Category: Riptide Publishing

A Sammy Review: Closing the Loop by Jane Davitt (a Double Dipping Review)

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

“You’re attractive, somewhat needy, and emotionally bruised. Eat and get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow you can begin your holiday properly. I’ll stay out of your way and make it easy.”

“You sound like a doctor, not a lawyer. Got a broken heart? Take two pills with every meal and apply the ointment sparingly.”

ClosingTheLoop_400x600Coming off a nasty breakup (and spending the past years with a guy who was not worth even a quarter of that), Lee’s determined to enjoy his vacation – even with said ex on board.

After pulling strings and getting a little lucky (or a lot), he’s able to switch rooms. He’s surprised when he gets to his cabin to find the handsome, demure Cole – the same man he had helped get on the ship in the first place. Maybe it’s a sign, but at first, Cole doesn’t seem too open to the idea of fun, which makes no sense for a cruise like this.

Even though neither of them were looking for any sort of lasting relationship, fate may just have other plans, if they can make it through the roadblocks (or icebergs) it throws in their way.

I had you for no time at all and it’s like you were always there and now you’re not and I’m not handling this well at all.

I’m sad to say that, at the moment, I’m feeling a bit underwhelmed by Closing the Loop. I went into it expecting something kind of fun and light, which isn’t necessarily something I usually go for but was kind of looking forward to, and instead, I got an odd mix of… I’m not really sure what.

There’s some heavy subjects just kind of tucked in there and while they didn’t really bother me, I can’t say I felt they added anything to the plot. It could be that I lacked a connection to the characters on the level where something like what was going on with Cole would’ve made an impact on it. Instead, it all felt so strange and out of place. Most of all, what we did get from those experiences felt like it hovered on the surface. I feel like if you’re going to throw it in, you really need to go all the way with it, and I’m not sure the author succeeded in that for me.

It’s unfortunate, too, because as I’m sitting here, I don’t feel any particular way about the characters in general. I won’t remember them come tomorrow or the next day. What I will remember though is those leather gloves. I can say for certain that I won’t be able to look at leather gloves the same way again. The sex in general was pretty delicious, though not the hottest I’ve read in recent memory. It kind of fit the theme of just okay.

The premise in general was interesting. A gay cruise? Yay. The execution and some of the choices just fell short for me personally, but it may hit for other readers.

The cover art by L.C. Chase is nice and in general fits the story, though I don’t actually recall the characters lounging lack that, and I’m not sure I’d think of Cole as the kind of man to wear bright yellow swim trunks after reading the book. So it works, but not completely.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 150 pages
Published May 25th 2015 by Riptide Publishing (first published May 23rd 2015)
original titleClosing the Loop
ISBN139781626492813
edition languageEnglish

Dive Into Love with a Side of Kink with “For Real” by Alexis Hall (giveaway)

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For Real by Alexis Hall
Published by Riptide Publishing

Cover by Simone
Release Date: June 1, 2015

Sales Link:  Riptide Publishing

Alexis Hall quickly became one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words “Must Have, Must Read” Authors with his stories Glitterland, Waiting for the Flood (both Spires universe books),  and Sand, Ruin and Gold.  Now comes another standalone novella in the  Spires universe, For Real released June 1st.

Check out this wonderful author below and don’t forget to enter the giveaway by leaving a comment at the end.  Make sure to include your email address where you can be reached if chosen.

About For Real…

Laurence 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.

ForReal_200x300Book Details:

Author: Alexis Hall
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62649-279-0
eBook and  print release: Jun 1, 2015
eBook Formats: pdf, mobi, html, epub
Print ISBN: 978-1-62649-280-6
Word count: 125,000,Page count: 437
This title is part of the Spires universe.
– Read an excerpt at Riptide’s For Real book page.

About Alexis Hall

Alexis Hall was born in the early 1980s and still thinks the 21st century is the future. To this day, he feels cheated that he lived through a fin de siècle but inexplicably failed to drink a single glass of absinthe, dance with a single courtesan, or stay in a single garret.

He did the Oxbridge thing sometime in the 2000s and failed to learn anything of substance. He has had many jobs, including ice cream maker, fortune teller, lab technician, and professional gambler. He was fired from most of them.

He can neither cook nor sing, but he can handle a 17th century smallsword, punts from the proper end, and knows how to hotwire a car.

He lives in southeast England, with no cats and no children, and fully intends to keep it that way.

Connect with Alexis:

Website : http://www.quicunquevult.com/
Blog:  http://www.quicunquevult.com/blog
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/quicunquevult
Goodreads:  http://http//www.goodreads.com/alexishall

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Giveaway

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a $15 Riptide store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 23. 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. Prizes provided by Riptide Publishing.

A Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Closing the Loop by Jane Davitt

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Closing the Loop coverJust as he’s finally ready to take a romantic Valentine’s Day gay cruise, travel agent Lee Jones discovers that his partner Ryan not only wants to have sex with other men while on the cruise, he’s already done so right under Lee’s nose. It’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back, and Lee dumps him, not needing to continue to put up with Ryan’s self-centered ways.

When he finds out Ryan is still planning to go on the cruise and share their room, a room Lee paid for, it just adds insult to injury, and Lee puts out the extra bucks to get half of the only other room available—the Presidential Suite. It turns out the other half is occupied by Joseph Cole, a gorgeous lawyer who was on the wait list due to Lee’s own work. Cole had come into the office during the previous week, wanting to get a spot on a fully booked cruise so Lee put him on the waiting list. As far as Lee is concerned, this is a win:win situation. Cole is hot, virile, wealthy, and just the thing to help Lee forget Ryan.

But Cole isn’t interested in the cruise so much as he’s interested in a young man on the cruise, and Lee is continually disappointed that he’s not the center of Cole’s attention. When Cole and Lee discover they have a bit of a kink for leather and spankings, they spend a night creating memories that Lee knows he’ll never forget. But, yet again, Cole’s attention wanders to the young man the next day.

Pushed to the limit, Lee confronts Cole and finally gets the answer. The young man is Cole’s nephew and is recovering from the death of his partner. Unfortunately, over the next few days, his behaviors interfere with the budding romance between Lee and Cole, and when a near-tragedy occurs, Cole has to leave the cruise to escort the boy home, and he departs, Lee loses all hope for any future contact. What happens next is not something I’m about to detail in the review due to spoilers, but it ultimately leads to a very definitely hopeful future for these well-matched men.

I enjoyed this story very much. The author allows the characters to explore their kinky side to the point where the story might be classed as light BDSM, yet she also gives them life beyond the bedroom. Their shared enjoyment of various activities, topics of conversation, and life circumstances all combine to make their compatibility very evident, despite the mismatch in their careers and economic status. . Their personalities are well-developed; their attraction to each other is believable; and the story is interesting and fun.

If you love contemporary M/M romance, you should enjoy this. The BDSM is light, so those who normally aren’t attracted shouldn’t have any major issues with it. Those who like it will enjoy the leather and spanking kink, and those who just want to find a good book to read at the beach should look no further.

Cover Art by LC Chase depicts a birds-eye view of two men lying on deck chairs on the balcony of their cruise ship suite. It’s very bright and colorful and beautifully sums up rest and relaxation in the sun.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 150 pages
Published May 25th 2015 by Riptide Publishing (first published May 23rd 2015)
original titleClosing the Loop
ISBN139781626492813
edition languageEnglish

A Sammy Review: Where There’s Smoke (Panopolis #1) by Cari Z.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

I mean, it was one thing to date the guy who’d keyed the principal’s car in high school, but another entirely to get together with someone who was rapidly climbing Panopolis’s Most Wanted list.

Where There's Smoke coverEdward Dinges has always been attracted to the super way of life in Panopolis. It’s a place where the Heroes and Villains meet on a regular basis and the society is as much based on presence as it is the economy. He’d always hoped to meet a hero, but he never dreamed of falling in love with a villain, and one day changes those expectations.

He’s just a guy working at a bank. Except that his boyfriend is a Villain with a thing for bombs and he’s got a Hero who seems to not think that having a boyfriend is a valid reason for the answer “no”. It’s just a matter of time until the world of good, evil, and just plain normal collide.

His eyes were fixed on me, glittering points of light within the matte-gray shadows on his skin. “I’m a bad man.”

“You’re a Villain,” I said. “But that doesn’t make you a bad person.”

So here’s the thing… I loved this! Plain and simple, it was just so much fun that I could hardly sit still from all the giddiness it brought me.

From the very first page (or, well, the dedication actually), I was sucked into this amazing and funky world that Cari Z. created. She took bits of reality and bits of all those fun comic books and movies we’ve all seen and then twisted it into this really fabulous story. In doing so, she was able to both reach deep into this theme and hit some of the topics we all wonder about (like who is the man behind the mask who ever fears) and add in some undeniable humor that again, we all think about (like how completely ridiculous some of the stories behind our favorite heroes and villains are).

She does a beautiful job of mixing characters that we traditionally shrug off as villains and making them real and human. They’re no longer these beings so far off that we can pretend are monsters (well, some of them, because I still think Pinball has some issues), but now they’re people like your brother or sister, your parents, your neighbors.

Maybe it’s not that our Heroes are perfect, maybe it’s that our legal system is broken in the same way they are.

The world felt so tangible to me, especially with the blog posts at the beginning of each chapter, which featured a really sincere and blunt look at the underpinnings of society in Panopolis. They were some of my favorite parts, as they really put things into perspective. I kind of want to know who is behind the blog posts, because I feel like they have an interesting story to tell.

I would’ve loved to see more of the relationship building between Raul and Edward in the beginning, but I was so enthralled by the general plot and world that it didn’t bother me too much. I just wanted to see more of the build up for them. We heard about it in passing, but only got a small glimpse, and I hungered for more. I also think the author could’ve pushed it more at times when it came to how conflicting feelings of love are with knowing what your lover does when he leaves, but that’s just me being picky.

I really hope there’s more than just one sequel, because I could get seriously into this world… like, I could bury myself in it and dance with glee. I’m seriously looking forward to the next one. Great read!

The cover art by L.C. Chase is quite nice. It definitely fits the identity of the Mad Bombardier and helps make it easier to picture him as a villain. My only complaint is the high contrast around the pants, but that’s more of a designers nitpicking than anything else. In general, it’s a lovely cover to pair with a kick-ass story.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 88 pages
Published April 27th 2015 by Riptide Publishing (first published April 25th 2015)
ISBN139781626492967
edition languageEnglish
seriesPanopolis #1

 

 

Its Danger and Love at Sea with Jane Davitt’s Closing the Loop! ( release day giveaway)

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Closing the Loop by Jane Davitt
Available from Riptide on May 25
Cover Art by L.C. Chase

Sales Link:  Riptide Publishing

A “closed loop” voyage occurs when a vessel departs from a port and returns to the same port upon completion of the voyage.

About Closing the Loop

A week on a tropical gay cruise is just what Lee needs after a bad breakup and a Canadian winter. It’s a shame his ex is on board, but Lee is sharing a cabin with Cole, a hot lawyer who—as luck would have it—is actually from Lee’s city. So when Cole unexpectedly awakens Lee’s kinky side, Lee begins to dream that they can actually take their shipboard romance home with them.
But Cole is keeping secrets involving a troubled young man on board the ship. And Lee, after his recent brush with betrayal, finds it difficult to trust Cole when he says Justin isn’t a rival.

Then he learns the truth and is also drawn into the tragic story. His dream vacation is in danger of turning dark, but he’s determined to navigate Cole and himself to a safe harbor before their blisteringly hot romance is lost at sea.

About the Author

Jane Davitt is English, and has been living in Canada with her husband, two children, and two cats, since 1997. Writing and reading are her main occupations but if she ever had any spare time she might spend it gardening, walking, or doing cross stitch. She’s recently taken up yoga and loves discovering her ability to bend.

Jane has been writing since 2002 and wishes she’d started earlier. She is a huge fan of SF, fantasy, erotica, and mystery novels and has a tendency to get addicted to TV shows that get cancelled all too soon.

She owns over 4,000 books, rarely gives any away, but is happy to loan them, and is of the firm opinion that there is no such thing as “too many books.”

Connect with Jane:
Website: http://www.janedavitt.com/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/janedavitt
Goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1563721.Jane_Davitt

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Giveaway

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a signed print copy of Lucky Strike. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 30. 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.   Prizes and contest provided by Riptide Publishing.

Let Love Find The Way with “Light A Candle” by VJ Summers (tour and contest)

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Light a Candle (Club Velvet Ice #4) by VJ Summers
Release Date: May 18, 2015
Publisher: Riptide Publishing

Cover Artist: L.C. Chase
Sales Links:   Riptide Publishing – All Romance (ARe) – Amazon

About Light A Candle…

Will broke Dusty’s heart their senior year. One unexpected moment of passion between them, and Will freaked out. Not only wasn’t he gay, but he wasn’t kinky either—or so he insisted to Dusty. Their long friendship ended, and Dusty was left with only bittersweet memories of their last movie night together.

