A MelanieM Review: The Bucket List by R.J. Scott

Rating 4 stars out of 5

Popular soap actor Mark Wesley, 33, is shocked when an assistant brings him a note from someone he hasn’t thought about in years. It’s from the younger brother of his childhood best friend and he has come to find Mark to deliver some devastating news. News that makes Mark realize he has never dealt with his past and now he will never have a chance to make things right.

Jason Craig is grieving over the loss of his beloved older brother, Andrew. Now Jason is on a mission to carry out all of Andrew’s last wishes, those Andrew wrote on his Bucket List. It includes delivering a letter to his childhood friend, Mark Wesley, now a star in Hollywood. But what was supposed to be a brief meeting turns into something more.

Mark is in the closet, in his personal life and in his job, but the attraction he feels towards Jason is unexpected and powerful. So is the grief he feels at hearing that the man he thought of as his brother, Andrew, has died. Mark decides to help Jason finish Andrew’s Bucket list and the process brings them together in a way they never expected. Along the way Mark must decide whether to stay in the closet or move forward a new future with Jason.

The Bucket List by RJ Scott is one of those sweet, lovely stories you will be keep thinking about days after you finished it. Something about this story just resonates with you. It’s not just the main characters, although they were layered and believable. And it’s not just the present dilemma they find themselves dealing with…no, it’s their past, the memories, and the grief that R.J. Scott’s narrative delivers in such a way that it makes a powerful impression, rendering Mark, Jason, and Andrew’s family’s sorrow and regret both real and immediate.

What would you put on your Bucket List? Who would you reach out to after death? Those questions are just a few of the thoughts engendered by this thoughtful, sweet story. I love how Mark and Jason work through some of their issues, with each other, their present and past, while working their way day Andrew’s wish list. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself grabbing for a tissue or two or three throughout this story. Because The Bucket List will pull a whole host of emotions and thoughts from each reader as they proceed through this story, regret, joy, sorry, and laughter. It’s all there, along with love.

On a GR note said it was “originally a short unfinished blog story, readers of RJ’s blog insisted the story be expanded and finished and she listened to them.” Even with the added length, I wish it had been longer. These two went on quite a journey and I would love to see more of their lives after they returned.

I absolutely recommend The Bucket List by RJ Scott. It heartwarming and thoughtful. Its sweet, deep, and lovely. Once more, R.J. Scott delivers a story for all readers to pickup and love. Grab it up today!

Cover Artist Meredith Russell. I liked it but wish for something more.

Sales Links: Love Lane Books All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

134 pages
Published January 28th 2015 by Love Lane Books Limited (first published January 26th 2015)
original titleThe Bucket List
edition languageEnglish
url http://rjscottauthor.blogspot.co.uk/

A BJ Review: Payback by John Inman

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

On the night of their fourth wedding anniversary, Tyler and Spence share a special evening before going out to take their dog for a walk in the park where a deadly gay bashing attack changes their life forever.

One reason I wanted to read this book was because it’s set in San Diego, where I lived for many years. Found myself in the mood to revisit, and the book didn’t disappoint in that respect. The trolley, the park, breweries, Coronado Bridge vistas and so many more little details had my imagination firmly planted back in my old stomping grounds.

The story begins with a steamy hot, yet also sweetly romantic scene between a couple so real I felt as if I could’ve known when I lived in the area. As Spence and Tyler celebrate their anniversary by exchanging specially made rings, their dog interrupts with a need to go out and they set off on a walk in the park. What comes next strikes with crushing, chest-constricting suddenness, shattering the almost idyllic happiness we’d just shared with them into fragmented ruins. It’s gut wrenching, heartrending, have-lots-of-tissues-handy reading for several chapters.

In the aftermath of the attack, Tyler is unconscious for a month and wakes to find himself alone in the world. Husband dead, dog missing, and apparently he has no family. After speaking with a police detective, Chris, and learning that they have no real leads on the attack, Tyler’s grief is rapidly overshadowed by intense anger that morphs into a desperate need for vengeance.

A short bout of agoraphobia, which he overcomes on his own in a matter of days, Tyler goes out and buys an illegal gun. His desire to own a gun didn’t surprise me much. Protection would be high on my list after such an attack. But why an illegal gun, unless he already had plans of how he was going to use it?

Up until then, the story was a tearjerker, but working for me. That shifted when Tyler gives in to his rage and goes out riding the trolley at night in bad parts of town carrying his illegal gun and ends up committing murder for which he feels no guilt. In fact, the murder seems to ease the rage inside him and make him feel better for a while. The only remorse comes some time later and is related to fear that his actions may have messed up the relationship between Chris, the detective assigned to his case, and himself.

Chris saw Tyler when he was brought in on the night of the attack, and reveals later that he fell in love from the first. As the story weaves on, Chris starts to creep me out. His sappiness and obsession with Tyler rubs me all wrong. Even more when clues began to make it clear to him that Tyler committed murder, and he chooses to ignore it. Later he goes further when he helps Tyler cover up the first murder in conjunction with another killing. Chris and Tyler actually discuss the cover up scheme while watching the man bleed to death.

Five months after the attack, and Chris has fallen for the grieving Tyler so deeply that he’s willing to go completely against his sworn duty. Five months and Tyler is so deeply in love with Chris that the detective has replaced Spence in Tyler’s thoughts and dreams.

The night of the cover up, Chris and Tyler make love for the first time–in the same bed that he and Spence had used to make sweet love the night of Spence’s death. They even use the same sexual position. Chris and Tyler declare their forever love, but it just didn’t work for me. It wasn’t hot or romantic. In fact, it broke my heart. Five short months and Spence, who the author made me love in that first scene, seems to be erased so completely.

On another note, I share my life with several dogs, so I usually enjoy doggie characters in my books. Franklin, Spence and Tyler’s dog, had the makings of a wonderful animal character initially. Unfortunately, it felt like he was a prop used to move things forward and then be forgotten when convenient. Near the end, he’d been repeatedly kicked with heavy boots while trying the help Tyler. He’s dripping urine on the floor, which makes me think possible kidney damage. Yet Tyler and Chris never take him to the vet to be checked out. My dog lover’s heart was left worried about him.

If some background on Chris and Tyler had been offered, it might have helped to understand them better. However, there’s only the barest hint of background on Tyler and next to none on Chris. This leaves me with many questions—one being why Chris fell for Tyler so hard and instantly when seeing him in the hospital.

The book’s rather reminiscent of a popular movie in which a woman goes vigilante after a similar attack scenario, except Tyler isn’t a vigilante. Rather it came across to me as if he just needed to take his anger out on someone. The idea that going out and looking for someone to hurt, even a bad person, in order to assuage rage over injustice done to you just wasn’t something I found ok.

Cover Artist: Maria Fanning
The cover perfectly captures the essence of this book including the setting (San Diego trolley instantly recognizable for me), the blood and violence, as well as the love. The couple walking with their dog in the park at the bottom, small, almost transparently dreamy as if they’re just a memory makes me tear up each time I look at it after having read the story.
Sales LInks: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon buy it here
Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Expected publication: February 2nd 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781632166289
edition languageEnglish
url http://johninmanauthor.com

A Sammy Review: An Infatuation by Joe Cosentino

Rating: 3.25 stars out of 5

“Is everything all right between you two boys?”
I refocused. “Why do you ask?”

“You two were like molecular bonds. The positive energy between you two was atomic. Now I rarely see you two together. What went wrong with my experiment?”

“I guess the atoms split.”

In high school, Harold High is what you would call a nerd. He’s incredibly smart, loves books and poetry, but in the end, he’s mostly invisible in the chaotic world of youth. That is, until he gets to know Mario Ginetti. Mario’s the quarterback for the schools football team. He’s handsome and strong, but lacks in a lot of the departments that Harold excels in.

Perhaps that’s what makes them such an interesting match. Through tutoring sessions, they grow to know each other, and Harold finds himself in love with the out-of-reach star with a life far more tainted than it appears to be on the outside.

The story spans twenty years, through their time in high school, to accidental meetings, to a reunion, and finally to the end. It’s more a story of life and letting go than it is a story of love and holding on.

“But only for now. You see, Harold, these, our high school years, are their glory days.” She pointed to Barbara’s pink bag sitting next to her on the bench. “Their best days. Ever. Life will never be as good for them.” She grinned from ear to ear. “But for us. These are our hell years. We just need to survive them, so we can get the hell out of high school and move on to doing amazing things in the real world.”

I rested my arm on the back of the bench. “But the sun, the sky, the trees, the water, and the soil are all connected. When a leaf falls, it eventually merges with the water and the soil, and they nourish the trees, and the trees take in the sunlight, and are matted against the blue sky.”

Hannah had an answer for everything. “And what happens to everything on a dark, snowy day?”

I thought about it. “Everything disappears, except for the white snow and the grey sky.”

She pointed her finger at me as if I’d answered a question correctly in class. “Right. With each season, the landscape totally changes.”

It’s very hard for me to collect my feelings at this moment in time, with regards to An Infatuation. I’m completely mixed on so many levels and I’m not so sure it’s something that will become clearer over time. I’m thinking this just might be one of those books that leaves me wondering what I just read, and completely unsure of how I feel about it. Maybe that’s just how it is.

When I first requested this story (to review it), I somehow missed that it was a bittersweet endings story. Had I seen that, I may not have read it – but I did, and if conflicted emotions were dollars, I’d be rich.

The thing about this story is that the writing is pretty good for the most part. It has wittiness and some really lovely lines that are memorable. The author uses poetry and stories in a way that made me smile, and overall, it was a quick read.

But – and of course, there’s a but… I’m not so sure about certain things. For one, toward the end, Mario and Harold admit to seeing each other throughout the years in a way that resonated as an odd sort of stalking to me. Sure, Harold had similar actions in high school, but that made sense to me as a silly little love sick thing a child would do… not so much an adult.

Also, the ending didn’t really leave me satisfied. It more or less left me mystified (if you can’t tell). It was nice, but then again not. I really, really just don’t know.

There are also other things in the book that made me pause. For one, an attempted sexual assault occurs, and I was left very angry at the response to it. Sure, maybe it was realistic to the time period, but it still made me very unhappy. Additionally, in terms of Stuart, I don’t know how I’d feel having my husband have this constant fantasy going on that was a past fling. It’d just bother the crap out of me. He seems so cool and at ease with it, but it didn’t sit right with me.

Still, there are truths to aspects of this. Things don’t always work out, life happens and people drift apart for one reason or another. Marriages fail, the people you once knew become strangers, you question your direction in life. Times get hard, really hard. Those are all true. But how I feel about this? Well, I’m left just not knowing. Just another aspect of life, I suppose.

The cover art by Christie Caughie is nice, but perhaps too fun and light for this story. While the models on the cover may resemble main characters in the story, the vibe I get from the cover just doesn’t match the story. So it’s nice, but not right for this.

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

Book Details:

Expected publication: February 4th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781632164834
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

A MelanieM Review: Trowchester Blues (Trowchester Blues) by Alex Beecroft

Rating: 4.75 stars rounded up to 5 out of 5

As a Metropolitan Police Officer Michael May has seen it all, including the worst people can do to each other, and it’s getting to him. When confronted by the monster who has tortured and murdered a number of young girls, Michael loses it and assaults him. The ramifications of an officer attacking “an alleged suspect” will be ignored only if Michael “retires”. It’s an act he agrees with even if it destroys a part of him.

The recent death of his brutal father gives Michael a place to disappear to, the small quaint town of Trowchester. He’s inherited his childhood home with all its damaging memories of his abusive father and frail mom, and the narrowboats moored at the shared dock behind the house. Beset by memories, afraid of his own rage, Michael is lost until a chance meeting with the town’s antique book seller changes everything.

Fintan Hulme is now an honest man. Five years ago that wasn’t the case. Then Finn was a happy high class London fence, specializing in rare books and object’s d’Art. But then everything changed and Finn turned his back on his old life and criminal associates to open a antique book shop in Trowchester where he became a model citizen.

Until the past finds him once more and embroils him in a crime with far reaching consequences.

For Finn, falling in love with an ex-cop with anger management issues is the last thing he should be doing, only he can’t seem to help himself. And Michael, unaware of Finn’s background, is just starting to trust his instincts and people once more.

When the past collides with the present, and criminals starting to appear around every corner, can an ex-cop and ex-con pull together to save not only their relationship but their lives as well?

Trowchester Blues by Alex Beecroft is such an amazing story. It hooked me in from the opening paragraphs and our heartbreaking introduction to burned out cop Michael May. He and his partner, Jenny Smith (another well done character), enter a basement that contains the mutilated corpse of a young girl. The descriptions are horrifying and the reactions of May and his partner human and unstandable. But for Michael May, its the final straw, the last act of a depraved monster that puts Michael’s rage at himself and society over the top. It’s impact is visceral, the memories of it on the reader and May lingers throughout the story.

We get May’s frustration and anger at his inability to keep something like this from happening as well as the possibility that the murderer will get off with a light sentence and do it again. But the years and Michael’s abusive past turns Michael into a vengeful attacker, something that no law enforcement agency can afford to have working for them. The scenes within the Metropoliton Police Station and its Captain give Michael an authentic background and an avenue for our empathy and feelings for this sad, lonely man. And the darkness follows May and the story as the location changes to the village of Trowchester.

This story has so many layers to it and all the characters you will meet. These are complicated people with varied pasts, intellect and skills. Michael, Finn, and all the rest lead lives that will fascinate, and compel you on through adventures, events both glorious and disastrous in nature. It’s sexy, and hot. Be prepared for a little kink but the reasoning and actions not only make sense but feel right for both men and their burgeoning relationship. It all works sublimely as a whole. Beecroft’s narrative is lively, magnetic in its ability to hold your attention, and gripping in its suspense and ability to surprise you. I hated to put this book down.

