| Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Ludo Giordano is trapped on the ward with a bunch of old men. His mind plays tricks on him, keeping him awake. Then late one night, a new face brings a welcome distraction. Their unlikely friendship is addictive. And, like most things in Ludo’s life, temporary.
Back in the real world, Aidan’s monochrome existence is no longer enough. He craves the colour Ludo brought him, and when a chance meeting brings them back together, before long, they’re inseparable again.
But bliss comes with complications. Aidan is on the road to recovery, but Ludo has been unwell his entire life, and that’s not going to change. Aidan can kiss him as much as he likes, but if he can’t help Ludo when he needs him most, they don’t stand a chance.
“Kiss me again…please?”
Oh, this was a wonderful story. Both Aiden and Ludo are “broken” in different ways but find acceptance and happiness with each other.
Aiden has lived his life just not caring about others but when he gets hurt on the job Ludo is his light while in the hospital. Ludo has lived a life where most people feel that something is wrong with him and doesn’t feel accepted but Aiden spends the time and care to show Ludo he is fine just the way he is. Maybe they were just doing their jobs but I did not like the nurses at the hospital and felt that they were judgmental of these two and didn’t seem to actually care about them.
I really like this author’s writing and how the characters were portrayed. I understand how hard Ludo’s life can be as I live with someone who is bi-polar, though I don’t know much about the mania he experiences. Aiden is grumpy and we can just see that he isn’t happy with life but does enjoy the work he does on the trees, I liked seeing the more cuddly side of him that came out with Ludo. We can see that Ludo just doesn’t expect anyone to stick around or accept him for who he is and I fully blame that on how his parents seemed to have treated him when he was younger and how judgy other people can be.
Cover art by Garrett Leigh is great and I think it works perfect for this story.
Sales Links: Amazon
Book Details: ebook, 227 pages Published: June 7, 2019 Edition Language: English
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Category: Uncategorized
Tree surgeon Aidan Drummond is content with his own company. He works alone, and lives alone, and it doesn’t occur to him to want anything else until a life-changing accident lands him in hospital. Then a glimpse of the beautiful boy in the opposite bed changes everything.Ashlyn Kane on the soundtrack for her new release Fake Dating the Prince (author guest blog)
Fake Dating the Prince by Ashlyn Kane
Dreamspinner Press
Publication: June 18th 2019
Cover Artist: Alexandria Corza
Sales Links: Amazon, Dreamspinner, Barnes & Noble, Indigo Books, Target
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Ashlyn Kane here today on tour for her new novel, Fake Dating the Prince. Welcome, Ashlyn!
Hi! I’m Ashlyn Kane and you’re here with me on Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words. Please join me in thanking our gracious hosts, Stella and Melanie!
Considering that I’m a romance writer, I sort of couldn’t believe I’d never really written something where someone really got swept off their feet—you know, in the silver screen way (apologies to Drew from His Leading Man). Mutual adoration and pining, sure. But the kind of contemporary story where an everyday character is introduced to a whole new world by a billionaire or a rock star or, oh, a prince—I hadn’t done that before.
Why haven’t I done that before?
Anyway, never mind, I’ve done it now. I present Fake Dating the Prince:
When fast-living flight attendant Brayden Wood agrees to accompany a first-class passenger to a swanky charity ball, he discovers his date—“Call me Flip”—is actually His Royal Highness Prince Antoine-Philipe. And he wants Brayden to pretend to be his boyfriend.
Being Europe’s only prince of Indian descent—and its only openly gay one—has led Flip to select “appropriate” men first and worry about attraction later. Still, flirty, irreverent Brayden captivates him right away, and Flip needs a date to survive the ball without being match-made.
Before Flip can pursue Brayden in earnest, the paparazzi forces his hand, and the charade is extended for the remainder of Brayden’s vacation.
Posh, gorgeous, thoughtful Prince Flip is way out of Brayden’s league. If Brayden survives three weeks of platonically sharing a bed with him during the romantic holiday season, going home afterward might break his heart….
If you like tropes like fake dating, “platonic” bed sharing, and royal scandals, this is the book for you.
And a grand, dare I say cinematic romance like this deserves to be scored like one, but unfortunately my composing abilities extend about as far as cheesy country songs. So without further ado, I present the unofficial Fake Dating the Prince soundtrack, with annotations.
- Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe.”
Because “Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but do you want to go to an extremely posh event hosted by the crown prince, who is me” is absolutely the vibe of this story. Even if it doesn’t quite scan. - From Disney’s Snow White – “Someday My Prince Will Come.”
When Brayden’s sister finds out he’s dating Flip—she doesn’t know that it’s all a ruse that got out of hand—she 100 percent rickrolls him, except the link is to this video on YouTube. - Sunidhi Chauhan – “Aaja Nachle”
I watched a lot of bhangra dance competitions on YouTube while I was writing. There’s only one actual scene where they dance it, but it’s so fun to watch that I ended up going down the YouTube rabbit hole a bunch of times. I’m a lousy dancer even by basic white girl standards—it runs in the family—which is maybe why, to me, dancing can be such an impossibly romantic activity. “Aaja Nachle” isn’t necessarily a romantic song to dance to—as I understand it, it’s a call to start dancing. In the story, dancing is the turning point where things are no longer black and white. Is this relationship still fake? Does either of them want it to be? - Whitney Houston – “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”
Flip has his work cut out for him softening Brayden up enough to fall in love. Brayden’s been single by choice since he was sixteen—he’s punishing himself for something and never lets himself get close to anyone for longer than a one-night stand. But does he want to dance with somebody who loves him? Of course. And Flip is just the prince charming for the job. - Billy Joel – “The Longest Time.”
