Category: Riptide Publishing

Take Another Adventure into The Escape Universe with The Unicorn by Delphine Dryden (author guest post/giveaway)

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The Unicorn by  Delphine Dryden
Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist L.C. Chase

Release Date: February 22, 2016
Read an Excerpt/Buy it Here

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Delphine Dryden here today to talk about her latest novel, The Unicorn.  Welcome, Delpine.

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Hi! I’m Delphine Dryden, touring the internet to talk about my latest book, The Unicorn. It’s a geeky, kinky M/F/F romp, it’s part of Riptide’s “Escape” universe, and it’s a much-expanded version of an earlier story called Roses and Chains. Thanks so much to all the blogs hosting the tour! Be sure to comment on tour posts for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift certificate and your choice of two books from my backlist.

The Story of The Unicorn: Fun with Do-Overs

So a funny thing happened to me a few years ago—an author friend who’d also written some things for one of my early publishers mentioned she’d decided to ask for her rights back. She only had a few titles there, and her sales had never been crazy high, so she got the books back pretty quickly. The whole process was smooth and she was happy with the result. I also had some books there I thought could have sold better—a series, in particular, that I felt had never been marketed as well as it might have—and I’d since moved on to other larger publishers so I knew what my numbers could be. So I asked for reversions on all my books, in two big batches, figuring it couldn’t hurt to ask.

I got one book back immediately, a clump of them six months later, and another chunk a few months after that—leaving only two titles that I had to buy back (for a sum I felt was reasonable). Easy-peasy. Except I suddenly had 13 titles to re-sell or self-publish, to get them back out on the market. Four were novellas—I self-pubbed those as an experiment, and it didn’t suck nearly as hard as I’d feared it might! So I self-pubbed my five-book series Truth & Lies, too, and that also went just fine. Nine down, four to go. Three of those are still in limbo, but the fourth, Roses and Chains, is what eventually became The Unicorn.

My friend Christine d’Abo* and I had both contributed to a multi-author universe at the previous publisher, so we both had these reverted, loosely connected, kinky queer books to shop around. And we’d been under a strict word limit with the original novellas, something like 30K? Both of us felt we had longer stories to tell in these books. So we decided…hey, why not revamp them, expand them, start a new universe of our own? And Riptide was hip to buying it, fortunately. Christine’s book Controlling Acquisitions became the delightful Dom Around the Corner to kick off the new series (“Escape”). And Roses and Chains got almost 100% longer and became Escape #2, The Unicorn.

So a cool thing about this book was that I got a do-over, but with five more years of writing and publishing experience under my belt, and the freedom to ignore word count. I saw the story I’d written to the original series guidelines…and saw where I could expand and improve on that. But I also saw how far I’d come as a writer in those five years. Back then I had some good instincts but knew very little about craft from a structural standpoint. I was pretty much a straight pantser, and because the original book was supposed to be borderline erotica, not erotic romance, I had completely ignored anything like a black moment or any kind of character development for two of the three main characters. Those were all things I got the chance to layer into the revised story—along with some tweaks to heighten the conflict and align the expanded plot (okay, “the plot,” since it really hadn’t had much of a plot at all to start with) to the structure I’ve developed and over the intervening five years of writing. In going through that process I realized I’ve become a hybrid or perhaps even started leaning slightly toward the “plotter” side of the whole pantser/plotter thing (and as a side effect I came up with a great idea for a conference workshop).

It’s so rare we actually get opportunities like that—to live out that feeling of if only I had known then what I know now. We always hope we’re learning, growing, improving at our jobs, but this time I got to see exactly how I’d changed for the better, and apply those improvements to an older project to give it a whole new life. I liked the original book and readers also seemed to…but I like the new version even more, and I hope readers will feel the same way!

How about y’all? Have you ever had a chance at a “do-over”?

*Full disclosure: As part of my “day job” I do freelance editing for Riptide Publishing; I happen to be Christine d’Abo’s editor for her books there, including Dom Around the Corner. However, in this case I’m mostly pimping her book with my author hat on, as a series-writing partner in crime 😉

About The Unicorn

Delia and Daniel have a picture-perfect life. They like their jobs. They love their house. Everything is coming up roses . . . but in private, they’d rather have the thorns. Their recent forays into kink have brought them closer than ever, but there’s still something missing, and they can’t quite work it out.

