Category: Uncategorized

A MelanieM Review: Wrecked by Jodi Payne and B.A. Tortuga

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

The call comes when Beckett Adler least expects it. He’s made a new life for himself in Vermont and has a law practice of his own. After four years he’s even stopped wearing his wedding ring. So when he finds out his husband, bull rider Skyler Paulson, has been seriously injured at an event, he isn’t sure what he wants to do. He knows what’s right though, so he heads down to Baltimore to bring his man home.

Sky knows his injuries are a career-ender, and he can’t believe Beck has come for him after all this time. He’s not a hundred percent sure what went wrong with their marriage and he has no idea how to be anything but a bull rider. But he wants this second chance, so he grabs at it with both hands.

There’s a lot Sky has to learn, from how to walk again to how to settle down with the man he loves. Beck needs to learn to open up and how to be more trusting. For their marriage to work again, both men will have to find a way to meet in the middle. Because neither of them wants to be wrecked anymore.

I’m really enjoying the writing collaboration of Jodi Payne and B.A. Tortuga.  This is my second story of theirs, the first being Land of Enchantment, and each story has been a real joy to read.  Each, of course, involves bull riders.  Here, the bull rider is the estranged husband of lawyer Beckett Adler.  Separated for four years, each has nevertheless still kept the other man close in their heart.  Even if secretly and apart.  One up in Vermont and the other on the rodeo circuit.

Wrecked by Jodi Payne and B.A. Tortuga brings both men back together right at the beginning of the novel.  It takes an agonizing phone call and a brutal fall to change the path of each man’s life once more.  I love how we dive immediately into the heart of Beckett’s pain and love.  The shock of seeing Sky again, his physical state, and the past rising up around them.  I was with them in the moment every step because of the writing here.

I am so used to BA Tortuga’s broken men and great characters, put that together with Jodi Payne’s and it just meshes so well.  The experience and knowledge of the rodeo world, the pain and injuries that bull riders will often undergo in their career, and the rehab (if lucky) that awaits them afterwards.  It’s all laid out here, folded in immaculately as part of the story and the relationship as they and Sky start to mend.

I will admit that second chance at love stories are such a favorite of mine.  I’m rooting for the couple to begin with, make one a cowboy and it’s double down time.  So it was very easy for me to believe this relationship and the fact that they still loved each other despite that many years apart.  I could see stubbornness being such a large part of not calling and then the time and fear helping the separation.  What also rang true, maybe, was Skyler’s doubt about his future. I’ve seen others go on to successful careers as ranchers or announcers but as this could be projecting his own personal demons I thought that was a big possibility.  In fact, I wished the story could have enlarged a bit towards the end to show Sky and Beck working their new journey out together, not just the more finished version we got.  Which, yes, I love immensely.

Wrecked by Jodi Payne and B.A. Tortuga is that wonderful feel great, second chance at love contemporary romance you will read in one sitting.  And then want more. Maybe a sequel to.  It left me smiling and it made my afternoon.  What more could I want?

Cover art is perfect!  Love that contrast between characters!

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 256 pages
Published July 23rd 2019 by Tygerseye Publishing, LLC
ASINB07TWK3Y8C
Edition Language English

Buy for $4.99 or read on  Kindle Unlimited

A Lila Review: The Spymaster’s Secret By Antonia Aquilante

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

 

Alexander is doing his best to settle into life in Tournai’s royal palace after years living outside the country due to his father’s diplomatic work. The sense of belonging and home he feels is overwhelming, but none of his plans are going as he imagined. Many see him as only a lovely, charming adornment of the royal court and underestimate both his intelligence and abilities. His attraction to Marcus, a mysterious older man who does work for the prince, Alexander’s cousin, is unexpected but not unwelcome…if Marcus could possibly see who Alexander really is.Lord Marcus is the second son of a minor noble family, a widower raising two children…and the prince’s spymaster. He knows his work is necessary for the security of the kingdom and its royal family, but he also knows it can be distasteful and dangerous to him and those around him. Marcus has vowed never to fall in love again, never to put anyone else at risk—a promise threatened for the first time by the vibrant, flirtatious Alexander. The attraction is unwelcome and entirely undeniable. He can’t believe someone like Alexander would want someone like him, but he also can’t stay away.

As they become ever more entangled, Marcus is investigating rumors of spies at work in Tournai’s university. As he gets closer to uncovering their plot, Alexander is drawn deeper into danger. Can their love survive when Alexander is put in peril by the very spies Marcus is hunting for?

The Spymaster’s Secret is a lovely story about two different men brought together by an unexpected attraction. I enjoyed the time they spent courting each other and the slow friendship they developed. They were comfortable with each other and worked well as one.

