Category: Riptide Publishing

Alex Beecroft Returns to Trowchester with Blue Steel Chain (Trowchester Blues #3) A Stunning Novel! – giveaway

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Blue Steel Chain (Trowchester Blues #3)
by Alex Beecroft

Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist: Lou Harper

Sales Link: Riptide Publishing

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About Blue Steel Chain:

At sixteen, Aidan Swift was swept off his feet by a rich older man who promised to take care of him for the rest of his life. But eight years later, his sugar daddy has turned from a prince into a beast. Trapped and terrified, Aidan snatches an hour’s respite at the Trowchester Museum.

Local archaeologist James Huntley is in a failing long distance relationship with a rock star, and Aidan—nervous, bruised, and clearly in need of a champion—brings out all his white knight tendencies. When everything falls apart for Aidan, James saves him from certain death . . . and discovers a skeleton of another boy who wasn’t so lucky.

As Aidan recovers, James falls desperately in love. But though Aidan acts like an adoring boyfriend, he doesn’t seem to feel any sexual attraction at all. Meanwhile there are two angry exes on the horizon, one coming after them with the press and the other with a butcher’s knife. To be together, Aidan and James must conquer death, sex, and everyone’s preconceptions about the right way to love—even their own.

Blue Steel Chain by Alex Beecroft is available from Riptide Publishing on July 27.

About Author Alex Beecroft

Alex Beecroft is an English author best known for historical fiction, notably Age of Sail, featuring gay characters and romantic storylines. Her novels and shorter works include paranormal, fantasy, and contemporary fiction.

Beecroft won Linden Bay Romance’s (now Samhain Publishing) Starlight Writing Competition in 2007 with her first novel, Captain’s Surrender, making it her first published book. On the subject of writing gay romance, Beecroft has appeared in the Charleston City Paper, LA Weekly, the New Haven Advocate, the Baltimore City Paper, and The Other Paper. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association of the UK and an occasional reviewer for the blog  HYPERLINK “http://speakitsname.com/” \n _blankSpeak Its Name, which highlights historical gay fiction.

Alex was born in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and grew up in the wild countryside of the English Peak District. She lives with her husband and two children in a little village near Cambridge and tries to avoid being mistaken for a tourist.

Alex is only intermittently present in the real world. She has led a Saxon shield wall into battle, toiled as a Georgian kitchen maid, and recently taken up an 800-year-old form of English folk dance, but she still hasn’t learned to operate a mobile phone.

She is represented by Louise Fury of the L. Perkins Literary Agency.

Connect with Alex:

Website:  “http://alexbeecroft.com/
Blog:  http://alexbeecroft.com/blog
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/AlexBeecroftAuthor
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Alex_Beecroft
Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/Alex_Beecroftt

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Giveaway:

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a signed paperback from Alex Beecroft’s backlist. (Any title which has a paperback edition, excluding Blue Steel Chain.) Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 25. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Don’t forget to add your email so we can contact you if you win!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Trowchester Blues ( A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words ★★★★★ Series)

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Trowchester: it’s the fourth smallest city in Britain, and visitors sometimes think it hasn’t left the Middle Ages yet. There’s a Bronze Age barrow, a wide network of ley lines, the best tea shop in the county, and more morris dancers than you can shake a stick at. Trowchester attracts those who have been hurt and those who are looking for sanctuary from the modern world. But scratch the surface and there’s murder and mayhem aplenty. People come here to find love, but they’re forced to learn bravery first.

The release order of the Trowchester series is Trowchester Blues, Blue Eyed Stranger, and Blue Steel Chain, but you can start with withichever book catches your eye; they each stand alone.  We highly recommend them all.

– See more at Riptide Publishing’s Trowchester Blues  series page.

 

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review ~ On the Clock (Market Garden #8) by Aleksandr Voinov and L.A. Witt

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
OnTheClock_600x900Those who have been following the Market Garden series since the debut of Quid Pro Quo may have been as excited as I was to finally get the story of the man we all knew as Rolex. Never one to hesitate to lay out the cash for a hot night of sex with the rent boys from Market Garden, Rolex has earned a reputation among the rentboys, especially his two favorites, Tristan and Jared. But they have retired, so with their recommendation for a guy named Jason ringing in his mind, he enters Market Garden in search of his new playmate.