Ten years later, out as gay and a Dom, Will auditions for membership at Club Deviant, only to find that he’s been assigned an all-too-familiar submissive. His scene with Dustin feels like fate, and he’s determined to get back what they once had—and more.
Dustin had buried the pain of rejection deep, but playing with Will conjures all his memories of that one electric moment they shared and the friendship it destroyed. He’s built walls around his heart high enough to keep out the Trojan Army, but together, he and Will may find the courage to move beyond their past and face their future together.

About Author VJ Summers

When not working the EDJfH (Evil Day Job from Hell), obsessing over whether her parents are getting enough to eat, obsessing that her kid is sexting the boyfriend, making coffee, drinking coffee, or feeding the two cats who allow her to live with them, VJ can be found reading or writing erotic romance—either solo as m/m author VJ Summers, or as the shorter, more quiet half of the “Violet Summers” writing team (the tall half is Sierra Summers).

VJ loves to hear from readers! You can find her at https://vjsummersandsmut.wordpress.com/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/VJsSmut.

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Giveaway

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a $15 Riptide store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 23. Make sure you include a email address where you can be contacted in the body of your comment. 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.  Prizes provided by the author and Riptide Publishing.

 

Book Details:

(Publisher’s Note: This is a heavily expanded and revised edition of Velvet Memories, previously published in 2011.) – See more at Riptide Publishing’s Light A Candle page.
Author: VJ Summers
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62649-286-8
eBook release: May 18, 2015
eBook Formats: pdf, mobi, html, epub
Word count: 35,200, Page count: 136
Type: Standalone,

A Sammy Review: Apple Polisher (Rear Entrance Video #1) by Heidi Belleau

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

If this is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

I don’t want to be right.

I want to be happy.

ApplePolisher_400x600Christian Blake has been trying to prove something to his mother for as long as he can remember. It doesn’t matter that she’s not even in the same country, or that he knows she’s wrong. The need to be more haunts him.

His life is all a very delicate balance of situations. He’s going to school to become a teacher, his aunt is sick, and he’s moving into a new place with people he’s never met. He doesn’t expect for the apartment to be full of temptations that could form a crack in his carefully constructed teacher facade. But Max, his roommate, well he’s one of the biggest temptations of all.

And then he’s confronted with more issues – like his aunt’s tanking porn store, and he’s forced to make choices and try to figure out how the balance he’s established can work when he’s a gay man in the teaching profession and working in a porn store. Overwhelming? Just a little.

This wasn’t reckless desire anymore, something Christian only acted upon because his life was going to shit. This was genuine want. He wanted Max. His body, his cock, his smile, his advice, his companionship. All of it.

Going into this, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I absolutely loved the premise behind it. Throw something that’s supposed to be forbidden at me (like a teacher working on a porn store) and I’m game. Some of the reviews made me a bit nervous, but I can honestly say that I’m glad I read it.

I found myself so enjoying the story, even when it made me frustrated. Take Max, for example. I know we’re supposed to be frustrated with Christian in this and his issues with being true to himself, but sometimes I struggled with Max’s method of pushing Christian. Was Christian right about the things he did? No, but I’m not sure it warranted Max’s reactions. Still, it worked for me because that’s pretty realistic of relationships. People suck sometimes. We still love them though.

A lot of the events really resonated with me too. Dealing with a family member with cancer, going to school, having all these stresses pile up at once and then having to worry about your image. It all sounds very superficial, but it’s a real problem so many people face, and I appreciated the author not shying away from that – though I do have some little nagging feelings about how the teaching profession seemed to be portrayed as a whole, and that’s part of what kept this rating from being higher.

But the sex, well that was steamy and delicious. I could’ve even stood to have some more, but that’s just me being needlessly greedy. I did feel the bit thrown in at the end with Max’s side career was a bit out of nowhere, but it was hot, so I got over it quickly. I would’ve loved to see it more fully developed though, especially with how Christian’s role in it comes into play. I feel like we only got a taste, and it was a yummy teaser, but I wanted more.

I also really enjoyed the side characters, who we get to see in future books, and that made me even more excited to read the next two books in the series! I can’t wait to see where she takes it. All in all, this was a fun, easy read that made me smile.

The new cover art by Vivian Ng is a lot of fun and compliments the story. After all, sweater vests play a bigger role than you may expect.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 230 pages
Published July 27th 2013 by Riptide Publishing
original title Apple Polisher
ISBN 1626490341 (ISBN13: 9781626490345)
edition language English