Category: Uncategorized

Review: I Survived Seattle (Coming About #1) by J.K. Hogan

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

I Survived SeattleOnly his best friend’s wedding would make Justice Crawford leave the security of his home to fly across the country to Seattle to assume the best man duties that he has been given.  A  strange place, a schedule of events full of new people?  Just the beginning of a worst case scenario for Justice. Because  Justice is not only a deeply closeted gay Southern man but his social anxiety disorder and OCD make any new or strange situation problematic at best, a nightmare at its worst.  And this is definitely the worst that could happen.  That sometime during the festivities, Justice will be outed to the only friend he has ever known.

Sailor and charter boat captain Nic Valentine is returning home to Seattle from his father’s funeral when an attractive man literally falls into his lap when their plane hits some unexpected turbulence.  Eyes meet, attraction forms, a phone number is exchanged and then….nothing.  Cute guy disappears once Nic leaves the airplane in Seattle.  Nic is certain he will never see that man again but Fate and a wedding brings them together once more.

Justice has let his disorders and closeted status isolate him from society and a chance at love.  Nic’s past includes a closeted boyfriend that hurt him deeply and now he isn’t sure he wants to take another chance with a man who hides who he really is.  But sometimes love finds a way to bring the most unlikely of people together for their HEA.  Will Nic and Justice find the courage to take a chance on each other?

J.K. Hogan’s romantic tale, I Survived Seattle (Coming Ab0ut #1) has two opposite personality characters that meet cute on a plane.  A spate of turbulence, ok, a ton of turbulence throws Justice Crawford into the lap of one Nic Valentine during the flight.  A few words, a couple of flirtatious glances are exchanged and hopes are raised for a lite romcom.

But  initial impressions are often deceiving. One man is on the way to his best friend’s wedding, the other returning from his father’s funeral.  One has serious mental health issues and the other is grieving over his father’s loss.  Not exactly comedic fare and I am not sure the introduction works to frame out the depth of the problems and the complexities in store for both men once they land in Seattle.  But once that plane lands….this story really takes off.  Don’t you love it when that happens?

Justice Crawford is a man sinking under the weight of his problems.  When he was younger, the decision to come out to his parents, cost him home and family.  Only the support of a grandfather in a retirement home, enabled Justice to attend college and complete his degree.  The trauma of that situation forced Justice back into the closet and no one, not even Rory his best friend and only family, knew he was gay.  In addition to being closeted, Justice suffers from a social anxiety disorder and OCD.  Medication has helped but fear and his anxiety have kept Justice in a cage or closet of his own making along with his decision to hide his homosexuality.  Hogan makes this character delightfully easy to empathize with,even with his closeted status.  He is socially inept and closed off, and still we like him.  We see where his past and his anxiety have contributed to the fears he is letting dictate his life and we are able to understand him.

Nic Valentine is the much more genial and open of the two personalities.  He lives aboard his charter boat, accepts who he is and longs for a partner to complete his life.  Nic’s past includes a closeted boyfriend so we can understand Nic’s frustration with and uncertainty about pursuing a relationship with Justice.  Both men come complete with a pair of best friend/girl friends who support them and help their relationship along.  I liked them as well as I did the main characters.  Rory, the best friend, is a little more elusive a character.  It was hard to get a feel for him and that was important given the fact that Justice’s fear over losing him is central to his rationale for staying in the closet.  More of Rory or more of Rory and Justice’s past history would have solidified this element of the story.  And I am not certain how I feel about a certain character who seemed more of a plot device to boost Justice out of the closet than a real human being. Maybe he will grow on me if he returns in the sequel.

J.K. Hogan may reside in North Carolina but she has life on the water and Seattle down pat.  I loved the descriptions of Nic’s boat and the harbor in Seattle.  His carefully organized space and quarters sound realistic and attractive.  Did I want to be there on his boat?  Why yes I did.  I could feel the peacefulness and quiet that Justice felt when he stood on deck because Hogan’s descriptions were able to transport me there to stand next to him.

Another element of this story I appreciate was the degree of  authenticity in regard to Justice’s anxiety disorder and OCD.  There is no magic wand to make it all better.  Instead thee is an adjustment of medication, and long term visits with a therapist to help Justice lead a more normal life.  We get a better understanding of what can trigger anxiety attacks and exactly how that can incapacitate a person.  Like I stated, not exactly comedic fare.  But it works when developing a character that comes across as real instead of a stereotype.   And Justice feels as real as they come.

I Survived Seattle is the debut novel for J.K. Hogan and I found it to be a sweet, rewarding and totally endearing first jump for this author into the m/m romance genre.  From the title I anticipate this is but the first in a series.  Perhaps the next in line just might be the recently married but unhappy Rory? I can’t wait to find out.  But while we are waiting, grab up I Survived Seattle.  You are going to love Justice and Nic and their journey to their own HEA!

Cover art by Wilde City Press. The cover has a number of nice elements but I am not sure they work together to form a cohesive whole.  It’s a little murky but the font is nice as is the Seattle backdrop and inclusion of a boat.

 Book Details:

ebook, 161 pages
Published March 19th 2014 by Wilde City Press
ISBN139781925031911
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-romance/i-survived-seattle/#.UzjYAfldWNE
seriesComing About #1

Buy Links:  Wilde City Press   Amazon   ARe

Into The Author Spotlight with Katey Hawthorne and her Fairy Compact Series

spotlight on books

Fairy Bound cover

 

Into the Author Spotlight with Katey Hawthorne

 

I have asked author Katey Hawthorne to stop by today to talk about her Fairy stories and the end of the series, Fairy Bound. Katey has brought an entire set of the stories to giveaway as part of this blog. To enter to win, leave a comment and an email address where you can be contacted in the body of the comment. Contest ends 5/28.

Welcome, Katey, to ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords. I love this universe you have invented for this series. Nothing quite like winged fairy sex….and the complications that ensue with human/fairy relationships….