Jason has been given a heads-up by Tristan and Jared and when he asks the John for the time and spots the Rolex on his wrist, he knows this is the man he’s been waiting for. Blake Raleigh visits London several times a year and is no stranger to spending money to blow his mind, and other parts as well. But he hasn’t met a negotiator of Jason’s caliber before. Jason actually gets off on the negotiations, and the higher the price, the better, so when Blake agrees to his initial request for his 18K gold cuff links, Jason is all his for the night. And what a night! It’s so good, in fact, that Blake occupies Jason’s time every night for the entire week.

But Blake can’t seem to forget Jason when he returns back home to the US, and neither, apparently, can Jason forget Blake. The two text and Skype and really start get to know one another. But Jason is still a negotiator, and when Blake accepts his offer for a hot night of voyeurism on Skype, Blake is shocked to see the threesome Jason has arranged. Tristan and Jared have joined Jason for the “show”—a very expensive show which ends up costing Blake 15 quid, a price Blake considers well-earned when he sees what Jared is willing to do on camera.

During the next real-time visit, Jason earns himself a first class ticket to the US to accompany Blake for a week, and it’s during that week that the two become much more than rentboy and client. That week, because Jason gets ill, is all about companionship and friendship, and after Jason leaves, Blake feels like there’s a huge hole left in his life that only Jason can heal.

But will Jason see it that way? How can Blake convey his feelings to Jason when they are five thousand miles apart? And how can he ask Jason to give up the work he loves?

Readers will enjoy the hoops Blake is willing to jump through to get to Jason, but be prepared for tears as Blake learns that not everything he wants can be bought or bargained for. This is an enjoyable story, with some extremely hot sex scenes, but some equally poignant quiet moments. I was very happy to see Tristan and Jared again, but overall, I was disappointed in the story because it didn’t live up to my expectations.

I never felt the spark of attraction—that push-pull of ying and yang we often feel when the authors fan the flames of sexual tension between two MCs. We knew Blake as Rolex in previous stories, but this Blake didn’t have the same feel, and somehow his persona wasn’t as magnetic or as powerful as he had been previously. Jason was attractive, but again, I wasn’t pulled to him. I wasn’t rooting for him. And I wasn’t terribly convinced that the two should be together long term. So yes, the guys get their HFN, or HEA, whichever way you want to look at it, but I wasn’t at all excited about it.

I do recommend this to those who have read the series, especially the books featuring Tristan, Jared, and Rolex. The series just wouldn’t be complete without it. And it is a good story, with lots of hot sex scenes, and many readers may feel the spark that fell short for me. It can be read as a standalone, but it would be much better if readers complete Quid Pro Quo, Take it Off, and Payoff first.

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Cover art by L.C. Chase depicts a gold stopwatch on the black background which ties the Market Garden series stories together. And, though the cover is very sharp, I’m disappointed that it wasn’t a wristwatch which would represent the main character in this story—the man who was called Rolex in the first three books.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 219 pages
Published July 13th 2015 by Riptide Publishing (first published July 12th 2015)
original title On the Clock
ISBN13  9781626493261
edition language English
series Market Garden #8
Market Garden seriesFor love or money . . .

Welcome to Market Garden, a London club that caters to the better-off. Businessmen and bankers come here to relax and indulge in their every whim and fantasy, and Market Garden offers it all in top-shelf quality: threesomes, voyeuristic pleasures, domination, ropes and camo and leather. Men of every stripe, colour, and nationality deliver these high-end services—everyone has their reasons to sell sex. And it’s the hottest sex in town.

And sometimes, it’s even served with a side of true love.

Books in this series are:
Quid Pro Quo (Market Garden, #1)
Take It Off (Market Garden, #2)
If It Flies (Market Garden, #3)
If It Fornicates (Market Garden, #4)
Capture & Surrender (Market Garden, #5)
Payoff (Market Garden, #6)
If It Drives (Market Garden, #7)
If It Drives (Market Garden, #7)
Tristan & Jared
On the Clock (Market Garden, #8)

A Sammy Review: Tin Man (Bliss #1.5) by Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Everything in his life that should have been profound had been nameless. Life and death, fucking and killing—it should have been profound. It should have resonated. He wanted it to, with Ace. He just wanted something to matter, for once.

