Tag: Samhain Publishing

A Stella Review: Crossing Borders (Crossing Borders #1) by Z.A. Maxfield

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Two dudes walk into a bookstore…

Crossing Borders coverTristan knows he’s got issues. His latest ex-girlfriend knows it too. He can’t blame her for dumping him—even though she gets her brother to do it for her. Since he can’t stop staring at said brother’s package, he figures it’s about time to put a label on those issues. He likes guys.

He heads to a local bookstore with what he’s sure is a foolproof plan to find someone to show him what he’s been missing. But who should crash his little adventure? Officer Michael Truax, who gave him a really expensive ticket back in high school for skateboarding without a helmet.

Michael has been trying to catch Tristan for years…to give him a second ticket. Suddenly faced with “Sparky”, all grown up and looking to get laid, Michael’s protective instinct kicks in—and presents him with an opportunity that’s hard to resist. After all, the kid must know what he’s getting into, so why not? 

But when a man with a plan connects with a man with a hunger, the result is nothing short of explosive.

Crossing Borders is the first book written by the talented ZA Maxfield in the 2007 and the first published work. This second edition by Samhain pub is not so different from the first one. I liked the author’s note at the start of the book, she was right, it was fun to see how things has changed in almost 10 years.

I didn’t read the first edition and I can tell you why. Honestly I didn’t like the old cover, at all. I know I’m a totally cover whore so I couldn’t pass the book anymore when I saw the amazing new one made  by Kanaxa. It’s simply beautiful or better, HE is beautiful. And I’m not going to talk about freckles or red hair, my truest weaknesses.

It was a while when I didn’t read a ZAM’s book, I forgot how well she can writes and creates amazing characters. And how hot too her stories are! I loved the chemistry between Tristan and Michael, or as they call each other, Sparky and Officer Helmet. Crossing Borders went straight to my fave shelf. It has everything I want in a story. First of all well defined characters. Tristan and Michael were perfect, their story was, i don’t know how to say better, almost dissected and told us in detail, just how a real relationship would have developed. They were adorable in their bickering, in their loveable loving.

The story was sweet too and if you have read other reviews I wrote you know I need my books to be sugary (this one just a little bit). There were some really hilarious parts, that lightened it even more. Moreover I enjoyed the second characters too a lot, especially their moms, supportive, caring and loving.

The age difference, which I love in my books, wasn’t so huge as I was expecting. Considering Tristan is so young, just 19 years old, it could have been more evident but I didn’t feel it at all.

What I loved more in the story was the feeling of belonging I got from the MCs even when they weren’t full aware of it yet. It kept me from put the book down for a minute.

There was some drama but no angst in the book; the only thing that bothered me a little was the part just before the ending, it ruffled something that was too smooth to upset to me, I could have done without easily. That’s why I haven’t give Crossing Borders a full five stars rating but it’s there, I am just being a nit picker! So highly recommended.

COVER ART by Kanaxa.I already said it was this cover that pushed me to finally read Crossing Borders but I want to add that I love her art style, especially in some m/m series she’s working on, like The Plumber’s Mate or The Shamwell Tales by JL Merrow, or the Love Lessons by Heidi Cullinan but most of all the Bend or Break by Amy Jo Cousins. I find them clean but always fitting the stories in their simplicity.\

Sales Links:  Samhain Publishing  |  All Romance (ARe)  |  Amazon  |  Buy It Here

BOOK DETAILS

Published August 4th 2015 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Kindle Edition, 271 pages
ASIN B00YE202W6
Edition Language English

previously published story, 2nd edition

A Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: What He Left Behind by L.A. Witt

Rating: 5 stars out of 5:

Can you ever have a second first time?

What He Left Behind coverOver lunch one day with his best friend, Michael, Josh finds out that the reason Michael is still not dating, five years after he broke up with his abusive ex, is because he’s scared to death to even touch someone, never mind possibly have sex again. Josh is shocked by the confession. Though he knew Steve had been both physically and emotionally abusive to Michael, he just didn’t realize that so many of the things he takes for granted with his husband, Ian, are denied to Michael by fear of intimacy.

Josh and Michael have been friends ever since their early teens, and it was Michael with whom Josh first had sex when he came out in his senior year of high school. In fact, they were lovers off and on all through college while remaining best friends. And it was Michael who helped get Josh and Ian back together when they broke up early in their relationship. The trio has been friends ever since, and it killed Josh and Ian to see how very abusive Steve was to Michael, but they were there to love and support him when he was finally able to break away.

Over the past few years, Josh and Michael have seen each other at lunchtime, and the trio gets together every Sunday night to talk and drink wine in Josh and Ian’s hot tub. And it’s because of this close friendship that Ian suggests that Josh help Michael get over his fear of intimacy by having sex with him. After all, they’ve done it before and were each other’s firsts, so why not help him get back to where he can be intimate with a man again. Shocked by Ian’s idea, Josh nonetheless follows through and, though it takes time to break down many of Michael’s barriers, it eventually works. Then one Sunday night in the hot tub, Michael tells Josh that he’s ready to do it with someone else, and the two decide to approach Ian.

Ian’s involvement with Michael then leads to all three having sex and eventually Josh and Ian realize that they need to take time for themselves or they will lose what they have together. But when Michael starts to date again, a whole new world of hurt opens up for Josh, and he doesn’t know whether his marriage to Ian will survive the turmoil created by his obviously engaged heart.

Content advisory: Get your personal fans out before you read this story! The sex is sizzling hot, the characters endearing, the relationships—all of them, from the pairs of Josh and Ian and Josh with Michael and Michael with Ian to all three together—are amazingly well-developed and realistic. As a reader, I could feel the deep bond of friendship and love that existed between Josh and Michael, as well as the oneness of the Josh-Ian marriage relationship. In fact, although I can’t tolerate cheating, I didn’t feel that there was any hint of that in this story. There was emotional support for each other every step of the way. Everything that happened made sense as the men slowly bonded, and all of the relationship dynamics developed.

This was the best example of ménage I’ve read in a long time. In fact, it may be the best ever because it made so much sense for the three to be together that it was like watching all the pieces of a puzzle click into place. I can’t recommend this one highly enough. If you like M/M/M, this is a must buy.
~~~~

Cover Art by Angela Waters depicts three men representing the MCs—One is wearing glasses and a suit (Ian), one is wearing jeans and is shirtless (Josh) and one is depicted off in the distance (Michael). This is a clear representation of the story with the one character being somewhat distant from the married couple at the start of the book.

Preorder it July 19th at Samhain Publishing,  read it on August 18!

All Sales Links Coming In September

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: September 2015 by Samhain Publishing
(first published August 18th 2015)
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.gallagherwitt.com

Back to the Past with Lessons for Idle Tongues from Charlie Cochrane -A Special Interview with Orlando & Jonty (giveaway)

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Lessons for Idle Tongues (Cambridge Fellows #11)
by Charlie Cochrane
Riptide Publishing

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Cover art by Lou Harper

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Charlie Cochrane and her Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, featuring Jonty and Orlando.  It is one of my highly recommended series, and the terrific story, Lessons for Idle Tongues is being published by Riptide Publishing.  And to celebrate, author Charlie Cochrane is here and interviewing those incorrigible and loving duo, Jonty and Orlando.

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

Interview with Jonty and Orlando

While reading her favourite mystery, Death at the President’s Lodging, Charlie Cochrane was struck by some particularly “slashy” scenes and wondered why there were no Classic Era mysteries featuring a pair of gay detectives. There were gay men at the time, so couldn’t they have taken up their magnifying glasses and got sleuthing? Frustrated at finding no answer to her conundrum, she set out to write her own stories. Here she interviews her two sleuths.

CC:  Can you tell the readers where you live?

Orlando Coppersmith: Cambridge.
Jonty Stewart: Cambridge in England. There’s another one in America, you know, Orlando.
Orlando: Really? How astonishing.
Jonty: We live here because we’re both based at St. Bride’s College, trying to knock some sense into our students. I teach them about Tudor Literature.
Orlando: And I lecture in Mathematics.
Jonty: Orlando’s worryingly bright.

CC: Did the events of your early life influence you in solving mysteries?

Orlando: Yes. Well. Hm.
Jonty: What Orlando means is that neither of us had that easy a start in life. His family were…not exactly loving. Would that be fair?
Orlando: It would. I’m not as lucky as Jonty, who has an extraordinary family with whom I get on very well.
Jonty: He means I have a very loud mother who’s madly in love with him and a terrifyingly clever father who likes to solves cryptograms with him. He wins all round.
Orlando: Meeting Jonty showed me that all sorts of things in life were possible. Love, friendship, going out and using my brains for something other than mathematics. He changed my life.
Jonty: Daft beggar. Meeting Orlando gave me hope at a time when I was a bit low. I had a rough time of things at school and it came back to haunt me at times. He changed my life, too.

CC:  Do you see yourselves as policemen?

Jonty: Oh I say, Orlando. Steady there. (He whacks his back.) I’m afraid that the police wouldn’t exactly approve of our relationship. Up before the beak and two years hard labour if they knew what we got up to in private.
Orlando: We’re amateur detectives, although we do work alongside the police when need be. That’s how we got started, acting as the eyes and ears for Inspector Wilson of the local force when there was a series of murders in St. Bride’s. (Lessons in Love)
Jonty: We get commissions, too. People ask us to solve crimes, particularly old ones.
Orlando: Sometimes hundreds of years old.
Jonty: Nearly as ancient as you, Orlando.
Orlando: Very funny.

CC: Do people contact you like they contacted Sherlock Holmes?

Jonty: You said the ‘S’ word. Orlando won’t approve. I like Holmes – and Watson, he’s a marvellous bloke – but old grumpy guts here thinks Sherlock’s a bit of a smarty pants.
Orlando: I refuse to comment. And don’t call me “grumpy guts” in public.

CC: What’s been the most outrageous thing you’ve done in the cause of investigation?

Jonty: What about the time you had to pose as a gigolo?
Orlando: I was not a gigolo. I was a professional dancing partner. Next question, please, before my “friend” finds anything else to make fun of me about.

CC: In the course of your investigations, have you encountered important historical figures?

Jonty: Figures from the past, yes. When we solved the Woodville Ward mystery we ran across Richard III, Henry VII and Elizabeth Woodville. Orlando’s almost old enough to remember being dandled at their knees.
Orlando: Don’t forget, I’ve worked out at least three foolproof ways of murdering you without the risk of being caught. Actually, he’s hiding his light under a bushel, again. He’s the one who got dandled at royalty’s knee. The Stewarts are all very pally with the royal family.
Jonty: That’s what got us involved in the gigolo – sorry, dancing partner – case. The king’s old mistress died under mysterious circumstances and they needed someone of discretion and good sense to put into the hotel where it happened. Nobody like that was available, so they asked Orlando.
Orlando: Excuse me while I resort to method number one.

CC:  Presumably you are somewhat familiar with our early 21st century, after conversations with your author. What would you most like to take back to Edwardian times?

Jonty: The freedom to hold Orlando’s hand in public – at least in Brighton. Not that he’d let me, probably, being a shy old stick, but the opportunity would be nice.
Orlando: I’d welcome the chance of entering into a Civil Partnership with Jonty. An official declaration of how much we mean to each other.
Jonty: I’d like to fly in one of your modern aeroplanes. How wonderful to cover the length of the British isles in little more than an hour. And going to Jersey without resorting to a ship would be good, wouldn’t it, Orlando? He gets sick as a dog when we sail.
Orlando: Hm. In his case it might be an Uncivil Partnership.

CC:  I’m sure you’d never murder anyone, but is there someone, whom you’d like to murder if you could?

Orlando: Owens, from “the college next door”.
Jonty: He’s St. Bride’s arch-enemy and any decent college man would strangle him with his own bicycle clips.
Orlando: I’ve devised two other foolproof and undetectable methods of murder, just for Owens.
Jonty: I said he was frighteningly clever, didn’t I? If he ever took to a life of crime, we’d all be doomed.

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About Lessons for Idle Tongues (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #11)
Cambridge, 1910

Amateur detectives Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith seem to have nothing more taxing on their plate than locating a missing wooden cat and solving the dilemma of seating thirteen for dinner. But one of the guests brings a conundrum: a young woman has been found dead, and her boyfriend is convinced she was murdered. The trouble is, nobody else agrees.

Investigation reveals that several young people in the local area have died in strange circumstances, and rumours abound of poisonings at the hands of Lord Toothill, a local mysterious recluse. Toothill’s angry, gun-toting gamekeeper isn’t doing anything to quell suspicions, either.

But even with a gun to his head, Jonty can tell there’s more going on in this surprisingly treacherous village than meets the eye. And even Orlando’s vaunted logic is stymied by the baffling inconsistencies they uncover. Together, the Cambridge Fellows must pick their way through gossip and misdirection to discover the truth.

About Author Charlie Cochrane:

As Charlie Cochrane couldn’t be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team—she writes, with titles published by Carina, Samhain, Bold Strokes, MLR and Cheyenne.

Charlie’s Cambridge Fellows Series of Edwardian romantic mysteries was instrumental in her being named Author of the Year 2009 by the review site Speak Its Name. She’s a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Mystery People, International Thriller Writers Inc and is on the organising team for UK Meet for readers/writers of GLBT fiction. She regularly appears with The Deadly Dames.

Connect with Charlie:

Website:http://www.charliecochrane.co.uk/
Blog: charliecochrane.livejournal.com/
Twitter: @charliecochrane
Facebook profile page: facebook.com/charlie.cochrane.18
Goodreads: goodreads.com/goodreadscomcharlie_cochrane
Riptide Publishing’s Author Page

 

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Lessons for Idle Tongues Giveaway:

Cambridge Mysteries bundle

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a title from Charlie Cochrane’s backlist (excluding Lessons for Idle Tongues.) Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 4. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Don’t forget to add your email so we can contact you if you win!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Prizes provided by the author and Riptide Publishing.

Cambridge Fellows Mysteries Bundle Sale!

Get 30% off books 1-8 of the Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, exclusively in a bundle from Samhain!

Cambridge Fellows Mysteries

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If the men of St. Bride’s College knew what Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith got up to behind closed doors, the scandal would rock early-20th-century Cambridge to its core. But the truth is, when they’re not busy teaching literature and mathematics, the most daring thing about them isn’t their love for each other—it’s their hobby of amateur sleuthing.

Because wherever Jonty and Orlando go, trouble seems to find them. Sunny, genial Jonty and prickly, taciturn Orlando may seem like opposites. But their balance serves them well as they sift through clues to crimes, and sort through their own emotions to grow closer. But at the end of the day, they always find the truth . . . and their way home together.

,[STRW Note: I highly recommend reading them in the order they were written in order to understand the relationship as it builds, the men, and the times.  This is especially true for books starting with Lessons in Trust, All Lessons Learned and Lessons for Survivors which hold huge spoilers and surprises for the previous books]

Publisher Note:Cambridge Fellows mysteries may be read in any order but for those who wish to read in release order, they are:

Lessons in Love (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #1)
Lessons in Desire (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #2)
Lessons in Discovery (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #3)
Lessons in Power (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #4)
Lessons in Temptation (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #5)
Lessons in Seduction (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #6)
Lessons in Trust (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #7)
All Lessons Learned (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #8)
Lessons for Survivors (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #9)
Lessons for Suspicious Minds (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #10)
Lessons for Idle Tongues (Cambridge Fellows Mysteries #11)
Lessons for Sleeping Dogs
The first eight books in the series are with Samhain Publishing. You can purchase them wherever ebooks are sold.

– See more at Riptide Publishing’s Cambridge Fellows Mysteries page.

A Mika Review: The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by K.J. Charles

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

A story too secret, too terrifying—and too shockingly intimate—for Victorian eyes.



The Secret Casebook of Simon Fleximal coverA note to the Editor

Dear Henry,

I have been Simon Feximal’s companion, assistant and chronicler for twenty years now, and during that time my Casebooks of Feximal the Ghost-Hunter have spread the reputation of this most accomplished of ghost-hunters far and wide.

You have asked me often for the tale of our first meeting, and how my association with Feximal came about. I have always declined, because it is a story too private to be truthfully recounted and a memory too precious to be falsified. But none knows better than I that stories must be told.

So here is it, Henry, a full and accurate account of how I met Simon Feximal, which I shall leave with my solicitor to pass to you after my death.

I dare say it may not be quite what you expect.

Robert Caldwell
September 1914

I can’t believe I’m saying this I like it, but didn’t love The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by K.J. Charles as much as I normally do her  stories. I did not feel like the two mc’s were connected enough for me. I liked some of the stories, some were clever to read about, and a few had me re-reading the sentences to make sure I was reading them right. I’m pretty sure I was confused about the Pieball story, as well as the Priest story. I got it, but all the words in my head were not making sense at all.

As usual K.J. Charles has some memorable characters. I love reading her books, she gets the time frame, setting, and linguistics down packed every time. I liked the anthology style writing that was presented. We have Robert Caldwell who decided to write a short book in the 1900’s based on his experience with Simon Feximal the ghost hunter extraordinaire. From that first meeting to their presumed death was illustrated. It brought forth the introduction of numerous characters, some stand outs like The Fat Man<–*Swooning, Mycroft Holmes is the S***, the Diogenes Club, Miss Kay, Mr. Silence, and the utterly disgusting Mr. Park, and Dr. Berry.

I thought the cast was good, and some of the stories were scary. This is classified as romance and I felt like the relationship between Simon & Robert was nowhere to be found. I was underwhelmed with them. I don’t know if it was the nonexistent communication or the lack of love, but I was not into them like I found myself with her other characters from previous novels. Of course I’ll continue to read Charles’s writing, one not so good book does not disqualify her from being one of my favorite authors writing one of my favorite genres.

Cover Art by Kanaxa: I thought the cover is fitting. It’s the beginning between the two mc’s. The mirror is an important factor to Simon, as the house is important to Robert. I liked the cover; it definitely keeps up with the book setting as well.

Sales Links:Samhain Publishing ♦ All Romance (ARe)  ♦ Amazon   ♦Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 224 pages
Published June 16th 2015 by Samhain Publishing
ISBN139781619228726
edition languageEnglish
seriesThe Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal

The Caldwell Ghost and Butterflies are previously published short stories. The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal continues and completes Robert Caldwell and Simon Feximal’s story with primarily new material.

Product Warnings
Contains a foul-tempered Victorian ghost-hunter, a journalist who’s too curious for his own good, villainy, horror, butterflies, unusual body modifications, and a lot of tampering with the occult.

 

Take a Heartwarming Ride to Romance with Blowing Off Steam by Joy Lynn Fielding (excerpt and giveaway)

Blowing Off Steam cover

Blowing Off Steam by Joy Lynn Fielding

A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 5 Star Reads – Find Our Review Here

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Goodreads Link
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Cover Artist: Syneca

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Sales Links:  All Romance (ARe) –  Amazon 

STRW Author BookSynopsis

Two guys, a train, and lots of steam.

Sam Chancellor has been in love with the steam engine Old Bess since he was six years old. Well, maybe not literally, but even when he’s lost everything else in his life, he’s always had her. But now her place in his heart has been unexpectedly challenged. Her new driver, Ryan Saunders, is the embodiment of all Sam’s fantasies.

Ryan has written off Sam as just another geeky trainspotter—until the moment Ryan sees him without his usual shapeless hoodie and realizes that, for a nerd, Sam’s pretty built.

When Ryan overlooks Sam’s awkwardness long enough to suggest a hook-up, Sam seizes the opportunity—and Ryan—with both very eager hands. Finding common ground in their shared love of Bess, their time together is better than Sam ever dared dream.

But there’s a reason Ryan never talks about his past. And when Ryan’s job is threatened, Sam’s well-meaning intervention puts both Ryan and Bess in deadly danger.

Warning: Contains train geekery, bed-hogging, a hero with no experience and another with plenty to spare, and a spider called Mabel.

Pages or Words: 66,000 words

Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, M/M Romance

STRW Spotlight Book Excerpt

Blowing Off Steam by Joy Lynn Fielding

“You’re kind of built for a nerd, aren’t you?” Ryan said. “I guess trainspotting’s a more active hobby than I’d thought.”

Sam should have walked away because this guy was insufferable. Except there was humour gleaming in those eyes as well as something else. Something that if he wasn’t entirely losing his mind was actual, sexual interest.

In him, Sam Chancellor.

“It’s all that running alongside the engines to get the numbers down,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

To his amazement, Ryan laughed. A true laugh that caused his eyes to crinkle at the corners. It made him even more gorgeous than he already was.

“Ryan Saunders,” he said. “I drive old Bessie.”

“Bessie?” Sam was horrified at the heresy. “She’s Bess. She’s always been Bess.”

“Given I’m the one whose hands have been over every inch of her, I guess she’s allowing me intimacies the general public doesn’t get,” Ryan said.

The low seductive voice and the thought of Ryan’s hands stroking over him the way they did over Bess meant Sam was getting hard. He clutched his satchel in front of him like some sort of shield, except that wasn’t helping at all because it was pressed against his dick and, God above, he was about to get a hard-on, here and now, right in front of Ryan Saunders.

“You haven’t told me your name,” Ryan said.

“Sam,” he choked out. “Sam Chancellor, and I have to go.”

He put his head down and fled.

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

About the author:

Joy Lynn Fielding lives in a small English market town, where she indulges her passions for vintage aircraft, horse-riding and gardening (though not all at the same time).

Joy has a tendency to wax lyrical about the fascinating facts she discovers during her research for books. Thankfully she has a very patient Labrador who has a gift for looking interested in what she’s saying while he waits for the food to arrive.

Where to find the author:

Email: joy.fielding01@gmail.com
Blog: http://www.joyfielding.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joylynn.fielding

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Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Link and prizes provided by the author and Pride Promotions.  Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: $20 Amazon gift card
Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway

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27-May

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A MelanieM Review: Life, Some Assembly Required (The Rebuilding Year #2) by Kaje Harper

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Finding love in the ashes was easy. Building a life together? Don’t make Fate laugh.

Life, Some Assembly required covrAfter spending the first part of his life chasing pretty girls, love has finally come to Ryan in the form of John, a tall, lanky, red-headed landscape architect with wide shoulders and a five-o’clock shadow.

For the first time in his life, love feels easy. Hell, he even ran into a burning building for John and his son, and he’d do it again if he had to. But telling his father and brothers “I’m gay. I’ve met a man”? That’s a bumpy ride he’s not looking forward to.

For John, loving Ryan is as natural as breathing. Now if only the rest of his life would fall into place. Dealing with his teen son is complicated enough, but with his ex-wife causing trouble and his daughter wanting to move in, John’s house—and his relationship with Ryan—threaten to split at the seams.

Would one month without a new surprise knocking him upside the heart be asking too much? If the sound of Fate’s laughter is any indication, the answer must be yes…

Kaje Harper’s The Rebuilding Year was one of my favorite books of 2012.  It was the story of two seemingly “straight” men at an unsettled point in their lives, a time where they are discarding their past and trying to rebuild a future for themselves, and in John’s case, hopefully for his children as well.  That novel told the story of ex-firefighter Ryan Ward, disabled on the job and now going back to school for a medical degree.  He’s still dealing with the loss of his beloved profession, having nightmares over the fire that damaged his leg, and dealing with an unsettled vision of his future.  On the college campus, Ryan meets John Barrett, a man as familiar with loss as Ryan is.  John lost his marriage and kids when his wife cheated on him.  And when the divorce was final, he watched his wife move the kids to California in search of a new life with a new man.    Two men whose lives were shattered by events out of their control.  Two men who thought they were straight but whose strong attraction to each other has them rethinking their lives and future.

Now comes the sequel, Life, Some Assembly Required (The Rebuilding Year #2) and, with this story, I found myself falling back in love with John and Ryan, and their relationship.  Never quite the fan of  the “gay for you” trope, Harper made a serious argument for John and Ryan’s feelings in the first book.  While John had married and Ryan was considered a “hounddog” with women, both men had had attractions to men in the past, while not quite acting on them.  So the story became more one of old desires rekindled and recognized then a purely straight man falling for another. We watched them work through many emotional issues as well as acceptance by John’s children.  And that first story ended with Ryan telling his father that he was finally serious about someone for the first time in his life, and its with a man.  A wonderful ending that packed a huge emotional punch.

Life, Some Assembly Required picks up directly after the events in The Rebuilding Year.  I won’t go into detail because that is simply a book to be savored and a must read for this novel.  One (of many) of the things I appreciate so about Kaje Harper’s writing is her ability to make her stories feel so real.  Her characters and their lives aren’t enveloped in some softly glowing light where everything works out smoothly and with relative ease.  That’s better left for the fairytale romances.  No, Harper’s characters and their lives reflect the grittiness and intimacy of people living every day realistically and authentically.   It involves boredom, obstacles little and big, schedules that get too busy and the hiccups and burps that relationships go through.  Its the work the couple needs to do in order to have the partnership they want.  And that includes two men who love each other deeply such as John and Ryan do.

This book is full of life’s pebbles and boulders that get scattered in the way of their happiness and much of the joy in this story is watching them deal with those problems together (and figuring out that they need to come at these issues as a couple).  That doesn’t always make for easy reading, just throughly rewarding and satisfactory one, at least in my opinion.   Why?  Because life isn’t lived in a bubble. For John and Ryan, the relationship they are building together includes John’s children (who I adored and who went through some surprising emotional turmoil of their own), an ex wife’s determined to have their own way albeit one that is understandable from her point of view, and Ryan’s family with expectations of their own for Ryan which doesn’t include another man.

Throughout the story, its one of constant adjustments…in plans of every sort from dinner to vacations. It’s the ever deepening joy of a daily life together along with the typical hurt feelings, and occasional miscommunication that involves. On an intimate level, we watch the men deal with all the  repercussions of their love for each other and their decision to move in together. And how that effects their professional lives, families and the community around them.  I love how Harper lets us see into their decision making process and relationship dynamics through their conversations, actions and lovemaking.  Harper allows her characters the strength and depth that lets them act responsibility and respectfully towards themselves and those around them.  Yes, this is a book about grownups in a thoughtful adult relationship.  How I appreciated that tone and type of character as well.

Sometimes the issues are raw with emotion and the painful aftermath of the disappointments that can occur when hopes and family collide.   Yes, there were times I was so frustrated with the events that happen, both with John’s ex wife (again not a villain but a woman doing  what she thinks is necessary to survive) and again with Ryan’s family.  But their reactions and actions towards John and Ryan are pretty realistic and believable in their own way.  I appreciated that too.  And it makes the ending that much sweeter for all the hardship both men endured to get there.

I hope this isn’t the end of the story for John and Ryan.  I want to see them married now that Ryan has finished his degree.  I want to know what happens next to their mixed families and their future together.  If you are listening, Kaje, pretty please, can we have another?  Until I have an answer, I will try and  be content with Life, Some Assembly Required. It’s a perfect sequel to The Rebuilding Year, and a new favorite of mine.  I highly recommend them both.  Please read them in the order they were written, its the best way to understand John and Ryan’s journey to love and a relationship that feels so wonderful and real.

Cover art by Angela Waters.  I like this cover, although I have to say I prefer the cover models in the first cover, they better fit my own idea of John and Ryan.  But its warm, and real, just like the story within.

Sales Links: Samhain Publishing  – All Romance (ARe) – Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: June 9th 2015 by Samhain Publishing
original title Life, Some Assembly Required
ISBN139781619230743
edition languageEnglish
series The Rebuilding Year #2

Books in the Series to Date:

  • The Rebuilding Year (The Rebuilding Year #1)
  • Life, Some Assembly Required (The Rebuilding Year, #2)

 

A Stella Review: Played! (The Shamwell Tales #2) by J.L. Merrow

Rating 5 stars out of 5

Played coverTristan’s in Shamwell for one last summer of freedom before he joins the family firm in New York—no more farting around on stage, as his father puts it. But the classically trained actor can’t resist when members of the local amateur dramatics society beg him to take a role in their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Especially as he’ll also be giving private acting lessons to gorgeous local handyman, Con, who’s been curiously resistant to Tristan’s advances. Tristan’s determined to get Con in his bed—not only is the man delicious, there’s fifty pounds riding on Tristan’s success after a bet made with his drama school chum Amanda.

Con’s never dared to act before. A late-diagnosed dyslexic who had a hard time at school, he’s always been convinced he’d never be able to learn his lines—but with Tristan helping him, he might just be in with a chance. Trouble is, the last time Con fell for a guy, he ended up getting his heart broken, and with Tristan due to leave the country in a matter of months, Con’s determined not to give in and start anything that’s bound to finish badly.

Just as Tristan thinks he’s finally won Con’s heart—and given his own in return—disaster strikes. And the curtain may have fallen forever on their chance of happiness.

Warning: contains a surfeit of Bottoms and asses, together with enough mangled quotations to have the Bard of Avon gyrating in his grave.

 

“Hello. I perused your advertisement in our local emporium. All—”

“You what?”

“I read your card in Tesco,” Tristan clarified with a sigh. Some people had no appreciation for the beauties of the English language. “All household job’s—I assume the apostrophe was ironic?—done, reasonable rates.”

“Er, yeah.” The man on the other end of the phone sounded somewhat nonplussed, possibly due to the way Tristan had stressed the “ibble” at the end of reasonable. “What’s the problem?”

“Biblical.”

“What?”

“I have a plague of frogs.”[…] “A frog,” the handyman was saying. There was another pause. “So technically, yeah, that’s a plague of frog. One of ’em.”

“Semantics. The plural, in this case, may be taken to include the singular.”

“Right… Look, I think you want pest control, anyhow.”

“Finally we reach agreement. So how soon can you be here?”

This is where I fell in love with Tristan. He was amazing, hilarious. I loved how Tristan talked.

Let’s start my review saying I read Played!, which is the second book in the Shamwell Tales series by JL Merrow, without having read Caught!, the first one, and I can assure you I didn’t miss anything, it just increased my curiosity about Caught!  Having different main characters, it isn’t exactly a sequel. So if you are interested just in Tristan and Con’s story, you can totally buy it. You won’t regret it.

Tristan has just moved to Shamwell where he is going to spend the the “last summer of freedom”. He is trading is biggest passion for acting with a boring (and hated) career at a desk job, working for his father’s firm in NY, a father who has never supported him in his dream of acting. No one ever supported him in his dreams, apart from his dear grandmother (Nana Geary). She’s just passed away and left him her house. So he’s planning to spend the summer in Shamwell to dispose Nana’s things before starting his new and boring life.

He meets Con when he called for help after a plague of frogs (it was really just one frog!).

Con works as an handyman with Sean (MC in Caught!). He moved to Shamwell where he met Geary the time he went to do some home repairs to her. She took him in and treated him like the mother Con’s has never been.

The first meeting with Tristan doesn’t go well. Tristan is funny but a prick, he’s used to having what he wants, he speaks perfectly and can’t stop himself in correcting the people who don’t. Con can’t stand Tristan. But nobody has ever turned Tristan down, Con is the first one, because he is not looking for just some fun, he needs something real and not casual.

When a new actor is needed for the role of Bottom in the Midsummer Night’s Dream production by the local theater, it  will take Tristan to convince Con to join the play and to help him with his dyslexia.  Con starts to overcome his fears and most of all to see who is the real Tristan hiding behind the snobby one.

There is a great cast of second characters, starting from Heather, Con’s friend. Some seem snobby as Tristan, others simple and sweet and caring as Con. They have some kickass friends.

Shortly JL Merrow did it again. She gave me another favorite book which is going to join the beautiful Muscling Through. The amazing Tristan will stay in my heart as Al did. I found this book fascinated. As I think I already said I love how the author puts words together in this so British way she has. She delivered a funny and light story, with a plot and great characters, a Tristan full of doubts and fears on his future. Sometime sure convinced that working for his dad will help him mature and become more responsible, other times that theater was just for fun. The relationship with Con will help him grow up so much at the end of the book, I (and Con) couldn’t love him more.

Moreover I can add I’m not a huge fan of slow burn and with almost no sex stories, I like my men to start loving each other pretty quickly in the book I’m reading and rather only a few times, otherwise I bore easily. Well in Played! I had no time to be bored. There was no dead moment, every sentence was full of humor, I laughed so much at Tristan.

Played! was an absolute winner, really really good. I don’t even know what to say to recommend you to buy it. I loved it so much.

Cover art by Kanaxa. You know, I can’t explain why, cause honestly there is nothing special about it, but I really like it.

Sales Links:  Samhain Publishing – All Romance (ARe) – Amazon  Buy It Here

Book Details:

Published January 30th 2015 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Kindle Edition
ASIN B00U3M60TU
Edition language English
The Shamwell Tales series
Caught! #1
Played! #2

In the Spotlight: Falling (Fall or Break #1) by Barbara Elsborg (author interview and contest)

STRW In The Spotlight Header

Falling (Fall or Break #1) by Barbara Elsborg
Samhain Publishing

Falling cover

Author Barbara Elsborg is here today to talk about her book, Falling, and the Fall or Break series.  Check out our interview below and the book details  that follow.

Contest: Enter to win a eBook from Barbara Elsborg’s library.  Leave a comment below, along with an email address where you can be contacted.  And also click on the Rafflecopter link below as well.  Contest ends midnight, April 21st (2 weeks from today):
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

An Interview with Barbara Elsborg on “Falling”….

1. What prompted you to write Falling?

I hate the idea of someone being put in prison for something they didn’t do. I hate the idea of someone being accused of something they didn’t do! It made me think how awful it must be to be in prison and be constantly encouraged to admit your guilt and how hard it must be to stand against that pressure. It used to be the case that if you didn’t admit your guilt you spent more of your sentence behind bars. That’s not really true now BUT since a parole board has to agree to your early release, if you haven’t accepted your guilt it can be a reason to deny you the chance of life outside on license. I had to do a lot of research to check I had my facts right!

2. Where do you draw your inspiration?

Everywhere. Things I’m told, things I read or see. An addiction to Google! Another inspiration for Falling was when a friend told me of a young man she knew who was a teacher in Scotland – accused of abuse by a pupil. He was innocent. The accusation was withdrawn but the damage was done and he left teaching. I think in these days of political correctness, you have to be so careful what you say and do and in a way, it’s a shame. We need a better balance.

3. Falling is the first in the Fall or Break series. Will you continue with the couple in Falling or will each subsequent book feature a different set of MCs?

The next book Breaking – features Conrad – a minor character out of Falling. It’s a stand alone book but it does help to know who Conrad used to be with. Malachi and Harper have a little part in Breaking – out in July. I prefer writing books that tell the story of one couple, and end it rather than let it run to several books.

4. Or will the series chart the progression of the relationship?

So no – LOL – the series will be about different MCs!

5. Were you a prolific reader as a child?

Huge reader. I used to be trouble with the local library because I took books back to change them for new ones before they’d filed the cards for the ones I’d taken out. (that dates me!) I read very fast. 80 pages in 30 minutes of a paperback – often even quicker. I also read up to 3 books at the same time – not actually at the same time but I have 3 by the side of the bed now, all part read, plus the one on my Kindle. I read according to mood! I’m not always in the mood for romance. I like suspense and thrillers.

6. If so, what book or author made a impact on you as a child reader?

That’s really hard. I think I might pick the Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. I loved the idea of another land up a tree!I was scared of heights though so I never climbed trees.

7. And has that impact continued into adulthood, as a reader and writer?

No. Enid Blyton was of her time. Some stories like the Magic Faraway Tree can be read now, but the others are dated. I didn’t have a favourite author. I just read anything. Once I was in my teens I was addicted to James Bond books. Then I branched out to the classics. There aren’t many genres I won’t try. The one I have the most difficulties with is hard core sci fi. It’s too technical for me.

8. Who do you consider your influences as an author today?

Impossible to say. I’ve read so much and loved so much- Adele Parks, Jennifer Crusie, Fiona Walker, Freya North – but I love thriller and suspense writers like Mark Billingham, Tom Wood, Karin Slaughter, Harlan Coben, Mo Hayder – so many. I also love regency romances – Eloisa James, Mary Balogh, Julia Quinn… too many to mention. I think any good author that you read has to have some influence if only to encourage you to write better.

9. What drives you to write? And have you always written?

What drives me? The love of telling a story, the need for a happy ending, a belief in love, an interest in what makes people tick. I have always written. I started with fan fiction as a teenager for TV shows and wrote my first novel in my early twenties. I found writing was a way to escape a not very happy time at school. I could dive into my own world, make myself the heroine and give myself a HEA.

10. What’s next for Barbara Elsborg?
I have an MM called The Demon You Know out in April. An MMF called Talking Trouble out in May. Breaking out in July and I’ve just finished writing an MM tentatively called Give Yourself Away. It’s going to be a year of many releases!! But on a personal note, I’m going to be at RT in Dallas if anyone would like to meet me!

STRW Author BookSynopsis

About Falling…

Falling is easy. Landing without breaking your heart? Impossible.

Harper is no longer behind bars, but it doesn’t feel like it. Ten years serving time for a crime he didn’t commit have left him shut down, numb, and a frozen wreck over the simplest of choices.

He’s acutely aware of the dark-haired young man checking him out in the supermarket, but he’s too deep in panic mode to even meet the guy’s gaze. Afraid the slightest move will trigger a fall that will never stop.

Fresh off a long-term relationship with a controlling man, Malachi is stuck living with relatives who think he’s a waste of oxygen. The tall guy in the long, gray coat is the first bright spot he’s glimpsed in a long time…though the man’s unblinking stare at a bottle of shower gel is a touch alarming.

Hard experience tells both of them to turn away before lust turns to hopeless attraction, and inevitably to disaster. But once their sparks connect, the arc of electricity is too strong to deny. Even if the cost is too much to bear.

Warning: Contains an ex-con with disaster written all over him, a boy toy who’s trouble with a capital T, a damp old British house, compulsive meddling, and enough hot sex to cure the severe case of nervous babbling.  Read an excerpt here at Samhain.

Sales Links:  Samhain Publishing           Amazon       Buy It Here

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 282 pages
Published March 24th 2015 by Samhain Publishing
original titleFalling,ASINB00Q33IKYG
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.barbaraelsborg.com/book/falling/
seriesFall or Break #1

STRW Author Bio and Contacts

About Barbara Elsborg:

Barbara Elsborg lives in West Yorkshire in the north of England. She always wanted to be a spy, but having confessed to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not for her. Vulcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide.

After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful husband (who can now stop twisting her arm) she finally has time to conduct an affair with an electrifying plugged-in male, her laptop.

Her books feature quirky heroines and bad boys, and she hopes they are as much fun to read as they are to write.

Contact/follow Barbara at her blog/website:  http://www.barbaraelsborg.com/

A Mika Review: Carry the Ocean (The Roosevelt #1) by Heidi Cullinan

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Normal is just a setting on the dryer. 



carry the ocean coverHigh school graduate Jeremey Samson is looking forward to burying his head under the covers and sleeping until it’s time to leave for college. Then a tornado named Emmet Washington enters his life. The double major in math and computer science is handsome, forward, wicked smart, interested in dating Jeremey—and he’s autistic.

But Jeremey doesn’t judge him for that. He’s too busy judging himself, as are his parents, who don’t believe in things like clinical depression. When his untreated illness reaches a critical breaking point, Emmet is the white knight who rescues him and brings him along as a roommate to The Roosevelt, a quirky new assisted living facility nearby.

As Jeremey finds his feet at The Roosevelt, Emmet slowly begins to believe he can be loved for the man he is behind the autism. But before he can trust enough to fall head over heels, he must trust his own conviction that friendship is a healing force and love can overcome any obstacle.

Warning: Contains characters obsessed with trains and counting, positive representations of autism and mental illness, a very dark moment, and Elwood Blues.

It has to be something in the air with these MM NA (new adult) books. I’ve read two back to back and fell in love with characters from both books. I would never have picked up this book if it wasn’t for the cover which is beautifully done and a friends review of it. I read this book in one sitting, and I will reread it again. I found myself crying uncontrollably because Emmet was amazing. He did things or said things that just warmed my heart.

Emmet is one of the bravest guys I’ve ever read about. His explanation of things and willingness to do them just kept on exciting me. Every little step he’s taken was with precaution and determination. He didn’t allow his Autism or Brain Octopus dictate his life. I love that when he needed help he reached out to his family. I liked that he took out time for Jeremey and explained certain things to him. From that first moment of him on the page his reasoning was so well thought out. I liked that the writing kind of related to how he would speak. I loved that he knew he was different in a certain aspect but didn’t want that to be his main focus. I love his parents and his aunt. His support system is amazing. I like they he thinks of Jeremey well being constantly.

Here’s the thing, I know a lot of people won’t like Jeremey, but I did. I don’t think it’s fair to be frustrated with him because I don’t live with major depressive disorder or clinical anxiety. I’ve never once felt the way he had. I don’t know what it is like to feel like I’m carrying everyone’s emotions. I don’t know what it feels like to have my brain go against me. I don’t know how those dark times control everything about me. I don’t know what it feel’s like to be scared all of the time. I don’t know what it feel’s like to not have a voice. That is how Jeremey feels, and I’m okay with that. Sure I found it extremely frustrating how hard he was on himself, or him standing up for himself. I get it though and I Hate that he didn’t love himself enough back then to get help.

I think Jeremey became complacent in his life, and I would have hated to see how he would have acted if his parents for college on him. I HATED his parents; they were inexcusable by their actions. I kind of felt that way towards his sister as well, and I know I shouldn’t but no one was there for him after his panic attack.

I really enjoyed the pace and flow of the story and really liked the relationship between the two guys. The writing was really good.

Cover Art by Kanaxa. I absolutely loved this cover. It’s what drew me in at the first place. I think it’s a great visual for how these two books carry things around. I love that it’s most likely Jeremey’s reasoning for how he feels about stuff. It is really beautiful.

Sales Links:    Samhain Publishing       All Romance (ARe)       Amazon     Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: April 7th 2015 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
original titleCarry the Ocean
ISBN139781978161922
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.heidicullinan.com/Carry_the_Ocean
seriesThe Roosevelt #1