Tag: JMS Books LLC

An Alisa Review Cole and His Dog by Edward Kendrick

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

Kicked out of his home at eighteen, Cole ends up at The Haven, a drop-in spot for homeless teens, run by Adam Franks. Unable to spend the nights there, he ends up sleeping rough, is attacked by a pair of punks — and rescued by a Bullmastiff he names Bull.

 

Cole and Bull become inseparable. Cole also meets, and is attracted to, Ky, a friend of Adam’s, who twice saves Cole from more attackers. After the second attack, things suddenly change in Cole’s life when he finds out why someone seems to be after him.

 

Will Ky be able to convince Cole he’s told him the truth, while dealing with his own attraction to Cole? And can Ky and his friends keep Cole safe from a man who claims to be Cole’s real father?

 

This was an interesting story and from the description I definitely didn’t expect it to have shifters, but that isn’t a bad thing since I love those types of stories.  Cole is trying to get his feet under him after his parents kick him out, though his situation isn’t quite as bad as many you read about.  He is quite lucky to find people that want to help him and he begins to get his life together.

 

We see most of this story through Cole’s eyes and he is genuinely grateful for the helps he receives though I’m not sure he realizes that he seems to get a lot more immediate help than those around him.  Ky is forced to tell Cole the truth about himself and help him stay safe but as the story continues Ky’s interest becomes more personal.  These two work together to solve the mystery of Cole’s parentage before they jump into a relationship together.  I had trouble connecting the shifter lifestyles in this book as it just seemed as some were extremely into their animal sides that just didn’t seem possible in the real world.  With that and Cole’s luck at getting the help he needed from the right people from the beginning it just made it seem so much more unrealistic however it was still entertaining.

 

The cover art by Written Ink Designs is nice and gives a good visual of the Cole and Ky.

 

Sales Links: JMS Books | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 216 pages

Published: April 15, 2017 by JMS Books

ISBN: 9781634863667

Edition Language: English

Release Blitz for Rick R Reed’s Unhinged ~ A Collection of Gay Horror

Buy Links: JMS Books | Amazon US | Amazon UK


Paperback: JMS Books 


Publisher: JMS Books 


Length: 65,315 words

Blurb

Horror. Romance. The two seem at odds, yet in provocative author Rick R. Reed’s hands, the pair merge like a match made in heaven … or hell.

Prepare for a dark journey into an unhinged world populated by ordinary and extraordinary monsters. Unhinged brings you sometimes chilling, sometimes romantic, sometimes hilarious, but always thought-provoking tales.

Among them you’ll find a chilling and redemptive ghost story, a most unusual and shocking first meeting for two lovers, a story revolving around one of the 20th Century’s most horrific serial killers, and a darkly comic take on the vampire mythos. This collection will make your heart race with passion … in all its forms.

Contains the stories: Echoes, How I Met My Man, The Man from Milwaukee, Sluggo Snares a Vampire, The Ghost in #9, and Incubus.
Excerpt (From “Echoes”)

Instead, a complete stranger stood in the doorway. He was about my age, mid-twenties, and stood about five-foot-four with a too-thin frame that made me want to feed him a few Giordano’s pizzas. The guy had dark, buzzed hair and a matching goatee. His skin, even in this dim light, looked ashen, marred by sores in various stages of healing. He stood just over the threshold and the weird thing was, it was like he didn’t even see me. Dark eyes darted about our new home, as if he were looking for something.

“Hello?” I said, standing still. I think I was too weirded out to be scared at this point. I just assumed maybe he had the wrong apartment. He certainly looked harmless enough. In fact, if I put enough breath behind it, I thought I could probably blow him off his feet.

But he didn’t answer. He continued to look right through me, as though I wasn’t standing there, all six-feet-two inches of me. Other than stacks of boxes, rolled-up rugs tied with twine, and furniture shoved at odd angles, I was pretty hard to miss, even in the orange-tinted light seeping in from our huge window.

And then he came into the room. Walked right into my and Ernie’s new home.

“What are you doing?” I snapped. “Can I help you?” I moved a bit closer, thinking to block further entry. Should I call out for help?