Tin Man coverAshoka “Ace” King is known as a crim, as are most people living in District Three. Between Morality Laws and rules that target those without jobs or homes, life in Tophet isn’t easy for those not in the upper realms of society. On top of it all, they all have to be on the constant look out for the ATU, a police force known to kill at random.

One unlucky night, Ace runs into a member of the ATU. He’s forced to make a split-second decision that puts his life in danger and makes him a target for the ATU. What he doesn’t expect is for that decision to lead him to Soren Lau, the ATU agent who just couldn’t seem to pull the trigger when ordered.

After a sordid tryst, the two become irrevocably entwined. But they’re on two different sides, and when fate brings them together yet another time, they both have to make a choice and decide which side they want to end up on.

“What would you do?” he asked. “If you were me, standing at the edge of the world. Would you run back toward solid ground, or would you jump?”

“I caught you once, didn’t I?”

One of my favorite things in books is when they are able to build this world that feels so vivid it’s nearly tangible. I was hoping to get that out of this book, and I did. The authors managed to weave in details of life in Tophet without making the book heavy with them, they intrigued me as a reader and made a society that I felt lucky to get to see and lucky to not have to live in… or do I?

Sometimes I think I can read a bit too much into things. My career involves social justice and advocacy, so upon reading this, bells went off in my head. A society where the people meant to protect us are causing harm, particularly to those in poverty? A society that marks people as criminals like it’s a brand that will forever be embedded in their skin? A society divided not by right and wrong but by the money in your pocket? So yeah, let’s just say I connected with that, and as much as it pained me, it was so wonderfully done. This society that is labeled as dystopian but somehow resembles bits of our own? If that’s not intriguing and thought-provoking, I don’t know what is.

But onto other matters, the characters. Ace and Soren together managed to create this almost devastating couple that shouldn’t work but did. Soren is questioning his role and all he’s dedicated himself to, and Ace is struggling just to survive. But these characters are anything but weak. Being able to watch them in their own battles was a real treat, especially when it resulted in their growth.

My absolute biggest complaint is that I wanted more. It ended just as it was getting good, and while I was satisfied to an extent, I definitely will be wanting more not only of this universe, but also these characters. Where do they go from here? I don’t know. I hope that I’ll find out though.

I really appreciate the cover art by L.C. Chase. It is very simple but provides a stark image and helps me visualize Soren without giving me all the intricacies of detail that readers like to fill in for themselves.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 134 pages
Expected publication: July 20th 2015 by Riptide
ISBN139781626493285
edition languageEnglish
seriesBliss #1.5

Tin Man by Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau – A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Must Read!

 

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Tin Man (Bliss #1.5)
by Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau

Riptide Publishing
Goodreads Link – Add It To Your Bookshelf
Cover Artist:  L. C. Chase

Sales Link:  Riptide Publishing  |

We have Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau here today to talk about Tin Man, their latest release.  Need a new book to read? Check out Tin Man by Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau – A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Must Read! And don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered in the tour contest!

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Hi! Welcome to Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau’s blog tour for our new release, Tin Man. We’re visiting some of our favourite blogs around the place to talk a bit about writing Tin Man, and sharing some of our influences, our ideas, and even an excerpt or two! Don’t forget to leave a comment, for your chance to win prizes!

Today we’re sharing an excerpt from Tin Man. In this excerpt, Soren is back at headquarters after his encounter with Ace, and afraid his superiors will find out exactly what happened:

 Excerpt from Tin Man:

