprise the deceptively sweet top, or with the too-smart kid who’s the pushy bottom to end all bottoms. BDSM is fine, but not mandatory. A bottom may simply like to catch instead of pitch.

The stories I received delighted me. From a first-time cowboy and his new lover to a hardass Sergeant falling for a determined young soldier, from a hot gamer geek who doesn’t date to a sweet young thing on his first visit to a BDSM club, there’s something for everyone. There are princes and paupers, werekitties and strippers, and skinny twink-looking tops and big, gentle bottoms. They all left me fanning my hot cheeks and smiling at how the end result was two men in love, no matter how they got there.

The authors in Designated Bottoms have all reminded me why I fell in love with m/m as a genre damned near fifteen years ago, and of why I’m still writing, and publishing those stories today.

We’d like to dedicate this book to all the readers at Authors After Dark who thought this collection was a great idea, and to all the readers who keep us going every day by reading our books and letting us know they like them! I hope y’all love these stories as much as I do!

XXOO

Twitter: @torquere
Cover Artist: Anne Squires
Publisher: Torquere Press Inc
Buy Links:      Torquere Press        

Blurb:

Some men are bottoms by birth, others by choice. Whatever the reason, a designated bottom is someone who’s happy to surrender, to submit, or just catch instead of pitch!

In Czech Me Out, by BA Tortuga, Korde discovers what it’s like to fall for someone when food truck owner Josh takes on the cowboy virgin. Katey Hawthorne’s gamer grad student Paul doesn’t date. He keeps things strictly physical. So why is Sammy so important to him in The Mistell? Kitty shifter and stripper Aleks doesn’t mix business with pleasure, but he thinks Rafe might just be the master for him in Julia Talbot’s Faster Bobcat.

Sean Michael’s Peter isn’t sure about the club his friend takes him to, especially when Doms start hitting on him. Experienced Dom Rupert is happy to help, explaining about that Little Square of Cloth. In Sgt. Hardass, by Shannon West, recent ex-Army man Jake meets up with a man he has history with, and Chad isn’t sure he can explain himself and defuse Jake’s anger. In the Prince of Paupers by Kiernan Kelly, Prince Liam and longtime friend Deacon have to go back to Deacon’s Appalachian home, much to the prince’s dismay. And in Switching It Up by KC Wells, Jay knows he looks like a twink, but only hunky Dean understands that looks can be seriously deceptive.

Excerpt:

From Czech Me Out by BA Tortuga:

Josh had texted the fine cowboy as early as he felt comfortable doing it. He’d waited until nine. He figured it was gratifying that he got an immediate response.

“Noon?” he’d sent, and when he got an affirmative, he’d send his address. Then he set about making lunch.

He could tear that sweet body up, turn the Marlboro Man inside out and make Korde like it. He would soften the guy up with a few barbecue-filled potato skins… Barbecue, the redneck aphrodisiac.

Josh grinned. He’d swayed more than one hot little cowboy with his special sauce and some crispy potatoes. Of course, he’d never asked one to come to his house before, and certainly hadn’t gotten so interested so damned fast.

He’d never changed his sheets and made sure he was stocked with lube and rubbers, either. Not on a not-even-a-first-date. Lord. He was hopeful today, for sure.

Hopeful, horny and… oh, man, he needed an ‘h’ word…

The doorbell rang, saving him from having to be too creative. He told his cock to stay down for a bit and went to answer.

Frack and Frick were yapping their damn fool heads off, wagging and bouncing. Silly mutts. “Y’all get down.”

Josh opened the door a few inches. “You’re not afraid of dogs are you?”

“Not even a bit.” Korde leaned down and gave scritches, easy as pie.

Those two beagle-shepherd monstrosities went nuts, yodeling and wagging and begging.

 

 

DesignatedBottoms600x600BannerBlueTour Dates: 7/30/14

Tour Stops: Parker Williams, Cate Ashwood, MM Good Book Reviews, Decadent Delights, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Prism Book Alliance, Regular Guys, Hot Romance, Full Moon Dreaming, The Hat Party, Fallen Angel Reviews, Amanda C. Stone, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Love Bytes, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Havan Fellows, Jade Crystal, Wicked Wolves and Dreaming Dragons, Iyana Jenna

 

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