Tag: friends to lovers

COVER REVEAL for Treasure Trail by Morgan Brice

COVER REVEAL

Book Title: Treasure Trail

Author: Morgan Brice

Cover Artist: Lou Harper

Genre/s: Urban Fantasy MM paranormal romance

Trope/s: Second chance, friends to lovers, starting over, psychic/medium and a cop, mystery, action/adventure,

Themes: Taking a chance on love, running from your past, trust, friendship, found family

Heat Rating:  4 flames

 

When a missing antique shows up under mysterious circumstances, Ben and Erik are plunged into danger as a cursed hotel’s long-ago scandals resurface. Someone wants those secrets to stay buried—and is willing to add Ben and Erik to the death toll to keep the past hidden.

Blurb

Erik Mitchell traveled the world uncovering art fraud and relic theft, which pitted him against spoiled billionaires, unscrupulous collectors, mobsters and cartels. He worked with law enforcement across the US and Europe, but a sting goes wrong and Erik ends up injured, then returns to find his partner cheating. Erik decides to stop globe trotting and buy an antique shop in scenic Cape May, NJ, rebuild his life, and nurse his broken heart.

Undercover Newark cop Ben Nolan went down in a hail of bullets when a bust went sideways, after a tip-off from a traitor inside the department. After he recovers, he spends a couple of years as a private investigator, only to tire of seeing the worst of human nature. So when his aunt offers him the chance to take over her rental real estate business in Cape May, it seems too good to be true. Now if he could just believe he could ever be lucky again in love.

When a missing antique shows up under mysterious circumstances, Ben and Erik are plunged into danger as a cursed hotel’s long-ago scandals resurface. Someone wants those secrets to stay buried—and is willing to add Ben and Erik to the death toll to keep the past hidden.

 

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.

On the rare occasions Morgan isn’t writing, she’s either reading, cooking, or spoiling two very pampered dogs.

Other books include Witchbane, Burn, Dark Rivers, and Badlands. Watch for more in these series, plus new series coming soon!

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

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Release Blitz – Afflicted to the Core (Wielder World #3) by Nat Kennedy (excerpt and giveaway)

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Afflicted to the Core (Wielder World, Book 3)

Author: Nat Kennedy

Publisher: Self-Published/Lagomorph Press

Cover Artist: Deranged Doctor Design

Release Date: June 14, 2019

Genre/s: MM Urban Fantasy

Trope/s: Teacher/Student, Friends to Lovers, Threesome

Themes: Loyalty, Acceptance, mild H/C

Heat Rating: 3-4 flames (not frequent, but detailed)

Length: 93 000 words/260 pages

Add on Goodreads

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US

Amazon UK 

Blurb

Reggie Wolfe religiously visits Kyle Landon—his student in Nerve detangling—at the Harpford Disentanglement Center, where the younger man has been incarcerated on trumped up charges.  During one of Reggie’s visits, Kyle’s able to warn his teacher of an imminent unauthorized transfer by an unknown shadow agency. Reggie demands help from his sister at the Bureau of Wielder Services but is pressed to take the matter into his own hands when bureaucratic red-tape stymies her actions.  Breaking into a secret medical installation, Reggie and August Whalen find Kyle and six other men hooked to IVs, unknown chemicals pumping into their systems.

The three are caught up in a quest to find an antidote for the drugs and discover who is behind the powerful anti-male Wielder organization.  On this dangerous road, will they forever remain friends or give in to their growing attraction?

Afflicted to the Core is the steamy third novel of the Wielder World series—gay urban fantasy full of desire, desperation, and dedication born of trial and blood.

Excerpt

From Chapter 1

A small smile brushed Kyle’s lips when he spotted Reggie through the window of the cafe. Reggie lifted his hand in a wave. Kyle jerked his chin up in acknowledgment while that hint of smile burst into a grin. His bangs nearly brushed his eyes, hiding a brow ring that Reggie knew was there. Ah, what a kid.

A kid. Recently just twenty-two. But smart and daring and gorgeous, his insistent heart kept telling him. At times, when he lay alone in bed at night, Reggie reminded himself that Kyle would find someone else. Someone more exciting, more fun, more willing to be open about his sexuality. Eventually, he would just move on.

Kyle yanked the door of Grindworks Cafe open, a gust of cool air flushing in, and joined Reggie at his table. “Going to the Black Castle tonight, wanna come?”

A cold nugget of apprehension lodged itself in Reggie’s belly. The Black Castle—a mostly gay bar and dance club that was once a haven for male cultists until the Mara Murda take down last fall. Most cultists lay low, not drawing attention to themselves. Now, those that hadn’t fled into the dark forest around the lodge occupied rooms in Disentanglement Centers. The members of other cults were keeping their noses clean, according to his sister, Bethany.