“Rookie? Hey, rookie, you still with me here?”
Soren swayed a little as Ruby helped him out of the back of the truck. His boots hit the ground, jarring his bones.
“Come on,” she said. She unhooked her water bottle from her belt and gave it to him. “You got yourself a nice concussion, rookie. Don’t pass out on me.”
It wasn’t his concussion making him dizzy. It was fear. Soren unscrewed the lid of the bottle and took a mouthful. He swirled it around and spat. The water stained the asphalt black. Soren watched it spread into the tiny cracks and slowly bleed away.
The rest of the team headed for the showers and locker room. One or two of them clapped him on the shoulder as they passed, but most didn’t. Soren glanced at Ruby, at his helmet held under her arm, and wondered what the feed had showed Command.
He took another swig of water and washed his mouth out again.
She took the bottle from him. “Let’s get you to the medical unit.”
He followed her inside. The sudden shift from sunlight to shade blinded him for a moment, and he didn’t know if Ruby’s hand on his shoulder was to guide him or restrain him. He blinked, waiting for the world to come back into focus, waiting for the blue shapes burned on his retina to vanish.
She steered him down the corridor.
Inside the medical unit, Captain Bernhardt was waiting with the doctors. “Lau.”
“Sir.” Soren tried not to read anything into the way that the captain’s gaze slid slowly over him. How much did he know? The worst thing he could possibly do, Soren knew, was to start offering up excuses too early. Innocent men didn’t do that. Only guilty men and weak men. In this place, they were the same thing.
“Clothes off,” the doctor said, stepping forward.
Soren bent down to remove his boots and socks. Then he tugged his shirt off and dropped it into the bag that the doctor held out. An evidence bag? God. His fingers fumbled with the button of his fly—all he could remember suddenly were Ace’s fingers sliding over his skin, making the muscles in his abdomen dance—then he shucked off his pants and underwear.
“Some abrasions and contusions,” the doctor said. “I’ll document them now and take the photographs in a day or two once the bruising comes up.”
He was talking to Captain Bernhardt, Soren realized, not him. Soren was a piece of evidence now. In some ways, it made things easier. It was useful to disengage himself from this for now, to move how the doctor wanted him to move, to stretch this way or bend that way, and not have to feel the humiliation a person might, with all these gazes on him. He was trembling, though. Couldn’t stop that.
“Hands on the edge of the table,” the doctor said. “Bend over.”
At least Ruby looked away for that indignity. Soren squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. Easy to submit to the humiliation of it when he knew it wouldn’t reveal anything incriminating. The fact that they were examining him there at all, though . . . Why do it in the first place if they didn’t suspect anything?
The doctor moved away at last. Soren straightened up and turned around again.
Then the doctor was back, with a swab. “Open your mouth.”
Soren caught Ruby’s gaze as the doctor poked the swab around. Did she guess why he’d washed his mouth out with her water? Why he’d done it twice? He watched as the doctor slid the swab into a plastic tube and had to fight the crazy urge to reach out and grab it back. There was no point panicking about what the swab might tell Command when his own words might condemn him yet.
Ruby looked away. Yeah, Soren was fucked.
“Okay, Lau.” Bernhardt held out a fresh set of clothes—a white undershirt and boxers. Nothing else.
Soren dressed. His body ached. The doctor didn’t offer him any painkillers, but it didn’t matter. Just because nobody had accused him of anything didn’t mean they weren’t suspicious. Didn’t mean he was in the clear.
Soren knew the worst was yet to come.
Blurb:

Petty thief Ashoka “Ace” King knows better than to get in the way of Tophet’s Anti-Terrorist Unit. Rightfully feared in Tophet’s crime-ridden underbelly, a face-to-face encounter with an ATU is almost certainly a death sentence. But Ace has never been one to follow the rules.

Soren Lau might be an ATU rookie, but he’s not naive enough to believe everything his superiors tell him. Then again, he’s not stupid enough to disobey them, either. If he doesn’t shoot and kill as ordered, he might be next on their list.

But when Soren meets Ace, a moment’s hesitation is all it takes to put both their lives on the line. They don’t know each other, they don’t trust each other, and there’s no way in hell they can both walk away from this alive. But with suspicion and mortal danger mounting against both of them—and the forbidden attraction blazing between them—there’s nothing they can do but try.

Tin Man is out on July 20. You can order it now at Riptide.

Author Bios:

Lisa Henry

Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.

Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.

She shares her house with too many cats, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.

Connect with Lisa:

Blog: http://www.lisahenryonline.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LisaHenryOnline
Goodreads: http://http//www.goodreads.com/LisaHenry

Heidi Belleau

Heidi Belleau was born and raised in small town New Brunswick, Canada. She now lives in the rugged oil-patch frontier of Northern BC with her husband, an Irish ex-pat whose long work hours in the trades leave her plenty of quiet time to write.

She has a degree in history from Simon Fraser University with a concentration in British and Irish studies; much of her work centred on popular culture, oral folklore, and sexuality, but she was known to perplex her professors with unironic papers on the historical roots of modern romance novel tropes. (Ask her about Highlanders!)