It was as though he didn’t hear me. He continued his progress into the apartment unabated. I was too stunned to do anything but stand and watch, gnawing on a hangnail. He moved into the center of the room and did something really strange—he squatted and felt around on the bare floor, as though he was groping for something. He paused and then the rest of his actions were all pantomimed. To the best of my ability, I could discern what looked like someone taking a pipe in his hands, bringing it to his lips, firing up a bowl with—again—a non-existent lighter, and then blowing out an invisible cloud of smoke. He closed his eyes and whatever his imagination told him he was smoking must have been deeply satisfying. His eyes popped open once more, and he appeared all at once more alert.

It was then he seemed to notice me standing there. I’m sure I was slack jawed and, to be honest, starting to get a little bit scared. I wondered where I had left my cell phone. Would anyone hear me if I screamed? Over the roar of an el train?

He smiled, and there was something winsome and sad in it, something plaintive in those brown eyes. But his teeth were repellent—how did someone so young end up with such badly decayed teeth? He held the imaginary pipe out to me. When I didn’t move, he shook the hand holding the “pipe” impatiently, as though beckoning me to take it.

“What the fuck?” I whispered. I moved toward him.

That’s when I heard the creak of the floor, and I turned just in time to see a shadow cross the wall. It was fast—almost a blur. But the dark shape had a human form. For some reason, the shadow brought with it an icy chill.

I wanted to scream but could not find my voice.

When I turned back, the intruder was gone, as though the shadow I had seen a moment ago had swallowed him up.

“Honey? Rick?”

I swam up from dream to wakefulness all at once, feeling disoriented. I was panting.

Want a taste of one of the stories from the Unhinged collection? Get a free sample at Amazon here.

 
 
 

Author Bio
 

Rick R. Reed is all about exploring the romantic entanglements of gay men in contemporary, realistic settings. While his stories often contain elements of suspense, mystery and the paranormal, his focus ultimately returns to the power of love.

He is the author of dozens of published novels, novellas, and short stories. He is a three-time EPIC eBook Award winner (for Caregiver, Orientation and The Blue Moon Cafe). He is also a Rainbow Award Winner for both Caregiver and Raining Men. Lambda Literary Review has called him, “a writer that doesn’t disappoint.”

Rick lives in Seattle with his husband and a very spoiled Boston terrier. He is forever “at work on another novel.”



Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/rickrreedbooks
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rickrreed
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+RickReedWRITER
Blog: http://rickrreedreality.blogspot.com/
Website: www.rickrreed.com
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rick-r-reed
Email: rickrreedbooks@gmail.com

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Fierce by Rob Rosen 2 week blog tour

Fierce Banner

Title: Fierce
Author: Rob Rosen
Release Date: March 25th 2017
Genre: MM Romance, Comedy

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BLURB

Lucas has a typical life — apart from being abandoned as a baby, raised by wolves, and having super powers. Still, inside, he feels like two people, both vying for control of himself. He’s a superhero and a nerdy college freshman. He’s both feral and tame. He wants to do good in the world and, at the same time, he wants to do nothing. And most of all, he wants to find his birth parents.

In this comedic tale of romance, mystery, and adventure, our hero is joined by his hunky boyfriend, his acerbic boss, an uptight college science professor, and his ex-boyfriend/once crime-fighting partner — not to mention a whole pack of wolves — to help foil his nemesis and uncover the secrets of his past to save his future.

Find Fierce on Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon US | Amazon UK | JMS Books | iBooks

EXCERPT

As a baby, I was raised by wolves in the mountainous wilds of Montana.

I have super powers. Like, seriously super.

I catch bad guys for a living. For free! Minus, of course, the well-merited and desperately sought-after publicity.

But, you ask, raised by wolves? Come on now, Fierce, really? Does that actually happen? Wolves eat babies, don’t they? I mean dingoes do— or so I’ve heard, a la one Miss Meryl Streep— so it stands to reason that wolves do, too. Though not these wolves. These were tame wolves. Well, tameish. They were zoo wolves, hand-raised by humans. Except, they escaped during a freak storm, back to the wilds from whence their ancestors came, never to be seen again.