The owner of the Black Castle had also been there during the Bureau bust. One August Whalen. A man he owed on many levels.

“No, thanks for the invite though.” Reggie took a sip of coffee. “Say hi to August for me.”

Kyle leaned forward, elbows on the table, every aspect about him all youthful and earnest. “Oh, come on. August would love to see you…and it won’t be me and a ton of other students. I was hoping you could come, and me…and that’s it.” He lowered his lashes, almost shy.

Reggie’s cold knot melted and a wash of heat crawled up his neck and over his cheeks. Kyle’s hand pushed across the tabletop, meeting the halfway line. Reggie looked at it. Black fingernail polish still clung to Kyle’s cuticles. He must have been full-on goth last night, hanging out with his friends.

“Hey Reggie!”

Reggie jumped in his chair, nearly knocking over his coffee, yanking his hand away from where it had migrated to within inches of Kyle’s, and faced the newcomer.

Professor Sally Boltmier of the engineering department: his senior professor and a close friend of his on campus.

“Sally. How are you this morning?” He gripped the napkin in his lap, crumbling it up into a tight wad, and focused on her, not letting his gaze stray to Kyle.

Her welcoming smile faltered. “I’m great. Sorry to interrupt. I didn’t mean to scare you out of your seat.”

Reggie’s mind stirred to create some excuse and send her on her way, but he couldn’t say anything before Kyle stood and offered his hand.

“I’m Kyle. Reggie’s…friend.”

Reggie’s…friend.

That pause. Kyle had done that on purpose. The temperature in the room ratcheted to sauna levels. Reggie struggled to hold steady under the gaze of his senior colleague, to not look guilty. No point looking guilty. He wasn’t guilty!

“Reggie’s…oh. Oh! Oh, well, pleased to meet you, Kyle. I’m Sally Boltmier, I work with Reggie in Sloan Hall.”

Kyle’s smile brightened. “I know you. You spoke for him in that…case last fall.” Kyle at least didn’t blurt out ‘sexual harassment’ for the entire café’s knowledge.

Sally eyed Kyle, up and down, and Kyle stood tall as if meeting his prom date’s father. Then Sally’s stern appraisal softened, and she nodded and dropped her voice to say, “I knew Reggie wasn’t guilty of any inappropriate activities. So,” her consideration shifted from Kyle to Reggie to Kyle again, “you’ve been together since then?”

Reggie wanted to crawl under the table, maybe dig his way into the linoleum, and hide. He could still salvage this if he got up, spoke out, explained everything. “Well, it wasn’t…we weren’t—”

Kyle’s laughter cut off Reggie’s bumbling. He brushed through his hair, giving it a tousled look, showing off his brow piercing. “Oh, well, we weren’t together, then. But we knew each other.” He looked down at Reggie and gave him such a besotted look, that Reggie knew he was staring back like a devoted Labrador until his colleague laughed and broke him from his trance.

“Well, I’ll let you two get back to your afternoon. Enjoy the spring weather! See you Monday.” She gave Reggie a look that suggested there would be more to this conversation on Monday, but he knew she wouldn’t spread any rumors about him on campus or anywhere else. Except to her husband maybe. They shared everything.

Reggie’s eyes flicked to Kyle. Kyle knew almost everything about him, too.

About the Author

Nat Kennedy grew up living in a poorly populated desert landscape. With no neighbors in a 1-mile radius, she had to make up her own fun.

Nat strives to create plotty and imaginative fantasy worlds, with the added benefit of gay romance–steamy to tame. Bored of het romance, she jumped into writing her fantasy with gay romance swirled in, like a raspberry ribbon in vanilla ice cream.

Social Media Links

Blog/Website |  Facebook  |  Instagram

CHECK OUT THE OTHER BOOKS IN THE WIELDER WORLD SERIES HERE

Giveaway 

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win

a $25 Amazon Gift Card

one of five ebook copies of Edge of Desperation (Wielder World 1)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RELEASE BLITZ SCHEDULE

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A MelanieM Review:Strike a Chord (Replay #4) by K.M. Neuhold

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

“You want to fake date me?”

Music is my life, my band is my heart and soul, and it’s all falling apart before my eyes.

A plan hatched from desperation as we both watch our careers burn down around us. Dating my best friend’s twin brother, Paris, who just so happens to be a gay icon at the moment seems like the perfect plan. And if we have a little fun along the way, where’s the harm in that? The band is spiraling, his football career is going up in flames, and the more the world falls down around us, the easier it is to get lost in each other.

But are stolen moments during our own busy schedules and hurried kisses hidden behind social media posts the basis for a real relationship, or is this just another thing that’s going to turn to dust in our hands?

**Strike a Chord is the fourth and final book in the Replay series. This series can be read in any order.

Tying up a series can always be a tricky business, especially if the series has rested its foundation on more than one couple.  In this case, its a band. K.M. Neuhold has stretched the arc over five books.  One a foundation story called Rock Bottom which shows the band Downward Spiral on the edge of imploding due to the personal problems of some of the band members after years of being together and incredible success. After that each band member gets their own story (which I have listed at the bottom of this review).  We see the band, their rise, each person’s demon’s and the SO, the relationship, the issues, and finally how it’s resolved for a HEA for that couple.  But the future of the band?  That’s left to this story and so is Benji, the last band member to get his HEA.

Strike a Chord (Replay #4) by K.M. Neuhold finally gets around to Benji, the “good” member of Downward Spiral, the one that can always be counted on not to bring the drama or any trouble, the stable one.  I am thrilled that Benji finally gets his time in the spotlight, his time to shine because he so deserves it.  Often the lowkey one in all the other stories, here Benji gets to take the stage and oh, my, how he takes command.

With his long flowing hair, elvish beauty, and lean body, Benji is gorgeous although in high school Paris initially thought mistook him for a pretty girl.  From the back at a locker in the hallway.    But that was the last time.  Then Benji turned around and Paris was lost.  And confused and totally in the closet until years later in the NFL.  Not so his twin brother Landon and Benji’s best friend also since high school.   Those two came out together, were inseparable until Benji and his band left for the road and success.

Strike a Chord begins with both men arriving almost at the same place in their careers and both dreading the future.  Benji believing his band will lose their contract and break up because of the deep personal issues of the others, including one back in the hospital and Paris ending his football career because of an injury and his age.  Neither knows exactly what is ahead of them or how to handle it.  Going home seems like the only answer for both.

The characterizations are quiet and fully realized.  I say quiet because while they lack the huge drama and specific medical or addiction issues of the others, the qualities of these men are no less compelling and real because they aren’t as angst driven as rest.  What starts off as a way to keep both men in the media while they figure out what happens next to themselves and their careers and lives becomes a believable and real relationship readers connect with.  It’s backed up by years of history between them so no case of instant love exists here. No, in fact the opposite exists, that both men have been in love with each other since high school and now, finally, get their chance at love and HEA.  After clearing up quite a few misconceptions and misunderstandings of course.

I enjoyed the Christmas family scenes (both families), the snow and the escape to the island paradise.  It was all so lovely and heartwarming. Just the delicious reconnection between them all over again?  Oh my word!   I read several passages over and over for the sweetness and the hotness combined.

The ending and the wrapup is everything I hoped for.  Sexy, all inclusive with all the band and their mates involved and happy ever after for all.  Every loose end tied up with a bow.  And awaiting some rice!  Yes, color me happy and recommending this book and this series.

If you love rock stars on a search for HEA, grab up this series.  Each member is very different and offers something for everyone as does their mate and storyline.  But I promise you each and every one gets their HEA and its a wonderful journey to take with them all the way to the end.  I loved every page of it.

Cover art is just not something I liked.  That’s not either mc.  Paris is a big brawny football player.  Benji?  Long flowing gold hair that is often up in a main bun, thin elvish gorgeous face and long, lean body.  Uh, no.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 216 pages
Published May 14th 2019
ASINB07RMZT7FN
Edition Language English
Series Replay #4

Replay Series with links to Goodreads:

Rock Bottom meet the band

Face the Music #1 Lincoln

Play it by Ear #2 Lando

Beat of Their Own Drum #3 Jude

Strike a Chord #4 Benji and the series finale

A Melanie Review: Prescription for Love (Road to Blissville #7) by Aimee Nicole Walker

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

What should’ve been an ordinary emergency call turned out to be something extraordinary.

Wanting to distance himself from his toxic parents, Trent Love moved to the quaint town of Blissville to begin a new life. What he finds is blazing chemistry with a hunky fireman who breathes new life into him.

Fearing they’re too different, Tucker attempts to extinguish the spark between them before it can ignite. How could a simple man like him compete with Trent’s life of wealth and privilege? Knowing you shouldn’t want something doesn’t make it go away, and Tucker’s desire for Trent continues to smolder.

Unwilling to accept their relationship is dead on arrival, Trent puts his resuscitation skills to good use. All he wants is a chance to prove he values Tucker’s wealth of character over meaningless material things. What do you get when you mix fire and oxygen: a five-alarm fire or a prescription for love?

Trent’s commitment to freeing himself from poisonous ties kindles a chain of events that have devastating consequences for both men. Is a relationship forged in fire strong enough to overcome these obstacles or is their love doomed to be just another bitter pill to swallow?

When we last saw these two men in the novel Inside Out where they were secondary characters, their date had gone horribly wrong and they parted on the worst of terms, with Trent leaving for a stint in Doctors without Borders.

Now in Prescription for Love (Road to Blissville #7) by Aimee Nicole Walker, Trent Love is back in Blissville ready to pick up his life at the hospital and in Blissville, that includes putting Tucker back into his life too.  Tucker, meanwhile has had lots of time to think about the way they parted and he has his share of regrets.  He can’t get the thought of Trent out of his system and he’s lonely.  Now Trent is back and Grammie knows exactly how to push Tuck’s buttoms or give him a shove in Trent’s direction.

Blissville has become one of my favorite literary destinations thanks to the characters and unique small town flavor author Aimee Nicole Walker has imbued Blissville with.  It oozes with charm, quirky characters, and so much warmth, that if it was real, I’d move there in a heartbeat!  Over the course of now seven stories, I know the cafe, dinners, veterinarians, fireman, hairdressers, so much of what makes Blissville life.  That means couples too.

Now each novel is touted as a standalone but while you can read them as such, the beginnings of each story rests in the previous novel, as it does with this one. So why would you?

The characters are easy to connect with and well developed.  The writing is wonderful, and the plot smooth and flows quickly.  Not too much angst here.  Just men reconnecting, trying to mesh schedules, lives, and a disparity in economic society back history that matters to no one except Trent’s snobbish parents.  Yes cue the drama.

With the exception of Trent’s parents, all the other cast of characters are amazing.  Love the other fireman and their wives, Grammie of course, that goes without saying, the couples from the previous stories that always pop up, and sisters and their husbands and adorable children.  Really, I could stay happily entwined in the lives of the people of Blissville for ages.

I love this series and you will too if you’re a fan of contemporary romance.  You could pick up this book as a standalone but why skip the wealth that  awaid you with the entire series?  I have listed them all below for your reading pleasure. I highly recommend them all.

The cover by Jay Aheer is perfect.  Yes, that’s Trent.  Love it.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 223 pages
Published May 18th 2019 by Chasing Rainbows Press LLC
ASINB07RV5CGY1
Series Road to Blissville #7

Prescription for love is a small-town, opposites-attract romance. It is the seventh book in the Road to Blissville series but reads like a standalone book. I

Road to Blissville Series

Unscripted Love

Someone to Call My Own

Nobody’s Prince Charming

Smoke in the Mirror

Inside Out

Prescription for Love

A MelanieM Review:Strike a Chord (Replay #4) by K.M. Neuhold

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

“You want to fake date me?”

Music is my life, my band is my heart and soul, and it’s all falling apart before my eyes.

A plan hatched from desperation as we both watch our careers burn down around us. Dating my best friend’s twin brother, Paris, who just so happens to be a gay icon at the moment seems like the perfect plan. And if we have a little fun along the way, where’s the harm in that? The band is spiraling, his football career is going up in flames, and the more the world falls down around us, the easier it is to get lost in each other.

But are stolen moments during our own busy schedules and hurried kisses hidden behind social media posts the basis for a real relationship, or is this just another thing that’s going to turn to dust in our hands?

**Strike a Chord is the fourth and final book in the Replay series. This series can be read in any order.

Tying up a series can always be a tricky business, especially if the series has rested its foundation on more than one couple.  In this case, its a band. K.M. Neuhold has stretched the arc over five books.  One a foundation story called Rock Bottom which shows the band Downward Spiral on the edge of imploding due to the personal problems of some of the band members after years of being together and incredible success. After that each band member gets their own story (which I have listed at the bottom of this review).  We see the band, their rise, each person’s demon’s and the SO, the relationship, the issues, and finally how it’s resolved for a HEA for that couple.  But the future of the band?  That’s left to this story and so is Benji, the last band member to get his HEA.

Strike a Chord (Replay #4) by K.M. Neuhold finally gets around to Benji, the “good” member of Downward Spiral, the one that can always be counted on not to bring the drama or any trouble, the stable one.  I am thrilled that Benji finally gets his time in the spotlight, his time to shine because he so deserves it.  Often the lowkey one in all the other stories, here Benji gets to take the stage and oh, my, how he takes command.

With his long flowing hair, elvish beauty, and lean body, Benji is gorgeous although in high school Paris initially thought mistook him for a pretty girl.  From the back at a locker in the hallway.    But that was the last time.  Then Benji turned around and Paris was lost.  And confused and totally in the closet until years later in the NFL.  Not so his twin brother Landon and Benji’s best friend also since high school.   Those two came out together, were inseparable until Benji and his band left for the road and success.

Strike a Chord begins with both men arriving almost at the same place in their careers and both dreading the future.  Benji believing his band will lose their contract and break up because of the deep personal issues of the others, including one back in the hospital and Paris ending his football career because of an injury and his age.  Neither knows exactly what is ahead of them or how to handle it.  Going home seems like the only answer for both.

The characterizations are quiet and fully realized.  I say quiet because while they lack the huge drama and specific medical or addiction issues of the others, the qualities of these men are no less compelling and real because they aren’t as angst driven as rest.  What starts off as a way to keep both men in the media while they figure out what happens next to themselves and their careers and lives becomes a believable and real relationship readers connect with.  It’s backed up by years of history between them so no case of instant love exists here. No, in fact the opposite exists, that both men have been in love with each other since high school and now, finally, get their chance at love and HEA.  After clearing up quite a few misconceptions and misunderstandings of course.

I enjoyed the Christmas family scenes (both families), the snow and the escape to the island paradise.  It was all so lovely and heartwarming. Just the delicious reconnection between them all over again?  Oh my word!   I read several passages over and over for the sweetness and the hotness combined.

The ending and the wrapup is everything I hoped for.  Sexy, all inclusive with all the band and their mates involved and happy ever after for all.  Every loose end tied up with a bow.  And awaiting some rice!  Yes, color me happy and recommending this book and this series.

If you love rock stars on a search for HEA, grab up this series.  Each member is very different and offers something for everyone as does their mate and storyline.  But I promise you each and every one gets their HEA and its a wonderful journey to take with them all the way to the end.  I loved every page of it.

Cover art is just not something I liked.  That’s not either mc.  Paris is a big brawny football player.  Benji?  Long flowing gold hair that is often up in a main bun, thin elvish gorgeous face and long, lean body.  Uh, no.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 216 pages
Published May 14th 2019
ASINB07RMZT7FN
Edition Language English
Series Replay #4

Replay Series with links to Goodreads:

Rock Bottom meet the band

Face the Music #1 Lincoln

Play it by Ear #2 Lando

Beat of Their Own Drum #3 Jude

Strike a Chord #4 Benji and the series finale

Lindsey Byrd on Designing the World and her new release On The Subject Of Griffons (guest blog and giveaway)

On the Subject of Griffons by Lindsey Byrd
Riptide Publishing

Cover Art: L.C. Chase
Sales Links: Riptide Publishing | Amazon

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Lindsey Byrd here today on tour for her new novel, On the Subject of Griffons.  Welcome, Lindsey.

✒︎

Lindsey Byrd on Designing the World

 

When I first started writing this story, I had a general idea of what I wanted the country to look like. I knew its borders and its main cities and I could see it very clearly in my mind. While I was considering what to write for this blog tour, my best friend suggested I finally draw what I had seen so clearly in my mind. It didn’t take long, and the results are in the image above.

I marked out every main city or stop that the protagonists mention or travel to. The Trent empire and Ruug are both alluded to in various parts of the book, but they aren’t locations that our characters physically reach. As mentioned in a previous blog post – the long lakes are based off of the New York finger lakes, and you’re welcome to go back and look at the pictures posted there if you’d like another reference.

Actually drawing the map itself wasn’t too difficult. I have an idea of how I’d like to expand the universe so I knew in advance what features I wanted to add. Some of them, like the island in the middle of the Great Sea, aren’t referenced in this book at all. I’m still looking forward to sharing it somewhere down the line.

The map on this blog post, however, is not my original drawing. One of my closest friends took my original sketch and made it the fancy, beautiful, version you see here. She flushed out the detail on the image and made sure that the rivers and coastline made some form of logical sense, and everything you see on the map above is the highly rendered version of her imagination.

As we worked on it together, we discussed the future of this world. One of the other concerns I had, was not showing what I hadn’t planned out. To this end, there are many cities, names, or other kinds of locations I haven’t added to this version of the map. There are other stories there, and hopefully interest and intrigue will inspire future readers to wonder what those possibilities are. But for now, we made sure to keep everything as simple as possible. This is On the Subject of Griffons’ world. And hopefully in the future I’ll be able to share what goes on in all the blank spaces you can’t yet see.

If you enjoy reading this book, feel free to send me a message and let me know what you’d like to see in this world. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Blurb

They’ll do anything to save their children’s lives, even if it means working together.

Kera Montgomery is still mourning the sudden death of her husband, Morpheus, when her youngest son falls victim to a mysterious plague. With no medicinal cure, Kera must travel to the Long Lakes, where magical griffons capable of healing any ailment reside.

As an heiress unused to grueling travel, Kera struggles with the immense emotional and physical strain of her journey—one made more complex when she crosses paths with her husband’s former mistress, Aurora. Aurora’s daughter is afflicted with the same plague as Kera’s son, so despite their incendiary history, the two women agree to set aside their differences and travel together.

The road is fraught with dangers, both living and dead. Each night, old battlegrounds reanimate with ghosts who don’t know they’ve died, and murderous wraiths hunt for stray travelers caught out after dark. If Kera, Aurora, and their children are going to survive, they’ll need to confront the past that’s been haunting them since their journey began. And perhaps in the process, discover that old friends may not be as trustworthy as they once thought—and old enemies may become so much more.

Now available from Riptide Publishing and where ebooks are sold.

 

About Lindsey Byrd

Lindsey Byrd was brought up in upstate, downstate, and western New York. She is a budding historian of law, medieval, and women’s studies and often includes historical anecdotes or references within her works. Lindsey enjoys writing about complex and convoluted issues where finding the moral high-ground can be hard to do. She has a particular love for heroic villains and villainous heroes, as well as inverting and subverting tropes.

Twitter: twitter.com/TheLindseyByrd

Tumblr: tumblr.com/blog/lindseybyrd

Email: thelindseybyrd@gmail.com

Goodreads: goodreads.com/LindseyByrd

 

 

Giveaway

To celebrate this release, one lucky person will win a $25 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on June 1, 2019. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

A MelanieM Review: On the Subject of Griffons by Lindsey Byrd

Rating:  4.75 stars out of 5

They’ll do anything to save their children’s lives, even if it means working together.

Kera Montgomery is still mourning the sudden death of her husband, Morpheus, when her youngest son falls victim to a mysterious plague. With no medicinal cure, Kera must travel to the Long Lakes, where magical griffons capable of healing any ailment reside.

As an heiress unused to grueling travel, Kera struggles with the immense emotional and physical strain of her journey—one made more complex when she crosses paths with her husband’s former mistress, Aurora. Aurora’s daughter is afflicted with the same plague as Kera’s son, so despite their incendiary history, the two women agree to set aside their differences and travel together.

The road is fraught with dangers, both living and dead. Each night, old battlegrounds reanimate with ghosts who don’t know they’ve died, and murderous wraiths hunt for stray travelers caught out after dark. If Kera, Aurora, and their children are going to survive, they’ll need to confront the past that’s been haunting them since their journey began. And perhaps in the process, discover that old friends may not be as trustworthy as they once thought—and old enemies may become so much more.

On the Subject of Griffons by Lindsey Byrd is such an unexpectedly deep, and emotionally rich journey.  Not of one woman, although Kera Montgomery is the main character who undergoes the most personal growth and development.  So too does the woman who starts out as her adversary and the source of so much of her pain,Aurora., Kera’s deceased husband’s’ ex-mistress.

The writing and characterizations in this story are simply brilliant. Told from the perspective of the “Widow Montgomery”, she is at moments controlled, raw, open, distraught, and as the story moves forward comes a woman of strength, determination, and incredible bravery.  Someone able to go forward and love again, building a future for herself, others and more. But when it starts out she is a woman overwhelmed by the deceit of her husband, buried in grief by his loss, mired down by the weight of responsibility for the huge brood of children she has and and lack of control over his   own future which seems lay in the hands of her father and the bankers of the town which want to pressure her into selling them her home, Ivory Gates.  She’s barely  coping and we are made to feel every tear, every throbbing pressure headache, every lost to depression episode Keri is feeling.

Then the deadly sickness that is sweeping the town invaded her home and her smallest child falls critically ill.  And again, we are in Kera’s heart and head that just as we don’t believe this  woman can stand any further pain, humiliation, or despair, now her youngest child is going to die.  And we are weeping with her.   And raging with her over her feelings of inadequacy and helplessness and the anticipation of yet another crushing deep loss.

It’s rare that I get pulled so fully and deeply into such a character as Kera Montgomery because of, I suppose, her state and, like all others, outward impression of her at the beginning.  Kera inhabits a rigid society that gives women little choice as to their roles in life.  Nice women in society are wives and mothers.  The men manage things, money, estages, society,  and wars. When Kera’s husband, Mori dies in a duel disgraced, he leaves her a widow of 7 children and a large estate she never wanted, Ivory Gates, teetering with looming debts and no pension of her husband’s to use as income.  Bankers are at her door and no one is asking her what she wants to do but her father instead.    She’s feeling invisible, emotionally battered, once more in mourning and feeling betrayed by a husband she loved who never seemed to think about the consequences of his actions.