When not writing, you might catch her trying to explain British television to her newborn daughter or standing in line at the local coffee shop, waiting on her caramel macchiato.

Connect with Heidi:

Blog: http://www.heidibelleau.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/HeidiBelleau
Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/heidibelleau
Email:  mailto:heidi.below.zero@gmail.com

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Giveaway:

Each comment on this blog tour enters you for a chance to win a $20 Riptide credit and an ecopy of Bliss, the first book set in this universe. Entries close July 25, and contest is not restricted to US residents. Remember to leave your email address in the comments so we can contact you if you win!

It’s Back To Market Garden with Aleksandr Voinov and L. A. Witt’s On The Clock! (tour and giveaway)

 

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On the Clock (A Market Garden Novel) by Aleksandr Voinov and L.A. Witt
Published by Riptide Publishing

Cover Artist: L. C. Chase
Sales Link:  Riptide Publishing

 

 

Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/Aleksandr Voinov/L. A. Witt blog tour for the latest installment in the Market Garden series,On The Clock!

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Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of one eBook off each of our backlists (excluding On The Clock) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 18th, and winners will be announced on July 19th. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Please include your email so we can contact you if you win! Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Blurb:

When Blake Raleigh’s favorite rentboys retire from Market Garden, they’re sure their friend Jason will be a perfect replacement. Though Tristan and Jared are a tough act to follow, Blake returns to London to test out their recommendation.

Jason is right on the money. Negotiations turn him on. Getting paid turns him on. The higher the stakes, the hotter things get. Each trip to London is more expensive than the last, and the webcam sessions don’t run cheap, but Jason is well worth the sticker shock.

The more time they spend together, the more Blake wants, and not just sex and transactions. But Jason’s been burned before by men who thought they were in love with him, and he’s not making that mistake again. When the lines between personal and professional start to blur, it’s going to take more than money, jewelry, and sports cars to keep Jason from clocking out and walking away.

Author Bios:

Aleksandr Voinov

EPIC Award winner and Lambda Award finalist Aleksandr Voinov is an emigrant German author living near London, where he works as a financial editor. His genres range from science fiction and fantasy to thriller, historical, contemporary, thriller, and erotica. His books were/are published by Random House Germany, Samhain Publishing, Riptide Publishing and others.

If he isn’t writing, he studies hypnotherapy, explores historical sites, and meets other writers. He single-handedly sustains three London bookstores with his ever-changing research projects. His current interests include special forces operations during World War II, the history of chess, european magical traditions, and how to destroy the world and plunge it into a nuclear winter without having the benefit of nuclear weapons.

Connect with Aleks:

Website: aleksandrvoinov.com
Blog:   “http://www.aleksandrvoinov.blogspot.com/
Twitter: “http://www.twitter.com/aleksandrvoinov”
Goodreads:   “http://http//www.goodreads.com/Vashtan”

L. A. Witt

L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who has finally been released from the purgatorial corn maze of Omaha, Nebraska, and now spends her time on the southwestern coast of Spain. In between wondering how she didn’t lose her mind in Omaha, she explores the country with her husband, several clairvoyant hamsters, and an ever-growing herd of rabid plot bunnies. She also has substantially more time on her hands these days, as she has recruited a small army of mercenaries to search South America for her nemesis, romance author Lauren Gallagher, but don’t tell Lauren. And definitely don’t tell  Lori A. Witt orAnn Gallagher. Neither of those twits can keep their mouths shut . . .

Connect with L.A.:

Website:   “http://www.loriawitt.com/”
Author Blog:   “http://gallagherwitt.blogspot.com/”
Personal Blog:   “http://navywifeadventures.blogspot/”
Twitter:   “https://twitter.com/GallagherWitt”
Facebook:   “http://www.facebook.com/pages/L-A-Witt-MM-Fiction/187063289526”
Goodreads:   “http://http//www.goodreads.com/GallagherWitt”

 

About the Market Garden Universe

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For love or money . . .

Welcome to Market Garden, a London club that caters to the better-off. Businessmen and bankers come here to relax and indulge in their every whim and fantasy, and Market Garden offers it all in top-shelf quality: threesomes, voyeuristic pleasures, domination, ropes and camo and leather. Men of every stripe, colour, and nationality deliver these high-end services—everyone has their reasons to sell sex. And it’s the hottest sex in town.

And sometimes, its even served with a side of true love.

  • If It Flies (A Market Garden Tale by Aleksandr Voinov & L.A. Witt
  • Quid Pro Quo by Aleksandr Voinov, L.A. Witt
  • If It Drives (A Market Garden Tale) by Aleksandr Voinov, L.A. Witt
  • Capture & Surrender (A Market Garden Tale) by L.A. Witt, Aleksandr Voinov
  • On the Clock (A Market Garden Novel) by Aleksandr Voinov, L.A. Witt
    – See more at Riptide’s Market Garden Universe page.

 

Get Hot and Sexy with Cari Z’s Where There’s Fire (Panopolis #2) (giveaway)

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Where There’s Fire (Panopolis #2) by Cari Z
Published by Riptide Publishing
Release Day:  July 13, 2015

Cover Artist: L. C. Chase
Pre-Order/Sales Link:  Riptide Publishing

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STRW Author BookSynopsis

Making a name for myself as a Villain in Panopolis is hard work. Six months ago, my boyfriend broke me out of jail. Now he’s spending most of his time defending our turf against other Villains he accidentally freed along with me. And my new psychic powers are not only impossible to control, but they’re also giving me migraines.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. My skills are improving every day, and Raul—aka the Mad Bombardier—and I have never been happier. That is, until my first solo job is interrupted by a mysterious woman who tells me that Raul has been kidnapped by a ruthless new Villain. The only way to free him is to do a job for Maggot, a man with scary ideas and an even scarier superpower.

I can’t go to the cops or a Hero for help. Odds are they wouldn’t listen to me anyway. If I fail, Raul will be killed. If I succeed, we’ll both be bound to a man who’ll stop at nothing to put Panopolis on the path to civil war.

It looks like the only way to win is to take out the competition.

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

Cari Z was a bookworm as a child and remains one to this day. In an effort to combat her antisocial reading behavior, she did all sorts of crazy things, from competitive gymnastics to alligator wresting (who even knew that was legal!) to finally joining the Peace Corps, which promptly sent her and her husband to the wilds of West Africa, stuck them in a hut, and said, “See ya!” She also started writing, because some things she just thought she could do better. She’s still climbing that ladder, but can’t stop herself from writing, or from sharing what she creates.

Cari enjoys a wide range of literary genres, from the classics (get ‘im, Ahab) to science fiction and fantasy of all types, to historical fiction and reference materials (no, seriously, there are so many great encyclopedias out there). She writes in a wide range of genres as well, but somehow 90% of what she produces ends up falling into the broad and exciting category of m/m erotica. There’s a sprinkling of f/m and f/f and even m/f/m in her repertoire, but her true love is man love. And there’s a lot of love to go around.

Cari has published short stories, novellas, and novels with numerous print and e-presses, and she also offers up a tremendous amount of free content on Literotica.com, under the name Carizabeth.

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Connect with Cari:

Website: http://cari-z.net/
Blog: http://carizerotica.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/author_cariz

Cari is Riptide’s author of the month! Read her interview on Riptide’s website: http://riptidepublishing.com/authors/cari-z

STRW Spotlight Contest Header

The winner of the Where There’s Fire blog tour will work with Cari to name a character in the next Panopolis novella! Comment on this blog tour to enter in the drawing. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 18. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Please leave your email in your comment so we can contact you if you win!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. 

 

Panopolis Universe

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Panopolis, the City of Heroes: a place where exciting things happen every single day. Things like mad science, reckless public endangerment, corporate espionage, and political puppetry.

You’ve got to wonder, why would anyone ever want to move here?

And once they get here, why would they ever want to stay?

Maybe for the excitement of watching real super-powered Heroes battle it out with Villains every day—preferably from a few hundred yards back. Maybe for the chance to become one of those Heroes, brave and stalwart and always doing the right thing.

Or maybe . . . just maybe . . . some people stay because they prefer to take their chances with a Villain or two.

Books Include to Date:

A Stella Review: For Real by Alexis Hall

Rating:  5 stars out of 5

For Real coverLaurence Dalziel is worn down and washed up, and for him, the BDSM scene is all played out. Six years on from his last relationship, he’s pushing forty and tired of going through the motions of submission.