 

 

Of Fairies and Men and the End of a Series

by Katey Hawthorne

 

There are some tropes in romance that I’m just not that into. I don’t mean that in the “these are so wrong/uninteresting no one should like them!” way, but in the “it’s just not my thing” way. Some of these, I’m really vocal about—other ones not so much. One of them happens to be forced bonding and/or magically destined lovers. It’s just not my bag.

 

But when I saw Miya Kressin’s prompt at the goodreads mmromance group’s Love is Always Write event a few years ago, I knew it had to be mine. It was about two men who had a lifelong bond and didn’t know why, one a fairy, one a human priest… and then it was wide open. Which, to me—and to Miya, as I suspected from her wording—was calling for a twist.

 

That first novella, The Dangers of Fairy Compacts, is still available as a free read at the group and from me. Life as a Fairy Thrall continued the journey for Aeron and Tam, taking them out of the mortal world and into Faerie. And with its release today, Fairy Bound brings their journey to forge their own bond to its conclusion.

 

Which makes me kind of sad, to be honest. I’m gonna miss them. The snarky fae boy. The sweet human cleric. Their house. The wingsex.

 

Yeah, you read that right. I said wingsex. It’s a thing.

 

But all good things must come to an end, right? Or at least a new beginning. Hopefully, Aeron and Tammas will be happy with theirs.

 

Life as a Fairy Thrall and Fairy Bound both contain beautiful artwork by the amazing Ruxandra Lache, and you can see thumbnails of those here at my site, along with soundtrack music.

Author Bio at Goodreads:

Hi! I’m Katey. I write superpowered and fantasy romance of an LGBTQ bent. I live at Superpowered Love — kateyhawthorne.com.

I know, I know, it looks like I don’t read anything here at GoodReads. But I do, I swear. My reviews and stuff are all over at my other GoodReads thingie, KV Taylor. Relevant shelves to Katey Hawthorne stuff:

Romance, LGBTQ, and
Comics, Graphic Novels, and Trade Paperbacks

Contact/Follow Katey Hawthorne at:

 Books in the series are in the order they were written and should be read:

Fairy Compacts #1: The Dangers of Fairy Compacts
Fairy Compacts #2: Life as a Fairy Thrall
Fairy Compacts #3: Fairy Bound

FairyCompacts_largeLife as a Fairy ThrallFairy Bound cover

 

 

Review: Powerless (The Borders War #3) by S.A. McAuley

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

He was built to be invincible.

Powerless coverMerq Grayson and Armise Darcan return to the States, their mission to assassinate the remaining Committee members unfinished.  Why?  The President of the Revolution is in need of their services to protect the Revolution’s most important proponent for freedom, the President himself.  But all is not stable within the Revolution’s leadership and factions within are looking to supplant the President with another.

When the unthinkable happens and headquarters is breached,  relationships, friendships even old rivals are torn asunder.  In the wake of the devastation, Merq faces the ultimate of challenges and decisions forced on him by the very people he trusted. Armise, Simion and Neveed. And each with a different and explosive impact on Merq and his future with the Revolution.

When everything and everyone around Merq is falling apart or disappearing, it is only one man, Armise Darcan, that he wants at his side.  But Fate or something worse has other plans in store for Merq and Armise. Events are coming that neither man may survive, with or without each other.  What happens when the invincible turn out to be anything but invincible?

 

Powerful, intense and emotionally scorching….these are the words I would use to describe Powerless, the third story in the Borders War series by S.A. McAuley.  The complexity of and relationship between these two genetically modified warriors is only exceeded by the intrigue and deceit that McAuley has built into her elaborately layered plot.  And it all happens on a world that has been defiled, corrupted by three hundred years of war that has turned its seas into acid and its air into toxic clouds.  The author’s powerful world building elements are delivered in slivers of descriptions throughout the stories, that compiled,  present a stunning atmosphere of bleakness and despair in which these men live and operate.

With each story, S.A. McAuley offers up more of Merq and Armise’s back history.  In Powerless. we enter the story in February, Year 2539 Singapore—The Outposts. Merq Grayson is 15 and in the middle of Lim2—Limitation Elimination training needed to become a Peacekeeper.  The trials aren’t just arduous, they are deadly and only the strongest will survive.  And although Merq is a teenager in years, he is far older mentally and emotionally.  Already he is being stripped of his feelings and his humanity and he is aware of it happening.  Powerful stuff indeed because as we watch Merq’s younger self push himself to his physical limits we also see him internalize and hide his conflicting emotions. And as we read we are already aware of what that boy ultimately becomes…an almost invincible dehumanized soldier for the Revolution.

All of McAuley characters are such densely layered constructs, believable and flawed, even with all their genmod strengths and abilities.  They don’t know what they are capable of and neither does the reader.  It’s a gripping process of continual shocks and revelation that flows through all the stories, especially  this one.  What new discoveries are uncovered concerning their genmods?  What new insights into their pasts will surface with each treacherous twist and turn of McAuley’s intricate plot?  Will they be able to keep enough humanity to save each other and the rest of the world? Stellar questions all even as McAuley miserly doles out clues to the answers.

Merq Grayson is such a compelling and contradictory personality.  Although he appears so tough, almost superhuman in the first two stories, Powerless, starts the process of breaking him down into a person who is questioning everything about his life and his role in the  Revolution.  It’s painful and realistic.  And the scenes of Merq shattering (emotionally as well as physically)  are so vivid that McAuley makes his pain and fall almost visceral in its impact.

Armise Darcan is Merq’s equal in every way and he has to be to hold his own as a character and believable partner to such a warrior as Merq.  Armise has had as interesting an upbringing as Merq, although in different ways.  Both are genetically modified and yet Armise has held on to more of his humanity and ability to love than Merq.  How and why that is possible is also slowly coming to the surface in these stories too.