Mara knows what she’s missing: a significant other. She tried vanilla, and it was a total bust. But when she and her last girlfriend took things out of the kink club and into the “real” world, they fizzled. Even their friendship is on the rocks now. Mara feels like a lost stray, looking for a forever home.

When the three of them meet up at the brand-new club Escape, their connection is instant. And surprising—none of them were expecting more than a few hot nights. But now they might be ready to bring their kinky threesome into the light of day and build a life together.

Publisher’s note: This title is a heavily revised re-issue of a prior story, Roses and Chains, originally released in 2011.

This title is part of the Escape universe. But can be read as a standalone.

About Delphine Dryden

Delphine Dryden probably should have gone ahead and become an English professor like she planned. Instead, she took a detour through law school, another detour through the wonderful world of working in special education, and took an extra fifteen years to end up where she belonged: writing kinky romances.

Del’s writing has earned an Award of Excellence and Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Times Book Reviews, an EPIC Award, and a Colorado Romance Writers’ Award of Excellence.  When not writing or editing, she can be found binge-watching television shows, playing tabletop games, and tweeting to excess.

Connect with Delphine:

 

TheUnicorn_TourBanner

Giveaway

Leave a comment for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift certificate and your choice of two books from Delphine Dryden’s backlist. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 27, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

A Stella Review: PATCHWORK PARADISE by Indra Vaughn

RATING  5  out of 5 stars

Patchwork ParadiseOliver and Samuel’s relationship is fairy-tale perfect. They share a gorgeous house in Antwerp, go out with their friends every weekend, and count down the days to their dream wedding. But their happy ending is shattered one late night, and just like that, Ollie is left bereft and alone.

The months that follow are long and dark, but slowly Ollie emerges from his grief. He even braves the waters of online dating, though deep down he doesn’t believe he can find that connection again. He doesn’t think to look for love right in front of him: his bisexual friend Thomas, the gentle giant with a kind heart and sad eyes who’s wanted him all along.

When Thomas suddenly discovers he has a son who needs him, he’s ill prepared. Ollie opens up his house—Sam’s house—and lets them in. Ollie doesn’t know what scares him more: the responsibility of caring for a baby, or the way Thomas is steadily winning his heart. It will take all the courage he has to discover whether or not fairy tales can happen for real.

Indra Vaughn continues to amaze me. After the Christmas story, The Winter Spirit , I was curious about this new one. I’ll be honest and say I chose to read Patchwork Paradise because from the blurb it reminded me of one of my all time favorite M/M books, Second Chance by TA Webb. In fact they have some elements in common, so it was really no surprise I love this one so much too. From the blurb I understood it had all the things I need to have in a story.

This book is an emotional story, so heartbroken because the author let me meet and briefly fall in love with Sam, and then she took him away from Ollie and me.

I began following Ollie in the great  hurt that losing the person that shared his life for the last ten years gave him. He needed to relearn the daily habits alone and start living again,  dealing with the attachment to the house he shared with his Sam and the fear of losing it by  the persons he considered his family and are now acting like strangers.

He broke my heart but knowing there was going to be so much more to come, made me fully enjoy even the very bad times. At the end Patchwork Paradise is a second chance at love story and Ollie will heal with the support of amazing friends and an unexpected new love.

The words flew easily, it was a pleasure to read. I loved that the story  was focused not just on the MCs, it made easy to know the secondary ones pretty well too, even the not so likable ones. Moreover to me the timing was perfect, I think the author did great at balance everything at the right time, it’s a story with no pauses, it kept me hooked from the start, still there was no rushing, the events were all very considerate of Ollie’s life and his grieving.

I really couldn’t find a reason to give Patchwork Paradise less than five stars. I liked all the characters, especially Ollie. I laughed and cried a lot with him. His was a beautiful journey among love, friendships, loss, hurt and love again.

Indra Vaughn wrote another success. Sweet, emotional, developed in time and characters, well written and simply complete in every detail. It’s one of that stories I don’t need to wonder what is going to happen at the end. It truly satisfied me and I’m sure my MCs are living their HEA beautifully.

