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A Stella Review: A Working Man (Men of Manhattan #4) by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

A Working Man coverMatthew Hawke’s professional life is soaring as high the powerful bird of prey whose image is inked on his back. He’s at the top of his game as the owner of an advertising agency that is scooping up prime accounts like a mighty hawk wrapping its talons around an unfortunate ground rodent. Yes, work is good. Too bad his love life has more in common with the dying rodent than the triumphant hawk.

When the thought of a sexy man trumps actually being with a sexy woman, Matthew thinks it might be time for a change. And there IS a gorgeous man at the gym he’s noticed.

Drakon Mavros is working his shapely ass off to make ends meet. His administrative assistant job at a messenger service is steady, but the money he gets from his more creative job pays most of the bills. An ex-boyfriend took his confidence, his trust and his self-esteem and Drakon is afraid to take another chance at love. When an adorably goofy man at his gym actually hurts himself trying to flirt with him, Drakon can’t resist falling under Matt’s spell. He makes Drakon feel good about himself again and praises his artistic talent – neither of which his ex ever did.

As the men begin to fall for one another, it appears nothing can go wrong – they seem to be soul mates. Secrets and lies can crack even the firmest foundation, though. It takes a true master to shore it up so that it never crumbles. Is love the mortar that can restore trust and faith and bind men forever? Only time will tell. Can Drakon and Matt take that chance?

A Working Man is the third book in the Men of Manhattan series by Sandrine Gasq-Dion.

Not one of my fave so far, cause honestly? I found it a little unrealistic.

Matthew is 38 years old, the owner of an advertising firm who for the first time in his life is starting to be attracted to men, especially to a particular dark haired man he met at a masquerade party. He decides to try a sex hotline because he needs to know if he’s still attracted to women. But on the other side of the phone there’s a man with a sexy voice. It seems he’s not so straight after all.

Drakon is a 25 years old addicted to twinkies and colored sneakers, he started working for a sex line as Drake, while looking for a new job. He meets Matthew at the gym (not one of the finest moment for Matt, he was trying to flirt with Drakon and fell off the treadmill!)

Matt wants Drakon but keeps speaking with Drake at the hot line and thinking of the man with the mask. At the same time Drakon wants Matt but has fantasies with Roy(Matt)’ s voice.

Fortunately this big misunderstanding didn’t go to far in the story, but as I say I found it so unlikely, it was hard to me to really love this story, and in a way to me this situation smelled like cheating. I know it’s an extreme point of view, but I got this feeling that I couldn’t overcome. At the end it was like both of them has three men in his mind, the gym one, the party one and the sex line one. Not for me.

What I love about this series is that each book can be read as a standalone and you will miss nothing. But in each one of them you’ll find the characters you loved in the previous books, so for example if you want to know more about Matthew and Drake you just need to read the next book.

Well, I’m going straight to read A Healing Man, hoping to see these MCs again and learn to like them a little more.

Cover Art by Wilde City Press. I don’t like this series’ covers. They are pretty much the same with a different model for each book. They are good to look at but nothing more.

Sales Links:  Wilde City Press     All Romance (ARe)     Amazon       Buy It Here

 

Book Details:

ebook, 129 pages
Published September 24th 2014 by Wilde City Press
ISBN139781925180497
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.wildecity.com/
series Men of Manhattan #4

The Men of Manhattan Series:

  • A Betting Man (Men of Manhattan, #1)
    A Marrying Man (Men of Manhattan, #2)
    A Fighting Man (Men of Manhattan, #3)
    A Working Man (Men of Manhattan, #4)
    A Healing Man (Men of Manhattan, #5)

A MelanieM Review: Getting It Right (Restoration #1) by A.M. Arthur

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Getting It Right coverDetective Nathan Wolf’s work is his life. At age 34, Nathan has only a series of failed relationships with women behind him.  Why? Because he’s afraid of his feelings about his best friend James and what they might mean.

Dr. James Taggert has two distinctly separate lives. One during the day as a psychiatrist who specializes in abuse cases.  The other a night time party-animal known for his drinking and casual hookups. As Tag, he’s the guy in the gay clubs who screws them, leaves them, and never looks back. But James’s drinking is getting heavier, and when bad memories from the past resurface, he’s close to becoming the worst version of himself.

After a drunken blackout ends in a hot and heavy make-out session with his very straight best friend, James has no memory of the steamy affair. But Nathan isn’t sorry for the kisses that James can’t remember. Nathan finally musters the courage to tell James how he really feels, but a life-altering event might force them apart before they can ever be together.

When it comes to angst on overload, A. M. Arthur’s got it down pat!  In Getting It Right (Restoration #1), we have two main characters who between them have a whole host of issues and problems, including substance abuse.  Tag, aka Dr. James Taggert, is a character flowing over from Arthur’s Stand By You (Belonging #3), a scene from that story which is repeated here from another perspective.  James’ close friend is also someone he has loved “forever” but believes is straight.  That would be his buddy, police officer Nathan Wolf.  One drunken night, at least for James, finds the two sharing a kiss.  But that moment is hidden by Nathan’s lying about the events of that night, letting James think it was a dream.

This issue of miscommunication and outright deception looms over everything that happens to these two men.  James Taggert is a  prime example of that old adage “physician, heal thyself”.  Outside of work his communication skills are almost nil, and his drinking is a problem obvious to all except himself.  I found Arthur’s treatment of an alcoholic in denial especially effective.  James has a long pattern of soaking himself in alcohol, no matter the reason or moment.  But call himself someone with a substance abuse problem? Nope, he’s not going there, even if there is a niggling little voice in his head that recounts his past turbulent family history.

Nathan seems relatively drama free.  At first.  But this is an A. M. Arthur story and that means plenty of trauma and dramatic events to come.  Without heading into spoiler territory, let’s just say there’s a whole lot of pain heading his way.  Again, its well written and the aftermath is believable, hurtful, and again Arthur makes it easy for the reader to connect with Nathan’s anger and damage.  In fact, I found both characters to be relatable, well drawn and vulnerable, especially with their histories.

So, why did I find myself not totally connecting with this story?

After much thought I think it comes back to the issue of characters so overloaded with pain, trauma and personal problems that the romance got lost amidst the drama.  There is so much for each character to deal with, that overlaying it all with the miscommunication and sometime outright lies between these two (as they work towards a romance and relationship), well, it just seemed to me too much stuffed into one story.  Something, in this case, their love story, was cast into the background.

While that was it should be given what James and Nathan area dealing with, it also served to disconnect me somewhat from their story, at least that part of it.  The angst felt unrelenting (elements that were realistically handled) and it bogged the story down, at least for me.

For fans of A.M. Arthur, none of the issues that bothered me will be a problem for you.  Hey, it’s A.M. Arthur after all, and I have long suspected that A in the author’s name stands for Angst!  But for me?  I needed a little more lightness, or laughter to balance out the woe and this was just too heavy on the woe!

I wonder who will be popping up next in the second story in this Restoration trilogy.  Stay tuned, with a little break, I will head back to A.M. Arthur’s world and find out.  Meet me here!

Cover artist?  Not sure but that cover feels at little generic, could be any story out there. Where are the elements that tell you what Getting It Right is all about?  Sigh.

Sales Links:  Carina Press         All Romance (ARe)         Amazon          Buy It here

Book Details

ebook
Expected publication: March 16th 2015 by Carina Press
ISBN139781426899577
edition languageEnglish
seriesRestoration #1

Wash the Grey (Fifty Shades, that is) Away with Rules To Love By, a Riptide BDSM Anthology

spotlight on books

In Our Book Spotlight:

Rules to Live By – a BDSM Anthology

featuring stories from

Heidi Belleau, Anah Crow, Dianne Fox, Lisa Henry, Cari Z, and Anna Zabo

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Four intimate tales of power exchange, discipline, risks taken, and pleasures earned.

A list of rules to live by.

In Cari Z’s House Rules, jealousy leads Jonathan to break the rules his lover has established. He can’t decide which he enjoys more: his punishment, or the reward afterward. Good thing he gets both.

A lesson in humility.

In The Harder They Fall by Heidi Belleau and Lisa Henry, spoiled college boy Tad hires a prostitute, but “Daddy” couldn’t care less about what Tad wants. Instead, he’s going to give his spoiled little boy exactly what he deserves.

A cage that means freedom.

In Master Key by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox, Marquis offers Navin the key to the most intimate of locks, hoping it will help them to prioritize their relationship. And it does—until work and insecurities threaten to drive them apart again.

A spool of rope and a desire to be bound.

In CTRL Me by Anna Zabo, a night out between friends turns hot and tempting when Gabe deliberately pushes Tom’s submissive buttons. Then Tom discovers rope in Gabe’s glove box—and not the type for securing luggage.

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Giveaway

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a $15 credit at Riptide Publishing. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 22. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Rules To Live By Anthology Riptide Book Page: 

Book Details:
Authors: Heidi Belleau, Anah Crow, Dianne Fox, Lisa Henry, Cari Z, Anna Zabo
eBook ISBN: 9781626492516
eBook release: Feb 16, 2015
eBook Formats: pdf, mobi, html, epub
Print ISBN: 9781626492523
Print release: Feb 16, 2015
Word count: 66,400,Page count: 248
Cover by: L.C. Chase
– See more here!

In Our Book Spotlight: When in Bloom by Nicole Dennis (Book tour and contest)

When in Bloom (Southern Charm #4) by Nicole Dennis
magnifying glass and bookRelease Date: February 20, 2015
Goodreads Link

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Nicole Dennis Answers a few questions…

Q. How do you deal with interruptions from family and friends – how do you find the balance and mark the space you need?

I only have a Fat Cat at home, so life is fairly quiet.

Q.  What inspired you to write in the first place?

I never thought about doing anything else. From the moment I read, I wanted to create my own stories for my dolls. Then different characters started talking. It helped me get away from reality and a rough time in school.

Q. What’s the hardest step for you as a writer? Planning? Writing? Editing? Something else?

Planning. Plotting. Editing – yuck, I have a tendency to repeat the same word dozens of times (sometimes on the SAME Page!)

Author Nicole Dennis Bio:

Ever the quiet one growing up, Nicole Dennis often slid away from reality and curled up with a book to slip into the worlds of her favorite authors. Over the years, she’s created a personal library full of novels filled with dragons, fairies, vampires, shapeshifters of all kinds and romance. Always she returned to romance. Still, there were these characters in her head, worlds wanting to be built on paper, and stories wanting to be told and she began writing them down whether during or after class. She continues to this day. Only recently has it begun to become fruitful, spreading out to let others read and enter her worlds, meet her characters, and see what she sees. No matter what she writes, her stories of romance with their twists of paranormal, fantasy and erotica will always have their Happily Ever Afters.

She currently works in a quiet office in Central Florida, where she also makes her home, and enjoys the down time to slip into her characters and worlds to escape reality from time to time. At home, she becomes human slave to a semi-demonic tortie calico.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NicoleDennis.Author
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nicoledennis.author/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nicoledennisaut/books-n-promo/
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/nicoledennisauthor

Publisher: Totally Bound
Cover Artist: Emmy Ellis

Sales Links:  Totally Bound

More About When In Bloom…wheninbloom_800

Will the personal challenges of a former Army doctor and a brilliant florist get in the way of a chance at life and love?

Fighting type one diabetes since childhood, Jude Sebastian runs to prove he can live a normal life, until epileptic seizures begin to change his life. Even with Dawson, his medical alert Golden Labrador, at his side, Jude finds daily life difficult. He owns the floral shop Flowers in the Breeze, and designs everything from simple bouquets to elaborate themes for weddings and celebrations.

At the Shore Breeze Clinic, Jude comes across a man clearly suffering with a PTSD episode. A new arrival in the small town, Doctor Elliott Sheffield, a retired Army Ranger doctor, is looking for a second chance after what he saw in the Middle Eastern deserts.

Wanting a normal relationship, Jude tries to deny his disorder, but something is happening. He can’t regulate his sugars and his disorder worsens. When he returns to the clinic, Dawson alerts Jude to an oncoming seizure.

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes referencing PTSD, seizures and diabetes.
Categories: Contemporary, M/M Romance

When In Bloom Excerpt

Cursing under his breath as the sky turned orange with another incoming sandstorm, Dr. Elliott Sheffield hated the situation. Though they’d tried to tie down the damn tent, the ferocious wind tugged the straps, causing openings everywhere to expose the critical care unit to the elements. Why had he ever agreed to come to this desert hell in the Middle East?

After struggling through several storms like this one, he knew the clouds could turn the sky black for at least seven hours. Pushing out the noises of men calling out in pain and fearing for their lives, he concentrated to save the man on the operating table. His hands and forearms were covered in blood as he searched for the damned bleeder in the man’s belly.

“Come on… Come on… Where the fuck are you?”

As the winds howled, Elliott felt the grit of the fine layer of sand digging underneath the scrubs and within any openings of his uniform. Along with the sweat dripping down his nape, the sand mixed with the moisture and aggravated him. Damn stuff could get through any crack and crevice of tent, Humvee or building. This place sucked when it came to performing delicate surgery, but he didn’t have a choice. The soldiers were here. He needed to be nearby to care for them.

“Shit… Got it,” Elliott said and made the necessary stitches to close the nasty bleeder. He scrambled to put the soldier’s innards back in place, flushed everything with saline to cleanse, and stapled the exterior wound.

“Cover him up tight. We’ll come back and make it nicer.” He stepped back to let the other physician and nurse finish. He peeled off and tossed the gloves. Removing the sweat-soaked mask, he left the curtained-off operating theater and went back to the main infirmary.

When the blasted Taliban insurgents had overrun the garrison stationed at the American base, Elliott had transferred with most of the surgical team to the Canadian–British combat hospital at the Kandahar airfield.

It wasn’t any better here.

Elliott shoved a weary hand through his hair. He scratched at the heavy bearded growth. Since his boots had hit the sand, he’d adapted to the crazy, never-ending situations, difficult in the best of conditions, but aggravated in the worse. He’d figured out ways to suture and clean some of the most devastating wounds he’d ever seen in his career. He could never get around the constant issue of infection from the damn sand.

“Fucking sand…”

The thump-thump-thump of helicopter blades surrounded them. Everyone within the base knew the meaning behind those blades. It was never good.

“We have incoming patients,” someone called out.

“They’re not friendlies! Take cover!” another soldier shouted as bullets flew through the sand and darkness
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Crouching, riveted as soldiers rushed around, Elliott thought about the patients. He knew their lives were at the most risk, unable to defend themselves. When dark figures invaded the tent, Elliott covered a nearby patient.

Several loud blasts blew through the base as bombs went off in rapid succession. He called out when searing heat scored through his shoulder.

Blood and gore rose in front of his mind. Within seconds, all the time it had taken to save these patients was destroyed.

“Doctor…”

“Doctor…”

Elliott blinked. He tasted the fine grit of the sand.

“Doctor…”

“Dr. Sheffield? Are you okay?”

When fingers touched his wounded shoulder, Elliott screamed and pushed back until he hit something hard then plopped his ass on the ground. The intensity knocked Elliott out of the intrusive flashback from his five years spent in Kandahar. He was home in the States. Having left Afghanistan and his ten year military career, he had now lived and worked in Florida for the last nine months.

He lowered himself until his scrub-covered ass hit the floor. He pressed his hands flat on the cool tile of the emergency room to ground himself in reality. He looked around, goggled as other staff fought to save a patient with a vicious belly wound. Two others moved toward him. He held up a hand and hyper focused on the blood-covered blue latex.

“Are you with us, Elliott? Can you rise?” another doctor said in a calming tone.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m here.”

“Where were you?”

“Kandahar.”

“Do you know what set you off?”

“Insurgents overran the base and hit the clinic and caused so much destruction among the patients and created more. It was the appearance of the wound. I took care of so many of them. Most were ruined by the fucking sand.” Elliott knocked his head against the wall.

“Easy. Can you stand? I’ll get you back to the lounge.”

“I’m okay, Harry, take care of the patient.” Elliott pushed himself to his feet and stripped the gloves from his hand. He wobbled out of the room and down the hall.

“Dr. Sheffield?” a nurse called.

He held up a hand. “Taking ten.”

“But…”

Something toppled with a harsh clatter. The broken glass caused Elliott to crouch again in a protective corner and cover his head.

“Dr. Sheffield!”

Lost again in the sand, heat and blood, Elliott stayed put in his cover position. What the hell was he doing here in civilian life? He couldn’t avoid the truth of how he suffered from PTSD.

“Dr. Sheffield… Major…”

He lifted his head at the sound of his Army title. Another doctor crouched in front of him. Through the haze of blood and sand within his memory, he almost didn’t recognize the fellow soldier. James was a friend, a psychiatrist and military officer with the Air Force.

“Major, are you with us?”

“Not an attack…” Elliott knew his gaze would be dead and haunted since he saw it so many times in the mirror after one of the dreams woke him.

“No, Major, a tray filled with containers crashed,” James said. “Major, I need you to stand and come with me. We’ll have a chat.”

“Yeah, guess I need to do that,” Elliott said as he looked beyond James. “I kinda lost it there.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time a soldier covered his ass,” James said as he rose.

Elliott followed James, who chose to find someplace quiet and separated from the chaos of the ER.

Pages or Words: 52,000 words

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Tour Dates: February 20, 2015

Tour Stops:

Parker Williams, Inked Rainbow Reads, Amanda C. Stone, Divine Magazine, BFD Book Blog, MM Good Book Reviews, Molly Lolly, Bayou Book Junkie, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Havan Fellows, Lee Brazil, Fallen Angel Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Andrew Q. Gordon, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Hearts on Fire, The Hat Party

 

Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: ‘E-copy of When In Bloom’. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

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In Our Book Spotlight: Theory Unproven by Lilian Francis

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Theory Unproven by Lilian Francis

Love Lane Books

 

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About Theory Unproven…

Working with elephants in their natural habitat has always been Eric Phillips dream. Getting what he’s always desired introduces him to Tyaan Bouwer, the bush pilot that flies in his supplies, and Eric discovers the allure of South Africa goes beyond the wildlife and the scenery.

But in an area where bushveld prejudices and hatred bleed across the borders, realising their love will be a hard fought battle. Keeping hold of it might just kill them.

Theory Unproven by Lilian Francis
Love Lane Books
Cover Artist :  Meredith Russell
Sales Links can be found here at Love Lane Books

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About Lillian Francis

An avid reader, Lillian Francis was always determined she wanted to write, but a ‘proper’ job and raising a family distracted her for over a decade. Over the years and thanks to the charms of the Internet, Lillian realized she’d been writing at least one of her characters in the wrong gender. Ever since, she’s been happily letting her ‘boys’ run her writing life.

Lillian now divides her time between family, a job and the numerous men in her head all clamouring for ‘their’ story to be told.

Lillian lives in an imposing castle on a wind-swept desolate moor or in an elaborate ‘shack’ on the edge of a beach somewhere depending on her mood, with the heroes of her stories either chained up in the dungeon or wandering the shack serving drinks in nothing but skimpy barista aprons.

In reality, she would love to own a camper van and to live by the sea.

You can read more about Lillian here:
Blog:  http://lillianfrancis.blogspot.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/lillian.francis.100
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/LillianFrancis_

Theory Unproven Excerpt

Preparing to ask the stranger his name, Eric opened his mouth to speak, when he was interrupted by a doleful bleat. Startled, he glanced over his shoulder, scanning the airfield expecting to find signs of a wayward sheep. The forlorn stuttering cry came again, and Eric whipped back round, suspiciously eyeing a crate that was securely strapped to the internal wall of the plane.

“Goat,” said the pilot—Eric had decided that’s what he was—as he came back down the ramp.

The deep timbre of that one word surprised Eric. It was rough and low, with an unfamiliar accent Eric’s subconscious demanded to hear more of. That wasn’t likely to happen, though, because the pilot was already surveying his cargo with his back to Eric. He bent to hoist a crate into his arms, leaving Eric to stare dry-mouthed at the enticing pull of khaki for several seconds. Then the pilot straightened and carried the crate into the plane.

Eric wondered if he should offer to help, but despite the ease with which the crate had been hefted into the air, Eric thought they would probably be too heavy and he didn’t want to make a fool of himself. Not in front of this man.

The blond wore the almost obligatory light khaki bush clothes similar to his own uniform The Foundation had provided. Eric hadn’t noticed a logo on his shirt, but he could hope. If this man worked for The Foundation, Eric could at least enjoy the view, since it was unlikely he was gay. He hadn’t even looked twice at Eric. Not that Eric considered himself drop-dead gorgeous or anything, but he was used to getting his fair share of interest back home in England.

Eric caught a glimpse of Akibo gesticulating wildly at the cab driver. His holdalls were piled at Akibo’s feet, Eric noticed thankfully. At least if the altercation didn’t go well and the cab driver took off, he wouldn’t abscond with Eric’s luggage.

The hollow echo of footfalls on the ramp drew Eric’s attention back to the pilot. Tiredness was pulling on Eric’s nerves, leaving him out of sorts, and the lack of conversation was doing nothing to ease his irritability.

Taking the bull by the horns, Eric graced the pilot with the brightest smile he could muster. “So, do you work for The Foundation too?”

“No.” The man’s stride didn’t even falter as he continued toward the next crate.

Not chatty, then. Downright rude, in fact.

The firm slap of a hand on his back caught him just off centre, almost pitching him forward, and Akibo’s fingers curled over his shoulder and squeezed.

“I see you’ve met Tyaan. Tyaan Bouwer. He’s the local freight pilot. He’ll run your supplies into the research station every week.”

It was almost as if the pilot finally saw Eric as anything other than an annoyance for the first time. Tyaan stepped toward him, straightening to his full height, and Eric resisted the urge to check out the breadth of his chest, instead raising his gaze the few inches’ difference in their height to meet Tyaan’s eyes head-on.

“Tyaan, this is Eric. Eric Philips. He’s the new researcher out at olifant velde.” Akibo turned back to Eric. “That’s the local name for your part of the reserve. It means elephant fields.”

“Howzit.” Tyaan stuck out his hand. Eric extended his own automatically, and Tyaan pressed their palms together, enveloping Eric’s fingers in warmth. He gave Eric’s hand a short, sharp shake before releasing him from the firm grip. “The elephant man, hey?”

Eric smiled. “I know I’m no oil painting, but I hope I’m not that bad.”

Tyaan’s top-to-toe appraisal was so fleeting that Eric thought he’d imagined it. An expression skittered across the pilot’s face. Interest, curiosity—Eric wasn’t sure. It manifested itself as a bright spark in his eyes and the faint quirk of his lips, as if he were biting the inside of his cheek. The look vanished before Eric could really work out what it meant, but the amber-coloured eyes still seemed to hold a welcome within them.

“Tyaan’s a man of few words, but you won’t find a finer bush pilot. He’s reliable too. He’ll never leave you wanting.”

Wanting. Despite the pilot’s brusque manner, Eric wasn’t surprised he already wanted to press Tyaan up against the shiny metal body of his plane.

“I’m going up front,” Akibo said, blissfully unaware of the thoughts rampaging through Eric’s head. At least Eric hoped that was the case, since he followed that statement with “Coming, Eric?”

In his dreams, maybe.

Journey Into the Darkness with Louise Lyons “in Darkest Peru” (author guest post and contest)

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Synopsis

Shy and geeky Rhys White, has recently been ditched by his boyfriend of five years. On top of that heís been made redundant from his job as a computer programmer.

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Tired of being boring and unadventurous, he throws caution to the winds and buys a plane ticket to Peru.

Rhysí adventure in Peru starts out well, but then disaster strikes. All of his belongings are stolen. Everything is goneópassport, wallet, phone, clothing, the lot.

Stranded in Cuzco, not too far from the famous Machu Picchu, Rhys tries to find someone to help him. He’s about to give up, when a sexy Brazilian named Rafael, comes to his rescueÖ

Buy links

Giveaway

Prizes:  $20 WIP Gift Card,$5 Amazon Gift Card,1 x eBook copy of In Darkest Peru and1 x eBook copy of Conflicted or†Second Bite of the Cherry (winnerís choice)

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Cherished childhood memories and my early writing attempts by Louisa Lyons

One of my best memories of being a small child, was something that I believe had a bearing on me becoming a writer. My grandmother (known as Nana) on my mother’s side lived about 5 miles from where I lived with my parents, and every weekend we went to spend the day with her. But at Christmas, my dad would fetch Nana and she’d stay with us for a few days, sleeping on the sofa.

As most children do, I’d get up early in the morning and creep into the lounge where Nana was sleeping, and she let me sit under the blanket near her feet while she told me fantasy stories. Usually they were about me, but with magical powers. Imagine a little girl who could grow wings when she wanted, and fly off with the birds, looking down at everything below and going to visit anyone she wanted?

Stories like this inspired me to make up some of my own, and by the time I reached 8 years old, I learned to use my mum’s old manual typewriter so I could put the stories on paper rather than keep them in my head.

From 5 years old onward, I had horse-riding lessons and every Sunday without fail, my dad would drive me to the riding school a few miles away from our house. I remember one bad winter where we had so much snow, Dad couldn’t get the car out of the drive, so rather than let me miss my riding lesson, he went to the local farm and borrowed their 4 wheel drive vehicle so he could get me to the riding school. No one else’s parents did that, so I had one-to-one riding fun that day, and I was able to choose which horse I wanted to ride. I learn to groom it, tack up and then got to ride as well that day. I think the session was way longer than the usual hour!

My horse-riding featured in my writing in the early stages, and the first stories I churned out on that old typewriter, were about little girls and ponies, and eventually teenage girls with horses.

I had a great love for animals, and still do, and I seem to remember writing not only about horses, but other creatures too. Aged about 12, I entered a writing competition in my English class and my story about a fox cub and her adventures in the wild, imaginatively titled “A Nature Hole of Survival” won the competition. I didn’t handle my 15 minutes of fame too well at the time, however. My English teacher called me up on stage in the drama hall to receive my prize, and I was so embarrassed I stood there laughing hysterically and was unable to say anything! Hopefully things have improved since then.

About the author

Louise Lyons comes from a family of writers. Her mother has a number of poems published in poetry anthologies, her aunt wrote poems for the Church, and her grandmother sparked her inspiration with tales of fantasy. Louise first ventured into writing short stories at the grand old age of eight, mostly about little girls and ponies. She branched into romance in her teens, and MM romance a few years later, but none of her work saw the light of day until she discovered Fan Fiction in her late twenties.

Posting stories based on some of her favorite movies, provoked a surprisingly positive response from readers. This gave Louise the confidence to submit some of her work to publishers, and made her take her writing ìhobbyî more seriously.

Louise lives in the UK, about an hour north of London, with a mad Dobermann, and a collection of tropical fish and tarantulas. She works in the insurance industry by day, and spends every spare minute writing. She is a keen horse-rider, and loves to run long distance. Some of her best writing inspiration comes to her, when her feet are pounding the open road. She often races into the house afterward, and grabs pen and paper to make notes.

Louise has always been a bit of a tomboy, and one of her other great loves is cars and motorcycles. Her car and bike are her pride and joy, and she loves to exhibit the car at shows, and take off for long days out on the bike, with no one for company but herself.

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A MelanieM Review: Jens & Elliot (Storming Love: Blizzard #1) by Sara York

Rating:  3.5 stars out of 5

Jens and Elliot Storming Love CoverA sudden blizzard shuts down the airport in Boston leaving two men stranded.  Writer Jens Arnesen in town for a now cancelled workshop is only looking for a taste of the city, a place to experience Boston. When a friend offers a room in a house he owns for the night, Jens thinks he’s in for a lonely if uneventful night.  Then a naked man steps out of the bathroom in what Jens thought was an empty room.

Elliot Matthews flight home to Atlanta is cancelled due to snow and needs a place to stay until the storm is over.  A friend of his co-owns rentals in the area and offers Elliot one of the rooms for the night.  What could possibly go wrong?  Stepping out of the bathroom and finding a gorgeous and shocked man staring at your naked body.

But what started out as an awkward, embarrassing introduction turns into something more as the storm rages on.  When the storm throws them together, can Jens and Elliot make the most of the situation?

Jens and Elliot (Storming Love: Blizzard #1) by Sara York is a very sweet short story with a few surprising quirks that elevated it above other cute stories of the same trope.  I have to admit I do love a strangers thrown together by adversity theme.  And given current weather conditions here in the eastern  part of the US, this story and series feels very current. Poor Boston indeed.

Two men in town for meetings/conferences are stranded by a blizzard when the Boston airport shuts down.  Each knows someone who rents out rooms in houses they own and each makes arrangements for the night…for the exact same room as each had talked to a difference half of the partnership who owns the houses.  All reasonable, all believable plot elements which I liked.  Sometimes these types of stories can get far fetched in the plot mechanisms that throw people together, but this absolutely works.

But the interesting bits start as Elliot walks out of the shower (naked of course) and finds Jens staring away, shocked to find someone else in the apartment.  Turns out that Elliot is “grower”, not a “show-er” to use the vernacular.  Elliot is embarrassed over the small size of his penis when flaccid.  When was the last time you saw that little character development in a romance story? Hmmm?  Not often, I’m betting.  With this unexpected dimension to Elliot’s character and physical makeup, Sara York gives this situation and subject  a delicate and compassionate treatment. And with a slight (no pun intended) bit of humor. I thought this was the nicest element here and it helps add depth and realism to the intimacy and developing relationship between Jens and Elliot.

Can a storm and close contact develop into something lasting?  Perhaps.  Sara York makes a very good argument for the continued feelings that Jens and Elliot have and the burgeoning relationship born out of a blizzard.

Need a short, lovely little story?  Perfect for your winter time (or any time) reading?  Then pick up Jens and Elliot, the first of the Storming Love: Blizzard collection. It’s a recommended read!

 

Cover art by Kris Jacen:  Same cover throughout the series, just the names of the couple switched out. Does well to brand the series. Brrr.

Sales Links:   MLR Press LLC      All Romance (ARe)         Amazon          Buy It Here

Book Details:

Published January 2015 by MLR Press
ISBN13MLR1020140365
edition languageEnglish
seriesStorming Love: Blizzard #1

Books in the Storming Love: Blizzard series are:

Jens & Elliot (Storming Love: Blizzard #1)
Kimo & Mike (Storming Love: Blizzard #2)
Seth and Casey (Storming Love, Blizzard #3)
Layne, River & Damion (Storming Love: Blizzard #4) by Vicktor Alexander (release date: 2/13/15)
Gavin & Morgan (Storming Love: Blizzard #5) by Nicole Dennis (release date: 2/20/15)
Stokes & Ford (Storming Love: Blizzard #6) by Jackie Nacht (release date: 2/27/15)

A Sammy Review: Chance of the Heart by Kade Boehme

Rating 4 stars out of 5

And this was why he couldn’t stop himself. He felt like he was anchored, protected against the battering winds of the uncertainty of his mapped-out life. He didn’t have to provide or take care of. Someone was taking care of him and his needs and letting him surrender. And he had no clue that it was something he’d want, much less that it’d be such a relief.

Chance of the Heart coverChance Becket has never really questioned the path laid out before him. He knows what he’s supposed to do – run the ranch, marry Caitlin, have kids and live happily ever after. That’s always been the way it is, except for when Caitlin throws a wrench in those plans and decides that a break will do them both some good.

He’s not sure why he ends up at Bar None, but maybe it’s some twisted game fate plays. There he comes across Bradley Heart, a man he grew up with. The chemistry they have is sizzling, but being gay doesn’t exactly fit in the plans anywhere. But neither of them can deny they’re drawn together, it’s just a matter of if Chance is willing to divert from the path and go his own way, and if that way includes Bradley.

“You don’t have to follow the mapped out path. I know it’s easier for everyone else but maybe you want more than easy. Some people just want more.” Sometimes we just need more.

There are a few things I love in stories. I love a good cowboy, and this story provided me with that. I love a nice dash of kink and a whole lot of heat, and this book also provided that. I also love a good love story, and I do believe that you can mark that as checked here.

To get the negative out of the way though, I will make a point of saying right away that I think this book needs another round or two of edits. It wasn’t just commas that were missing here and there, but also some misspelled words, sentences worded awkwardly, and even a point where there was an obvious and distracting POV switch. I understand that self publishing can be difficult, and finding a good editor even more so, but I was really sad to see the number of mistakes in this book. I can say that sometimes as an editor you can get caught up in the story and miss a lot when that happens, I just feel that the amount missed here was far too much.

But back to the positives, because this book had a lot. I enjoyed the premise, but I wonder if maybe the preacher son idea was originally made to be a more prominent theme. Still, it worked out well. This wasn’t a story where everything ended perfectly, but it also wasn’t a story where the angst consumed the happier moments.

Boehme managed to balance the drama very well with all the other aspects, which I greatly appreciated. To top it off, this isn’t a hard read by any means. It’s the kind of story that when if you have a lazy Saturday afternoon, you could read in one sitting and be content.

The cover art by Allison Cassatta is nice and simple. It’s fitting for the story, and while I sometimes have an issue with just slapping a person on a cover, I feel it works here. I also really enjoy the color combination. It’s warming, which only serves to support the story inside the cover.

Overall, a good book, and just a reminder for me to keep an eye out for Boehme’s future stories, as I’m sure they’ll be wonderful.

Sales Links:          Amazon   Buy It Here  No ARe link found.

Book Details:

ebook, 254 pages
Published January 26th 2015 (first published January 22nd 2015)
edition languageEnglish

In Our Book Spotlight: Jeanne Marcella’s The Phoenix Embryo (Seasons of the Phoenix #1) (contest)

spotlight on booksThe Phoenix Embryo (Seasons of the Phoenix #1)
Author Jeanne Marcella
Release Date: January 2015
Goodreads Link

PhoenixEmbryo-800 Cover reveal and Promotional

 

Author Bio:

Jeanne Marcella was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Granted unlimited access to books at a very early age via the library, she quickly acquired a fondness for creating her own stories through word and drawing.

Going against the grain of mainstream top ten fantasy, she writes eccentric, GLBTQ dark fantasy dramas not for the faint of heart.

Currently, she reworks her first novel about half-breed centaurs into a 2nd edition.

Our Author Mini Q and A!

Q. Three things on your bucket list?

I only have two: Write my books, and get back into drawing.

Q. You meet a time traveler who will take you ‘anywhen’. Do you go to the past or the future?

That’s a tough one. Would I go back in time and be Da Vinci’s apprentice, or finally learn the truth of all those Bigfoot and ancient astronaut conspiracy theories? Decisions decisions.

Q. Cake or pie? Cake

Q. Dog or cat? I’m a cat person now.

Where to find the author:
Blog: https://aforgeofphoenix.wordpress.com/
Website: http://www.JeanneMarcella.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeanne.marcella.98
(I unpublished my FB fan page)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AForgeOfPhoenix
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/GoddessTriad/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/110464796341873472652/posts
Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/AForgeOfPhoenix

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Publisher: Jeanne Marcella
Cover Artist: Streetlight Graphics

Sales Links: 

The Phoenix Embryo Synopsis:

Twelve-and-a-half-year-old Acanthus Breese and his yellow-robed peers have survived without an adult presence for seven years. They’ve scavenged. Endured madness, starvation, and murder after the adults imprisoned and abandoned them without a backward glance. They’ve clawed their way to civilization and questionable sanity at the guidance of one of their own.

Thirteen-year-old Edward Dasheel is a direct descendant of the goddess Staritti and the red phoenix god, Dasheel. Because of Edward’s love and leadership, Acanthus and the other boys know that despite their regretful crime of harming Staritti and driving her away, hope for redemption remains. 

Acanthus knows Edward better than anyone; he knows Edward hides dark secrets about their exile, the adults, and specifically about him. So it is terrifying when suddenly the adults return, pushing themselves back into their lives. What do they want after all these years? And why?

Categories: Bisexual, Dark Fantasy, Fiction, Gay Fiction, Drama, M/M Romance, Steampunk, For Mature Readers

Excerpt from The Phoenix Embryo…


 Acanthus danced around in a chaotic circle, waving his arms and pointing out the window. “Dee! He took Minos. He had wings! He flew! Priests! By Staritti, there were adults in Regrets!”

“Shh. Shhh. It’s all right.”

“How can it be all right?” Acanthus yelled. He paced. He prowled. He was helpless. Edward made no move to restrain him. “They throw us away, ignore us, and then pick us off! How much more can we endure? You know we’ll never see Minos again, Dee! We’ll never see him again! Just like all the others!”

“I know,” Edward answered in a helpless, grating whisper.

“Minos didn’t have anyone,” Acanthus said to himself. “No one, for the last seven years. I feel so bad; I could’ve done something. I could’ve been his friend.”

“You can’t blame yourself.”

Horror washed through him. “Yes, I can. This is my fault. I wanted to break something today. I broke Minos.”

Edward put a calming hand to his shoulder. “Dearest, it’s not your fault.”

“We don’t know that for certain. We all should know better by now. All of us. We have to stick together, make sure everyone’s okay.”

Pages or Words: 128,000 words

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Tour Dates: February 19, 2015

Tour Stops: Parker Williams, Velvet Panic, Inked Rainbow Reads, The Hat Party, Bayou Book Junkie, Molly Lolly, Fallen Angel Reviews, BFD Book Blog, Cate Ashwood, MM Good Book Reviews, Boys on the Brink Reviews, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Bending The Bookshelf, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Nephylim

 

Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: PDF Copy of ‘The Phoenix Embryo’. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

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