Category: Uncategorized

It’s Back to Bluewater Bay with ‘All Wheel Drive’ by ZA Maxfield (giveaway)

All Wheel Drive (Bluewater Bay #18) by Z.A. Maxfield
Riptide Publishing

Cover art by L.C. Chase

Read an Excerpt/Purchase it Here at Riptide Publishing

 

 

About All Wheel Drive

Healey Holly is battered, depressed, and looking to go to ground in his childhood home. He wants to rent the garage apartment, but it’s Diego Luz’s place now, and the last thing Diego wants is to share it.

Diego is recovering too—from the accident that put him in a wheelchair and the death of his mother shortly after. The garage apartment is where he’s keeping his mother’s things, and as long as they’re up those stairs and he’s down on the ground, there’s no way he can deal with his loss.  And that’s just how he likes it.

Healey believes in science. Diego believes in luck. It will take a blend of both, and some prayer thrown in besides, for these two to learn that it’s the journey and the destination that matters.

Available now from Riptide Publishing! 

About Bluewater Bay

Welcome to Bluewater Bay! This quiet little logging town on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula has been stagnating for decades, on the verge of ghost town status. Until a television crew moves in to film Wolf’s Landing, a soon-to-be cult hit based on the wildly successful shifter novels penned by local author Hunter Easton.

Wolf’s Landing’s success spawns everything from merchandise to movie talks, and Bluewater Bay explodes into a mecca for fans and tourists alike. The locals still aren’t quite sure what to make of all this—the town is rejuvenated, but at what cost? And the Hollywood-based production crew is out of their element in this small, mossy seaside locale. Needless to say, sparks fly.

This collaborative story world is brought to you by eleven award-winning, best-selling LGBTQ romance authors: L.A. Witt, L.B. Gregg, Z.A. Maxfield,  Heidi Belleau, Rachel Haimowitz, Anne Tenino, Amy Lane, SE Jakes, G.B. Gordon, Jaime Samms and Ally Blue. Each contemporary novel stands alone, but all are built around the town and the people of Bluewater Bay and the Wolf’s Landing media empire.

Check it out at Riptide Publishing! http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/universe/bluewater-bay

About ZA Maxfield

Z. A. Maxfield started writing in 2007 on a dare from her children and never looked back.  Pathologically disorganized and perennially optimistic, she writes as much as she can, reads as much as she dares, and enjoys her time with family and friends.  If anyone asks her how a wife and mother of four manages to find time for a writing career, she’ll answer, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you give up housework.”

Her published books include Crossing Borders, Epic Award finalist St. Nacho’s, Drawn Together, ePistols at Dawn, Notturno, Stirring Up Trouble, and Vigil.

Readers can visit her website at http://www.zamaxfield.com, and contact her at zamaxfield@zamaxfield.com.

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of All Wheel Drive, one lucky winner will receive an ecopy of Hell on Wheels and a $25 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 15, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

A Jeri Review: The Shape of You by Felice Stevens

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

What a refreshing surprise! I’ve always enjoyed Felice Steven’s books. Her stories seem very real to me and I always love stories set in NYC. But this book was just different enough for me to make it really enjoyable.

I’d like to say it is an opposites attract story, and in a way it is, but only on the surface. One man needs to gain weight, the other needs to lose weight. But underneath it all they are more similar than they realize.
I think this is the first book I have read with an overweight main character who ISN’T killing himself at the gym. Instead he is going about it through a nutrition class and walking. It is at that nutrition class that he meets Corey, who is underweight. Another thing you don’t hear of often- definitely not in gay romance books.
There is quite a bit about WHY they each have their weight problems, the discrimination they endure- mostly Eric and a lot of encouragement to each other. The story highlights the seemingly acceptable act of weight discrimination. So many people think that they can comment on someone’s weight when it is none of their business and it hurts the person more than they know.
The romance between Eric and Corey is very sweet. The way Eric doubts his desirability is spot on, but on the flip side, Corey also doubts his desirability.
My only critiques are that there was a lot of repetition in the story and I would have liked more story after they were officially together as a couple.
Cover art is beautiful.