The secrets between them didn’t take away from their blossoming relationship. They seem to mesh into the action, giving them the opportunity to learn more about each other.

Even so, their love story was slow but significant.  There were enough clues hinting about what could have kept them apart, but not enough to bored the reader.

We continued to learn about Tournai, its inhabitants, and culture. We spent time with the royal family and the previous couples. Once again, we get the chance to read the Princes’ point of view and enjoy their connection.

The high point and resolution came a bit quick but were surprisingly satisfying. New characters were introduced and the potential for more is constant.

The cover by Natasha Snow matches the previous books in the series but it seems too modern for the story.

Sale Links: NineStar | Amazon | Nook

Book Details:

ebook, 389 pages
Published: October 14, 2019, by NineStar Press
ISBN: 978-1-951057-63-3
Edition Language: English

Series: Chronicles of Tournai
Book #1: The Prince’s Consort
Book #2: The Artist’s Masquerade
Book #3: The Scholar’s Heart
Book #4: The Sorcerer’s Guardian
Book #5: The Dragon’s Devotion
Book #6: The Merchant’s Love
Book #7: The Spymaster’s Secret

Love Epic Fantasy? Check Out the Blog Post for The Twelfth Knight (Guardians of Camelot #1) by Victoria Sue (excerpt and giveaway)

The Twelfth Knight (Guardians of Camelot #1) by Victoria Sue

Published October 1st 2019

Buy Links:

Amazon US |  Amazon UK: 

Bitly: bit.ly/TwelfthKnight

 

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Ginn Hale here today on tour for her latest novel The Twelfth Knight.  Ginn has brought along an excerpt as well as a great giveaway.  Check out both below!

✒︎

 

Blurb

To battle an ancient evil, the greatest weapon each hero will have is each other.

Hundreds of years ago, facing defeat, the witch Morgana sent monsters into the future to vanquish a humanity King Arthur wouldn’t be able to save. The King might have won the battle, but now, centuries later, a few chosen men will have to fight the war.

Merlin always hated being named after some mythological wizard. His dad had been obsessed with the magic man of King Arthur’s Court before his untimely death – a loss that had sent Mel reeling in a downward spiral. He is ill-prepared, to say the least, for the outrageous claims of a proper English knight bent on overcoming evil.

Born a commoner, Lancelot was never supposed to be a knight in his own time, never mind now in a modern world he is so woefully untrained to protect. Thrown into a battle centuries in the making, this flawed hero, and a young man too-used to battling monsters of the present day, will have to come together in a last desperate fight to save humanity.

Can Mel and Lance defeat the greatest enemy the world has ever known? Or in the midst of fighting evil, will they discover the real threat has always been a shattered heart?

And what if the one fight they cannot ever hope to win is with themselves?

Excerpt

We know there is something different about you because you can see them. That is an absolute fact,” Gawain said at last.

“You think?”

Mel looked up at the mildly sarcastic tone Ali used, wondering why she sounded irritated.

“Merlin told Lance that he would know when the final battle was nearing. That something would happen to him. A sign.” Gawain stretched out his hands, almost in supplication.

“But I’m not yours, you said so.” Mel stared at Lance, unsure why he still felt the need to point it out. Turn the knife as his gran would say.

Lance bent his head, looking at the floor and frowning in concentration, and Mel felt almost bereft if that was the right word. Like he’d lost something he didn’t know he had in the first place. Am I mad? He barely existed in a crappy apartment and sold his body every night. He’d been originally going to save for something else, to be something else. It had been temporary, he had promised himself. And somehow nearly five years had gone. Would he still be selling sex in another five years, or would some psycho have slit his throat by then? Mel stared at the computer screen. He was protesting the loss of something he didn’t have in the first place.

A change is as good as a rest. His gran said that all the time as well. His earliest memories of his dad were being pulled onto his knee and told stories of knights and dragons and all the heroes his little heart could ever wish for.

And one day it had just stopped. It had seemed like his whole world had been on fire when his dad had woken him frantically and told him to run, as fast and as far as he could, and wait until he came for him.

But he never had. He’d hidden behind some old car and cried until a cop had found him. He’d been reunited with his mom a few hours later, and they’d had to go live in some awful motel. Then the other nightmare started—not worse than losing his dad, but like he’d lost him all over again. He used to lie in that room and have nightmares, some while he was asleep and some while he was awake. His mom was drinking, and it wasn’t long until she had gotten a boyfriend. And more importantly, no one had ever tried to explain what had happened. The sickening realization that his father might have died trying to protect him was a horrible one.

His life became a downward spiral, and his dad had never found them no matter which city Mom dragged him to. As a child he used to sit out at the end of the road and just wait for his dad to show up because he never believed he was dead. And somehow in the years that followed, he had forgotten that.