There will be no excerpts here as even the smallest paragraph might point to spoilers.  McAuley’s narrative is as paired down as the men themselves.  At times as stark as the landscape, it is fast paced and explosive as the Borders War reignite with horrible implications for the people we have come to know and the world population that still exists.  Some aspects of this story are absolutely chilling and the dread they conjure up for Merq and Armise as well as the future for all nations will be hard to dispel.

Some readers will ask if this is a romance and I am not sure how to answer them.  The connection and feelings between Merq and Armise are almost cellular in their need for each other. Love, yes, but at a level and intensity that speaks of blood and loss not flowers and hearts.   Romance can’t exist in this world and it doesn’t.  But a hard fought for love?  Even if they can’t say the word or even know if they trust each other? That you will find here at the core of this story and within the men themselves.  The only thing powerless about this book is the title.

One Breath, One Bullet (Borders War #1) and Dominant Predator (Borders War #2) were on my Best of 2013 list.  Now I add Powerless to this year’s list too.  This is an amazing series.  And with each new story, S.A. McAuley’s plot and her plans for Merq and Armise intensify and become more convoluted.  McAuley plans five books for this series.  The fourth book,  Falling One by One (Borders War #4), will be out later this year.  I, for one, can’t wait to see how where this talented author will take this series and these incredible characters next.

Cover art by Posh Gosh.  Strong cover, although I would wish for a little more of a science fiction feel to it.

Books in the Borders War series in the order they were written and should be read to understand the men and the universe building:

One Breathe, One Bullet (Borders War #1)
Dominant Predator (The Borders War, #2)
Powerless (The Borders War #3)
Falling One by One (The Borders War #4) to be released later on this year
Fifth Book as yet unnamed.

 Book Details:

ebook, 185 pages
Published March 28th 2014 by Totally Bound
ISBN139780857156839
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe Borders War #3

Buy Links:     Totally Bound Publications       Amazon        ARe

Author Spotlight: S.A. McAuley and her Men of War Guest Blog and Contest

spotlight on books

Powerless cover

   

  ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords

   Welcomes 

    S.A. McAuley, and her latest

release, Powerless(Borders War 3)

Contest:  S.A. McAuley has brought with her today one copy each of the first two books in the Borders War series (One Breath, One Bullet and Dominant Predator) to give away to one lucky reader.  To enter to win, please leave a comment with your email address where you can be reached at the end of this post.  Contest ends 5/28.

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The Illicit Rendezvous: To Dine with Merq and Armise or Not?

by S.A. McAuley

You know that question if you could invite anyone—fictional or real—to dinner, who would you invite? Well, Merq and Armise wouldn’t be on my short list. Okay, let’s be really honest, they wouldn’t even be on my long list.

I absolutely adore them, but at the same time, Merq Grayson and Armise Darcan scare the bejesus out of me. Merq in particular has very little connection to his own humanity, let alone anyone else’s, therefore he rarely considers the value of one life. Armise is the perfect killer and the only person he appears to have any interest in protecting is Merq—but even that’s not for sure. Both of them are battle-hardened and have an unflappable confidence in their own lethality.

I wouldn’t consider either of them to be inherently evil, though.

The world they live in is vastly different than ours. The ethical measures of what makes a person evil in our time—murder, lying, violence—are concepts that are blurred, at best, since the citizens of the year 2558 have been literally fighting for survival for over 300 years.

Both Merq and Armise have not only been raised in this world of perpetual war and class inequity, they’ve been trained since they were children (yes, literally kids) to be soldiers for their respective countries. They’ve never known real peace or stability. The family and friends they do have are relationships built on secrets and hidden motivations.

But that violence doesn’t fully define them either. It’s their inexplicable connection they can’t find a way to sever that keeps me writing on days when they and their world become overwhelming. It’s the bond they forge between the two of them—either because of their shared darkness or despite it—that makes them most interesting.

Almost tempting me to give them a dinner-and-drinks invite…

Almost.

S.A. McAuley

Powerless coverAbout Powerless:

He was built to be invincible.

Merq and Armise return to the States after their mission to assassinate the remaining Committee members only to find the leadership of the Revolution isn’t as stable as they had thought.

Outside forces come crashing down on a Revolution stronghold, leaving two of their soldiers gravely wounded. Merq’s history with his brothers in arms Simion and Neveed forces him into making decisions that will impact his future with the Revolution.

Merq has always identified as a soldier first. Always known who deserved his loyalty and who didn’t. But with the uncertainty surrounding the leadership of the Revolution, the mysterious disappearance of the jacquerie and increased activity with the PsychHAgs, Merq knows there are few people he can trust.

The only man Merq wants or needs at his side is Armise Darcan. But his reliance on his former enemy may be a miscalculation that will threaten everything Merq stands for.

Book Details:

ebook, 185 pages
Published March 28th 2014 by Totally Bound
ISBN139780857156839
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe Borders War #3

Buy Links    Totally Bound            Amazon               ARe

About The Borders War series:

The Borders War By S.A. McAuley

The world has only recently emerged from a three-hundred-year war which saw half of the world’s population wiped out and the rise of five superpowers. Despite the hundreds of millions who died, the Borders War was nearly bloodless because of the sonicrifle—weaponized sound waves, tuned to their highest frequency, and harnessed to kill.
Merq Grayson has known only war. He is an orphan, a skilled Peacemaker, soldier, and sniper. And it is his destiny to right the wrong created by his grandfather six generations removed—the man who invented the sonicbullet.
Armise Darcan is his enemy. A sniper and Dark Ops officer who fought for the People’s Republic of Singapore in the Borders War, Armise may be the only person on the planet strong enough to keep Merq from completing his mission.
Their loyalties are to conflicting countries and diverging agendas, and despite the very real threat to their lives if they’re discovered, Merq and Armise keep finding their way into each other’s beds. It is a drive which Merq is sure will kill him one day.
But how much time either of them has is questionable. As Opposition is pitted against Revolution, the Borders War reignites, and Merq and Armise have to decide where, and with whom, their real loyalties lie.

Books in the Borders War series in the order they were written and should be read to understand the men and the universe building:

One Breathe, One Bullet (Borders War #1)
Dominant Predator (The Borders War, #2)
Powerless (The Borders War #3)

One Breathe One BulletDominant Predator cover

 

Review: One Night by R.J. Scott

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

One Night coverMicah Adamson is the owner of a vineyard in Rochester NY.  Between it and his close knit family, he has had little time to find the partner he knows is out there for him. Forced by his family to take a vacation, Micah attends a wine festival in Santa Monica, seven nights in a beautiful hotel on the beach.  Micah expects to make some contacts and do some business.  What he doesn’t expect is to meet the man he has been waiting for….

Liam Wade is s rich, successful lawyer.  Scion of a wealthy family, he is expected to work for his father’s law office and conform to his family’s expectations.  But Liam is also a father to a young daughter he loves.  To do what he thinks will give her a family he has  become engaged to a woman his family approves of and has close business ties with.  And while he likes Leigh, he doesn’t love her.  Plus he is gay.  Now Liam has taken a week off to evaluate his wedding and his life.

A chance encounter on the beach brings these two men together for a night of passion and a morning after of uncertainty and questions.  Micah would like to pursue a relationship but Liam is struggling with his duties, responsibilities and commitments that he hasn’t told Micah about.  Can one night end up changing two lives forever?

Can one moment lead to your forever happiness?  That’s the question that RJ Scott tries to answer in One Night, her recently released novella.

I found One Night  an enjoyable read for many reasons.  The first is RJ Scott’s ability to present the reader with realistic characters quickly and establish a connection to them and whatever situation they find on the road to romance and HEA.  Starting with Micah and his New York vineyard, we got an immediate feel for his close knit family and Micah’s “Type A personality” that causes him to direct all his energies towards the business and family.  Only the persistence of his sisters persuades Micah to take that long overdue vacation, and even then, its to a wine festival in Santa Monica.  Of the two characters, Micah is easily to one most people will relate to and understand.  He wants a lover and partner but just hasn’t found the right man yet.  Oh how we get that.

Liam Wade is more problematic.  His best friend got pregnant and Liam married her to give the child a loving family.  But her death forced Liam to return to his wealthy parent’s home to take up his father’s expected law office responsibilities and duties in order to provide his daughter with stability and …well stability.  Liam doesn’t need the money.  So why return to a job and family obligations he doesn’t want?  Especially when it means a return to the closet?  I’m not sure Scott ever made her case for Liam’s acquiescing to his father’s demands so quickly and definitively, especially when it meant marrying a close business associate’s daughter.   If Liam is submissive by nature, we don’t get that.  Easy going and young?  Perhaps.  I just wish that RJ Scott had delivered a little more of Liam’s personality so we could get a grip on what drove him to accept the situation that he was in when he arrived in Santa Monica.

There are the small wonderful touches here that I have come to expect from this author.  A moment when Liam looks at an “all too perfect” posed picture of his daughter that his fiance arranged and realizes that it’s the messy, carefree little girl he misses.  An insightful and beautifully real instant in time, one that most parents will recognize.  RJ Scott’s ability to deliver scenes like is just one of the many reasons I love her stories.

Then there are the funny “wine tasting” questions and the lovely vineyard setting in New York, each comes across as authentically as possible, telegraphing the author’s knowledge, research, and depth given to this story and plot.

There isn’t any true or instant love here but the possibility of one as well as a great future together for them both.  I appreciated that the author didn’t have Liam just automatically follow Micah after the events of the festival.  That was especially reassuring, considering we need to see him as a responsible and caring parent.

So what was missing?  The romance.  I wish that we had been given more time, more interaction between these characters to allow us to connect with their growing love for each other and HEA that was to follow. Perhaps even more scenes with Micah, Liam and his daughter to make the idea of them as a family a reality to us instead of a given.  I wanted the “what happens next” and didn’t exactly get that full picture.  Had this story been enlarged even further then I am sure this issue would have been resolved.

That said, I did enjoy One Night.  I connected with the men, especially Micah.  I loved the wine festival and the vineyard, wine snobs, and all.  I loved the promise of a HEA and a family for that little girl in need of less structure and more love.  I know that this tale is a restructuring of a previous story but I would love for RJ Scott to revisit this universe and let us know how this little family and the vineyards are flourishing.  Until then, I will be on the lookout for the next Heroes or Sanctuary story or whatever else this wonderful and prolific author has in store for us all.

Cover design: Meredith Russell. Lovely.  I liked the pier at Santa Monica and the small wine glass. I only wish the model for Micah would have been a little less scruffy, older and more professional.  Picky, picky, picky….

Buy Links:               Love Lane Books               Amazon                   ARe

Book Details:

This title was previously available with Silver Publishing. It has been re-edited and approximately 1,800 words added as an epilogue

2nd edition
Published June 6th 2013 by Love Lane Books (first published July 8th 2011)
charactersLiam Wade, Micah Anderson
settingSanta Monica, California (United States)
Rochester, New York (United States)

Author Spotlight & Giveaway: Happily Ever After with RJ Scott!

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spotlight on booksOne Night

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ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to welcome RJ Scott here today to talk about her latest release, One Night, and happy ever after endings.  RJ Scott is giving away a $10 Amazon or ARe gift card as part of her book tour.  To enter to win, simply leave a comment about how you feel about HEA or HFN endings and your email address in the body of the comment.  Contest ends 5/24.

Welcome, RJ:

Happy Ever After by RJ Scott

Anyone that reads an RJ Scott book is guaranteed a Happy Ever After. In my mind every single couple I have written is a couple that will be together forever.

Unrealistic maybe, but life is too hard not to have a fictional HEA.

That brings me to the original version of One Night, in which the last paragraph had the two guys saying *Let’s talk*. In my writer’s he

One Night

ad, off they went into the sunset with their HEA, but what I failed to do was convince the readers of that fact. The book still sold but the feedback was that people were disappointed. One of the few positive things about *breaking up* with my old publisher was that I got to re-write the ending to One Night. I added an entire new chapter and gave my readers what I hope is a practical and reasonable HEA.