Sales Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2s1tFf1

Amazon UK: https://goo.gl/Bav4jo

(Free in Kindle Unlimited)

Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 192 pages
Published June 27th 2017
ASINB073FKRXH7

Review Tour for THE SHAPE OF YOU by Felice Stevens (excerpt)

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The Shape of You, a sexy, heart-warming MM romance by Felice Stevens is available now!

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The Shape of You
by Felice Stevens
Publication Date: June 29th, 2017
Genre: Contemporary MM Romance

Too big. Too fat.

All his life Eric Sontag has judged himself on his size, believing love and friendship aren’t in the cards for someone like him. Tired of being alone and scared of his doctor’s warnings, he enrolls in a nutrition support group, determined to change his life. When a beautiful thin man sits next to him, he can’t believe they have anything in common, but conversation between the two soon proves first impressions aren’t always what they seem.

Drifter. Loner.

Corey DeSantis has always been the scrawny waif; he’s tired of struggling with his art and with life. Scarred by the disappearance and death of his drug-addicted mother, he doesn’t wish for love, believing it will bring him nothing but pain in the end. Now his only hunger in life is his desire to paint…until a health scare and his mentor force him to attend a nutrition class where he meets a man who piques his interest. One drunken kiss later, Eric is all Corey can think about.

The same, yet different.

An unlikely friendship is born with both men wanting more but afraid to listen to their well-guarded hearts. When Corey receives shocking news leaving him angry and helpless, it’s Eric he leans on, to help see him through, while a surprising career opportunity finds Eric leaning on Corey for advice. One night of explosive passion leads to a second and soon neither man can imagine a life without the other. Life is shaped by the challenges accepted and roads not taken but as Corey and Eric walk the path together, they’ll discover the most beautiful destination of all. Love.

Excerpt:

“I know you’re awake.”

Feeling Corey’s lips smile against his back, Eric rolled over to face him. Damn, he was so beautiful. Eric had no idea how he’d gotten so lucky to have Corey want him, but as long as he did, Eric would make the most of it, even though he knew how much it would hurt to say good-bye. Because Eric didn’t expect a future or even a tomorrow, he’d take these moments and tuck them away for later.

“How’d you sleep?”

Yawning and scratching his head, Corey shook the hair from his eyes. “Like the dead. Man, you wore me out.”

They gazed at each other, Eric feeling the heat rise to his face. He’d never been intimate with someone he wasn’t emotionally invested in, but something about Corey mesmerized him. Eric was the helpless moth, and Corey possessed that incandescent glow that drew him so close, he could feel the singe of fire.

“Um, well, after we shower, I think I should make breakfast for us. We never had a chance to write down our dinner last night or anything, and I think that’s important.”

Corey unwound himself from Eric and sat up cross-legged on the bed. Fully dressed, the man was a distraction. Naked and disheveled from sleep? Impossible to resist. Eric wanted to pull Corey close and do all the dirty things he’d only seen in porno movies. But showing restraint, Eric rose from the bed to go to the bathroom.

“We kinda got busy with other stuff.”

His heart jumped at Corey’s infectious grin, and he knew from the sensuous glow in Corey’s eyes, he too wanted a repeat of the night before. But pushing aside thoughts of kissing Corey and sucking his cock, Eric focused on the practical.

“Uh, yeah. What do you want for breakfast? I have eggs or oatmeal and fruit. Think about it.”

He closed the bathroom door behind him and rested against it for a moment, overwhelmed by the previous night, then waking up to find Corey hadn’t changed his mind and remained attracted to him. He wondered what would happen if he did lose all his weight. Would Corey want him then?

TSOY-AN

Read Today!

(Free in Kindle Unlimited)

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2s1tFf1

Amazon UK: https://goo.gl/Bav4jo

Add to GoodReads: https://goo.gl/tcQzkR

SOYteaser

About Felice:

I have always been a romantic at heart. I believe that while life is tough, there is always a happy ending around the corner, My characters have to work for it, however. Like life in NYC, nothing comes easy and that includes love, but getting there is oh so fun and oh so sexy.

I live in New York City with my husband and two children. My day begins with a lot of caffeine and ends with a glass (or two of red wine). I practice law but daydream of a time when I can sit by a beach somewhere and write beautiful stories of men falling in love. Although there are bound to be a few bumps along the way, a Happily Ever After is always guaranteed.

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Connect with Felice:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/felicestevensauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FeliceStevens1

Blog: http://caferisque.blogspot.com/?zx=e071df0101ec6c96

Stay up to date with Felice by signing up for her newsletter here:

http://www.felicestevens.com/en/about

Join her Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1449289332021166/

http://www.felicestevens.com/en

A MelanieM Review: The Werecat Trilogy by Andrew J. Peters

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

The first three installments of the Werecat series: The Rearing, The Glaring, and The Fugitive, in one eBook or paperback.

Twenty-two-year-old Jacks is on a mission to drown his past in alcohol when he meets the handsome drifter Benoit on a lost weekend in Montréal. It’s lust and possibly something more. Jacks never suspects that a drunken hook-up will plunge him into the hidden, violent world of feline shifters.

Benoit traps him in an arcane ritual to be joined as mates, from which Jacks emerges with fantastical abilities and a connection to Native traditions that were buried by his family. But his new existence pits his human instincts against his wild animal nature. When Jacks meets the young medical student Farzan, who wants to be with Jacks no matter what or who he is, Benoit’s feline jealousy rages like an inferno.

Jacks must figure out how to survive with his dual nature and a boyfriend who will kill any threat to their relationship. When a secret society called The Glaring shows up with a plan to exterminate humankind, Jacks will have to work quickly to gain command of Benoit’s magic before the world shatters into a war of man against beast.

WereCat: The Trilogy is the first collection of stories I’ve read by Andrew J. Peters and I’m impressed by his writing.  Peters did a splendid job of building a mythology for his werecats, creating a universe complete with a division within the werecat community that’s building towards all out war, and yet he doesn’t miss out on the smaller details needed to pull you back down into the immediate lives of his main characters and the drama/mating that is derailing all of their lives.

Peters has also departed from most of the other shifter stories here in that this is not one of those meet/mate/instant love stories.  In fact, it’s as far from one of those as you can get.  Without giving too much away, the romance here is not where you will be expecting it.  What Peters does deliver is concise and realistic portraits of werecats/beings acting exactly how you would expect them to act under varying circumstances.  As individuals with their own powerful emotions,  with the bodies of huge cats to use as weapons or assert control if they want to or need to.  As you watch the dynamics shift between Benoit and Jacks, the stress and tension Peters creates becomes so huge that the reader is almost afraid to turn the page.

Farzan, the human medical student is another wonderful character.  Fragile according to werecat standards, Farzan has strengths that allow the reader to connect with him ways that maybe aren’t there with the other characters.  He is surrounded by family that loves him and has a further connection to the human race that’s missing from the werecats, an important element in the larger picture.

Each story moves the reader through an  ever increasing major storyline of global warfare against humanity by a splinter werecat group called The Glaring and Jacks attempts to stop it.  The Fugitive, the last story in the trio, sees Jacks on the run and ends with a bit of a cliffhanger. Although it brings some of the storylines to a completion, the main one is still ongoing, waiting to be fulfilled in Werecat: The Sim Ru Prophecy  which is coming up next.  That’s where I’m headed.  I can’t wait to see what I find.

Until then, if you love shifters, want a bit of a different take on the usual mating ritual, and don’t mind a departure from the romance path  (although there is one),  pick up Werecat: The Trilogy.  I highly recommend them all.  Great stories!

Cover is a dramatic and,imo, beautiful representation of Benoit in both his human and panther forms.  I love it.  The only thing is Benoit’s eyes never changed in both forms.

Purchase at:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

 

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 250 pages
Published November 1st 2015 by Vagabondage Romance (first published November 15th 2014)
ASINB017HTCRPM
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesWerecat #1-3

A finalist in The Romance Reviews’ 2016 Readers’ Choice Awards, Action-Adventure category

A Julia Review: Iudicium by​ T.C Orton

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

After being incarcerated at a prison that leans over the edge of the world, Fayt must do whatever it takes to escape (or simply survive) the horrors that await him. You will take control of Fayt and guide him on his path, but be careful, for not everyone posing as an ally will lead you down the road to freedom.

Note: This is an interactive story, and it is important that you keep a record of your choices close by.

Fayt is in your hands…

Iudicium by T. C. Orton is an interactive Fantasy story. After certain chapters the reader is given a choice of what the main character wants to do next and depending on their choice they turn to a different page to continue following one of several branching narratives. I have been a long-time fan of interactive storytelling and its capabilities, so naturally I was very excited to give this book a try.

First of all, I applaud the author for his decision to write a gritty fantasy story with quite a bit of sexual content in the form of an interactive novel – something you certainly don’t see every day. The writing style also had me hooked right away: atmosphere-building but at the same time concise and straight to the point, just the right qualities for an interactive story like this. The narrative branches off into three different routes with each route having two endings. It takes about a couple of hours to finish one route.

In the classic choose-your-own-adventure-books the main character is usually an anonymous “you” without further background information, which typically makes it easier for the reader to imagine themselves as said character. Here on the other hand we are given an already fleshed-out character with his own unique name and past. The entire story is also told from his point of view in first person. Due to these changes I might not have been able to really picture myself as actually being Fayt but it felt rather like I was guiding him along and trying to help him get out of the terrifying situation he has gotten himself into. It was a very interesting experience and I did feel genuinely sorry for Fayt.

The “goal” of the story, if you can call it that, is to help Fayt escape (or at least survive) the horrendous prison Iudicium. Along the way he comes into contact with a few key figures in this endeavour – who are you going to place your trust in? The lore and world are interesting to learn about too, though they maybe could have been fleshed out in a bit more detail for my taste.

A fair warning: The story contains various scenes of violence, subjugation, sexual abuse and rape. But the possibility of consensual romantic love does exist as well.

To sum it all up, I really enjoyed reading through all of the different endings and my only complaint really is that I wished it would have been longer and offered even more branches of narrative and possible endings. I certainly hope that this won’t be the last interactive tale by this author and that it will inspire more authors to give interactive storytelling a try.

The gruesome cover art by the author himself is quite horrific (in a good way). It definitely fits the content very nicely.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book Details:

ebook, 228 pages

Published May 30, 2017

Self-Published

ASIN: B072PZ47DK

Edition Language: English

Review Tour for TC Orton ‘s Iudicium (giveaway)

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK


Length: 61,000 words


Each Path Choice: 30-40k words


Blurb

After being incarcerated at a prison that leans over the edge of the world, Fayt must do whatever it takes to escape (or simply survive) the horrors that await him. You will take control of Fayt and guide him on his path, but be careful, for not everyone posing as an ally will lead you down the road to freedom.

Note: This is an interactive story, and it is important that you keep a record of your choices close by.

July 3 – Queer SciFi
 
Author Bio


Born January 6th 1993, T. C. resides in the United Kingdom, living with his partner Peter Jones and their dog, Drake.

T. C. has had a passion for supernatural stories from a young age, often scribbling down his latest ideas instead of focusing on whatever task was at hand during the long school days. At the age of twelve, he penned his first romance story featuring himself and the boy he had feelings for set in a fantastical land full of werewolves and wizards. Ever since that day, T. C. has made it his mission to entwine his leading gay protagonists with epic paranormal adventures.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TcOrtonBooks

Giveaway