“What about my dad? I don’t believe with what you have told me his death was accidental, but I would have been easily found if they had looked. And I definitely didn’t meet any mysterious strangers that wanted to look after me.”

He wasn’t that lucky.

“I don’t know,” Lance admitted again. “The only clues we were given were fifteen hundred years ago from a dying man. You may be different because of the name.”

“No,” Mel challenged. “You are clutching at excuses because you refuse to believe Guinevere isn’t coming for you. You have this idea you are going to get her as a reward, but I have news for you, oh mighty knight of the realm or whatever you are. Life isn’t like that. Shit happens. Good guys die and bad guys win.”

His ears screamed with how loud the silence was.

Then Lance jumped up so quickly his chair toppled back, but he was out of the room before it hit the floor.

And Mel deflated. That wasn’t fair. He was sick of never being good enough, but that wasn’t Lance’s fault. “Should I go after him?”

“It depends if you are staying, I guess,” Ali said bluntly and righted the chair.

Mel stared at all of them, their expressions equal with hope and worry. He chewed at his bottom lip. He didn’t feel special, and he wasn’t sure even if Thor decided Mel was his he wanted to belong to him anyway.

Liar. He glanced around the room and weighed up the possibilities before him. Gawain? He wasn’t into the tortured-genius vibe really and had a feeling—even unintentionally—being around Gawain might make him feel a little inadequate.

Kay? On the surface Kay seemed to be as capable as Lance. He was certainly as hot—maybe even better-looking—but there was something about Kay that hinted at a great hurt and hidden vulnerability. He had a feeling it was going to take a strong man or woman to unravel him, and Mel wasn’t sure he was in the right headspace at the moment to be fair to either of them.

Ali? She was a badass, and he had a feeling they could become great friends, but the other half of her soul? Maybe not.

Lucan? Appearance-wise, Lucan was exactly what Mel would go for. Large, brooding, probably dominating in the bedroom, and muscles in exactly the right places…but.

But? Mel nearly screamed the frustrated thought. What was it about Mel that always made him want the very thing he could never have? Stability, honesty. Love?

He pushed the little voice away. “Is it safe here?”

Kay nodded to the computer screen. “More of Gawain’s genius.”

But Thor was still in his head no matter how much he wanted to push him away. How his gray eyes lit with determination. The strong lines of his face that screamed dependability. Mel could imagine him on a horse—would have to be a stallion. Full armor, arm brandishing the huge sword as he yelled his battle cry.

“Show me what to do.”

It was a decision. He lowered his eyes, not wanting to see either triumph or gratitude in theirs. Their enemy might be something unspeakably evil, but becoming dependent on Lance especially was just as dangerous. Someone who—despite his less than definite denials—was in love with someone else, a dead woman. It would be too easy to get carried away and imagine this knight belonged to him.

Giveaway

Victoria Sue is generously offering a $5 Amazon US gift card and an eBook of choice from her backlist to one lucky reader.  Please leave a comment and your email address where you can be reached if picked.  Must be  18 years or older to enter.

About the Author

Victoria Sue

Victoria Sue fell in love with love stories as a child when she would hide away with her mom’s library books and dream of the dashing hero coming to rescue her from math homework. She never mastered math but never stopped loving her heroes and decided to give them the happy ever afters they fight so hard for. 
She loves reading and writing about gorgeous boys loving each other the best—and creating a family for them to adore. Thrilled to hear from her readers, she can be found most days lurking on Facebook where she doesn’t need factor 1000 sun-cream to hide her freckles.

www.victoriasue.com

@vickysuewrites

https://www.facebook.com/victoriasueauthor

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1182647028418709/

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/VictoriaSueNewsletter

Looking for a New Story? Check Out the Book Blitz and Giveaway for Natural Disaster by Erin McLellan

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Natural Disaster

Author: Erin McLellan

Publisher: Erin McLellan

Cover Artist: Brooke Albrecht

Release Date: October 11, 2019

Genre/s: Contemporary m/m romance, workplace romance, action/adventure romance

Trope/s: workplace romance, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers

Themes: storm chasing, weather, trust, finding a home, partnership/friendship

Heat Rating:  4 flames  

Length: 50 000 words/190 pages

It is a standalone story.

Add on Goodreads

 

Buy Links

Universal Book Link  |  Amazon  |  B&N  |  Google Play

  iBooks  |  Kobo  |  Smashwords

 

 Blurb

When two tornado chasers form a reluctant team, the pressure between them builds…

Human-interest reporter—and son of a famous storm chaser—Guthrie Gale wants nothing to do with severe weather. But his station’s director insists he join the storm chasing team, or else, and worse yet, she pairs him with hotshot rookie chaser Luke Masters.

All Luke wants is to be a part of the KTTY family, and he won’t let prickly Guthrie Gale spoil his chance. Little does he realize Guthrie’s anxiety around storms is more than justified.

As Oklahoma’s unpredictable tornado season picks up, Guthrie and Luke strike up a turbulent working relationship that shifts between lust and bickering. But when they are forced to outrun a dangerous twister, their trust is tested and the desire between them flashes quick as lightning, threatening to burn more than just their careers.

 

 

Excerpt 

Guthrie Gale hated spring in Oklahoma almost as much as he hated meetings right after lunch.

Rain spattered against the windows of the KTTY news station, the sky a deep and ominous blue. Clouds darkened the city skyline, casting a murkiness over the land.

Guthrie had read the forecast and weather maps this morning. They weren’t expecting anything but rain, but he was still on edge.

He jumped as Debbie Debarr cleared her throat to bring the news team’s attention back where it belonged—on her, the boss.

“We’re expecting an active tornado season, as always, and we’re short-staffed. That means some changes are coming down the pipeline. With Mack out on maternity leave, we’d like someone to do double duty.” She paused dramatically before dropping her bombshell. “Guthrie, guess what, bub? You’re up.”

Guthrie fought a frown. He glanced around the room at the anchors, reporters, writers, weather team, and storm chasers. No one was surprised he’d been picked. Most of them knew his history. His dad’s history.

But he wasn’t part of the weather team. He was a field reporter, for heaven’s sake. Not a storm chaser.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. You’ve got the experience we need out there. Plus your down-home country charm is evidently soothing to viewers.” Debbie said that in a way that made it obvious she did not find his slight twang soothing at all. “At least that’s what the focus groups say.”

Being stuck in a truck in the middle of a tornado was the last thing Guthrie wanted. Maybe that charm would come in handy now.

Throwing on his best fake smile, he said, “But I’m a pretty face for the camera. I’m not a storm chaser.”

He’d happily let Debbie believe his reticence stemmed from his own vanity at not being on-screen as opposed to the reality—tornadoes scared him shitless.

She rolled her eyes. “Your ego will live.”

Not if a tornado got him, it wouldn’t.

He’d figure out another way to fight this when he didn’t have an audience.

“Whose truck will I be in? Johanna’s?” Mack had been paired up with Johanna last year, spotting and filming while Johanna did the driving and reporting.

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Debbie said, tapping a bright red fingernail on the table.

Guthrie heaved a discreet sigh of relief. Johanna was KTTY’s veteran storm chaser and the most likely to be in the middle of the action, exactly where he never wanted to be again.

Debbie snapped her fingers. “I know. We’ll put you with the rook. You can give him a big ol’ Okie welcome, show him the ropes, help him settle in.”

Crap on a cracker.

The rook was Luke Masters—KTTY’s newest storm chaser. Guthrie had seen Luke around the station a few times since he’d been hired a month ago after an old-timer retired. Luke was from California of all places. Who’d ever heard of a Californian storm chaser? Guthrie disliked Luke on principle. He was a thrill-seeking newbie, for one. Worse, he was hot.

Luke had the type of face the KTTY brass would have loved to force in front of a camera, but the guy evidently wanted to chase giants, not smile and read from a teleprompter. Plus they’d probably make him cut off his man bun, which would be a right shame.

Guthrie had to force himself not to glance at the beautiful man in question. “Shouldn’t Luke shadow one of the veteran teams for a while?” Guthrie asked. “He’s pretty green.”

Luke sat up abruptly from a sprawl and drew Guthrie’s eyes like greedy little magnets. The muscles of Luke’s arms bunched as he shifted, and his smile was ornery as a rattlesnake’s.

“I spent three years with a team monitoring and chasing coastal tornadoes and hurricanes. And I even have my learner’s permit.” He winked at Guthrie, which incited a rumble of chuckles around the room.

That wink kicked Guthrie’s heart rate up a notch. Made him angry and turned on in equal measures.

“Those coastal twisters ain’t got nothin’ on the ones here. It’s different.”

Debbie grinned and her gravity-defying blond hair ruffled in the draft from the air conditioner. “And that, Guthrie dear, is why I’m pairing you together. It is different here. Who better to teach Luke that difference than someone who knows firsthand what an Oklahoma tornado can do? You have more experience than anyone in the room. Now, let’s talk editorial strategy….”

Guthrie tuned Debbie out as he got his thoughts in order. Luke was staring at him, an eyebrow raised, so Guthrie stared back. Such pretty brown eyes on such an infuriatingly arrogant man. Normally, Guthrie liked men with a bit of arrogance.

Not today.

The only thing worse than being in the field during a tornadic weather system would be babysitting an irresponsible, hotshot Californian while in the field during a tornadic weather system.

 

 

About the Author 

Erin McLellan is the author of several contemporary romances, all of which have characters who are complex, goodhearted, and a little quirky. She likes her stories to have a sexy spark and a happily ever after. Originally from Oklahoma, she currently lives in Alaska and spends her time dreaming up love stories set in the Great Plains. She is a lover of chocolate, college sports, antiquing, Dr Pepper, and binge-worthy TV shows. Erin is a member of Romance Writers of America and its Alaska chapter. 

 

Social Media Links

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Giveaway 

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win your choice of ebook from Erin McLellan’s backlist, plus a small paper swag pack (bookmarks, postcard, bookplate, etc.)

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Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts and reviews here

 

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

 

Check Out the Blog Tour for Master of Restless Shadows by Ginn Hale (excerpt and giveaway)

Master of Restless Shadows, Book One by Ginn Hale

Series: The Cadeleonian Series, Volume 5

Publisher: Blind Eye Books

Release Date (Print & Ebook): October 8, 2019

Length (Print & Ebook): 401 pp

ISBN Print: 9781935560630

ISBN digital: 9781935560647

Cover artist: Zaya Feli

Subgenre: epic fantasy, romantic fantasy, LGBTQ fantasy, queer fantasy, high fantasy

Order it now:

https://www.blindeyebooks.com/publications-1/pre-order-today-master-of-restless-shadows-book-one-by-ginn-hale

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Restless-Shadows-Book-Cadeleonian/dp/1935560638/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ginn+hale&qid=1561242936&s=gateway&sr=8-1

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/939510

Book synopsis:

Freshly graduated Master Physician Narsi Lif-Tahm has left his home in Anacleto and journeyed to the imposing royal capitol of Cieloalta intent upon keeping the youthful oath he made to a troubled writer. But in the decade since Narsi gave his pledge, Atreau Vediya, has grown from an anonymous delinquent to a man renowned for penning bawdy operas and engaging in scandalous affairs.

What Narsi―and most of the larger world―cannot know is the secret role Atreau plays as spymaster for the Duke of Rauma.

After the Cadeleonian royal bishop launches an unprovoked attack against the witches in neighboring Labara, Atreau will require every resource he can lay his hands upon to avert a war. A physician is exactly what he needs. But with a relentless assassin hunting the city and ancient magic waking, Atreau fears that his actions could cost more than his own honor. The price of peace could be his friends’ lives.

About Ginn Hale:

Ginn Hale lives with her lovely wife in the Pacific Northwest. She spends the many cloudy days observing plants and fungi. She whiles away the rainy evenings writing fantasy and science-fiction featuring LGBTQ protagonists. Her first novel, Wicked Gentlemen, won the Spectrum Award for best novel. She is also a Lambda Literary Award finalist and Rainbow Award winner.

Her most recent publications include the Lord of the White Hell, Champion of the Scarlet Wolf and The Rifter Trilogy: The Shattered Gates, The Holy Road, His Sacred Bones.

She can be reached through her website: www.ginnhale.com as well as on Facebook and Twitter. Her Instagram account, however, is largely a collection of botanical photos…so, be warned.

Excerpt:

Inside the smoky confines of the Fat Goose, surrounded by boisterous drunks, gamblers and cold-eyed cardsharps, Atreau’s attention strayed from his cards to the wonderful book on the table before him. The leather cover looked supple and already well-worn as a favorite glove. He could see where fingers had cradled the spine and bent the cover, leafing through the pages again and again.

Placed in my callous hands, a testament of devotion, unspoken, and yet laid bare as a naked breast.

Atreau snorted at his own conceited turn of thought.

Still, the simple fact of the book’s existence pleased him.

He’d not seen the Haldiim translation and had half suspected that the publisher had forgone printing after the Cadeleonian volumes had been transformed into so much ash and smoke.

For a moment he pictured the dark young man who’d handed him the tome. How striking he’d appeared amidst so many Cadeleonians, and yet something about him—his angular jaw? Perhaps his long, lean build? Or it might have been his sharp brows and dark lashes?—Atreau didn’t know but something about the Haldiim physician had filled Atreau with a sense of familiarity. Absently, Atreau wondered if the young man had known that marigold petals clung to his dark curls like drops of gold.

“Stare at the cards all you want. The winning hand is still mine.”

Across the table from him Sabella Calies tapped the four cards she’d laid down and then took up her beer mug. Tall and weathered as a warhorse, Sabella was as much a fixture of the capital’s unseemly side as was her uncle’s Red Stallion sword house, where people gambled fortunes and lives on the speed of their blades. Over the course of her forty-odd years Sabella had taken both from a good number of men. But here at the Fat Goose the stakes were very different, as was the game. Here the kingdom stood to be lost to the church. Or won for Prince Sevanyo.

Atreau’s cards came very near winning but missed by only a point. He had indulged himself in the drama of making it appear a close match. Sabella played along, since the money would be hers no matter what cards he dealt. This game, like almost every other hand of cards he played, served as a pretext for Atreau to dole out Fedeles Quemanor’s payments to his informants and agents across the city.

Atreau pushed a plain coin purse to Sabella. She opened it and then pulled the drawstring closed again and dropped it into an inner pocket of her leather coat.

Between her lanky build, plain face and close-shorn brown hair Sabella nearly passed for a man. Certainly the heavy doublet and thick riding trousers she sported added to the impression, though they did not create a perfect illusion. Nor did she need them to. She’d patronized the Fat Goose for more than twenty years and all but the most callow of youths knew better than to cause her trouble.

She drew a sheaf of papers from her doublet and pushed them to Atreau. He skimmed the content quickly. It seemed that the royal bishop was collecting ancient scriptures, most having something to do with the Holy Savior’s final battle and the Shard of Heaven. Likely the bishop believed the holy blessings that had destroyed the demon hordes so long ago were desperately needed again now to combat a new threat to Cadeleon.

Five years ago Atreau would have found the entire matter amusing or perhaps thought the royal bishop deluded. But since then he’d seen both the wonders and horrors that ancient spells unleashed. He understood why previous generations of wiser men and women had attempted to hide them away.

“We need to know when and exactly what he intends to do with this,” Atreau said. “Actual places and dates would be good.”

“You don’t ask much, do you?”

“I don’t pay so little that I should,” Atreau replied.

Giveaway: Readers, enter to win 1 of 3 complete e-book sets of The Cadeleonian Series, Volumes 1 – 4 (Lord of the White Hell 1 & 2, Champion of the Scarlet Wolf 1 & 2)

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Giveaway: Readers, enter to win 1 of 3 complete e-book sets of The Cadeleonian Series, Volumes 1 – 4 (Lord of the White Hell 1 & 2, Champion of the Scarlet Wolf 1 & 2)

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A MelanieM Audio Review: Dark Rivers (Witchbane #2) by Morgan Brice and Kale Williams (Narrator)

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

One hundred years ago, a sheriff’s posse killed dark warlock Rhyfel Gremory, but his witch-disciples escaped, and their magic made them nearly immortal. To keep their power, each year one of the witch-disciples kills a descendant of one of the men in the posse, a twelve-year cycle that has cost dozens of lives, including that of Seth Tanner’s brother, Jesse.

Seth Tanner uncovers the cycle of ritual killings that feeds the power of the witch-disciples, and he’s hell bent on getting vengeance for Jesse and stopping the murders. His fledgling romantic relationship with Evan Malone complicates his mission, but Seth can’t walk away. Seth and Evan are learning to navigate their partnership—as lovers and monster hunters—while they chase down the next witch-disciple and avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention.

When the hunt takes Seth and Evan to Pittsburgh on the trail of the next killer, they’ll have to save the intended victim and take down the powerful witch. If the skills they possess and the bond between them isn’t enough, the evil will remain unchallenged, and more people will die…

Note: Includes mention of past domestic violence and stalking

Again, another really strong outing from Morgan Brice and her narrator of choice Kale Williams.   I am hardpressed to say which of this author’s series I love more, especially since they are all interconnected and I switch back and forth between the latest stories at will. That includes eBook and audio versions.

Dark Rivers (Witchbane #2) by Morgan Brice and Kale Williams (Narrator) demonstrates a growth in every level for this series from the character development and the couple’s relationship to moving the overall series arc forward.  Dark Rivers picks up shortly after the events of the first story that set everything into motion.  Here they are on the trail of the next witch disciple and his prey while working on their very new partnership, both as a romantic duo and as a working team.

Brice is careful to keep Seth and Evan’s relationship front and center while still maintaining a focus on the highly suspenseful search for the powerful witch, those helping him, and all the while trying to keep the man designated as the next sacrifice alive.   This is a huge goal, often bringing in new elements of magic and the paranormal, new characters and old from various other series, and visits to sites around the city they are in. Location is everything.

It all works.  The suspense builds slowly until your skin is crawling and you can’t wait until the big denouement!

Kale Williams’ excellent narration, his host of voices and range of emotions carries us effortlessly along this paranormal adventure, through the romance and horror, through the meticulous research for clues and the mad rush at the end.  It’s a joy and pleasure to listen to and a thrill as well.

This is terrific characterizations, sharp plotting, tight suspense, and an overall arc that just keeps getting better and better.  All narrated by Kale Williams who’s voice keeps me throughly entertained.

I highly recommend this audio and the entire series.  Love a marvelous paranormal?  Here’s one to check out!

Cover art is terrific.  Love the models that standin for Seth and Evan.  Great job.

Buy Links

Audible US  |  Audible UK 

Amazon US   |  Amazon UK 

Audio Book Details:

Listening Time: 7 hrs., 17 min.

Audible Audio, 8 pages
Published July 7th 2019 by Tantor Audio (first published October 23rd 2018)
ASIN B07R546K59
Edition Language English
Series Witchbane #2

An Alisa Review : Loving Daniel (MC Securities #3) by Ruby Moone

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

 

Twelve years ago, Daniel McCafferty walked away from the man he loved without a backward glance. He threw himself into his father’s business as heir apparent of their vicious criminal empire in Manchester. Forced to deny who he was, who he loved, he buried himself in work and drink.

 

Christian’s life is steady. He has a good business, good friends, but he’s never had a lasting relationship. Second cousin to Daniel, they fell hard for each other one hot summer long ago. When Christian needed him the most, Daniel walked away. It broke something inside him. Over the last year, Christian asked Daniel for help with a lowlife named Bryce. Daniel gave it. Unstintingly.

 

When Daniel’s father dies unexpectedly, Christian stands by him. Offers him comfort. But when Bryce rears his ugly head again, and Christian is in grave danger, Daniel whisks him away to Europe. Away from normality, Daniel and Christian are thrown together in the heat of the Mediterranean sun. Daniel’s walls tumble, and for the first time he thinks that just maybe, it can work. All he has to do is keep secret the real reason he left Christian.

 

Daniel has given in and helped Christian a few times in the past year and it’s making it harder and harder for him to stay away.  Christian has never gotten over the pain of Daniel walking away and now he has Daniel barging in to help him because they feel he is in danger.

 

I felt bad for Daniel with how he grew up and how he was forced to work with his father, though he has done an admiral job of distancing himself from that life and living a very lonely life.  Christian has had the support of his friends and family though seems to still have kept people at a distance.  I hated watching Daniel continue to pull himself away from Christian even when everything was working out though I was proud that Christian was able to walk away when he felt it was necessary.  I was even gladder when he has the courage to go back for them to talk it out and figure out their relationship.

 

The cover art by Meredith Russell is great, I love the visual of Daniel and how it’s similar in style to the previous books but also different.

 

Sales Link: Amazon

 

Book Details:

ebook, 250 pages

Published: October 9, 2019

Edition Language: English

Series: MC Securities #3

MC Securities Series 
 

Book #1 – Trusting Jack – Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link
Book #2 – Finding Finlay – Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Love to Listen to Your Stories? Check Out the Audio Review Tour for Dark Rivers (Witchbane #2) by Morgan Brice and Kale Williams (Narrator)

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW TOUR

Book Title: Dark Rivers (Witchbane #2)

Author: Morgan Brice

Publisher: Darkwind Press

Narrator: Kale Williams

Release Date: May 7, 2019

Genre: Urban Fantasy, MM paranormal romance

Length: 7 hours and 17 minutes

Trope/s: Second chance, fast relationship, monster hunters, hurt/comfort

Themes: Established relationship, learning to trust, overcoming fear

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Add on Goodreads

 

If the skills they possess and the bond between them isn’t enough, the evil will remain unchallenged, and more people will die…

Blurb 

One hundred years ago, a sheriff’s posse killed dark warlock Rhyfel Gremory, but his witch-disciples escaped, and their magic made them nearly immortal. To keep their power, each year one of the witch-disciples kills a descendant of one of the men in the posse, a twelve-year cycle that has cost dozens of lives, including that of Seth Tanner’s brother, Jesse.

Seth Tanner uncovers the cycle of ritual killings that feeds the power of the witch-disciples, and he’s hell bent on getting vengeance for Jesse and stopping the murders. His fledgling romantic relationship with Evan Malone complicates his mission, but Seth can’t walk away. Seth and Evan learning to navigate their partnership—as lovers and monster hunters—while they chase down the next witch-disciple and avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention. 

When the hunt takes Seth and Evan to Pittsburgh on the trail of the next killer, they’ll have to save the intended victim and take down the powerful witch. If the skills they possess and the bond between them isn’t enough, the evil will remain unchallenged, and more people will die…

Dark Rivers is the second novel in the Witchbane series. It is a MM romance intended for readers 18 years of age and older. Note: Includes mention of past domestic violence and stalking.

