Category: Self Published

A 2 Book 2 Day Celebration! A.M. Arthur’s Foundation of Trust & Stand by You Book Tour and Contest!

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Get ready for a 2 book 2 day celebration.  Double your reading pleasure and double your fun with 2 books from A.M. Arthur!  Foundation of Trust and Stand By You!  Read the blurbs and excerpts, and don’t forget to enter the contest!  Happy Reading.

Book Name: Foundation of Trust & Stand by You
Goodreads Links:Foundation of Trust , Stand by You
Author Name: A.M. Arthur

Author Bio:

A.M. Arthur was born and raised in the same kind of small town that she likes to write about, a stone’s throw from both beach resorts and generational farmland. She’s been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long, in a losing battle to make the fictional voices stop. She credits an early fascination with male friendships (bromance hadn’t been coined yet back then) and “The Young Riders” with her later discovery of and subsequent love affair with m/m romance stories.

When not exorcising the voices in her head, she toils away in a retail job that tests her patience and gives her lots of story fodder. She can also be found in her kitchen, pretending she’s an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments.

Author Contact:

Contact her at am_arthur@yahoo.com with your cooking tips (or book comments). You can also find her online (http://amarthur.blogspot.com/), as well as on Twitter (http://twitter.com/am_arthur), Tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com/blog/am-arthur), and Facebook (A.m. Arthur). A.M. Arthur’s work is available from Samhain Publishing, Carina Press, Dreamspinner Press, and Musa Publishing.

  • Publishers:
    Foundation of Trust: Samhain Publishing
    Stand by You: Carina Press
    Cover Artist: Foundation of Trust: Lyn Taylor
  • Stand by You Sales Links:Barnes & Noble  Amazon
  • Foundation of Trust Sales Links: Samhain  Barnes & Noble  Amazon

FoundationOfTrust300Foundation of Trust Blurb:

David Weller thought he had it all—a loving partner who gave him a ring, a steady job he didn’t hate, and so much hope for the future. But in the wake of a devastating diagnosis, everything he thought was solid and real lay in pieces at his feet.
Four years later, he’s still sifting through the rubble of his life. His catering partnership occupies his days, while his nights are filled with dangerous sexual hookups and very bad decisions. Then the last person he ever expected to see again walks back into his life.

Owen Hart’s single biggest regret is the way he was forced to leave David behind—no explanations, no chance to make it right. Until now. Finally free of eight years of lies, Owen’s back for the only man he’s ever loved.

An incendiary encounter in a club proves that time hasn’t weakened their physical connection, but David’s wounds run deeper than Owen’s deception. And if David can’t first forgive, Owen doesn’t have a second chance in hell.

Warning: This book contains an Australian transplant with a head full of secrets, a party planner with enough baggage to sink a battleship, and a surly teenager who just wants them both to get over themselves.

 

Foundation of Trust Excerpt:


A shadow drifted across Owen’s face—the same shadow that had been there almost constantly that first year. An angry shadow that had diminished under the brilliance of their love for each other. “We had to, me and my son both. Michael was born Benjamin Hadley Swenson.”

“But why?” David needed to know why he’d been lied to for so long. Why he’d fallen in love with a man whose name he never really knew.

“To protect us from the man who killed Michael’s mother and grandfather.”

“You told me his mother was killed during a home invasion.”

“I used parts of the truth to fashion the lie. Makes it easier to remember. She was killed by a man who had no business in that house, but he wasn’t there to rob anyone. He was a dangerous man, and I did what I had to do to protect my son.”

Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

Blurb: Stand by YouStand By You_cover

Three months after his rescue from an abusive boyfriend, twenty-two-year-old Romy Myers has landed his first legitimate job—bussing tables at his friend’s new coffee shop. The job has brought him some stability after years of abuse have left him feeling damaged and broken. He’s working hard on his panic and social anxiety, and those things are often tempered by the big, burly presence of Brendan Walker.

From the moment ex-football player Brendan helped rescue Romy from his ex’s abuse, he’s wanted to protect him. And he does, from a distance, with joking text messages, a new gym routine to toughen him up and a genuine friendship. So far it’s been easy—but Brendan’s feelings aren’t just friendly anymore…

When an argument spirals out of control, a hot and heavy make-out session causes Romy’s friendship with supposedly straight Brendan to reach a new level. The last thing Romy wants is to fall for another guy who could potentially shatter him, but Brendan also wakes up a part of him he thought had been destroyed by violence—his heart.

Excerpt: Stand by You

“So make a plan for yourself.” Romy was getting excited over the idea of Brendan going back to college—maybe because Romy had never gone and probably never would. He didn’t even have his GED. And here he was giving Brendan career advice when the longest job he’d ever held in his life was as a hooker. “Figure out what it will cost to go back and finish. Figure out how you’ll save the money. Nothing is impossible, Bren, not if you want it bad enough.”

Brendan looked at him, chocolate brown eyes catching his, and something in that moment changed. Like a snap or a zing, Romy couldn’t describe it. Only that his words had touched something in Brendan, and that something leapt across the space between them and right into Romy. His pulse raced.

Oh crap.

Romy broke eye contact first, using the untwisting of his bottle cap as an excuse to kill the odd charge between them. Not happening. Not again, and not with Brendan. Brendan wasn’t even gay!

Was he?

Tour Dates/Stops:

BadgeAMArthur10/20: Emotion in Motion, Multitasking Mommas
10/21: Amanda C. Stone, MM Good Book Reviews
10/22: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Velvet Panic
10/23: Wake Up Your Wild Side, Smoocher’s Voice
10/24: The Novel Approach
10/27: Hearts on Fire, Because Two Men Are Better Than One, The Blogger Girls
10/28: Iyana Jenna, Foxylutely Book Reviews
10/29: Love Bytes, My Fiction Nook
10/30: Prism Book Alliance, Cathy Brockman Romances
10/31: Parker Williams
11/3: Book Reviews and More by Kathy, All I Want and More Books
11/4: LeAnn’s Book Reviews
11/5: Havan Fellows
11/6: Romance the Night, Queer Town Abbey
11/7: Crystal’s Many Reviewers

 

Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: PDF copy of Foundation of Trust.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. This is a M/M Romance.  Use the Rafflecopter link below to enter and for all additional contest details.

Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Back Into the Outback with N. R. Walker and her Red Dirt Heart Series! (tour and contest)

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N. R. Walker’s Red Dirt Heart series has turned out to be one of my latest obsessions.  I love every part of this series from the location to the characters and even the animals you meet along the way.  Now N.R. Walker has released the third installment, Red Dirt Heart 3.  Here is your first look at this must read series and book.  And don’t forget to enter the contest too.  Who doesn’t want a stuffed wombat of their own or a copy of this story?

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I was thrilled to have a chance to “talk” to N.R. Walker, ask  a bunch of questions about the series, LGBTQ rights in Australia, and all things Aussie in general. It was a great interview. Here’s your chance to get to know this fabulous author a little bit better:

My N. R. Walker Interview

Q  I love this series and characters.  Where did the inspiration come from for Charlie and Travis?

N. R. Walker:  Aw, thank you so much! I had seen some pictures from an R.M. Williams clothing catalogue and just knew they were these boys. It fit them perfectly. I love writing these Australian Outback characters. I grew up in regional Australia (not the Outback) so I can relate to the people in these books. Every character is a little slice of someone I’ve known in real life.

Q  Since there is a real “Sutton Station”, have you visited it and experienced the red dirt for yourself?

N. R. Walker:  I did base Sutton Station on a real, working station in the Outback. You can see it here .  Though you’ll need to zoom riiiiiiight in. I based my fictional property on this location, not size.

I have been through the Outback, many years ago. Though it’s not a place that leaves you in a hurry. And I will say, the fine red dirt gets into everything. Every. Thing. Lol

I have climbed Uluru (back when it was known as Ayers Rock and it was climbable) and visited Kings Canyon. Quite a remarkable place.

Q .  The scenes with Matilda and now Nugget are adorable and yet so real.  Did you visit or have any experience with animal rehabilitation facilities for kangaroos and wombats?

 N. R. Walker: Not in the rehab facilities as such, but we had a pet kangaroo when we were kids. Growing up in a small rural Australian town, caring for sick or injured wildlife is common. I did a little research on proper care of joeys (both kangaroo and wombat) but most of what I wrote was just what I knew.

Q  Is there a set number of stories for this series or is it open ended?

N. R. Walker: There will be 4. I’m almost done writing book number four now, and I expect it to be released early 2015. I have no plans for more Charlie and Travis after that, but I do like to never say never. 😉

Q.  The current state of equality in Australia seems to go along the lines of state rights in the US regarding marriage and adoption. There is no gay adoption in the Northern Territory where the Sutton Station resides or gay marriage in Australia. Will that play out in the stories to come?

N. R. Walker:  It is something the boys discuss and encounter in book 4. I haven’t actually written that part yet, so I can’t say for certain exactly what will come of it, but yes, it is in the series.

Q. How do you feel about the status of LGBTQ rights in your country and do you feel stories such as yours help to bring greater acceptance? Australia has one of the biggest gay Pride events in the world.  Have you ever been?

N. R. Walker: I went to Sydney Mardi Gras a LONG time ago, and I’ve only been once. I’d love to get there again.

I hate that Australia is so behind in equality. I think we will need a change of Prime Minister before we see any move forward. Our current PM is a giant setback for a lot equality in this country.

I’d like to think my stories bring greater acceptance, and I’ve had people write to me and tell me they appreciate my ‘voice’ which has been lovely. I figure if I can make acceptance and understanding start in my house and bring my kids up to believe as such, then I’ve done my job.

Q.  Your favorite place you would want tourists to see in Australia?  What would you want them to experience and take away with them?

N. R. Walker: Oh, wow. There really is too much to see in Australia. LOL We have deserts, rainforests, coral reefs, beautiful cities and rolling country sides. I love it all for different reasons. I’ve seen a lot of Australia, and I’d have to suggest that people get off the tourist tracks and meet some genuine Aussies.

Q.  I love that we experience two national views that are so similar in some respects with Charlie and Travis.  It is a wonderful aspect to this story that we get the “insiders” and “outsiders” perspective on life on the farm and the Northern Territory.  Did you plan that from the beginning?

N. R. Walker:  It wasn’t really planned, but I have LOVED writing the differences between Aussies and Americans. I have a good friend in California who I talk to all the time and we quite often joke at the differences between us, even though we both speak English. And being an Aussie who has written mostly American characters for years, it’s been fun having the characters bicker about different word uses. I think it gives them a sense of realism.

I have loved writing in Australian English. And funnily enough, I have found myself having to change words back to “Australian” because I’m so used to writing “American.”

Q.  What would be a Australian comfort food?

N. R. Walker:  Well, that can vary from house to house given we’re such a diverse country. But I’m a seventh or eighth (not sure exactly) generation Aussie. My ancestors came out here from Ireland with the convicts LOL. So a “comfort food” for me would be maybe corned beef and béchamel sauce, or a pot of tea and something sweet like a cake or slice.

Q.  If you have a favorite childhood book, what was it and how did it impact your writing. today.

N. R. Walker:  I loved The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I’m not sure it impacted my writing, just my love of reading

Q.  What’s next for the Red Dirt Heart series and N. R. Walker?

N. R. Walker:  RDH4 is next. I would also like to get a short Christmas story out, and I have my next novel planned/outlined in my head. It’s a sci fi-ish vamp story which is not normally thing but these characters are not letting me get out of writing it. I will look at and aim to have between 6-8 releases next year, but looking at my very blank 2015 yearly planner, it feels a little ambitious.