Then he meets Toby Finch. Nineteen years old. Fearless, fierce, and vulnerable. Everything Laurie can’t remember being.

Toby doesn’t know who he wants to be or what he wants to do. But he knows, with all the certainty of youth, that he wants Laurie. He wants him on his knees. He wants to make him hurt, he wants to make him beg, he wants to make him fall in love.

The problem is, while Laurie will surrender his body, he won’t surrender his heart. Because Toby is too young, too intense, too easy to hurt. And what they have—no matter how right it feels—can’t last. It can’t mean anything.

It can’t be real.

Usually I don’t read books this long (this one is 437 beautiful pages), cause they always dragged at some point during the story. Not For Real by Alexis Hall. I was caught in the MCs’ lives till the end, there wasn’t one little moment of boredom. I didn’t want to put it down and I could have going on for another 400 pages. I felt everything Laurie and Toby felt, almost if I was there in their amazing world.

Of course I didn’t expect anything other than perfection from Alexis Hall. Recently I realized that he could simply write my favorite pie recipe and turn it in a masterpiece. He not “just can write”, there a lot of authors that can really write, he writes magically, everything is so poetic, even the smallest and stupid description of something you could have thought useless for the purpose of the story. The use of words in the descriptions and the reality of this story were two elements that made this book a winner to me. Even if the story flows easy, still I found it complex and that was what I appreciated more.

For Real is definitely not the usual BDSM story, the way in which the roles were defined plus everything was one continuous discovery. And not just for the young Toby, too young to know how to express himself in his desire of dominate Laurie. This was a dynamic I hadn’t read yet, at first it almost sounded strange to me but then I got it. I understood that the author gave me Toby and Laurie, two real characters, both full of flaws but true in their feelings. Their story was complicated, sweet and hot. Moreover I so appreciated to be able to know every little detail that went on in their minds.

As I said a complex book with a beautiful happy ending. I already know I’m going to reread it very soon because the positive, happy vibes it gave me are addictive. For Real deserves absolutely a spot on my fave shelf. Not a crumble less than 5 stars!

Cover art by Simoné. I love this artist style, it’s magical and dreamy. This cover is perfect and fitting in every detail. I especially love the colors and all that light coming from the windows. Just like the book, it’s real.

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

Book Details:
Published June 1st 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ebook, 437 pages
ISBN13 9781626492790
Edition Language English

Spires Universe:
Glitterland
Waiting For The Flood
For Real

What’s this “Spires” thing?

Author Alexis Hall: My feeling is that even contemporary-set romance stories to an extent take place in imagined worlds. So even though they’re not direct sequels to each other, my contemporary romances often have overlapping characters, ideas and settings. Spires is how I refer to this collection of thematically linked but otherwise standalone stories.

Love A Sexy Historical Romp? Turn to Bound with Passion by Megan Mulry! (and a chance to win a Kindle)

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Bound with Passion by Megan Mulry
Published by Riptide Publishing
Release Date: July 6, 2015

Cover Artist L. C. Chase
Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing

I discovered author Megan Mulry and the Regency Reimagined series with her book, Bound to be A Groom, a wildly funny and imaginative  sexual romp! Now Megan Mulry is back with another  story in this universe, Bound with Passion.  It gave me a chance for a interview and a closer look at this terrific author.

 My Interview with Megan Mulry on Passion, Historical Fiction and Regency Romance!

Q.  I love how you combine your passion of history and a certain era with your passionate and unusual couples and their relationships. What was the inspiration behind using that era?

I’ve always loved Regency romances, so it just made sense that when I tried my hand at writing historicals, they would take place in that time period. And for some reason when I write in a historical world, I feel freer to explore all these ‘passionate and unusual couples’ so it all kind of fell together.

Q. What was your inspiration for your characters?

I tend to find inspiration everywhere I look: Georgie was (fictionally) inspired by Judith McNaught’s Whitney, My Love as well as real life British adventuresses like Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), Lady Hester Stanhope (1776-1839), and Freya Stark (1893-1993). I was fascinated with all sorts of elements of these real-life women while writing Vanessa, Nora, Georgie, and Selina.

Q. Why polyamory? Why use that in a M/M historical romance or do you consider this a LGBT historical romance?

I think all my characters are pansexual, rather than M/M or F/F or MMFF or what-have-you. I think Riptide has done a great job of embracing all of that. Yes, if the primary characters are in a lesbian relationship when the story takes place (like in Bound with Love), then that book will be marketed as lesbian fiction, but both of those women also had relationships with men in their pasts. I guess I think my characters fall in love with each other’s minds or humanity, and it doesn’t really matter if they are male or female falling in love with male or female. And, consequently, if/when they are attracted to both men and women, well, polyamory is kind of…necessary.

Q. What era would you choose to live in other than our current one?

Maybe 700 AD Japan, when women still held equal power, but with a timeslip that would grant me access to 100% effective birth control.

Q. Some lovers of M/M fiction don’t want to see a M/F or F/F element in their stories. The same probably goes for those lovers of F/F romance. What is your response to that?

I think people should read what they love, but… if we never try something new, we might be missing out on more to love! I used to read only literary fiction because I didn’t think I would like romance (and look how that turned out!) You never know until you try, right? That said, I’m not a proselytizer by nature so I don’t ever like to tell people what to read or not read. For me personally, I love watching people fall in love on the page, and over time it’s come to matter less and less whether they are male or female. Even so, I totally respect that the gender of characters is a powerful part of why others enjoy a book. To each his own!

Q. What you do like to read? What are you currently reading now?

I read romances almost all the time, with a smattering of nonfiction about the history of sex or, rarely, literary fiction. I just finished Alisha Rai’s “Serving Pleasure” (be still my heart for tortured artist Micah Hale!) and am now reading Mary Balogh “Only Enchanting”. I also love vintage Harlequin Presents and have about 30 of those lined up to read over the rest of the summer.

Q. What’s next for Megan Mulry? Any more in this series?

The last book in this series comes out in August (Bound with Honor) and then that is it for now in the Regency Reimagined fictional universe. I have three other major projects that I’ll be writing over the next year, and a contemporary romance, Encore, coming out in December 2015.

Thank you for having me!

The pleasure is ours, thanks for stopping by.

 

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About Bound with Passion….

Lady Georgiana Elizabeth Cambury has been a “wild romping girl” all her life: dressing in trousers, riding astride, and doing just fine, thank you very much. Her father’s exceedingly generous bequest—and her mother’s liberal views of the world—have ensured that Georgie will never be a slave to the barbarous institutions of marriage or motherhood. Or so she thinks.

When she returns from five years in North Africa to boring Derbyshire for a brief, obligatory family visit, she finds herself in the midst of a legal snarl involving Mr. James Rushford and Lord Trevor Mayson—neighbors, lovers, and her two closest friends. Mayson’s father has declared that he must marry or forfeit his vast inheritance, so Georgie blithely offers to walk down the aisle, in name only. Problem solved.

But try as she might, Georgie cannot ignore the passion that quickly blazes between all three of them. When her marriage of convenience turns into something much deeper, Georgie must decide if she is willing to give up the independence she has fought so hard to achieve—or if love is worth the ultimate surrender.

Read an excerpt here at the Bound with Passion page at Riptide Publishing.

About Megan Mulry!

Megan Mulry writes sexy, stylish, romantic fiction. Her first book, A Royal Pain, was an NPR Best Book of 2012 and USA Today bestseller. Before discovering her passion for romance novels, she worked in magazine publishing and finance. After many years in New York, Boston, London, and Chicago, she now lives with her family in Florida.

Connect with Megan:

Website: http://meganmulry.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4123439.Megan_Mulry
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meganmulry
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/meganmulrybooks/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeganMulry
Email:mailto:megan@meganmulry.com

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Giveaway:

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a 6” Kindle! Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 11. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Don’t forget to add your email so we can contact you if you win!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Winner chosen and prize provided by the author and Riptide Publishing.

Regency Reimagined (Universe)

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Regency Reimagined invites you to enter a sensual realm that defies the rules of polite society, where convent girls are more than curious, and dukes and earls are eager to oblige them—and each other. Pull back the curtain . . . and step into a passionate world that knows no traditional bounds.

Bound to be A Groom

Bound with Love (A Regency Reimagined Story)

Bound with Passion (A Regency Reimagined Novel)

Bound with Honor (A Regency Reimagined Novel)