Category: Uncategorized

A MelanieM Audiobook Review: Hell For The Company (Brimstone #1) by Angel Martinez, Narrator: Vance Bastian

Rating: 4.75 rounded up to 5 stars out of 5

Banner300x250Demons and Angels have been among us for thousands of years, in many cultures and in many forms. What happens when you set the Mischief Corner authors loose on the vague prompt “Write a story about angels or demons?” The poor unsuspecting world is about to find out.

From Angel Martinez – Hell For The Company: Brimstone #1

Shax, the Demon Prince of Thieves, has reconciled himself to exile. He has a grand time careening around the galaxy as a high-end, intergalactic purloiner of pretties. Everything’s going just fine, thank you very much. All right, fine, the anti-gravity cows are a bit problematic and some of his buyers are bad for his health, but he manages until he comes across an injured angel in a psychedelic alien jungle.

He only rescues the wing boy for his golden feathers, but what Shax doesn’t know about angels could fill an intergalactic encyclopedia.

Hell For The Company (Brimstone #1) by Angel Martinez as narrated by Vance Bastian was my very first audiobook.  I normally take one look at the running length on an audiobook, think about all the things I have to do, and move along.  But Hell for the Company was different.  At a play time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, I thought that’s doable, given my schedule, even during the holidays.  Another absolute plus?  I had already read the story, loved the series, so I thought I was prepared for what I would find in a narrated version.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

This was so much better. Boy, am I going to have to rethink my entire approach about audio books.  This version, listening to Vance Bastian’s narration made me see (hear) the story in an entirely new light. I enjoyed it even more, laughed at places I didn’t even remember reading the first time around.  And even when I knew the dramatic scenes were coming, the sniffles still flowed.

Vance’s voice went from melodic for the wonderful drag queen IA. Ivana, to gruff and surly for the demon Verin, the later posing my first and only stumbling block for audiobooks.  It wasn’t the way I imagined Verin sounded, I expected more hell fire I suppose.  Its the same issue you might have with characters going from book to the screen, we imagine them a certain way, not the way they appear on the movie screen. So I had to expand my versions into the verbalized ones here.  Once done,  there were no limits to my enjoyments of the narration and the enthusiasm that Vance Bastian employed in his reading of Angel Martinez’ story.

The time went by so quickly.  Floating cows please come back.  Ness, I adore you. Oh, Shax, you demon you, I can never get enough of you! Much more so this time around.  Angel and Vance, you have me convinced.  Yes, it looks like audiobooks are the thing for me.  There will be more in the future.  And it all started with the marvelous Hell For The Company (Brimstone #1) by Angel Martinez and the wonderful narration by Vance Bastian.

I love this series.  Shax, the Brimstone crew and all its misadventures and now I get to look forward to listening to them as well.  Are you a lover of the supernatural? A reader of science fiction?  And romance too?  How about a combination of all three?  Here is a story and series you can’t pass up and a lively narrator that makes the words shout, laugh, giggle and snort.  Such two joyful hours I never imagined.

Are you a audiobook virgin too?  Make this your first and see what an adventure lies before you!

Cover Artist: Freddie MacKay did a terrific job on the cover.  Love the floating cows.

Sales Links: iTunes  | Amazon | Audible

Book Details:

Audible Audio, Play Time: 2 hours, 2 minutes
Published November 17th 2015 by
Mischief Corner Books (first published December 31st 2013)
ASINB017Y2HI1K
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesBrimstone #1

 

A Special Narrator Insight from Vance Bastian on Angel Martinez ‘Hell For The Company’ (audiobook, excerpt and contest)

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Hell For The Company (Brimstone #1) by Angel Martinez
Narrator:  Vance Bastian
Format: Audiobook, Play Time: 2 hours, 2 minutes
 Release Date: December 5, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Mischief Corner Books
Cover Artist: Freddy MacKay

Playing in Somebody Else’s Playground

Adding Value to an Established World

By Vance Bastian

Don’t you love being asked to come over for a play date? I know I do. You’re being granted the chance to play with toys that aren’t yours, but toys for which you may have created entire fantasies in your head. And being asked over by somebody you’ve long respected and admired? MAGIC!

Once the excitement cools, trepidation usually sets in. Will you understand all the rules? What if you break something? Will you be invited back?

After all, artists carefully craft their worlds. They must codify laws of reality, conjure systems of magic, and in some cases birth entire pantheons. Some authors horde stacks of notebooks each containing tomes of meticulous details regarding their creations. That is to say, you’re lucky if that information is in a tangible form. Sometimes it’s all in the artist’s head. No matter how the data is created and archived, I have yet to meet an author who doesn’t call their grand work “my baby.”

Fans are no less protective of their favorite author’s creations. Some fans pride themselves for memorizing witty one liners. Others trade blows about the cataclysmic importance of a character’s eye color in the book not matching the actor’s in the film. Perhaps the highest compliment, outside of a well-written review, are the supporters who are inspired to write fan fiction because their spirit has been transported to the artist’s world.

That’s a powerful legacy to be invited into. Being asked to collaborate is a huge freaking honor.

How do you avoid botching that first invitation?

Find a way to add value.

Send your inner worrywart to the bar for a stiff pint or seven. You’ve got this. After all, you were invited to join because you have something to bring to the project. So bring it.

Whether you are able to interpret it into another language, design companion art, or give voice to the characters, you can take pride that you have the skills required help the artist’s vision grow. Once you set aside your reservations and fire up your own creativity, that aforementioned magic will happen.

Mind your hubris. You’ve not been brought on board to criticize the art and demand changes. So send your know-it-all to the bar with the worrywart.

Instead, respect that the artist is basically saying, “here’s my beautiful, fragile creation. You can play with it, but help me make it shine brighter for all the world to see.” Those fantasies you had in your head about the author’s works? Share those. Use them as a springboard for ideas so you can really put your talent to excellent use.

And for the love of all the art in the world, remember to play a little!

MAGIC!

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Blurb

Shax, the Demon Prince of Thieves, has reconciled himself to exile. He has a grand time careening around the galaxy as a high-end, intergalactic purloiner of pretties. Everything’s going just fine, thank you very much. All right, fine, the anti-gravity cows are a bit problematic and some of his buyers are bad for his health, but he manages until he comes across an injured angel in a psychedelic alien jungle.

He only rescues the wing boy for his golden feathers, but what Shax doesn’t know about angels could fill an intergalactic encyclopedia.

Categories: Gay Fiction, Humor, M/M Romance, Science Fiction

Excerpt: Mischief Corner Books

Buy the book:   iTunes |  Amazon  |Audible

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Meet the Author, Angel Martinez:

While Angel Martinez is the erotic fiction pen name of a writer of several genres, she writes both kinds of gay romance – Science Fiction and Fantasy. Currently living part time in the hectic sprawl of northern Delaware, (and full time inside the author’s head) Angel has one husband, one son, two cats, a changing variety of other furred and scaled companions, a love of all things beautiful and a terrible addiction to the consumption of both knowledge and chocolate.

 

Meet the Narrator, Vance Bastian:

Vance Bastian loves being a professional storyteller. He writes urban fantasy about sandmen and reapers. He has grown his acting and voice background into a career performing voice-over work and narration for both radio and audiobooks. He is also a founding host of the WROTE podcast – bringing you interviews and news of authors who write, perform, and tell LGBTQ stories. When nobody’s looking, Vance is a complete sci-fi and fantasy geek.

 

For more on Vance, please visit:

Where to find the author:


Tour Dates & Stops:

14-Dec: MM Good Book Reviews

15-Dec: BFD Book Blog, Inked Rainbow Reads

16-Dec: Hearts on Fire, Prism Book Alliance

17-Dec: Books, Coffee, & Captured Moments

18-Dec: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Love Bytes

Final

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: $10 gift card to Amazon or AllRomance eBooks.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prize provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

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Christmas Woe To Odes of Joy? Find out with Champagne Kisses by Lynda Aicher (tour and contest)

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Champagne Kisses by Lynda Aicher
Published by Riptide Publishing
Cover Art by L.C. Chase

Buy It Here at Riptide Publishing

Hi! I’m Lynda Aicher, and I’m currently touring the internet talking about my latest release Champagne Kisses. Thanks to the wonderful blog hosts for having me and to you for joining the fun. Don’t forget to check out the full list of tour stops and leave comments along the way for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card.