The same thing happened with Joseph and Dale in Sanctuary 2. One is an active SEAL, the other worked for Sanctuary. I gave them what I thought was a perfect HEA, in as much as they told each other how they felt and Joseph promised to come home to Dale whenever he could. Again it wasn’t enough. That prompted me to write Sanctuary 7, World’s Collide, as a way of giving Joseph and Dale their HEA. I think it worked out okay.

What do you think about a HFN book? Do you prefer a HEA? Did you read the original One Night, then the new version? Which did you prefer? Were you a reader who wanted more Joseph/Dale?

Contest:

Win a $10 Amazon or All Romance voucher for commenting below with your ideas about HEA or HFN, or just leave your email! Contest ends 5/24, 17:00 GMT

RJ X

One NightOne Night

Liam Wade is facing the biggest change in his life since marrying his best friend, Janelle, and adopting her daughter. Janelle has long since passed on, losing the battle to live a few days after her daughter is born, leaving Liam a father, in need of finding a mother for his daughter Emma. He’s rich, successful, and Leigh is the perfect, approved, wife for him. Before he settles down to give his daughter the best family he can, he wants one week away, to think. Just to make sure that he can leave half of himself hidden and marry without love, because Liam has one big problem in all of this — he’s gay.

Micah Adamson is the owner of a vineyard in Rochester NY, and has yet to find the partner he knows is out there for him. he believes in love and wants forever, and one day he knows he will find his ‘forever’ man. He attends a wine festival in Santa Monica, seven nights in a beautiful hotel on the beach

Micah wants to show that love between two men includes affection, understanding, and can be forever. Will he make Liam see sense?

 

Excerpt:
The guy looked flustered for a few seconds. “Earlier…you…my camera… It was you, wasn’t it? On the beach?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry, I was miles away. You’re welcome, no worries.” Blond guy thrust out his hand, the glint of a silver-colored watch on his wrist.

“Liam Wade.”

“Micah Adamson.”

“Can I get you a drink, Mr. Adamson, to say thank you?”

Micah frowned. Mr. Adamson sounded so formal. He decided his guess about this guy—this Liam—working in business wasn’t far off if he went round calling people mister.

“Call me Micah.”

“Okay, Micah. I would offer to actually buy you a drink, but they seem to be giving it away tonight.” He gestured to the layout of all the wines and frowned. “There is a bar here somewhere that probably has beer. I don’t know about you”—he lowered his voice—“but this wine is all a bit too formal for me, not really into it. I really need a beer.”

Micah nearly choked on his last strawberry, coughing and trying to get control of his breathing.

“It’s a welcome party for a small wine convention,” he finally managed to push out.

“Oh, so that explains all the wine snobs sniffing their glasses.” Liam nodded wisely, as if he had suddenly discovered the whole reason for being. Micah couldn’t think of a single thing to say. He was torn between being affronted at Liam’s humor and agreeing with the absurdity of what some of these winery reps did in the name of knowing wine.

Micah didn’t need all the dramatic sniffing and tasting and use of incredibly meaningless long words. He knew wine; he knew grapes; he wanted to share that with others. That was enough.

“I’m a snob,” he blurted out, cursing inwardly at the what the hell did I just say? moment. To his credit, Liam said nothing, which left Micah enough time to correct his statement. “I mean I own a winery. My family owns a winery, near Rochester, a vineyard and a winery, Seneca Blue.”

Liam looked at him, then down at the glass in his hand, pulling his lower lip between his teeth as if in deep thought.

“They have vineyards in New York State?” Liam asked, completely open and honest in his curiosity. Micah smiled. Now that was a question he could handle.

“The Finger Lakes region. We have snow, rain, and storms rolling in from Lake Ontario like you wouldn’t believe, but you can also find some of the sweetest, most perfect harvests you could imagine.”

“Wow,” Liam murmured in response, and Micah narrowed his eyes. Was that a genuine wow or an oh shit stop talking wow? Micah had received both in his twenty-nine years.

“Seriously, I imagine New York as this gloomy grayness. Just another Seattle, I guess.”

Clearly that had been an interested wow.

 

Book Details:

2nd edition
Published June 6th 2013 by Love Lane Books (first published July 8th 2011)
charactersLiam Wade, Micah Anderson
settingSanta Monica, California (United States)
Rochester, New York (United States)
This title was previously available with Silver Publishing. It has been re-edited and approximately 1,800 words added as an epilogue.

Buy Link at Love Lane Press, ARe, Amazon

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ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to welcome RJ Scott here today to talk about her latest release, One Night, and happy ever after endings. RJ Scott is giving away a $10 Amazon or ARe gift card as part of her book tour. To enter to win, simply leave a comment about how you feel about HEA or HFN endings and your email address in the body of the comment. Contest ends….

Welcome, RJ:

Happy Ever After by RJ Scott

Anyone that reads an RJ Scott book is guaranteed a Happy Ever After. In my mind every single couple I have written is a couple that will be together forever.

Unrealistic maybe, but life is too hard not to have a fictional HEA.

That brings me to the original version of One Night, in which the last paragraph had the two guys saying *Let’s talk*. In my writer’s he
ad, off they went into the sunset with their HEA, but what I failed to do was convince the readers of that fact. The book still sold but the feedback was that people were disappointed. One of the few positive things about *breaking up* with my old publisher was that I got to re-write the ending to One Night. I added an entire new chapter and gave my readers what I hope is a practical and reasonable HEA.

The same thing happened with Joseph and Dale in Sanctuary 2. One is an active SEAL, the other worked for Sanctuary. I gave them what I thought was a perfect HEA, in as much as they told each other how they felt and Joseph promised to come home to Dale whenever he could. Again it wasn’t enough. That prompted me to write Sanctuary 7, World’s Collide, as a way of giving Joseph and Dale their HEA. I think it worked out okay.

What do you think about a HFN book? Do you prefer a HEA? Did you read the original One Night, then the new version? Which did you prefer? Were you a reader who wanted more Joseph/Dale?

Contest:

Win a $10 Amazon or All Romance voucher for commenting below with your ideas about HEA or HFN, or just leave your email address in the body of the comment!

RJ X

One Night

Liam Wade is facing the biggest change in his life since marrying his best friend, Janelle, and adopting her daughter. Janelle has long since passed on, losing the battle to live a few days after her daughter is born, leaving Liam a father, in need of finding a mother for his daughter Emma. He’s rich, successful, and Leigh is the perfect, approved, wife for him. Before he settles down to give his daughter the best family he can, he wants one week away, to think. Just to make sure that he can leave half of himself hidden and marry without love, because Liam has one big problem in all of this — he’s gay.

Micah Adamson is the owner of a vineyard in Rochester NY, and has yet to find the partner he knows is out there for him. he believes in love and wants forever, and one day he knows he will find his ‘forever’ man. He attends a wine festival in Santa Monica, seven nights in a beautiful hotel on the beach

Micah wants to show that love between two men includes affection, understanding, and can be forever. Will he make Liam see sense?

 

Excerpt:
The guy looked flustered for a few seconds. “Earlier…you…my camera… It was you, wasn’t it? On the beach?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry, I was miles away. You’re welcome, no worries.” Blond guy thrust out his hand, the glint of a silver-colored watch on his wrist.

“Liam Wade.”

“Micah Adamson.”

“Can I get you a drink, Mr. Adamson, to say thank you?”

Micah frowned. Mr. Adamson sounded so formal. He decided his guess about this guy—this Liam—working in business wasn’t far off if he went round calling people mister.

“Call me Micah.”

“Okay, Micah. I would offer to actually buy you a drink, but they seem to be giving it away tonight.” He gestured to the layout of all the wines and frowned. “There is a bar here somewhere that probably has beer. I don’t know about you”—he lowered his voice—“but this wine is all a bit too formal for me, not really into it. I really need a beer.”

Micah nearly choked on his last strawberry, coughing and trying to get control of his breathing.

“It’s a welcome party for a small wine convention,” he finally managed to push out.

“Oh, so that explains all the wine snobs sniffing their glasses.” Liam nodded wisely, as if he had suddenly discovered the whole reason for being. Micah couldn’t think of a single thing to say. He was torn between being affronted at Liam’s humor and agreeing with the absurdity of what some of these winery reps did in the name of knowing wine.

Micah didn’t need all the dramatic sniffing and tasting and use of incredibly meaningless long words. He knew wine; he knew grapes; he wanted to share that with others. That was enough.

“I’m a snob,” he blurted out, cursing inwardly at the what the hell did I just say? moment. To his credit, Liam said nothing, which left Micah enough time to correct his statement. “I mean I own a winery. My family owns a winery, near Rochester, a vineyard and a winery, Seneca Blue.”

Liam looked at him, then down at the glass in his hand, pulling his lower lip between his teeth as if in deep thought.

“They have vineyards in New York State?” Liam asked, completely open and honest in his curiosity. Micah smiled. Now that was a question he could handle.

“The Finger Lakes region. We have snow, rain, and storms rolling in from Lake Ontario like you wouldn’t believe, but you can also find some of the sweetest, most perfect harvests you could imagine.”

“Wow,” Liam murmured in response, and Micah narrowed his eyes. Was that a genuine wow or an oh shit stop talking wow? Micah had received both in his twenty-nine years.

“Seriously, I imagine New York as this gloomy grayness. Just another Seattle, I guess.”

Clearly that had been an interested wow.

 

Book Details:

2nd edition
Published June 6th 2013 by Love Lane Books (first published July 8th 2011)
charactersLiam Wade, Micah Anderson
settingSanta Monica, California (United States)
Rochester, New York (United States)
This title was previously available with Silver Publishing. It has been re-edited and approximately 1,800 words added as an epilogue.
Buy Link at Love Lane Press, ARe, Amazon
You can find RJ Scott at:

Website
Facebook
Pinterest
Goodreads Author Page
Twitter

Review: Double Takes (Shooting Stars #2) by K. Vale

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Double Takes (Shooting Stars #2) coverFor Giovanni Savale, lead singer of Three Deaf Mice, life could never be less like that of a rock ‘n roll star.  His band reached the heights of popularity in the ninties, until an experimental album almost destroyed their fan base.  Now Gio is trying to put together a new album in the midst of a personnel crisis.  After nine years of a tumultuous and unhappy marriage, Gio is trying to hold on to the only good thing that came out of that union, his son Marco.  In order to get the money needed for an expensive divorce lawyer and to provide a stable home for his son, Gio has agreed to be a part of a reality series about him and the band.  Only its not going the way Gio expected.

The series producer wants to increase the show’s ratings and to do so he intends to showcase Gio’s bisexuality and a new “fabulous” boyfriend, a fake boyfriend to boost interest in the show.  It all started with a comment made off the cuff in an interview Gio did for a rock magazine.  He never thought that lead to this mess and the revival of desires Gio thought he had buried in his past.

Kyrie, the flamboyant  and funny actor hired as Gio’s pretend boyfriend is cute but it’s Lance Garrett, the mysterious and sexy owner of the local antique shop, that sparks Gio’s interest and passion.  But Lance is hiding secrets of his own.  In between battling his ex for custody of Marco,fighting the producer for some sanity and privacy, and Lance’s past, can Gio find love and the happiness he seeks?

I throughly enjoyed the first book in the shooting stars series, Forever is Now.  That had a rock star, a former lover, a past to be reconciled and a love that burned brightly throughout the years.  It has a small cast of characters and a basic, endearing plot.  Double Takes, the second novel in the Shooting Stars series, is a whole different type of story.

I was intrigued by the premise of Double Takes.  A fading rock star with money and soon-to-be ex-wife issues agrees to a reality cable series about himself and his band in order to earn the money he needs for a high powered lawyer.  What a great concept for a story,  especially considering the ubiquitous nature of reality tv shows today. An additional element here is the fact that Gio’s true sexuality has been suppressed by the times and his long term marriage. Only a throwaway line in an old magazine interview brings his bisexuality back out into the light.  And once that item has been seized on by his unscrupulous producer to be used to launch the new season, then Gio has a whole new set of personal issues to deal with, including outing himself to his bandmates.  I liked the  way the author dealt with these concepts,uniting them in a cohesive manner into her narrative.

When Double Takes and Gio are dealing with these plot layers, the story is fun, frustrating, and pretty realistic.  Unlike the rockers of Forever is Now, I never got the feeling that music was all that important any more for these older rockers.  They’ve been there, done that, and are now just playing for the fans and money.  They need to tour but Gio is stuck in one place because of his divorce, and needing to provide stability for his son.  That’s another very authentic element here as is Gio’s love for his son.  So far, we have three plot threads that make this a interesting and terrific story.  Between a reality show, a disintegrating marriage and custody battle, a father and son relationship, and having to deal with a hither to unknown aspect of his sexuality,  that would  absorb the majority of any story.  Especially as you will throw in a romance as well that will have Gio reexamining his sexuality and desires.  Loved the way the author dealt with this element too.

There are two romantic lead possibilities here. One is Kyrie, the adorable actor hired for the role as Gio’s boyfriend on the series.  Vale is setting up Kyrie and his ex brother in law as the next couple in the Shooting Stars series, so the amount of attention given to this secondary player makes sense.  Gio’s “real” romantic interest is Lance Garrett, an antiques dealer he met when trying to sell off items to help pay for his lawyer.  They meet, are attracted to each other  and try to deal with the awkward situation created by the tv show and his “fake” boyfriend.  Again, another wonderful concept and it works to highlight relationsip issues and feelings of trust the men have to work through.  I really wish the author had left it at this because these men have so much to work through to get to a solid place with their new status as lovers that to portray their “relationship dance” alone could take most of this story.

But that is not to be.  And for me this is where the story starts to disconnect from everything the author had established in the preceding chapters. I don’t believe that I am giving away anything by stating that Lance is not what he seems.  The blurb  infers that there is something mysterious about Lance and there is a problem from the past that will arrive to cause problems.  And it does but not just for the characters but for the readers as well.

From this point, the story splits off into something totally unexpected and wildly dissonant from the rest of the story elements we were involved in.  It’s almost as if we have an entirely different book and plot going on.  It comes out of nowhere and soon the author starts piling on more surprises and twists than this story can or should have been asked to handle.  Left behind are all the other major plot points…the band, the tv show, the divorce, even the father/son relationship…all dissolves under the need to work this new angle into Double Takes.  For me, this story then crumbles under the weight of all that material and extraneous plot devices.

And that’s a shame because the promise of the original concepts and the wonderful manner in which this story started had me smiling in anticipation of the tale to follow but left me perplexed by how quickly it all fell apart.  I did like so much about Double Takes and what the author attempted to do with her characters and plot.  It was ambitious and interesting.  So I will be looking forward to the next story in this series, featuring Kyrie, an altogether different type of shooting star and Greg, his ex brother in law.  While we are waiting for that story to arrive, go back to the beginning and Forever is Now to get your rocker fix from Kimber Vale.

Cover art not credited but I like the cover.  Its eye catching and interesting.

 Books in the Shooting Stars series include to date:

Forever is Now (Shooting Stars #1)
Double Takes (Shooting Stars #2)

Book Details:

ebook
Published April 28th 2014 by Liquid Silver Books (first published April 20th 2014)
edition languageEnglish
seriesShooting Stars #2
Buy Links:   Amazon    ARe   Liquid Silver Books

Review: Daylight Again (Hell or High Water #3) by S.E. Jakes

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Before Prophet Drews can have a future, he must first put his past to rest.

DaylightAgain_500x750Prophet Drews and Tom Boudreaux, his partner on the job and in real life, are back from the tumultuous events in New Orleans and trying to figure out where they go from here.  Tom has moved into Prophet’s condo while continuing to work for E.E, Prophet’s former employer.  And Prophet? He remains haunted by a past that won’t let him go and a secret he is hiding from Tom that might shatter any future they might have together.

Then his old CO asks Prophet to help in a dangerous rescue mission, one that will reunite all of Prophet’s old SEAL team and bring out Prophet’s and the team’s old enemies as well.  When Prophet asks Tom to come with him, Tom jumps at the chance to support his partner and uncover some answers of his own.

Before long it’s not just  CIA assassins, the terrorist Sadiq, and the enigmatic spook Cillian involved with Prophet, Tom, and the SEAL team’s rescue mission.  Odd events and occurrences start to point at one of the most  important person in Prophet’s past… John—”traitor, former teammate, and Prophet’s first love”, being involved as well.

With only a small window of opportunity to get in, accomplish their mission and then escape and when no one is sure who to trust , Prophet and Tom must search within themselves and their relationship for the truth, not only about each other but their relationship as well.  Danger , past, present and future lurks everywhere….can Prophet and Tom make it out alive and together?

In Prophet Drews and Tom Boudreaux, SE Jakes has created two marvelously complex and troubled men among a company of such men in her E.E series.  Through the last several stories, we have watched Prophet and Tom circle around each other in an absorbing pas de deux of action, passion and traumatizing personal past histories.   Endlessly drawn towards each other, the constant push and pull of attraction and yes, love, has made these two men fascinating to connect with in the drama they create and the mysteries that follow them through each adventure and calamity.  Now back from New Orleans and with their relationship strengthened, Prophet’s PSTD is getting worse by the day as is his indecision and pain over an enormous secret he is hiding from Tom.

Jakes has always been able to pull us intimately into the minds of these men and  in Daylight Again the author puts them both under a narrative microscope that will magnify all the demons Prophet and Tom have been fighting and bring them into the light for them and the reader.  Daylight Again begins a journey of revelation for Tom and Prophet on many levels.  SE Jakes starts to pull together the plot threads and characters from several of her interconnected series and weaves them here into a suspense filled, action packed drama that kept me on the edge from beginning to end.  This is a taut, streamlined narrative and it flows just as quickly from point to point as one would expect from this author and this series.

I love this author’s ability to create characters that zing off the page, their vitality and depth almost too much to be contained within the confines of a page. We have gotten to know them from Catch a Ghost, and then watch them pull together in Long Time Gone. Now Daylight Again starts with them living together and adjusting to that fact and each other with varying degrees of success.  What hurts is how close these men have become to each other and yet the reader is always aware that some sharp shard of their past lurks just outside their growing relationship to splinter it all to hell and back at a moment’s notice.  That tension that haunts this couple and story is just one more marvelous element in SE Jakes storytelling repertoire and it serves to keep the reader engrossed in the story and tightly connected to these men.

All my other favorites are here too, especially Cillian and Mal, whose story Dirty Deeds uncovered a major past connection between them whose disclosure  devastated them both.  Mal and Cillian are front and center here, still trying to deal with that personal bombshell while working together for the success of this mission.  These are strong characters too and SE Jakes does them justice and keeps us invested in their status even though this really isn’t their story….Its Prophet’s and Tom’s.  And what a story it is. SE Jakes has me both anticipating and dreading the next installment because of the great way this story ended.

The ending is astonishing.  I love the way Jakes sets us up for that denouement. And it will take us and this couple into the penulitmate story in their Hell or High Water series.  I can’t wait.  Consider this one of ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords highly recommended novel as well as one of the most entertaining series of the year.  Don’t pass up this or any of these stories by SE Jakes.  In fact, grab up everything in the Extreme Escapes universe and start reading.  You are going to fall hard for each and every dangerous and sexy man you will find within.

LC Chase has again supplied us with another outstanding cover, I just love these tats.  Graphically appealing and perfect for the men involved.

Books in the Hell or High Water series in the order they should be read:

Catch a Ghost (Hell or High Water, #1)
Long Time Gone (Hell or High Water, #2) 
Daylight Again (Hell or High Water, #3)
Not Fade Away (Hell or High Water, #3.5) Expected publication: July 14th 2014
If I Ever (Hell or High Water, #4) Expected publication: October 1st 2014

Associated Series: Extreme Escapes Universe: Men of Honor and Dirty Deeds:

Dirty Deeds (Dirty Deeds #1)  Mal and Cillian

Free Falling (Extreme Escapes, Ltd.) Blue and Mick

 

Book Details:

ebook, 265 pages
Published May 5th 2014 by Riptide Publishing (first published May 3rd 2014)
ISBN139781626491403
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/daylight-again
seriesHell or High Water #3

 

Join Aleksandr Voinov and L.A. Witt on Hostile Ground/Riptide Publishing’s Book Tour&Contest

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hostileGround_TourBanner(1)

 

ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords is happy to host Riptide Publishing’s Aleksandr Voinov and L.A. Witt Hostile Ground Book Tour.  Comments will automatically enter you in the drawing for a choice of 2 eBooks off the authors backlists.  Details are listed below.

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Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/Aleksandr Voinov/L. A. Witt blog tour for our thriller, Hostile Ground!

Contest: Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off our backlists (excluding Hostile Ground) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 17th, and winners will be announced on May 19th. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

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 HostileGround_500x750Hostile Ground:
Enemy territory is a dangerous place to fall in love.

After the deaths of three undercover cops investigating a drug ring in a seedy strip club in Seattle, Detective Mahir Hussain has been sent to finish the job. He joins the club’s security team in the hopes of finding enough evidence to bust the operation before the men in charge find a reason to put him in a shallow grave.

To protect the strippers, only gay men can work the club. Ridley, the cold and intimidating head of security, knows exactly how to test potential new hires—including Mahir. From the minute they meet, Mahir and Ridley engage in a dangerous dance of sex and mind games. Mahir needs to find his evidence before Ridley figures out he’s a cop—and before they both grow too close to betray one another.

As the game goes on, Mahir burrows deeper into the operation, where he learns there’s much more happening than meets the eye . . . and why every cop who made it this far has been silenced with a bullet.

Hostile Ground is available May 12th from Riptide Publishing.

 

Book Details:HostileGround_150x300(2)

ebook, 362 pages
Expected publication: May 12th 2014 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626491250
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/hostile-ground

About the authors:

Aleksandr Voinov: Aleksandr has been published for twenty years, both in print and ebook. He has ten years’ experience as a writing coach, book doctor, and writing teacher, and until recently worked as an editor in financial services.

After co-authoring the M/M military cult classic Special Forces, Aleksandr embarked on a quest to write gritty, edgy, sometimes literary M/M and gay fiction (much of which is romance/erotica)—the only way he can use his American Literature degree these days.

He’s been published with Heyne/Random House, Carina Press, Samhain Publishing, and others, and is an EPIC Awards winner and a Lambda Awards finalist.

Connect with Aleks:

  • Website: aleksandrvoinov.com
  • Blog: aleksandrvoinov.blogspot.com
  • Twitter:@aleksandrvoinov
  • Goodreads: goodreads.com/Vashtan

***

L.A. Witt: L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer currently living in the glamorous and ultra-futuristic metropolis of Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband, two cats, and a disembodied penguin brain that communicates with her telepathically. In addition to writing smut and disturbing the locals, L.A. is said to be working with the US government to perfect a genetic modification that will allow humans to survive indefinitely on Corn Pops and beef jerky. This is all a cover, though, as her primary leisure activity is hunting down her arch nemesis, erotica author Lauren Gallagher, who is also said to be lurking somewhere in Omaha.

L. A.’s backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).

Contest: Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off our backlists (excluding Hostile Ground) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 17th, and winners will be announced on May 19th. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.  Leave a comment and/or use the Rafflecopter link below.

Rafflecopter Link: