Tag: author Posy Roberts

A Stella Double Dip Review: Bent Arrow by Posy Roberts

Rating 4 stars out of 5

Bent Arrow coverSometimes curves in the road take you right where you belong.

Luther Almond’s life working the Bakken oil field is perfect—short-lived jobs, temporary housing, and easy hookups. That’s one reason he won’t move home when he inherits the lake house. When Erik Heat bends over to fix Luther’s pipes, his tattoos hint he might be up for more than working on the drain. The last thing Luther expects is to want more from this guy than one night.

Every time they’re together, Luther is more grounded and Erik more confident. When the lake house demands attention, Luther asks for Erik’s help. There he imagines a more permanent life, one where he stops running. But he wants Erik by his side. Can he find the courage—and the words—to ask?

 

I read Bent Arrow in a night, it’s written so well it was quick and easy to me to follow the story. No surprise since I discovered Posy Roberts with Silver Scars and I realized she is very talented author. There were different things I loved in this short story too. First her characters, well defined and developed, with some baggage on their shoulders to make them more real. Characters with scars to erase thanks to the love of their partner. What I especially found beautiful was the journey Luther went through, a simple one, because there is no drama or angst in this story. But still seeing this young man changing during his time spent with Erik was unexpected in a story of just 65 pages long and so welcomed. He slowed down his life and finally started taking care of himself and settled down in his grandma’s house with the man he’s in love with. Often in books so short the relationship is rushed using the sex, while in Bent Arrow I was so glad to see Luther and Erik know each other better with texts, dates, sex too sure, but it wasn’t the main way used to bring the MCs together.

There are some emotional parts I don’t want to talk about but they were the icing on the cake. They could have been handled differently and the story would have been too heavy to be enjoyed. I think Posy made a great work at balance everything in the right way, deciding to not tell us too much of a couple of things in Erik’s past, focusing instead in their relationship and their newborn feelings.

The only tiny little bad note I can make is about the ending. I was hoping to have another chapter to see how they settled into their new life together and I was so sure there were more pages that when I read The End I was really disappointed. It felt almost like it missed something. Still I really enjoyed Bent Arrow, it was a light read full of good feelings.

Cover art by DJ Mack. The cover is simple, hot and well done. I couldn’t resist it.

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

Book Details:

Published September 3rd 2015 by Labyrinth Bound Press
ebook, 65 pages
ISBN13 9781311953292
Edition Language English

 

A Stella Review: Silver Scars by Posy Roberts

RATING 5 stars out of 5  ★★★★★

You need people to love you, especially when you shove them away.

Silver Scars coverA bomb destroyed high-powered lawyer Gil Lemieux’s seemingly perfect life, and PTSD has ruled every decision since the explosion that left him scarred inside and outside. Moving home with his mom is meant to be a temporary measure, just like proofreading for a medical editorial firm is meant to be a stopgap. But two years after taking on the wrong court case, he’s still living in fear.

Keith Kramer might be based 1,500 miles away from Gil, but their shared work brings them together—a chance meeting that’s life-changing. Gil is drawn to Keith’s good looks and intelligence, but it’s his innate understanding that Gil is more than the scars on his skin that is truly attractive. He’s everything Gil used to be and more. It blows Gil’s mind that his attraction might be returned.

Only doubt could widen the distance between them. Keith’s hopefulness, borne out of surviving some tough challenges of his own, isn’t enough to bridge the distance alone. Gil will need to believe he has as much to offer as Keith if they’re to build a life together.

Silver Scars is my first book by Posy Roberts, but surely not my last. I loved it so much I can’t wait for more by the author. The North Star series is already on my august shelf. Have you read Mika’s “Discovering New Authors”? Check it here https://scatteredthoughtsandroguewords.com/2015/07/06/discovering-new-authors-mika-on-posey-roberts/

This book was special for many reasons but first of all I want to point out something that won me over and made me appreciate the author a lot. I was halfway through it when I realized that  where almost every other author would have chose to end the book, in Posy Roberts’ Silver Scars,  Gil and Keith’s story together had just began. It felt to me like two books, after what could have been considered a HFN at half book, there are still 150 pages to read, almost like a sequel. These pages gave a sense of completeness I ‘m awe over and led me to a beautiful HEA.

Moreover  I want to add I’m usually bothered by the use of a single POV and of the present as a verbal form,  absolutely not my favorite writing style but in Silver Scars it was perfect and I couldn’t even tell you why. So hat’s off to Posy to making me love something I normally wouldn’t read.

The book has a lot of good qualities: most important it is well done, thoughtful, sensitive, full of feelings and with a lot of emotional moments that pretty much broke my heart too many times. Luckily all of these were balanced so well with super hot scenes and some funny ones, all mixed with a complete and satisfying plot and so real characters, unlucky in their lives like us.

Gil is a 38 years old ex lawyer that went through a life changing incident when a homemade bomb was left in his house by the husband of a client. It could have killed him but he was lucky he got just shrapnel on his face and head. After the accident he came back to live with his mum, struggling with a serious PTSD. He meets Keith on a brief stage in a new city. Keith is not just Gil’s beautiful new coworker, he has a  lot of baggage too, in fact due to some physical damage in his leg he was where Gil is now, with the PTSD.

They soon hit it off. Keith is gentle and sweet and supportive and helping, he is the switch that freed all the emotions Gil kept inside of him since the incident. They spend one night together and then  have to go to their lives,  in two different states. But they are able to create a connection that will bond them together and force them to be in a long distance relationship. Maybe is too soon to fall for someone but they went through too much to ignore a change at happiness.