About Champagne Kisses

The Christmas Eve wedding Evan Cleary pulled together in four weeks is crashing down around him and taking his fledgling event planning business with it. With an empty altar and over a hundred guests arriving soon, he turns to the resistant, gorgeous brother of the runaway groom for help.

When Richard Patterson’s flamboyant brother storms out hours before he’s scheduled to marry his equally dramatic partner, Richard is left dealing with the fallout. The last thing he wants is more drama, yet he can’t deny his attraction to the effeminate event planner trying to salvage the wedding.

Evan thinks his crush on Richard is a lost cause, but one steaming kiss later, he learns different. What starts as a night of hot sex turns into a connection neither expected. But Evan knows their relationship is hopeless unless the ultra-conservative Richard can embrace every part of him—both in private and in public.

About Lynda Aicher

I love to read. It’s a simple fact about me that has been true since I discovered the worlds of Judy Blume at the age of ten. This love of reading transferred to young romance (the early version of Young Adult when the stories weren’t plagued by vampires, werewolves, and death) which hooked me on the romance genre and the fulfillment that comes with a happy-ever-after ending.

Twenty-five years later, I’m still an avid reader of all types of romance. The diversity of writing in the market ensures that there is always something new to read. I’m still a sucker for the happy-ever-after because there are more than enough not-so-happy endings in the real world that I don’t need to read about them. I read a book for enjoyment and I want to feel good when the story ends.

I have the luxury of being a full-time writer, that is, a full-time writer around my duties as mom, wife, cleaner, cook, chauffeur, master scheduler, banker, cheerleader, volunteer, and tutor. Writing has to be a priority, or it would never happen.

I live in the Pacific Northwest which provides many months of rain-filled incentive to stay indoors and write. However, I’m a Midwesterner at heart. A perfect day has the snow falling outside, a fire warming the room, a football game on the television, a roast cooking in the oven, my family hanging out around me and a good book to read.

I’m thrilled to be nominated for a 2015 Romance Writers of America RITA® award (that’s the Oscars of the romance world) for my Male/Male book Bonds of Denial. This is the first time any M/M books have been nominated and I’m humbled to be a part of such a great event.

Connect with Lynda:

Website:  “http://lyndaaicher.com/Home_Page.html”
Facebook:   “https://www.facebook.com/lyndaaicherauthor?_rdr=p”
Twitter:   “https://twitter.com/lyndaaicher”

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Champagne Kisses, Lynda Aicher is giving away a $50 gift card to Amazon! Your first comment at each stop on this tour enters you in the drawing. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 19, 2015. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Follow the tour for more opportunities to enter the giveaway, and don’t forget to leave your email or method of contact so Riptide can reach you if you win!

A Paul B Review: Kenai (Watchers #1) by Caitlin Ricci and A.J. Marcus

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Kenai coverKenai is a young watcher.  He has known since he was young that he was meant to settle disputes between shifters.  He has also been told that being a watcher is a lonely life.  The watcher separates himself from his family and there is no prospect of love, much less a mate.  This as they say is how it has always been.   His life is one of prophetic dreams and settling disputes.  To keep himself from being distracted from his duties, Kenai lives in the forest of Washington in a single room cabin by himself.  This also allows him to shift into his cougar form.  The one dream that recurs to him is of a bear shifter fishing salmon from a nearby stream.

Derek is a bear shifter in the wilds of Washington.  While walking through the woods one day, a cougar bounces around him as he walks.  Annoyed at the playful shifter, he asks the man what he is doing.  Kenai states that he just wants company.  Derek tolerates the cougar for a bit until Kenai’s bouncing leads Derek to growl at him.  Kenai apologizes and heads home.  Derek follows him and asks if Kenai would like to go on a salmon run with him the next day.

At the salmon run, things progress between Derek and Kenai.  Both agree that whatever goes on between them is just for fun and nothing more could come of it.  However, when another bear shifter attacks Kenai, things change.  Kenai defends himself, pushing the bear shifter over a cliff.  Frightened what the other bear shifters might do, he runs to the city seeking refuge in a bottle of vodka.  Derek tracks him down but Kenai must perform his watcher duties.  Will the legends of the lonely watcher prove to be true?

This is the first book in the new Watchers series by Caitlin Ricci and A J Marcus.  The first part of the book serves both as an introduction to Kenai but also to this world of watchers that the authors have created.  It is a different twist on the supervision of paranormals as these watchers seem to be born into the role.  While this is a decent shifter book, I felt something was missing in the connection of the main characters.  I did however like how Kenai used the situation that he is called on to mediate to help him come to a conclusion about his relationship with Derek.  Overall, it is a good start to the series but I hope that more details are fleshed out  in coming books.

The cover art by Carmen Waters has Kenai in his cougar form with a shirtless man behind the cougar set in a forest.  It fits the book well.

Sales Links:   eXtasy Books |  Amazon

Book Details

ebook, 46 pages
Published December 8th 2015 by eXtasy Books
ISBN139781487406011
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesWatchers #1

Its a Return to Bluewater Bay with Stuck Landing (Bluewater Bay #11) by Lauren Gallagher (tour and contest)

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Stuck Landing (A Bluewater Bay Novel) by  Lauren Gallagher
Publisher:  Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase

Buy It here at Riptide Publishing

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Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/Lauren Gallagher blog tour for Stuck Landing, the latest installment in the Bluewater Bay series!

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (excluding Stuck Landing but including titles written as L.A. Witt, Ann Gallagher, or Lori A. Witt) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 19. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Don’t forget your email or contact info so Riptide can reach you if you win!

About Lauren Gallagher

Lauren Gallagher is an abnormal romance writer who has recently been exiled from the glittering utopia of Omaha, Nebraska, to an undisclosed location in South America. Along with her husband, a harem of concubines, and a phosphorescent porcupine, she remains, as always, in hiding from the Polynesian Mafia. For the moment, she seems to have eluded her nemesis, M/M romance author L.A. Witt, but figures L.A. will eventually become bored with the wilds of Spain and come looking for her. And when that time comes, Lauren will be ready. Assuming L.A. doesn’t have her hands full keeping track of Lori A. Witt and Ann Gallagher, which she probably will.

Website:  “http://www.gallagherwitt.com/
E-mail:  mailto:gallagherwitt@gmail.com
Twitter:  “http://twitter.com/GallagherWitt“@GallagherWitt

About Stuck Landing

For months, acclaimed Wolf’s Landing director/producer Anna Maxwell has been nursing a crush on Natalya Izmaylova, a former Russian gymnast and current Wolf’s Landing stunt coordinator. When Anna witnesses Natalya’s very public breakup with her boyfriend, she can’t resist inviting her over for drinks to commiserate about love and all that nonsense. Commiseration doesn’t last long, and soon Anna’s in bed with the hottest woman she’s ever touched, living out fantasies she didn’t even know she had.

Despite the amazing sex, Anna wants to proceed with caution. They’re both newly single. They’re colleagues. And there’s the not-so-small matter of Anna’s biphobia.

Natalya won’t commit to someone who clings to ridiculous stereotypes, but they can’t avoid each other at work, and there’s no ignoring their chemistry. Anna’s defenses are slowly eroding, and Natalya is willing to give her another chance. But Natalya only has so much patience, and even scorching-hot sex won’t keep her coming back forever. If Anna doesn’t come to her senses soon and let go of her prejudices—not to mention her insecurities—she’s going to lose the woman of her dreams.

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, Aleksandr Voinov, Heidi Belleau, Rachel Haimowitz, Anne Tenino, Amy Lane, SE Jakes, G.B. Gordon, and Jaime Samms. 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.

– See more at: Riptide Publishing’s Bluewater Bay page.

*A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Must Read Series

Coffee Sip and Book Break: Broken Record by Lilah Suzanne (author interview, excerpt and giveaway)

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Broken Records (Spotlight #1) by Lilah Suzanne
Release Date: December 17, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover Artist: Victoria S. with CB Messer

Today Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to be interviewing Lilah Suzanne, author of Broken Records. Hi, Lilah, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Share a little about yourself, your background, and your current book with our readers.

  • What are your ambitions for your writing career?  I’d like to have a large catalogue of work. I don’t need a bestseller, I’d be content with a long, steady career. (Not that I would be sad at a bestseller, mind you!)
  • How many published books do you have? Can you tell us something about them? This is my third published romance book. The first is Pivot and Slip, a novella about a boxer and a former-swimmer/current yoga instructor who fall for each other. The second, Spice, is about a relationship and sex advice columnist who has trouble with taking his own advice, until he meets a cute IT specialist who fixes up him and his computer.
  • Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special? Nico is shrewd and cool, and focused on his career, not his personal life. It was interesting for me to not write a character who is a hopeless romantic for once, as my other main characters have been, and instead someone who is really out of his depth with these very strong feelings he’s having for Grady.
  • What are you working on at the moment? What’s it about? Broken Records is the first in a series, so I’m working on the second book in that series right now. It’s called Burning Tracks and focuses on Nico’s assistant Gwen, and of course we get to see what Nico and Grady are up to as well.
  • Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages per day? I aim for at least a chapter, maybe two, so however many words or pages it needs to be is what I’m hoping for. But some days real life takes over, or I just need time to steep on something. I’m not a “write everyday or else” type, but I do try to sit down and do something, even if it’s just stewing over a spot I’m stuck on.

Thank you, Lilah, that was wonderful, and now more about Broken Records, the first in a new series.

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Blurb:

Los Angeles-based stylist Nico Takahashi loves his job—or at least, he used to. Feeling fed up and exhausted from the cutthroat, gossip-fueled business of Hollywood, Nico daydreams about packing it all in and leaving for good. So when Grady Dawson—sexy country music star and rumored playboy—asks Nico to style him, Nico is reluctant. But after styling a career-changing photo-shoot, Nico follows Grady to Nashville where he finds it increasingly difficult to resist Grady’s charms. Can Nico make peace with show business and all its trappings, or will Grady’s public persona get in the way of their private attraction to each other?

 

Pages or Words: 280 pages
 Categories: Bisexual, Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

Excerpt

Grady presses his lips flat, looks up at the ceiling again to gather himself, sniffs and nods, then tugs Nico’s foot closer by his ankle. “Do you think… If we’d met at a bar. Or through a friend of a friend. Or the gym.” Grady’s thumb strokes the tender skin of Nico’s calf beneath the hem of his pants. “If we had just been two regular guys? We really could have been something.”

There’s a question in his voice, a hesitancy that maybe Nico would have rejected him eventually anyway. Nico scoots across the cramped bunk, crowds against Grady, shoulder to shoulder. “Well, we never would have met at the gym because I would have taken one look at you and gone home to mourn the body I’ll never have by consuming gallons of ice cream.”

Grady bumps his shoulder. “Shut up, you’re gorgeous.” He tips his head against the wall and grins. “If I’d first seen you at a bar I probably would have humiliated myself by trying to win you over with bad karaoke and shameless flirting.”

Nico’s eyebrows raise. “You mean to tell me you’ve been holding back on me? You have a level of flirting that’s even more shameless?”

“Oh yeah. You ain’t seen nothin’, sweetheart.”

“That is truly terrifying.”

Grady laughs, bright and uninhibited. Nico is so relieved to hear it, a moment of light in the darkness. Grady’s hand rests on Nico’s knee, Nico watches his own hand brush his fingers there, but he doesn’t linger.

“We aren’t, though. Just two random guys.”

Grady’s fingers flex, curving over his kneecap. “No.”

Nico exhales harshly. “I have never wanted to be a groupie so badly.”

Grady shoves at his leg. “Come on, you didn’t really think that I would do that to you—”

“In my weaker, more insecure moments?” Nico scrunches his face, embarrassed. “Yeah, I did.”

“You think that little of me, huh?” He says it with a teasing grin, but Nico’s heart sinks.

“No, Grady. I think you’re…” A million adjectives flash through his head: beautiful, amazing, stunning, compassionate, kind, generous. A supernova. He settles on, “Really special.”

Grady gives a skeptical lift of his eyebrows. “Uh oh. I’m really special, huh?”