Thanks for having me here today. Great questions

STRW:  Thanks for the great interview.  It’s been a joy.  Now for all you readers, here is a look at Red Dirt Heart 3!

Charlie Suttontravis craig

Red Dirt Heart 3

 Travis and Charlie

Book Name: Red Dirt Heart 3

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23155382-red-dirt-heart-3
Author Name: N.R. Walker

Author Bio: Who am I?

Good question…

I am many things: a mother, a wife, a sister, a writer.

I have pretty, pretty boys who live in my head, who don’t let me sleep at night unless I give them life with words.
I like it when they do dirty, dirty things… but I like it even more when they fall in love.

I used to think having people in my head talking to me was weird, until one day I happened across other writers who told me it was normal.

I’ve been writing ever since…

Author Contact:

  • Website: nrwalker.wordpress.com.
    Facebook: N.r. Walker
    Facebook Fan Page: N.R. Walker Author
    Twitter: @NR_Walker
    Email: nrwalker2103@gmail.com

Reddirtheart3300Publisher: N.R. Walker
Cover Artist: Sara York

Pre sales Link:  Amazon  All Romance eBook

Red Dirt Heart 3 Blurb:

Life for Charlie Sutton has never been better, or busier. With Travis now a permanent fixture of Sutton Station, a permanent fixture at Charlie’s side, Charlie’s convinced he couldn’t do anything on his ever-growing to-do list without him.

He can run a multimillion dollar cattle business, finish his degree, try and further the local beef industry, deal with staff issues, Ma’s failing health, and an attention-demanding wombat. He can even deal with an unexpected visitor and some shattering news. 

He can deal with it all, as long as he has Travis.

But what happens when he doesn’t?

Red Dirt Heart 3 is the story of Charlie Sutton finally realizing he can be the man Travis Craig deserves, even if he doesn’t have Travis. It’s a story of love, family, holding on, letting go and coming home.

Red Dirt Heart  #3 Excerpt:

We climbed into the ute and Travis drove, only mumbling under his breath once or twice about what side of the road he was on. I thought we were headed to find something to eat, but he pulled up at a pet store.

“What are we doing?”

“You’ll see,” was all he said as he was getting out.

I followed him into the pet shop, past the puppies, fish and birds down to the kennels and produce. When he stopped at cat beds, I shook my head. “Oh, no no no. We’re not getting a cat. We used to have one, it lived in the shed and the bloody thing was feral.”

He didn’t even look at me. “It’s not for a cat, Charlie.” He picked up a cushion-box looking thing with a hole in the front. The label called it a cat igloo. “It’s for your damn wombat.”

“Oh,” I said brightly. “Well, that’s okay then.”

He pushed Nugget’s new bed into my chest. “So he sleeps in his bed, not ours.”

A sales guy, about eighteen years old, walked up and was looking at us funny. He probably just heard what Travis said, and I didn’t care. I just shrugged, guessin’ that I’d come a long way in the last six months. “How did I know he’d think it was playtime?”

Travis sighed and turned to the sales assistant. “Do you have any feed pellets for wombats?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Wombats?”

I nodded. “Yep, you know, ‘bout this big,” I held up my hands to show him, “shape of a brick, cute little thing.”

Travis took a god-fucking-help-me breath. “About a year old, pain in the arse, stubborn as hell, boot-chewin’, gets into everything type of wombat.”


Tour Dates/Stops:

RDHBadgeOctober 17: SA McAuley, Because Two Men Are Better Than One, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Rainbow Gold Reviews
October 20: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
October 21: Love Bytes, Hearts on Fire
October 22: Nic Starr, Jade Crystal, Wake Up Your Wild Side
October 23: Nephylim, Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, Emotion in Motion
October 24: Amanda C. Stone, My Fiction Nook, Prism Book Alliance
October 27: Fallen Angel Reviews, Parker Williams
October 28: MM Good Book Reviews, Multitasking Mommas
October 29: Smoocher’s Voice
October 30: BFD Book Blog, Queer Town Abbey

 

 

 

Nugget toyContest: Rafflecopter Prize: One of 3 e-copies of Red Dirt Heart 3 or a stuffed wombat toy! (I want that toy!). So must be 18 years of age or older. Use the Rafflecopter link provided to enter and for all additional contest details. Did I say I wanted that toy? sigh. But only you all can enter…

Rafflecopter Code:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

In The Spotlight: Varian Krylov and Bad Things (interview and contest)

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There are bad boys and then there are the predators.  Here to tell us the difference is Varian Krylov and the release Bad Things.

Book Name: Bad Things
Goodreads  Book Link:
Author Name: Varian Krylov

Author Bio:

Growing up near Los Angeles, I spent much of my time frolicking in the Pacific Ocean and penning angst-twisted poetry. Now I’m living in sunny Spain writing pathos-riddled fiction.
I’ve always loved the music and substance of words, always loved writing in well-worn notebooks by hand, tapping at the keys of the computer, and, of course, conjuring up stories.

And from my earliest memories, I’ve always been fascinated—maybe obsessed?—with sex and sexuality.
In my writing, sex is the medium, the expression, and the tool of discovery for my characters’ insecurities, the needs that drive them, the comfort they can’t live without, the joy and relish of life that makes each of them intense, strange, and alluring.

