A Stella Review: Black Dust by Lynn Charles

RATING 4,25 out of 5 stars

Black Dust No matter how busy he keeps himself, successful Broadway musician Tobias Spence can’t outrun the memory of a tragic car crash from his past that claimed a friend’s life and permanently injured his former boyfriend, Emmett.

Even after losing Tobias, Emmett Henderson made peace with that awful night, living in his Indiana hometown where he has become a revered choral director. When his students are asked to perform in New York City, he decides to chance reconnecting with his former love, if for no other reason than to get a proper goodbye.

When Emmett and Tobias finally meet 15 years after parting ways, it is clear to both of them that their feelings for each other have not changed. As they explore their renewed relationship, the two men face old hurts and the new challenges of a long-distance romance. Will Tobias lose his second chance at love to the ghosts he can’t seem to put to rest?

“If the past comes back to visit you, maybe you should invite it to tea.”

Black Dust is my frst book by Lynn Charles, I was curious and excited to read it. Now I can say I’m surely going to read her debut novel, Chef’s Table, in the coming weeks.

What I soon appreciated was the prologue. I adore authors who give me the basical facts at the start and don’t let me beg for crumbs of past events. In the prologue set in the 2000 Emmett and Toby are a young but solid couple, they met two years ago during the auditions at the local theater when they were just 16 and 18 years old. It’s the night before Emmett prom and they are going out with their best friend, Scott when they have a terrible car accident and Scott dies.

Fifteen years later Tobias is a Broadway musician, he plays piano all over the world. He left Indiana and Emmett behind. He came back to his life, but the struggle to forget what happened and the dreams shared with his lover forgotten, is still strong and the youthful, broken promises hard to forget. Now his home base is NY and his best friend Malik, a sculptor.

Emmett is living in Indiana, working now as a choral director. As soon as the chance of a couple of days in NY come out, he hopeful and calls Toby, asking for a reconnection.

Among the two, Emmett was my favorite character, he’s strong, real, loyal and beautiful in his heart. I soon felt a connection with his attitude, in his everyday life, his relationships with his parents or with his students. Yes I fell for him.

Point is I haven’t fallen for Toby, at all. And this is the only reason I’m not giving the story five stars. I couldn’t feel his emotions, I found him to be cold-hearted and stiff in everything he does. To me he didn’t stand out as a good person and was almost impossible to me to see him with Emmett. I said almost because at the end, thanks to the author abilities, I was finally able to understand his loss, his guilt and the tragedy he is still trying to overcome. Hats off to Lynn for this and for giving Scott an importance and lovable portrait, I missed him like Emmett and Toby did.

The author put in the story her whole musical knowledge and beyond. The MCs’ passion and work had a huge role in the book, but it never overwhelmed my reading, on the contrary, with the help of a well developed and interesting secondary characters cast, gave the plot a foundation and realism needed. I liked the style and the writing a lot, I think she did really great. The “second chance at love” stories are one of my favorite trope in the mm genre and Black Dust greatly delivered. The book was definitely worth my time and I recommend it.

The book and cover design by CB Messer is a winner. I like it a lot, an amazing style. It’s one of the reason why I picked the novel.

Sales Links: Interlude Press | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 312 pages
Published April 7th 2016 by Interlude Press
ASIN B01DR4USSO
Edition Language English

B.A. Tortuga’s Here For A Old Town New Interview and Release Day Guest Blog!

Old Town New by B.A. Tortuga
Dreamspinner Press
Cover Art by Anna Sikorska

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is so happy to have one of its favorite authors here to share her thoughts about writing and her latest release, Old Town New. Welcome, B.A. Tortuga!

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Hey, y’all! I’m BA Tortuga, resident redneck and lover of all things cowboy :D.

Where do you normally draw your inspiration for a book from? A memory, a myth, a place or journey, or something far more personal?

Oh, y’all. I eavesdrop, I talk, I visit. Most importantly? I listen. I listen to folks’ stories and wallow in them. I pride myself in telling the stories of people I know, of folks I love.

Are you a planner or a pantzer when writing a story? And why?

I used to be a pantser, but these days I’ve found if I focus on the outline, I do a better job, tell a better story, and don’t cry as much during edits.

If you had a character you’ve written you would write differently now at this time in your writing career, who would it be and why?

Oh, man… Will and Dean from Latigo. I wrote them in vignettes and then put them in order and if I wrote them again I’d start at the beginning and write straight through.

Can a author have favorites among their characters and do you have them?

Sure. It’s who you’re in love with RIGHT NOW. In other words, who you’re writing. Right now I’m in love with Jayden and Dakota. Totally. Madly. Passionately. Next week, I’ll tell you that I’m in love with Hoss and Bradley, I bet…

If you were to be stranded on a small demi-planet, island, or god forbid LaGuardia in a snow storm, what books would you take to read or authors on your comfort list?

Oh, man. Bent by Sean Michael, Promises 2 by AE Via, The Stand by Stephen King, Dark Fall by Dean Koontz, anything by my wife, Julia Talbot.

How early in your life did you begin writing?

I wrote my first story at 2 ½ years old and I published my first story at 5 years old. A long time. 😉

Were you an early reader or were you read to and what childhood books had an impact on you as a child that you remember to this day and why?

I was reading by 18 months. I am a voracious reader and I read every day. Grins My favorite books as a little one were Little Women by Alcott and What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge. I wanted to be Jo March when I grew up (and weirdly, my wife would tell you it happened).

What question would you ask yourself here?

Are you the happiest girl alive? Answer: Hell, yeah.

If you were writing your life as a romance novel, what would the title be?

Patience and Tequila. 😀

Much love, y’all,

Old Town New Blurb

Danny Avers is a teacher in small town Colorado. Back in the day, before high-speed Internet, social media, smartphones, or streaming anything, Danny’s just trying to live down his wild teenage years and carry on the only way he knows how: one day at a time. The last person he expects to see back in town is Harlan Quinn, his old best friend and former consummate bad boy. And when he finds out Quinn is the new sheriff and his new neighbor, it’s even more of a shock.

Quinn knows there’s more to his old hometown than meets the eye. There’s more to Danny than old memories and quiet living too. But as in the past, stirring things up is Quinn’s specialty, and he sets out to do that, in more ways than one, pushing Danny to admit there’s more to life and that their old town just might manage to be new again. That’s if old town thinking doesn’t get them both killed.

Sales Links

Available April 20 from:

Dreamspinner Press | Amazon | All Romance Ebooks | Barnes and Noble

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About the Author

About BA Tortuga

Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds and her beloved wife, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.

Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery menages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head. Find her on the web at http://www.batortuga.com

A Stella Review: Old Town New by BA Tortuga

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

I always feel sorry when I have to write a bad review, this time more than ever cause it’s about BA Tortuga, an author I really like and whose style I enjoy so much. Problem is I had a very hard time reading this new book, Old Town New. At the end it simply didn’t work to me, at all. And I was surprised because the author has always been a winner for me.

I picked this story not just for the author but because from the blurb I understood it was a second chance at love story and I’m a fan of this kind of plot. I have to say I was soon caught up in the book. The author didn’t give me all the facts at the start of what Quinn and Danny experienced in their pasts. It was kept a welcomed mystery with well defined characters and likeable since their first introduction. Most of all adult characters with a baggage on their shoulders, not light ones, just how I like them to be.

Then I don’t know what happened, still something happened because they became boring, childish and unreal, all they did was having sex but believe me, the sex scenes were too many, and if I say so it means they really were too many.

What particularly I didn’t like were the dialogues, unbelievably unrealistics. I was reading them with my eyes wide open cause I was so shocked this was written by the same author who wrote The Term of Release or Ever the Same. The story had potential but it fell very pointless and repetitive.

I was able to finish Old Town New but it was a struggle, I didn’t DFN because I gave myself two duties when I review books, read them wholly and be honest. If it hadn’t been an ARC, I’m sure I wouldn’t have finished it.

The cover art by Anna Sikorska could have easily worked cause it’s well done, i like the colors and the font, but it’s appear false and it doesn’t respect how I picture Dan and Quinn in my mind.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

Ebook, 3rd Edition, 161 pages
Publication Date April 20th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press (first published 2006)
ISBN 163476823X(ISBN13: 9781634768238)
Edition Language English

A Stella Review: The Last Favor by Meg Harding

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Three years ago Andrew Wilson and Flynn Barnett were in a relationship, until Flynn made a mistake that nearly cost Andrew his life. Andrew walked away from the FBI, his home, and his partner, and started over back in Montreal, running a restaurant.

Fast forward to the present and Andrew is knee-deep in preparations for his sister’s wedding. When an ex-colleague calls to ask for one last favor, the last person he expects to walk through his door is Flynn, in need of a place to stay. Only thing is, Andrew can’t say no.

Two weeks of wedding hijinks bring back all the old feelings that have simmered below the surface. Caught in a cycle of fighting and making up, the two men try to figure out if there’s anything they can salvage. And even if there is, Andrew can’t be sure this time will be any different.

The Last Favor was my first book by Meg Harding and overall it was good reading. Being a fan of second chance at love stories, I couldn’t miss this novella, plus I’m always looking for new to me authors.

The blurb tells you pretty much everything you need to know so I’m not going to linger on the plot more.

First of all what I liked: the secondary characters were the winners for me, I like big families like the one of Andrew’s, and in the chaos the preparations for his sister’s wedding, they were crazy, frenetic and a little protective and meddlers, just how I like families to be.

I liked how the author laid out the starting part, showing me how Andrew and Flynn met, how they were close in their relationship, and how this ended and why. It gave me all the facts soon, allowing me to make up my own mind on the characters. At the same time I saw their mistakes and their stupidity. Let’s be honest, Andrew is forty but a little childish, he should have approached the situation that led them to the end of their relationship (but not of their love) in a different way and not leave Flynn with nothing said.

What I didn’t like: first of all the verbal form, I often had issues with the use of the present, in this case especially it put a stop to my reading, a slowness that left me not so convinced of the whole story. At times I was a little bored too. Moreover IMO this novella needed to be more engaging, I wanted more of them together and alone. I wanted more explanations between them because at the end they overcame three years apart without even a deep chat. It basically misses a good tempo.

Still, I found The Last Favor a good story and I’ll surely read more of this author works. Something in the style caught my attention.

The cover art by Bree Archer is well done and so bright it showed me hope.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 124 pages
Published April 6th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634772490 (ISBN13: 9781634772495)
Edition LanguageEnglish

Early Morning Coffee Sip and Book Break: A.M. Leibowitz ‘What Once Was Lost’ (excerpt and giveaway)

What Once Was Lost by A.M. Leibowitz
Release Date: March 11, 2016

Goodreads
Publisher: MLR Press
Cover Artist: Jared Rackler

Blurb

Following a volatile break-up with his partner, Casey has been raising his son, Ryan, mostly on his own. While Ryan is on a camping trip in the Adirondacks, Casey and Brook make another attempt to work through their differences, with disastrous results. But when Ryan and his friend disappear in the mountains, Casey and Brook travel together to find him. The tension leads to an opportunity to listen to each other, reconcile their history, and recover the love they once shared.

Pages or Words: 21,000 words
Categories: Contemporary, M/M Romance

Excerpt

It couldn’t be real. It was a vision or a nightmare or maybe stress-related, but that could not possibly be his former lover standing on the porch with his hand raised to press the bell again. That was not the man who continued to haunt both his dreams and his nightmares. He shuddered; the previous night’s mental sleep wanderings had been a horrifying mix of erotic and sorrowful, and he wasn’t in a hurry to relive them in the flesh. In confusion, Casey slammed the door shut.

“Open the damn door, Case,” the man on the other side said.

Casey growled and opened it again. “What the hell are you doing here, Brook?”

“I came to get my kid for the weekend because you failed to drop him off.”

“We talked about this weeks ago.” Casey glared at Brook. “Ryan’s going camping with Annie, Chuck, and their kids. You knew about this.”

“Maybe I decided the answer is no.” Brook crossed his arms. “You never gave me the choice–you just told me what was going on, same as always. I’d like a say in what happens this time.”

“Not gonna happen. Also, you have no business showing up at my door. We agreed to a neutral location for a reason.”

“Oh, right, because we couldn’t stop pissing each other off every time we were together. I’m glad to see you’ve gained some maturity since then,” Brook shot back.

No, you ass, Casey thought. It’s because if I let you in my house, and you begged to stay, I’d have taken you back and gotten my heart crushed again. “Go home,” he said. He made to close the door again.

Brook blocked it with his foot. “He’s my kid too. I should’ve had a say in it. This is my weekend.”

“First of all, he’s not yours in any legal sense. Second, you lost the right to have a say the minute you fucked someone else in our bed.”

Brook’s mouth dropped open, and his eyes flicked to the stairs behind Casey. When Casey turned his head to follow Brook’s gaze, he sighed. Ryan was standing in the middle of the staircase, staring at them. His mouth was set in a thin line, and he had a deep scowl.

“Ry, I’m sorry,” Casey said. “You don’t need—”

“I don’t need what?” Ryan asked, crossing his arms. “The truth? Is that why Pop left?”

Both men were silent, but from the look on Ryan’s face, neither of them had to say anything else. Ryan scoffed and turned around to thunder back up the stairs.

“Charming as always, I see,” Brook said.

“Fuck off. I didn’t invite you here today. You showed up unannounced right before Ry’s weekend trip. But hey, I guess you don’t care whether you ruin it for him. Kind of like everything else.”

“God, I forgot what a whiny ass you are,” Brook said, sneering.

Casey wanted to punch him, but that wouldn’t do anything to improve things with Ryan. “Look, this isn’t the time. You want to have some drawn-out argument where we both accuse each other of random shit from the whole span of our relationship? Great. I’ll pencil you in for noon tomorrow, when my son is happily off in the woods with his best friend’s family. Until then, get the hell off my porch.”

Buy the book

MLR Press | Amazon | ARe | Barnes&Noble | Kobo

Meet the author:

A.M. Leibowitz is a queer spouse, parent, feminist, and book-lover falling somewhere on the Geek-Nerd Spectrum. Ze keeps warm through the long, cold western New York winters by writing about life, relationships, hope, and happy-for-now endings. In between noveling and editing, ze blogs coffee-fueled, quirky commentary on faith, culture, writing, books, and hir family.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amymitchell29
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/UnchainedFaith
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amyunchained (@amyunchained)
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/amyunchained/
Web site: http://amleibowitz.com
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00OIC158W (A. M. Leibowitz)
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/AMLeibowitz

Tour Dates & Stops:

Parker Williams, Divine Magazine, My Fiction Nook, Oh My Shelves, BFD Book Blog, Bayou Book Junkie,

Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, The Jena Wade, Kirsty Loves Books, Alpha Book Club, Unquietly Me,

Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, MM Good Book Reviews, Happily Ever Chapter, Mikky’s World of Books,

Nautical Star Books, Making It Happen, Full Moon Dreaming, Molly Lolly, Three Books Over The Rainbow,

Velvet Panic, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Outrageous Heroes, Louise Lyons, Dawn’s Reading Nook

Giveaway

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A Jeri Review: Close to You (Sunshine and Happiness #3) by Skylar M. Cates

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

It’s hard to recover from a first love. Some people never do.

How hard would you fight to keep your best friend? Marc Lucas and Tomas Santos have been best friends forever, but now their friendship is in a crisis. When they were boys, betrayals ripped their world apart. They thought it was fixed, but some parts remained broken. Ever since he saved him from a humiliation at school, Marc has loved Tomas. The last thing he expects is for Tomas to love him back. To keep his best friend, Marc revisits an abusive past he’s tried to forget.

For Tomas, loving Marc has been anything but easy. His upbringing told him it was wrong, so why did it feel so right? Accepting who he is as an adult, Tomas decides he needs a committed relationship. To his deep sorrow, he can’t seem to find it with Marc.

When the two find themselves alone and in the grip of a hurricane, long-buried feelings emerge. Being “just friends” is no longer an option. They must risk it all on love.

I read the first book in this series, somehow missed the second and now this is the third. I definitely want to go back and read the second to fill in some of the blanks.

Marc and Tomas had very different upbringing, but they became unlikely friends. When Tomas realizes the abuse going on in Marc’s home he broke his friends trust by asking his grandfather for help. But he ended up betraying his only friend and losing him.

Although they lost touch for years, they never forgot each other. As an adult, Tomas seeks Marc out. To explain what happened and to hopefully get his friend back. They become roommates and tentative friends, but Marc can’t forget what happened. In a half hearted attempt to spare Marc’s feelings, Tomas moves out. But with mutual friends, they often see each other. And the feelings between them grow.

This story broke my heart. I could feel and understand how betrayed Marc felt, but I could also completely understand how Tomas was trying to help.

The closeness and connection between them was evident. From Tomas immediately calling Marc for help and Marc dropping what he was doing to offer that help.

One man with a very religious background and one man with little understanding of love, trust and loyalty. As adults they begin to evolve and grow together. And they finally understand and accept what happened when they were teens.

The author does an excellent job of maintaining side characters so that you want to read the next story to see what happens with them.

Although the story needed the background of their childhoods, I would have liked it more if the childhood story was told all at once and not in a series of flash backs. This created a bit of a disconnect for me and I would have been more invested in the story if I knew the whole background up front instead of thinking Marc being a jerk and then finding out why. Or that Tomas was tentative and stand offish without knowing his whole story.

Still a good book, but I would recommend starting with book 1 and reading in order.

Cover art by AngstyG. Love the beach background on the cover, but the models were a bit too generic and similar.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 248 pages
Published March 28th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634771362 (ISBN13: 9781634771368)
Edition LanguageEnglishSeries Sunshine and Happiness

Here For You (Sunshine and Happiness #1)

Lovers, Losers, and You (Sunshine and Happiness, #2)

Close to You (Sunshine and Happiness, #3)

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review:How the Cookie Crumbles (Bluewater Bay #12) by Jaime Samms

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Frederic Jackson pulls up roots and moves to Bluewater Bay after losing first place on a reality TV cooking show. Frederic is a baker, taught by his gran, but with a natural talent for creating perfect pastries. He was on track to win the show, but the show’s producer, Blaire Caruthers, the man who Frederic fell head-over-heels for, fixed the win in favor of the hot little twink who stole Blaire from Frederic before the two could even get started. The potential for scandal was squashed with money from Blaire’s father, who owns the production company. Frederic used part of the money to buy the bakery, with its barely working equipment, and part to settle medical bills for his alcoholic father.

A few months later, Blaire shows up in Bluewater Bay ostensibly to work on marketing and promotion of merchandise for the Wolf’s Landing TV show. But in reality, he wants to win Frederic back, and he deeply regrets his stupidity with Jerry, the twink who won the competition. What he doesn’t know is that winning the show would have gotten Frederic all the equipment he needed to operate the bakery. He really didn’t want the cash because he knew his father would tap him for part of it and that proved to be true. Now Blaire has the nerve to make overtures to him again? No way!

But fate has something else in store for the men and as they realize how much they’ve each changed, and new people and circumstances combine to keep throwing them together. There might be a way for them to find happiness after all.

I really enjoyed this story. I like the way the author built on the existing Bluewater Bay series concept but took it much further to develop a completely separate story which works fine as a standalone.

The characters were three-dimensional and flawed but just perfect together. Frederic’s workaholism, in combination with the emotional tug of war with his father, brought him to a personal health crisis that was both unique and believable. Blaire’s need to separate from his own father, both emotionally and as an employee, was very evident but proved to be a difficult struggle. His growth and maturity and his desire to find the freedom in creativity that he had craved for years finally overcame his fear of failure and of disappointing his father. The strength he found to make that break and the compassion and love he bestowed on Frederic were just the perfect mix to make this old heart swoon for Blaire and rejoice when he and Frederic finally found their way back to each other.

I very definitely recommend this story to all lovers of MM romance, especially to those who love an enemies to lovers, a hurt-comfort, or a lovers reunited theme.

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Cover Art by L.C. Chase depicts a handsome man in a suit staring back at a young man sitting alone on a pier. This is the perfect representation of Blaire and Frederic.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 345 pages
Published February 13th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitleHow the Cookie Crumbles
ISBN 162649388X (ISBN13: 9781626493889)
Edition LanguageEnglish
URLhttp://riptidepublishing.com/titles/how-the-cookie-crumbles

Series: Bluewater Bay

Books in this Universe include with links to our reviews:

Starstruck (Bluewater Bay #1) by L.A. Witt
There’s Something About Ari (Bluewater Bay #2) by L.B. Gregg
Hell on Wheels (Bluewater Bay #3) by Z.A. Maxfield
Lone Wolf (Bluewater Bay #4) by Aleksandr Voinov
The Burnt Toast B&B (Bluewater Bay #5) by Heidi Belleau & Rachel Haimowitz
Lights, Camera, Cupid (A Bluewater Bay Valentine’s Day Anthology; Bluewater Bay #6)
Wedding Favors (Bluewater Bay, #7) by Anne Tenino
The Deep of the Sound (Bluewater Bay, #8) by Amy Lane
When to Hold Them (Bluewater Bay, #9) by G.B. Gordon
Rain Shadow (Bluewater Bay, #10) by L.A. Witt
Stuck Landing (Bluewater Bay, #11) by Lauren Gallagher
How the Cookie Crumbles (Bluewater Bay, #12) by Jaime Samms
Selfie (Bluewater Bay, #13) by Amy Lane

In Our Author Spotlight: Ava Hayden and her latest story ‘Table for One’ (guest blog)

Table for One by Ava Hayden
Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist Anna Sikorska

Sales Links

Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Ava Hayden here today to talk about her latest story, Table for One, and share with our readers a bit of the background into the plot and storyline. Welcome, Ava!

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In “Table for One” I wanted to throw a big plot complication at Nick. Oilton, Alberta is a made-up place, but there’s one thing you can count on anywhere in Alberta in winter—snow.

Not that we can’t handle it—snow falling at a reasonable pace, that is, with plenty of time for plowing. When it arrives all at once—life gets complicated. I’d been living in Alberta three months when the worst snowstorm in 113 years hit on St. Patrick’s Day. I was at the airport, ready to fly to Vancouver for business. When the airlines cancelled a few flights and marked some delayed, it didn’t seem unusual—not at first. Traveling in snow is a fact of life here. Plenty of passengers assumed these were temporary annoyances—a little runway plowing, some de-icing, and no worries. The airline’s staff was playing coy.

The problem with having to make decisions in a hundred-year snowstorm is you don’t know it’s a hundred-year snowstorm until it’s over and the CBC is broadcasting videos and statistics. When my flight was cancelled, my gut told me not to join the line of people at the gate hoping to go standby on the next flight. Instead, I made a quick call to my Vancouver customer and headed for the cabstand as fast as I could.

Road conditions were already horrible. The trip took five times longer than usual. The worst moment occurred when the taxi was fighting for traction to climb a hill. A pickup hauling a refrigerator ahead of us began sliding backwards, and for a few seconds, the taxi driver and I both had no doubt that we were about to be squashed under a Kenmore. (We weren’t. Barely.)

Take one blizzard, add an eight-months-missing-in-action-without-a-word-of-explanation ex-lover seated at a table for two in Nick’s section, and it’s a Valentine’s Day he’ll never forget.

About Table for One

Nick DiGiaccomo waits tables at Fortissimo, an exclusive restaurant in Oilton, Alberta. He loathes drama, particularly the kind that makes its appearance on Valentine’s Day.

This Valentine’s Day is especially bitter. Eight months ago Nick’s heart was broken when his lover walked away without a word over a misunderstanding. Too proud to call, Nick’s heard nothing from him since. But on this, the most romantic day of the year, he keeps his feelings well-hidden and his professional smile firmly in place.

That is, until he sees his ex-lover, Mark Mishimoto, at a table for two in his section—and his Valentine’s Day goes from bad to downright horrible.

To make matters worse, a winter storm descends, hours earlier than forecast. When the restaurant closes, Nick finds himself stuck downtown in the middle of a blizzard with no way to get home and nowhere to go. Mark lives conveniently close by, and he’s offering up his couch. Nick could use a place to lay his head—but is it worth risking his heart?

Categories : Daydreams, Contemporary, Holiday. Gay Fiction

About the Author

Ava Hayden lives and writes in western Canada but grew up in the southern United States. She comes from a family of storytellers and began creating her own at an early age. She’s still telling stories, but now she writes them down.

A Stella Advent Story Review: Unto Us the Time Has Come by Sean Michael

Rating: 4,5 out of 5 stars

Last Christmas, Kenn Greyson gave husband Chris Martenson an ultimatum—spend more time with the family or we’re leaving. He never expected Chris’s reply would be “then leave,” but that’s exactly what happened, and Boxing Day took on a whole new meaning.

Separated for nearly a year now, both men are miserable apart and coping the best they can for the kids’ sake. With Christmas just around the corner, a new conflict arises: neither man is willing to forego Christmas morning with their children. Chris finally suggests they spend the holiday together at the house and, to his shock, Kenn agrees.

Armed with the knowledge that he’s been a stubborn idiot, but that perhaps he can change and begin to repair their relationship, Chris takes steps to win his husband back. He just hopes he can get Kenn on the same page before Santa comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2015 Advent Calendar package “Sleigh Ride”

Sean Michael is the author I go when I need some sweetness and cuddles in my reading time. He never disappoint me. Especially in his stories featuring children. I’m a sucker for those ones. So you can guess how happy I was when I finished this DSP Advent Calendar short called Unto Us The Time Has Come.

It is a second chance at love story with an established couple, Kenn and Chris, who just spent the last year being apart, but they are still deep in love. Christmas is around the corner and they need to spend it together, for their children’s sake. Moreover it’s time for them to pull their heads from their asses and understand being apart is just making them miserable.

Yes, I love Sean Michael books. His stories are all easy to read, full of emotions and always full of steamy sex. I can’t ask for more. And this story is the reason why I keep being hungry for more of his work. It is a short but it lacked of nothing, especially in the good feelings.

I like the cover art by Catt Ford very much.

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

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 59 pages
Published November 30th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ASINB018RSHBOE
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesSleigh Ride – 2015 Advent Calendar

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Author Special: April Kelly on Writing & Real LIfe and her Book ‘Coming Back Home’ (excerpt and giveaway)

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We are happy to welcome April Kelley here today. April Kelley is the author of the popular Pickelville series and is here to talk writing and her latest release, Coming Back Home.

Writing When Real Life Creeps In by April Kelley

The past couple weeks have been the hardest I’ve had to go through in a long time. My Grandfather got seriously ill and was in the hospital. He passed away just a few days ago. My whole family was at the hospital the entire week being with him through it all. There was no doubt in my mind that the man who helped raise me was loved. I think it goes without saying that I will miss him more with each passing day.

Sadly, my family started arguing and feelings were hurt. Maybe it was the stress of the situation or the fact that we all were in such close quarters for an entire week. Whatever the reason, the arguing just made the whole thing that much worse and caused some irreversible damage to our relationships with each other.

All this made it impossible to work on my usual stories. As someone who writes full time, this is a huge problem. A problem that needs to be solved quickly.

So what did I do?

I wrote something else. Not the paranormal story I was working on before Grandpa went into the hospital. My emotions were to all over the place for that story. All my fabulous readers can tell you I very rarely write angsty stuff. If it’s in a story it’s brief. I’m all about the romance. But my normal was disturbed and I just couldn’t seem to get in the right frame of mind. So I started writing something else. I’m a few pages into a story called 27 Lies My Mother Told Me. It’s complete fiction but it’s helping me work through all those emotions of the past week. It’s also completely different than anything I’ve written so far. I had an idea for the story months ago, but it seems the characters want to take it in a different direction.

So I added a fourth story to my list of things to write, but this one I’m writing during those particular times when the stress seems unbearable. After all, writing is therapeutic all by itself. I might as well use it to de-stress and work through whatever emotions I’m feeling to get to a better place.

Title: Coming Back Home
Series: Pickelville

Author: April Kelley
Publisher: Extasy Books
Cover Artist: Carmen Waters

Length: 31,435 words
Release Date: October 15, 2015

Blurb

One huge fight changed Seth’s life forever.

Seth Murray just might be the most stubborn man on the face of this plant. He refused to move back to Pickleville because of one fight with his father. That is until he gets a call saying that his dad has passed away suddenly. The first person Seth thinks about is the one man he gave up because of his stubborn pride. Five years ago, all Seth wanted was to be with Carter. Now he doesn’t know what he wants. And Carter has his own life. One that Seth certainly didn’t see coming when he finally reconnects with the man again. One that revolves around a certain blonde haired, blue-eyed little girl that completely melts Seth’s heart the minute he meets her.

Excerpt

Seth knew Carter saw him. How could he not. Carter walked right passed him into the horse barn like Seth had been invisible, though. Seth followed him in and stood there for a second watching Carter go into the tack room. Seth followed him in and then closed the door after him, plunging them both into darkness.

“Open the door, Seth.”

“No.”

“Then at least turn on the light.”

“No, I like it this way.” It made the conversation they needed to have that much easier. Still scared the crap out of him though, not that he would be admitting that anytime soon to anyone.

“Seth.”

“I’ll turn on the light when you tell me what your problem is.”

“I don’t have a problem. Now, turn on the light before you trip over something.”

“Right, like you’re really worried about my wellbeing at the moment.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Well, it’s a little too late for that, now isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the way you’ve been treating me. Like I have the damn plague or something.”

He heard Carter sigh. “Seth, please. Just open the door so I can do my job.”

“The sooner you tell me what your problem is, the sooner I let you out.”

“I can physically remove you from in front of that door.”

Seth narrowed his eyes. Logically, he knew Carter couldn’t see him, but he didn’t care at the moment. Seth didn’t say anything. The more he talked the more Carter wanted to argue about everything, but the real problem. Instead, he decided to wait Carter out.

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eXtasy Books

AboutTheAuthor

Living in Southwest Michigan, April resides with her husband and two kids. She has been an avid reader for several years. Writing her first story at the age of ten, the characters in her head still won’t stop telling their stories. If April isn’t reading or writing she can be found outside playing with the animals or taking a long walk in the woods.

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