“I’m so, so into you and it’s…” He cringes at the words but it’s true, “It’s not you, it’s me.”

“Oh lord.” Grady laments with a laugh. “Not that, please.”

“I’m the guy on the sidelines. I’m the one who makes everyone else shine. I don’t belong there, in the spotlight. I like that at the end of the day I can go home and just walk away from the cameras and the red carpets and the scrutiny. And you—you’re a star. And you can have anyone.”

Grady turns, the cramped space of the bunk making his limbs bump and nudge and curl around Nico’s body. During Grady’s shows, in the moment just before he starts singing the opening line of “Broken Records,” there’s this pause, this moment suspended in the air when the audience is silent and waiting and doesn’t even dare to inhale because in that moment, Grady’s soul is laid bare. He looks at Nico just like that and Nico can’t breathe around it.

“I don’t want anyone,” he says, voice low and serious. “I want you. How do you not get that?”

Buy the book: Links coming on release day

 

 

 

Meet the author:

Lilah Suzanne has been writing actively since the sixth grade, when a literary magazine published her essay about an uncle who lost his life to AIDS. A freelance writer, she has also authored a children’s book and has a devoted following in the fan fiction community. She is also the author of Interlude Press books Spice and Pivot and Slip. Broken Records is Book One in Lilah’s Spotlight Series.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: Facebook.com/lilahsuzanne

Twitter: @lilahsuzanne

 

 

Tour Dates & Stops:

17-Dec: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Hearts on Fire, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Velvet Panic, Michael Mandrake, Mikky’s World of Books

18-Dec: My Fiction Nook, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, All I Want and More Books, Nautical Star Books, Havan Fellows

21-Dec: Prism Book Alliance, It’s Raining Men, V’s Reads, Bayou Book Junkie

22-Dec: Books A to Z, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Cathy Brockman Romances, MM Good Book Reviews

23-Dec: Unquietly Me, Sassygirl Books, The Day Before You Came

24-Dec: Love Bytes, Lee Brazil, Happily Ever Chapter

25-Dec: Divine Magazine, Inked Rainbow Reads

28-Dec: QUEERcentric Books, Alpha Book Club, TTC Books and More

29-Dec: BFD Book Blog, Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, : Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews

30-Dec: Jessie G. Books, Molly Lolly, Just Love Romance, Moonbeams Over Atlanta

Final

 

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: $25 Interlude Press Web Store Gift card plus five multi-format eBooks to runners-up.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

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A BJ Review: Something Like a Love Song by Becca Burton

Rating:  4.25 stars out of 5

Something Like A Love SongOne tragic night left Landon and Dylan’s dreams of happily ever after in apparent ruin. Forced to overcome physical and emotional trauma, the young lovers turn to a network of family and friends as they attempt to rebuild their lives. Can their one constant—their love—survive the changes both undergo on the road to recovery?

Given the premise, I knew right off that this was going to be an extremely emotional story, and I wasn’t wrong. But it was also a very fast read despite being over three hundred pages. I enjoyed the author’s writing style—it’s easy to read and flowed well for me. It never once made me question what was going on or stop to think or re-read a passage.

The two main characters, Dylan and Landon, were nuanced and well-drawn, and each of the secondary characters added to the story in their own unique way. The multiple points of view was a bit strange, but in this case I think it really did add to the story to allow us to see not only how the incident and its aftermath affected many people other than just the main characters. Those small insights into what was going on with them also gave us a chance to see the main characters through outside eyes, which I found equally enlightening and enjoyable.   

It’s obvious that this author has a medical background as she took us through the process from the accident and initial trauma to recovery. Watching these guys struggle with pain, guilt, and the frustration and trials of rehabilitation was heartbreaking. It was also an uplifting testament to how love can overcome. Unlike many books that deal with hate crimes, there was basically no focus on finding the perpetrators. And after a bit of thought, I found that I actually liked that.

This story had a ton of emotion and feels, it took me from tears to laughter several times as we are shown episodes from before the incident. But it didn’t have much sex at all, and for I think it would have put it up into the five star story if I’d been able to see more of the couple’s physical relationship returning to normal. We’re only given tiny glimpses and a verbal promise, and must admit that left me wanting.