Grief, helplessness and depression have mired this woman down until her youngest son is struck down and will soon die if nothing is done. It’s that desperation that is the impetus for Kera to finally act, against society and for herself and her son.

To save him she must find a Griffin’s feather and they exist only in one part of the territory.  In the cruelest of ironies, the first person she encounters on the road is her husband’s mistress who’s daughter is critically ill with the same sickness.

The journey then becomes this incredible saga  of multiple complex story threads, magic, and redemption.  Kera must learn to get past her hatred of Aurora, her pain and need for understanding about the affair, there’s forgiveness and personal growth, and so much more than this review can begin to describe.  Really, these women are beyond amazing as is their road to saving their children and finding a new future together.

It is labeled as F/F but the heat level is low, limited to kissing and off scene sex that is not described.

If I had any issues its that it ended a little too pat but what came before was just too magnificent for me to really quibble about that.  The writing and characterizations are just that outstanding.

Honestly, if you love fantasy and some of the best womens characterizations I’ve read this year, pick up On the Subject of Griffons by Lindsey Byrd.  I highly recommend it.  It’s just a stunner of a story!

Cover art: L.C. Chase.  The cover is a little dark and it does fit parts of the story but it could easily be a contemporary fantasy which this is not.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing | Amazon
Book Details:
ebook, 316 pages
Published May 27th 2019 by Riptide Publishing
Original Title On the Subject of Griffons
ISBN 139781626498822
Edition Language English

Love a LIttle Urban Fantasy? Check out the Blog Tour for Eight Lives: (Match Made in Hell #1) by Autumn Breeze & Ashley Chamblee (excerpt and giveaway)

BLOG TOUR

Book Title: Eight Lives: Match Made in Hell #1

Author: Autumn Breeze & Ashley Chamblee

Cover Artist: Raven Brooks

Release Date: May 20, 2019

Genre/s:  Urban Fantasy, M/M Romance

Trope/s:  Friends to Lovers, Roommates to Lovers

Heat Rating: 3 flames

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Buy Links

Universal Link

Amazon US

Amazon UK

 

Blurb

Two Hearts. One Curse. Zero Time.

A century ago, a spiteful witch cursed Edmund.

Ever since then, he has lived as an immortal house cat—short one life.

Anselm is a mildly depressed vampire with a soft spot for the feline he calls friend.

They live together as equals, companions for eternity—or so they hope.

But their lives take a dark turn when the witch who cursed Edmund long ago dies.

And suddenly, he is human again.

In a race against time’s cruel hand, Anselm and Edmund must make a decision.

Do they find a dark witch and re-enact the curse that plagued Edmund so they can be together for an eternity? Or . . . does Edmund give up forever as a cat to be with Anselm for now as a man?

 

Excerpt

I clenched my jaw. If this stranger had hurt Edmund, there would be hell to pay.

My immortal cat, as irritating as he could be sometimes, was my best friend. We’d been a pair since the beginning of the twentieth century and . . . in reality, he was all I had.

Everything changed but not Edmund. Nor me.

He was a cursed cat, once a young man in the prime of his life. I was the vampire he called friend.

“Edmund,” I called, dropping the bags I held. The fresh fish and blood I’d bought cascaded to the floor. Some of the packets burst open, but I didn’t care about the mess the blood would make or the smell that would linger for days; I cared about my best friend. “Edmund?!”

The stranger turned; his sharp gaze followed me though he was rooted to the spot.

I rushed through the living room, heading deeper into my home, knowing that if my heart still beat, it would be pounding against my chest like a sledgehammer.

Where was Edmund? Why wasn’t he answering?

Hunting through the rooms, I checked in all of Edmund’s favorite hiding spots—on top of the bookshelf, on my side of the bed, behind my pillow, in the perfect patch of moonlight that streamed through the bay windows in my office—but Edmund was nowhere to be found.

He was missing, gone, disappeared.

“Where is he?!” I demanded as I raged into the living room and caught the stranger by the throat. My fingers tightened as my anger—my fear—tainted the air, sending the thick stench of decay curling around us. The strange young man’s lips parted, opening and closing like a fish out of water as he grasped my wrist and fought for breath. “If you hurt him—” I couldn’t even finish the thought, much less the sentence.

The very idea of not having Edmund, of being without him . . .

I shook the man impatiently. “Where is he?!” I bellowed, shaking the boy.

He appeared desperate as he clutched my wrist and tugged on my arm, attempting to remove my hold, but my grasp was absolute as my fingers tightened around his neck.

Panic danced across his face. His wide eyes shined, a familiar neon blue that I knew.

My lips parted. “Edmund?”

I loosened my hold. It wasn’t possible. Edmund was . . .

The man I held by the neck trembled in my grasp, one minute a man, and in the next, thick black fur sprouted out of his transformed body.

“Y . . . You choked me,” he gasped as I gathered him close.

“You turned into a-a-a man!” I pulled him away from my chest, inspecting him as I did so.

How was this possible? He was cursed by a witch to live the rest of his life, or at least nine lives—eight now that he’d died once—as a cat. Right now, the fluffy black thing I peered down at looked like my housecat, but seconds ago . . .

 

 

About the Authors

Autumn Breeze

Autumn Breeze is a bestselling LGBT+ author, and current Radish Content Provider. She is also the winner of a 2015 Watty Award, a former Wattpad Star, with more than 70K followers on Wattpad who was featured in Cosmo in 2017 “My Lessons with the Sexy Dance Instructor.” In 2017 she worked as a Freelance Writer for 20th Century Fox on, “A Cure for Wellness: Seeking A Cure.”

 

Blog/Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Wattpad

Wattpad

 

Ashley Chamblee

Ashley Chamblee is a bestselling author with 10+ years of experience who specializes in writing horror, fantasy, paranormal, and romance with LGBT themes. Currently, she has 35K+ followers on her combined Wattpad accounts EzraWinn and HonestDying. When Ashley isn’t writing she is either working with special needs adults, playing video games, reading or spending time with friends and family. 

Blood Prize, her bestselling novel is available on Amazon. 

Twitter 

Instagram 

 

 

Giveaway

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one of five ebook copies of After the I Do: Meeting at the Fault Line #1

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A Stella Review: Made For You (Love & Family #2) by Anyta Sunday

RATING 5 out of 5 stars

Ben wants to find a new home.

Twenty-four-year-old Ben McCormick is the primary caregiver for his brother Milo after their parents’ death. A year into the job, he’s totally got the hang of it. Mostly. Sort of. Not at all?
Defeated and thoroughly chastised for his lack in parenting skills at teacher-parent night, Ben slumps away with the resolve to finally get his life sorted: be a better role model, and sell their parents’ house for a fresh start.
But first, he needs to spruce up his house to hit the market. He’s no DIY king, but Milo’s hot-as-hell woodwork teacher is…

Jack wants an old home to fix.
Thirty-nine-year-old Jack Pecker is waiting for the home of his dreams to come on the market in the summer. What better way to wait the interim months than working on a small renovation gig?
Only trouble is, the gig is for the McCormick brothers. And working in close quarters to red-haired Ben McCormick won’t be easy. Not with the attraction that simmers between them. Attraction Ben makes no effort to hide.
But Jack’s professional. Dating a parent is highly discouraged at Kresley Intermediate, and he’d never cross the lines…

Ben and Jack. Two guys searching for a home –– a home that might just be where their hearts lead them.

Set in New Zealand, Made For You (Love & Family #2) is an MM gay romance featuring two guys at very different places in their lives – but both finding out they are looking for the same thing.
Can be read as a standalone.

 

I honestly haven’t read the previous title in the Love & Family series by Anyta Sunday, called Taboo For You, cause the title obviously let me believe it was about something I wasn’t comfortable with. I was wrong and since I loved this new novel so much, I will surely come back to the first book as soon as possible.

Made For You was an awesome reading, I want to recommend to all of you, even if you haven’t read Taboo For You, it worked easily as a standalone. It conquered me, I fell deeply into the plot and the characters lives. I picked this book cause I’m a sucker for the age gap between the MCs and I love stories with children. But I wasn’t ready for the amazing deliver I got from the author.

An amazing reading, well written, engaging and easy and quick to read. I loved Ben and Milo, they were so hilarious although their hearts were still recovering from the loss of their parents. I ached for them but was so happy to see Jack come into their home, first to renovate it, little by little to build a new life for the three of them together.

It was exactly what I was in the mood for, not a shallow read at all, but there weren’t so many dramas or angst, the right amount of sweetness, it was a real and believable novel.

The cover art by Natasha Snow is cute, I like it a lot

Sales Links:

Links: https://www.anytasunday.com/projects/made-for-you/

https://amzn.to/2XIAB0a

BOOK DETAILS

Kindle Edition, 258 pages

Published May 1st 2019 by Anyta Sunday

ASIN B07QQ4TZLW

Edition Language English