Category: Wilde City Press

A Mika Review:  Breaking the Habit by J.P. Bowie

Rating: 3 stars out of 5 :

Breaking the Habit coverMike Peterson is determined to break the gambling habit that resulted in two failed marriages, no money, no job, plus almost getting himself and his brother killed when loan sharks came looking for their money. In addition, he’s recently been having some doubts about his own sexuality. When his gay brother suggests he get in touch with an old friend, recently out police officer Larry Bertoli, Mike is at first leery of the idea, and their first meeting isn’t exactly ideal.

They decide to meet again and this time more of what they are and what they could mean to one another is revealed during their time together. They begin a tentative friendship that graduates to a first, fumbling attempt at romance. Can they find the secure relationship they both want, or will Mike’s addiction and lack of self-esteem hinder what could possibly be salvation for both men?

Seriously, if I could take the entire cast of the book out to a field and shoot them I would. Is everyone selfish and hurtful in this book. I’m so happy it was only a 100 pages, I literally wanted to DNF at the first re-introductions of the main characters. Why?? I can’t say without spoiling it for you, but it’s ridiculous. I can’t look past that. I’m disgusted that the mother and brother actions, as though it was perfectly fine as long as Mike is getting his life together. How is that okay? Another thing was if the sister was okay with it, where was she during most of the story? Absent, that’s where she was. I don’t get it, you might as well as portrayed them as long lost class mates. And let’s not talk about the assassin type murder your brother’s boyfriend supposedly had done, based on your own gambling addictions. Isn’t he a journalist? Come on, I just found the story lacking on all fronts. The excessive usage of Lar, and Jer got on my last nerves. It’s only 2 damn syllables; you can say Larry and Jerry without being tired.

Then the insta-love, I dislike this trope because it doesn’t work well for me. They literally had 2 dates in a 2 week duration before the underwear was getting thrown around. Both were virgins, as well.  The romance part lacked for me as a story element. They were so over the top with everything. Let’s not mention the marriage proposal in a month’s time. I mean, Mike, you went from confused, to not knowing, to thinking about Larry, to being okay with identifying as a gay man? I think not, it felt totally unrealistic.

Cover Art by: Wild City Press, I don’t know who is suppose to be who. The descriptions I remember doesn’t suit with the cover models. Nice efforts with the dice though.

Sales Links:    Wilde City Press       All Romance (ARe)        Amazon         Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 100 pages
Published February 4th 2015 by Wilde City Press
ISBN139781925180947
edition language English

A Sammy Review: Slasherazzi by Daniel A. Kaine

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Slasherazzi coverAlex Beckman, newly promoted to detective, already has the case of his career, no, his life. The serial killer dubbed Slasherazzi is like nothing anyone’s seen before. With each murder, the killer is getting more and more daring. At first, the bodies were found his slashes all done postmortem, but now the killer is torturing them first, and takes it even a step further when he picks high-risk targets.

It seems nothing can be done to catch him. He’s too careful, too precise. To top off the theme of failure seeming to seep into Alex’s life, he’s also maybe-somewhat back on with his on-again off-again boyfriend, Vincent Fairfield, a journalist who got his first big break by breaking Alex’s trust.

With the bodies piling up and suspicion brewing, there’s no telling who the killer may be, or where he’ll strike next.

Hello, mind fuck, how are you today? Good, that’s great. Me too.

I had hunches along the way and they often went back and forth. It’s this person, no it’s this person, oh man, what if it is that person. This story got me so twisted with theories and when it finally revealed the truth, I felt like I was hit with a ton of bricks.

First of all, I have to commend Mr. Kaine on his delivery of the reveal. I’ve never seen anything like it, and it was the most perfect way to do it. I was speechless and actually had to reread that particular part a few times. My first thought was “He’s jerking my chain, right?” Nope, no chain being jerked by Mr. Kaine. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

I was literally at 92% and still had no idea what was going to happen, so when it did, yep. Stunned. I’m still cruising on that misty dafuq feeling. I feel like I’m floating, or maybe I just lost my brain for a bit.

Okay, so, the rest of the story. It was good too. I’ve never made it a mystery that I love all things dark and delirious. This hit all those buttons, and then some. As an editor or beta reader, I’ve always encouraged authors to push more, just a little more, reach that much more. Well, I think that this author reached that far and then reached some more. He truly exposed some of the most raw, fucked up imaginations I’ve read in a long time, and I ate it up. Completely, totally, ate it up. If you’ve read the book, that will probably make you throw up in your mouth a bit, but so be it.

This story is not for someone who can’t handle explicit details of mutilation and torture. When I say that, I don’t mean the kind of torture we read in BDSM. This torture is so twisted and depraved, it left even me speechless.

So, Mr. Kaine, may I have a ticket to the darkest parts of your mind? I think I rather like it there. Until then, I think I may have to reread this with new eyes.

The cover art by Wilde City Press fits the story nearly perfectly. The only exception is that I wish the knife had been made of a different material (as to resemble a certain weapon in the story). All in all, though, it represents the story quite well.

Sales Links:   Wilde City Press       Amazon    Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 189 pages
Published June 11th 2014 by Wilde City Press
ISBN139781925180152
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.danielakaine.com
settingTampa, Florida (United States)

Cover Reveal for J.K. Hogan’s Shadows Fall (contest)

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It’s Time to Reveal the Cover

for

 Shadows Fall by J.K. Hogan
Release Date: June, 2015
Goodreads Link

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Publisher: Wilde City Press

Cover Artist: J.K. Hogan

Sales Links:

Shadows Fall Blurb

A gift—or curse—gives Titus McGinty the unwanted ability to talk to ghosts. When he starts seeing the same few apparitions repeatedly, appearing with similar gruesome injuries, he begins to wonder what they want from him.

Detective Charlie Hale has a serial killer on his hands. On the loose for weeks, the Queen City Slayer has left the police nothing to go on, no forensic evidence other than what he wants found. The city is running out of time.

The crisis brings Titus and Charlie together—Titus stumbles upon a body and finds himself a suspect. Their budding romance is tested as they are sucked into a web of underground laboratories, restive spirits, and religious fanaticism. They’ll have to work together to find the identity of the killer before he takes his next victim…Titus.

Categories: Contemporary, Crime Fiction, Fiction, Gay Fiction, Romance, Thriller
Pages or Words: 100,000 words (pre-edits)

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Author Name: J.K. Hogan

Author Bio:
J.K. Hogan has been telling stories for as long as she can remember, beginning with writing cast lists and storylines for her toys growing up. When she finally decided to put pen to paper, magic happened. She is greatly inspired by all kinds of music and often creates a “soundtrack” for her stories as she writes them. J.K. is hoping to one day have a little something for everyone, so she’s branched out from m/f paranormal romance and added m/m contemporary romance. Who knows what’s next?

J.K. resides in North Carolina, where she was born and raised. A true southern girl at heart, she lives in the country with her husband and young son, a cat, and two champion agility dogs. If she isn’t on the agility field, J.K. can often be found chasing waterfalls in the mountains with her husband, or down in front at a blues concert. In addition to writing, she enjoys training and competing in dog sports, spending time with her large southern family, camping, boating and, of course, reading! For more information, please visitwww.jkhogan.com.

Where to find the author:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJKHogan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JK_Hogan
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jkhoganbooks/
Tumblr: http://officialjkhogan.tumblr.com/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+JKHogan/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/jkhoganbooks

 


Tour Dates: March 7, 2015

Tour Dates: March 7, 2015

Tour Stops: 

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Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: A signed paperback of either I Survived Seattle or Love and the Real Boy. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Rafflecopter links and prizes provided by Pride Promotions.

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A Stella Review: A Healing Man (Men of Manhattan #5) by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

Rating 4 stars out of 5

A Healing Man coverDario Ramos thought he’d left the fighting behind in the war zone when a life-threatening injury sent him home. But a certain Irishman crossing his path everywhere he went convinced him that his biggest battle might be ahead. Tiernan Callahan is a bigoted jerk. Ramos finds himself constantly in the man’s orbit, even in a city as big as New York. The wounded warrior knows all about pain and loss — and that sometimes anger is the only form of release. When Tiernan once again crowds Ramos’ space, his eyes are opened to the possibility of other forms of release.

Tough NYC cop Tiernan Callahan is still mourning the death of his beloved youngest brother, Mason.

Fearing his close-minded family’s reaction, the young soldier never got to tell them his secret — that he was gay and engaged to the love of his life. Tiernan is surviving on anger and guilt. When he continues to run into Dario Ramos, who continues to push his buttons, something inside him snaps. Suddenly, anger isn’t the only emotion he feels.

Two very different men, still trying to heal: Can they come to an understanding and heal each other?

A Healing Man is the fifth book in the Men of Manhattan series by Sandrine Gasq-Dion and so far my favourite. It was sweet funny and sexy. I loved every single word. It’s a beautiful story about loss.

Tiernan is a cop in the NYPD, he lost his brother in war four years ago. Mason was in the closet and when he died Tiernan discovered he was gay and engaged to Casper. He feels betrayed by Mason cause he didn’t trust him to know the most important thing about his life. He’s so angry he is becoming distracted at work and an homophobic asshole. Since his brother died, Tiernan has put his carrier in danger one time too much. His captain decides to assigned him a new partner, Danny, a gay man. Danny is the first one to think Tiernan could be gay, or at least bi.

“Oh God, you’re one of those.”

“What?”

“A paranoid penis. A guy who thinks each and every one of us gays wants in your ass. Trust me, Callahan—I don’t want your ass.”

Dario loses his leg in duty and he is still recovering for alcohol abuse too. He drank to forget all about the years he spent on the field. Now he’s been sober from years and he’s working for the Wounded Warrior Project and as a model. He lives with his girlfriend Maria, until one day he goes home and finds her packing, tired of being with him just for pity.

Tiernan and Dario keep running into each other and what was “hate at first sight” in time become lust/love.
I loved these characters so much, they are amazing, I liked how in the story they grow to be better men, especially Tiernan. He was really hateful in the previous books and I was so proud of him for admit and make up for his mistakes. Of course his parents really sucked but he’ll have a great cast of second characters to support and love him no matter who he’s chosen to love.

There are some very funny scenes, for example when Dario asked gay sex tips to Danny, it was hilarious. And really? Bacon lube? No idea it existed, I’m already hungry.

There are some guys I really want to know more about. I’m hoping in a couple more of books at least in this series. They deserve to have their own HEA.

Highly recommended, this book and the whole series.

COVERT ART by Wilde City Press. I don’t like this series’ covers. They are pretty much the same with a different model for each book. They are good to look at but nothing more.

Sales Links:  Wilde City Press    All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 137 pages
Published January 21st 2015 by Wilde City
edition languageEnglish
url https://www.facebook.com/authorsandrine.g.dion
seriesMen of Manhattan #5

The Men of Manhattan Series:

A Betting Man (Men of Manhattan, #1)
A Marrying Man (Men of Manhattan, #2)
A Fighting Man (Men of Manhattan, #3)
A Working Man (Men of Manhattan, #4)
A Healing Man (Men of Manhattan, #5)

A Stella Review: A Working Man (Men of Manhattan #4) by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

A Working Man coverMatthew Hawke’s professional life is soaring as high the powerful bird of prey whose image is inked on his back. He’s at the top of his game as the owner of an advertising agency that is scooping up prime accounts like a mighty hawk wrapping its talons around an unfortunate ground rodent. Yes, work is good. Too bad his love life has more in common with the dying rodent than the triumphant hawk.

When the thought of a sexy man trumps actually being with a sexy woman, Matthew thinks it might be time for a change. And there IS a gorgeous man at the gym he’s noticed.

Drakon Mavros is working his shapely ass off to make ends meet. His administrative assistant job at a messenger service is steady, but the money he gets from his more creative job pays most of the bills. An ex-boyfriend took his confidence, his trust and his self-esteem and Drakon is afraid to take another chance at love. When an adorably goofy man at his gym actually hurts himself trying to flirt with him, Drakon can’t resist falling under Matt’s spell. He makes Drakon feel good about himself again and praises his artistic talent – neither of which his ex ever did.

As the men begin to fall for one another, it appears nothing can go wrong – they seem to be soul mates. Secrets and lies can crack even the firmest foundation, though. It takes a true master to shore it up so that it never crumbles. Is love the mortar that can restore trust and faith and bind men forever? Only time will tell. Can Drakon and Matt take that chance?

A Working Man is the third book in the Men of Manhattan series by Sandrine Gasq-Dion.

Not one of my fave so far, cause honestly? I found it a little unrealistic.

Matthew is 38 years old, the owner of an advertising firm who for the first time in his life is starting to be attracted to men, especially to a particular dark haired man he met at a masquerade party. He decides to try a sex hotline because he needs to know if he’s still attracted to women. But on the other side of the phone there’s a man with a sexy voice. It seems he’s not so straight after all.

Drakon is a 25 years old addicted to twinkies and colored sneakers, he started working for a sex line as Drake, while looking for a new job. He meets Matthew at the gym (not one of the finest moment for Matt, he was trying to flirt with Drakon and fell off the treadmill!)

Matt wants Drakon but keeps speaking with Drake at the hot line and thinking of the man with the mask. At the same time Drakon wants Matt but has fantasies with Roy(Matt)’ s voice.

Fortunately this big misunderstanding didn’t go to far in the story, but as I say I found it so unlikely, it was hard to me to really love this story, and in a way to me this situation smelled like cheating. I know it’s an extreme point of view, but I got this feeling that I couldn’t overcome. At the end it was like both of them has three men in his mind, the gym one, the party one and the sex line one. Not for me.

What I love about this series is that each book can be read as a standalone and you will miss nothing. But in each one of them you’ll find the characters you loved in the previous books, so for example if you want to know more about Matthew and Drake you just need to read the next book.

Well, I’m going straight to read A Healing Man, hoping to see these MCs again and learn to like them a little more.

Cover Art by Wilde City Press. I don’t like this series’ covers. They are pretty much the same with a different model for each book. They are good to look at but nothing more.

Sales Links:  Wilde City Press     All Romance (ARe)     Amazon       Buy It Here

 

Book Details:

ebook, 129 pages
Published September 24th 2014 by Wilde City Press
ISBN139781925180497
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.wildecity.com/
series Men of Manhattan #4

The Men of Manhattan Series:

  • A Betting Man (Men of Manhattan, #1)
    A Marrying Man (Men of Manhattan, #2)
    A Fighting Man (Men of Manhattan, #3)
    A Working Man (Men of Manhattan, #4)
    A Healing Man (Men of Manhattan, #5)

A Stella Review: A Fighting Man (Men of Manhattan #3) by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

A Fighting Man coverArmy Ranger Slater Cassidy has a very special – very sexy – target in his sights. Meeting gorgeous, smart, uber-snarky Casper Kennedy was the highlight of Slater’s last trip home to New York. The soldier in him carefully plans his conquest. Unfortunately, Casper’s wearing some seriously strong armor and Slater’s charm offensives bounce right off. Casper’s refusal to fall for him is puzzling – not to mention incredibly annoying. When Slater gets leave again after grueling back-to-back tours in Afghanistan, all he wants is another shot at wooing Casper. He jumps right into the battle for the other man’s heart, but Casper does not intend to entertain the troops.

A heartbreaking revelation changes the rules of romantic warfare, and Slater suddenly realizes he doesn’t just want Casper. He wants to capture his heart, too.

 Casper Kennedy is fighting a losing battle. A certain outrageously demonstrative Army Ranger has been a thorn in his side since his last trip home – and the main character in his steamiest dreams. Now he’s back. He launches an all-out sensual assault and no matter how hard Casper pushes Slater away, the man somehow manages to inch closer. So close, in fact, that Casper’s once-impenetrable defenses are in danger of collapsing. Should he throw up the white flag and take a chance at love? Or start firing back and keep his heart protected? When the handsome Ranger shows his true colors, Casper just might have to surrender the fight

A Fighting Man is the third book in the Men of Manhattan series. You can’t help but love this series. These books are all well written and the characters (main and second ones) are so enjoyable and well depicted, I had the feeling of knowing them forever.

Casper Kennedy is a 25-year old administrative assistant. He lost his lover, Mason, three years ago, they were engaged when Mason died in the field. He’s still missing Mason badly, so it’s hard to him to fall for the stubborn Sergeant that has his eyes on Casper.

Slater Cassidy is an Army Ranger in Afghanistan, and from the first time he saw Casper, he knew he had to have the man. Now is coming home on leave for a month. Can it be enough to conquer Casper? He will try everything, from sending him a fake police officer to made a striptease, to a serenade with the Casper film’s theme song.

After losing Mason, Carter is afraid to fall in love again, specially with a military guy, but thanks to an ad campaign and a little jealousy, Slater is slowly making his way into Casper’s life. Will Casper surrender to Slater?

As I already said at the start on this review I really loved this book. First of all it’s a funny and easy reading, I particularly liked the dialogue parts, they were fast paced and entertaining. The double POV use is my fave, cause I need to know what goes through my characters’ mind and in this case, seeing them both struggle with their feeling till almost the end and overcome their fears was heartbreaking and hard to watch without being able to hug and reassure them, but so worth it.

Some parts were really emotional, I’m thinking for example at the family aspect in this story. I ached for Casper, he was very unlucky with families. His parents don’t speak with him since he came out, Mason’s family didn’t even let him know Mason was dead. Finally he has found a new family in Slater’s mum, Raquel,(she rocks!) and in Blaine and Spencer.

There’s a great support cast, funny and strong as Casper and Slater. I can see more couple in the future books.

Highly recommended!

Cover artist by Wilde City Press. Nothing special in this cover and all the others in this series. They are nice to look at but nothing more.

Sales Links:   Wilde City Press     All Romance (ARe)     Amazon      Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 103 pages
Published May 7th 2014 by Wilde City Press
ISBN139781925180022
edition languageEnglish
seriesMen of Manhattan #3

 

The Men of Manhattan Series:

  • A Betting Man (Men of Manhattan, #1)
  • A Marrying Man (Men of Manhattan, #2)
  • A Fighting Man (Men of Manhattan, #3)
  • A Working Man (Men of Manhattan, #4)
  • A Healing Man (Men of Manhattan, #5)

A Mika Review: Love Lies Bleeding by Remmy Duchene

Rating: 3 star out of 5 stars

Love Lies Bleeding CoverWhen literature professor Anderson Williams arrives late to a father/son date to find his father dead, his world collapses around him. Now, not only is he mourning his father, but he’s scared for his life while trying to make sure his father’s face doesn’t become one of the thousands of cold cases in some dusty room. Then he meets NYPD officer, Leo Sung Kim, and he isn’t prepared for his body’s reaction to the cop. 

Leo Sung Kim’s seen horrible things as a cop. But the latest serial killer is worse than anything he’s encountered. To make things worse, he’s instantly in lust with Anderson which makes staying professional almost impossible. 

Even as Leo fights his emotions, the killer gets bolder. When the smoke clears, Leo could not only lose his heart but his life.

This actually wasn’t a mystery to me. I kind of figured out the “who dun it” right in the middle. It just made sense, no other person was interest or remotely interrogated. If you put aside the mystery. I kind of liked both guys being inexperienced with this level of passion with each other. Anderson was so focused on his career that he didn’t see Leo coming a mile away. Leo I think had settled in his mind that being a detective in a 2 bedroom apartment was all he was getting for the rest of his life.

These two met at the most inopportune time ever. It was hard seeing them fall in love with tragedy all around them. I think Anderson was very lucky to have Leo in his life fighting with him so he wouldn’t drown in despair. I think Leo needed Anderson in his life so he could see he actually did want the happy household and partnership. I do think it was cliché to pronounce they felt some sort of love about each other when one was sick in the hospital. I wish it could have been longer and I would have loved to see an epilogue about these two, and their respective best friends relationships as well.
Wilde City Press created this cover. Besides the flower which plays a major part in the story, I don’t really know who the guy is suppose to be. One guy is Asian, the other is African American. I think it would have looked better with both of those guys with the flower.

Sales Links:  Wilde City Press

Book Details:

ebook, 2nd Edition
Published November 18th 2014 by Wilde City (first published January 2009)
original titleThe Orchid Murders

Previously published at Silver Publishing in 2009