 

Buy Links

Audible US  |  Audible UK 

Amazon US   |  Amazon UK 

 

About the Author 

Morgan Brice is the romance pen name of bestselling author Gail Z. Martin. Morgan writes urban fantasy male/male paranormal romance, with plenty of action, adventure and supernatural thrills to go with the happily ever after. Gail writes epic fantasy and urban fantasy, and together with co-author hubby Larry N. Martin, steampunk and comedic horror, all of which have less romance, more explosions. Characters from her Gail books make frequent appearances in secondary roles in her Morgan books, and vice versa.

Other books include Witchbane, Burn, Dark Rivers, and Badlands, Lucky Town, and The Rising, plus Treasure Trail. Watch for more in these series, plus new series coming soon!

I’ll be a Featured Author at GRL in October and also at Coastal Magic in February!

Join my Worlds of Morgan Brice Facebook Group! Get the early scoop on upcoming books and new series, see new covers first, enjoy insider news and special contests and giveaways! Plus it’s where I get my beta readers and launch team!

 

Author Links

Amazon

Facebook Group

Pinterest (for Morgan and Gail)

Twitter: @MorganBriceBook

Website

BookBub

Sign up for my newsletter and never miss a new release

 

 

Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts and reviews here

 

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Review Tour and Giveaway for Guarding His Heart by Beth Laycock

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link – Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow with Kindle Unlimited
 
Length: 38,000 words
 
Blurb
 

He’d risk his life to find his brother. But he never expected to risk his heart as well.


Three months since his brother, Jake, went MIA, Lane Matthews is tired of waiting for answers. With a little help, he arranges a posting to Jeddah for his first overseas deployment—the perfect opportunity to find his brother.


Life in a foreign land isn’t quite like he imagined and neither are his duties. But when he meets his housemate, Tristan, while it may be memorable, it’s not one of Lane’s finest moments.


Tristan threatens to throw him way off course, and falling for the hot straight soldier is definitely not in his plans. But as tensions rise and the truth about Jake is revealed, will Lane’s heart follow orders or will all be lost like grains of sand swept away in a desert?

Beth Laycock’s books are influenced by her time living overseas as well as the gritty, urban landscape of the north of England where she grew up.


She has been reading romance since she was old enough to tell herself that line every book lover does—just one more chapter.


As a teenager she attempted to write her first novel, and many more since then that are still gathering dust on her bookshelf. It wasn’t until she discovered the M/M genre that her muse showed up and refused to quit telling her stories about beautiful men finding love together. She hasn’t stopped scribbling them down since. Beth’s muse usually shows up when she is in the shower, is allergic to cleaning, rarely lets Beth watch TV, and insists she drinks copious amounts of coffee so she can turn caffeine into words.


When not writing or reading Beth can be found procrastinating on social media or being dragged around the English countryside by her dog.


Beth loves to chat about books on social media or you can email her at beth@bethlaycock.com

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Check Out the Review Tour and Giveaway for Loving Daniel (MC Securities #3 by Ruby Moone

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link
 
Length: 69,500 words.
 
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
 
MC Securities Series 
 

Book #1 – Trusting Jack – Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link
Book #2 – Finding Finlay – Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

 
Blurb



*Can be read as a standalone.


Twelve years ago, Daniel McCafferty walked away from the man he loved without a backward glance. He threw himself into his father’s business as heir apparent of their vicious criminal empire in Manchester. Forced to deny who he was, who he loved, he buried himself in work and drink.


Christian’s life is steady. He has a good business, good friends, but he’s never had a lasting relationship. Second cousin to Daniel, they fell hard for each other one hot summer long ago. When Christian needed him the most, Daniel walked away. It broke something inside him. Over the last year, Christian asked Daniel for help with a lowlife named Bryce. Daniel gave it. Unstintingly.


When Daniel’s father dies unexpectedly, Christian stands by him. Offers him comfort. But when Bryce rears his ugly head again, and Christian is in grave danger, Daniel whisks him away to Europe. Away from normality, Daniel and Christian are thrown together in the heat of the Mediterranean sun. Daniel’s walls tumble, and for the first time he thinks that just maybe, it can work. All he has to do is keep secret the real reason he left Christian.

Check Out Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words review here.  We definitely recommend it and the series!

My name is Ruby Moone and I love books. All kinds of books. My weakness is for romance, and that can be any kind, but I am particularly fond of historical and paranormal. I decided to write gay romance after reading some fantastic books and falling in love with the genre, so am really thrilled to have my work published here. The day job takes up a lot of my time, but every other spare moment finds me writing or reading. I live in the north west of England with my husband who thinks that I live in two worlds. The real world and in the world in my head…he probably has a point!


Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/RubyMoone/?ref=bookmarks
Twitter – @RubyMooneWriter
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rubymoone/

 
 

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