Author Contact:

variansfiction@yahoo.com
https://www.facebook.com/varian.krylov
http://variankrylov.blogspot.com.es/
Twitter: @VarianKrylov

BADTHINGS-a-jayscoverdesignsSmallTitle:  Bad Things by Varian Krylov
Publisher: Smashwords
Cover Artist: Photographer: Ekaterina Zakharova; Cover design: Jay Aheer

Sales Links:  Smashwords    Amazon

Bad Things Blurb:

Xavier makes a lot of people nervous. The rest, he flat-out scares. More than his hulking, tattooed body, it’s his predator’s gaze that makes people feel vulnerable, as if he had the power to read their thoughts and see their soul. For his lovers, it’s Xavier’s ravenous appetite for all things carnal—for the taste of flesh under his tongue and the feel of a trembling body under his control, for whispered pleas and muffled cries—that makes him dangerous.

But recently, driven by a festering rage against the men who attacked his sister a decade ago, Xavier has developed a taste for a different kind of hunt and conquest: stalking men who do truly bad things and punishing the predators he sniffs out. The problem with vigilante justice, though, is sometimes the man in your trap is innocent.

Carson suspects he’s playing a risky game with dangerous men. But the lies are convincing, especially when they’re slipped to him among hundred dollar bills. He never guessed how big and dark the secret hidden under all the lies and money could be. And he has no idea he’s not the predator, but the prey, until it’s too late.

And you can’t beg for mercy when there’s a gag in your mouth.

But when Carson escapes from Xavier’s trap, he’s forced to accept that Xavier is far from his most dangerous enemy. Xavier may even hold the key to overcoming the painful past that has kept Carson prisoner for almost two decades.

Book Categories: BDSM, Romance, Contemporary, Crime Fiction, M/M Romance, Erotica, Menage/Poly, Thriller, Fiction

 Bad Things Excerpt:

When Xavier moved in, Carson struggled against the restraints. “Fucking . . . Come on. This shit’s not funny anymore.” Pleading gaze upturned from under his dark lashes.

Xavier laughed. “What’s that look?”

“Come on, Xavier. I know I fucked up. Of course you’re mad. But . . . come on. We’re . . . ”

“What are we, Carson?”

“I thought we were . . . ”

“Did you think we were friends?” Xavier laughed. “Did you think that you sleeping on my couch and cooking me a couple meals makes us friends?”

He breathed in the smell of him. Nervous sweat rising over the scent of soap. He caressed his cheek.

Carson went dead still, then tried to mold his frightened expression into sternness. “You could go to jail for this.”

Carson’s whining was getting on his nerves. Xavier lifted the lid on the chest of dark brown leather and took out the ball gag. Too funny, that perplexed expression on Carson’s face, then horrified incredulity as he figured it out. Sitting on his thighs, gazing into those shimmering blue pools of terror, Xavier got it on him before he could complain much more.

Xavier grinned. “You’re not the first guy I’ve had cuffed to this post. And that gag in your mouth isn’t the only toy in my box of treasures. But it is one of my favorites, because it means I don’t have to listen to a bunch of whining and begging. I mean, I love whining and begging. I get hard for whining and begging. But only for the first few minutes. Then it gets incredibly fucking tedious.

“But the thing I really love about the gag is, it’s so much easier to get to know someone when they’re being quiet. Just watching their face. Looking into their eyes. Without a bunch of blah, blah, lies, blah, blah rationalization to muddy the truth.”


Tour Dates/Stops:

9/22: Rainbow Gold Reviews
BadThingsBadge9/23: Velvet Panic, Multitasking Mommas
9/24: Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings
9/25: Cathy Brockman Romances
9/26: Michael Mandrake
9/29: My Fiction Nook
9/30: Amanda C. Stone
10/1: It’s Raining Men
10/2: Romance the Night
10/3: Queer Town Abbey
10/6: Decadent Delights
10/7: Wake Up Your Wild Side
10/8: MM Good Book Reviews
10/9: The Novel Approach
10/10: Parker Williams, Iyana Jenna
10/13: Nephylim, The Blogger Girls
10/14: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
10/15: Love Bytes
10/16: Inked Rainbow Reads
10/17: Prism Book Alliance, Dawn’s Reading Nook

Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rafflecopter Prize: Ebook copy of ‘Bad Things’ by Varian Krylov

A MelanieM Review: The Broken Road Cafe (The Broken Road Cafe #1) by T.A. Webb

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Broken Road Cafe coverFor years Daniel O’Leary worked hard to have it all.  Determination and a ruthless focus on his goals saw him  through college, law school and a job at a prestigious law firm where he made partner in a meteoric rise to the top.  All before the age of 35.  Along the way he remained close to his college best friend and found  love with an artist.  Now 10 years later, Dan has been feeling unsettled, as if having everything he wanted was not enough.    The fates heard him and in one day time, Dan lost everything.  His lover, his best friend and his job and partnership at the law  firm.

Vowing to use the shocking events of the day as a springboard to something new, Dan heads out to a small town near Stone Mountain, Georgia.  From the moment Dan steps into the town of Blue Ridge, he feels free and at home.  A new life beckons with the purchase of a local cafe,  which Dan renamed The Broken Road Cafe.  Blue Ridge’s  Sheriff, Nick Oliver,  is gorgeous, irritating, and also deep in the closet.  Surprisingly (or not) Dan finds himself falling for the Sheriff, the town’s people and life lived at a slower pace.

But people and problems have a way of refusing to be left behind as Dan learns to his dismay.  Dan wants a new start, a new life and perhaps even a new love. Now If only Dan’s his past will let him go forward into his future.

How do I love this story?  Let me count the ways!  The  outstanding characters, the intimate location and settings, the humor and of course, the wonderful plot…all courtesy of T.A. Webb, a masterful storyteller at it again with this latest release and new series.  T.A. Webb is an automatic must read, must have author for me.  And this new story, The Broken Road Cafe is a shining example why he should be yours as well.

Starting with one of the main characters,  Daniel O’Leary, Webb pulls us into the mind and life of this intelligent, moral, if somewhat ruthless lawyer, a man who worked relentlessly through the years to obtain his law degree,  earn a stellar reputation as a lawyer, and partnership  by the age of 35 at one of the most prestigious law firms in Atlanta.  His support consists of his amazing assistant, Charity, George his best friend of 20 years and George’s partner and not much else.  Oh, and his live in love too.  The author brings Dan’s emotional and mental state alive on the pages as Dan muses over his recent irritability with his job and life.  Still, Dan is going through his normal routine, when a moment of spontaneity and surprises start the avalanche that will destroy Dan’s life in just one day.   Webb makes us feel every shocking moment of every minute of the events that break up Dan’s life and perceptions of the people around him.  It’s raw, and painful, and sobering.

Then as Dan begins to gather the courage to move away and go forward, we are next to him in the passenger seat of his beloved Mustang as he heads out of Atlanta and finds himself in the small town of Blue Ridge, a place that will change his life as it works itself into our hearts.  T.A. Webb knows small town life and its all here, the pluses and the minuses, the intimacy for good and bad.  And its exactly what Dan needs.  What a believable journey this becomes for Dan and the reader.  It’s full of humor, self depreciation, wise cracks and the caring the pops up when you least expect it but need it the most.  I heart this town and its people.  And it rings with an authenticity that anyone who lives in or is familiar with small towns, especially those in the South will recognize.

Another huge piece of this heartwarming, complex story is town Sheriff Nick Oliver.  Nick is the town’s “hero”, that one person who is the town’s moral compass and go to guy no matter what the crisis.He is also just happens to be hiding the fact that he’s gay.  From everyone, including his huge and loving family.  One initial encounter with Dan upsets Nick’s carefully crafted status quo.  As you can imagine, any relationship between a man proud to be out and gay with someone deep in the closet is one strewn with problems, arguments, and adjustments. Especially as each man has erected their own barriers against love and another relationship.  It’s a marvelous dance that will ensure that the reader enjoys it almost as much as the men involved.

But it’s not just the dynamics between Nick and Dan, but all the other towns people as well that draws the reader in.  The Mayor of Blue Ridge and local real estate goddess, Patsy, is as warm, intelligent and complex character as Charity, the wry, brilliant, and scary personal assistant. I love it when the female characters are as well written and deeply layered as the men.  And with these two gems, the reader has two strong women to fall in love with as they add luster and depth to each scene they appear in.  In fact, this story and series is chock full of delights, in characters, plot surprises and a dialog that  snaps and sizzles with the verbal sparring southerners are so  good at.

I highly recommend The Broken Heart Cafe to all readers, lovers of romance, crystalline characterizations and a addicting setting that will have you wanting to make travel arrangements.  T.A. Webb’s title came from a well known country song, “God Bless The Broken Road”:

“Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars

pointing my way into your loving arms” – Robert E. Boyd, Marcus Hummon

Its so perfect for the story, for the characters, and for this series that works its way into heart to stay.  Pick it up and begin your journey to Blue Ridge, Georgia and The Broken Road Cafe.

Cover art by Laura E. Harner.  Sexy, hot, but I miss a sense of location and characters.

Sales Links:     All Romance eBooks (ARe)        Amazon        Broken Heart Cafe

Book Details:

ebook, 143 pages
Published November 3rd 2013 by A Bear on Books (first published November 2nd 2013)
ISBN139781310557057
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe Broken Road Cafe #1

The Broken Road Cafe series to date in the order they were written and should be read:

The Broken Road Cafe #1

Brothers In Arms, Broken Road Cafe #2

Go Behind Closed Doors with Andrew Q. Gordon and his release, A Closed Door (book tour and contest)

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Andrew Q. Gordon is here today with his latest release, A Closed Door.  Be sure to read the blurb and  excerpt today and don’t forget to enter the contest for a $10 Amazon gift card.  Link provided below at the end of the post!

Book Name: A Closed Door
Author Name: Andrew Q. Gordon

Author Bio:

Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high tech. Adapting with technology, he now takes his MacBook somewhere quiet when he wants to write. He currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his partner of eighteen years, their young daughter and dog.  In addition to dodging some very self-important D.C. ‘insiders’, Andrew uses his commute to catch up on his reading. When not working or writing, he enjoys soccer, high fantasy, baseball and seeing how much coffee he can drink in a day and not get the shakes.

Author Contact:

Twitter: @andrewqgordon
https://www.facebook.com/andrewqugordon

A Closed Door CoverTitle: A Closed Door by Andrew Q. Gordon
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing
Cover Artist: Lily Velden and Jay Aheer
Sales Links:   Wayward Ink Publishing  Amazon US  Amazon UK  Amazon Australia  Amazon DE  Amazon CAN

A Closed Door Blurb:

Outted at thirteen, Orin Merritt left home after high school hoping to escape the hell his life had become. Ten years later when a tornado destroys his childhood home and kills his parents, Orin finds himself in an entirely new nightmare. One he can’t run away from.

Blaming himself for failing the two people who always loved and supported him, he returns home and confronts his past in the person of his one-time best friend, Thomas Kennett.  Thomas not only rejected him when Orin came out, he led the group that tormented Orin into leaving.

As he struggles to deal with his grief, Orin also labors to fulfill the pledge he made to his parents before their death.  In the process, Orin learns that sometimes when you go away to find yourself, you leave the answers you’re looking for behind.

A Closed Door Excerpt:

“Orin, I won’t.” Thomas stood a bit straighter and his eyes lost the sad, pleading shine. “I won’t hurt you again.”

“You can’t promise that. Things happen.” Orin watched as his words dragged Thomas back from the brink of hope.

“If you truly believe that, then there’s nothing I can do. You have to believe there’s a chance or else I can’t prove it.”

“That’s not what I’m telling you.” He locked his gaze on Thomas’s. “If I say yes, I’ll have to take down the walls I surrounded my heart with to keep it safe. Once it’s gone, I won’t be able bring it back if I get hurt. Not now.

“So what I’m saying is, think about what you’re asking me to risk. If you really love me, ask yourself if are you willing to risk what will happen to me if you can’t keep your promise.”

He knew how unfair he’d been, but self-preservation had been a skill he’d honed over the past fifteen years. He needed Thomas to know just how serious the repercussion could be for his actions.

“Orin, I . . . I . . . how . . .?” Their faces were inches apart, and Thomas moved in for another kiss.

This felt different than the first—less urgent, but no less intense. Orin trembled at the leap he was about to take. When they stepped back, Thomas rubbed his thumb across Orin’s cheek.

“I do love you, Orin. More than I can say. So much, that I’m not willing to risk what will happen if I fail you again. I don’t have that right.”

Thomas’s lips quivered and the tears welled at the bottom of his eyes. He kissed Orin’s forehead gently.

“Good-bye, Orin. Please be happy.” Without looking back, Thomas walked to the front door, opened it, and walked away.

ACDBadgeTemplateTour Dates: October 10, 2014

Tour Stops: Parker Williams, Love Bytes, Inked Rainbow Reads, The Hat Party, Cate Ashwood, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Prism Book Alliance, Full Moon Dreaming, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Multitasking Mommas, Regular Guys, Hot Romance, Nephylim, Louise Lyons, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, MM Good Book Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Fallen Angel Reviews, 3 Chicks After Dark, Jade Crystal, Amanda C. Stone, Foxylutely Book Reviews, Iyana Jenna, Because Two Men Are Better Than One, Smoocher’s Voice, Michael Mandrake, Rebecca Cohen Writes, BFD Book Blog

Contest: Rafflecopter Prize: $10 Amazon Gift Card. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Use the Rafflecopter link provided to enter and for all additional contest details.

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A MelanieM Review: Red Dirt Heart 2 (Red Dirt #2) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Red Dirt Heart 2Charlie Sutton had lived a quite, solitary life on his family’s ranch, the Sutton Station, one of Australia’s Northern Territory’s largest farms.  It’s harsh desert landscape and couple million acres of red dirt,  and scorching sun made his self isolation as easy as hiding his sexuality. It was a situation that Charlie had gotten comfortable with, even loved at times.

Then a Texas agronomy grad, Travis Craig appeared in his life by means of an international diversification education program and nothing was ever the same.  Now Charlie’s life is lively, crowded,  upended and confused.  Travis is proudly gay and crazy about Charlie just as Charlie is about him.  Six months of having the one thing he never thought possible is making Charlie happy, and throughly scared.  And all the confusion, self doubts, and questions about their future is starting to make Charlie feel trapped in a way he never felt before.

As problems communicating and issues of exposure rise, one big question looms on the horizon.  Will Travis stay or will he go?

 

The saga of Charlie Sutton, Travis Craig and the Sutton Station continues and happily, it has just grown in dimension and complexity with this new installment.   I fell in love with Charlie, Travis, and all the inhabitants of the  enormous farm called Sutton Station in the first story, Red Dirt Heart 1 where N. R. Walker introduced us to the uncompromising, yet beautiful landscape of the Northern Territory in Australia.  Here the people and animals  inhabit a vast territory, living in some of the harshest conditions found on earth.  Brutal heat, a desolation that stretches for a million acres where nature, not people, make the rules and the cost of  disregarding them is perilous and often deadly.

Through vivid descriptions and a beautiful use of the Australian culture, language and lingo, Walker envelopes the reader once more into the remote world that is Sutton Station and the romance of Charlie Sutton and Travis Craig.  Just as making a living off under such uncompromising conditions takes work and communication, so do relationships.  That that’s where Charlie and Travis are having trouble.

Walker’s Charlie Sutton is a complex, wonderful character.  I almost wrote man because he feels so real and alive to me.  Charlie grew up under the less than benevolent parentage of a father as harsh as the land around them.  That voice that Charlie hears inside his head saying that “no fairy son of mine will ever run the station” is his father’s, a voice and bigoted outlook so ingrained into Charlie’s head and heart that he fears the very openness that Travis represents. The internal struggles that Charlie must work through are mirrored by the battles that must be fought externally in town and the other stations.  And no matter what front the battles are being fought on, internal or otherwise, it always comes across as believable, immediate, and powerful.  Since the story is told from Charlie’s pov, the reader is there for every skirmish, all the mental and emotional arguments and musings running through Charlie’s head and heart as he tries to find a way forward and a future.   Walker had me so involved, so committed to Charlie and Travis that I couldn’t put this story down once I started.

And while its Charlie’s voice and thoughts we hear, we see, learn about and come to love all the others through his eyes.  Travis, of course, comes first.  A man of endless passion, movement, and need to being  doing, something, anything, his big open heart is one the reader finds easy to embrace.  Following quickly on his heels are Ma, George, Bacon, Trudy, Billy and Ernie.  Even those darn animals like Matilda the red kangeroo baby, Texas and Shelby, their horses, everything pours itself into your heart like the red dirt of Sutton Station, inescapable, memorable, and final.

In a funny and welcome addition, N.R. Walker lays out for the reader early on certain vocabulary and colloquialisms non-Australians will find necessary.  I started to correct realise to realize only to find out that no, realise is the Aussie spelling, not ours.  And our Mickey D’s?  Nope, that’s not what it’s called   down under, a funny scene I will let you find on your own. There is no part of this story and series that doesn’t have me seriously enraptured.  I want to go there. Pull on my Akubra and Driza-bone, take a ride in their utes, to experience the country and people I have met through the Red Dirt Heart series.

There are two more books to go, unless we can convince N. R. Walker to extend the series.  Red Dirt Heart 2, in fact the entire Red Dirt Heart saga, is one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Best of 2014.  And N. R. Walker  is now on my automatic author buy list.  Pick up these stories and start your journey in this remarkable land and it’s equally intrepid and complex characters.  You will laugh, your heart will hurt, and some tears are going to flow in joy and sorrow.  What a saga and series await you in Red Dirt Heart!

 Cover art by Sara York is wonderful in branding the series and showcasing the landscape.

Sales Links:   All Romance eBooks      Amazon         Red Dirt Heart 2

 Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 250 pages
Published August 17th 2014
ASINB00MT7VJZM
edition languageEnglish
seriesRed Dirt #2

Series to include 4 books that should be read in the order they were written and released for character and relationship development:

Red Dirt Heart 1
Red Dirt Heart 2
Red Dirt Heart 3
Red Dirt Heart 4

Find my author interview with N.R. Walker here.

 

 

Book Blast: Skylar Wood and her release “Jade” (tour and contest)

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Check out Skylar Wood’s latest story, Jade.  Read the excerpt and don’t forget to enter the contest below:

Book Name: Jade
Author Name: Skylar Wood

Author Bio:

Skylar Wood lives in the very beautiful, lively and fun filled City of Edmonton, Alberta Canada, where there is always something going on, summer or winter. She feels it’s a great place to be.

Skylar is a reading fanatic and only wishes she had more time to do it. Jade is her first venture into the writing arena. She says that writing is hard work but it’s a refreshing change from her nine to five job. It provides fantasy and escape. She truly enjoyed writing Jade, a lesbian romance novel, stating it was a neat sexual fantasy to explore through the pages of a book and that writing Jade and seeing it publication has been one of the best experiences of her life.

Author Contacts:

Title: Jade by Skylar Wood
Publisher: Dark Hollow Press
Cover Artist: 3 Rusted Spoons Cover Design

Sales Links: www.darkhollowspress.com

Beauty In DarkJade Blurb:

Jade Tanner appears to have it all. To the world she is a self-made billionaire and business woman extraordinaire. However, it’s lonely sitting atop the corporate world, and more and more Jade can’t help but feel empty inside.

A secret sexual fantasy life begins as she starts chatting online with a beautiful young escort named Twylla Star. Becoming deeply immersed in this fantasy world, her desire to meet this woman soon becomes so overwhelming that Jade finds herself booking a date with her.

Meeting the delectable Twylla in Las Vegas, Jade is unprepared for the impact Twylla has on her the moment she holds the other woman in her arms. What started out as an unfettered sexual weekend with someone she’d never seen again, suddenly turns into something more.

When lust turns to love, are they strong enough to let go of the past to build a future together? And what will happen when the real world comes crashing back in?

Categories: Contemporary, Lesbian Romance

Jade Excerpt:

Twylla reached over in the bed for Jade only to find she was gone. She got out of bed and stumbled into the washroom to splash water on her face and then went in search of Jade. She found her in the kitchen. She was surprised at the surge of tenderness she felt when she looked at this woman, busy on her laptop. She had never felt anything like this for a date before.

“Morning,” she said, reaching her arms around Jade and kissing her neck.

“Morning, beautiful,” she replied, then kissed Twylla on the lips.

Pulling apart, she glanced at the computer screen. The name on the email was Jade Tanner. Twylla’s heart almost stopped in her chest.

Could this be the Jade Tanner, the founder of Jade Cosmetics and Tanner Enterprises? If so the woman she had spent the night with was a multi-billionaire. She kept a very low profile, so Twylla didn’t know what she looked like and hadn’t connected the name with the cosmetics tycoon. She knew Jade was very publicly against porn, and the sex industry in general. It didn’t make sense that the Jade Tanner would hire her for sex. Maybe the name was a coincidence.

She thought of all the times she had dated older gross men hoping they would take her as their mistress or possibly even see her as a wife. All of them saw her simply as a whore they had purchased. With Jade it had felt different. They had connected immediately. Their lovemaking had been erotic, sensual and blissful. She had enjoyed Jade’s body just as much as Jade had seemed to enjoy hers.

Jade closed her computer. “I’ve made coffee if you want it.”

She most definitely did. Walking away from her, she was aware of Jade watching her. She knew the power of her beauty and sexuality. Leaning against the counter, she turned so her robe fell partially open giving a teasing glimpse of her breasts.

Tour Dates: October 7, 2014

Tour Stops:

Parker Williams, My Fiction Nook, Inked Rainbow Reads, Jade Crystal, Rainbow Gold Reviews, The Hat Party, Andrew Q. Gordon, Cate Ashwood, Prism Book Alliance, Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, All I Want and More Books, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Amanda C. Stone, Iyana Jenna, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Velvet Panic, Fallen Angel Reviews, Queer Town Abbey, It’s Raining Men, Michael Mandrake

Contest: Rafflecopter Prize: Copy of ‘Jade’ e-book. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Contest entry form and additional contest details to be found at the Rafflecopter link provided below.

Rafflecopter Code:

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A MelanieM Review: Red Dirt Heart (Red Dirt #1) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Welcome to Sutton Station: One of the world’s largest working farms in the middle of Australia – where if the animals and heat don’t kill you first, your heart just might.

Red dirt Heart CoverCharlie Sutton runs one of the largest working ranches in middle Australia, Sutton Station.   It is something he was born to do and Charlie can’t picture himself anywhere else even if he feels his sexuality would make him an outcast not only among the people he works among but the other stations and store owners he does business with as well.  The recent death of his powerful, overbearing father has done nothing to still his father’s voice inside his head that threatens his self worth and instills Charlie with a fear about being gay and out. Then a new arrival at the station upends the status quo, including Charlie’s perceptions of himself and the Sutton Station family.

American agronomy student Travis Craig arrives for a work study internship at Sutton Station.  Travis feels that his background as a Texas rancher and college area of study will help him fit in while hoping his studies will be beneficial to both countries.  While Travis expects to research how the Australian farmers make a living from one of the harshest environments on earth, he doesn’t expect to find that he learns to love not only the harsh beauty and red dirt of Sutton Station but Charlie Sutton himself.

Under the intense desert sun of the red dirt of Sutton Station, can two men find love and the ability to have a future together?

Readers, meet my latest obsession and its author, the Red Dirt Heart series by N. R Walker.   All it took was the first paragraph to pull me totally into the life of Charlie Sutton and the Sutton Station set in the Northern Territory (which is about the same size as Lebanon and based on a real working farm).  This author is amazing.  Walker manages to make the people and places in Red Dirt Heart so believable, so vivid, that you will feel the dust and heat enough to feel the need to brush the red dirt off the pages (or Kindle cover) as you read.

The story is told from  Charlie Sutton’s point of view.  That perspective enables Walker to bring all the Aussie terminology, colloquialisms, culture and frame of mind to life.  It also lets us into the heart and soul of this vulnerable, and marvelously complicated young man.  There is so much to Charlie.  From the insidious voice inside his head left by his father that tells him he will never be good enough or “man” enough to run Sutton Station because he is gay to the considerate, smart, and appealing person others find him to be.  What a  great character!

Travis Craig, is his equal in every manner.  A Texas agronomy student who is openly gay, Travis starts to upend Charlie’s life and life at the Sutton Station from the moment he arrives.  Travis not only works himself into Charlie’s heart but the readers as well.  Their dialog together is serious, humorous, and telling in its many meanings and impact.

Every aspect of life at Sutton Station comes across as authentic and real as the red dirt itself.  From Ma in the kitchen to the drovers that work for Charlie, the reader is immersed into the every day experiences of life lived seasonally and the hard work it takes to exist and succeed under some of the harshest conditions known.  It’s not just the romance but all the layers found here in this story and series that makes it work and  resonate deeply with the readers, myself included.   I did say it was my newest obsession, didn’t I?

Red Dirt Heart is that amazing self published story that you want to go telling everyone about.  I couldn’t put it down and then was lucky enough to already have in my possession the sequel to dive into once the first was finished.  And then I wanted more.  I wanted to move to Australia, experience the red dirt and vastness of the Northern Territory and wander until I found a Charlie and Travis of my own.  Trust me, you are going to feel the same.  The third story in the series is almost here.  Pick up the first two and get ready to fall in love with Charlie, Travis, and the Sutton Station itself.

Cover Artist:  Sara York.  I like it.  It works for the story and series branding.

Author’s Note: Please note: This book is set in Australia, using Australian English and lingo

Sales Links:    All Romance eBooks  (ARe)         Amazon                 Red Dirt Heart 1 $1.50 at Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 162 pages
Published February 20th 2014
edition languageEnglish
seriesRed Dirt #1

Books in the series to date in the order they were written and should be read to understand the relationships, events and characters:

Red Dirt Heart 1
Red Dirt Heart 2
Red Dirt Heart 3 to be released early October 2014

A MelanieM Review: Dead Things by Meredith Russell

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Devin never thought he could find hope or love among the ruins of a broken world. Not until he found Noah.

Dead-Things-ebookDevin Reed is one of the last survivors of a virus that has turned the earth’s population into living corpses…zombies.  Devin lives and conducts daily hunts from high security penitentiary in Kansas State that provides his group of survivors with shelter and security.   Devin returned from his last tour in Afghanistan to find the world gone mad.  He lost everyone he loved to the plague, including his long term partner and love.  Broken hearted and enraged by the circumstances he finds himself in, he risks his life daily to leave to hunt for supplies and any other survivors he can find.

One fateful scavenger trip changes everything when Devin and his partner check out what looks to be an abandoned farm house and find Noah Webber, the last of his family and the only person to survive a zombie attack.  Each man has lost so much, and their attraction to each other is bound up in each other’s survivor guilt and fear.  Together Devin and Noah unite to fight the monsters around them.  But it will take more than determination and firepower to win, it  might take finding the courage  to risk all for love and the hope of a future.

Just when I think I’ve about had my fill of all things zombie, along comes a story to remind me why this genre is so pupular.  Dead Things by Meredith Russell manages to combines  the heartbreak of loss, suspense, a post apocalyptic world, zombies and, of course, romance and has us sitting on the edge of our seats while doing it.

I especially liked her character, Devin Reed.  He is the epitome of a survivor, complete with a lost love, a sense of futility about the present and yet he endures and perseveres.  He’s also a warrior, hot, and gay.  Devin feels real,  he is shut down emotionally, allowing only the pain of loss or anger to penetrate the barriers he has erected again any further vulnerability.  There are other characters around that also seem authentic to the direness of the circumstances they find themselves in but Devin comes across as the most believable.

Noah Webber took longer for me to invest in.  His attitude seems at odds with his history and background.  And although we got a good explanation for his actions and outlook, it ended up irritating not only Devin but the reader as well.  Luckily for the story, that faded away under the onslaught of zombies and the events that occur.

Russell adds in high suspense, to go along with the anxiety of survival and the prickling of hope for the future.  The author solidly builds her story and keeps us guessing as we head into the climax and story resolution.  It’s fun, heartbreaking, white knuckle ride all the way to the end.  If you are a lover of zombies and post apocalyptic worlds to go along with your M/M romance, then add this to your TBR list.  It delivers what it promises. And that makes it one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words recommended reads.

Like most fiction of this trope, a small group of survivors has banded together in the most secure place they could find, a high security penitentiary.  This place has become their world, complete with a dictator who makes the rules and expects everyone to follow them.

Cover art by Meredith Russell.  Love the cover, it works perfectly for the character and gives a dark tone to the overall look.

Sales Links:  All Romance (ARe)       Amazon        Dead Things

Book Details:

book, Second edition
Published August 29th 2014 (first published August 2012)