I don’t normally like when stories jump around in time, but this was an exception. The author did an excellent job of painting Landon’s old character through flashbacks and showing how his new self differed slightly even later after his recovery.  So many insights can be taken away from this book, one big one that stood out for me is how the things that happen to us can change us irrevocably, make us not into different people, as we are always one self, but into a new version of ourselves. To be happy, we must embrace, accept and love ourselves in the now and avoid the tendency to compare ourselves to either our past selves or to others. And I think that’s something we can all related to, because we all go through change in our life, sometimes it’s due to happy events, sometimes trauma, and sometimes simply aging.

Overall, this story left me feeling warm and hopeful. I highly recommend it.

I adore creative drawn covers, and this one is definitely that. It caught my attention and fits the story well.

Sales Links:  Interlude Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:  

Kindle Edition, 308 pages
Published November 19th 2015 by Interlude Press
ASINB0181CFAXK
edition languageEnglish

A Holiday Offering for You: Brina Brady’s ‘For Me’ book blast and giveaway

CoverSample

For Me ( Rent Me #4) by Brina Brady
 Release Date: November 29, 2015

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Brina Brady
Cover Artist: Sid Love

Blurb

The entire Dubrovsky family heads to snowy Russia for a family Christmas. Brennen fears Dmitri’s homophobic father’s rejection. Dmitri believes when they present their daughter, that all will be forgiven, but steps into a mess upon arriving with his husband. Instead of greeting Dmitri and Brennen with hugs and kisses, Grandma Dubrovsky whisks baby Dominika away, leaving them alone with Dmitri’s angry father. Can they stay if it means abiding by his rules?

This is a story of love, forgiveness, and miracles during the holiday season. Dmitri and Brennen overcome issues which have been troubling their relationship, each growing and learning how to best be what the other needs. There are many surprises during the holiday season for all of them.

This is best if read after Make Me (Book 3 in the Rent Me series.) If you read it as a standalone, you will surely wish you had read the first three books.

 

Pages or Words: 29,600 words
 Categories: BDSM, Contemporary, Erotica, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

Excerpt

Adrik was deep in conversation with Valerik when they approached the porch. Their conversation terminated when Dmitri and Brennen arrived. Mischa was right behind them.

“Why is he here? He’s not a Dubrovsky. He’s your wife, so he needs to be baking in the kitchen.” Valerik spit on the snow.

Brennen lowered his eyes for a moment and when he’d had just about enough, he spoke in Russian to be sure the old man heard and understood. “That is the last cheap fucking insult you get. One more insult from you and I’ll personally take Dominika home. You’ll never see our daughter again.”

“That was uncalled for,” Dmitri shouted at Valerik. “I stand with Brennen on this. You insult my husband one more time, then you’ll never see any of us.”

“That goes for me, too. I won’t allow you to treat Brennen like this. We love him and he is part of us. You need to apologize,” Mischa said.

“I agree. Brennen has been part of the Dubrovsky family since he was a child. Keep your homophobic attitude out of Christmas. We’re here to celebrate as a family. None of us will visit you ever again if you continue this abuse,” Adrik said.

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Meet the author:

I am from Huntington Beach, Ca. I taught various subjects at a Continuation High School in Los Angeles, California for 27 years. I obtained a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in history, Secondary Social Science Credential and a Master’s Degree in Secondary Reading and Secondary Education from California State University, Long Beach. I also enrolled in some creative writing classes at UCLA. I am currently taking classes from Romance Writers of America.

Where to find the author:

 


Tour Dates & Stops:

Parker Williams, Dawn’s Reading Nook, BFD Book Blog, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews, Bayou Book Junkie, Foxylutely Book Reviews, Inked Rainbow Reads, Happily Ever Chapter, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Charley Descoteaux, Jessie G. Books, The Hat Party, Velvet Panic, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews, Mikky’s World of Books, Book Lovers 4Ever, Up All Night, Read All Day, Alpha Book Club, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Kirsty Loves Books, Divine Magazine, MM Good Book Reviews

Final

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘For Me’ by Brina Brady’.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prize provided by the author and Pride Promotions.

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