Tag: Romance

Love Gets a Shakeup with ‘6 Days to get Lucky’ by LE Franks (guest interview, excerpt and giveaway

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6 Days to Get Lucky (A Nick Valentine Story#2) by LE Franks
 Release Date: March 2, 2016

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Cover Artist: Wilde City Press

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing LE Franks author of 6 Days to Get Lucky. Hi LE thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

  • Tell us something no one else knows about your characters.

Davis “FatBoy” Newman was never supposed to ‘get the guy’. It really was his cousin Cameron in the first book – 6 Days to Get Valentine. He was only supposed to be the bouncer who set us his cousin. Apparently FatBoy had other ideas and the rest is history.

  • Have you ever written something that made you cry?

I have. Mostly I’ll just get a bit emotional during some dialog when it usually strikes.

  • Have you ever co-written with someone before?

I have. Sara York has been kind enough to share her talents in that arena on several occasions. (She’s pretty awesome, by the way).

  • What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

Time management. This year I’m keeping my obligations a little looser to allow for more fun and less stress while writing.

  • Name your four most important food groups.

I’m a lacto-vegetarian so you can probably guess. But during the dark of the night, when I’m writing to a deadline all healthy choices go out the window. So here are the four most important food groups while writing, arrayed in a semi circle around my laptop:

A) COFFEEEEEEEEEE
B) Diet Dr. Pepper

C) Hot Tamales/Mike & Ikes

D) Crunchy/Salty – [Kettle Brand Jalapeno Potato Chips / Cheetos/

Blurb

Mixologist Nick Valentine never thought love was in the cards, but after a scorching Valentine’s Day kiss from bouncer Davis “FatBoy” Newman, he’s beginning to think it’s possible. After four weeks of dry spell, Nick’s losing patience—it’s time FatBoy stop acting the gentleman and just throw him over the bar or Nick may just change his mind.

All FatBoy wants is a shot at winning Nick’s heart. As long as meddling bosses, an Irish hurling team and a bar riot don’t ruin his chances forever, he might just get lucky and take the man of his dreams, home.

 

Pages or Words: 72,000 words
Series should be read in order for maximum enjoyment
 Categories: Contemporary, Gay Fiction, Humor, M/M Romance, Romance

Excerpt

Reaching across the empty bed next to me, I rode out the last waves of my dream alone. I could still feel his phantom kiss on my lips and the sensation of a hand stroking along my thigh.

The rest of it was just a blur of emotions and sticky residue on my sheets—though I could guess at it without much effort. FatBoy Newman had been a specter haunting me at work so it was no great leap to assume he’d shouldered his way into my dreams as well.

In fact, he was at the root of my problem: I’d been having a hell of a dry spell.

Four weeks of near misses had done nothing but stoke my bad mood and turn my balls a lovely shade of indigo that matched my jeans…

Four weeks of dashed hopes…

Four weeks since the most romantic kiss of my life…

Four weeks of nothing.

Fuck the South and its mythology of the Southern Gentleman—if FatBoy Newman didn’t stop treating me like a delicate flower and throw me up against a wall soon, I was going to explode.

It was six days until St. Patrick’s Day, and FatBoy had until then to make his move, or I was moving on.

Buy the book:

Amazon | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | ARe | Wilde City Press

 

 

 

Meet the Author

LE Franks lives in the SF Bay area and writes M/M Romance in a unique mix of humor and drama with enough suspense to produce fast paced stories filled with emotion and passion and featuring characters that are quirky and complicated and sometimes a little bit dark. LE Franks is a best selling author and finalist for 2013 & 2014 Rainbow Awards. Her books are available through her publishers at MLR Press, Dreamspinner Press and Wilde City Press and Pride Publishing and online bookstores.

Where to find the author:

 

 


BannerTemplate Tour Dates & Stops:

7-Mar: My Fiction Nook, Book Lovers 4Ever, BFD Book Blog, Happily Ever Chapter

8-Mar: Bayou Book Junkie, Alpha Book Club, MM Good Book Reviews, Love Bytes

9-Mar:: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, V’s Reads, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Jessie G. Books, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy, Open Skye Book Reviews

10-Mar: A.M. Leibowitz, Divine Magazine, Molly Lolly

11-Mar: Full Moon Dreaming, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Havan Fellows, Inked Rainbow Reads

 Final

Giveaway

Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: 6 Days to Valentine e-book & $5 Wilde City gift card for three total winner.

 

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A Lila Review: Ravenhearth by Lotus Oakes‏

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

RavenhearthEvery ten years, a letter arrives at Ravenhearth’s Abby requesting a companion for the town’s Keeper– a powerful mage that keeps the town safe from a deadly miasma. His only request is that the person comes willingly into the castle.

 Ten years before, Ash touched the last letter and felt the need to learn more about it. Over the years, he did nothing more than to survive in hopes to have a chance to be the next companion. When the next letter arrives, he’s the first one to volunteer to be sent to Ravenhearth’s Keeper.

 He’s a twenty-one-year-old orphan, interested in learning magic, and volunteering is his only chance to achieve his dream. He loved the town he moved in with his mother sixteen years ago, but he doesn’t have anything left holding him back. After convincing the Council about his desire to be the Keeper’s companion, they agreed, and a week later, Giles, the castle’s butler comes for him.

 The rest of the story takes place at the castle and expands about a year. During this time, Ash meets several characters that would play an important role in his life. He learns more about himself and the real reasons he is drawn towards magic. And he does all this under Giles’s guidance. In the end, Ash’s dreams come true, and he gets his HEA.

 Ravehearth is a novel that has the potential to be considered high fantasy if push further than its romance element. The world the author created is flexible enough to house multiple stories in its different cities. The diversity of the cast, their gifts, and their personality give this story the possibilities to being remarkable.

 We get little background information about the miasma, the magic, the mimics, the clockwork, and the world itself. Enough to feel comfortable with the things happening around the MCs, but not enough to be invested in anything else than the possibilities of a relationship between Ash and Giles or Ash and the Keeper.

 Ash life hasn’t been easy since the passing of his mother, but from an early age, he felt the calling to become the Keeper’s companion. We see him struggle with his decision and what he found when he arrives at the castle. He is a loving character that will steal a piece of your heart.

 The limitations of Ash’s POV made connecting with the other characters difficult. The readers want him to get happiness, but we don’t have a way to know if what’s happening in the castle would be enough to fulfill Ash’s expectations. I’d had like to read Giles’s POV or perhaps to have the Keeper as an omniscient narrator.

The beginning and the end of the story moves at a steady pace, but the middle drags with nothing more than Ash’s musings and dreams. Very sexy dreams, but not enough to take the plot forward. The story line is predictable, but even so, it was engaging enough to keep reading. And the magic studies are nothing more than a footnote to the story. We get more details about plants and food that the magic lessons.

 This story has great potential, but it felt short in its current incarnation.

 The cover, by Kirby Crow, shows Ash looking towards the Ravenhearth castle– the miasma visible between them– matching one of the scenes in the story.

 Sale Links: Less Than Three Press | Amazon | ARe

 Book Details:

ebook, 204 pages
Published: February 17, 2016, by Less Than Three Press
ISBN: 9781620047149
Edition Language: English

Enter the World of Hurri Cosmos’ ‘Then Sawyer Happened’ (excerpt and giveaway)

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 Then Sawyer Happened by Hurri Cosmo
 Release Date: March 8, 2016

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Dark Hollows Press
Cover Artist: Eden Connors

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Hurri Cosmo here today to share something about her new novel, Then Sawyer Happened.  Welcome, Hurri.

Hurri1

Let’s visit Riven Creek Ranch!

The main ranch house was first built in 1809 but has since been totally rebuilt, expanded and updated. It now boasts six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a large commercial kitchen, a beautiful patio, and meticulously maintained gardens. It has been under the Riven family name for generations.Hurri2

The first meeting between Sawyer and Trace takes place in the very pristine Riven Creek Ranch kitchen. Trace is familiar with the kitchen itself but was never made to do chores in it. Cooking and cleaning were not his thing. However, Sawyer is all about making his ranch hands as comfortable and happy as possible and that means big breakfasts and healthy lunches. Since it’s the only kitchen in the main ranch house, Sawyer Hurri3definitely frowned on the fact Trace accidentally tried to burn it down.

The main barn is a masterpiece of perfection. Sawyer is meticulous when it comes to preserving the Hurri4immaculate interior and exterior so the horses have the best possible living quarters in order to foal.

Sawyer’s manager’s cabin is also under the wing of perfect upkeep. Even though Sawyer finds himself really only sleeping here, it still reflects Sawyer’s dedication to detail and his Hurri6management style of the ranch. He is not about to allow there to be any flaws in things easily managed.Hurri5

Blurb

Trace is nursing a broken heart. He lost his job, his boyfriend of two years was cheating on him, and his apartment building burned right to the ground with all his worldly possessions. It was time for Trace to get out of Minnesota.

So Trace heads for Texas and Riven Creek Ranch, the horse farm his aunt Lois owns. But hours before he arrives, Lois is in a terrible car accident that nearly takes her life, and Trace finds himself in charge of the ranch kitchen. Sounds simple enough and it’s the least he can do for his recuperating aunt.

Then Sawyer happens.

Sawyer is his aunt’s big, beautiful, muscle bound, incredibly sexy straight ranch manager. Someone who has no clue Trace is gay. And meeting the big man should have been okay, except it was in the middle of his aunt’s kitchen at five in the morning and Trace was nearly naked. Embarrassing? Yep. But the very next day Trace proceeded to ramp up his embarrassment by quantum leaps when he nearly sets his aunt’s house on fire and the brooding Sawyer has to come to the rescue.

Seems like Trace’s “luck” followed him.

Not to mention that Aunt Lois’s “accident” was actually attempted murder. And now, they just might want Trace dead, too.

Can Trace figure out who’s behind the attempts on his aunt’s life AND keep Sawyer from finding out he’s hot for the cowboy?

He probably can’t. But he’s going to try.

Pages or Words: 60,000 words

Categories: Contemporary, Crime Fiction, Erotica, Fiction, Gay Fiction, Humor, M/M Romance, Mystery, Romance, Thriller, Western/Cowboy

Excerpt:

“Sawyer! Damn. You scared me.” Trace fell back against the freezer suddenly feeling light headed. He took in the big body blocking any escape he had and his cock twitched as if it liked the idea there was no way out. “I didn’t hear you… behind me.”

“I saw your car in the driveway. How’s Lois?”

Trace shook his head in an attempt to clear it. “She’s awake and very alert… but…” But someone wants her dead. Who? Someone on this ranch? Could it be Sawyer? I trust him with my life… That’s what she said.

“But what?”

Trace looked up into hard cold eyes. The question was genuine. He cared about the condition of his aunt. But what condition did he care her to be in? “Nothing… just… well… I guess you’re going to have to know… I mean…” Damn, he had to stop acting like a horny teenager in front of this man. “Let me… I’m going to make coffee…”

“It’s made. The big insulated urn on the counter is full. Just made it about a half hour ago so it’s fine.”

“Oh. Good. Let’s sit down. I need to sit down.” Trace took a few steps forward which brought him right in front of the cowboy. He expected Sawyer to move, to back up, but he didn’t. Then Trace did the unthinkable. His body reacted on its own as he put his hand on the big man’s chest and pushed. There would have been no way on God’s green earth he would have been able to physically move the cowboy without his express permission, not to mention help. But Trace’s brain seemed to totally malfunction in this man’s presence.

And, as expected, being pushed in any direction was never going to work for Sawyer. Sawyer grabbed his wrist, twisted it tight behind Trace, which brought Trace up solid, against Sawyer’s hard body, chest to chest. Being several inches taller, Sawyer glared down into Trace’s shocked face, a smoldering look in his eyes. Trace could feel Sawyer’s hot breath on his face, sense the man’s tense muscles from his pecs down through his thighs…

Buy the book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CKN49S8</a>

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/620302</a>

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Meet the Author

Hurri Cosmo lives in Minnesota where she holds tight to the idea that there, where it’s cold a good part of the year, she won’t age as fast. Yep, she avoids the truth as much as she avoids mirrors. But one of the reasons she loves writing is reality doesn’t always offer up a “happily ever after” and being able to take control of that is a powerful lure. Being a happy ending junkie, writing just makes them easier to find. Oh, she doesn’t mind “real life” and she does try to at least keep it in mind when she writes her stories, but she truly loves creating a wonderful couple, knowing they will fall in love and have their HEA. Every – single – time. And, of course, that is exactly the reason she loves reading this genre, too. Give her a glass of red wine, some dark chocolate, and her computer, whether she is reading or writing, and she will entertain herself for hours. The fact she actually gets paid to do it is Snickers bars on the frosting on the cake.

Where to find the author:

Other books by Hurri Cosmo:

Until You

I Believe Now

How West Was Won

The Superior Jewel

Ice Dragon Tales (contains the first two books in the series, The Servant Prince and The Servant King)

The One

Forgetting Yesterday

Saving Jack

Talasar’s Elixir (Book one in the Dragon for Hire series)

Amber Moon (Part of the Intoxicating Fantasies series)

Chase and Capture

Baby, Think it Over

the Door Keeper

Ladders

A Place to Belong

The Neighbors – A Vampire Story

Mates, Inc

Hyden’s Law (A free download!)

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Tour Dates & Stops:

8-Mar

Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Alpha Book Club

9-Mar

Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy, Bonkers About Books, Book Lovers 4Ever

10-Mar

Jessie G. Books, Love Bytes

11-Mar

Happily Ever Chapter, Molly Lolly

14-Mar

My Fiction Nook, Divine Magazine, Making It Happen

15-Mar

A.M. Leibowitz, Havan Fellows, Rednecks and Romance, BFD Book Blog

16-Mar

V’s Reads, Butterfly-O-Meter, Attention Is Arbitrary

17-Mar

Bayou Book Junkie, Open Skye Book Reviews

18-Mar

Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance

21-Mar

Full Moon Dreaming, MM Good Book Reviews, Inked Rainbow Reads, Outrageous Heroes

Final

Giveaway

Enter to win.  Must be 18 years of age or older.

 

 

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Its a Cocktail of Love with Dirty Martini 2: The Screwdriver by G.R. George (Renee George) (giveaway)

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Dirty Martini 2: The Screwdriver (The Other Team #8)
Author Name: G.R. George/Renee George
 Release Date: March 7, 2016

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/Renee_George
Publisher: Book Boutique
Cover Artist: Renee George

 

Blurb

Marty Lincoln and Chris Lawson are only happy when they’re in each other’s arms. Unfortunately, their relationship remains long-distance as Marty completes his final months in the Army. Chris has a new and challenging job that keeps him busy, but he yearns every day for Marty. Marty suffers from PTSD and needs Chris as his anchor. Time apart feeds the doubts each man harbors as they deal with their tragic pasts and try to hold on to the love blooming between them. Will fear make them give up before they even get started? Or will love find a way?

 

Pages or Words: 76 pages, 19,000 words
This book should be read after Dirty Martini, but it is suggested that the series be read in order as character recur throughout.
 Categories: Contemporary, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

Excerpt

Mid-August…

Marty pulled up into the parking lot of Chris’s apartment complex in his mid-sized rental car. The evening heat and humidity clung to his skin. He and Chris had talked at least three times a week since that first phone call a month earlier, but he’d really wanted to see the man again. They’d decided to meet up on Chris’s first weekend off since becoming day manager at the bar. Marty had the jitters. What if they didn’t have the same chemistry? The same spark? All their intimacies since June had been via phone.

Chris had suggested video chat, but Marty had been too much of a chicken. Living in the military made a man paranoid about privacy. He pulled his tee shirt at the collar to let in some air, mustering his courage. The heat exacerbated the oily scent of the recently tarred parking lot. He smiled, remembering the choice words Chris had about the tar sticking to his tires. The outside steps leading to the second floor were concrete. Marty gripped the metal railing. His leg ached as he walked the flight to apartment 3B.

He bit his upper lip, running his fingers through his hair, as he stood at the door. His stomach ached with a misery born of anticipation and fear. His impulse was to bang down the door, but instead, he simply knocked. Twice.

The door opened. Chris smiled. “You made it.” Chris wore a kiwi-green tee shirt that brightened the green in his hazel eyes and a pair of low-slung jeans that hugged his narrow hips. His chestnut hair was neatly combed, and his narrow, angular face was clean shaven.

“You look nice,” Marty said.

Chris stepped back inside his apartment. “Come in. You’ve had a long trip. The bathroom is the door across the way.” There were two doors off the living room. Chris pointed the nearest one. “If you need to use it.”

“I’m fine,” Marty said. The living room and kitchen were combined in the small apartment. Chris had a blue couch, a coffee table, a recliner, and a small flat screen on a stand across the room from the couch in the living room. The kitchen had a three-by-three wooden table, four chairs, a fridge, dishwasher, sink, stove, and limited counter and cabinet space. The place wouldn’t win any decorating awards, but it was clean.

“Do you want to sit down?” Chris asked.

“Sure.” Marty felt let down by Chris’s mild reaction. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but this congenial greeting hadn’t been it. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too,” Chris said. “Can I get you a drink? Beer? Wine?”

“Sure. I’ll take whatever beer you have.” He watched Chris open the fridge and heard the telltale clinking of bottles.

Chris brought two beers into the living room. The bottles hissed as he popped the tops with an opener. He sat on the couch next to Marty. “Here you go.”

The cold bottle sweated against his hot, clammy hands. He swigged the beer, glad to have a reason not to talk for a moment. They’d talked so much on the phone over the past month that he’d assumed they’d never run out of things to say.

“So,” Chris said. “Long drive, huh?”

Wow, this conversation really was going nowhere. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Chris said. “Yes, of course. Why? Is everything okay with you?”

“Sure.” Marty scratched at the small hole near the knee of his jeans. “Good.” Why was this so goddamn hard? He turned to Chris and waited for Chris to meet his gaze.

They both laughed nervously.

“Maybe you should kiss me,” Marty said.

Buy the book: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA

Meet the Author

G.R. George is the pen name for USA Today Bestselling author Renee George’s GLBT urban fantasy, paranormal romance, erotic romance, contemporary romance, and romantic comedy books that highlight varying themes including ménage, gay and bisexual relationships. A published author since 2005, she has written and published over 30 books in the past decade. Accolades include: EcataRomance Award for Best Paranormal Erotic Romance and Best Gay Erotic Romance and a Literary Nymph Blush Award for Best Paranormal Romance.

Where to find the author:


Tour Dates & Stops:

Parker Williams, Divine Magazine, BFD Book Blog, Gay Media Reviews, Happily Ever Chapter,

Inked Rainbow Reads, Bayou Book Junkie, For the Love of Bookends, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words,

The Hat Party, A.M. Leibowitz, MM Good Book Reviews, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews,

Full Moon Dreaming, V’s Reads, Alpha Book Club, Open Skye Book Reviews, Attention Is Arbitrary,

Up All Night, Read All Day, The Jena Wade, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Charley Descoteaux,

Mikky’s World of Books, Outrageous Heroes, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews

Dirty Martini

Giveaway

Enter to win. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

 

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A MelanieM Review: Mantled In Mist (SoulShares #6) by Rory Ni Coileain

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Mantled in the MistIn the sixth novel in the Rainbow Award-nominated paranormal M/M SoulShares series, Fiachra Dubhdara is a Fae living a stolen life, in a body that isn’t his own. He’s also the most junior detective on the D.C. Vice squad, assigned the task of infiltrating and shutting down Tiernan Guaire’s Purgatory.
Peri Katsura is the newest and hottest masseur at Lochlann Doran’s Big Boy Massage, inexplicably drawn to the gorgeous cop assigned to bust him but needing to hide a dark secret of his own.
And the owner of Fiachra’s body has a plan to get it back – a plan that may cost Fiachra his SoulShare and close the doors of Purgatory forever. Unless the Marfach gets there first…

Mantled in the Mist by Rory Ni Coilean takes one of my favorite series and with this story made it even deeper and more fantastical.  The author has added several new magical beings, ones we have never heard of before, to this tale of pain, loss and magic.  We are now introduced to races that played major roles in the ancient war that sundered Earth from the other dimension the Fae now reside in.  The price for one race?  They became the subject of mockery, bullying, and deep outright cruelty by the purer fae on the other side for their racial bloodline and past history.  The price paid by the others on Earth? Well, I’ll leave that for the story.

By overlaying such emotional elements, one you can interpret by modern standards so many ways, Ni Coileain has elevated this series to new heights.  The overlays and  similarities can be made for the aboriginal races around the world today and their treatment at the hands of the “superior” races that followed, or to the nature/earth religions who suffered at the developing cultures that encroached and exterminated them.  There is a richness of interpretation here that makes the enjoyment of reading the story swell along with the tale of romance, suspense and yes, horror that follows.

Fiachra, dark skinned, dark haired, tormented, Fiachra thought it better to fade than continue his existence as it was.  But fading did not go as planned and he ended up in another’s body.  Tall, gorgeous, blonde, everything a pure fae looks like.  I love the comparisons and problems this poses here when Fiachra meets his SoulShare and wants him to love the real Fiachra.  The problem of getting his body back was a maze of pain and problem solving that I loved  watching play out over the story.  Actually one than one problem, something else I will leave for the story.

Peri Katsura is another one of those damaged souls that Rory Ni Coileain does so beautifully.  Drag queen, masseur, Peri has many faces and a inability to trust, especially the big blond cop that threatens to bust him.  The two of them together are so engaging in their painful pasts and colliding confusions of the heart.   To help them/blockade them are all the other SoulShare couples from the previous stories still working together to stop the horrific Marfach from their planned assault on the Fae world, a task making the Fae ruthless on both sides.

The characterizations here are vivid, believable and have staying power.  I can pick up these stories and remember exactly who is who.  The terror engendered by the Marfach just grows with each story, something I had not thought possible given some of the past scenes of torture that are rendered somewhat graphically in previous books. Here it is more of the imagination because we know what it/they are capable of.

It ends, as they all do, far too quickly, setting us up for the next in the series.  If I am reading the author right, it should be an entirely different take on the SoulShares element.  Could be wrong, but I can’t see to see it play out.

Here is a series that has it all.  Fantasy, romances, bdsm, horror, mythology, beautiful world building…and six books and growing. I highly recommend it to lovers of all of the above and more.  But don’t read them out of order as they build on each other.  New to the series?  Start with the first, keeping up with me?  Pick this one up and  continue along.

Cover art is lovely, I like the celtic elements and its very different from the ones before.

Sales Links:  Amazon | All Romance eBooks | Riverdale Avenue Books

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 334 pages
Published January 20th 2016 by Riverdale Avenue Books
ASINB01AVNC1N4
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesSoulShares #6

SoulShares Series in the order they were written and should be read (add them to your Goodread list):

A Stella Review: Drawing Love by Tully Vincent

Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

Drawing LoveYears ago a childhood trauma ripped away Taylor Elliot’s confidence and made leaving his own home a struggle. Now a senior in high school, he finally has his life back on track. As head of the decorating committee for the Cupid Dance, he’s determined to showcase his creativity by dazzling his fellow students with glitz and glamour they won’t soon forget. But when his committee’s resident techie bails at the last minute, Taylor’s chance to shine is slipping through his fingers, and he’s on the verge of a panic attack.

Can the unexpected appearance of a real-life cupid help Taylor create something special after all?

Drawing Love is a short young adult story about Taylor, a high school student who suffers of agoraphobia and lives in a small town. He is planning the Cupid Dance, the yearly Valentine dance but something is going wrong.

What a surprise! I have to say I’m always in awe of authors who can write story so short and do it right. Just like this one. In so few pages (just 19!) I was able to know the main characters pretty well, especially Taylor. The author gave me all the important things about his life, his thoughts, his wishes, his fears. Plus she gifted him a tenacious best friend, Drina, a powerful mum and a sweet kindergarten friend, someone who is now back to join Taylor in their adult life.

It’s a quick story, short of course but well done, with unbelievable well defined characters and an unexpected ending. Can I tell you the truth? I wanted more and this is the only reason I didn’t give this review five stars. Still Drawing Love is a lovely read. I highly recommend to everyone who wants to spend half hour with a sweet and well thought read.

The cover art is simple, clean and fitting, I like it.

Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details;

Kindle Edition, 19 pages
Published February 17th 2016
ASINB01BW8K4P4
Edition LanguageEnglish

Two Lovers Take a Leap of Faith with J.L. Merrow’s Lovers Leap (author’s blog and contest)

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Lovers Leap by J.L. Merrow
Published by Riptide Publishing
Cover Art by Lou Harper

Goodreads Link

Purchase/Read an Excerpt

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have JL Merrow here today to talk about Lovers Leap, her latest novel.  Welcome, JL.

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Hi, I’m JL Merrow, and I’m delighted to be here as part of the blog tour to celebrate the release of Lovers Leap, my fast-paced romantic comedy with a leap year theme set on my beloved, native Isle of Wight. Lovers Leap features two very different young men—each of whom will need to take a leap of faith if their love is to survive!

About Lovers Leap

If they looked, would they ever leap?

Good-looking, confident, and doted on by his widowed mum, Michael is used to thinking only of himself. Getting shoved off an Isle of Wight pier by an exasperated ex ought to come as a wake-up call—but then he meets Rufus and he’s right back to letting the little head take charge. Rufus is cute, keen, and gets under Michael’s skin in a disturbing way.

Would-be chef Rufus can’t believe his luck when a dripping wet dream of a man walks out of the sea on his birthday, especially when Michael ends up staying at the family B&B. Life is perfect—at least until Michael has to go home to the mainland.

Rufus can’t leave the island for reasons he’s entirely neglected to mention. And though Michael identifies as bi, breaking his mum’s heart by coming out and having an actual relationship with a guy has never been his plan. With both men determined to keep their secrets, a leap of faith could land them in deep water.

Lovers Leap is also available in audio from Amazon and Audible!

About J.L. Merrow

JL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea.  She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again.  Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.

She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and mysteries, and is frequently accused of humour.  Her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy, and her novella Muscling Through and novel Relief Valve were both EPIC Awards finalists.

JL Merrow is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, International Thriller Writers, Verulam Writers’ Circle and the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.

Connect with JL:

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Giveaway

Leave a comment for a chance to win $29 in Riptide credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on March 5, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Go Nutty Over Love with Rise of the Alpha Squirrel by Kate Lowell (guest post, excerpt and giveaway)

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Rise of the Alpha Squirrel (Nutty Romances #2) by Kate Lowell
 Release Date: February 25, 2016

Goodreads Link
Publisher: Kate Lowell
Cover Artist: Ana J. Phoenix

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Kate Lowell here today. Kate is the author of Rise of the Alpha Squirrel and has brought some lively excerpts for us. Welcome, Kate!

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The following excerpts are taken from the best-selling series ‘A Were’s Guide to Living in the Human World’ by Finnley Lakewood, Ph.D, and Gardenner Monk, Ph.D. Please don’t tell anyone where you got these excerpts—I had to take ridiculous risks to get my hands on these books and if they found me, they’d probably eat me.

Appendix B: marking your territory–long-standing tradition or unsightly behavior?

In the were community, scent marking is a common and generally understood occurrence. The differences in styles are generally overlooked, and scent-marking itself is generally encouraged in mixed population areas.  However, the human’s weak scenting capabilities often result in misunderstandings with particularly uncomfortable consequences.

For example, the typical carnivore uses specific pheromones found in urine to mark the perimeter of their established territory. In situations where many weres are living in close proximity, this is an essential step to preventing inter-were violence. However, humans and their essentially inoperative noses will inevitably fail to notice scent markers. Not only does this cause them to invade territories on a regular basis, but the necessary actions required to establish scent boundaries (peeing on fences, doors, walls, furniture, etc) often take on an entirely different appearance and, within their relatively uneducated culture, occasions various, but generally unpleasant, reactions.

In cases where your roommate or another human has caught you in the process of leaving scent pheromones in place, and in the situation where it causes an undesired reaction on the part of the human, your first line of defense should be…

Now more about Rise of the Alpha Squirrel….

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Blurb

Nathan’s met Vince’s family, but Vince hasn’t met Nathan’s, and Nathan would like to keep it that way. Holy smoked almonds, what else do you do when you know how completely nuts your relatives are?

Why, you ease your man into it, by introducing him to normal shifters. Assuming you can find any.

But with a gossipy werehummingbird spreading the news, and a pair of young red pandas wreaking havoc with their fainting goat friends, Nathan’s about ready to climb into a pine cone and pull it in after him.

Then the local playboy weremoose hears about Vince, and Nathan has to find his inner alpha or the consequences will be worse than moldy hazelnuts.

 

Pages or Words: Approximately 24,000 words
Series should be read in order for maximum enjoyment
 Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, Humor, M/M Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy

Excerpt

“Breakfast,” Vince said and waved a hand toward the table.

It was a squirrel’s wet dream. Or it would have been, if good-enough-to-lick-all-over-then-eat Vince hadn’t been sitting on the other side of the table. Maybe he could say it was any other squirrel’s wet dream—whatever, it was the breakfast of Roman squirrel emperors.

A pile of thick, deep brown pancakes waited for him in the center of his plate. Raspberries and shaved almonds sprawled seductively over the side of the stack, glistening with sweet, sticky maple syrup. Some of the less audacious ones hid decorously beneath the edges of a heavy daub of whipped cream, but Nathan knew they were there, waiting for him to discover them. He could see them peeking diffidently out, uncertain whether they wanted to attract his attention or not.

And the best part—the most gorgeous massage therapist in the world was sitting across the table from him, watching him with eyes that were dark in more than just the usual way. He looked at Nathan like Nathan was a maple walnut ice cream with a peanut dip. Like he wanted to lick him all over and suck bits of him deep inside his mouth…

Buy the book: ARe  | Amazon

 

Meet the Author

Kate Lowell lives on the east coast of Canada, in an old farm house that has way more personality than it has any right to. During the winter, she spends her time dreading snow, cursing at snow, shoveling snow, and scheming ways to shove it down the kids’ necks. During the summer, she prays not to have snow. 🙂

Kate likes to play in ALL the sandboxes. While her main genres are paranormal and contemporary suspense, she is also interested in science fiction, fantasy and–weirdly–romantic comedy. She’s willing to pay large amounts of money to anyone who can come up with a Time Turner, or find her an agreeable Time Lord to sort out her scheduling problems.

You can contact her at katelowellbooks (at) gmail.com . If you think you’d like to try writing gay romance, come visit her critique group (Link can be found at http://katelowell.com). New members are always welcome.

Where to find the author:

 


BannerTemplate Tour Dates & Stops:

25-Feb: A.M. Leibowitz, Hearts on Fire, Velvet Panic, Nautical Star Books, MM Good Book Reviews

26-Feb: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Inked Rainbow Reads, KathyMac Reviews

27-Feb: Happily Ever Chapter, Molly Lolly, Love Bytes

29-Feb: Nephy Hart, Man2ManTastic, Bonkers About Books, Open Skye Book Reviews, My Fiction Nook

1-Mar: BFD Book Blog, Dawn’s Reading Nook, V’s Reads, Boy Meets Boy Reviews

2-Mar: Bayou Book Junkie, Jessie G. Books, Alpha Book Club

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Giveaway

Enter to win a  Rafflecopter Prize: http://www.stuffedsafari.com/Plush-Ruby-throated-Hummingbird-Audubon-Bird-p/wr-83900.htm.   Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prize provided by the author and Pride Promotions.
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