I know, I know. I wasn’t actually even born yet when this song came out. But a) it’s catchy and b) it’s thematically appropriate—a song about a man who’s decided to take that chance and damn the consequences, it’s already worth it. That’s a romantic sentiment I (and Brayden) can get behind. - Queen – “A Winter’s Tale.”
It may be June now, but in the book it’s the dead of winter, and this song is perfectly atmospheric for a romantic surprise winter getaway—the sort you’d get taken on if a handsome prince wanted to sweep you off your feet, for example. (Hint: he does.) - From Frozen: The Musical – “Hygge.”
When I set out to write a book set in northern Europe in early winter, I knew that coziness was the name of the game. I have some experience with this firsthand—I lived in Dresden, Germany, for three years—so I had that to draw on for ways to make a dark, chilly place come across as warm and inviting. There are markets and festivals pretty frequently throughout the winter months, and mulled wine out with friends and slippers at home are key to feeling warm when it’s gray out. “Hygge” is sort of a silly song about things that do (and don’t) help a person stay cheerful in the winter months. (The song is itself quite hygge, IMO, but it can be an earworm. Probably not as bad as “Let it Go,” though.) - Golden Earring – “Radar Love.”
Because why shouldn’t Brayden’s love for his prince be the equivalent of the Bat Signal? And… well, spoilers. - Bonus track: Bruno Mars – “Marry You.”
Look, the classics are classic for a reason. And this one includes references to dancing and tequila, both of which are present in the book. Besides, every romance novel needs a happy ending!
Fake Dating the Prince releases June 18. It is available at Amazon, Dreamspinner, Barnes & Noble, Indigo Books, Target, and (this just tickles me, so I have to mention it) at the Dayton Public Library—so you’ll want to check your local library too!
ASHLYN KANE is a Canadian former expat and current hockey fan. She is a writer, editor, handyperson, dog mom, and friend—sometimes all at once.
On any given day she can usually be found walking her ninety-pound baby chocolate lapdog, Indy, or holed up in her office avoiding housework. She has a deep and abiding love of romance novel tropes, a habit of dropping too many f-bombs, and—fortunately—a very forgiving family.
Twitter: @ashlynkane
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ashlyn.kane.94
Website: www.ashlynkane.ca
Love Second Chances? Check Out the Release Blitz for Change of Heart by KM Neuhold
Change of Heart
KM Neuhold
M/M Romance
Release Date: 06.17.19
Blurb
Does my husband’s heart still miss me now that it beats in the chest of another man?
Lub-dub
A heartbeat more familiar than Easton’s own
Lub-dub
He vowed to love his husband until death do they part. And then the worst happened.
Lub-dub
His heart kept another man alive. River. A stranger in the world with Easton’s husband’s heart pumping the blood that warms his skin. Does his heart ever miss Easton without knowing why?
Lub-dub
Sweet, kind, beautiful, River. Easton never meant to meet him…never meant to know him…never meant to fall for him.
Lub-dub
Easton loved River’s heart long before he ever met him, but is it possible he’s falling in love with his mind and soul too?
***Change of Heart is a stand alone story with strong hurt/comfort themes, mild bisexual awakening themes, and a HEA
Universal Link: mybook.to/ChangeofHeart
Excerpt
He licks his lips, and I can’t take another second of not knowing what they taste like, what they would feel like against mine, so I lean in, closing the space between us. His breath fans over my lips, his eyelids lowering to half-mast as he waits to see what’s going to happen next. I’m not sure if I’m giving him time to push me away or simply savoring the anticipation—probably a little of both.
Easton makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, his nose brushing against mine before our lips are pressed together. Fully, firmly, irrevocably, I’m kissing a man, and my heart starts to soar. I drag my hands through his hair, grasping his head to pull him closer as our mouths move in tandem. There are no tongues, no groping hands or rutting bodies, like in my dreams; it’s simply our lips learning the feel of each other and somehow, it’s the hottest kiss I’ve had in my life.
When my lips part to deepen the kiss, the salty taste of tears finds its way into my mouth, and I pull back to find wet tracks down Easton’s blushing cheeks.
“Oh god, I’m sorry, should I not have done that?” I pull my hands away, my gut twisting with guilt at how much pleasure I took from a kiss he clearly didn’t want.
“No, it’s not you,” he assures me, reaching for my hand again and linking our fingers. “It’s…it’s complicated.”
“I’m the first person you’ve kissed since Paul?” I guess.
“Yes,” he admits. “But, it’s more than that.”
“Tell me?”
A sad smile crosses his lips, and he lifts his free hand to my face, cupping my jaw and dragging his thumb along my cheek. “God help me, I do want you.” His words almost seem more for himself than for me, but they light a desperate longing in the pit of my stomach.
“You can have me,” I whisper, turning my head and pressing a kiss to the pad of his thumb.
“Whatever is so complicated it can’t be more important than the way you make me feel. Tell me you feel it too.”
Author K.M. Neuhold is a complete romance junkie, a total sap in every way. She started her journey as an author in new adult, MF romance, but after a chance reading of an MM book she was completely hooked on everything about lovely- and sometimes damaged- men finding their Happily Ever After together. She has a strong passion for writing characters with a lot of heart and soul, and a bit of humor as well. And she fully admits that her OCD tendencies of making sure every side character has a full backstory will likely always lead to every book having a spin-off or series. When she’s not writing she’s a lion tamer, an astronaut, and a superhero…just kidding, she’s likely watching Netflix and snuggling with her husky while her amazing husband brings her coffee.
