Category: Uncategorized

An Alisa Review: Zale (Brotherhood of Ormarr #2) by Michelle Frost

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Davis~

It was just another job—at least it was supposed to be—but snaring the feisty blue dragon I’d been contracted to collect and her rider in my trap changed everything. Hunting dragons was my job, and I was damn good at it. I’d never missed a target. Never failed to make a delivery. So why was every step toward turning over my bounty suddenly a struggle? No quarry had ever managed to get under my skin, but something in Zale’s haunting blue eyes called to me like nothing ever had before.

Zale~

When Itsaso and I were kidnapped, we fought like hell but found ourselves at the dragon hunter’s mercy. He locked my dragon away, leaving me to face captivity alone. Now, all I have to rely on is the training that’s been drilled into me every day for as long as I can remember and biding my time, waiting for Davis to make a mistake. Or my brothers to find and rescue us. But something happened the first time I truly looked in Davis’s eyes, dark pools as deep and enchanting as the sea, and I realized I was in so much more danger than I thought. How could a ruthless dragon hunter be my perfect mate?

Zale is the second book in The Brotherhood of Ormarr series. While each book focuses on a different couple, the overall story arc continues in the next installment. For maximum enjoyment, we suggest reading in order. Zale is a m/m romance, and is recommended for adults 18 years and older.

I really liked this story and it gives some more background into what was happening in the first book, though I am starting to have my idea of who the main bad guy could be.  I guess we’ll see as the series continues.  Itsaso is much more blood thirsty that Sindri from the first book but only when it would come to protecting those she loves.  I am going to say that I don’t like Davis being referred to as a dragon hunter in the blurb for two reasons, he isn’t referred to as that at all in the book and he’s hunting wraiths or protecting his clan.

I felt for Zale and how confused he was by being kidnapped and not getting any answers.  I do like that he got the upper hand of Davis, even if Davis was just about to let him free to talk.  Now Davis, oh my, he had been hurt so bad when he lost his dragon and you could see that it still affects him today.  I could see who he really was underneath from the beginning, he was a heartless man, just doing his job but was willing to figure out the right answer in the end.  I was so glad they were able to bring Harri back from wraith form.

The cover art by Jay Aheer is once again great and the picture of Itsaso is great.

Sales Link: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 135 pages

Publication: May 27, 2019

Edition Language: English

Series: Brotherhood of Ormarr #2

Tom Early on Writing, Characters, and his new release ‘The Final Season (Seasons Rising #3) 

The Final Season (Seasons Rising #3) by Tom Early

Harmony Ink Press
Published June 11th 2019

Cover Artist: Sadie Thompson; Cover Design by Paul Richmond

Sales Links:  Harmony Ink Press | Amazon

 

✒︎

 

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Interview with Tom Early

How much of yourself goes into a character?

  • Fay is fun. He was one of the first characters I’d ever written, and he is, at this point, rather like who I might be if my time past high school went very differently. The rest are their own, with aspects from other people I admire or am intrigued by that I went and snagged like a magpie and built a character around.

Do you feel there’s a tight line between Mary Sue or should I say Gary Stu and using your own experiences to create a character?

  • I’m not sure it matters, really. If it’s enjoyable to read, what’s the point in saying a character is too perfect? (That said, if the character is enjoyable to read, that probably isn’t a problem).

Have you ever had to put an ‘in progress’ story aside because of the emotional ties with it?  You were hurting with the characters or didn’t know how to proceed?

  • For sure! Characters often have minds of their own, and when I hit a hard scene, they like to scatter and hide until it stops smarting. I have to tempt them out sometimes to finish the scene; it’s a fun time. Usually if it happens, it’s about a week for them to come back, but I’ve hit patches with a hard ending that I had to put aside for months, and eventually realized I was being told this needed to be rewritten.

How do you choose your covers?  (curious on my part)

  • This series has had all the covers done by my childhood friend, who’s credited on the inside cover of the book. They work with me to make covers that we feel accurately reflect the core concept of the book! And wow, what wonders they’ve made…

Do you have a favorite among your own stories?  And why?

  • I’m proudest of The Final Season, because I wasn’t sure if I could write it. It gets at a feeling I’ve had very strongly for a while, of… the sense that just because you have been on a path for a long time, doesn’t mean that you are bound to it. Especially if the actions or expectations of others are what placed you on that path to begin with. It isn’t giving up to realize you aren’t who you are when you started on an ambition. And that’s okay. This last book is about that feeling.

What’s next for you as an author?

  • Good question! I have a fun book called The Kingdom and the Crow, which is YA Fantasy, and follows an assassin named Jasper who’s having a bit of an identity crisis in the middle of a world-ending conspiracy. I don’t know what will happen with it yet, but I’m hopeful. I’m also working on another novel that more or less is my take on deconstructing some of the story beats of the Ancient Greek concept of a “Hero’s Journey”. It is, unsurprisingly, a romance. A witchy one. We’ll see what happens.

If you write contemporary romance, is there such a thing as making a main character too “real”?  Do you think you can bring too many faults into a character that eventually it becomes too flawed to become a love interest?

  • Good lord, no. I believe it was Patrick Rothfuss in one of his books that said it is a beautiful thing to love “because”, but a rare and powerful thing to love “despite”. I think some of the greatest love stories out there include characters who are terribly flawed, but find ways to be loved, and to love, and to find a measure of peace despite it all.

   

Ever drunk written a chapter and then read it the next day and still been happy with it?  Trust me there’s a whole world of us drunk writers dying to know.

  • Oh my. Yes. Several. The Final Season has one. Not much of it survived, but parts of it exist near the beginning. They tend to be a little bit more embarrassing than I usually am able to write.

 

If you could imagine the best possible place for you to write, where would that be and why?

  • The Edinburgh Botanics is a lovely place to write! Big garden, lovely café, quiet and surrounded by nature. I like ambient noise and people around me when I write, so quieter but active places like that are my favorite.

 

With so much going on in the world today, do you write to explain?  To get away?  To move past?  To widen our knowledge?  Why do you write?

  • I write for me, and to help others like me. We could all use more of ourselves in stories. And we could all use the reminder that no matter what, it’s worth it to keep trying.

 

What’s next for you as a writer?

If you find out, please do let me know. I’m terribly curious.

 

Sequel to The Doorway God

Fay is no longer a boy haunted by the spirit of Winter—he is now the embodiment of the cruelest Season. If he thought access to the immense power that grants him would make his life easier, he couldn’t be more wrong.

 

The return of the Seasons is tearing Gaia—the magical realm that mirrors Earth—apart as factions form to either take advantage of the shift in power, fight against it, or use it to spur societal change. Terrifying enemies emerge to face Fay and the other Seasons, even as the Seasons plan their own battle strategy.

 

Fay, Sam, Tyler, and their friends and allies are facing a final test unlike any other. To survive the chaos unleashed on his world, Fay will have to choose what to hold on to and what can be sacrificed.

About the Author

Tom Early is a native Bostonian, coffee addict, and gay disaster. When he’s not off doing weatherly things for work, he can be found writing, talking about his characters with anyone who’ll listen, and giving impromptu lectures on the importance of representation in genre fiction, especially fantasy. There is a nonzero chance that he is actually a dog.

Need that Aww Factor? Check out the Release Blitz and Giveaway for Single ISingle Dads #1) by R.J. Scott

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link
 
Length: 54,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: RJ Scott
 
Blurb



Reeling from the painful rejection of a man he thought he loved, Asher is left holding the baby.


Ash wants a family, and is determined to continue with a surrogacy he’d begun with his ex. Bringing baby Mia home, he vows that he will be the best father he can be. Nothing in this world matters more to him than caring for his daughter, not even accidentally falling in lust with the doctor next door. Challenged by his growing attraction to Sean, and confronted by painful memories of his family, Ash has to learn that love is all that matters.


When ER doctor Sean moves in with his friends next door to sexy single father Ash, he falls so quickly it takes his breath away. The sex they have is hot, but Ash is adamant
his heart is too full with love for his daughter to let anyone else in. Why is Sean the only one who sees how scared Ash is, and how can he prove to his new lover that he desperately wants the three of them to become a family?

USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott writes stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, a happily ever after.


RJ Scott is the author of over one hundred romance books, writing emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.


The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.


She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the links below:

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Cover Reveal for Shake The Stars by V.L. Locey (giveaway)

 

Pre-Order Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link
 
Length: 100,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Sloan J Designs
 
Publisher: Gone Writing Publishing
 
Blurb
 

Spending time in the Poconos with his family was the last thing Dane Forrester wanted to do over the summer. He had dreams of spending his last break touring Europe and gathering story ideas for his upcoming creative writing classes before heading to college. Maybe even finding that elusive first love in a small café in Paris, or along the Rhine, or even in a sultry villa in Italy. But no, he was stuck at the Silver Fir Lodge with his family where his dreams of romance and passion would wither and die a slow painful death, or so he imagined.


When all seemed lost, the budding wordsmith is saved—in more than one sense—by Khalid Novak, a lifeguard at the lodge’s pool. Khalid is two years older, a bit more sophisticated, and the most incredibly alluring thing Dane has ever seen. The two young men find themselves joyously wound in a searing romance that teaches Dane that love can be wildly intense yet fleeting so one should revel in it when the discovery is made.


Can this summer romance survive the chill of autumn as well as the winds of time?

USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.


V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.


When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.

Giveaway

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An Ashlez Review: Master of No One (Masters of Their Domain #1) by Tricia Owens

Rating : 2 stars out of 5

Aleksander is short-tempered, antisocial and though he’s unaware of it, wildly sexy. He’s also a naturally dominant shape-shifting monster who’s sliding into madness. He needs a human ‘grounder’ to submit to him and draw forth his protective human side. Instead he is given two humans: Constance, a fledgling sub with a reckless streak whose intense desire to serve has brought her nothing but heartache, and Kirk, a former NYPD cop who’s trying to subdue his own alpha instincts and play submissive in order to fulfill a family debt.

But once these grounders meet their new master, they quickly discover that in order to save Aleksander from himself, they must alter their assigned roles and form a unique triad of domination and submission that goes against Aleksander’s very nature. Constance needs to convince Aleksander he can be gentle and protective, while Kirk wants to show him there is freedom in surrendering to another dominant. The task isn’t easy, though: Aleksander fights them every step of the way, and a conspiracy surfaces which not even a creature as powerful as Aleksander may be able to overcome

Honestly I was thoroughly disappointed with this book – it was VERY slow, I mean the first 1/4 of the book didn’t need to be that long it could have been condensed into a very short chapter – I struggled impossibly to get into this book.  I’m a little upset i love a good shifter book, I adore a 3some book.. this book should have had all my gears gone but it failed me a little bit.

This is 100% a personal choice – this book has amazing ratings and reviews but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

I found Kirk truly annoying, I kept thinking of him as a bigot against the “monsters”.

I found Constance actually quite a joy to read although a bit sad  and Alex well, I honestly could have broke me off a piece of that for myself!  His job was pretty awesome and interesting to read about, the whole existence of shifters, etc. and everything was actually quite fascinating.

It’s definitely worth a read if you like a ridiculously slow burn book and some info dumping (paced out so you don’t realize you’re being dumped on) but I understand that was for the good of the book it just frustrated me personally.

Cover – Sexy, relatable though also not – I preferred the blue cover to the red cover, there was more detail, though the red cover was almost ominous in a way more “shifter like” to me

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US 

Amazon UK

Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 263 pages
Published May 30th 2019 by Tricia Owens (first published February 24th 2015)
ASINB07RM9DWBC
Edition LanguageEnglish

A MelanieM Review :Seeing Red (Trowchester Series #4) by Alex Beecroft

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Bad boys don’t tame easy.

Victor is a bad man. Is there anything he won’t do for power and money?

Destroy a local business so he can buy it cheap? Kick out its owners and turn it into a cash cow? He relishes the chance.

Idris is a good man in possession of a renowned tea-house. He’s put his heart and soul into the place. It’s everything he has and wants…

Except for Victor.

He wants Victor too.

Can the love of a compassionate man soften a predator’s heart before it’s too late? Or is Idris doomed to lose his life’s work, and his heart with it?

A contemporary mm romance, Seeing Red is a long-awaited new installment of the critically acclaimed Trowchester Series.

Each book in the series is a standalone, and can be read in any order.

I have been an enthusiastic fan of Alex Beecroft’s Trowchester series since the release of the first story, Trowchester Blues.  There we met Finn Hulme, a retired criminal, now proud owner of a bookshop in Trowchester and Michael May, ex cop come to the village and his childhood home full of bad memories.  Everything about that story has staying power.  Vivid complicated characters, a powerful romance with a troubled and rocky path, realistic given the men, and a complex plot that included Finn’s past returning to haunt him.  All that while introducing us to the village of Trowchester.  The canals, the canal boats, the shops, the people, and overall atmosphere of ancient and waning, new and struggling.  So remarkable and vivid that the place just felt as though you could go visit and walk the streets, but stay in the lights in certain areas.

This first novel set the format for the characters and plots really for the stories that followed in the series.  Contemporary romance yes, but the main characters?  Unlike really any I’d met.  They felt raw, real, sweet and naive, solemn and severe, gritty and savvy, broken and internally twisted.Even sociopathic in some cases, their upbringing warm or a horror, or even , here where several of the characters and their culture is so far removed from the British norm.

Seeing Red is another spectacular novel and romance which further elevates this series.  It starts with Victor and his very different perspective.  It’s that of a man who is going to destroy someone we have come to love through the previous stories, Idris and his quirky tea shop.  However, Beecroft turns this into a psychological study of a man who’s entire life has been a struggle of fear and survival, stemming from abandonment and pain, and constant abuse.    Victor has used the items of wealth as barriers against all that in his life, watches, clothes, condos, and a job he hates. All a wall against the existence he had growing up and the voice that beats against his brain and heart constantly when he lets it.  It’s a fierce and scary thing.

On the other end of the spectrum is sweet, and somewhat naive Idris, running his shop with  his cousin from Bangladesh, where being gay is a crime.  But even in Trowchester, things are uncertain.  Brexit and the rise of hate crimes in England against Muslims are making Lalima  uneasy and she is thinking of returning.  But this is his home and his special place, his friends, and his sanctuary. His and others.  Something we have come to understand through the stories.  His gentle kind and loving nature shines like a welcoming beam through the pages ….to us and to Victor.

The thing is that Victor is unformed in so many ways.  He’s broken and stuck as a fearful almost child/man who has never seen the consequences of his actions or wanted something other than things.  All that will change now.

Seeing Red is shattering, heartbreaking, raw, beautiful, and incredible.  It’s about love and redemption.

And as Alex Beecroft does, enlarging one’s universe again and again.

There are things here that as an American I will never quite get.  The obsession and deep pain that gets inflicted on those with red hair in the UK or England.  Yes, people in the US get their share of getting called “carrot head” and other names, but basically its kid stuff.  Not the culturally deep seated derision and worse that seems to be reserved for “Gingers” over there.  That too comes through loud and clear though Victor .

Not familiar with this series?  Each is a standalone so start anywhere.  Including here.  Then go and get each one.  They are perfection and absorbing.  I highly recommend them all.

Cover art is gorgeous.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 298 pages
Published May 12th 2019
ASINB07RSWBMZ7

Check out the rest of the Trowchester Series here

An Alisa Review: Come Play: An MM Erotica Charity Anthology

Rating:  4.5 stars out of 5

Watch and Learn if the Coach’s Little Kitten can be Tamed. Follow the Doctor’s Orders and read all about Brotherly Love. Understand Abstract Love and then take a peek at A Kink Chronicles Short. It’s all about Pretty Boys, The Kiss, and Particular Tastes bundled up in this must-have erotic anthology.

Come, play with us.

Abstract Love by Sara Dobie Bauer

A Kink Chronicles Short by Luna David

Brotherly Love by Lynn Van Dorn

Coach’s Little Kitten by Quin Perin

Doctor’s Orders by Emma Jaye

Particular Tastes by T.S. McKinney

Pretty Boy by E.M. Denning

Tamed by T.M. Chris

The Kiss by A.G. Carothers

Watch and Learn by K.C. Wells

** All proceeds from this anthology will be donated to The Trevor Project. https://www.thetrevorproject.org **

This anthology features a collection of erotic MM short stories.

I love collections like this, it gives such a great variety to read and exposes me to new authors.  I really enjoyed the interactions with these characters for the most part and what I didn’t were mostly just items I would stay away from in my usual reading.  I love that this collection of stories is benefiting The Trevor Project tool, it always makes me appreciate authors a bit more when I know they care.

In Coach’s Little Kitten Baxter is out satisfying his sexual urges when Caleb catches his eye.  I liked the connection that Caleb and Baxter had, even if they more than likely won’t see each other again.  Donovan is Abstract Love fights his attraction to Sam with all his might.  But we get to see that he is deeper than what he shows on the surface and it may just take him a little bit to come to terms with how he is feeling.

In The Kiss we see Liam search out his desires and finds much more than he ever bargained for with Gavin.  Some of the definitions within this story confused me, especially primal, but I liked reading about BDSM with a slightly different angle.  I loved Paul in Pretty Boy, even when he was sure that no one would want his in his women’s clothes and makeup, he still wears them even in secret.  Once Mark realizes what’s going on though he quickly shows Paul how much it doesn’t bother him, I will point out for some this story had the most taboo to it, not that it bothered me ;).

In Particular Tastes Christian is still trying to come to terms with what happened months ago but Hudson doesn’t want that to happen.  It was funny seeing neither of them knowing how to actually approach the other but finally get a chance to figure it out. Doctor’s Orders pulled at your heart strings before it got to the kinky part, Alex has been through so much.  I was glad that Nate was able to show Alex that he can be whatever he needs to be and there is nothing Alex could do that would make Nate back away, even trying his kink he has never told anyone about.

I love Jay and Jamie in Brotherly Love, though I have to say I really hated the relationship their parents had with the other with Jay’s mom and also Jamie’s dad showing contempt or not love towards their step-sons.  I hated seeing that these two have been battling with their feelings for so long but finally get the chance to figure it out, even if Jay pushes a bit.  I loved how accepting Jay’s father was of their relationship and Jamie was able to gain that family when his father turned his back on them and the back and forth snippets helped to see how their relationship has evolved over the years.  In A Kink Chronicles Short we see Knox, Zach, Ronan and Jamie exploring some of their fantasies.  I love the closeness of these characters and how they are willing to do almost anything to make their fantasies come true knowing that Zach is true to Knox while Jamie is true to Ronan.

I hated seeing that Jake in Tamed has been shamed and hurt by so many Doms that while he longs to let go and for that connection he feels he has to fight for it.  I loved that Eduardo could see right through it and made it known that he would stand by Jake for however long it would take him to earn his trust before they go any farther.  Zac in Watch and Learn has never had good sex but Chris longs to show him what he’s been missing.  These two go to some weird parties that have somethings going on far beyond my comfort zone but it helps Zac learn what really turns him on.  I had the hardest time with their insistence that they didn’t want a relationship but ten months later they are having dinner together multiple times a week and doing special things for each other’s birthdays, I don’t know about you but it sounds like a relationship to me.

Cover art by Morningstar Ashley is great and gives just the right amount of these for this book.

Sales Links: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 680 pages

Published: June 11, 2019

Edition Language: English

Release Blitz for Come Play: An MM Erotica Charity Anthology

Book Title: Come Play – An MM Erotica Charity Anthology

Authors: Quin Perin, A.G. Carothers, E.M. Denning, Emma Jaye, K.C. Wells,

Lynn Van Dorn, Luna David, Sara Dobie Bauer, T.M. Chris, T.S. McKinney

Cover Artist: Morningstar Ashley

Release Date: June 11, 2019

Genre/s: M/M Erotica, M/M BDSM

Trope/s: Including hurt/comfort, first time, forbidden and others

Themes: Anthology includes BDSM and erotica. It has a wide variety of tastes/themes

Heat Rating:  A mix of 4 and 5 flames. This anthology features a collection of erotic MM short stories.     

Blurb

Watch and Learn if the Coach’s Little Kitten can be Tamed.

Follow the Doctor’s Orders and read all about Brotherly Love.

Understand Abstract Love and then take a peek at A Kink Chronicles Short.

It’s all about Pretty Boys, The Kiss, and Particular Tastes bundled up in this must-have erotic anthology.

Come, play with us.

Abstract Love by Sara Dobie Bauer

A Kink Chronicles Short by Luna David

Brotherly Love by Lynn Van Dorn

Coach’s Little Kitten by Quin Perin

Doctor’s Orders by Emma Jaye

Particular Tastes by T.S. McKinney

Pretty Boy by E.M. Denning

Tamed by T.M. Chris

The Kiss by A.G. Carothers

Watch and Learn by K.C. Wells

** All proceeds from this anthology will be donated to

💜💙💚💙 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 💙💚💙💜

 https://www.thetrevorproject.org **

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW

Universal Buy Link

Facebook Link for each Author

Quin Perin

A.G. Carothers

E.M. Denning

Emma Jaye

K.C. Wells

Lynn Van Dorn

Luna David

Sara Dobie Bauer

T.M. Chris

T.S. McKinney

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