This is just the start of their story, I followed Gil and Keith in their (beautiful) ups and (heartbroken) downs. The book is a journey in Gil’s panic attacks, in his various attempts to overcome all his fears; it was beautiful and painful at the same time to see him working himself in bad mental states but he is so brave too when Keith will go through some very hard times, Gil will be there to support him and help his boyfriend to heal. And maybe heal himself too.

There are some great second characters, especially Frankie, Gil’s best friend since forever, supportive in every way he can, especially with his smartass mouth.he’s the perfect friend, the one who support you, help you stand on your feet standing by your side always, most of all the one to kick you away when the time is right for you to finally live your life, even if is away from your bestie.

I couldn’t find a flaw to this book so it’s a full 5 stars rating to me. Highly recommended!

Cover art by Natasha Snow reflect a scene in the book when Gil is outside Keith house to start living their life together. Fitting and beautiful but it’s Natasha so I wasn’t waiting for nothing less.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 282 pages
Add Silver Scars to Goodreads
Published June 22nd 2015 by Labyrinth Bound Press
ASINB00ZPT6Y6K
edition language English

Can Love Heal? Find out with Posy Roberts’ Silver Scars (guest post and giveaway)

SilverScarsCoverMed

Title: Silver Scars
Author: Posy Roberts
Publisher: Labyrinth Bound Press
Genre: MM Romance, Contemporary Romance
Length: 86,700 words, 282 pages

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Sales Links

 

SS Vulnerable

You need people to love you, especially when you shove them away.

A bomb destroyed high-powered lawyer Gil Lemieux’s seemingly perfect life, and PTSD has ruled every decision since the explosion that left him scarred inside and outside. Moving home with his mom is meant to be a temporary measure, just like proofreading for a medical editorial firm is meant to be a stopgap. But two years after taking on the wrong court case, he’s still living in fear.
Keith Kramer might be based 1,500 miles away from Gil, but their shared work brings them together—a chance meeting that’s life-changing. Gil is drawn to Keith’s good looks and intelligence, but it’s his innate understanding that Gil is more than the scars on his skin that is truly attractive. He’s everything Gil used to be and more. It blows Gil’s mind that his attraction might be returned.
Only doubt could widen the distance between them. Keith’s hopefulness, borne out of surviving some tough challenges of his own, isn’t enough to bridge the distance alone. Gil will need to believe he has as much to offer as Keith if they’re to build a life together.

We happy to have Posy Roberts here today to talk about her latest  book, Silver Scars.

Thanks for hosting me today. I’m excited to be here to talk about my new book, Silver Scars and it’s beautiful cover.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” How old were you when you first heard that? I was around ten. Yet, most of us still do judge a book that way though, right? A great cover can make you immediately buy book and a less than stellar one can make you walk right on by. Covers are candy for our eyes, tempting us to find out more.

Because of legalities, author’s images choices are limited. We go to stock photo sites where we can buy images or photographer sites or Flickr where we can negotiate using photographs people have taken. But when you already have a story written and a character so well developed in your head, very few images/models live up to the person a writer knows so intimately. Write about a character that’s doesn’t fit a few very well defined attributes, and it’s even harder to find the right image.

That’s what happened with my book Silver Scars. Gil is bald, and because of a bombing at his old house, his scalp and face are scarred.

Go to any stock photo site and search for “bald man” and the images that come up are often ridiculous. They essentially fit into three categories: stressed out man, huge body builder with greased muscles, and complete dork with crazy expressions, emoting… what? I’m not sure.

None of those worked for blend-into-the-shadows Gil. I found a photo I seriously considered using on Flickr and contacted the photographer. He wanted close to $400 for it. Well out of my budget.

I wanted an image of a man who was bald and that possibly had scars, but if his forehead were hidden, that would work too. Or a man in a hat, since Gil loves hiding under hats. He also had to be fairly somber to match the tone of the book. A guy grinning like a fool would not work at all.

And then I found an image I loved. I kept on looking, but at the end of each search, I came back to this beautiful image of a man hiding under a hood, lit from the side so his face was still partially shadowed. It fit beautifully with a scene in my book too: the moment Gil takes a risk and puts himself out there to be with Keith.

My cover artist, Natasha Snow, gave Gil brown eyes and found a font that helped represent scars. This is a passionate love story between Gil and Keith, but it truly is Gil’s story. He needed to be on the cover.

I love what Natasha did. I love the cover. It brings Gil to life even more for me, despite spending so many months living inside this character’s head. This cover is on my phone. I might even get a cell phone case made with him on it. That’s how much I love what Natasha did.

What makes a cover jump out for you?

Posy Logo

About Posy Roberts…

Posy Roberts writes about romantic male love. Whether her characters are family men, drag queens, or lonely men searching for connections, they all find a home in her stories.
Posy is married to a man who makes sure she doesn’t forget to eat or sleep. Her daughter, a budding author and dedicated Whovian, helps her come up with character names. When Posy’s not writing, she enjoys crafting, hiking, and singing spontaneously about the mundane, just to make normal seem more interesting.

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Contest:

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions. Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Card.

Rafflecopter Code:
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Final

Tour Dates & Stops: June 22 – 26, 2015

22-Jun
Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings
My Fiction Nook
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

23-Jun
Inked Rainbow Reads
3 Chicks After Dark
As The Pages Turn
Cate Ashwood
Happily Ever Chapter
Prism Book Alliance

24-Jun
Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance
Molly Lolly
Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My
Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews
Bayou Book Junkie

25-Jun
MM Good Book Reviews
Hearts on Fire
Bike Book Reviews
BFD Book Blog

26-Jun
Rainbow Gold Reviews
Love Bytes
Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy
Chris McHart
Multitasking Mommas
Carly’s Book Reviews