The COVER ART by Lou Harper won me over in the lower half with the toys and the crib but there is something in the models, I don’t know, maybe the sweaters or their faces. With a story like this, the cover should have been so much better.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon (other are coming)

Book Details:

ebook, 275 pages
Expected publication: March 28th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitlePatchwork Paradise
ISBN 1626493804 (ISBN13: 9781626493803)
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review:How the Cookie Crumbles (Bluewater Bay #12) by Jaime Samms

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

How the Cookie CrumblesFrederic Jackson pulls up roots and moves to Bluewater Bay after losing first place on a reality TV cooking show.  Frederic is a baker, taught by his gran, but with a natural talent for creating perfect pastries.  He was on track to win the show, but the show’s producer, Blaire Caruthers, the man who Frederic fell head-over-heels for, fixed the win in favor of the hot little twink who stole Blaire from Frederic before the two could even get started.  The potential for scandal was squashed with money from Blaire’s father, who owns the production company. Frederic used part of the money to buy the bakery, with its barely working equipment, and part to settle medical bills for his alcoholic father.

A few months later, Blaire shows up in Bluewater Bay ostensibly to work on marketing and promotion of merchandise for the Wolf’s Landing TV show.  But in reality, he wants to win Frederic back, and he deeply regrets his stupidity with Jerry, the twink who won the competition.  What he doesn’t know is that winning the show would have gotten Frederic all the equipment he needed to operate the bakery.  He really didn’t want the cash because he knew his father would tap him for part of it and that proved to be true.  Now Blaire has the nerve to make overtures to him again? No way!

But fate has something else in store for the men and as they realize how much they’ve each changed, and new people and circumstances combine to keep throwing them together. There might be a way for them to find happiness after all.

I really enjoyed this story.  I like the way the author built on the existing Bluewater Bay series concept but took it much further to develop a completely separate story which works fine as a standalone.

The characters were three-dimensional and flawed but just perfect together.  Frederic’s workaholism, in combination with the emotional tug of war with his father, brought him to a personal health crisis that was both unique and believable.  Blaire’s need to separate from his own father, both emotionally and as an employee, was very evident but proved to be a difficult struggle.  His growth and maturity and his desire to find the freedom in creativity that he had craved for years finally overcame his fear of failure and of disappointing his father. The strength he found to make that break and the compassion and love he bestowed on Frederic were just the perfect mix to make this old heart swoon for Blaire and rejoice when he and Frederic finally found their way back to each other.

I very definitely recommend this story to all lovers of MM romance, especially to those who love an enemies to lovers, a hurt-comfort, or a lovers reunited theme.

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Cover Art by L.C. Chase depicts a handsome man in a suit staring back at a young man sitting alone on a pier. This is the perfect representation of Blaire and Frederic.

Sales Links:   Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 345 pages
Published February 13th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitleHow the Cookie Crumbles
ISBN 162649388X (ISBN13: 9781626493889)
Edition LanguageEnglish
URLhttp://riptidepublishing.com/titles/how-the-cookie-crumbles

Series: Bluewater BayBWBlogo_Web

Books in this Universe include with links to our reviews:

Starstruck (Bluewater Bay #1) by L.A. Witt
There’s Something About Ari (Bluewater Bay #2) by L.B. Gregg
Hell on Wheels (Bluewater Bay #3) by Z.A. Maxfield
Lone Wolf (Bluewater Bay #4) by Aleksandr Voinov
The Burnt Toast B&B (Bluewater Bay #5) by Heidi Belleau & Rachel Haimowitz
Lights, Camera, Cupid (A Bluewater Bay Valentine’s Day Anthology; Bluewater Bay #6)
Wedding Favors (Bluewater Bay, #7) by Anne Tenino
The Deep of the Sound (Bluewater Bay, #8) by Amy Lane
When to Hold Them (Bluewater Bay, #9) by G.B. Gordon
Rain Shadow (Bluewater Bay, #10) by L.A. Witt
Stuck Landing (Bluewater Bay, #11) by Lauren Gallagher
How the Cookie Crumbles (Bluewater Bay, #12) by Jaime Samms
Selfie (Bluewater Bay, #13) by Amy Lane

 

Its Back to Bluewater Bay with How the Cookie Crumbles (Bluewater Bay #12) by Jaime Samms Riptide Tour and Contest

How the Cookie Crumbles

How the Cookie Crumbles (Bluewater Bay #12) by Jaime Samms
Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist L.C. Chase

Release Date February 13, 2016
Goodreads Link

Buy it/Read an Excerpt here

About How the Cookie Crumbles

After losing a rigged cooking show competition—and a potential lover—to another baker, Frederic Jackson packs up his considerable baggage and moves to Bluewater Bay. He uses the network’s hush money to buy a new bakery where he hopes the small town’s revitalized economy will let him start anew.

Blaire Caruthers never wanted to work for his father at Caruthers Industries. He should have known that fixing the company’s show results was a mistake, and that choosing another man over kind, generous Frederic was an even bigger one. But the damage is done. To escape the fallout, he’s gone to Bluewater Bay to oversee the company’s interest in Wolf’s Landing merchandise.

Stuck in a small, nowhere town doing a job he hates, Blaire wants nothing more than to prove to Frederic he’s changed. However, Frederic struggles to trust the man who betrayed him once already. As Blaire loses ground with his father, and Frederic starts falling back into self-destructive habits, they both have to find the balance and control that’s been missing from their lives.

This title is  part of Riptide Publishing’s Bluewater Bay series, a listing of which can be found here. BWBlogo_Web

About Jaime Samms

Jaime has been writing for various publishers since the fall of 2008, although she’s been writing for herself far longer. Often asked, “Why men? What’s so fascinating about writing stories about men falling in love?”, she’s never come up with a clear answer.  Just that these are the stories that she loves to read, so it seemed to make sense if she was going to write, they would also be the stories she wrote.

These days, you can find plenty of free reading on her website. She also writes for Freya’s Bower, Jupiter Gardens, and Total E-Bound, Dreamspinner Press, MLR Press, and Riptide Publishing.

Spare time, when it can be found rolled into a ball at the back of the dryer or cavorting with the dust bunnies in the corners, she’s probably spending crocheting, drawing, gardening (weather permitting, of course, since she is Canadian!), or watching movies. She has a day job, as well, which she loves, and two kids, but thankfully, also a wonderful husband who shoulders more than his fair share of household and child-care responsibilities.

She graduated some time ago from college with a fine arts diploma, and a major in textile arts, which basically qualifies her to draw pictures and create things with string and fabric. One always needs an official slip of paper to fall back on after all. . .

Connect with Jamie:

Giveaway

Leave a comment for a chance to win $20 in Riptide credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 20, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

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An Ali Review: Second Hand (Tucker Springs #2) by Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton, Iggy Toma (Narrator)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Second Hand audiobookPaul Hannon moved to Tucker Springs for his girlfriend, but she’s left him with a house he can’t afford and a pantry full of useless gadgets. All Paul wants is to get back to normal, even if he’s not sure what that is anymore. When he wanders into Tucker Pawn for a gift to win her back, he meets El Rozal, pawn shop owner and all-around cynic.

El Rozal doesn’t do relationships, especially not with clueless straight boys still pining for their ex. El may make his living dealing in castoffs, but that doesn’t apply to men. Still, when Paul starts clearing out his old life, pawning kitchen equipment he never wanted in the first place, El is drawn to Paul in spite of himself.

Paul and El have nothing in common except a past full of disappointments. There’s no reason to believe the two of them could fit, but in El’s line of work, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. When it comes to love, El and Paul may learn that secondhand doesn’t mean second best. 
 
This was an average story. Nothing really wrong with it but nothing that made it stand out either. Paul has gone through a bad break up and while looking for a gift for his ex-girlfriend he meets Eli. The two men become friends and while Eli realizes immediately that he has feelings for Paul, Paul just cruises along cluelessly. Paul bordered on getting on my nerves with his cluelessness. At other times though I felt for him and I thought the internal discussions/fears/etc he has over his sexuality were probably pretty realistic. Eli I liked throughout the entire story.  I didn’t really feel the emotional attraction between the two men.  It just felt like they were friends unless they were in the bedroom.  The bedroom scenes though were great.  The chemistry just jumped off the pages.  Unfortunately hot sex scenes isn’t enough to carry an entire book for me.  I needed more relationship development.  Again, I didn’t love this book but I didn’t dislike it either.  

The narration by Iggy Toma was just ok.  Overall I did not really care for the narrator.  He did a wide range of voices and did them all differently which is a plus.  I didn’t like some of the voices though.  This is probably a matter of taste.  While it didn’t work for me it might for others.  I suggest listening to a sample of the audio first.
 
Cover art by L.C. Chase. I like the cover.  I think it is a good representation of the main characters and their story.
Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Audible | Amazon
Audiobook Details:
Audible Audio
Published January 22nd 2016 by Audible (first published September 1st 2012)
Original TitleSecond Hand
SeriesTucker Springs #2 settingColorado (United States)

A Stella Review: Until September by Chris Scully

Rating:  5 out of 5 stars          ★★★★★

UntilSeptember_600x900As a teenager, Archie Noblesse clawed his way out of the poverty, heartache, and abuse of the reservation and left his family behind. Desperate to shake the shadow of his past, he reinvents himself as Archer Noble, an outspoken blogger and controversial author who lives only for himself. But when his beloved sister dies, Archer is saddled with guardianship of his niece and nephew.

Elementary school teacher Ryan Eriksson is devastated when his best friend Marguerite is killed, leaving her two young children orphaned. Helping Archer with his new responsibilities eases his grief, but when Archer offers him custody of the children, Ryan’s left with an impossible choice: get the family he’s always wanted, or respect Margie’s wishes and convince Archer to give parenting—and his heritage—a chance.

To buy time, Ryan promises to stay for the summer, hoping that Archer will change his mind and fall for the kids. But Archer’s reluctant, and the growing attraction between him and Ryan complicates matters. Legal decisions must be made, and soon, before Ryan returns to school. But with hearts involved, more than just the children’s future is on the line.

I read the Inseparable series by Chris Scully two of years ago and when I saw Until September with the great cover and the interesting blurb, with promises of a lot of emotional moments and a couple of kids, I was soon conquered. I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed and I was right. I found it an amazing read, it simply took my heart.

The first chapter was hard to read. Abused by his uncle since he was a child, at sixteen Archie is tricking behind school to earn some money and move from the hell Manitoba Reservation has become. His only light is Margie, his baby sister, thirteen years old, the only person he truly loves. He was the one to protect and feed her when their mother left them alone. Leaving the place is his only chance at survival and staying away from all the drugs and child abusers the Cree population suffers. Now that the uncle is dead Archie needs to be strong, abandon Margie and save himself.

Then the story switched to twenty years later but that only first chapter broke my heart. Just a few pages helped me understand a lot about Archie, his deep connection with his sister and the mask he used to hide his scars from indelible things from her.

Twenty years later Archie is Archer Noble, new name, new place, new money, but the fear of losing everything still clings to him. He is now on tour, promoting his new book, when a call comes that will change his whole life.

Ryan Eriksson is a 25 years old teacher, with little social life, who has found in Marguerite, the mum of one of his student, a sister he never had, they shares secrets and hopes. He supports her after the loss of her husband and she knew about his desire to build a family and the disaster with his ex boyfriend.

When tragedy happens, Archer and Ryan need to be together and try to give a family to Dillon and Emma, Marguerite’s children. But Archer can’t take care of them, he still has a lot of work to do on himself. He can’t be a parent, he’s not ready. But he’s willing to give this family thing a try for a bit. Then he will be on his own and the children with Ryan. Ryan has until September to convince Archer that he belongs with his niece and nephew.

I have to be honest and say Until September is one of the best stories I read this new year. It has all the themes I love to read about, moreover it was delivered to my heart with an easiness and straightforwardness, I hardly had found somewhere else. I fell in love with the children and the MCs. Archer and Ryan both changed so much during the book and the development of their relationship, even if slow, it never bored me, on the contrary, it was right for a book like this.

If you want a book emotional that will put a smile on your face till the end, a tear on your cheek a couple of times, full of sweetness and the cuteness only children can give, you can’t miss Until September. I adored it. Plus, it was beautifully written, I felt every single word. 5 full stars!

The cover art by Lou Harper is perfect. It fits the story, cute and great in the colors. I love it.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 298 pages
Published February 8th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626493553 (ISBN13: 9781626493551)
Edition Language English

Get An Inside Look At ‘Until September’ by Chris Scully (author guest blog and giveaway)

UntilSeptember_600x900

Until September by Chris Scully
Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist Lou Harper

Release Date February 8, 2016
Goodreads Link

Buy it/Read An Excerpt Here

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Chris Scully, author of Until September, here today to share some insight about her  latest novel Until September.  Welcome, Chris.

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Hello! I’m Chris Scully. I’m thrilled to welcome you to my Until September blog tour! Join me at various tour stops, where I’ll be sharing some of the background of this novel, my thoughts on writing, and more. Comment on each stop to be entered in a drawing for a $20 Riptide gift certificate. Thanks for joining me on the tour!

About Until September

As a teenager, Archie Noblesse clawed his way out of the poverty, heartache, and abuse of the reservation and left his family behind. Desperate to shake the shadow of his past, he reinvents himself as Archer Noble, an outspoken blogger and controversial author who lives only for himself. But when his beloved sister dies, Archer is saddled with guardianship of his niece and nephew.

Elementary school teacher Ryan Eriksson is devastated when his best friend Marguerite is killed, leaving her two young children orphaned. Helping Archer with his new responsibilities eases his grief, but when Archer offers him custody of the children, Ryan’s left with an impossible choice: get the family he’s always wanted, or respect Margie’s wishes and convince Archer to give parenting—and his heritage—a chance.

To buy time, Ryan promises to stay for the summer, hoping that Archer will change his mind and fall for the kids. But Archer’s reluctant, and the growing attraction between him and Ryan complicates matters. Legal decisions must be made, and soon, before Ryan returns to school. But with hearts involved, more than just the children’s future is on the line.

About Chris Scully

CHRIS SCULLY lives in Toronto, Canada. She grew up spinning romantic stories in her head and always dreamed of one day being a writer even though life had other plans. Her characters have accompanied her through career turns as a librarian and an IT professional, until finally, to escape the tedium of a corporate day job, she took a chance and began putting her daydreams down on paper.

Tired of the same old boy-meets-girl stories, she found a home in M/M romance and strives to give her characters the happy endings they deserve. She divides her time between a mundane 9-5 cubicle job and a much more interesting fantasy life. When she’s not working or writing (which isn’t often these days) she loves puttering in the garden and traveling. She is an avid reader and tries to bring pieces of other genres and styles to her stories. While her head is crammed full of all the things she’d like to try writing, her focus is always on the characters first. She describes her characters as authentic, ordinary people—the kind of guy you might meet on the street, or the one who might be your best friend.

Although keeping up with social media is still a struggle given her schedule, she does love to hear from readers.

Connect with Chris:

Website: chrisscullyblog.wordpress.com
Facebook: facebook.com/chris.scully.author
Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/6152322.Chris_Scully
Email: cscully@bell.net

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Giveaway

Leave a comment for a chance to win $20 in Riptide credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 13, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

A BJ Review: Stealing Innocents by Cari Waites aka Lisa Henry

Overall Rating:  3.5 stars out of 5

StealingInnocents_600x900Those who dare to scratch the surface of ordinary, everyday life may be horrified to find a sick underbelly beneath—a nightmare world populated by villains and victims, predators and prey, where the rules of society no longer apply.

Where you’ll find people like Danny, the boy who sells himself to pay for his father’s gambling debts and ends up in a situation more twisted than he ever imagined. Or Troy, the cop whose obsession with saving a brutalized human trafficking victim turns deadly. Or Drew, the mental patient who begins to suspect his nightly delusions of abuse by his doctor are actually real. Or David, the cuckolded husband who decides the best way to get revenge is to seduce his wife’s barely legal son.

Stealing Innocents is an exploration of our darkest human impulses, where sex is power, love is horror, and there’s no such thing as a happy ending.

Holy crap! I mean, seriously folks… this anthology is well-written, compelling, and it will mess with your head. Seriously. Are you ready for that? Cuz if non-con and rape bother you, if you’re squeamish and or if horror keeps you up at night, then I’d say this may not be an anthology for you. It will push your buttons for sure. This is some sick and twisted stuff we have here… at times it made me feel dirty/wrong just reading it. It also also make me think and question. There are twists I didn’t see coming, nuances I didn’t fully experience until I sat back and thought about what I’d just read. And there’s stuff I can’t get out of my head, can’t un-read but maybe partly wish I could.

Gamble Everything – 4 stars

Eighteen year old Danny sells himself to Peter Archer to repay his father’s gambling debts.

I’d read the original version of this as a compilation and had rated it originally as 4 stars. Reading it in this anthology, it did seem to read more smoothly and feel more fully realized, but that could also be just because it was my second reading. This one has kink galore: sounding, fisting, plugging, cock cage, orgasm denial, caning, spanking, enemas, multiple partners, toys, bondage, humiliation, daddy-kink, and more. If you enjoy reading some kink, this book should totally rock your boat. However, it was the twist at the end that made it what it was for me. Damn, Archer is a master manipulator. And is there romance… well, read it and decide.

First and Only – 3 stars

David is pretty sure his wife of less than twelve months is cheating on him and since he’s had the hots for her barely legal son since he first saw him, he decides the best way to get revenge is to him. However, he didn’t bargain for having real feelings for the youth. This one did have love… of a sort. I read it waiting for the twist I sensed would come, but didn’t see what ended up happening coming. Again, this one wasn’t erotic to me, but it definitely drew me in and made me eager to see where it would go. It left me with a ton of unanswered questions floating around in my head though, and also given how it ended, it seemed a bit strange that it was written from David’s past tense POV.

Crazy – 3.75 stars

Drew’s not crazy. The dreams he has at night of his doctor restraining and dominating him can’t be true. Just because he’s a patient in a mental health facility doesn’t mean he’s crazy. Right?

Is it real or is it not? A twisted, intensely harrowing little story that could fly either way, I guess, from how it’s written. But I took it as being real, which left me wondering how in heck his parents could take the doctor’s word over his when he’d went into the facility for mere depression and is now diagnosed with… well, deemed as crazy. Probably once again my issue with trust (i.e. his parents not trusting that he is telling them the truth.) It’s definitely well-written, and it made me feel—revulsion, disgust, anger, even betrayal. So while my initial impulse was to rate it three, that got outvoted (see story reference) as I thought on it. It reminded me a bit of how I felt when I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I’d classify this little story firmly in the category of horror rather than BDSM or erotica and for the most part, I do enjoy horror stories. Except…

Falling Angels – Cannot Even Rate

Arkady is a legend. Arkady is an angel. Arkady is a slave.
Troy is a voyeur. Troy is a rescuer. Troy may be a monster.

Sex trafficking of young boys… non-con, torture, mutilation.  An innocent in the hands of first a sex trafficker which is awful, right? Well, it pales when you go further into the story and meet a monster. This gives new meaning to the idea that things could always be worse. And Troy… the obsessed police officer, the one man would could have possibly have saved him but couldn’t even save himself.

Make no mistake here: this story is very dark with no redemption or love. For me, this is more horror than erotica. I read it with hope, but there was no hope. I finished and just sat stunned speechless. If the point was to horrify, it did that. In spades. Move over Stephen King, Clive Barker and the other masters of horror. Cuz this one freaked me he heck out. Left me feeling disturbing and hopeless, drained and dirty, and overall not really knowing how to rate it.

How do you rate a nightmare? As a horror story, yep… completely horrified so I guess that would be a five. But giving it a five seems to say that I enjoyed it and that it’s a favorite. Can I say that? Hell, no. So I chose not to rate this one at all.

This cover by L.C. Chase is dark, the model is hot and the pose is just incredibly sexy to me. Very nice.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon


Book Details:  

book, 264 pages
Published January 9th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitleStealing Innocents
ISBN 1626493782 (ISBN13: 9781626493780)
Edition LanguageEnglish
URL