Confession time. I wanted Trowchester to be real even though I knew through the author’s notes it was fabricated for the story. Trowchester felt alive, its aged streets and canals so imaginatively described that I felt as though I could see them. And it was the perfect setting in which to meet Fintan Hulme, a beautifully realized former thief of intellectual and emotional depth. What a perfect character, not just in his personal qualities, the wonderful way in which the author constructed him. Fintan has such dimension, including his love of books. That is especially conveyed through the shop he owns and has lovingly decorated. It in his passionate tirade delivered to an unfortunate and all important book owner. Fintan is a puzzle, but one the reader will love to figure out. We take him to heart and fear for him when his past finds him again. And his matchup with a fireplug of an ex-cop who is his intellectual and emotional match is a true wonder.

I loved everything about this story, including learning about the narrowboats (more googling to my delight), and antique books. I enjoyed Beecroft’s creation of a village where the economical vicissitudes have wrought a revival that brings with it the world-weary sophisticates and gay tea shop owners but still has a dark side that exists along the docks. The suspense and pain of discovery, the desolate past that mixes with a hopeful but shaky present for all involved here. Even a “ghost” in need of help appears and grabs at our hearts. And I realized that the last thing I wanted to do was see the end of this story. I wanted Trowchester Blues to continue and enlarge, pulling in more of the characters we meet along the way to the resolution.

Lucky for us, we’re going to get it. Alex Beecroft is not done with Trowchester yet. Be still my heart. There is more to come. Alex Beecroft has at least 2 more stories planned for 2015 in the Trowchester series and I can’t wait. Until then, grab up this marvelous tale and make the acquaintance of two opposite yet equally compelling men and their journey towards love and a future together. It’s a book you won’t want to put down and one you will happily pick up again and again while waiting for the next in the series. It’s one of my highly recommended reads!

Cover Artist Lou Harper does an amazing job. It’s perfect.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy it here

Book Details:

ebook, 290 pages
Expected publication: February 9th 2015 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626491984
edition languageEnglish
seriesTrowchester Blues

Books in the Trowchester series are:

Trowchester Blues (Trowchester #1) to be published February 9th, 2015
Blue Eyed Stranger (Trowchester Blues #2) to be published April 6, 2015 by Riptide
Blue Steel Chain (Trowchester Blues #3) to be published July 27, 2015 by Riptide

A MelanieM Review: A Wedding to Die For (Brandt and Donnelly Caper #3) by Xavier Mayne

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Justin Capella, son and baker at his family’s up scale bakery, and Roman Montgomery, floral scion, haven’t seen each other since that fateful day in third grade when a single kiss shocked Justin and sent Roman to boarding school. But fate, a gay celebrity wedding combined with their bigoted fathers conspire to bring them back together once more.

When a high-profile gay celebrity couple, a TV news anchor and a famous lawyer, decide that they want the two most popular and well established vendors, Montgomery Floral and Cakes by Capella, to provide their wedding cake and flowers , they are not prepared for the owners of those firms to refuse because they are a gay couple. In the aftermath of the bad publicity and promise of multiple lawsuits , a resulting boycott threatens to shut down both companies. With their fathers stepping aside, its up to their sons to save both family businesses. And while they are struggling to do so, Justin and Roman rediscover love while working on the wedding.

Law Enforcement Officers Brandt and Donnelly are working with a statewide task force for the rights of LGBT citizens even as they search out their own wedding planner. As guests at the celebrity wedding, they are present when things start to go wrong. There’s something more sinister than bigotry afoot at the wedding. When someone dies, its up to fellow cops and soon to be married partners, to save the day, save the date and help another young couple find their own HEA.

A Wedding to Die For is not only my first Brandt and Donnelly story, but its also the first book I’ve read by Xavier Mayne. I found it to be fun, mostly lighthearted, with some serious truths buried beneath the fondant and icing. The author and story assumes you have read the previous novels that introduces fellow state law officers and lovers, Ethan Brandt and Gabriel Donnelly, along with assorted friends that include the flaming, over-the-top Bryce and his buddy/lover? Nestor. A Wedding To Die For picks up with Ethan and Gabriel already engaged and looking to make arrangements for their own wedding. Immediately their flamboyant, enthusiastic besties get involved and perhaps a third of the book involves the various sundry and quite awful wedding planners Brandt and Donnelly are sent to by their friends. This section of the book is shear comedy and would work well on its own as such. But when folded into more serious elements it acts as more of a distraction than a meaningful plot thread.

Another section, the best part of this story actually, is told from the perspectives of both Justin and Roman, two boyhood friends separated by trauma and their fathers. I actually wished this had been a separate book. Justin and Roman’s story has a poignancy and realism missing from the rest of this novel. We meet them as they reunite over the disasters their fathers have made of their family businesses and reputations, and then slowly through conversations and recalled memories does their own pasts start to reveal itself. The anguish and pain comes through beautifully as does the hope and possibility of healing their wounds. I adored both characters of Justin and Roman, they feel believable and their actions as young men growing up in their family companies comes across as authentic. I found myself actually flipping past sections just to get back to this pair and their problems.

The rest of the book is told by Brandt and Donnelly, who I just couldn’t take seriously as any type of law enforcement officers. Whether it was their behavior in front of the captain or out as representatives of the task force, their dialog, and actions tended to veer towards camp instead of that of believable cops. I felt that was a shame as there is some very serious issues playing out here, and not just the companies that refuse to cater towards the LGBTQ public when doing business. Plot threads also address what happens when married gay couples visit states that don’t recognize them as married, especially when tragedy strikes. To have all these very serious issues surrounded by froth and lighthearted fun takes away the gravity and pain that occurs as part of the consequences of a patchwork quilt of LGBTQ equality.

A Wedding To Die For has multiple points of view, a myriad of voices, and almost too many storylines. Truthfully, I really committed to one, that of Justin and Roman and found the rest to be just too silly, especially when stacked up against the other. But Justin and Roman are so memorable and sympathetic that I wished for more of these two and their relationship down the line. But not everyone will feel that way. Others may feel the silliness and froth is just the thing to take the sting off the reality of some of the meanness and bigotry still so much a part of our lives and this story. I will leave it up to you to decide.

If you like light and frothy fun, you will love this story. If you want a heartfelt romance, then read it for Justin and Roman. It’s a short, quick read with entertaining or moving elements for just about everyone.

Cover Artist L.C. Chase did a nice job here. I think that’s Justin and Roman on the cover, and the wedding elements are a great addition.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 250 pages
Published December 15th 2014 by Dreamspinner Press
original titleA Wedding to Die For
ISBN139781632164704
edition languageEnglish
seriesBrandt and Donnelly Caper #3

BRANDT AND DONNELLY CAPERS

Case File One: Frat House Troopers
Case File Two: Wrestling Demons
Case File Three: A Wedding to Die For

A Sammy Review: Ethan in Gold (Johnnies #3) by Amy Lane

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

And they cried, all of them, for the family they’d never really had and the thing they were losing without realizing, until now, how so very badly they all needed it.

Ethan, like many of the others at Johnnies, has a dark past. Being sexually abused as a child and then denied the affection every child deserves, he craves touch in a way that most people hunger for food. Johnnies has provided that for him, a promise of affection and closeness, a way to feed his need.

When he meets Jonah, he’s not looking for a boyfriend, but Jonah’s persistent and buries himself underneath Ethan’s skin. But can Ethan risk giving up the consistent touch for the possibility of something more?

That feeling of connection, of being a part of another human being’s heart—he was starting to see how Ethan could treasure that above his dignity, above his self-worth, above everything he’d ever been taught about a moral code.

So here’s the thing, I love the this series. It grabs my heart and doesn’t let it go. I think because I loved the first two books so much, this one just didn’t measure up to the sheer awesomeness that was them, and that’s why I’m left feeling a bit deflated after finishing it.

The beginning felt a bit schizophrenic to me. It was hard to follow at times and I was beginning to wonder if maybe it was just being profound in a way that I couldn’t quite grasp, or it was trying to be and I wasn’t connecting on that level. It just didn’t flow as well as I would’ve liked.

It also took me a bit to adjust to the fact that what was going on in this book was almost all of what we’d seen from another perspective in the other books. It threw me off at first, as I was expecting to see more of the story, but we didn’t get much of that. Instead, we got the same events from Ethan’s point of view, which was fine, just a bit odd at first.

My favorite part of this story was actually Amelia. I’ve been through a situation of seeing someone dying and having to face it, and becoming so tired, and I resonated with that in this book. I also felt that the part about not being a fighter, and how that’s okay, was incredibly beautiful. It wasn’t something I had thought of before, but it hit me right in the chest.

Overall, a good book, but it didn’t measure up to the first two for me.

The cover art by Reese Dante is nice, and again works well with the others in the series. Unfortunately, I still have the same problem with the font as I did previously. It’s so blocky and doesn’t fit the feeling of the stories. Also, while the guy on the cover could very well be Ethan, I just don’t know beyond that how much personality it has that fits with the story itself. So a nice general cover, but maybe not the best fit for this particular story.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press* All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy it here

*available in paperback and audiobook

Book Details:

ebook, 350 pages
Published October 4th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press (first published October 3rd 2013)
ISBN 162798318X (ISBN13: 9781627983181)
edition languageEnglish, seriesJohnnies #3
charactersDavid “Dex” Worral, Carlos “Kane” Ramirez, Tommy “Tango” Halloran, Evan “Ethan” Costa

The Johnnies Series:

Super Sock Man (Granby Knitting, #2)
Chase in Shadow (Johnnies, #1)
Dex in Blue (Johnnies, #2)
Ethan in Gold (Johnnies, #3)
Black John (Johnnies, #4)

A Stella Review: Rabbit Season (Lost Shifters #2) by Megan Derr

Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars

Sidney has quietly loved twin brothers Brook and Colby for years, watching and pining as they came to his house for the summer every year. Painfully aware that they have each other, and that they have no reason to notice the unremarkable duck they grew up babysitting.   Then the twins and their mother are attacked days before an important meeting that will change the shifter world forever. When the twins come to stay with Sidney’s family until the attackers are caught, Sidney learns that all things have their season, and even violent protests will not keep two rabbits from the man for whom they’ve been patiently waiting…

Warning: Story contains incest

Just a short premise. Even if this is a very light book, if you are uneasy to read about incest, I think this book it’s not for you. Usually I don’t feel so comfortable reading about this theme but I found out that it’s really important how the author showes it to us. In this case, it wasn’t so hard to me to read the incesty threesome (how Brook called it), maybe cause it’s a paranormal story, or perhaps cause it’s not uncommon in the shifters’ world Megan created, in general it’s allowed. In fact, if you’ll read the book, you’ll discover Sidney’s parent are the first to welcome his relationship. No drama at all.

Sidney is a duck shifter and the heir of the kingdom; he has two dads, Troy, human and James, the flock leader. He’s in love with the Hot Twinks (Brook and Colby), the rabbit shifters, since forever. he has tried (not so) hard to forget them, until one morning, still wearing Spiderman pajama pants, he finds them in his kitchen. Just like that, after being ignored all these years, they start flirting with him. Are they making fun of him?

Colby and Brook have feelings for Sidney since he was sixteen, but they stayed away because he was too young. Now he’s twenty and they are ready to take what they want.

The flock is not welcoming this new relationship, they want Sidney to be with a duck, not a rabbit, even less two of them. So Sidney needs to understand if the rabbits are just looking for some fun time or something more. Are the Hot Twins worthy losing the flock leading?

The author created a great shifters world with a DPRS (Department for the Protection and Regulation of Shifters) and a Lost Shifters Foundation, who rescue feral shifters and find them a home. Being a short book, I understand it wasn’t possible to develop all the conflicts and mysteries we read about them, but I think it has penalized the success of the story.

Rabbit Season is cute and there are some funny dialogues that lighten the story, but I missed the sweetness of Backwoods Asylum. In my opinion it’s due to the choice of adding the sexual aspect. In fact, while in the first book the physical relationship between the two Mcs started at the end of the story and there were no sex scenes, in this second one Sidney and the Hot Twinks are together and having hot sex almost from the start. Don’t get me wrong, I love reading steamy sex scenes, really love, just not in this story. Maybe it’s cause I’m still playing with Hansel and Gretel (if you read Brady and Skylar’s story, you know what I’m talking about). I thought I was going to read something on the same line. I simply didn’t get the same emotions from this book, even if I enjoyed a lot and I devoured it.

So far, I want to recommend the Lost Shifters series, it’s a funny, sweet and light reading.

The COVER DESIGNED by London Burden is not ethereal as the Backwoods Asylum one. It misses one thing: the clothes Brook and Colby stole to Sidney in the scene at the pond. It would have fitted the story perfectly.

Sales Links: Less Than Three Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: February 18th 2015 by Less Than Three Press
original titleRabbit Season
ISBN139781620044346
edition languageEnglish
seriesLost Shifters #2

Books In the Lost Shifters series:

Backwoods Asylum (Lost Shifters #1)
Rabbit Season (Lost Shifters #2)

Page and McGuinness Are Back in The Merchant of Death by Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock! (contest)

Our Focus is On…

Page and McGuinness, two of our favorites are back in another Playing the Fool novel! For details about the story, Lisa Henry (one of our Down Under authors) and J. A. Rock are here to fill you in. It’s also a Barb the Zany Old Lady Highly Recommended Reads. Find her review here! Now onto The Merchant of Death!

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Hi! We’re Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock, the authors of THE MERCHANT OF DEATH. We’re touring the web taking about our influences, our processes, anything we can think about actually, and even giving you guys a sneak peak or two! And what would a blog tour be without a contest? Check out the details at the bottom of the post to see what you can win!

Today’s post is all about merchandising!

One of the most fun things about Henry Page is that he is constantly coming up with crazy ideas. Or are they genius ideas? One of his ideas in THE MERCHANT OF DEATH is to create a TV and/or movie franchise based on himself and Ryan “Mac” McGuinness. It would be kind of an Odd Couple cop buddy bromance rom com crime caper. A lot like their lives, actually.

Henry’s not just relying on his “Mac and Cheese” script to pay for his private island in the Bahamas though. No, Henry’s a realist. He knows that it’s all going to come from merchandising. And while it might just start with the basics like lunchboxes and Pez dispensers, the sky’s the limit with merchandising. You can also go pretty damn low.

Yes, as low as Edward Cullen on your underpants. Actually, the scariest thing about these is probably that they sold really, really well.
You know what I really find difficult though? Sometimes when I’m baking and have to take hot things out of the oven, there’s no way to do it while at the same time expressing my love of the post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Until now:

But the ultimate in merchandising has to be these Royal Wedding condoms. One can only assume they were not authorised by the palace.
So really, there’s no crazy merchandising idea that Henry can possibly come up with that would be any more bizarre than anything that already exists in the real world.

About THE MERCHANT OF DEATH:

All’s fair in love and war.

There’s something rotten in the state of Indiana. When con man Henry Page takes it upon himself to investigate the death of an elderly patient at a care facility, he does so in true Shakespearean tradition: dressed as a girl.

FBI Agent Ryan “Mac” McGuinness has more to worry about than Henry’s latest crazy idea. Someone is trying to send him a message—via a corpse with a couple of bullets in it. He needs to figure out who’s trying to set him up before he gets arrested, and he really doesn’t have time for Henry’s shenanigans. Then again, he’d probably be able to focus better if Henry didn’t look so damn distracting in a babydoll dress and a wig.

But when Mac discovers that Henry has been keeping a secret that connects the cases, he has to find a way to live on the right side of the law when he just might be in love with the wrong sort of man.

You can check out THE MERCHANT OF DEATH at Riptide.
The Giveaway: Thanks for following our tour! To celebrate our release, we’re giving away an awesome prize – an ebook copy of a novel of your choice from either of our back catalogs. We’re also giving away a $20 Riptide gift voucher, and Mac’s favorite coffee mug. What? It’s not like he’s supposed to be drinking coffee.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with a way for us to contact you, be it your email, your twitter, or a link to your facebook or goodreads account. Please put your email in the body of the comment, not just in email section of the comment form, because we won’t be able to see it otherwise! On February 12, 2015, we’ll draw a winner from all eligible comments! Be sure to follow the whole tour, because the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win the prize!

In The Book Spotlight: Alpha,Delta by R.J. Scott

Officer Finn Hallan has never run from a fight. With Niall’s life and love at stake, he’s not about to start now…

New from R.J. Scott, Alpha, Delta- Part of the All Romance Alpha series

Finn Hallan is a member of the elite Norwegian Emergency Response Unit, code name Delta. When the team is sent to respond to a hostage situation on a Oil Platform in the Norwegian Sea, he has to face demons he thought he had buried a long time ago.

Scottish engineer Niall Faulkner’s skills in oil platform decommissioning takes him to the Forseti platform at the worst possible time. When he’s captured by terrorists, his only thought is that he will never get to tell his lover how he really feels.

Can Finn keep Niall alive? Or will they both die at the hands of hijackers in the frigid waters of the Norwegian sea?

Buy Link: All Romance (ARe)

Author Bio

About RJ

RJ Scott has been writing since age six, when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies. She was told to write a story and two sides of paper about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born.

As an avid reader herself, she can be found reading anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror. However, her first real true love will always be the world of romance where she takes cowboys, bodyguards, firemen and billionaires (to name a few) and writes dramatic and romantic stories of love and passion between these men.

With over sixty titles to her name and counting, she is the author of the award winning book, The Christmas Throwaway. She is also known for the Texas series charting the lives of Riley and Jack, and the Sanctuary series following the work of the Sanctuary Foundation and the people it protects.

Her goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

Author Contacts:

rj@rjscott.co.uk
www.rjscott.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/Rjscott_author
www.facebook.com/author.rjscott
www.librarything.com/author/scottrj
www.tumblr.com/blog/rjscott (some NSFW (not safe for work) photos)
www.pinterest.com/rjscottauthor/

Alpha, Delta Excerpt:

Chapter 1

“This is the second fucking time we’ve had to do this and I’m telling you now I’m not staying for the whole thing.”

Finn Hallan glanced over at his teammate and wondered if he should check him for any visible weapons. Erik was one of those guys who was never happy about sitting still, let alone in a meeting as seminar dealing with health and safety.

“Cap’s not going to like you backing out of this,” Finn warned. He was just as restless, too used to action and getting on with things instead of sitting here in a briefing room listening to changes in policy. Thing is, this shit was statutory and Cap had made Finn and Erik attend, in case there was anything important about oil platform safety. Finn was certainly not going up against Cap, and he knew Erik needed to keep his ass in the chair if he wanted to stay on the team.

Delta was a highly sought after group of people to join and if you made it you didn’t refuse to sit in meetings that you’d been ordered into.

“We need a serious emergency,” Erik groused. “A hostage negotiation or at the very least a terrorist threat.”

The woman in front of him turned and frowned at the words, but she took one look at both Erik and Finn and turned back to face the front. Finn knew they looked out of place. Both in the dark dress colours of the Delta uniform, not long off duty, they probably gave the impression of some kind of hardass security detail. Certainly not the kind of guys you told to shut up. She would know who they were, members of the ERU, codenamed Delta, and the ones who policed for terrorist activities in Norway and out into the Norwegian sea. Which, incidentally, was where most of these NorsDev employees in the briefing worked.

Erik grinned and raised his eyebrows suggestively before cupping his groin and looking pointedly at the back of the blonde’s head. Finn shook his head. She was a NorsDev exec and everyone knew the high-ups at the energy company had nothing to say to the ranks. If only she knew how much Finn and Erik could do for her if she was in trouble, if only she was aware of the kind of men they really were—ones who never sat still—then maybe she’d be a little more understanding of the boredom factor.

The presentation on the large screen at the front of the room switched to a new slide with a name in block capitals. NIALL FAULKNER. Not a name that Finn recognized and he couldn’t help the groan when he saw the line under the name. Platform Decommissioning Engineer.
“Oh Jesus fuck. Save me from nerds with clipboards and PowerPoints. I think my last brain cell up and died,” Erik muttered.

The speaker indicated the slide, “And now I’d like to hand it over to Niall Faulkner. Some of you will recall Niall was responsible for the X220 additions.” A ripple of murmurs around the room indicated that at least some knew what the hell that meant. Evidently this Faulkner guy was someone with a name at NorsDev. A man stood in the front row of the lecture theatre and made his way up the four steps to the stage, tripping on the last step and grabbing at the retreating previous speaker as he left. Luckily the new guy, Niall, Finn assumed, didn’t fall flat on his face, but he couldn’t help the smile on his face. It was funny shit seeing someone fall over.

Niall made his way to the lectern, looking down at his notes and shuffling them into some kind of order. The main spotlight flickered then focused directly on him and Finn had an instant gut reaction to the man on the stage.

Short and slim, with dark hair and glasses, he was the hottest safety officer Finn had ever seen.

“Woo boy,” Erik said under his breath. “You thinking he’s way to pretty to be a man?”

Finn didn’t dignify the comment with a response. Erik was the only member of the Delta team who knew Finn was gay and that comment was directly aimed at Finn and the fact Erik kept trying to get Finn hooked up with someone. Anyone.

“Not my type,” Finn lied very quietly. Actually, this Niall guy was pretty much the epitome of Finn’s type. Preppy with a side order of nerdy was just exactly what Finn liked under him, or over him, or hell, anyway which around him. And the glasses? Hell, glasses got him every time.

“You think he’s batting on your team?” Erik asked.

“Absolutely,” Finn deadpanned.

A Sammy Review: Dex in Blue (Johnnies #2) by Amy Lane

Rating 5 stars out of 5

Dex is a seasoned porn star who’s had his heart broken in the worst of ways. His entire identity is framed around a past lover who he never had a chance with, and he practically runs Johnnies while the real boss is busy throwing it all away.

It’s a lot of pressure for a guy to be under, and when Kane takes him by storm with a relationship that seems to be all about sex, Dex goes forth with the assumption that it’s all “just sex”.

Of course, it’s never that simple, and when nothing becomes everything, these two must conquer the difficulties that come from a variety of corners – business, family, and love.

When he held onto Dex, it was all perfect—best part of his day perfect, best part of his life perfect. Just… just sunny spring day perfect, with soft grass where you could see worms and spiders under your feet perfect, and even lizards sunning themselves on granite boulders. Perfect.

Amy Lane is a hit or miss for me, but the Johnnies series has been a huge hit when it comes to the first two books.

I was hopeful when I started this, that I would love it even half as much as the first, and boy did I. Dex and Kane were so completely sweet and complex.

I actually had to take a couple week break in reading this, and normally I lose a lot of interest or forget what is going on, but these two were just so imprinted in my mind that starting up again just went so smoothly.

And, the rarest of all things, I found myself thinking that I would definitely reread this again. (I don’t reread books much, I get bored knowing what is going to happen.)

So yeah, I think it’s safe to say that I loved it.

The cover art by Reese Dante is nice and cohesive with the first book while still having its own personality. I like the addition of the mountains, which speak to David’s roots. I’m not the biggest fan of the font used, but it’s a nice cover.

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

*available in Paperback and audiobook

Book Details:

ebook, 350 pages
Published October 1st 2012 by Dreamspinner Press (first published September 30th 2012)
original titleDex in Blue
ISBN 1623800110 (ISBN13: 9781623800116)
edition languageEnglish
seriesJohnnies #2
charactersDavid “Dex” Worral, Carlos “Kane” Ramirez, Chase “Chance” Summers, Tommy “Tango” Halloran, Evan “Ethan” Costa
settingMontana
Sacramento, California (United States)

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Officer Finn Hallan has never run from a fight. With Niall’s life and love at stake, he’s not about to start now…

Author Bio

Author Contacts:

Alpha, Delta Excerpt:

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