An Alisa Release Day Review: Breaking the Ice by Tali Spencer

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

For Matt Wasko, February in Wisconsin is the best time of the year, and ice fishing on Lake Winnebago is his idea of heaven. With shanty villages cropping up, barbeques on the ice, monster sturgeon to spear, and plenty of booze to keep everybody warm, things couldn’t be better—until a surprise storm hits and an uninvited guest shows up at his frozen doorstep.

Matt’s not happy to see John Lutz, a coworker who cracks lame gay jokes at Matt’s expense. But John’s flimsy new ice shelter got blown across the lake, and it wouldn’t be right to leave even a jerk outside to freeze. Would it?

In the close quarters of Matt’s fabulous ice shanty, between stripping off wet clothes, misadventures with bait, and a fighting trophy-sized walleye, the two men discover creative ways to keep the cold at bay. And when John confesses his long-running attraction, Matt must decide if he can believe in John’s change of heart—and crack the ice for a chance at finding love.

This was an interesting story. Matt has been looking forward to his vacation during sturgeon season and is highly disappointed when his coworker, John, shows up on the lake. When he gives John shelter he gets the opportunity to see a different side of the man than the one he has been working with for months.

So….basically John has been acting like an idiot trying to blend in and hiding himself. We see how much his actions have been hurting Matt and his presence at Matt’s refuge puts an immediate damper on things. John has really been hurting himself too but once he has a chance to admit his feelings to Matt he doesn’t want to hide anymore. These two jump pretty quickly into their relationship and it’s a little hard to believe that Matt is able to let go of John’s past actions, but they seem to build a pretty solid relationship. The community of people who gather to spear sturgeons and everything along with it are quite interesting.

Cover art by Anne Cain is a great background for this story.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon | B&N

Book Details:

ebook, 86 pages

Published: April 19, 2017 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN-13: 9781635334142

Edition Language: English

Series: A States of Love Story

Tali Spencer on Sex and the Ice Shanty and her release ‘Breaking the Ice’ (guest post)

Breaking the Ice (States of Love) by Tali Spencer
Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anne Cain

Available for Purchase at

✒︎

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Tali Spencer here today talking about her latest story Breaking the Ice and Sex and the Ice Shanty. Welcome, Tali!

✒︎

Sex and the Ice Shanty

by Tali Spencer

When I lived in Wisconsin, I would drive past lakes in the winter and see them dotted with ice shanties. So of course I wondered… did people have sex in ice shanties? Because, let’s face it, any time a human sees an interesting looking, reasonably habitable, place—like a cave, or a canoe, or even a space capsule—one of the first thoughts to come to mind is whether it might be a good place for sex.

To no one’s surprise, ice shanties are used for sex. Often.

What does an ice shanty look like? Picture a garden shed with a flat roof. On ice. Some look more like an outhouse, but not Matt Wasko’s.

There was never a question about whether Matt’s ice shanty in Breaking the Ice would be a romantic setting. For one thing, Matt wants to have sex in his ice shanty. His shanty is his refuge, his happy place., and nothing would make him happier than to share his shanty with another man for something other than fishing.

Upper Great Lakes ice shanties run the gamut from strictly utilitarian to ridiculously plush. When shanties get big enough to sleep four, have a shower, and feature big screen TVs, they cross over into the realm of ice houses and are generally found at resorts where they get rented out for lots of money. Matt’s ice shanty is more typical: it measures he made it himself and its comforts are cozy, not luxurious. He has a satellite dish for TV, a heater, a small stove for cooking, a little booth for eating, and a comfy built-in bed for sleeping. There’s a gingham curtain on the single window and warm blankets and a comforter on the bed.

And there are two nice-sized ice-fishing holes in the black rubber floor at the shanty’s business end. An ice shanty is meant for fishing, after all.

That isn’t to say it can’t be romantic, too. Ice shanties go dark for fishing… and if it’s daylight outside, the ice holes glow. Soft. Blue. Magical. Matt’s always wondered what it would be like to kiss someone by ice light.

So do I. The closest I’ve come is talking with someone who has.

Close quarters. Soft lighting. Warm enough to maybe strip out of those winter clothes… that sure sounds like a recipe for some loving to me!

BLURB

In the close quarters of Matt’s fabulous ice shanty, between stripping off wet clothes, misadventures with bait, and a fighting trophy-sized walleye, the two men discover creative ways to keep the cold at bay. And when John confesses his long-running attraction, Matt must decide if he can believe in John’s change of heart—and crack the ice for a chance at finding love.

Release Date: April 19

About Tali Spencer

Tali Spencer delights in erotic fantasy and adventure, creating worlds where she can explore the heights and shadows of sexual passion. A hopeful romantic and lover of all things exotic, she also writes high fantasy and science fiction. If you would like to see inspiration pictures for her characters, or glimpse how she envisions her worlds, including works in progress, check out her Pinterest boards.

Visit Tali’s blog at http://talismania-brilliantdisguise.blogspot.com
E-mail: tali.spencer1@gmail.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tali.spencer

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/talispencer/

In the Fantasy Spotlight: Victory Portrait (Pride of Uttor #4) by Tali Spencer (author interview, excerpt and giveaway)

Victory Portrait (Pride of Uttor #4) by Tali Spencer
Release Date: April 6, 2016

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Resplendence Publishing
Cover Artist: Melody Pond

Today Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is very lucky to be interviewing Tali Spencer, author of Victory Portrait. Hi Tali, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

Tell us something no one else knows about your characters.

Darius Arrento has been intimate with his emperor, and friend, Gaspar Leonnte. It happened when Darius was 25 and Gaspar was 19 or 20. Darius was a young officer given his first command and Gaspar was assigned to his unit. The legion’s general knew Gaspar was the Uttoran emperor’s son, except he didn’t pass along that information.