Out Now! Review Tour and Giveaway for Kiss Me Again by Garrett Leigh
Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link – Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow With Kindle Unlimited
Cover Design: Black Jazz Design
Length: 227 pages
Blurb
Tree surgeon Aidan Drummond is content with his own company. He works alone, and lives alone, and it doesn’t occur to him to want anything else until a life-changing accident lands him in hospital. Then a glimpse of the beautiful boy in the opposite bed changes everything.
Ludo Giordano is trapped on the ward with a bunch of old men. His mind plays tricks on him, keeping him awake. Then late one night, a new face brings a welcome distraction. Their unlikely friendship is addictive. And, like most things in Ludo’s life, temporary.
Back in the real world, Aidan’s monochrome existence is no longer enough. He craves the colour Ludo brought him, and when a chance meeting brings them back together, before long, they’re inseparable again.
But bliss comes with complications. Aidan is on the road to recovery, but Ludo has been unwell his entire life, and that’s not going to change. Aidan can kiss him as much as he likes, but if he can’t help Ludo when he needs him most, they don’t stand a chance.
“Kiss Me Again is a deliciously tender and prickly romance about the intimacy that comes with acceptance. Ludo and Aidan accept and love each other for exactly who they are—complications, injuries, mental health issues, moods—and I loved them for it.” — Roan Parish
Check out Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words review here.
Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.
Garrett’s debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.
When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.
Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.
Website: http://www.garrettleigh.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garrettleighauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh
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Pride Month Continues with Drag Queens! This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
Pride Month Continues with Drag Queens!
On June 27, 1969 and into June 28 at midnight, the NYC police entered the Stonewall Inn which was tightly packed that hot summer night. They had been harrassing the clientele before but this time was different. The night before, the police conducted a raid, arresting employees and taking away the Inn’s illegal stash of liquor. Now they were back. This time, arresting now only the regular patrons but targeting the drag queens and cross-dressing clientele because “masquerading” as a member of the opposite sex was a crime. The objective was to shutdown the Stonewall Inn permanently.
Instead, as we all know, the crowd erupted into a riot. Accounts differ over what exactly started it. Some say it was a drag queen who threw the first punch after the ” police roughed up a woman dressed in masculine attire (believed to be lesbian activist Stormé DeLarverie)”. Others say it was a cross dressing person of color. Either way, history was made that night and the fight for LGBT rights flew into the spotlight and into motion.
Drag Queens (and drag culture) …those fierce, wonderful, gorgeous magnificent forces to be reckoned with are present everywhere now. From fiction to tv to Broadway! From it being a crime to be fabulous and yourself in 1969 to being celebrated on the popular RuPaul’s Drag Race to appearing on Broadway in the terrific show “Cher” and everything in between, Drag Queens in every shape and variety are helping others and LGBTQIA rights move forward just as they did all those years ago.
Now I’m a huge fan of this show. I love seeing all the different expressions of Drag that the Queens reveal each season. Some are traditional some are extreme, some fall in between comedy and sultry. But all are showing us something amazing, something so wonderful and brave about themselves. Their stories are often as fierce as they are. And heartbreaking as well.
Love Drag Queens? Check to see if you have local drag shows to support or if any of your favorite drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race is coming to town in a show! Or check out some of these links below:
12 Types Of Drag Queens – Drag Official
The History Of Drag Queens And The Evolution Of Drag
Diva Royale Drag Queen Show | Drag Shows | RuPaul Drag Queens …
I love to read about them in my M/M fiction too.
Some of my favorite stories feature or include drag queens. I mean how do you not love Arthur from John Inman’s The Belladonna Arms series? He’s the heart of the series and that apartment building!
So yes, you know what I’m leading up to . Drag Queen M/M Recommendations!
Here are some of mine.
Drag Queen M/M Recommendations
The Belladonna Arms (5 books)by John Inman
Queens of the Apocalypse by Rob Rosen
Mary, Queen of Scotch by Rob Rosen
The Queen & the Homo Jock King (At First Sight #2) by T.J. Klune
Bad Dogs and Drag Queens (Rose and Thorne #1) by Julie Lynn Hayes
Kev Series by Liam Livings (from Suze)
Freak (The F-Word 2) by E. Davies (all recs from HB)
A Dirty Drag Collection (Dirty Drag 1, 2, 3) by Kyle Adams
What The Lady Wants by D.C. Juris
Sylver and Steele series by Mimi Riser
Le Jazz Hot by Clancy Nacht & Thursday Euclid
Appearing Nightly (Icon Men 2) by Cat Grant
Max & Skyler Series by Acer Adamson
Dressed to Thrill by Kimberly Gardner
Rayne’s Wild Ride by Jambrea Jo Jones
Leather+Lace (Opposites Attract 2) by A.B. Gayle
Embraced in Gold by T.A. Chase (also know by these titles Embrace My Reflection/ Bring Him Gold)
Lucky Starflowers (Steel City 5) by Kate Pavelle
Hearts and Flour by Tara Lain
Finally Fallen (The Dark Angels 3) by Z. Allora
A King’s Ransom by Aislinn Kerry
My Girl (Captivated Lovers 3) by Stormy Glenn
Chyna Doll (Horizons 4) by Mickie B. Ashling
Lola Dances by Victor J. Banis — no longer on MLR, but can get a paperback from Amazon and BnN
Who We Are by Nicola Haken
Let’s Hear It for the Boy by T.A. Webb (all from our reviewer Chaos Moondrawn)
I know I have left out so many stories. Please help me fill in that list. Send me the books and stories I’ve left out and lets see those drag queens represented!
Books on Stonewall: Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, by David Carter
And just in case you missed it from last week, here is the updated list of our
M/M Hockey Recommendations:
Stick Side (2 books) by Amy Aislin
The Harrisburg Railers Series by RJ Scott and VL Locey
Owatonna U Hockey Series by RJ Scott and VL Locey (3 books)
Cayuga Cougars series by VL Locey
Point Shot (3 books) by V.L. Locey
Colors of Love (3 books) by V.L. Locey
Game Changers (2 books) by Rachel Reid
Scoring Chances (5 books) by Avon Gale*
Hat Trick (3 books) by Jeff Adams added 6/10
Hat Trick (3 books) by Samantha Wayland*
Thank you, HB, for the additions to our hockey recs!
Special Note: Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is looking for Reviewers! We are looking for reviewers for our blog. If you love to read or listen to LGBT stories and share your thoughts about them with others, consider reviewing with Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words. Please send all inquiries to scatteredthoughtsandroguewords@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you. We are very flexible about how many reviews each reviewer takes on. That’s entirely up to each reviewer’s own schedule.
And now onto our week ahead.
This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
Sunday, June 16:
- BLOG TOUR Melting For You by A.M. Arthur
- Pride Month Continues! This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
Monday, June 17:
- Review Tour – Garrett Leigh – Kiss Me Again
- RELEASE BLITZ Change of Heart by KM Neuhold
- PROMO Ashlyn Kane on Fake Dating the Prince
- An Alisa Review : Kiss Me Again by Garrett Leigh
- A Stella Review: Melting For You (Neighborhood Shindig #1) by A.M. Arthur
- A MelanieM Review: Tales of Bryant (Tales Of Bryant #1) by V.L. Locey
Tuesday, June 18:
- RELEASE BLITZ Waited So Long by JM Dabney
- Release Blitz – Afflicted to the Core (Wielder World, Book 3) by Nat Kennedy
- Book Blast with Reviews – NoX by Adrienne Wilder
- A MelanieM Release Day Review: Fake Dating the Prince by Ashlyn Kane
- A MelanieM Review: NoX by Adrienne Wilder
Wednesday, June 19:
- Review Tour – Nine Small Sips (A Tales Of Bryant Park #2) by V.L. Locey
- Release Blitz – Who We Used to Be (Do-Over Series, Book 1) by Dara Nelson
- A MelanieM Review: Nine Small Sips (A Tales Of Bryant Park #2) by V.L. Locey
- An Alisa Review: Eeli (Brotherhood of Ormarr #3) by Steph Marie and Bobbie Rayne
Thursday, June 20:
- Release Blitz Tour – Jay Northcote – Nothing Special
- Release Blitz – K.A. Merikan – Their Obsession (Four Mercenaries #2)
- PROMO Andrew Grey
- An Alisa Audio Review: Nothing Serious by Jay Northcote and Michael Pauley (Narrator)
- A Stella Review:Close to Home (Sawyer’s Ferry #4) by Cate Ashwood
Friday, June 21:
- Review Tour for Single (Single Dads #1) by R.J. Scott
- Release Blitz Signal Tour – – A Foreign Country (Mr & Mr Detective Story #2) by Alex Jane
- Release Blitz Impossible Things by Beth Bolden
- A MelanieM Review: Killer Reunion (Donald Strachey Mystery #16) by Richard Stevenson
- A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review :Single (Single Dads #1) by R.J. Scott
Saturday, June 22:
- Release Blitz for – Beyond The Curtain – TL Travis
- A MelanieM Review:Love in Every Season by Charlie Cochrane
BLOG TOUR Melting For You (Neighborhood Shindig #1) by A.M. Arthur (excerpt and giveaway)
Melting For You
Neighborhood Shindig Series, Book #1
A.M. Arthur
Contemporary MM Romance
Release Date: 06.13.19
Cover Designer: Sloan J Designs/https://www.facebook.com/sloanjdesigns/
Blurb
After his father’s heart attack, Isaiah Morrell gave up cooking in his own high-end Atlanta restaurant to return home to Reynolds, North Carolina, in order to help his father Thomas heal and to keep an eye on his business Neighborhood Shindig. A collection of food trucks and other small businesses, Shindig is a popular destination in this college town, but Isaiah longs for the fast pace of a big-city kitchen. Until he meets Joel…
Joel Fisher has been out of commission from a serious illness for the better part of a year, but now he’s ready to reclaim his life—except his apartment has been sublet, his partner is missing, and their shared food truck is stripped of everything not attached. In short, Joel has nothing. After an uncomfortable night sleeping on the food truck floor, Isaiah and Thomas Morrell give Joel an offer he can’t refuse: a rented room in their house, as well as their help creating a new food truck concept. Joel hates accepting charity, but he’s hit rock bottom and has nowhere to go but up.
Working with seemingly uptight Isaiah is actually pretty fun, and the pair bonds over a challenge to create a unique grilled cheese sandwich. Light flirting melts into a deeper connection neither man expects, but Isaiah isn’t in Reynolds for much longer, and Joel can’t get attached to the gorgeous professional chef. As Isaiah’s feelings for Joel strengthen and grow, he entertains the idea of staying in Neighborhood Shindig for good—but Joel hasn’t asked him to…
Welcome to Neighborhood Shindig, a friendly place where you can snack on a lamb kebab while getting your hair done, pick up your favorite herbal tea blend, and then go listen to live music under the pavilion. We’re happy to have you.
Universal Link: getbook.at/MeltingForYou
Excerpt
Joel found a parking spot near his building and got out, grateful to stretch sore, aching limbs. Long car rides were more difficult for him now, and he’d tried to stop as infrequently as possible, so eager to surprise Steve. Joel scanned the lot for Steve’s hatchback. It was midday on Tuesday, so the Shindig lot was closed—it gave not only the small business owners who rented pods, but also the owner/manager one full day off a week. Didn’t mean Steve had to be home, though.
Their unit was on the fourth floor, no elevator, and Joel hated that he was panting a bit by the time he got there. Definitely needed to start working out more, get back into shape. He was already tall and lean, but he’d lost about fifteen pounds of muscle this past year.
Excitement rolled through his belly as he put his key into their unit’s lock and turned—except it didn’t unlock. He double-checked, but yeah, right door and right key.
That’s weird.
Maybe Steve had needed to change the locks for some reason? He pushed the doorbell and waited, trying to fight back a big smile. The knob rattled and a chain slid back. The door opened about a foot and a dark-haired woman stared at him. “Can I help you?” she asked.
Joel blinked hard. “Um, does Steve Winslow live here?”
Don’t I live here?
“Not since the first of the month,” the woman replied. “He had to move suddenly, so I’m sub-leasing it through the end of the month, until my place is ready downstairs. Who are you?”
“Joel. I live here.”
“Oh, right, you’re the ex he mentioned.”
“Ex?” Ex what? He’d texted Steve yesterday about frivolous things, and Steve hadn’t said a damned thing about sub-leasing their place. A place Joel had paid this month’s rent on. “What do you mean ex?”
“He said you guys broke up, so you moved back to live with your parents in Virginia, and he’s moving…somewhere, I don’t think he said where. But your stuff is still here. He packed it up and left it in the hall closet.”
Joel did not understand what was happening right now. “We didn’t break up. We have a business together for God’s sake. I don’t understand.”
“Listen, do you want to come inside and sit? You look pale.”
“Um, yeah, thanks.”
The apartment was small, one-bedroom and only about six hundred square feet. It had come furnished, so none of the big stuff was his, and he’d taken clothing and his electronics with him to Virginia. Those personal things were in his car right now, waiting to be unpacked.
He sat on the familiar sofa, legs suddenly trembling, and tried to wrap his brain around what was happening.
The woman appeared with a bottle of water. “Here. I’m Emily, by the way.”
“Joel.” Had he already said that? “Steve never told me he moved out.”
“Oh, wow, that’s harsh. He ditched your place without telling you?”
“At least the lease isn’t up until August.” It gave him time to plan, even if it meant a strange female roommate for a few weeks. He couldn’t really afford the place on his own, and he still had no clue what was going on with the food truck.
“Um…” Emily chewed on her bottom lip. “The lease is month-to-month. It’s over in, like ten days, and I have a document with the landlord stating I’m the tenant.”
Joel gaped. “But…this is my place.”
“My place, dude, and no offense, but I do not know you, and I make it a point not to live with strange men.”
“How the hell can he change the lease without me…signing…? Fuck.” Because he dealt with college students, the building’s manager had multiple lease options. Year-long, which is what Joel always signed, but also college-term leases that lasted the length of the college’s school year, and then month-to-month options for the summer, or for temporary tenants. When Steve said he’d renewed the lease last summer while Joel was sick, Joel had assumed he’d done another full-year contract.
Joke’s on me.
“If you don’t believe me, I can get a copy of the lease,” Emily said.
“I believe you. I just don’t understand why he’d do this. Why he wouldn’t at least call and tell me he was leaving, or that if I came back I’d be homeless.”
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) with her later discovery of and subsequent love affair with m/m romance stories. A.M. Arthur’s work is available from Carina Press, SMP Swerve, and Briggs-King Books.
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.
Email: am_arthur@yahoo.com
Site: http://amarthur.blogspot.com/
Twitter http://twitter.com/am_arthur
Tumblr http://www.tumblr.com/blog/am-arthur
Newsletter: https://vr2.verticalresponse.com/s/signupformynewsletter16492674416904
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/A.M.Arthur.M.A
Facebook group Pot O Gold: https://www.facebook.com/groups/300209733646247/
Giveaway
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Check Out the New Release Tour for Baja Clavius by Madeira Desouza
Madeira Desouza has a new gay erotic sci fi tale out: Baja Clavius.
This controversial science fiction adventure depicts gay male time travel agents with very bad behaviors. They are violent and immoral men.
A few hundred years from now, these time travel agents work within a top-secret agency located beneath the crater Clavius on the moon. Their time-travel missions take them to Earth in the past where they ruthlessly manipulate man who are targeted for their roles in the outcomes of historical events such as the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
Amazon eBook | Amazon Paperback
Giveaway
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Excerpt
Yesterday I was lost and I died. Today I am alive again. I accept the truth about foregone tomorrows and my resurrections from the dead.
I do not claim to be a believer in a deity or a religion. Yet, I have personally experienced being repeatedly brought back to life after death. Something far more powerful than us human beings resurrected me. And now, everything I have learned about living, dying, and then coming back for more is presented here.
I have been coerced into creating this journal of my experiences. I will suffer if I am less than completely truthful. I will be held prisoner until I have completed this in full.
I work for a top-secret international agency that is so deeply concealed nobody could possibly find it. Baja Clavius is the name of the international base of operations where I live. It is from that base that I travel in time to work assignments on Earth.
Desperate efforts by others to censor this work all have ended in failure. Just to confuse you, others have circulated conflicting versions of this. But I defeated all my enemies who wanted to prevent you for seeing this.
I begin by sharing my memories of being back in my home state of Arizona—on foot trudging through the desert under dark, threatening thunderclouds that do not diminish the hottest day I have ever felt in my entire life. Through an unexpected break in the storm clouds, I see bright white sunlight and the most magnificent color of blue sky. Up there above me a haunting full moon commands my attention.
Sticking out of the landscape under the ominous skies is a mechanical structure apparently made mostly of wood. As I walk closer to the device, it looks to me as though it was created specifically to slow down the process of hanging a man by the neck so that he will experience extended agony before his death.
Hung from a thick brown rope wrapped around a wheel wench is a muscular, shirtless, and barefoot man with his arms unbound struggling desperately to stay conscious as his neck is crushed in the noose. I see his high cheekbones and long dark brown hair that is tied behind his neck into a queue. I watch his bare feet kick the sky.
I notice a pair of unattended video cameras on tripods positioned nearby on the desert floor pointing toward the hanging machine. Why would anyone go to the trouble of videotaping this man’s death by ritual hanging?
I know that I have met him previously. But this man whose name I cannot remember somehow seems to hold a distinct place at the very center of faulty recollections in my brain.
Off in the distance fifty meters or so to the west of my location, I can see four men wearing cowboy attire running away. I must have scared them away when I approached. But they left that helpless man to die on their hanging machine.
He is someone who seems obviously capable of having put up very considerable resistance against this merciless fate. His powerful body attracts my full attention. He looks like he is about thirty years old—the same age as me. His legs wildly swing in all possible directions as I reach the hanging machine. He desperately tries to reach his hands up to his neck as if it somehow were possible to free himself from the noose. But that is impossible! He groans when he sees me as if to try and tell me something.
His faded blue jeans are too tight for him. I stare at his bulging crotch as he dances in the air at the end of a rope. I marvel at his incredible masculinity contrasted with utter vulnerability. This man looks strong and tough. He must certainly be capable of protecting himself against anyone with success. But, not now.
He cannot save himself. He is simultaneously very manly and totally defenseless. This precise opposing combination of traits is, I’m sure, why men watch executions of other men.
His deep, dark eyes remain open, defiantly staring outward into the eerie sky. He resumes his kicking, but much more forcefully now.
His tight blue jeans emphasize his growing bulge. He has attained a full erection ahead of what will be his final ejaculation into his jeans. There is intense humiliation on his face. His body jerks wildly. As he shoots his last load in his pants, his neck cannot withstand the crushing force of the noose. I am stunned because I did not expect to see his body spasms, kicking, and curling of his toes.
Very suddenly, he just stops struggling. His body no longer can fight back against the effects of gravity and the noose that has applied fatal pressure to his vulnerable neck. I watch him desperately try to open his mouth to breathe, but he has no life remaining in him. I am overwhelmed with intense anger and shock as I slump to the ground. I cry without any shame for this stranger. I feel stunned by my sexual attraction to him. It is as if I have lost someone who has been very significant to me and to my life.
Even though I feel instinctively that I have suffered memory loss, I can remember where I work. I especially remember being inside some kind of cylindrical blue machine.
The inside of the circular blue glass machine was filled with a milky white liquid. It was translucent and unpleasant. It smelled like chemicals. I was naked. I felt like I was drowning. But I knew I was not going to drown. Something has taught me that I cannot die. I know with absolute certainty that I do not know death. I live on and on. But, I have so many questions that I cannot answer. Why am I repeatedly resurrected? Will I live forever?
Author Bio
Madeira Desouza is a gay male author. He focuses upon telling stories about mature, masculine men who are sexually attracted to other mature, masculine men. He steers clear of several deeply embedded traits of American gay culture that can be found in film and in print–eccentric or flamboyant behaviors, alkyl nitrites, dance music, trendy clothing, trendy hair, gay men who think age 30 is old, and so forth.
Desouza’s creative works belong within the bara genre. This little word is shortened from barazuko. Translated from Japanese, it means rose-tribe, which is a code phrase for gay men. Originated in Japan decades ago as gay men created works for other gay men, this genre has not yet been widely embraced internationally. Perhaps this is because bara bara depicts same-sex feelings and sexual attraction to masculine, muscular men who sometimes behave in aggressive, violent, or exploitative ways towards one another.
As both a storyteller and digital artist Desouza explores conflicting and opposing compulsions that all men have. On one side there are impulses men have towards sustaining life, engaging in love, and being attracted to others. In the opposing direction are impulses men have towards being aggressive, engaging in violence, and, causing pain and death. For centuries, artists and storytellers around the world have found inspiration in these two opposing human compulsions that no man is able to resist or impede merely by his conscious will alone.
Author Website: https://bajaclavius.com/
Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/madeira.desouza
Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/desouzaofvegas/
Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/machodesouza
Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/masculine_men_images/
Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Madeira-Desouza/e/B008HL3B3C/
Love Science Fiction? Check Out the Release Blitz for Finding Trix by L.M. Brown (excerpt)
RELEASE BLITZ
Book Title: Finding Trix
Author: L.M. Brown
Publisher: Self-published
Cover Artist: Sheri McGathy
Release Date: June 7, 2019
Genre/s: Sci-fi M/M/M Romance
Trope/s: One-night stand, MPreg
Themes: Bound mates
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 71 000 words/ 205 pages
It is a standalone story.
Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited
Blurb
Trix is one of many felines who sells his body on the Pleasure Station, a space station devoted to entertainment, gambling, and the pleasures of the flesh. He’d never intended to spend his life there, but the place offers him security, regular cream, and over time it has become his home.
As a dual-gendered feline, Trix knows the risk of pregnancy is high, and sets his prices equally high to discourage customers. Trix never imagines that Delta, a canine with credits to spare will call his bluff.
When Delta pays for himself and Farron, a naïve avian from the swan clan, to spend the night with Trix, the three of them forge an unexpected bond, one that leaves Trix pregnant.
As a swan avian, Farron is incapable of being unfaithful to his mate, even when the bond is only partially formed. To complete the mating ritual, Farron must find Trix before the babies are born, or the bond will break forever, and Farron will be forced to live a life of celibacy.
When the Pleasure Station falls under new ownership, and the humans ban prostitution, Trix is left homeless. Upon hearing about this, Delta too races back to find Trix.
Both Farron and Delta arrive too late. Trix has vanished and the race is on to find him before he gives birth. Only then will they know if the bond they formed on their first night is strong enough to last a lifetime.
Excerpt
Two games in and Trix heard the voice of one of the more annoying felines working at the Pleasure Station. Like Trix, Brak was a working whore with a preference for male cocks. He was also a bigot, and for some reason had issues with dual-gendered felines. Which meant he had issues with Trix.
“What are you doing working the tables Trixi?” Brak asked.
Trix hissed at him, ignoring the question. He’d give his right testicle to know who had told Brak his parents had named him Trixi. He hadn’t told anyone that since he’d left Furyne. He supposed someone must have recognised him while passing through.
“Trixi?” the swan avian asked. “Isn’t that a female name?”
Trix sighed. Because the avian was a customer, Trix was obliged to answer his question. “Yes, it is.”
“Why do you have a feminine name?”
“My father thought my name should reflect what I am.”
“What do you mean?”
Brak laughed as he leaned on the table. “Trixi isn’t a male,” he stage-whispered.
Trix dealt the next round of cards as his face heated, more with fury than embarrassment.
“He looks male,” the avian replied. “Are you sure?”
The canine snorted. “He is male. He’s also sitting right there and getting more pissed off by the minute.”
Trix hadn’t realised his annoyance was so obvious. He’d thought he was hiding it quite well.
“I’m sorry,” the avian offered. “I’m not from around here.”
“That’s obvious,” the canine replied. “What our uninvited guest here is hinting, is that Trix is dual-gendered.”
From the confusion on the avian’s face, that didn’t help explain matters for him.
Thankfully for Trix, Brak was there to open his big mouth and clarify things in his own special way. “Trixi has a cock and a pussy, which means he can literally fuck himself.”
“Actually, no, we can’t do that,” Trix pointed out with a hiss of anger. He usually didn’t bother to correct Brak, but this avian was hanging on his every word and looked naive enough to believe him. “It just means I have both male and female sex organs.”
The canine smirked at him. “That’s not quite all it means, is it?”
Trix noticed the falcons collecting their credits and leaving the table. Damn. Valerie was going to be annoyed with him for driving away her players.
“What else does it mean?” the avian asked.
Trix sighed. “It means I can carry a litter of babies.”
Brak laughed. “During which time, Trixi becomes a female.”
“I do not!” Damn it, why couldn’t Brak go annoy someone else? And why was he even bothering to explain all this to some ignorant avian? “I’m dual-gendered whether I’m pregnant or not. It’s just a little more obvious when someone like me is pregnant.”
“How obvious?” the avian asked.
The canine snorted and shook his head. “Are you really that stupid?”
“I…”
“He’ll get a nice big pregnant belly and grow breasts so he can feed the babies. There are probably other signs too, but those are the obvious ones.”
“Not that real males want to have anything to do with his kind,” Brak added. “You have to feel sorry for them, really.”
“I don’t need your false sympathy,” Trix snarled, at the same time the avian asked why.
Brak ignored Trix to focus on the question. “It’s like this, you see. For those who prefer the female form, hard chests and cocks aren’t what they’re looking for. Yet for those who desire males, they run the risk of accidentally shoving their cocks into the wrong hole.” He gave an exaggerated shudder as though the very thought of a vagina was repulsive to him. “Imagine, you’ve got to know him, you’re just getting intimate, then you slip your fingers between his legs only to find he’s really a mutant.”
Trix hissed across the table. “Did you really just call me a mutant?”
Brak shrugged. “Are you telling me that you’ve never had a customer recoil from you after discovering what you are?”
The sad truth was that he couldn’t. It had happened all too often, as Brak was well aware. While those who preferred females gave him a wide berth, the ones who preferred males could be particularly cruel with their rejections. Brak wasn’t the only one who believed Trix wasn’t a real male and refused to accept his gender identity because of his bigoted beliefs.
About the Author
L.M. Brown is an English writer of gay romances. She believes mermen live in the undiscovered areas of the ocean. She believes life exists on other planets. She believes in fairy tales, magic, and dreams. Most of all, she believes in love.
When L.M. Brown isn’t bribing her fur babies for control of the laptop, she can usually be found with her nose in a book.
Author Links
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Cover Reveal for Love’s Glory (Revolutionary Heart #3) by Janice Jarrell
COVER REVEAL
Book Title: Love’s Glory (Revolutionary Heart series)
Author: Janice Jarrell
Cover Artist: Robin Vuchnich / mycustombookcover.com
Release Date: June 29, 2019
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance
Heat Rating: 4 flames
They did it all for the glory of love.
Blurb
In October of 2017 cocky, alpha-male Irishman, Colin Campbell, Sergeant in Charge of the Special Assault Unit of the University of Virginia Campus Police Force, dove in front of a bullet meant for a University of Virginia student. The bullet shattered his thigh and severed his femoral artery, a wound which nearly took Colin’s life and left him temporarily disabled. His infirmities robbed him of the strength and athletic prowess which had been his for most of his life leaving him humiliated and bereft.
When Colin was shot, his partner, Joshua Abrams, a Doctor of Psychology at the Rainier Clinic in Charlottesville, never once left his side. He poured every ounce of strength and love he possessed into healing the magical Irishman whom he adored and was overwhelmed with relief and gratitude when Colin was taken off the critical list. Thinking that they had survived their trial, he took Colin home, believing that their happiness was now assured.
But like many injured police officers, Colin subsequently withdrew from his partner. Overwhelmed by feelings of shame and embarrassment, he devoted himself almost obsessively to the physical therapy with which he hoped to rebuild his strength and reclaim the life he had lost. Unable to share his pain and feelings of inadequacy, he shut Joshua out, leaving him to cope alone with the post-traumatic stress he suffered as a result of Colin’s shooting.
In the following months Colin and Joshua fought to keep their relationship alive. Although deeply in love, they felt powerless to cope with the after-effects of Colin’s injuries both to his body and to his pride as a man, and to heal the emotionally devastating PTSD with which Joshua suffered.
Love’s Trials tells the story of this painful and challenging time in Colin and Joshua’s life. As we join them now, Colin is still walking with a cane and still suffering the physical after effects of his injuries. But he and Joshua are both in therapy and are now dealing positively with the emotional and psychological damage they both endured.
They face their future side by side, determined to stand or fall together, as soul mates and lovers. This book follows them on their journey as they move toward the happy future they both long to share. You can count on a happy ending. In fact, you can count on a happy read. In this book, Colin and his beloved Joshua have left their trials behind and now revel in Love’s Glory.
About the Author
My name is Janice Jarrell. I am a retired grandmother who lives in Seattle, WA. I have two children and three grandsons. I’ve been writing gay romance since I was twelve years old, only back then it wasn’t called ‘gay romance’. In fact, it had no name at all. It was the fifty’s, and it was worth your life to admit to being gay, let alone confess to being a girl who constantly fantasized about relationships between gay men. Hell, I didn’t even know what a homosexual was. I lived on a farm out in the sticks in a tiny Michigan village and I’d never, to my knowledge, even heard the word. I just knew I loved the thought of boy on boy romance. I just knew that there was something hot going on between Tom Corbett and his Space Cadets and all those guys on ‘Combat’.
I wrote slash fanfiction for 30 years, writing over 337 stories, some as short as 100 words (a drabble) some as long as a series which was over 119,012 words. I enjoy writing my stories. I enjoyed the feedback I received from my readers. It was a creative release I’d been searching for my entire life and I blessed the Internet for leading me to this artistic oasis for my spirit.
Love’s Magic was my very first step into writing my own characters. I will always be grateful the slash fanfiction community for nurturing the budding author until she was ready to blossom into a fully realized novelist. It’s been an amazing thing to watch the gay community’s growth over these past twenty years. My own journey has echoed theirs in many ways, and I’m grateful to all those gay activists who fought to give the gay community the rights and privileges they always deserved.
My second contemporary gay romance novel, Love’s Trials followed Colin and Joshua on their journey as men and as a couple. The readers who fell in love with them in Love’s Magic were thrilled to see their romance continue to grow and blossom, but were forced to watch our beloved boys go through some pretty traumatic trials in this book, trials which nearly shattered their relationship. But their love proved stronger than any troubles in the end and they now move forward into the happiness they know they deserve.
Love’s Glory, my newest release,
I’m also grateful to the gay romance community, readers, authors, publishers and promoters, who are making these, my retirement years, the most creative ones of my life. When I’m not writing, I’m traveling, walking, hiking, knitting, crocheting, and weaving, and enjoying my life here in the heart of the Pacific Northwest.
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An Alisa Review : Afflicted to the Core (Wielder World #3) by Nat Kennedy
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Reggie Wolfe religiously visits Kyle Landon—his student in Nerve detangling—at the Harpford Disentanglement Center, where the younger man has been incarcerated on trumped up charges. During one of Reggie’s visits, Kyle’s able to warn his teacher of an imminent unauthorized transfer by an unknown shadow agency. Reggie demands help from his sister at the Bureau of Wielder Services but is pressed to take the matter into his own hands when bureaucratic red-tape stymies her actions. Breaking into a secret medical installation, Reggie and August Whalen find Kyle and six other men hooked to IVs, unknown chemicals pumping into their systems.
The three are caught up in a quest to find an antidote for the drugs and discover who is behind the powerful anti-male Wielder organization. On this dangerous road, will they forever remain friends or give in to their growing attraction?
This world is so interesting and complicated at the same time. I am not gonna lie, I haven’t read the first two books in a while but I remember being severely confused at times and it happened a bit in this book too. There is just so much going on, so many people to keep track of and so much hiding it makes you slow down and pause while reading.
Reggie an Wielder World d Kyle were in the first book while the second focused on August and how he ended up tangled up in this mess too. Bethany, Reggie’s sister and BWS agent, is a help and a hindrance at times and I hate watching her fight against herself and trying to figure out the right thing to do. I liked her much more in this book than the last as she basically sent August to the slaughter before but seems to be redeeming herself.
I liked watching Reggie find the acceptance he thought he wouldn’t get with Kyle and August, he is so self-conscious and has a hard time letting go of the strict control he has lived his life under that these two were perfect to shake things up a bit. Now Kyle, man he is determined to make Reggie see things his way and both August and Reggie want to protect him from harm. August is the most independent of the three and doesn’t get involved right away but really is the one to bring them all together the tightest.
I really look forward to what else is in store for these three but also to see if Bethany can take down the bad guys and possible even change the world’s viewpoint on male weilders.
The cover art by Deranged Doctor Design follows the form from the first couple books but I like how it still stands out from the others and that is gives us a picture of the three MCs.
Sales Link: Amazon
Book Details:
ebook, 260 pages
Publication: June 14, 2019
Edition Language: English
Series:#3Wielder World
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 