I saw them right off the bat, though. Well, sawish. I mean, I was a baby at the time, my eyesight not what it is today— which is freakishly strong, by the way. And yes, toot, toot, my horn doth bloweth, yet again. Gabriel in the heavens up above turns green with envy at my tooting abilities. Oh, and in case you hadn’t already surmised it, superhero, at least in my case, equates to super ego. Freud missed out big time on the likes of yours truly.

But I digress. Back to the wolves.

Best I could figure it— seeing as, again, I was just a baby at the time— the initial wolf pack consisted of ten wolves that once inhabited a small zoo on the outskirts of Billings, Montana. One fateful day, a tornado hit. A big one. Huge even! Dorothy would’ve shit her panties it was so friggin’ massive. Anyway, from what I’ve read, the storm struck quite suddenly, too suddenly for the folks at the zoo to be able to corral all the animals beforehand, so, when the fencing to the wolves’ enclosure twisted and uprooted, out they sped. The zoo figured they died in the storm, except, well, duh, they didn’t. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be hearing this account right now, right? Then help! would’ve been lost to the cosmos. A truly sad thought, I know.

GIVEAWAY: Win a Fierce ebook!

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About the Author

Rob profile

Rob Rosen is the author of the critically acclaimed novels, Sparkle: The Queerest Book You’ll Ever Love, the Lambda Literary Award Nominated Divas Las Vegas, which was the winner of the 2010 TLA Gaybies for Best Gay Fiction, Hot Lava, Southern Fried, the Lambda Literary Award Nominated Queerwolf, Vamp, Queens of the Apocalypse, Creature Comfort, Fate, which was the winner of the 2016 TRR Readers’ Choice Award for Best Gay Romantic Comedy as well as a 2016 Rainbow Awards Finalist for Best Gay Romantic Comedy, Midlife Crisis, and Fierce. His short stories have appeared in more than 200 anthologies. You can find 20 of them in his erotic romance anthology, Good & Hot. He is also the editor of Lust in Time: Erotic Romance Through the Ages, Men of the Manor, Best Gay Erotica 2015 and Best Gay Erotica of the Year, Volumes 1 and 2 and 3.

Links: Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon

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A MelanieM Recent Release Review: Fierce by Rob Rosen

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Lucas has a typical life — apart from being abandoned as a baby, raised by wolves, and having super powers. Still, inside, he feels like two people, both vying for control of himself. He’s a superhero and a nerdy college freshman. He’s both feral and tame. He wants to do good in the world and, at the same time, he wants to do nothing. And most of all, he wants to find his birth parents.

In this comedic tale of romance, mystery, and adventure, our hero is joined by his hunky boyfriend, his acerbic boss, an uptight college science professor, and his ex-boyfriend/once crime-fighting partner — not to mention a whole pack of wolves — to help foil his nemesis and uncover the secrets of his past to save his future.

I absolutely love Rob Rosen’s humor. I doesn’t matter whether he’s writing about teenage superheroes or drag queens fighting zombies or anything in between, he always manages to make me laugh out loud while throwing in a genuine sniffle or two.  Its that ability to mix pathos with laughter that I’ve always found to be a hallmark of his and it works once more here in Fierce.

Of course, I loved that he opened with famous (and favorite ones of mine) first lines and then had his main character say he topped them all his his simple one of “Help”. From there the reader sets off on a wild adventure with a superhero teenager with typical snarky, ego centric characteristics combined with the abilities of a superbeing who’s in the middle of a mystery and doesn’t really know who to trust….yes, it’s a wild and bumpy for for us all.

But while we also have superheroes who were raised by wolves, as with Rob Rosen’s other stories, he always manages to make sure we are able to connect with the flawed, humans trying to reach whatever goals they have set, finding out who their parents are or finding love and keeping love in a zombie apocalypse.  He remembers to bring parts of his narrative down to an emotional level the reader can connect with while continuing to rampage through his comedic way in other threads.    Plus here there’s suspense over the evil villain and so many lovely twists and turns that my attention never wavered.

If you love teenage superheroes and a story full of humor, suspense and a touch of mystery and maybe something a little bit more, grab up Fierce and see what some Fierce in your life can do for you.

Cover art by Rob Rosen is adorable and eye catching.

Sales Links:

Book Details:

ebook, 225 pages
Published March 25th 2017 by JMS Books LLC admin@jms-books.com
ISBN139781634863599
Edition LanguageEnglish

An Alisa Review: The Things We Do by J.D. Walker

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

Scotty Reedville has had his office job for two years, long enough to fall for Ryker Callen, head of the landscaping crews. It’s ridiculous, really. How could he fall for someone so completely his opposite in every way? Answer: he couldn’t help it. Still, Scotty would never make a move because he doesn’t think Ryker would go out with a guy who wears braces and snaps at everyone.

 

However, when Ryker is injured in a softball game one weekend and needs a place to live temporarily that doesn’t have steps, Scotty’s boss Gavin suggests he stay with Scotty. The time they spend together is both the best and worst thing that has ever happened to Scotty, and he doesn’t want it to end. But it must.

 

Thankfully, Ryker has other plans. Can the two men stumble their way to love?

 

This was such a cute and sweet story.  Scotty has been admiring Ryker from afar knowing that no one would want him, brace face and all.  When their boss pretty much invites Ryker to live with Scotty while he is injured Scotty gets put in the best and worst situation of his life.

 

Scotty keeps everyone at a distance with his snappish attitude but can’t help and hope that he will find that special someone he needs and you can’t help but feel for him.  He and Ryker both keep their feelings to themselves for so long that it’s almost too late when they finally do.  It was wonderful watching these two dance around each other for so long but finally opening up enough to let the other in.

 

The cover art by Written Ink Design gives a wonderful visual of both Scotty and Ryker.

 

Sales Links: JMS Books | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 39 pages

Published: March 25, 2017 by JMS Books

ISBN: 9781634863629

Edition Language: English

A VVivacious Review: Norwegian Woody (Let it Beatle #4) by J.D. Walker

Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5
 
Woodrow Anker lost his parents at the age of three, following which he was raised by the Zumpanos along with their three children – Helen, Rafe and Serge. He became very good friends with Serge but it was Rafe that he looked up to. But now almost thirty, Woody’s once close relationship with Rafe has dissolved into awkward silences and unvoiced hurts made worse by Rafe’s alcoholism. Will their relationship mend or will the feelings they have for one another remain silent forever?
 
I liked the story. It was a short and steamy read. It is written in a very engaging manner. The build-up to the story is very precise and makes for a solid foundation for the story to rest on. The beginning of the story really hooks you in such a way that you won’t pause till you have reached the last page.
 
There is a lot of depth to the characters of this story and all of them made this story even more interesting. In a way reading these characters felt like revisiting someone you already knew instead of being introduced to a stranger for the first time.
 
Personally for me the only hitch in the story is the power dynamics, there is a definite D/s element to Rafe and Woody’s relationship even though it is not verbalized and mostly unacknowledged. Now this was the one part of the story that just hit me sideways, there was no foreshadowing to this aspect of the story, so when it was introduced I was a little off-kilter. I felt like the author deliberately avoided talking about Woody’s feelings for Rafe as a child for some reason, but considering what their relationship is developing into, I find myself very curious as to how Woody realized these aspects of his sexuality. But the off-kilter feeling only lasted so long because the sex scenes in this short were mind-blowingly hot.
 
Overall this was an amazing read.
 
Cover Art by Written Ink Designs. The cover for this story is unapologetically hot and I may have had a case of judging a book by its cover but it was totally worth it. Amazing Cover. Amazing Story.
Sales Links   JMS Books LLC | Amazon
Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 45 pages
Published March 11th 2017 by JMS Books LLC
ASINB01MUVU6WH
SeriesLet it Beatle #4

A Stella Review: Angel by JL Merrow

RATING 4 out of 5 stars

How do you know if you’re one of the damned?

As a child, Don wanted to become a priest. Now a grown man mostly at ease with being gay, he’s left the Catholic Church and has chosen instead to help people through his work as a parole officer.

His strong faith is shaken when his latest assignment turns out to be Michael, a young man Don hasn’t seen since he took Michael to church as a child — and saw his parish priest cast Michael out of the church as a demon.

Meeting him as an adult re-ignites the obsession Don had with the boy he couldn’t save. But can Michael be saved at all? Or is the strangely compelling demon with a taste for risky sex as damned as he believes himself to be?

JL Merrow is an amazing writer, I’m a huge fan of her works. It seems I already missed this short when it was first released, I couldn’t miss it this second time.

The blurb tells you everything you need to know about the story, I read it and liked it. Angel is a super short story, well written, quick and engaging. Being so short there wasn’t really space for a lot of development in the romance part, to be honest pretty inexistent. But the author was great at showing me how deep Dan was into Michael, from the moment they met again twenty years later, Michael is everything Dan can think and dream of. From that moment Dan will go after him and try to save him.

I have to say I wish Angel was a little longer and I would have preferred to have Michael POV too. I was interested in the MCs and yes, I wanted more about them, about what happened all the years they were apart, and I wanted more of them together. For these reasons I was going to give this short just three stars, then the ending part blew me away. The last pages were really beautiful and emotional, the feel of acceptance, the feel of love mixed with fear, all of these filled my heart.

The cover art by Witten Ink Designs is well done, simple, clean and fitting.

Sales Links:   JMS Books LLC | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 34 pages

Published March 11th 2017 by JMS Books LLC (first published February 24th 2010)

ASIN B06X3TDMW5

Edition Language English

A VVivacious Review: Fierce by Rob Rosen

Rating: 2.5 Stars out of 5
 
Lucas has superpowers or as he likes to call it, he is super. He was raised by wolves, is as hairy as one and is in love with his best friend Craig.  But as luck would have it Craig reciprocates Lucas’ love and also knows his super secret.
 
In the summer before senior year Craig and Lucas start a relationship and become a superhero duo that saves the world, but as they are superheroing the differences between Craig and Lucas become starkly apparent. Will things work out between these two or will this difference of opinions turn them into mortal enemies?
 
I am utterly confused as to whether I liked this book, loved it or barely tolerated it. As I read this book there were parts that I barely tolerated, some that I liked and some that I loved.
 
Let’s start with the things about this book I barely tolerated and the first among those things would be Craig. Early on in the book I mistakenly made the assumption that Craig and Lucas were end game and this made the fact that I didn’t like Craig all that more disquieting. I think quite a few people reading this book would make that assumption, I know I did, but I feel like this book should be read as an adventure that follows Lucas’ life story. Craig falls more in the evil genius than superhero category in this book and his backstory does make him the perfect foil for Lucas’ Fierce (Lucas’ superhero name). 
 
I personally didn’t find the beginning of this book interesting to the extent that if I wasn’t reviewing this book I would have probably quit reading it at this point but having said that I do realize that if I hadn’t continued reading I would have missed the best part of this book.
 
The best part of this book was the dilemma of being a superhero. Almost in all superhero stories the people closest to the superhero are benefitted even if they are in the wrong because well that’s how the story goes and the same thing happens in this one to an extent. But what I liked about this book was that it took that example and made Fierce/Lucas face the truth that even when you do the right thing it will turn out be the wrong thing for someone good, someone who doesn’t deserve the punishment for the justice you have meted out. I think the best part of this book was bringing into focus that superhero stories make the world black and white when the world is rarely so. I loved this book for that and I loved the confused, struggling with himself and his superhero identity version of Lucas.
 
I liked Lucas’ character quite a bit and I understood and fully sympathized with his fervour to find out about his birth parents. But from here on the plot feels a little repetitive, it seemed like all these people did was go to Granite peak and back and up again and back and so on and so forth. Also the resolution of the plot isn’t as cut and dry as I would have liked. I didn’t understand the idea behind the whole revenge plan that happens post Fierce’s rescue and after that the story is all muddled up.
 
For me none of the side characters, except Craig, stood out much. I liked Todd and Lucas and their relationship though I think it is time that someone tells Lucas that he does a very bad job of hiding his superpowers.
 
This book has its moments but you will have to take the good with the bad.
 
Cover Art by Rob Rosen. I liked the cover but why Lucas is wearing glasses on the cover is beyond me… a tribute to Superman perhaps?
Sales Links:
Book Details:
ebook, 225 pages
Published March 25th 2017 by JMS Books LLC admin@jms-books.com
ISBN139781634863599
Edition LanguageEnglish