Gaspar was a terrible soldier, horrible. He couldn’t obey orders to save his life. Worse, if he started talking, he didn’t know when to shut up. Darius was ready to strangle him the first night. After a battle in which both men barely escaped with their skins, Darius and Gaspar gave in to a kiss and a night of oral sex. They connected more than once, in no small part due to being young, horny, and having no other outlets.

You heard it here first.

Have you ever written something that made you cry?

I cried when I wrote a hurt-comfort scene in one of my epic high fantasy novels. A king had just lost his adult son. The young man who seeks to comfort the king has considered him an enemy throughout the entire book to that point, but he can no longer do so, and the scene is very tender.

I was writing that scene on a terrible day when I thought maybe my oldest son had died. (He hadn’t…and called me after several hours. It was 9/11.) That scene still makes me cry when I read it.

Have you ever co-written with someone before?

Non-fiction, yes. Fiction, no. Some authors are very social and thrive on the energy of writing with other authors. I have the habits of a recluse: silent, secretive, and annoying. It’s a miracle I have a happy marriage. I’d be surprised if another author could put up with me.

What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

Promotion. But that’s more about being an author than the writing, so…I would say I find it most difficult to end a story on a strong note. Even if I know where a story has to end, I’m never quite satisfied with my closing line. I want something memorable, definite, and profound. Haven’t managed to write one of those yet.

Name your four most important food groups.

Coffee, coffee, chocolate, coffee, and dairy. Kahlua counts as coffee. Dairy means creamer. I’m pretty sure I don’t like coffee at all. It’s all about the creamer.

Thank you, Tali. Now more about

Victory Portrait (Pride of Uttor #4) by Tali Spencer

Blurb

Imperial captive and former Sebboyan prince Peta Kordeun has one great wish: to meet Darius Arrento, conqueror of his country and a man he has idolized since childhood. That wish comes true the day the Uttoran emperor assigns Peta to assist the artist who will be painting the great general’s official portrait.

General Darius Arrento would rather take a crossbow bolt through his flesh than sit for a portrait, until his friend the emperor forces his hand. The notorious artist, Brazzi, uses semen and other sexual fluids to bind his colors—and Arrento is captivated by the artist’s pretty helper. Before long he is driven to possess the gorgeous young man who draws battle maps and whose naïve charm has won more hearts in Uttor than Arrento has won battles.

When Arrento learns that Peta, the slave he covets and wants for his own, is one of the despised Kordeun princes, he storms from Uttor toward a far corner of the empire—where he quickly finds himself embroiled in a plot to tear Uttor’s empire apart. His emotions and loyalties frayed, the great Arrento is in the battle of his life…and Peta may hold the key to his survival.

Pages or Words: 78,600 words
Categories: Alternate Universe, Fantasy, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

Excerpt

“You want me to assist the painter. Only that?” Peta asked.

“Yes. I just want you to understand you will be naked and…Brazzi will want you to be sexually aroused.”

“What?”

“It’s what Brazzi does. Not for himself—not unless you’re a woman—but for his method. He was tried three years ago on charges of obscenity because he uses…sexual fluids for mixing his paint. He truly is a genius. His colors are astonishing.”

“And you want Arrento to see me like that? Naked and…being used?”

“No.” Gaspar was being firm. “I want a portrait of my general. And I happen to think that the sight of you will keep his ass firmly planted for whatever sittings the painter requires. You see, Darius has one weakness—only one. He cannot resist a thing of beauty—and you, my pretty slave, are the most breathtaking young man I have ever had the privilege to look upon.”

Peta flushed. Gaspar wasn’t smiling. The man was serious.

Could he do it? Did he want to do it? Peta knew he was pretty. His looks had blessed and cursed him all his life. His beauty had attracted Kesme as a fellow cadet and was what Kesme had praised that last night when they’d made love…and Peta’s face was what Lukacz, his own father, had sought to destroy, thinking that doing so would release him from predation and unnatural desires. And now Gaspar, too, wanted only one thing…

“Just sit there and look pretty,” he said, heart sinking as he grasped what Gaspar was asking him to do.

“Only if you’re willing. I’m not completely oblivious to what this sort of service might entail. It could be rather…awkward. On the other hand, it might not be for long. Darius can be stubborn. It’s possible he won’t show up.”

And just as possible that he would.

Peta wanted to say no but he could not get his mouth to form the word. He might never get another chance to see Arrento, perhaps hear his voice. Be in the same room with him.

He’d be silent…naked…terribly exposed even in his utter worship.

But he would at least be able to say he had seen the great man.

“I’ll do it,” he said.

Buy the book

Resplendence Publishing | Amazon | ARe

Meet the author:

Thanks to a restless father, she grew up as a bit of a nomad and still loves to travel whenever she can. Her longest stint in one place was Milwaukee where she went to college, enjoyed a series of interesting careers, and raised three surprisingly well-adjusted sons. She later married her true love and put down new roots in Philadelphia, where she lives in an ongoing Italian American family sitcom. At least she’s learned how make good pasta. When not writing, Tali reads everything from sweet goofy romances to medical research, manages her fantasy football team—go Gekkos!—and takes long walks with her loving, if slightly neurotic, poodle.

Tali’s other books include the three preceding Uttor books: Captive Heart, Dangerous Beauty, and Adored, all with Resplendence. Her gay male high fantasy stories, Thick as Thieves, Sorcerer’s Knot, and The Prince of Winds, are published by Dreamspinner Press. She often posts free stories and excerpts on her blog.

Where to find the author: