Pitch & Sickle – The Diabolus Chronicles by D K Girl #kindleunlimited

NEW RELEASE and SERIES TOUR 

Pitch & Sickle – The Diabolus Chronicles by D K Girl

An MM Gaslamp Fantasy Series

 

NEW RELEASE – BOOK 6

Book Title: The Herlequin – Pitch & Sickle Book Six

Author: D K Girl

Length: 129 000 words

Release Date: April 27, 2023

Genre:  MM Historical Fantasy

It is not a standalone story and ends on a cliffhanger.

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The journey to Blood Lake has begun…

 

Blurb
Pitch and Sickle have survived enraged fae queens, murderous forest guardians, walking corpses, and ghosts turned monstrous by the Blight.
They been tortured by sorcerers and made playthings by enemies who have sided with the Morrigan.
The ankou and his daemon prince have been forced to confront awful secrets from their pasts.
Both have made terrible sacrifices to keep the other safe.
And would willingly do much more to protect the unimaginable bond that has grown between them.

In the midst of the chaos and carnage a deadman and a daemon have found each other.

Now, Prince Vassago will need his Pale Horseman more than ever before.
With the escape from the Fulbourn comes the truth about what lies ahead.

The journey will be perilous.
The great hunt has begun.
And all is not as it should be for a beleagered daemon.

Can Silas and the Order outwit the Morrigan, and deliver Pitch to where Seraphiel’s secrets lie?
Or will the sorcerers’ Herlequin succeed where all the rest have failed?

 

CHECK OUT THE OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

BOOK 1

Book Title: The Bandalore – Pitch & Sickle Book One

Cover Artist: Deranged Doctor Designs

Release Date: February 25, 2021

Heat Rating: 2 flames    

Length:  285 pages

Genre:  Historical Fantasy MM

Tropes: Slow, slow burn, opposites attract

Themes: Loneliness and friendship

It is not a standalone book. This is the first book in the Gaslamp Fantasy series, The Diabolus Chronicles.

It has an unresolved storyline rather than an outright cliffhanger.

Goodreads

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited 

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Silas Mercer died once. He’d rather not do it again.

 

Blurb 

1885 London, England

Silas Mercer died once. He’d rather not do it again.

On his return to the world of the living, Silas finds himself in the hands of the mysterious Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

The Order has London society clamouring for their services, with tarot readings, seances and exorcisms among their arcane specialities.

Now they seem intent on making Silas their newest recruit.

But they want far more from him than cheap parlour tricks.

When the Order partners him with the scandalous rake, Tobias Astaroth, Silas’s new life is turned on its head in more ways than one.

Tobias is quick-tempered, dangerously charming, and far more than the man he seems. 

For Silas, surviving what the Order has planned for him will be a challenge.

But finding a way to survive Tobias Astaroth could prove impossible.

 

A slow-burn MM Gaslamp Fantasy series.

Contains: Sexual content, violence and rather a lot of cursing.

This is the first book in the thrilling Gaslamp Fantasy series, The Diabolus Chronicles

 

BOOK 2

Book Title: The Verderer – Pitch & Sickle Book Two

Length: 309 pages

Release Date:  June 30, 2021

Genres: MM Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Historical Fantasy

Tropes: Opposites attract, Stuck together, Emotional scars

It is not a standalone story. The overarching storyline continues but issues are resolved for the immediate storyline.

Goodreads

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Life as a servant of death has its challenges. But the biggest one of all is Silas’s daemonic guardian, Pitch.

 

Blurb

Silas Mercer is a dead man walking.

And the mysterious Order of the Golden Dawn have big plans for their newest ankou and his deathly bandalore.

Life as a servant of death has its challenges.

But the biggest one of all is Silas’s daemonic guardian, Pitch.

He may look like heaven, but he’s making Silas’s life all kinds of hell.

The daemon is arrogant, egotistical and his appetite for violence and tea cakes is fast outgrowing the small village where they have been recuperating since their run-in with Black Annis.

Now, the increasingly unstable Blight is causing new havoc, and fresh monstrosities are emerging.

Pitch and Sickle are back in the saddle, and on their way to the haunted Forest of Dean.

But can Silas rely on his guardian’s protection?

Or will Pitch prove to be the most dangerous encounter of all?

 

BOOK 3

Book Title: The Skriker – Pitch & Sickle Book Three

Length: 369 pages

Release Date: October 20, 2021

Genres: MM Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Historical Fantasy

Tropes: Opposites attract, Stuck together, Emotional scars

It is not a standalone story. The overarching storyline continues but issues are resolved for the immediate storyline.

Goodreads

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited 

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Silas Mercer has faced wily boggarts, mad faerie queens and enraged forest spirits. But can he withstand a daemon who is losing his mind?

 

Blurb

Silas Mercer has faced wily boggarts, mad faerie queens and enraged forest spirits.

But can he withstand a daemon who is losing his mind?

Pitch and Sickle are left bruised, battered and reeling after their confrontation with the Verderer.

They have learned a startling truth behind the arrowhead that wounded Silas, a truth that must be taken to the Lady Satine and the Order without delay.

But his encounters in the Forest of Dean have effected Pitch in alarming ways. The daemon’s body may have healed but his erratic behaviour and wildly unpredictable temper grow ever more concerning.

Silas owes his life to Pitch. Their experience in the forest has brought them a closeness he could not have imagined possible.

But what can he do for a daemon who is losing his way?

And how long will Silas survive, if he must ride alone?

 

BOOK 4

Book Title: The Greensward – Pitch & Sickle Book Four

Length: 412 pages

Release Date: April 13, 2022

Genres: MM Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Historical Fantasy

Tropes: Opposites attract, Stuck together, Emotional scars

It is not a standalone story. The overarching storyline continues but issues are resolved for the immediate storyline.

Goodreads

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited 

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The Lady’s Horsemen are riding out once more. Carrying death’s scythe to where tormented souls linger. But what awaits them in a world where divine magick has returned?

 

Blurb

The Lady’s Horsemen are riding out once more. Carrying death’s scythe to where tormented souls linger.

But what awaits them in a world where divine magick has returned?

Pitch is recovered from the injuries he received in the Forest of Dean, and Silas won’t soon forget the part he played in setting his guardian back on his feet.

The ankou and the daemon have been reunited in a most unexpected and intimate way, but barely have they caught their breath when a new threat arises.

A tortured spirit is frightening both the living and the dead along the roads of Devon.

But is this soul a monster that must be stopped, or another pawn in the necromancer’s mysterious game?

With Azazel’s magick re-emerging after hundreds of years, maleficium plagues the world once more. But who is wielding the forbidden arcane magick of the angels?

Do they work alone?

And why are they so intent on harassing the Lady’s Horsemen?

Silas has never felt stronger, or more determined to live up to the Order’s high expectations. He’s faced the walking dead, outwitted the enchanted Hall, and gained an ally in the skriker.

But he’s not sure he’s equipped to handle his growing attraction to a troubled daemon.

And Silas fears that getting any closer to Pitch and his tragic secrets may prove as dangerous as the monsters they are riding to face.

 

BOOK 5

Book Title:  The Fulbourn – Pitch & Sickle Book Five

Author: D K Girl

Publisher: Lucas Publishing 

Length:   133Kwords/ 458 pages

Release Date: October 20, 2022

It is not a standalone story. While it does not end on a cliffhanger, there are some unresolved issues.

Goodreads

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When the King of Daemonkind comes to call, be ready for hell to follow.

 

Blurb

After Lucifer’s disturbing visit, the quest to destroy the Blight takes on a desperate urgency.

Finding Lieutenant Edward Charters is paramount.

But what role does a mortal man play in Seraphiel’s dangerous game?

The angel has sent Pitch a talisman from beyond the grave, a seemingly innocuous watch that may be the key to ending the Watcher King’s dark legacy. But to learn its secret Pitch and Silas must find the man intended to carry it.

As the search for the lieutenant begins, the Horsemen find themselves gifted with something more precious than any angelic token. An evening of unexpected freedom.
A night that will deepen their intimacy and bring long-stifled feelings to the fore.

But what price will they pay for choosing breathless pleasure over rigid duty?

The Morrigan have not forgiven the destruction at the greensward. They are prepared to do whatever it takes to rid themselves of the Horsemen and heed the Watcher King’s ghostly call.

The Fulbourn is Pitch and Silas’s greatest threat yet.
A place that will drive them into the depths of their most terrible fears and seek to tear them apart.

They are closer than ever before but will that fragile new bond be enough to save them?
Or have the daemon prince and his ankou found the nemesis that will destroy them once and for all?

 

Excerpt from ‘The Bandalore-Pitch & Sickle Book One’ 

 A rather pretty gentleman, sharp featured, pale and fine, stepped into the room with a flourish of raised hands. His tousled light brown hair was wild about his shoulders, and his eyes so green it was as though emeralds had been pressed into the sockets. ‘Let the amusements begin…or should I say…continue.’

His velvet coat, a red almost as bold as the woman’s lips, was unbuttoned, revealing a black shirt with a silver brocade of Chinese dragons upon it. An elaborate ruffling of silk tumbled from the collar and covered a good portion of his chest. His choice of trousers was equally curious, a rather outdated fall-front style in black silk.

The baron groaned, but his smile was ever-present. ‘Good god, man, we thought you two would never be done.’

‘Perfection takes time, does it not?’

‘Take your seat, you rascal, and stop your showmanship, at least just for a moment.’

Silas scratched his right palm absently, attempting to stymie the prickle. Like many things about himself he wasn’t certain of his age, his late twenties was likely, much the same as the man who had just swept into the room.

Mr Astaroth tilted his head, pursing lips that held a near-perfect Cupid’s bow. ‘Am I to stand aside so another showman can perform?’

‘Exactly,’ the baron declared.

As Mr Astaroth made his way to his seat with his companion, he had a notable effect on those in attendance. The ladies all at once seemed incapable of deciding how they should adjust their gowns upon their seats, and the men were equally as fidgety. All of them were fixated on Mr Astaroth’s procession across the room. The man had not spared Silas a glance yet, even when he was deriding him, and Silas had no issue with that at all. He was not sure he’d enjoy the pierce of those green eyes upon him. But he could not deny there was indeed something mesmerising about the lad, the sway of his hips, the coiled tension in his body that gave the impression he might suddenly leap unannounced in any direction.

Mr Astaroth stopped to take a glass of champagne from the tray offered by a somewhat flustered young footman. The liquid wobbled in its crystal confines, and the boy’s eyes darted so quickly between the floor and the man before him, it was as though he’d lost control of his eyeballs.

‘Thank you, kind sir. What a wonderful job you do.’ Mr Astaroth’s smile was discomfortingly suggestive, his whispered appreciation of the boy’s offering far too intimate, and the serving boy nearly stumbled over his own feet to move away.

Mr Astaroth was slender, not remarkable in height, and the angles of his face were delicate to the point of being feminine, but he held a presence that quite overwhelmed the room. Silas’s gaze moved down the length of the man’s body to his feet. He wore heeled boots, which meant he was shorter than first impressions allowed. The glean of polished leather distracted Silas from what became startlingly obvious a moment later. He tensed and closed his eyes a second, as though that might change things. But alas it was not to be.

The ground at Tobias Astaroth’s feet held no shadow.

Whoever this man was, he was not, for all intents and purposes, human. Silas took hold of the arms of the chair, filled with the sudden desire to depart. No one had thought to instruct him on an encounter such as this.

‘Stop frightening the help and get your arse on a chair,’ declared the bespectacled man at Silas’s left. ‘We know how you hate to have attention diverted from you, so do try and behave, Pitch old boy.’

Evidently the group knew the man well enough to have endowed him with a nickname. Silas could only imagine its origins.

‘Oh Brenton,’ Victoria, Mr Astaroth’s companion, said. ‘As far as I’m concerned, Tobias has been on his best behaviour all evening.’ She had taken her seat and leaned her elbows upon the table, utterly at ease.

‘Thank you, my dear,’ Mr Astaroth said. ‘You are as sensible as you are extremely talented in the art of, what were we calling it? Tarot reading.’ He tilted his glass towards her before turning to Silas. The air quite vanished from Silas’s lungs beneath the daggers of his emerald stare. ‘How very nice to make your acquaintance, Mr Mercer. I do hope we are in for a wonderful show.’

 

 

About the Author  

Danielle K Girl is an Aussie who lives in stunning Tasmania with her three furkids, cats Luffy, Sweetie and Ren.

Her idea of heaven is a farm full of rescue animals, with a vegie garden that sprouts peanut M&M’s and chocolate wheaten biscuits.

When she’s not keyboard-deep in mysterious, beguiling worlds, she is binge watching K-Dramas, listening to K-Pop or hiking through the beautiful Tasmanian wilderness.

 

 

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Sweet as Pie by Beth Bolden #kindleunlimited #giveaway

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Sweet as Pie

Author and Publisher: Beth Bolden

Cover Artist: Morningstar Ashley Designs

Release Date: April 13, 2023

Genre: Contemporary MM romance

Tropes: Grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, small town

Themes: Family responsibilities, necessary change, unexpected love

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 80 000 words

It is a standalone story.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link  |  Amazon US  |  Amazon  UK 

 

 

Blurb

Luca Moretti is grumpy—and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Wrangling six—Italian—siblings and the family’s restaurants would make anyone cranky. But when his mother requests that he save his aunt’s struggling Italian deli in charming, picturesque Indigo Bay, he has no idea that he’s about to overdose on sweetness.

Luca expected his aunt’s stubbornness—she’s a Moretti, isn’t she?—and his cousin’s resistance to actual work, but the last thing he expected is the absolute ball of sunshine known as Oliver Billings.

Oliver loves Indigo Bay. Loves owning his small artisan bakery, Sweetie Pie’s. Helps nice old ladies cross the street. Even volunteers for the local Sweethearts Festival.

Sweet isn’t really Luca’s style, or so he thinks. But when he discovers Oliver can be a little spicy too, his prickly exterior begins to crumble like a well-baked crust.

If Luca isn’t careful, he’s going to develop a taste for sweets—and a particular baker’s pie.

And one or two servings will never be enough.

 

Excerpt 

“Ah, they sent the fixer out.” Oliver sounded amused again. “I can see it. You’re definitely more of a fixer than a baker.”

Luca shrugged. “I run my family’s four restaurants. They do not typically need fixing.” Don’t be arrogant, don’t be arrogant. “But Nonna’s Deli here, it is . . .an investment of ours. Not directly under my control. So I’m not here to order changes but to . . .suggest them. Nicely.”

“Which is how they’ve managed to underperform all these years,” Oliver said with another of those smirks. They shouldn’t have been so frustratingly attractive. But Luca felt them deep down, stirring him up in a way he hadn’t expected.

Oliver was definitely a very attractive package, one he’d love to unwrap.

Would he be as sweet as promised? Or a little salty too? Maybe even a bit spicy?

“You could say that,” Luca said. “Part of the proposed changes are aligning the menu more directly with our other restaurants. And that includes fresh bread, daily. Nonna’s here doesn’t have the staff, the resources, or the equipment to do this, but you do.”

“I do,” Oliver conceded. “My schedule’s already pretty packed, but I suppose I could fit you in. French bread? Sourdough bread? Focaccia? Rolls? Loaves? How many dozen per day?”

Luca liked every part of Oliver he’d seen so far. He was charming and sweet and undeniably adorable. Then there was how goddamned sexy he was when he got down to business.

“I’m not sure yet,” Luca said. “In fact, they may not need any at all. Giana and Enzo have my proposed changes, but they are not required to accept all of them—or any of them, actually.”

“You must hate that, not being able to actually impose your control over them.” Oliver said it casually, like a true control-freak business owner, like he understood.

How did Oliver know how much he hated it? Was it that obvious? Was it written all over his face that he’d love nothing more than to march down the street and tell Giana and Enzo exactly what to do?

“Yes,” Luca admitted.

“Nonna’s isn’t just an Italian affectation, is it? Was there actually a Nonna?” Oliver asked.

“My grandmother.”

“Ah, well, there you go.” Oliver leaned back, grinning. Luca wanted to chase him, but he stayed on his side of the table, with what he thought was pretty admirable restraint.

“So why does Enzo dislike you so much?” Luca asked.

“That’s a long story. And I’ve got to tend to these rolls. If they overproof . . .” Oliver shrugged. “I’m a perfectionist, what can I say?”

“If he supposedly turns against you every chance he gets, what’s he going to say,” Luca said, deploying the most persuasive smile in his arsenal, “when he finds out I want to hire you to bake our bread? I need the insider info. Need to be able to convince him it’s a good idea.”

“It’s not going to help you, and you’re not going to like it,” Oliver said. “Though, you sorta look like there’s plenty of things you don’t like.”

But I like you. “You’re not wrong.” It was hard to admit it, but there it was. He was particular, okay? Particular and more than a little arrogant about his particularity.

Maybe it was good Oliver knew that now, even if all they ever had was a date and a night—though even that was still up in the air.

“We dated,” Oliver said. His watch beeped, and he stood, just as he’d left Luca speechless for another long moment. “Well,” he amended, with a cute little shrug. “It was one date. But still. He wanted to continue. I did not. And that’s the story.”

“That wasn’t a very long story,” Luca managed, and was he trailing after Oliver in his own bakery like a lost puppy looking for his owner? Yes, he was, a little.

 

About the Author 

A lifelong Pacific Northwester, Beth Bolden has just recently moved to North Carolina with her supportive husband. Beth still believes in Keeping Portland Weird, and intends to be just as weird in Raleigh.

Beth has been writing practically since she learned the alphabet. Unfortunately, her first foray into novel writing, titled Big Bear with Sparkly Earrings, wasn’t a bestseller, but hope springs eternal. She has published over forty novels and novellas.

 

Author Links

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A Case of Madness (Or the Curious Appearance of Holmes in the Nighttime) by Yvonne Knop

BLOG TOUR and AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Book Title:  A Case of Madness (Or the Curious Appearance of Holmes in the Nighttime)

Author: Yvonne Knop

Publisher: Improbable Press

Cover Artist: Ksenia Spizhevaya

Release Date: March 20, 2023

Genres: Adult Contemporary M/M Rom-Com

Tropes:  Opposites attract, Emotional scars, Grumpy/sunshine

Themes: Coming out, friendship, mental illness, love

Heat Rating: 2 flames  

Length: 82 000 words/272 pages

It is a standalone book and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links

Publisher  |  Amazon US  |   Amazon  UK

 

A world-weary Sherlock Holmes scholar loses his job and his sanity when the great detective materializes in his flat to help solve a mystery that involves a handsome male stranger. What ensues is a thrilling adventure in literature, London, and love.

 

Blurb 

Andrew Thomas just got sacked. He’s permanently drunk. He’s got cancer. Is inescapably gay. Was hit by a bus. And he’s fallen in love with a stranger whose life he saved.

As a newly-unemployed Sherlock Holmes scholar, Andrew knows only Holmes can help him untangle the madness his life has become, but Holmes isn’t real. Except he absolutely appeared in Andrew’s house, told him he’s in love with a man he just met…and then in a fit of pique Andrew sent him away.

Sure Holmes is probably a hallucination or a specter or a ghost, but now Andrew desperately needs his help. So to find the answer to his case and the man of his dreams, Andrew takes to chasing a fictional character through London with his very own Watson.

 

INTERVIEW PROMPTS

The prized possession you value above all others…

All volumes of the Rivers of London series, signed by Ben Aaronovitch

The unqualified regret you wish you could amend…

Not having started serious writing sooner.

The temptation you wish you could resist…

SNACKS

The book that holds everlasting resonance…

The bluest eye – Toni Morrison

The priority activity if you were invisible for a day…

Walking into the homes of strangers to see what their interior design looks like.

The film you can watch time and time again…

Disney’s Mulan (the cartoon one)

The unlikely interest that engages your curiosity…

Pigs. I just love pigs. I have absolutely no idea why, but I just love them.

The poem that touches your soul…

“I am waiting” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. It describes the human condition so well and is absolutely timeless.

The event that altered the course of your life…

The sudden death of my best friend in 2018. It showed me how quickly everything can be over.

The unfulfilled ambition that continues to haunt you…

Singing….I wish I could sing. But I really can’t.

The way you would spend your fantasy twenty-four hours, with no travel restrictions…

Are we talking real fantasy? Then I would of course travel with the Doctor through space and time!

The pet hate that makes your hackles rise…

Loud music in public. Get some headphones!

The figure from history you would most like to buy a pie and a pint…

Of course Sherlock Holmes, but if I have to choose a real person it would probably be Oscar Wilde (Sorry, Arthur).

The piece of wisdom you would pass onto a child…

Be kind! You never know what a person ha experienced or is currently going through.

The philosophy that underpins your life…

We are all human beings.

The character you enjoyed writing the most…

Mina! I just love her. I always ask myself “What would Mina do?”. Sher is the friend everyone should have!

The character you found difficult to write…

Sherlock Holmes, because I wanted him to be close to the original while also being quirky because he is the hallucination of a modern man.

The book you enjoyed planning/writing the most…

A Case of Madness is the only book I have ever finished, so I guess it is the one.

THANK YOU.

 

Excerpt 

While strolling amid the students and scholars rushing into the University of London, I ignored the urge to check my pocket watch.

If there was ever a day to dawdle, it was today. The first day of summer that actually felt like the season it claimed to be. And the day of my personal disaster.

It wasn’t a ‘this train will split at the next station and you just sat down with your meal deal’ disaster, but it was equally inconvenient. After decades of laboring in academia, I was about to become involuntarily unemployed. Apart from that – and this might be even more important – I was also going to die.

To delay the confrontation a bit longer, I looked for a shaded place to smoke and then took long, luxurious drags on my cigarette. A cough struggled to tear itself free from my chest, but I suppressed it. Not now. Focus.

Few people knew my name or my publications. But some such people existed – people who were as fascinated by a very specific man as I was, and who seemed to value my works more than I did. The man I wrote about lived in Baker Street, and he was partly to blame for my situation. Though I liked to think of myself as a charmingly anachronistic gentleman, I increasingly felt I was just a dafter in a fine suit who lurked around public buildings. Instead of engaging in modern life, I was immersed in the world of Sherlock Holmes and all things Victorian, with the natural effect of many acquaintances leaving or going extinct. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the company of others; it was that I struggled in the company of others. And they struggled in the company of me.

You see, the fact that I knew my dearest detective had appeared on-screen in over two hundred and twenty adaptations did not give me much hope I would find out what people did for fun. But what of fun? What about achievement? Holmes is the most filmed novel character of all time – among humans, at least; Dracula has been filmed even more often. This connection filled me with joy, and I believed it could be combined in a curious way. Dracula Holmes: he investigates at night because he’s not just a detective, no – he’s also a vampire. Greedy for blood and knowledge.

I finished my cigarette and stepped from the shadows only to immediately collide with a young man in the most colorful trainers I’d ever seen. In a split-second knockout victory, he fell to the ground covered in the flyers he had been holding in his hand just seconds before.

I bent down immediately to help him. “I’m so sorry,” I said, quickly picking up his flyers from the pavement. At least those which hadn’t fallen into the grey puddle right next to us.

“It’s okay,” he said, and he looked at me. His blue eyes seemed friendly though his gaze was intense.

I quickly looked down again. To my surprise, the flyers weren’t gig announcements or takeaway adverts. In fact, they were promoting something very dear to my heart. “I like theater,” I said, handing him back a few of the flyers. “I thought theater was dead for young people.”

He smiled. “Most young people get run over by perfect strangers.

That’s why so few make it to the stage. Anyway…I’m still alive.”

That he was. Alive, handsome, and holding a slim stack of remaining flyers. Slightly crumpled.

“I’m far from perfect,” I remarked, thinking of the trouble I had caused him.

 

About the Author  

Yvonne is a bi and nonbinary writer who dedicates their free time to extending the secret Gay Agenda – in part through their debut novel A Case of Madness.

Although born and raised in the north of Germany, Yvonne’s passion for Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who, their sassy humor, and aversion to talking on public transport made them suspiciously British from early on.

As a natural matter of cause and effect, Yvonne moved to London in 2014 and started to write (a novel for the drawer). No word was written until 2017 when the sudden question of ‘What if I could talk to Sherlock Holmes?’ came up to them.

Conducting PhD research in the world’s most extensive Sherlock Holmes collection, located in Minneapolis, USA, was a great help for answering that question. The result was not a PhD, but their debut novel A Case of Madness, originally written in German and in a bold move translated by the author themselves when nobody in Germany understood a word they were saying.

 

 

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Hiding Place by Jackie Keswick

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Hiding Place

Author and Publisher: Jackie Keswick

Cover Artist: Avery Daisy Book Design

Release Date: March 31, 2023

Genre: Contemporary M/M Mystery Romance

Tropes: Opposites attract, hurt/comfort, murder mystery

Themes: grief recovery, letting go and starting over

Heat Rating: 3 flames

Length: 43 000 words

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links

Universal Link  |  Author’s Website

 

Can a house with a secret bring two grieving men together?

 

Blurb

Can a house with a secret bring two grieving men together?

After losing his bandmates in an accident, songwriter Zach Hellig looks for a place to hide and a distraction from his grief. He finds both in a dilapidated Pele tower in a corner of Northumberland and in a sexy neighbour, whose smooth facade hides an old, painful secret that appears to be tied to Zach’s new home.

Are the rumours of an unsolved murder the reason for Robert Ludlow’s reluctance to sell Charnbarrow Pele?

Should Zach try to find answers to a thirty-seven-year-old mystery?

And having just experienced the pain of loss, should he risk his heart for a man who struggles to come to terms with his past?

A 43k m/m mystery romance, featuring a neglected old house in need of TLC, an unsolved murder, a grieving musician looking for a distraction, and his stern, intense neighbour who really should smile more.

 

Excerpt 

“Whoever said that house hunting was fun can’t have done that much of it,” I muttered as another stack of envelopes from my property search agent flopped onto my doormat. Paper slid over paper with a soft whoosh like messages skating in freeform. “Unless it’s the hunting they enjoy, and never mind if they find a house or not.” That’s where we differed, I supposed. I wanted to find a house, not spend my time hunting for one.

Cradling the stack of clammy envelopes I returned to the living room, where property particulars covered the surface of my dining table, neatly sorted into ‘absolutely-not’, ‘no’, and ‘maybe’ stacks. An empty space, the space for the ‘yes’ pile of particulars, glared accusingly from the centre of the table.

Maybe the house I was looking for didn’t exist.

Or it existed only in my mind. 

Ever since the night the police had knocked on my door, I’d yearned for a hiding place. Somewhere nobody offered sympathy or told me what I should do next. Where I didn’t have to put on a brave face and be Halcyon songwriter and keyboard player Zach Hellig. 

I yearned for a place where I could grieve in private. 

There was no such place, of course.

The paparazzi found me sooner or later. As did the fans, though—to my surprise—they’d proved unexpectedly compassionate after that first insane outpouring of grief. 

Many expressed the wish I would continue writing the music they had loved us for. Or that I’d start over with a new band. I had no answers to give them, but as I started to process the aftermath of the accident, my need for a place to grieve had turned into a wish to rebuild my life in a shape and form it hadn’t had before.

I’d dissolved my contract and had set about finding a house for myself. 

My requirements had seemed simple: a house with a largish garden in a remote location, maybe in need of renovation. I hadn’t expected this to be a challenging brief for any self-respecting property search agent.

Apparently, it was. 

In the last four months, I’d seen a score of houses all over the country. On the surface, they all fulfilled my requirements. I just couldn’t imagine myself living in any of them.

“This lot won’t make a difference either.” I settled in the armchair under the window, envelopes in my lap. The agent could have emailed me the particulars, just as I could have spent my days on the various property sites, hunting for suitable houses myself.

It wasn’t how my mind worked, though. I wanted the madness in my life to slow down and I was hoping that doing things the old-fashioned way—hiring an agent to help me find a suitable house and scrutinising potential homes on paper—would help me do that. 

Or, as my counsellor had suggested, I was avoiding both people and the internet.

I picked up the first envelope and felt a tiny spark of something bright in the back of my mind. A promise? A touch of hope?

One after the other, I opened the envelopes and scrutinised the contents. One after the other, the sheets fluttered to the floor.

Until the last of the offered properties had me sitting up in my chair.

The brochure described the house—Charnbarrow Pele—as a 17th century farmhouse with courtyard, stables, and walled garden, attached to a 14th century fortified tower.

It fit the list I’d given the agent, but what gave me the fluttery feeling was the photo on the front of the brochure: A house sitting lost and lonely, waiting for an injection of life. 

No doubt I was being fanciful. I’d also seen what could be achieved with a few photoshop skills.

None of that mattered. Hopeful for the first time in months, I placed the brochure in the empty space on my dining table. 

Then I reached for the phone to call the agent.

 

 

About the Author 

Jackie Keswick was born behind the Iron Curtain with itchy feet, a bent for rocks and a recurring dream of stepping off a bus in the middle of nowhere to go home. She’s worked in a hospital and as the only girl with 52 men on an oil rig, spent a winter in Moscow and a summer in Iceland and finally settled in the country of her dreams with her dream team: a husband, a cat, a tandem, a hammer and a laptop.

Jackie loves unexpected reunions and second chances, and men who write their own rules. She blogs about English history and food, has a thing for green eyes, and is a great believer in making up soundtracks for everything, including her characters and the cat.

And she still hasn’t found the place where the bus stops.

For questions and comments, not restricted to green eyes, bus stops or recipes for traditional English food, you can find Jackie Keswick in all the usual places.

 

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Worth the Fight by Denver Shaw #kindleunlimited #giveaway

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Book Title: Worth the Fight

Author and Publisher: Denver Shaw

Cover Artist: Steamy Designs

Release Date: March 21, 2023

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Opposites attract, sports romance/MMA romance, grumpy/sunshine, multicultural characters, found family

Themes: Protect who you love

Heat Rating: 4 flames 

Length:  56 600 words      

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

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A bad boy who lives outside the law. A compassionate soul focused on helping others. Sometimes rules are meant to be broken… for love.

Blurb

Caden
Helping my brother was my focus. He got into trouble and I’ve been using my skills in the ring to prevent loan sharks from breaking his kneecaps… or worse.
Until I met Noah.
He’s a good man who makes me want to be better. A man who doesn’t lace up his gloves and step into underground rings. But I have one last fight coming. This time the stakes are higher than ever. What I have to do to save my brother could cost me the man I’m falling for.

Noah
I should have walked away and never looked back when I first met the MMA fighter with honey-gold eyes. Yet Caden’s charms are too appealing to ignore. As a social worker it’s important for me to keep my nose clean.
And Caden is a red flag in every way.
Still, he’s hot as sin and I can’t seem to stay away. I’m taking a risk by opening myself up to him, but I’m convinced beneath that bad boy exterior beats the heart of a good man who is worth the fight.

 

Excerpt 

I texted Austin that I was here and that he needed to get his skinny butt to the entrance.

I got back what looked like a seat assignment from him, but this place was a maze. There was a man nearby who looked like he knew his way around, or was someone that worked here. Even if he didn’t, he might know where the seats were. But my breath caught in my throat as I surveyed him: black pants, white shirt; tall, muscled; short, blackberry-colored hair and honey-gold eyes. On their own, his features were possessed by dozens, perhaps hundreds of other men, but there was a certain something about this particular man. He exuded an easy confidence, a sex appeal that drew me in. It had been years since I’d been in a serious relationship, months since I’d had sex, and looking at this guy made me seriously think, albeit fleetingly, that maybe I should put myself back out there and at least consider dating again.

I shook myself from the temporary brain paralysis the man had reduced me to. 

“Pardon me, sir,” I said, “I haven’t been here in a long time; I’m trying to figure out where seat F3J is. Do you have any idea?”

He smiled down at me. I felt the caress of his gaze roaming over me, but not lingering too long in one spot, which took him out of the ‘creep’ category and put him into the ‘typical male’ category that he probably couldn’t help being in anyway. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I did have on my burgundy suit, which perfectly molded to my body.

Was he gay, or at least bisexual?

“F3J,” he repeated, smirking about something. “F3J…well, I might be able to help you hunt it down. Are you…here with someone?”

“I am,” I said. “Young guy, skinny, mixed.”

“Anything serious?” the man asked, casually—too casually.

I laughed. “Um…no, he’s my nephew.”

“Oh!” He wiped imaginary sweat off his forehead. “I see. That’s good.”

“Is it, now?”

“Well, see,” he said, “I figured there was no way I was lucky enough to meet a single guy in a place like this. I mean, what are the chances a man like you is unattached?”

Well, he answered my question. He was definitely gay or bisexual.

I pursed my lips and gave him the look I gave the kids that tried to bullshit me at work. “Oh, you’re a little slick. What, just because I’m here without a guy, I must be unattached?”

He shrugged. “Are you?”

“Here without a guy?”

“No, unattached.”

I made him wait a second. “Maybe I am.”

“Here’s the thing,” he said, leaning in a little bit. He smelled like a minty aftershave and sweat, the clean sweat of a man straight after a workout. “I figured any man who was with you wouldn’t stay behind if you left the house looking like that. I know I wouldn’t.”

“What, so he’d own me?” I wanted to be righteously angry, but it was hard. Those eyes…

“No,” the man said. “But he’d never miss a chance to be with you. I think you’d probably own him.”

“Oh, okay. Okay.” I nodded slowly, smiling now. “You’re slick and smooth at the same time. Listen, can you help me find my seat or not?”

“Is that an interview question?”

“I’m not taking applications.”

“Give me your phone number, and I’ll take you straight there.” He winked at me.

I almost did. It was fun, and it had been a long, long time since I’d been flirted with by anybody that wasn’t an inappropriately forward client. That happened plenty. This, though, was a bona fide stranger who didn’t know me from Adam, and seemed like he thought I was looking cute.

But, let’s be honest here; the little fantasy I had a few moments ago about putting myself out there was just that, a fantasy. I ate takeout every night for dinner. I ate most of my lunches at the office. I had heard about days off, and I vaguely remembered having them…or maybe I only dreamed about that once. That stack of case files on my desk? It hung around the back of my head like it had astral projected itself to follow me around the world outside my office.

It was a nice thought, but no, sir; the next date I had time to go on would be the one day off I would get between the day my office burned down and the day they relocated me to another one and printed out all my files again—thank God for the cloud.

“It’s not that easy,” I said with my own wink. “But good try. You’ve got real skills. I applaud your smoothness.” I stepped away from him. “I’ve got no time for guys who hit on guys for sport.”

He feigned a wound to the chest, but he was still smiling. “Fair enough,” he said. “I’ll keep that in mind, then. I’ll at least give you a hint, though.” He pointed toward the ring. “F stands for ‘floor’—your seat’s near the ring. Enjoy the fight!”

Yeah, I felt a little bad about being so hard on him, but you’ve got to shut all that down hard if you’re gonna shut it down at all. A man like that, yeah, okay, probably he’d be good for a short-term thing. I could admit that. All that muscle and sweat…

 

About the Author

Denver Shaw is a girl who enjoys the simple things in life: the first sip of coffee in the morning, the changing colors of sunset, and clothes fresh out of the dryer- although she doesn’t enjoy folding them. When she isn’t reading romance stories, she spends her time plotting and writing them.

 

 

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Unrivaled by Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James #kindleunlimited

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Book Title: Unrivaled

Author: Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James

Publisher:  Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: LC Chase

Release Date: February 21, 2023

Genre: M/M Contemporary Sports Romance

Tropes: Rivals to lovers, professional athletes, fling to love, opposites attract

Themes: Found family, opening yourself up to love, old grief, letting people in, reinventing yourself

Heat Rating: 4-5 flames

Length: 100 000 words / 288 pages

It is book 3 in a series, but the story is independent of the other books in the series. (There are some cameo appearances but no real plot crossover)

The book does not end on a cliffhanger.

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Love doesn’t pull its punches.

 

Blurb

People say there’s a fine line between love and hate. If you ask Grady Armstrong, the line’s as obvious as the one across the middle of a hockey rink.

So he can’t explain why he doesn’t walk away when his Grindr hookup—a guy who accused him of impersonating himself—turns out to be Max Lockhart, a rival player Grady once punched in the face. Apparently Max can goad him just as well off the ice as he can on it.

Max Lockhart showed up thinking he was going to expose a fake. Instead he hooks up with a guy who claims to hate him. And has a good time. A really good time. But that doesn’t mean players from different teams can be together.

Max has always wished Grady would relax a little. When the season starts and Grady accepts Max’s offer of help with finding someone to date for real, Max gets his wish. But he should’ve been careful what he wished for, because now that he knows Grady is a big softie under that prickly shell, he’d rather keep Grady for himself.

Grady only goes on a handful of dates before he realizes he has a lot more fun with Max. But he can’t be falling for a rival player… can he?

 

 Excerpt 

Like every good East Coast Canadian kid, Max grew up dreaming of playing hockey with the maple leaf on his chest.

Of course, he imagined wearing it in a tournament that mattered, but just because this one had no real stakes didn’t mean he didn’t want to win. He just wouldn’t sacrifice his body for it.

But he would bring his A game for the chirps. Team USA was playing Grady Armstrong on their first line, and there were few players Max had more fun riling. His sister, Nora, had been in town for one of their regular season games against each other, and back at his house later, they got high and giggly as they watched the replay of Armstrong in the penalty box. “No, but check out the muscles bunching in his jaw when he clenches it,” she’d half tsked, half giggled. “I mean, the look works for him, but he definitely grinds his teeth.”

“Guy’s strung way too tight,” Max agreed sagely. Then he restarted the video so they could watch him lose his shit again.

So maybe Max had had an idle fantasy or three about how to help Armstrong unwind. Or, honestly, not—he’d probably be equally good in bed cranky.

Max would’ve enjoyed the World Cup of Hockey experience either way, was the point. Go team and all that. Plus events like this were prime hookup opportunities—hockey players, hockey fans, hockey capital of the country.

Unfortunately, tonight he didn’t have the energy to hook up in person—not after practice and then drinks with the boys, and with practice again tomorrow. Putting an effort into his appearance at 10 p.m.? In this economy?

Pass.

This was why God invented Grindr.

Max flopped on his hotel bed and thumbed open the app.

He didn’t use it often. Max’s charm was more potent in person and in limited doses. He knew his strengths. But he was pretty good at taking dick pics that were sexy but still anonymous. Everybody should have a plan B.

He perused the app’s offerings.

The first three guys he passed on were like beers. Young, blond, inoffensive profiles. Not memorable or particularly potent, but they’d quench your thirst. One of them had actually posted the lyrics to “867-5309” under his profile pic, which made Max suspect he was either a douchebag or lying about his age.

Not tonight, Jenny. He swiped on to the next guy.

The following one, Jordan, was a mixed drink. Could be watered-down and flavorless, could knock you on your ass. No way to know until you took a sip. Jordan was cute, but not what Max was looking for tonight. He just wanted to get off and go to bed.

He swiped again.

… and then there was this guy. His face and dark eyes promised the potency of a shot.

The fact that it was Grady Armstrong’s face meant it was a straight-up catfish.

“Seriously, dude?” Max navigated to the message icon before his brain could even engage. Who did this guy think he was kidding? They were in Toronto. If Grady Armstrong wanted to get his dick wet, all he had to do was go outside and smile at someone.

The smiling would probably hurt him, though. It was not the guy’s natural expression. See: evidence of teeth grinding.

Max debated a handful of seconds before settling on the fishing emoticon. He followed up with nice try asshole, in case the message wasn’t totally clear.

A moment later a checkmark popped up to indicate the message had been read.

Max had intended to jerk off tonight, but getting into a fight on the internet was almost as good. He settled in to wait for the reply.

About the Authors

Ashlyn Kane likes to think she can do it all, but her follow-through often proves her undoing. Her house is as full of half-finished projects as her writing folder. With the help of her ADHD meds, she gets by.

An early reader and talker, Ashlyn has always had a flair for language and storytelling. As an eight-year-old, she attended her first writers’ workshop. As a teenager, she won an amateur poetry competition. As an adult, she received a starred review in Publishers Weekly for her novel Fake Dating the Prince. There were quite a few years in the middle there, but who’s counting?

Her hobbies include DIY home decor, container gardening (no pulling weeds), music, and spending time with her enormous chocolate lapdog. She is the fortunate wife of a wonderful man, the daughter of two sets of great parents, and the proud older sister/sister-in-law of the world’s biggest nerds.

Morgan James is a clueless (older) millennial who’s still trying to figure out what they’ll be when they grow up and enjoying the journey to get there. Now, with a couple of degrees, a few stints in Europe, and more than one false start to a career, they eagerly wait to see what’s next. James started writing fiction before they could spell and wrote their first (unpublished) novel in middle school. They haven’t stopped writing since. Geek, artist, archer, and fanatic, Morgan tends to pass their free hours with in imaginary worlds and people on pages and screens—it’s an addiction. As is their love of coffee and tea. They live in Canada with their massive collection of unread books, where they are the personal servant of too many four-legged creatures.

 

 

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Year of the Jackal by Abby Kaitz #kindleunlimited

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Book Title: Year of the Jackal

Author and Publisher: Abby Kaitz

Release Date: February 10, 2023

Genre: Contemporary MM romance; Romantic Comedy; New Adult

Tropes: Enemies to lovers, opposites attract

Themes: Taking risks, friendship, multicultural romance

Heat Rating: 2 flames   

Length: 73 000 words/ 292 pages

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

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“Before you kill me, can I get a kiss?”

 

Blurb

It’s Silicon Valley meets the Ivy League in this new adult romantic comedy starring a computer hacker moonlighting as a prankster, an angry basketball player who just wants his underwear back, and a small college town full of oversized personalities.

Max Trellis-Tan’s List of Things to Do Before Graduation:

• Find investors for his VR startup
• Curb his pranking habit
• Get Bramburgh University’s star basketball player to fall in love with him

It wasn’t Max’s fault that Aaron Scudder couldn’t take a prank. But when Max accidentally gets Aaron kicked off the basketball team, he quickly becomes Public Enemy Number One.

No matter how hard Aaron tries to have Max teleported to another planet, the two keep finding themselves tangled in increasingly amusing and bizarre situations around campus. Most bizarre of all is when their animosity turns into attraction.

Everything changes when Max gets accepted to a prestigious startup incubator.

Soon he’ll have to make a choice:

• Chase his dreams in Silicon Valley?
• Or take a chance on his growing feelings for Aaron?

 

Excerpt 

Tonight went against the lunar calendar.

Max Trellis-Tan had approximately 1,380 seconds left to live. That sounded much longer than the twenty-or-so minutes he actually had. Because his legs were starting to feel like marshmallows trying to cut through cement. All that time wasted on strength training. It didn’t even prepare him for this—this—whatever the heck was happening to him right now.

He stole a glance over his shoulder. Drunken bodies teetered out of his way, laughing. They laughed again, louder, and that was when Max knew the giant chasing him was closing in.

1,200 seconds left. 

It suddenly occurred to him that he could simply run into one of these houses on Greek Row. Safety in numbers and all that. Except the giant was bulldozing his way through the crowded sidewalk, and Max was not enough of an idiot to think he wouldn’t do the same in a house full of even more drunks. The smart thing to do was to keep running.

Something was blocking the sidewalk a couple of yards away. Max gave his legs an extra push and jumped over the recycling bin that had been recommissioned as some sort of ill-conceived beer pong table. Plastic cups and cheap beer spilled in his wake.

“Watch it, Jackie Chan!” The sound of high fives and hollering. “That Asian kid can run. Hey, Chan, can you get us some egg rolls?”

Even with the giant just strides away from pouncing, Max had enough clarity of mind to yell: “The egg rolls in this town are atrocious!”

He pushed past another group of students, ignoring the wasted frat bro who fell over after getting (accidentally!) elbowed by Max. Oops. Well, that guy wasn’t on the verge of losing his life tonight. Behind him, the growl of the giant bounding closer. It had an advantage. Those long legs: the pride of Bramburgh University.

It would take another three minutes to reach the corner of Pemaquid Avenue and Butterfirth Lane. Once there, it was a straight shot to Keesby Hall. Max patted his back pocket for his student ID; still there. Just a matter of whipping it out fast enough once he got to his dorm. And then he’d lock the growling giant out and do an annoying celebratory dance as the giant crushed rocks between his fingers or whatever it was that angry people did. 

Anger was such a foreign feeling. Like having water inside your ear. Even now, being chased by a vicious giant, finding himself in a situation that wasn’t entirely his fault (“But it technically was,” Zach would say), Max wasn’t mad. He wasn’t even scared. This was what college was all about: making strategically arbitrary decisions and feeling the rush of it pound at your ears and fill your heart with something close to invincibility—

THWACK.

He fell to the ground.

“Shit, Libby! You just totally cracked his head open with Greg’s lacrosse stick!”

“Oh. My. Godzilla! Hey, are you okaaay? Are you aliiive?”

“He’s super cute. We should take him home and nurse him back to health. Like Florence Nightingale. Libby, we can finally have a threesome!”

“Are you aliiive?”

Max opened his eyes and immediately started running again. He didn’t get five feet before a pair of plywood-like arms circled his chest and tackled him back to the ground. This time, it hurt. Concrete was unforgiving a second time. An ant ventured near his nose then stopped, stroking its antennae as if preparing for the feast of Max’s impending carcass. A mouth came down right against his ear, panting. Large, cold hands flipped him over and Max found himself staring into the eyes of the giant.

The movies had it all wrong. 

Your life didn’t flash before your eyes as you’re about to die. It’s all the other little things surrounding you: the size of the moon that night; the intoxicated laughter swirling with a particular hip-hop song blasting from one of the frat houses; the purple high-tops of a girl as she perched on the shoulders of her potential one-night stand. 

And the hazel eyes of the giant staring back at him. Even in the dark, they stood out like never-ending forests in autumn.

Max Trellis-Tan was quite possibly about to face death soon. Not by an axe murderer, but by a two-hundred-pound basketball player with a face that belonged to a Shakespearean hero. Gallant. And also: incredibly angry. His angel of death. “Before you kill me, can I get a kiss?” he asked.

 

About the Author 

Gay romance for readers who enjoy sweet with heat, smart humor, and an ensemble cast of colorful characters.

 

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Melody of the Snow by Blake Allwood #kindleunlimited #giveaway

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Book Title: Melody of the Snow

Author and Publisher: Blake Allwood

Cover Artist: Samrat Acharjee

Release Date: November 16, 2022

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Opposites attract, instalove, hurt/comfort

Themes: self-discovery, new beginnings

Heat Rating:  3 flames    

Length:  72 850 words/350 pages

It is a standalone story in the Melody Series and does not end on a cliffhanger.

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Family inheritance or his own passion… Can he have both?

 

Blurb

Hunter’s life is turned upside down when he’s forced to leave his ‘job of a lifetime’. When chance tosses him into the path of a very talented, and handsome young nurse, his life takes on a new direction he never could’ve anticipated.

Cam’s focus had shifted from pursuing his musical passion to nursing. But a one-night stand quickly changes into so much more, especially when that one-night stand ends up helping to run his late grandmother’s resort.

Career changes, inheritances, and a greedy corporation all make it seem impossible for these two men to make it. But, on the slopes of Colorado, they might just find love in the melody of the snow.

 

Excerpt 

I walked into the bar and immediately laid eyes on one of the most handsome men I’d ever seen. He was tall, though several inches shorter than me, and had that slim swimmer’s build that made me thirst to touch him. The fact that I caught him checking me out made me smile. Maybe tonight was showing promise after all.

I was about to walk over to him when the drag queen onstage began taunting him. After others joined in on it, he climbed onto the stage and started singing.

At first, I thought he had to be lip-syncing, because no way did someone randomly sing that well.

Of course, the more I watched from my vantage point, a head taller than most people at the bar, I realized it was actually his voice.

I sat and listened, mesmerized, as he ran through a full set of songs. He was about to leave the stage when the crowd demanded more, and during the pause in performing, I had enough sense to pull my phone out and record his final song.

As he began to sing Queen’s “Somebody to Love,” I felt my heart beat a little quicker. I wanted to be his somebody to love. No, fuck that, no. I needed to find somebody for the night, somebody to get my rocks off with, that was it. Once I started working for my aunt, my next opportunity to get away would be… well, probably too long to even think about.

I made my way toward the stage the moment he began the final bars of the song, recording him on my phone as I went. I wanted to be the first person he ran into as he came offstage, because I wanted him with all I had in me, especially after hearing his sultry singing voice.

The energy between us sparked, and it only took him a moment to agree to a hookup. When he snapped my picture and texted it to his friend, it made me like him that much more.

As a deputy, how often had I advised college kids to do that very thing? “Let someone know who you’re leaving with,” I’d imparted dozens of times. Even in our small town, several lives could’ve been spared if the kids had abided by that simple rule.

By the time he returned, I was beginning to salivate at the thought of having this sexy man’s body wrapped around mine.

I wasn’t one for physical affection outside the bedroom, but when he took my hand as we drove my rental to the hotel, I didn’t pull away. This guy felt different, like more than just a quick fuck, although that’s all it could possibly be.

Soon I would be headed for the mountains, miles away from Denver, in the height of winter. At best, I’d only get back here in the spring. More likely, though, my aunt would have me working so many hours I’d be lucky to see Denver next summer.

This was a one-night stand, but damn, I was going to enjoy every minute.

 

About the Author 

Blake Allwood was born in west TN, then moved to Kansas City MO after attending college in Lamoni, Iowa. He met his husband in 1995 and they officially married in 2015, once gay marriage was legalized. In 2017, he and his husband sold their home, purchased an RV and began traveling the country with their two dogs. Their travels provide the inspiration and settings for many of his novels.

Typically, Blake can be found relaxing in the RV or by the fire with his laptop and their Jack Russell Terrier, Buddy, curled up between his legs demanding attention. Denver, their Siberian Husky mix is often asleep at his feet or playing tug of war with Blake’s husband.

 

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Irish Charm by C F White #kindleunlimited #giveaway

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Book Title: Irish Charm (Flying into Love #3)

Author and Publisher: C F White

Cover Artist: Kelly Martin (KAM Design)

Release Date: November 28, 2022

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes:  Hurt/Comfort, Opposites Attract

Themes: Second Chance, Forced Proximity

Heat Rating:  4 flames    

Length: 64 250 words/260 pages

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

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Can a bit of Irish charm rescue an injured soldier from his wrenching heartache?

 

Blurb

Injured ex-soldier, Kane Taylor, has lost everything—the job he loves, the use of his trigger hand, and the love of his life. Moving to remote Donegal in Ireland to fix those lost links with his deceased partner’s ancestors is the only thing keeping his memories alive.

Publican Declan McCafferty has everything—a job he loves, a community he adores and a revolving door of lovers. But when he sets eyes on the new sexy, brooding regular customer at his pub staring solemnly into his Guinness night after night, Declan realises he needs one more thing—him.

Kane isn’t ready to give himself to another man, but the charismatic and charming publican is hard to resist. Can a fling be such a bad thing?
It is when Declan discovers Kane is the only man in his life he’s not willing to let go.

Irish Charm (Flying into Love #3) is a contemporary hurt/comfort, opposites attract, second chance MM romance featuring an ex-military alpha male recovering from heartache and a cheeky Irish publican allergic to commitment.

 

Excerpt 

“What you grinning for?” Ciara was at his office door, nose scrunched. 

Declan composed the returning message, then clicked off the phone and dropped it on his desk. 

“You’ll get an extra hundred in your pay this month. Euan coughed up.”

“You got that tight arse to pay? How did you do that?”

“My obvious charm.” 

“Did you deny him his drink?” 

“Aye.”

Ciara snorted.

“You’re still okay to stay until closing tonight? Paddy’ll be with you, so you won’t be alone to lock up.” 

“Where are you going?” 

“Out.” 

Ciara’s dubious grin had Declan’s brow furrowing. “You might reconsider that.” 

Declan stood, smoothing down his shirt. “Doubt that.” He did. He needed to get laid. However it came. “Does this shirt make me look—”

“Old?”

“Publican?” 

“Aye.” 

“Oh.” 

“Cause y’are.” 

“I know, but sometimes I like to hide that fact.” He unbuttoned the shirt, ruffling it out from his jeans and flapped it off his arms. 

“What vocation you going for?” 

“Model? Actor? Front man of a boy band.” 

Ciara cracked out a laugh. “Only way you’ll pass for that is if you serve the bloke your lock, stock and barrels, getting him so bollocksed he can’t see.” 

“You’re good for the soul, y’know, Ciara.”

Ciara curtseyed. “You’re welcome. You still won’t go out though.” 

Declan shot a confused look over his shoulder as he rummaged around in his office wardrobe. He kept spare clothes down here for those times he needed a quick change rather than having to venture up three flights of stairs. Mostly it was shirts for when he’d been drenched with beer. Or the occasional jacket for when he had the brewers in. Or a jumper for when he needed to head into the cellar at night. But, right at the back, were a few go-tos for last minute dates. He yanked a T-shirt off a hanger and checked it over. Least it didn’t spell middle-aged owner of a centuries-old pub. It was tight. Might as well be a base layer. Perhaps it was. He wriggled into it. Thank Mary he still had a decent body. He turned to Ciara and smoothed down the creases, tucking the tee into his waistband. 

“This?” 

“Aye, you could pass for one of the fellas from Boyzone. The oldest one.” 

“Grand.” Declan ruffled his curls. 

“You still won’t go out though.” 

“Why not?” 

Ciara smirked, then angled her head for Declan to follow her. He tutted. If it was Jacob, he’d call the Garda. Or his daughter. He’d put the fella in a home himself. Because nothing was going to prevent him getting laid tonight. He needed rid of the loitering scent of Rowan, and to work off the lingering fantasy of a certain army captain. 

Ciara led Declan from his back office, through the inn’s reception and into the main bar. Irish folk played on a loop for the few customers chatting into their drinks and finishing off the special of steak and ale pie with greens. Ciara stopped, folded her arms and nodded toward one of the tables. 

Declan regretted his choice of top as it restricted his lungs expanding.

In an exact recreation of the previous night, Captain Kane Taylor stared forlornly into a pint of Guinness. Declan doubted a single drop had passed his lips and it wouldn’t be anything to do with how Shane had poured it. A shadow of a man—hunched and childlike—there was too much and nothing at all going on behind sad eyes. Declan’s desire to go to him wrenched hard. Harder than his need to release his pent-up load into a stranger. 

Ignoring Ciara’s triumphant “told ye so”, he went to him and slipped into the seat opposite. 

“Howaya?” 

Kane met his gaze, eyes dreary and empty yet filled with need. With hope. With longing. He dug deep into his jeans pocket, fished out a coin and slid it across the table. 

Declan tilted his head. “Don’t usually accept British currency. I’ll make an exception for you though.” He picked up the two pound coin and tossed it into the air, catching it in his fist. “You want change, it’ll have to be in cents.” 

“No need for change. I have a lot of thoughts to pay for.”

Declan’s lips curved into a benevolent smile. Ciara had been right. With thoughts of nothing but this man, Declan wasn’t going anywhere. 

“Bottle of Jameson’s, Ciara,” he called over to the bar. “Two glasses.” He then wrapped his hand around Kane’s pint and dragged it toward him. “I take it you’re not going to drink this?” 

“No. As much as I want to.” 

“I hope, one day, that I can drink it.”

“That day not today?” 

“That day isn’t today.” 

Declan held up the glass in salute. “Then I’ll take one for your team.” He drank the lot, dumping the empty onto the beer mat, and wiped the froth from his lips. “Can’t waste the best poured pint outside Dublin.” 

 

 

About the Author

Brought up in a relatively small town in Hertfordshire, C F White managed to do what most other residents try to do and fail—leave.

Studying at a West London university, she realised there was a whole city out there waiting to be discovered, so, much like Dick Whittington before her, she never made it back home and still endlessly search for the streets paved with gold, slowly coming to the realisation they’re mostly paved with chewing gum. And the odd bit of graffiti. And those little circles of yellow spray paint where the council point out the pot holes to someone who is supposedly meant to fix them instead of staring at them vacantly whilst holding a polystyrene cup of watered-down coffee.

Eventually she moved West to East along that vast District Line and settled for pie and mash, cockles and winkles and a bit of Knees Up Mother Brown to live in the East End of London; securing a job and creating a life, a home and a family.

After her second son was born with a rare disability, C F White’s life changed and it brought pen back to and paper after having written stories as a child but never had the confidence to show them to the world. Now, having embarked on this writing journey, C F White can’t stop. 

So strap in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.  

 

Author Links

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Series Tour – Hockey Ever After – Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James #giveaway

SERIES TOUR for HOCKEY EVER AFTER

These hockey players have hard heads, soft hands, and sweet hearts.

They’re not looking for love, but it’s a long season….

 

BOOK DETAILS 

BOOK 1

Book Title:  Winging It (Hockey Ever After 1)

Author: Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: LC Chase

Length: 99 000 words/ 283 pages

Release Date: October 18, 2022

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Grumpy/sunshine, teammates to lovers, friends to lovers, professional athletes

Themes: Coming out, bisexual awakening, self-acceptance, friendship 

Heat Rating: 5 flames  

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

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Falling for his teammate wasn’t in the game plan….

 

Blurb 

Hockey is Gabe Martin’s life. Dante Baltierra just wants to have some fun on his way to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Falling for a teammate isn’t in either game plan.

But plans change.

When Gabe gets outed, it turns his careful life upside-down. The chaos messes with his game and sends his team headlong into a losing streak. The last person he expects to pull him through it is Dante.

This season isn’t going the way Dante thought it would. Gabe’s sexuality doesn’t faze him, but his own does. Dante’s always been a “what you see is what you get” kind of guy, and having to hide his attraction to Gabe sucks. But so does losing, and his teammate needs him, so he puts in the effort to snap Gabe out of his funk.

He doesn’t mean to fall in love with the guy.

Getting involved with a teammate is a bad idea, but Dante is shameless, funny, and brilliant at hockey. Gabe can’t resist. Unfortunately, he struggles to share part of himself that he’s hidden for years, and Dante chafes at hiding their relationship. Can they find their feet before the ice slips out from under them?

 

BOOK 2

Book Title: Scoring Position (Hockey Ever After 2)

Author: Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: LC Chase

Length:  98 000 words/ 285 pages

Release Date: October 18, 2022

Genre: Contemporary M/M romance

Tropes: Opposites attract, roommates to lovers, age gap

Themes: Mental health, self-improvement, family pressure

Heat Rating: 5 flames  

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links

Amazon US   |  Amazon UK  

Kobo  |  Apple  |  Google Play  |  B&N

 

You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.

 

Blurb 

Ryan Wright’s new hockey team is a dumpster fire. He expects to lose games—not his heart.

Ryan’s laid-back attitude should be an advantage in Indianapolis. Even if he doesn’t accomplish much on the ice, he can help his burned-out teammates off it. And no one needs a friend—or a hug—more than Nico Kirschbaum, the team’s struggling would-be superstar.

Nico doesn’t appreciate that management traded for another openly gay player and told them to make friends. Maybe he doesn’t know what his problem is, but he’ll solve it with hard work, not by bonding with the class clown.

It’s obvious to Ryan that Nico’s lonely, gifted, and cracking under pressure. No amount of physical practice will fix his mental game. But convincing Nico to let Ryan help means getting closer than is wise for Ryan’s heart—especially once he unearths Nico’s sense of humor.

Will Nico and Ryan risk making a pass, or will they keep missing 100 percent of the shots they don’t take?

 

Excerpt from WINGING IT

Dante waited in the lobby, curled into a chair that wasn’t quite big enough to be comfortable. He kept his back to the flow of people and his nose buried in his phone. Any other night, sure, he would be happy to sign autographs. Tonight… his brain was going to endlessly replay the scene he’d just walked in on.

How had he not known Gabe was into men? It seemed obvious now. Of course he never picked women up in bars or brought a girlfriend to a team event. Dante felt stupid for not noticing. 

Somehow Dante had stumbled onto a huge secret.

And now he had to work out what to do about it.

First, though, apparently he was going to think about Gabe’s broad palm on his partner’s chest. Gabe was a big guy—two inches taller than Dante, even if Dante was more solidly built. His partner had been clinging to Gabe’s muscular shoulder.

He should stop thinking about it, but his brain was trying to fill in details. Where had Gabe’s other hand been? Had it been placed on his partner’s thigh? Had he been putting his weight on it to steady himself? Or maybe he’d used it to tilt the man’s face to the right angle.

Dante exhaled sharply. This was really, really not his business. Dwelling on it would not do him any favors. He needed to pretend everything was normal. And obsessing about your teammate feeling up some guy—and kissing, can’t forget the kissing—was not that.

So. Normal. He’d been sexiled by a roommate. That was fine! It had happened before. Today, actually. He hoped Yorkie was having a better night than Gabe.

Most importantly, sexiling was normal.

Was it hot in here?

Footsteps jarred him out of his spiral, and he looked up to see Gabe walking toward him, head down, shoulders hunched. He didn’t exactly have the look of the freshly laid about him.

Fuck.

Or, like, probably not.

Gabe dropped into the chair across from him. He was loudly projecting that he would rather stand in front of fifty of Kitty’s slap shots than have this conversation.

At least they were on even footing in that respect.

Dante put his phone away. “So, uh, sorry for cockblocking you.” Even if it’s kind of your fault. Who doesn’t use the Do Not Disturb sign? Why didn’t you tell me to pound rocks when I asked to share?

Considering the circumstances, he kept a lid on these criticisms. He could bring them up later, when Gabe didn’t look like he was about to puke all over the hotel lobby.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be a problem,” Gabe said. He slumped farther, but Dante thought his shoulders were relaxing too. “Did you strike out or something?”

“Sort of. We passed her ex on the way back to her place and she made it like ten more feet before she burst into tears. So we stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream, and then she went to the bathroom and fixed her makeup and we took a selfie for her Instagram, and I came back here.”

The color returned to Gabe’s face and he met Dante’s gaze for the first time since that hideously awkward moment upstairs. “Guess neither of us is getting laid tonight,” he said, a little tentatively, like he wasn’t sure Dante would laugh.

“I won’t tell if you won’t.” 

“Deal,” Gabe said. The lines of tension in his face disappeared under a relieved half smile.

Good. Dante was glad they’d settled that. “Great.” He yawned. “So can we go upstairs now? I’ve had just enough booze and ice cream to make me sleepy.”

When they got up to the hotel room, Dante said, “I wish you’d told me you liked guys.” His shoes thunked dully against the wall as he kicked them off. “I wouldn’t have tried so hard to hook you up with chicks last season.” Or last week.

Gabe stared at Dante’s shoes. Then he lined his own up neatly under the desk. “It’s not something I advertise.”

“No shit.” Dante shimmied out of his jeans. 

After a beat, Gabe said, “You’re being really cool about this.”

Dante sat in the desk chair. He had a habit of saying the first thing that came to mind, and right now that was Actually, I’m kind of freaking out. He needed to take his time. “I mean, obviously I’m not mad or upset or whatever. I’m—accepting? Ugh, that’s a garbage word.” He huffed, frustrated with himself. “Look, you’re… gay?”

The muscle at the hinge of Gabe’s jaw bunched. “Yeah.” 

“Cool.” He drummed the fingers of his left hand on the desktop, realized he was doing it, and forced himself to stop. “And obviously if you haven’t told the team, you’re expecting some of them to be assholes. And that sucks. Because as far as I’m concerned, my reaction? Is, like, a pretty low bar.”

Gabe rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, it’s not like you could come in and introduce yourself.”

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Dante was losing his grip on reality. “Yeah, maybe not. You mind if I shower now? I stink like dance club.”

“Sure. I’m just gonna….” Gabe picked up the television remote.

The television came on, and a moment later Dante closed the bathroom door behind him and started the water. Mechanically, he removed his clothes and stepped under the spray. The hot water sluiced over him, washing away the sweat and club grime and what had maybe been just a little too much hair gel.

But the image of Gabe kissing another man on the bed in their hotel room stuck with him, and now, in relative privacy and naked, alone with his thoughts, Dante was forced to confront the truth of his own semi.

“I did not see this coming,” he muttered as he reached for his shampoo.

 

About the Authors

Ashlyn Kane likes to think she can do it all, but her follow-through often proves her undoing. Her house is as full of half-finished projects as her writing folder. With the help of her ADHD meds, she gets by.

An early reader and talker, Ashlyn has always had a flair for language and storytelling. As an eight-year-old, she attended her first writers’ workshop. As a teenager, she won an amateur poetry competition. As an adult, she received a starred review in Publishers Weekly for her novel Fake Dating the Prince. There were quite a few years in the middle there, but who’s counting?

Her hobbies include DIY home decor, container gardening (no pulling weeds), music, and spending time with her enormous chocolate lapdog. She is the fortunate wife of a wonderful man, the daughter of two sets of great parents, and the proud older sister/sister-in-law of the world’s biggest nerds.

Morgan James is a clueless (older) millennial who’s still trying to figure out what they’ll be when they grow up and enjoying the journey to get there. Now, with a couple of degrees, a few stints in Europe, and more than one false start to a career, they eagerly wait to see what’s next. James started writing fiction before they could spell and wrote their first (unpublished) novel in middle school. They haven’t stopped writing since. Geek, artist, archer, and fanatic, Morgan tends to pass their free hours with in imaginary worlds and people on pages and screens—it’s an addiction. As is their love of coffee and tea. They live in Canada with their massive collection of unread books, where they are the personal servant of too many four-legged creatures.

 

 

Author Links

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Bone to be Wilde by Dani Lakely #kindleunlimited #giveaway

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Bone to be Wilde (Holiday in Sunset Surf Book 2)

Author and Publisher: Dani Lakely 

Cover Artist: J Witter

Release Date: September 27, 2022

Genre: M/M Halloween Rom-Com

Tropes: Opposites attract, amnesia spell, small town romance

Themes: Forgiveness

Heat Rating: 3 flames    

It is the second book in the series, but may be read as a standalone. It does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

 

Drop in for a spell…

 

Blurb

It’s trick or treat for two smitten lovers in this seasonal holiday romance as Halloween approaches and a little unleashed magic lets the ghoul times roll.

Forrest’s to-do list:
1. Convince Jonathan to move in with him.
2. No, seriously. That’s it.

It’s been nine months of playful bickering and bliss for Forrest Wilde and his boyfriend, Jonathan. But in order to move their relationship forward, Jonathan needs Forrest to find closure from his past.

Alexander Adler is back in town and dragging all of Forrest’s ghosts screaming into the light. Is there still a spark waiting to ignite between Forrest and his ex, or are they nothing more than toasted history? Forrest isn’t exactly eager to find out, given that sometimes the monsters under the bed are people who haunt us from days gone by.

Every autumn, the town of Sunset Surf comes alive in celebration of the season. But this year, when Forrest falls under a mysterious spell that forces him to forget the person he loves most, there will be plenty of spooks in store for the fun-loving and eccentric residents of this seaside village. Torn between flight and fright, Forrest must face his fears in order to make his way back to true love—or risk losing it forever.

Bone to be Wilde is a contemporary gay rom-com set in a small beach town on the Southern California coast. The story features an amnesia plot, hijinks and banter, corn maze capers, ghost stories, and a little black cat. Stop in for a spell if you’d like a Halloween treat!

* This story follows the events of the first book in the series, Merry & Sprite, but may be read as a standalone. 

 

Excerpt 

The ghost story is read word for word until the bewitched dildo appears. 

“That’s not … you’re messing up the entire book, Forrest!”

Jonathan is sending him a withering glare from the worn and well-loved armchair he’s occupying. Forrest blinks lazily back at him, letting his mouth curve into a slow smile until Jonathan can’t resist and his frown breaks, the corners of his mouth lifting up too.

“That’s not how we learned it in school,” Jonathan says primly, but he’s biting at his cheek, trying not to laugh. That right there is one of Forrest’s favorite things about his boyfriend. Ruffling his feathers and then watching him completely eat it up. 

Which is preciously the reason he’s turning The Legend of Sleepy Hollow into gothic erotica as he reads aloud to Jonathan, tucked away in the reading nook at the local book shop. The try-before-you-buy section of the store is brimming with used paperbacks, each one more dog-eared and dusty than the last, scattered in senseless piles on shelves and spilling onto the floor.

It’s one of their usual haunts for a late afternoon date, and on this particular Saturday in mid-October, Forrest is trying to draw out their time together as much as he can.   

“And then,” he continues in a sinister tone, “the women of Sleepy Hollow tied Ichabod up in the horse stables and gave the naughty schoolmaster his own education … on strap-ons.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“Ichabod-od-od,” Forrest calls out, in a tone meant to annoy. “A curious and kinky spell had been cast upon him to bend over for anyone, at any time. Ichabod became the town—” 

“Hush! Don’t talk about spells in front of…” Jonathan’s eyes go wide as he nods towards a little black cat, curled up soundly in a reading chair nearby. Lilith, he mouths silently. 

There’s this kooky idea Jonathan’s latched onto about Lilith possessing magical powers. This came after he was struck on the head by a Christmas ornament and the fairy godfather capers that followed brought the two of them together. Forrest doesn’t like to think he got a boyfriend due to a braining, but here he is. 

He’s not going to deny the possibility that Jonathan may have been under somebody’s spell when he mysteriously started getting psychic visions that led him into granting the wishes of local townsfolk. But Forrest is resistant to boarding the Lilith train without any proof other than Jonathan thinking she winked at him. And sparkled, like some sort of glitter fairy of cats, which definitely isn’t a thing that exists. 

But the matter of wish-granting was not the first peculiar situation to occur around here, and many of these unexplained events happened long before Lilith trotted into town and charmed the entire village into taking her in. Though lately, she’s chosen Forrest’s bed to call her own. To be fair, he can’t blame her. His eight-hundred-count sheet set is amazing.

The truth is, there’s always been something in the water at Sunset Surf, and he’s not just talking about the radical waves. 

 

About the Author 

DANI LAKELY is a recovering people-pleaser who loves a proper cup of tea, days spent at the ocean, and helicopter parenting the birds who frequent her yard in a small seaside town on the West Coast of the United States. Pretty much, if your granny’s into it, so is Dani!

Often to be found with a book in hand, she reads across many genres, but her favorite is queer romance. Dani’s fondness for love stories carried over from reading to writing, and she is genuinely happy to share her kissing books with you. 

 

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A Little More Trust by Pauley J Ray #giveaway

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: A Little More Trust

Author: Pauley J Ray

Publisher: NineStar Press

Cover Artist: Jaycee DeLorenzo

Release Date: September 6, 2022

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Opposites attract, businessman and blue-collar worker, richer vs poorer

Themes: Dealing with cheating and betrayal. Trust is a fragile thing

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 84 600 words /311 pages

This is the first book in the Hot Property Series. Each of the four books will concentrate on a different main character from a successful construction company. Each successive book will include spoilers from the previous one if the books are not read in order. 

This book does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links

NineStar Press  |  Barnes & Noble

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

 

Sometimes it’s harder to trust than to love 

 

Blurb

Ethan Scott has everything he could possibly want: an amazing career, great friends, and more money than he’s ever dreamed of. Oh, and men. So many men. Yep, life is perfect, and he doesn’t ever see it changing.

Nate Sullivan has sworn off men. They can’t be trusted. Simple as that. After years of being lied to by the man he thought he loved, the very married man with a wife and kids, he’s promised to never give his heart away or get emotionally attached to anyone again.

Ethan thinks it’ll be a sure thing to get Nate into his bed, but when the sexy and frustrating decorator rebuffs him at every turn, he comes up with a new plan to tempt the man he can’t stop thinking about. A sex agreement. For the duration of Nate’s work contract, with no strings attached and definitely no hearts and roses or emotional fallout.

It sounds like the perfect deal. Nate gets to have the man he’s been craving since they first met before walking away, his heart intact. Ethan gets to have Nate in his bed, finally satisfying the itch he’s constantly trying to scratch. Problem is, Ethan’s still trying to extricate himself from his disastrous marriage and if there’s one thing Nate won’t touch, it’s a married man. When Nate finds out what Ethan’s been hiding, the betrayal of trust leaves him devastated.

Nate leaves, but Ethan’s determined not to let him go. Will Nate give him the chance to explain, or will he risk losing the only man he’s ever truly loved?

 

Excerpt

Ethan

Pouring the steaming coffee into my usual mug, I let the rich aroma fill my senses. God, I needed this. Taking a large gulp, I savored the strong taste as it hit my tongue, the heat burning my mouth and throat as I swallowed, I hoped like hell the caffeine would kick start my body after the late night I’d had.

I plopped myself down at the kitchen table to take the weight off my aching thigh muscles from last night’s activities when the front doorbell rang loudly in the quiet space. Who the hell was that—I glanced at the clock on the wall—at a quarter to nine on a Saturday morning?

The bell rang again so I pushed my seat back and dragged my ass up the stairs and down the first-floor hallway. Yanking the front door open to get rid of whoever had ruined my peaceful morning, I was about to give them an earful, but then I looked into his face and the words died on my lips.

The man standing on my doorstep must have been mid-twenties at the most. A few inches shorter than my own six two, he wore a blue baggy t-shirt a good couple of sizes too big, almost drowning his slim frame, and a pair of loose-fitting gray jeans and black sneakers. His angular face gave him a Scandinavian look, with a strong jaw and high cheekbones. Sandy blond hair shone golden in the morning sun, short on the sides and long on top, swept away from his forehead and held in place with some product. My fingers itched to slide through the strands to see if they were as soft as they looked and a sudden image of my hand gripping tightly in his hair as I tilted his head to lick up his neck flashed through my mind.

Despite the tempting package he presented, I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away from his lips. Pink and full, they were begging to be kissed, and I had to bite down hard on my tongue to refrain from licking my own in readiness.

Well, hello, Blondie.

“Mister Scott?” his smooth, quiet voice asked, giving me goosebumps and pulling me from the trance I’d fallen into. Lifting my gaze to the palest green eyes I’d ever seen, I nodded at his question, my mouth suddenly unable to voice a coherent response. He shifted on his feet, “I’m, err, here about the painting quote.”

Damn, was that today?

He extended his hand out in front of him, and, giving myself a mental shake to wake the hell up, I reached for his and clasped his palm, my own larger hand encasing his. A shock of electricity shot up my arm catching me by surprise. The guy obviously felt the effect too as his eyes widened and he took in a short, sharp breath.

Interesting.

“Please, call me Ethan.” I held onto his warm hand a little longer than necessary before reluctantly releasing it and giving him a friendly smile.

The guy stiffened slightly and inclined his head. “I’m Nate.”

“Nate.” I savored his name on my tongue, rolling it around. “Please, come on inside.”

I stepped aside to let him enter, unable to resist the urge to lean in slightly and inhale his scent as he passed by me. Light and citrusy with a hint of soap. As he moved into the hallway, I gave him the once over and was disappointed to see his t-shirt covered his ass, obscuring my view.

Jesus. I had to stop perving on the guy. I deliberately pushed my hands into my sweatpants pockets to try to hide my growing erection and to subtly press my fingers against the head of my cock to give me some degree of control and hopefully, relief.

It didn’t.

Nate had stopped a few feet into the hallway, glancing around, assessing his surroundings, but he didn’t say anything and waited silently for me to take the lead.

“Come on,” I offered. “I’ll give you the tour, and we can talk about what I want.”

 

 

About the Author 

Pauley J Ray has been making up stories in his head for as long as he can remember, and now gets to write those stories down in his own gay romantic fiction, involving sexy, complicated, and flawed characters searching for their happily ever after.

When not writing, he loves meeting up with friends and can’t wait to get outdoors with his husband, hiking, camping and traveling to new and exciting places as often as they can.

He feels extremely lucky to be able to sit at his laptop, all day, every day, creating the heartfelt, angsty and passionate romance books he himself loves to read.

 

 

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Pitch & Sickle – The Diabolus Chronicles – D K Girl #kindleunlimited

SERIES TOUR

Pitch & Sickle – The Diabolus Chronicles by D K Girl

An MM Gaslamp Fantasy Series

 

BOOK 1

Book Title: The Bandalore – Pitch & Sickle Book One

Cover Artist: Deranged Doctor Designs

Release Date: February 25, 2021

Genre:  Historical Fantasy MM

Tropes: Slow, slow burn, opposites attract

Themes: Loneliness and friendship

Heat Rating: 2 flames    

Length:  285 pages

It is not a standalone book. This is the first book in the Gaslamp Fantasy series, The Diabolus Chronicles.

It has an unresolved storyline rather than an outright cliffhanger.

Goodreads

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited 

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

 

Silas Mercer died once. He’d rather not do it again.

 

Blurb 

1885 London, England

Silas Mercer died once. He’d rather not do it again.

On his return to the world of the living, Silas finds himself in the hands of the mysterious Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

The Order has London society clamouring for their services, with tarot readings, seances and exorcisms among their arcane specialities.

Now they seem intent on making Silas their newest recruit.

But they want far more from him than cheap parlour tricks.

When the Order partners him with the scandalous rake, Tobias Astaroth, Silas’s new life is turned on its head in more ways than one.

Tobias is quick-tempered, dangerously charming, and far more than the man he seems. 

For Silas, surviving what the Order has planned for him will be a challenge.

But finding a way to survive Tobias Astaroth could prove impossible.

 

A slow-burn MM Gaslamp Fantasy series.

Contains: Sexual content, violence and rather a lot of cursing.

This is the first book in the thrilling Gaslamp Fantasy series, The Diabolus Chronicles

 

BOOK 2

Book Title: The Verderer – Pitch & Sickle Book Two

Length: 309 pages

Release Date:  June 30, 2021

Genres: MM Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Historical Fantasy

Tropes: Opposites attract, Stuck together, Emotional scars

It is not a standalone story. The overarching storyline continues but issues are resolved for the immediate storyline.

Goodreads

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Life as a servant of death has its challenges. But the biggest one of all is Silas’s daemonic guardian, Pitch.

 

Blurb

Silas Mercer is a dead man walking.

And the mysterious Order of the Golden Dawn have big plans for their newest ankou and his deathly bandalore.

Life as a servant of death has its challenges.

But the biggest one of all is Silas’s daemonic guardian, Pitch.

He may look like heaven, but he’s making Silas’s life all kinds of hell.

The daemon is arrogant, egotistical and his appetite for violence and tea cakes is fast outgrowing the small village where they have been recuperating since their run-in with Black Annis.

Now, the increasingly unstable Blight is causing new havoc, and fresh monstrosities are emerging.

Pitch and Sickle are back in the saddle, and on their way to the haunted Forest of Dean.

But can Silas rely on his guardian’s protection?

Or will Pitch prove to be the most dangerous encounter of all?

 

BOOK 3

Book Title: The Skriker – Pitch & Sickle Book Three

Length: 369 pages

Release Date: October 20, 2021

Genres: MM Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Historical Fantasy

Tropes: Opposites attract, Stuck together, Emotional scars

It is not a standalone story. The overarching storyline continues but issues are resolved for the immediate storyline.

Goodreads

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited 

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Silas Mercer has faced wily boggarts, mad faerie queens and enraged forest spirits. But can he withstand a daemon who is losing his mind?

 

Blurb

Silas Mercer has faced wily boggarts, mad faerie queens and enraged forest spirits.

But can he withstand a daemon who is losing his mind?

Pitch and Sickle are left bruised, battered and reeling after their confrontation with the Verderer.

They have learned a startling truth behind the arrowhead that wounded Silas, a truth that must be taken to the Lady Satine and the Order without delay.

But his encounters in the Forest of Dean have effected Pitch in alarming ways. The daemon’s body may have healed but his erratic behaviour and wildly unpredictable temper grow ever more concerning.

Silas owes his life to Pitch. Their experience in the forest has brought them a closeness he could not have imagined possible.

But what can he do for a daemon who is losing his way?

And how long will Silas survive, if he must ride alone?

 

BOOK 4

Book Title: The Greensward – Pitch & Sickle Book Four

Length: 412 pages

Release Date: April 13, 2022

Genres: MM Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Historical Fantasy

Tropes: Opposites attract, Stuck together, Emotional scars

It is not a standalone story. The overarching storyline continues but issues are resolved for the immediate storyline.

Goodreads

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The Lady’s Horsemen are riding out once more. Carrying death’s scythe to where tormented souls linger.

But what awaits them in a world where divine magick has returned?

 

Blurb

The Lady’s Horsemen are riding out once more. Carrying death’s scythe to where tormented souls linger.

But what awaits them in a world where divine magick has returned?

Pitch is recovered from the injuries he received in the Forest of Dean, and Silas won’t soon forget the part he played in setting his guardian back on his feet.

The ankou and the daemon have been reunited in a most unexpected and intimate way, but barely have they caught their breath when a new threat arises.

A tortured spirit is frightening both the living and the dead along the roads of Devon.

But is this soul a monster that must be stopped, or another pawn in the necromancer’s mysterious game?

With Azazel’s magick re-emerging after hundreds of years, maleficium plagues the world once more. But who is wielding the forbidden arcane magick of the angels?

Do they work alone?

And why are they so intent on harassing the Lady’s Horsemen?

Silas has never felt stronger, or more determined to live up to the Order’s high expectations. He’s faced the walking dead, outwitted the enchanted Hall, and gained an ally in the skriker.

But he’s not sure he’s equipped to handle his growing attraction to a troubled daemon.

And Silas fears that getting any closer to Pitch and his tragic secrets may prove as dangerous as the monsters they are riding to face.

 

Excerpt from ‘The Bandalore-Pitch & Sickle Book One’ 

 A rather pretty gentleman, sharp featured, pale and fine, stepped into the room with a flourish of raised hands. His tousled light brown hair was wild about his shoulders, and his eyes so green it was as though emeralds had been pressed into the sockets. ‘Let the amusements begin…or should I say…continue.’

His velvet coat, a red almost as bold as the woman’s lips, was unbuttoned, revealing a black shirt with a silver brocade of Chinese dragons upon it. An elaborate ruffling of silk tumbled from the collar and covered a good portion of his chest. His choice of trousers was equally curious, a rather outdated fall-front style in black silk.

The baron groaned, but his smile was ever-present. ‘Good god, man, we thought you two would never be done.’

‘Perfection takes time, does it not?’

‘Take your seat, you rascal, and stop your showmanship, at least just for a moment.’

Silas scratched his right palm absently, attempting to stymie the prickle. Like many things about himself he wasn’t certain of his age, his late twenties was likely, much the same as the man who had just swept into the room.

Mr Astaroth tilted his head, pursing lips that held a near-perfect Cupid’s bow. ‘Am I to stand aside so another showman can perform?’

‘Exactly,’ the baron declared.

As Mr Astaroth made his way to his seat with his companion, he had a notable effect on those in attendance. The ladies all at once seemed incapable of deciding how they should adjust their gowns upon their seats, and the men were equally as fidgety. All of them were fixated on Mr Astaroth’s procession across the room. The man had not spared Silas a glance yet, even when he was deriding him, and Silas had no issue with that at all. He was not sure he’d enjoy the pierce of those green eyes upon him. But he could not deny there was indeed something mesmerising about the lad, the sway of his hips, the coiled tension in his body that gave the impression he might suddenly leap unannounced in any direction.

Mr Astaroth stopped to take a glass of champagne from the tray offered by a somewhat flustered young footman. The liquid wobbled in its crystal confines, and the boy’s eyes darted so quickly between the floor and the man before him, it was as though he’d lost control of his eyeballs.

‘Thank you, kind sir. What a wonderful job you do.’ Mr Astaroth’s smile was discomfortingly suggestive, his whispered appreciation of the boy’s offering far too intimate, and the serving boy nearly stumbled over his own feet to move away.

Mr Astaroth was slender, not remarkable in height, and the angles of his face were delicate to the point of being feminine, but he held a presence that quite overwhelmed the room. Silas’s gaze moved down the length of the man’s body to his feet. He wore heeled boots, which meant he was shorter than first impressions allowed. The glean of polished leather distracted Silas from what became startlingly obvious a moment later. He tensed and closed his eyes a second, as though that might change things. But alas it was not to be.

The ground at Tobias Astaroth’s feet held no shadow.

Whoever this man was, he was not, for all intents and purposes, human. Silas took hold of the arms of the chair, filled with the sudden desire to depart. No one had thought to instruct him on an encounter such as this.

‘Stop frightening the help and get your arse on a chair,’ declared the bespectacled man at Silas’s left. ‘We know how you hate to have attention diverted from you, so do try and behave, Pitch old boy.’

Evidently the group knew the man well enough to have endowed him with a nickname. Silas could only imagine its origins.

‘Oh Brenton,’ Victoria, Mr Astaroth’s companion, said. ‘As far as I’m concerned, Tobias has been on his best behaviour all evening.’ She had taken her seat and leaned her elbows upon the table, utterly at ease.

‘Thank you, my dear,’ Mr Astaroth said. ‘You are as sensible as you are extremely talented in the art of, what were we calling it? Tarot reading.’ He tilted his glass towards her before turning to Silas. The air quite vanished from Silas’s lungs beneath the daggers of his emerald stare. ‘How very nice to make your acquaintance, Mr Mercer. I do hope we are in for a wonderful show.’

 

Book 5 – Coming Soon – October 20, 2022

The Fulbourn – Pitch & Sickle Book Five: The Diabolus Chronicles

 

Available for Pre-Order

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK 

 

When the King of Daemonkind comes to call, be ready for hell to follow.

 

After Lucifer’s disturbing visit, the quest to destroy the Blight takes on a desperate urgency.

Finding Lieutenant Edward Charters is paramount.

But what role does a mortal man play in Seraphiel’s dangerous game?

The angel has sent Pitch a talisman from beyond the grave, a seemingly innocuous watch that may be the key to ending the Watcher King’s dark legacy. But to learn its secret Pitch and Silas must find the man intended to carry it.

As the search for the lieutenant begins, the Horsemen find themselves gifted with something more precious than any angelic token. An evening of unexpected freedom.
A night that will deepen their intimacy and bring long-stifled feelings to the fore.

But what price will they pay for choosing breathless pleasure over rigid duty?

The Morrigan have not forgiven the destruction at the greensward. They are prepared to do whatever it takes to rid themselves of the Horsemen and heed the Watcher King’s ghostly call.

The Fulbourn is Pitch and Silas’s greatest threat yet.
A place that will drive them into the depths of their most terrible fears and seek to tear them apart.

They are closer than ever before but will that fragile new bond be enough to save them?
Or have the daemon prince and his ankou found the nemesis that will destroy them once and for all?

The Diabolus Chronicles is a slow-burn MM Gaslamp Fantasy series that contains on-page sex scenes, gore and violence, and rather a lot of cursing.

This is the fifth book in the on-going series.

 

 

About the Author  

Danielle K Girl is an Aussie who lives in stunning Tasmania with her three furkids, cats Luffy, Sweetie and Ren.

Her idea of heaven is a farm full of rescue animals, with a vegie garden that sprouts peanut M&M’s and chocolate wheaten biscuits.

When she’s not keyboard-deep in mysterious, beguiling worlds, she is binge watching K-Dramas, listening to K-Pop or hiking through the beautiful Tasmanian wilderness.

 

 

Author Links

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New Audiobook – Ambiguous by Leslie McAdam

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Book Title: Ambiguous

Author: Leslie McAdam

Narrator: Hamish Long and Kirt Graves

Release Date: August 25, 2022

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Rock star, slow burn, forbidden love, opposites attract, lawyer/politics, fake relationship (with a twist)

Themes: Labels, coming out, being true to yourself

Heat Rating: 5 flames

Length: 8 hours and 17 minutes

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links

Audible US  |  Audible UK 

Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

 

Blurb 

Love is for other people, not for me…

At least that’s what I believed, until I met him. Julian Hill. The most famous rock star on the planet. A music god with untidy hair and the voice of an angel.

I’ll never be anything but out, and he has very good reasons to stay in the closet. After all, every move he makes is dissected, critiqued, and shared on social media, so he just wants a little privacy. I understand that. Truly, I do.

But no one makes me feel the way he does, and I’m pretty sure he has feelings for me as well. Which is inconvenient since his record label just hired me to sue him. Guess I should’ve sorted things out before I kissed him… Oops.

Ambiguous is an addictive MM bisexual romance novel about a fashion-forward rock singer who hates labels of all kinds (except for clothing), a dapper attorney who already has a (fake) boyfriend for a very good reason, and the possibility of love saving the day in a sensually stimulating “opposites-attract” romance story. In addition to the compassionate, big-hearted main characters and engaging, steamy interactions, LGBTQ+ romance readers are raving about the refreshingly honest discussions about homophobia, acceptance, bisexuality, and gay rights, which flow seamlessly into the heart-warming, soul-stirring love story.

 

 

About the Author

Leslie McAdam is a California girl who loves romance and well-defined abs. She lives in a drafty old farmhouse on a small orange tree farm in Southern California with her husband and two children. Leslie’s first published book, The Sun and the Moon, won a 2015 Watty, which is the world’s largest online writing competition. She’s gone on to receive additional literary awards and has been featured in multiple publications, including Cosmopolitan.com. Her books have been Top 100 Bestsellers on both Amazon and Apple Books. Leslie is employed by day but spends her nights writing about the men of your fantasies.

 

Author Links

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Leading Man (Hollywood Heartthrobs Book 1) by Valerie Ullmer #kindleunlimited #giveaway

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Book Title: Leading Man (Hollywood Heartthrobs Book 1)

Author and Publisher: Valerie Ullmer

Cover Artist: Valerie Ullmer

Release Date: September 2nd, 2022

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Interracial Romance, Feelings long denied, Insta love, Friends to Lovers, Opposites Attract, Hollywood Actor, Personal Assistant

Themes: Trusting Yourself, free to be who you want to be, pursuing dreams

Heat Rating:  5 flames

Length:  approx. 54 000 words/183 pages

It is part 1 of a 3 book series but does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads  

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

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Blurb

Spencer Atreus.

Gorgeous movie star, workaholic, and the ultimate laid back, can’t-help-but-love-him kind of guy.

Oh, did I mention gorgeous?

But the reason I, Westley Lee, hid my attraction to the man was two-fold.

I loved my job. As his personal assistant, he depended on me and I’d come to crave being wanted by him, even though it wasn’t exactly as I imagined. Also, being part of his life, even in the peripheral, was better than not being with him at all. And while it screamed desperation on my part, every intimate thought I had about him was locked in the recesses of my mind as I kept up appearances.

Until one night changed everything.

Seeing Spencer in pain crumbled all the walls I’d built between us to protect my heart. And in a moment of pure weakness, he saw through my barriers and I was unable to keep him in the dark about my feelings.

But will we find our happily ever after when a threat endangers our entire future?

 

Excerpt 

The downside, or sinful temptation as I defined it, of living behind the man and being involved in everything from having groceries delivered, overseeing the few household staff he employed on a part-time basis, and having full access to his house and his finances was my life became inundated with everything Spencer Atreus.

The man was stunning. The fact he was also a straight cis movie star with people always wanting something from him or craving the man himself never went to his head, and I refused to be a sycophant.

Regardless of the images flashing behind my eyelids of the man with a gorgeous smile and beautifully sculpted body and what he could do to me in that bed, I locked all the fantasies down in the private recesses of my mind and drifted off as blackness descended.

A familiar, yet distant ring jolted me out of bed. I tried to blink the sleep from my eyes, but the gritty, dry discomfort meant I’d left my contacts in when I’d dropped off into slumber. Ignoring the irritation blinking caused and concentrating on the insistent sound, I scrambled toward it and on the fourth ring, I answered with a short, “What?”

“Lee?”

All the years of daily reminders I’d given, lecturing at him about how much I hated being called by my last name, Spencer refused to call me anything else. But at that moment, I shoved back my irritation as the urgency in his voice caught me off guard and worst-case scenarios ran through my head.

“What’s wrong? Do you need me to pick you up?”

There was a shuffling, as though the phone was being wrestled away, and then another voice came on the line. One I avoided at all costs.

“Hey, sexy? Someone threw a punch, and it struck—”

“Where are you?” I demanded in a low growl.

I whipped around and strode toward the bathroom, holding the phone against my ear with my shoulder, and washed my hands. After I cleaned my fingers, leaving them wet, I yanked the dried contacts from around my corneas and sighed in relief. I added eye drops to clear up the redness and irritation. In a rush, I cleaned my glasses before I pulled on some jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. It was March in California and the nights could get cold.

He was still rambling about something that had nothing to do with the current location of one Spencer Atreus, so I barked, “Where?”

“At the house, but you—”

Not proud of my actions, I hung up on Spencer’s friend and constant flirt, Mason Dawes, and stuck my feet in sneakers before I snagged my keys and wallet, locked up, and started up toward the main house.

It wasn’t as though I didn’t like Mason. I hadn’t allowed myself to get to know him because something about the man felt… off, and so I avoided him. He was never serious about anything, aside from maybe his career, and I refused to tolerate his attempts at chatting me up. Although it’d never come up during my employment with Spencer, Mason spotted me at Bayou, a West Hollywood gay bar early in my employment. That night, I tried finding another man who’d allow me to get over the stupid fascination I had with Spencer, but it was one of several nights of turning down offer after offer before I understood I’d have to live without. There was no substitute for Spencer in my eyes. And as far as I knew, Mason hadn’t yet told his friend.

 

 

About the Author 

Valerie resides in Denver, Colorado with her husband.  While she had been interested in writing a romance novel for years, it wasn’t until she wrote her first book that she really became hooked, and now she can’t stop.  She has notebooks full of ideas, and she plans to write most of them in the years to come.

When she’s not writing or learning about the craft of writing, she can be found surfing the internet way too much, watching Investigation Discovery and thinking that her neighbors are up to no good, and finding new ways to get her husband to laugh.

 

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The Final Salvation by Nic Starr and BL Maxwell #kindleunlimited #giveaway

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Book Title: The Final Salvation (Four Packs Trilogy Book 3)

Authors/Publishers: Nic Starr/BL Maxwell

Cover Artist: BL Maxwell

Release Date: August 31, 2022

Genre: M/M Paranormal Romance 

Tropes: Protector/Ward, Shifters, Fated Mates, Friends to lovers, Forced Proximity, Opposites Attract, Hurt/ Comfort, MM Paranormal

Themes: Fight for Love, Fated Love

Heat Rating: 4 flames     

Length:  approx. 40 000 words

It is not a standalone book. It is the third in the Four Packs series.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link  |  Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

Series Link

 

 

Blurb 

Luca Bassani enjoyed a quiet, ordinary life. As an IT guru, most of his time was spent engrossed in technology and away from people. Now all that’s changed. As the one man who is a compatible donor, he’s suddenly essential to keeping his alpha healthy and preventing him from succumbing to The Slow Death. But serving his alpha, Zander Kingston, is something Luca is proud to do.

Diesel Jones is an enforcer. Following in his father’s footsteps, he has big boots to fill. But he’s focused and dedicated to the East Territory pack and avoids anything that distracts him from his duty. His dedication, together with his brawn and brains, ensure his reputation as being the best at his job.

When a possible threat on Alpha Zander Kingston’s life is uncovered, tensions rise within the pack. Security is increased and Diesel is assigned as the personal bodyguard for Luca. They find themselves paired against the enemy while battling their growing attraction.

Diesel must keep Luca safe and ensure his alpha’s life by doing so. But pack rivalry is strong and when threats become actions, suddenly Diesel is in the race of his life to ensure the future of the pack and to save the person who has come to mean everything to him.

The Final Salvation is part of the Four Packs Trilogy. While it can be read as a standalone, to ensure maximum enjoyment, it is best read in series order.

#mmparanormal #shifters #fatedmates #forcedproximity #oppositesattract #hurtcomfort

 

 

Excerpt

“Alpha, we came as soon as we got your message. We’re here to accompany to you to the North Territory as soon as you’re ready.” The one that spoke was the head enforcer, a big man with grey hair that somehow made him seem less intimidating—until he turned his eyes on Luca. They were not the warm, friendly eyes of someone’s grandfather, but the cold emotionless glare of a serious enforcer.

“Luca and my mate will also be joining us. I want one of you on each of them,” Zander directed.

The head enforcer bristled but bowed his head in respect. “Of course, Alpha. I suggest we take two vehicles. That way it won’t be quite so obvious that we’re all traveling together. The less conspicuous the better.”

One of the enforcers was familiar to Luca, but he couldn’t place where he knew him from. He was younger than the others, but in height and bulk he was bigger than them. He scanned the room while Zander spoke more in depth to the older enforcer, as Marrok watched on. He had yet to start the transfusion, and Luca wondered if they’d still be doing a treatment. When Luca’s and the enforcer’s eyes locked on each other, the strange feeling Luca had earlier intensified. The enforcer’s eyes widened in shock, but just as suddenly as it had happened, he looked away. Luca narrowed his eyes as he focused on the enforcer. His hair was cut short, and his eyes were both intelligent and vigilant. He seemed to see everything and analyze it as either a threat or a minor annoyance. He was all muscle, and it was no small feat that his shirt didn’t explode from all it contained.

Luca laughed at his thoughts, making everyone look. A blush crept up from his neck to his cheeks. “Sorry, I was just remembering something funny I saw on television,” he mumbled.

 

About the Authors

BL Maxwell

BL Maxwell grew up in a small town listening to her grandfather spin tales about his childhood. Later she became an avid reader and after a certain vampire series she became obsessed with fanfiction. She soon discovered Slash fanfiction and later discovered the MM genre and was hooked.

Contact and Social Media Links

 

 

Nic Starr

Nic Starr lives in Australia where she tries to squeeze as much into her busy life as possible. Balancing the demands of a corporate career with raising a family and writing can be challenging but she wouldn’t give it up for the world.

Always a reader, the lure of m/m romance was strong and she devoured hundreds of wonderful m/m romance books before eventually realising she had some stories of her own that needed to be told!

When not writing or reading, she loves to spend time with her family–an understanding husband and two beautiful daughters–and is often found indulging in her love of cooking and planning her dream home in the country.

You can find Nic on Facebook, Twitter and her blog. She’d love it if you stopped by to say hi.

Contact and Social Media Links

 

 

 

Giveaway 

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a $10 Amazon gift card

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Stray: MM Paranormal Fantasy (Outcast Mates) by Lee Colgin #kindleunlimited #giveaway

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Book Title:  Stray: MM Paranormal Fantasy (Outcast Mates 3)

Author and Publisher: Lee Colgin

Cover Artist: Natasha Snow

Release Date:  August 25, 2022

Genre: MM Paranormal Romance

Tropes: Grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, age gap

Themes: Steamy, romantic, 

Heat Rating:  4 flames

Length:  65 000 words/250 pages

 It’s the 3rd book in the series but can be read as a standalone. It does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link  |   Amazon US  |  Amazon UK 

 

Stray is a steamy MM romance featuring a cranky panther shifter, a freshly-made vampire, & lamb-on-a-stick. A grumpy/sunshine, age gap, opposites attract, reluctant-fated-mates pairing that must overcome the odds to win their HEA!

 

Blurb

Leonas is a cranky panther shifter set in his ways. He handles security for an exclusive brothel and takes the safety of the staff at The Twig and Berries seriously, to the extent of sacrificing his love life for work. 

When a young vampire called Jeno shows up with heart eyes and disturbing news, Leonas is taken aback. Who is this curious youth and why is he hitting on Leonas of all people? More importantly, when is he leaving? Because Leonas has no time for romance. 

Though Jeno is running from a dark past, he can’t help but to stop in his tracks for Leonas. The grumpy cat shifter might be prickly on the outside, but inside? Well, Leonas is prickly there too. He needs someone like Jeno to escape the lonely trap of his own making.

Can Jeno evade the snare of Hungary’s notorious opium slingers? Will Leonas break the chains of his past? Together, they stand a chance, but suffering alone is all they’ve ever known.

***

Stray is a steamy MM Paranormal Romance featuring lusty incubi, greedy goblins, and mouthwatering lamb-on-a-stick. A grumpy/sunshine, age gap, opposites attract, reluctant fated mates pairing that must overcome the odds to win their forever HEA!

 

Excerpt 

He takes the stairs two at a time in a bounding, clumsy sort of fashion unlike most vampires I’ve encountered. A wide grin stretches across his youthful face, but you never know with a vampire. He could be older than me, though for some reason I doubt it. He doesn’t just look young, he acts it too, flopping into the small room, into my space without so much as a by your leave, and dropping his pack on the little table next to me. The urge to bat it right off again strikes, but I resist. 

“Wow. You must be Leonas. You’re even scarier looking than Ivaz warned. But he also said not to worry. That you would act mean but that you weren’t really mean. ‘Just a kitten,’ he said. That true? I’ve never met a panther before.”

Irritation crawls beneath my skin and settles at the back of my neck and the tip of my tongue. I’ll have a few words for Ivaz when next I see him. “And you are?”

“Jeno!” He says his name like it’s a prize rather than a basic introduction and thrusts his hand toward my center, dopey grin still intact. 

I stare at it through lowered lids. No. Will not be touching him. He’s already acting too familiar for my comfort. I don’t plan to encourage it. “What’s your business here?”

His brows crumple as he withdraws his hand. “Letters.” He regains a modicum of his former exuberance. “I’m the new messenger.”

Since when do the vampires allow messengers to be this young? I study him. His tanned skin still retains human pores. His mouth, a rosy shade of pink with slight protrusions where fangs lay hidden beneath, trembles as if he’s finally realizing he stands before a true threat and not the harmless kitten Ivaz so erroneously made me out to be. 

My own lips part as I take in his wide eyes, hazel jewels sparkling with questions, staring at mine as if it’s I who hold the answers. They spell me with their beauty. A rush of warmth fills my chest.

I shake myself out of it with an irritated huff. “And so? Hand over the letters, then.”

He squints. It’s cute. I hate him.

 

 

About the Author 

Lee Colgin has loved vampires since she read Dracula on a hot, sunny beach at 13 years old. She lives in North Carolina with lots of dogs and her husband. No, he’s not a vampire, but she loves him anyway. Lee likes to workout so she can eat the maximum amount of cookies with her pizza. Ask her how much she can bench press.

 

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Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life by Clancy Nacht & Thursday Euclid #kindleunlimited

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life (Changing Majors Book 3)

Author: Clancy Nacht & Thursday Euclid

Publisher: Eine Kleine Press

Cover Artist: Clancy Nacht

Release Date: August 16, 2022

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance, new adult, Christian

Tropes: Nerd & jock, opposites attract, demisexual

Themes: Found family, reclaiming Christianity

Heat Rating: 3 flames

Length: 70 000 words/236 pages

It is a standalone story in a series. It does not end on a cliffhanger.

The other stories are not needed for this one. Each story stands alone, tied together with being part of a college series in which characters change their majors.

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

 

Spicy gay romance that reclaims Christianity

 

Blurb

Tutoring the athletic, indifferent son of the local megachurch’s influential pastor promises to be a tough job for turbo-nerd Thomas Knott, but when he meets handsome, aloof Colton Frost, nothing is as it seems.

Colton’s hiding a huge secret…one he can’t quite hide from the perceptive and amiable Thomas.

After graduating from a gay conversion camp, Colton Frost isn’t sure who he is anymore. How does he reconcile his faith with everything he feels inside? Dormmate (and long-time crush) Noah watches his every move for Colton’s famous father, reporting if he steps out of line. There’s no room to grow or find himself…until he meets chubby, awkward, inexplicably confident demisexual Thomas Knott.

Can bold, brainy, secular Thomas help struggling believer Colton discover his lost identity? And just as importantly to Colton, can Thomas help him heal his relationships with his parents–and with Jesus?

70k words of nerd & jock, opposites attract, demisexual, Christian romance, new adult

Content Warning: complex moral and religious situations, suicidal ideation, internalized homophobia, conversion therapy references, Christianity, mentions of underage drinking, marijuana use, references to CSA, exhibitionism

 

 

Excerpt

Thomas’s dark stare bored into Colton, as if he could see right through him. “I need your … cooperation with something, and in return, I can make sure you pass your classes.”

There was some irony that Colton was skipping class to try to put off his potential tutor who wanted to negotiate him passing the classes he skipped. “What, like take my tests for me?”

Thomas snorted delicately and raised a pointy brow with the air of a Victorian nobleman. “No, Colton, but I don’t have much of a social life. I can devote enormous resources to teaching you the material. Are you an auditory learner? Visual? Kinesthetic? I can help you break down your learning style and tailor study strategies for your needs. It’ll be the easiest learning you’ve done. I’m a boss. But I need your help too.”

How did he manage to sound so confident when he was basically confessing to being a loser? It was as if he’d embraced his own geekery and weaponized it for use against his betters.

“If I wanted to learn the material, I would.” Colton shrugged as he adjusted his backpack. “And I’d learn it faster without having to block you out.”

Everyone could use Colton’s help in one way or another. Were he the sort to lend a hand, he’d probably get nothing else done. At the very least, he had to know what it was Thomas wanted so he could tell him no and then maybe they’d be done with this. “You’re beyond help, but what do you think I could possibly do for you?”

“You gave Rose Ryan my phone number.” The way Thomas said her name, he might as well have been saying Aphrodite or Venus. “We’ve been texting. Things are… developing. But she thinks I’m you, and if I tell her who I am, she’s going to bail on me. I need this, Colton. It’s your doing anyway. Take responsibility.”

“How would I know your phone—” As the memory returned of the random girl that very irritating morning returned to him, so did the phone number.  There it went again, rattling around in his brain. A little faded, maybe. He was less certain of the numbers now than he had been, but there it was.

Colton chuckled and shook his head. Even if he tried to lie, by now his cheeks were so hot it was probably obvious that he remembered doing it. “What do you mean things are developing? You’re not being weird and telling her it’s me, are you?”

“I didn’t tell her that. You told her that. You gave her your number, but it was mine. You lied to her, and now I’m making you look good by being a decent human being to her. I mean, aside from the nudes…” Thomas smirked and gave Colton the kind of look that suggested he’d made an enormous mistake.

Colton gasped and stared at Thomas in horror. “You sent her nudes?”

He eyed Thomas up and down then shook his head. “No way she’d believe your nudes were me. No way she’d keep talking to you if she saw,” Colton gestured at Thomas. “Unless she’s an idiot.”

But God, what if the rumor got out that there were nudes of him? Even if they were obviously not him, his dad would probably hear about it.

“Who said I sent the nudes? Although, not that it’s your business, my business is very respectable. With some creative cropping, she’d be very impressed with ‘you’.” Thomas laughed from his belly, eyes crinkling at the corners. He looked like an evil cherub. Like a cherub just hellbent on fucking Colton’s life right up.

“Oh God, I don’t need to know that.” Colton held his hands up in defense as the images popped into his head. “You can’t accept nudes from her as me. I would never take advantage like that. I …”

For once, Colton was utterly speechless as he stared at Thomas in horror.

Thomas laughed again, throaty and delighted, and shook his head. “Oh man, I really got you going. I didn’t accept nudes! As if Rose Ryan would send anyone nudes. She’s the definition of perfection. She’s not going to put something like that into the world and risk her reputation. Do you know how shitty people are to women of color who express their sexuality? To any women? You probably didn’t ace Gender Studies, but you can trust me on that.”

Then Thomas sobered and narrowed his gaze on Colton appraisingly. “Look, man, you put yourself in this situation. The only way out is through. I want you to go to her volleyball game on Friday with me. Introduce me and then, I don’t know. I just…”

Suddenly Thomas’s cherubic face turned haunted, lips turning down at the corners and making his dimples stand out in dismay. “Listen, Colton, I know it doesn’t mean anything to you, but it would mean a lot to me. I just want to get my foot in the door. I need her to just look at me for once instead of right through me. I’m not who people assume I am. I’m…” Thomas sighed and his tongue flashed over his lips. “There’s more to me. I feel like Rose could see it, if I could just get an in.”

Colton realized he had clutched his chest, much like his mom did when she was hearing news that shocked her. He was flooded with relief that there were no nudes. He definitely didn’t want to be in the middle of some incel revenge porn scandal. He didn’t know that it was worse or better for women of color, but he did know how a lot of men regarded women who sent nudes.

He hadn’t thought any of it through when he gave Rose Thomas’s number. He’d just thought Thomas would correct her and everyone would go on with their lives.

This had gotten complicated.

He didn’t know Rose, but he had kind of put her in this situation. Maybe there weren’t nudes yet, but if Colton walked away from this situation and allowed it to continue, who knew what would happen?

Plus, Thomas looked so darn pathetic. There was probably no chance that one introduction was going to set them up and fix everything, but that wasn’t his problem.

Colton needed to find a way to extricate himself from this situation without finding himself in the middle of some nerd-on-nerd violence. He exhaled. “All right. Friday night I go to her game and we pretend to be… friends? I just decided I enjoy my tutor so much that I’m dragging him along to sporting events?”

“Well, yeah. She can assume I’m your wingman. You have to admit, standing next to me, you look extra good.” Thomas’s self-deprecating little smile didn’t do much to erase his pitifulness. “Just make it plain I’m a cool guy, and I’ll take it from there. You’re not interested, or you wouldn’t have given her my number, so just let her know you’re only interested in friendship, and I’ll fend for myself.”

“My wingman. I don’t need a wingman.” Colton rolled his eyes but accepted the premise. “All right, fine. For one night only, I need a wingman to get a girl who approached me.”

It didn’t matter. He just needed to wash his hands of this situation. “Just, try not to be weird, okay? I’ll let her down easy after the game and you can just … whatever.”

 

About the Authors 

Together, Texans and platonic life partners Thursday Euclid and Clancy Nacht write queer novels that span genres, with intense romances and a seamless shared narrative voice.

They published their first co-written novel, the m/m rock star romance Black Gold, in 2010, and now have over a decade of award-winning collaborations under their exquisite belts. Recent titles include the twisted romance His Fake Prison Daddy and the Phisher King series, in which an uptight federal agent and a bratty hacker go from enemies to lovers while solving a hate crime.

Though Elder Millennial trans man Thursday and Gen X gender outlaw Clancy live three hours apart, they are inseparable. Their friendship is a perfect example of the Grumpy/Sunshine trope, which makes Thursday very happy. Clancy thinks it’s all right.

 

Social Media Links

Blog/Website  |   Twitter  |   Twitter  |   Instagram  

 

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

 

Guest Post – End of the Line by AG Meiers #giveaway

BLOG TOUR with GUEST POST

Book Title: End of the Line

Author: AG Meiers

Publisher: Painted Hearts Publishing

Release Date: July 7, 2022

Genres: Contemporary M/M Romance Suspense – Two men falling in love while budging bullets and chasing bad guys.

Tropes:  Mistaken identity / opposites attract / lone wolf meets stubborn pretty boy / age gap / found family

Themes:  Falling in love / chasing bad guys / overcoming trust issues / finding balance and letting go of other people’s expectations

Length: 77 672 words

Heat Rating: 4 flames 

It is a standalone book and is the first in the series to be published. It does not end on a cliffhanger. Suspense and Romance is complete, but there’s a 2nd book with a new couple and a continuation of the suspense plot.

Goodreads 

 

Buy Links

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

 

Opposites Attract…T R O U B L E…

 

Blurb 

Jake Devlin knows trouble when he sees it and he wants no part of it. His quiet, peaceful life is a hard-fought dream. And the man who stumbles through the backdoor of Jake’s bar—beaten to hell—he is trouble with a capital T. The last thing Jake needs is to get involved with the sexy and secretive stranger. He definitely shouldn’t offer him a place to stay. But…he does…

Murder and mayhem follow Detective Miguel Conway. One minute he’s working a case, and the next, his cover is blown and he barely escapes with his life. Con didn’t expect Jake to offer help when he needs it most. And he definitely wasn’t prepared to fall for the grumpy ex-Marine. But…he does…

Attraction sparks as the two men are thrown together to figure out who wants to keep Con quiet and why. Well, at least Con is trying to solve his case. Jake is mainly trying to protect the young, impulsive cop. Midnight stakeouts, a celebrity wedding, and passion-filled nights—can Jake and Con find the balance between taking risks and keeping safe? And turn attraction into happily ever after?

But none of that matters if they fail to get the target off Con’s back…

Series: End of the Line, Book 1 in the award-winning Jake’s Bar series, is a steamy, M/M romantic suspense featuring a rainbow-colored bar full of quirky characters, and all the romance you can handle. It’s a place where you can always find support (and a cold beer) when life spins out of control. So, download today, and get ready to fall in love with Jake’s Bar.

 

Excerpt 

A gay bar. Thank you, Jesus. A fucking gay bar. Loud and proud. Con’s kind of place, but none of Murphy’s men would be caught dead in here. Con’s body hurt all over, but they hadn’t found him. He’d given his pursuers the slip and was out of the rain.

About an hour ago—close to two in the morning—Jake had flipped the lights on and kicked everybody out. People barely dared to finish their drinks when the big, bulky man with his booming voice told them to go the fuck home. Con would be surprised if any of them would come back. Damn, Jake was something else. Con had a thing for guys who took charge and thinking of it sent sparks down his spine.

Jake had offered Con to call it a night as soon as the last guest had left the place. Clearly, he hadn’t missed that Con was moving slower and slower as the night progressed. And fuck, his ribs hurt something fierce. Still, he had declined Jake’s offer to leave right away. The bar owner had raised an eyebrow, but much to his relief, Jake had started to put the chairs up himself while Con got a broom. And every time he tried to do anything but sweep, Jake had thundered at him to stay out of the way.

“Are you trying to dig a hole with that broom? I think that corner is clean enough,” Jake said quietly from across the room, his tall frame propped against the bar—arms crossed—watching. Jake’s calm focus sent chills over Con’s body as he forced himself to relax with a few more long inhales and exhales. His overtired brain fired some images of being at the receiving end of Jake’s laser sharp attention under different circumstance—with a whole lot less distance between them, and fewer clothes. Jake was hot in an angry, pissed-off way. Square. Solid. A force to be reckoned with.

Loud tapping of Jake’s fingers onto the bar brought Con back from his wayward thoughts. For a moment, the impatient rhythm was the only sound, then Jake let out a huff of air and said, “Listen, I’m not sure how to ask this, but—do you have anywhere to go tonight?”

“Yes, of course, I—” Con’s answer had been a reflex, but he actually had no idea how to end this sentence.

“You can stay here if you have nowhere safe to go.”

Nowhere safe. How did he know? Con’s heart skipped a beat and then started to race again in his chest. His eyes shot over to the front door. How the fuck did he know?

“Hey, calm down.” Jake pushed himself up from the counter and walked a few steps closer but then stopped again. “You have no defensive wounds. And, well, you’re a big dude, so I wonder what happened to you tonight.”

Three against one. I never had a chance.

“It’s fine. You’re safe. Is it okay if I touch you?” Jake was suddenly by his side, his voice soft. Gently, a hand came down on his shoulder. “It’s okay. Why don’t you just stay on my couch tonight?”

The warmth of Jake’s hand seeped through his skin. Con gritted his jaw to steel himself against the sudden need to lean in. Any other time, he’d have given Jake crap for treating him like a wounded animal, but his beat-up body was starting to give in on him. “That would be great,” he managed through clenched teeth.

 

GUEST POST by AG MEIERS

Where do you call home?

I’m an immigrant. I’ve only been in the USA for about twenty years. When people find out, they often ask me where I call home: Germany, where I come from, or US, where I live now? And in truth I don’t really have an answer. Of course, I love my family. And I miss them. I send my kids to German Saturday school so that they speak the language and can more easily connect to their family across the Atlantic, but I don’t think I’ll ever go back… I know! “Never say never,” but I love to visit home and I’m just as happy to leave again.

And in the US? It’s a tough one. Right now, it’s my home of choice. For my story, End of the Line, I simply borrowed my husband’s family roots. Second and third generation Irish immigrants, raised in South Boston and Dorchester, his mom is one of eight children, his grandfather a truck driver who put all his kids through college. When the entire family gets together, it’s loud, boisterous and yes, at the end of the night they sing… sad Irish songs. It’s true.

For Jake’s Bar, I stole some of that spirit—this “know who you are!” and “where you belong!” and “be damn proud of it!” There is something so solid about this attitude. I tried to capture it for my story and weave in some of my own experience as an immigrant.

Con meant to speak up, but he got distracted. The bar had been dark and crowded when he walked in last night, plus he’d been too busy freaking out, so he’d never actually taken a minute to look around. Originally, it must have been an Irish Pub. There was a row of high bowed windows in the front, three still with original stained glass and bold, colorful patterns, while the replacement windows were monochrome, gray and milky-white patches defusing the sunlight into a soft, hazy glow. It reminded him of going to church with Nana Conway, the last member of his family who could actually claim Irish descent. After her, it all got murky and American—ending with Con, the baby of the family, with brown hair, dark eyes, and olive skin.

But I also wanted a place that is free or hate and prejudice and everyone, no matter where they come from and who they are, can feel safe. So my fictional bar got some fierce protectors. Jake, the owner, who has zero tolerance for hate of any kind. Sheldon, waiter and social media whiz kid, who is looking for true love and is bubbling over with kindness. And then there’s Jazz, non-binary, who keeps them all in line. Together my characters create a place they all call home and everybody who walks in is welcome.

So, if you need a temporary home, pick up a copy of End of the Line. I hope you’ll enjoy reading Jake’s Bar as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 

 

About the Author  

Eighteen years ago, AG Meiers came to the US for adventure and stayed for love. Currently, she lives in New England with her husband and two awesome kids—balancing work, friends and family, and writing.

When she has some free time, her favorite thing to do is travel and visit new places. Her past trips have already brought her to a variety of countries on four continents. She never passes up an opportunity to experience different cultures, diverse people and amazing locations.

Even though she has been dreaming up stories all her life, she has only recently started to write them down and share them with the world. As a writer she loves to put her characters through a lot of challenges, conflict and heartbreak, before she allows them to find their happy-ever-after.

 

Author Links

Blog/Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram 

 

 

Giveaway

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one of two $10 Amazon gift cards

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Series Tour – LOVE AT LAKE CLYDE by Aiden Ainslie #kindleunlimited #giveaway

SERIES TOUR – LOVE AT LAKE CLYDE

 

BOOK DETAILS 

LOVE AT LAKE CLYDE, BOOK 1 

Book Title: King of the Mountain

Author and Publisher: Aiden Ainslie

Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Length: 106 000 words/ 386 pages

Release Date: July 11, 2021

Genre:  Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Gay awakening; rich sports star meets poor student

Themes: Coming out; competitive cycling; overcoming adversity; perseverance; HEA

Heat Rating for the series: 3 – 4 flames

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

The books are standalone but the reader would benefit from reading them in sequence to fully appreciate the setting and supporting characters of Clydesdale, a fictitious town in the California Sierra mountains.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

 

Blurb

American cycling sensation and heartthrob Clifford Du Frey is riding the wave of success. Brand Du Frey is a multi-million-dollar business, and during the Tour de France, Clifford is mobbed by fans wherever he goes. The superstar must focus on winning the Tour de France and maintaining his fan base.
But Clifford has a secret. He has fallen hard for Gabe O’Reilly – the dreamy art student from San Francisco whom he met on a summer’s day in Paris.
Can Clifford and Gabe’s budding relationship withstand the media storm and other forces arraigned against them? Can the grit and determination that propelled Clifford to the top of his sport help him break out to find true love and happiness?

You will root for Clifford and Gabe as they take you on a steaming hot ride through France and all the way back to their native California.

 

LOVE AT LAKE CLYDE, BOOK 2

Book Title: Master of the Wild

Author and Publisher: Aiden Ainslie

Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Length: 88 500 words/ 364 pages

Release Date: January 27, 2022

Genre: Contemporary MM  Romance 

Tropes: Opposites attract; roommates to lovers; protect your bruised heart by never falling in love again; rich guy poor guy; proving oneself in a strange environment

Themes: Fairy tales; clash of city and country; wilderness challenge; meddling townsfolk; HEA.

Heat Rating for the series: 3 – 4 flames

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

The books are standalone but the reader would benefit from reading them in sequence to fully appreciate the setting and supporting characters of Clydesdale, a fictitious town in the California Sierra mountains.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

 

Blurb 

IT whiz, Conner O’Reilly, moves from London to California to lick his wounds and recover after the break-up of a bad relationship. He is determined to find a job and start a new life. The last thing he needs is another romantic entanglement.
But Conner hasn’t bargained on meeting Ewan Driscoll. Wild, tattooed, gorgeous, messed-up Ewan, who has more baggage than a freight train.

Will Conner be sensible and get his life back on track, or will his heart lead him into the wilderness?

 

Excerpt from “King of the Mountain”

GABE

Cliff stood in the shallows. His pale skin gave him the quality of a Michelangelo marble statue. His body had magnificent, classical proportions. Every muscle was clearly defined as though chiseled in stone and smoothed to perfection under the loving hand of a master sculptor. I wondered if he realized just how beautiful he was. And I still found it hard to believe that he was giving me the gift of his time.

He watched me as I strode toward him and, when I shook the water out of my hair, he warned, “Don’t you dare splash me. I like to get in slowly.”

“I won’t splash you,” I said as I stopped in front of him. His eyes were unbelievable. The aquamarine of the water reflected off his blue eyes. I had the sensation of looking into a kaleidoscope of colors yet to be invented. I placed my hands on his shoulders and kissed him on both cheeks.

He was startled but did not back away. “What was that for?” he asked.

“We have not had a chance to greet each other yet – the French way. The way you taught me. And,” I continued, “to say I’m sorry.” 

I gave him my sweetest smile.

“Sorry for wha….”

He did not get to finish the sentence because I folded one leg behind him and, in the most basic of wrestling moves, tipped him backward into the water.”

The look on his face was priceless, and I burst out laughing when his head emerged, spluttering and cursing.

He reached out a hand and said, “You can at least help me up.”

I took hold of his hand and found myself yanked off my feet with Cliff dunking my head underwater. I shook myself free and rose from the waves to see Cliff making a run for the beach. I lurched after him, tackled him, and dragged him back into the water. He laughed and spluttered till he gained his footing and rounded on me, grabbing my waist. His hands stroked over my hip bones, and I started laughing. He had inadvertently found my weak spot, the most ticklish part of my body. Cliff was not one to let such an advantage pass him by. He held me tight with one arm curved around my chest while his free hand tickled my hip bone without mercy. I giggled and squirmed helplessly in his arms.

We horsed around in the water like a couple of drunken teenagers. Drunk on sunshine, drunk on life, drunk on L…   I did not dare to complete the thought. Who was I to think a man like Clifford du Frey would fall in love with me? For all I knew, he was straight as straight can be. Sports stars let off steam by horsing around with their teammates. And after the grueling days on the road, he sure needed some fun to relax and unwind. 

I reminded myself that a man could bathe in the warmth of the sun, but that did not mean the sun cared about the man’s existence. He was an international celebrity, a superstar. As unattainable as the sun itself. And we all knew what happened to those who flew too close to the sun.

After a few more minutes of splashing and laughing, I got his glistening body in a half nelson and made him concede that I was a superior wrestler.

Cliff stood bent-over, panting. I beat my chest like Tarzan and hollered at the waves, “I, Neptune, King of the Sea, have conquered the one and only King of the Mountain.”

He smiled his most disdainful smile, came to stand right in front of me, and said, “Just wait till I get you up into the mountains.”

“What are you going to do?” I teased, “Drag me into your castle and tie me up?”

His nostrils flared, and his face showed such a mixture of emotions that I was at a loss to interpret them.

“For starters,” he said, “I’ll whip your ass….”

I caught my breath. 

He continued, “…at skiing.”

He drew himself up to his full height, which meant I was looking directly at his lips and the stubble on his chin. I ached to reach out and feel that roughness. I did not just want to feel it with my hands; I wanted to feel it on my neck, my chest, on every square inch of my body. He parted his lips, and I imagined the sweet, salty taste they would leave on my tongue. 

My throat was suddenly dry. I licked my lips and looked up at the eyes that were waiting to bore into mine. Our chests were only separated by a minuscule air gap and two thin layers of water that were rapidly evaporating under our bodies’ heat. I stood motionless; my heart was pounding so loudly that I was sure Cliff could hear it. I had the sensation of my chest hair vibrating to the rhythm of his heartbeat.

 

About the Author

Aiden Ainslie lives in the Diablo foothills, east of San Francisco. When he is not writing or listening to audiobooks, he likes to cycle and hike. During those solitary pursuits, he dreams up the characters and plots for his MM Romance novels.

Aiden and his family have two dogs that keep him busy and he also enjoys zipping around town on his motor scooter, drinking coffee at the local coffee shops, and watching people to get inspiration for his writing.

According to Aiden, “Setting and mood are critical parts of a romantic story, hence I am always taking pictures of romantic settings to be used in future novels”.

 

Author Links

Blog/Website  |  Facebook

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Giveaway

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win

a $10 Amazon Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Symphony for Connor by Shane Ulrrein

BOOK BLAST

Book Title: Symphony for Connor

Author: Shane Ulrrein

Publisher: Deep Desires Press

Cover Artist: DreamScape Cover Designs

Release Date: March 4, 2022

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance/Mystery

Tropes: Opposites attract

Themes: Coming of age, Gay College/ Tragic/Dark/Sad/Spicy Romance

Heat Rating: 4 out of 5 flames

Length: 60 510 words/207 pages

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Publisher’s note: Symphony for Connor contains scenes of suicidal ideation and the death of a main character.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK 

B & Noble (NOOK)  |  Smashwords  |  Google Play Books  |  Kobo 

 

David falls in love with Connor—a man in every way his opposite—but he can’t stay away, no matter how toxic this relationship becomes.

 

Blurb

“David Schoenberg is shy, nerdy, and has big dreams of becoming the next great composer. Those dreams seem to become reality when he is newly admitted to the Barnard School of Music, a selective academy for future musicians and artists.

It’s here that David meets and falls in love with fellow freshman, Connor Pfeif. Connor is handsome, a gifted composer, and the biggest flake in school. He’s everything the studious, hard-working David isn’t, and no matter how David feels about him, it seems Connor would never return that affection.

This all changes when the truth comes out after a wild party and David and Connor form a deeper bond than either of them has ever known.

But with this newfound love comes a dark side as he learns terrible truths about his new boyfriend—unfinished relationships, a history of reckless behavior, and suicidal tendencies. Things turn tragic and ugly, putting David to the ultimate test as he must decide if he can stand with the greatest love of his life.

Publisher’s note: Symphony for Connor contains scenes of suicidal ideation and the death of a lead character.”

 

Excerpt

“I was seated in front of a desk, playing with the keys on one of the lab keyboards, trying to create something, anything, for the next part of my symphony. My music notebook lay flat on the side ready to absorb all of my best ideas, but, still, nothing was coming to me. Many times, I’d stop playing and end up tapping the end of my pencil on my manuscript paper, racking my brains, my mind blank like the staves.

Earlier, I had come up with a great theme for my symphony, a melody that I’d played that sounded good and had wanted to repeat over and over in my piece. Yet, once I heard the tune again in my head, somehow, the very last note didn’t sound right to me.

I played the theme countless times, but, for some reason, I kept harping and insisting on another note. I had to play the whole damn A scale up on the piano but got stuck on the penultimate note. I played it again and again but didn’t finish. I sat here, straining hard in my chair, my eyes and eyebrows raised, trying to find it.
“It’s that last note,” I said aloud, angrily.

It was driving me crazy! At that moment, I wondered if Connor was having any composer problems like me with his project. Then again, he was the compositional genius in Barnard that I doubted he’d have any trouble writing an entire symphony. He was probably already done, smiling smugly at me with his good-looking face in my head.

Slowly, I began to picture my cute boyfriend, shirtless or maybe in his underwear. Or maybe naked and sprawled all over the piano in front of me, smiling, just like during that magical sleepover when we’d made love on his bed in his messy room. I was getting aroused and lusted over him, not even bothering to finish my project.

The other night, I had an erotic dream about Connor. He was standing naked in my shower, staring at me, while smoking a cigarette. My boyfriend had a longing, sensuous stare on his face, the water dancing all over his beautiful, bare body. Every trickle rode his alluring curves as they accentuated his divine nudity, my eyes following as they circled around his cute belly button then went down to his nether region.

There was a small window facing out from inside my shower that let in the daylight that shone on my attractive boyfriend. The bright light illuminated Connor’s boyish face, and I could almost touch his soft-looking skin that was wet from the shower.

“Fuck me, David,” he said in his sexy, breathy voice. “Please.”

It was that same seductive voice that always excited me, and it all soon became the biggest homoerotic dream of my entire life. I’d had plenty of other steamy dreams when I was a teen, but this was definitely the hottest one yet. I remembered the next morning when I’d woken up, the inside of my pajama bottoms had been moist, and I’d felt hot and sweaty, as though I’d actually taken a refreshing schpritz with that fuckable guy.

Then, all of a sudden, I began to feel warm and really turned on. I looked down and saw a small bulge from the crotch of my shorts that only seemed to grow bigger. Connor was giving me such a hard-on that I was so glad I was alone in the student lab!

Oh, shit, I wailed inside of my head. I’m soooo horny.

I needed Connor; I needed him right now so badly that it hurt. He’d really wanted me to fuck him in my dream and now, I wanted to fuck him. And I wanted it to feel exactly like that very special night when I’d lost my virginity to him. My boyfriend was like a catchy tune that got stuck in my head, no matter what I did to try to get him out.

But he was more like that elusive song you fell in love with and searched everywhere to find out what it was and who sang it. That infectious melody that you just begged to hear one more time and would do anything to own forever. He was like that. Connor was so addictive, and I just had to see him again and again. It was like tapping “Repeat” on that song from your playlist for the hundredth time, only you never get tired of it…”

 

About the Author 

Shane Ulrrein is a life-long storyteller and first-time LGBT author currently living in Orange County, California, USA, who one day dreams of leaving his home in sunny Southern California for the wet, dreary weather of England.

Mr. Ulrrein has a Bachelor of Arts degree in music composition in California State University, Fullerton and is a proud member of the LGBT community. In his spare time, Mr. Ulrrein likes to draw, read, and write music that he hopes someday will be heard in all the great concert halls in the world.

Social Media Links

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Heat: An ABCs of Love Novel by TL Travis #kindleunlimited

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Book Title: Heat: An ABCs of Love Novel

Author and Publisher: TL Travis

Cover Artist: Nicole Blanchard

Release Date: May 26, 2022

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Opposites attract, forced proximity

Themes: Coming out later in life, small town romance

Heat Rating:  3 – 4 flames

Length: 175 pages

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

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Can two opposites in forced proximity learn to play nicely or will one wind up in an iron grave?

 

Blurb 

What do you get when you throw a burly blacksmith and the town’s poster child for clumsiness together?

A whole lot of swearing and a threatening use of duct tape.

And the need to construct a sign that reads, “DO NOT LET CAMPBELL NEAR THE FORGE!”

Alabaster Falls’ local blacksmith, Daughtry Blackburn, was satisfied with his reclusive status. He had iron to bend and orders to fill but he knew he needed something to take the business to the next level. His father had fought taking their business into the twenty-first century, but since he’d passed, it was up to Daughtry to keep things forward moving and he knew there was no way to do so without being on the World Wide Web. Metalworking, he got. Computers, not so much.

Campbell Jenkins was desperate to be accepted by his peers in the little town he’d called home since birth. Problem was, he was accident-prone. Not just in the sense of an occasional break here or there, but in a can’t walk by glass without it shattering – even when it seemed he was a mile away type of thing. No matter how hard he tried to fit in, this curse led to failure. Forced to stay stuck inside the walls of the home his grandmother left him, he spent his time learning all he could about computers and social media. His online friends never cast him aside—too bad the real world wasn’t as kind.

When he answers an ad in the local paper for online marketing assistance, he wasn’t sure what to expect. Least of all, the brawny man answering the door to a log cabin that had seen better days.

Can two opposites in forced proximity learn to play nicely or will one wind up in an iron grave?

 

Excerpt

Daughtry

Life is iron.

Iron is life.

Nothing makes me happier.

Then why am I so danged frustrated?

I slammed the hammer down on the flaming red piece of steel I’d just pulled from the forge, and laid across the anvil, and tirelessly pounded on it. Another horseshoe, I could make the damn things in my sleep. The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the shop. I get lost in my work for hours on end, just as my pops had, just as my granddad before him had too. Blackburn Iron Works had been in the family for generations. We were born to forge. You can spot our work from Alabaster Falls, Virginia to North Dakota. Folks come from far and wide to purchase our wares. How they heard about it is all word of mouth though that’s something I’m aiming to change. Just need to find the right internet guru to get it up and running for me.

Back to my current predicament. Lately, I’ve found myself wound up tighter than a skeeter in a bug zapper. I don’t know what my deal was. Only thing that came to mind was my thirtieth birthday was nearing, not that it matters much, but the restlessness was becoming harder to ignore. I never was one to celebrate. I’ve got a lot of acquaintances but not many friends so nowhere to go, no one to go be with. I ain’t never been one for bars and I don’t date. Never done much of anything outside of mold metal into what I wanted it to be. Yeah, I need to get out more.

Shortly after I was born, my momma up and took off. Told Pops this wasn’t the life she wanted for herself, and she was tired of being trapped in this godforsaken town. I never saw Alabaster like that, not sure why she did. Folks are plenty nice ‘round here. Pops was heartbroken though, loved her more than life itself. Well, not more than he loved me, but that’s a different kind of love. He called me his pride and joy, the best thing that ever happened to him. Pops and I, we were close. That’s why when he had that heart attack that took him a couple of years back, I was pretty broken up over it, still am if truth be told.

I tossed the horseshoe into the finished pile for Mr. Parker and buried myself in the orders I had for a couple of gates for a local cattle rancher which would be easy to finish in no time. Just kept busy and pushed through whatever this was going on with me. I’ve done some ornate work here and there down at City Hall, made a new balustrade to line the entry steps. Most of the stuff I make on the side, locals call it my fancy stuff, is just collecting dust in Pops’ old office. Folks around here in Alabaster Falls are pretty simple, and I like it that way but they don’t do ‘fancy’. Nobody gets in my business, well, outside of trying to find me a wife. I hear the rumor mill, so I know what’s going on around town and it seems everybody’s focus was on lining up willing females for me. As long as I don’t make any waves, ain’t nobody gonna send any my way or at least that’s how it’s been, and I hope it stays that way.

 

 

About the Author 

TL Travis is the published author of a plethora of LGBTQ+ and contemporary romance and erotic musings that have earned her a “Best-Selling Author” flag in the US as well as Internationally.

In her spare time, when she’s not weaving steamy webs, she enjoys spending time with her family, fishing, wine tasting and people watching. Everyone has a story to tell, half the fun is dreaming up with what it is.

TL’s surrounded by her 4-legged rescue family, her sons and adorable grandkids.

She will continue saving furry friends in need for as long as she breathes. Tl would like to remind you to “Adopt, not shop.” Saving that lost soul may very well save yours.

 

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French Kiss (Flying into Love #1) by C F White #kindleunlimited

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Book Title: French Kiss (Flying into Love #1)

Author and Publisher: C F White

Cover Artist: Kelly Martin KAM Design

Release Date: May 30, 2022

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Opposites Attract, Instalust, Age Gap, Forced Proximity 

Themes: Coming out, Found Family 

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 58 000 words/232 pages

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

This is the first in a new series of standalone novels. The second book is due out in June.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link  |  Amazon US  |  Amazon UK 

 

Can a French kiss persuade an uptight Englishman to leave his city behind and start a new life in rural France?

 

Blurb

Clean-cut London businessman Dale Calverley doesn’t do relationships. 

Rugged French handyman Valentin Aubrey doesn’t do city men. 

When Dale hires Valentin to help him fix up his inherited farmhouse estate in rural France and sell to the highest bidder, sparks fly. 

Complete opposites, can they really expect their insta-lust to last beyond the storm that forces them together? 

But how can Dale walk away from a man so alluringly rogue as Valentin Aubrey? 

And how can Valentin expect a man so money-orientated to throw away his career and stay in the wilderness with him?

French Kiss (Flying into Love #1) is a Contemporary, Age-Gap, Hurt/Comfort, Forced Proximity MM Romance featuring an uptight English businessman with a preference for nameless hook ups and a rugged half-French handyman with a chequered past. 

 

Excerpt 

Stomach knotting, roiling, fluttering, Dale laid eyes on Valentin, axe held high over his head then swinging down to slice through chopped wood balancing on a tree stump. If that wasn’t the most spectacular thing Dale had ever seen in his entire life, he had no idea what was. He held his breath, lurking on the periphery and willing himself not to be seen. He wanted to watch. He wanted to gaze on that sight without fear. He wanted nothing more than to stare as though it was a show just for him. 

Valentin threw a chopped log onto a pile, wiping the sweat from brow with his plaid shirt sleeve and smearing mud across his face. He then set another on the stump and swung the axe. Voracious hunger surged through Dale as Valentin grunted, thrashing the blade down into the log. It was so barbaric. So feral. So wild Dale had to inhale a tantric breath. Flustered and ravenous, Dale lost all rational thought. He hadn’t seen anything like it before and his cock throbbed, unveiling his voyeuristic side and exposing him to his type.

He stared. 

And stared. 

And stared. 

Valentin stopped, then undid his shirt, wriggling it down his arms to drop to the ground, luscious, tanned torso now on display with those Angel-wing tattoos for Dale to feast upon. If Dale thought his heart had been pounding before, it then tripled pace. Valentin was so ripped. So defined. So masculine, and every outline of strength and sinew on his back, his chest, his stomach, his decorated arms as he lifted the axe and yielded it to cut through solid timber, had Dale’s pulse racing. 

Dale’s throat dried as animalistic desire raged through him, inflating both want and need. His dick stiff and rigid, demanding to see for itself, Dale could do nothing but stand and stare. 

Valentin glanced up, maybe sensing he was being watched. Was that a hunting instinct? He blinked, a cloudy rush of breath billowing from his lips as he exhaled into the mist. God, he was so savage. So rugged and raw. Dale should move. He should shake himself out and move. He should make up some utter bullshit of why he was standing there that wasn’t salivating over him chopping logs. He should pretend he’d heard something. He should, at the very least, stop staring. 

But what he wanted to do was take Valentin by the neck and kiss him. 

Valentin threw the axe to the ground, grabbing his shirt and sliding it on as he jogged toward him. “Dale,” he said, breath light and airy, so unlike the atmosphere between them, laden with desperation. 

Dale couldn’t speak. All words caught in his throat at the sight, at the scent, at the scorching skin exposed on Valentin’s chest that Dale wanted—needed—to touch. He’d never felt anything like this. Ever. It was so all-consuming. Mesmerising. Bewitching. It was so beyond any rationality and reason that Dale couldn’t comprehend what was happening to him. 

“Dale?” Valentin searched him. “Are you okay?” 

Dale forced himself to nod, breathing out a deep and rumbling, “Mmm, hmm.” 

“Sorry if I woke you. There’s a storm heading for us. Needed wood for the fire. It might pass us, but it’s worth stocking up the fuel while we can.”

Dale inhaled. All he could smell was Valentin. His sweat. His musk. His beard. Dale never wanted to breath in anything else again. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Valentin frowned, then without a hint of warning he placed a palm to Dale’s forehead, his touch sending shockwaves sparking through him. 

Dale gripped Valentin’s wrist, digging fingertips into him, holding his hand where it was. “Valentin.” 

Valentin held his gaze. “Dale,” he breathed out. “I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.”

Dale dropped his arm to his side but refused to let go of Valentin’s wrist.

“Don’t make me.” Valentin’s voice was soft, shaky, filled with fear and worry yet had an undeniable growl of want. As though he was struggling to control himself. He trembled, glancing to their locked hands as he uttered with caution, “Je te veux.” 

 

 

About the Author

Brought up in a relatively small town in Hertfordshire, C F White managed to do what most other residents try to do and fail—leave.

Studying at a West London university, she realised there was a whole city out there waiting to be discovered, so, much like Dick Whittington before her, she never made it back home and still endlessly search for the streets paved with gold, slowly coming to the realisation they’re mostly paved with chewing gum. And the odd bit of graffiti. And those little circles of yellow spray paint where the council point out the pot holes to someone who is supposedly meant to fix them instead of staring at them vacantly whilst holding a polystyrene cup of watered-down coffee.

Eventually she moved West to East along that vast District Line and settled for pie and mash, cockles and winkles and a bit of Knees Up Mother Brown to live in the East End of London; securing a job and creating a life, a home and a family.

After her second son was born with a rare disability, C F White’s life changed and it brought pen back to and paper after having written stories as a child but never had the confidence to show them to the world. Now, having embarked on this writing journey, C F White can’t stop. 

So strap in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.  

 

Author Links

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Ambiguous by Leslie McAdam #kindleunlimited

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Book Title: Ambiguous

Author and Publisher:  Leslie McAdam

Cover Artist: Black Jazz Designs

Release Date: April 13, 2022

Genre:  Contemporary m/m romance

Tropes: Rock star, forbidden love, opposites attract, lawyer/politics, fake relationship (with a twist)

Themes: Coming out, being true to yourself

Heat Rating:  5 flames      

Length: 75 000 words

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK 

 

 

Blurb

Love is for other people, not for me.

At least that’s what I believed, until I met him. 

Julian Hill.

The most famous rock star on the planet. A music god with untidy hair and the voice of an angel.

I’ll never be anything but out, and he has very good reasons to stay in the closet.

After all, every move he makes is dissected, critiqued, and posted on social media, so he just wants a little privacy.

I understand that. Truly.

But no one makes me feel the way he does, and I’m pretty sure he has feelings for me as well.

Which is inconvenient since his record label hired me to sue him.

I should’ve sorted things out before I kissed him.

Oops.

Ambiguous is a forbidden mm rock star romance about a fashion-forward singer who hates labels of all kinds (except for clothing), a dapper attorney who already has a (fake) boyfriend for a very good reason, and the possibility of love saving the day.

 

 

Excerpt 

Julian takes my breath away. While I’ve met plenty of celebrities, with him I feel this hit to my solar plexus. I freeze, because he’s so hot it’s too much to process.

Dark, perfectly mussed hair. Dark brown eyes. Tan skin.

His black pants are painted on, highlighting his lanky form. He’s wearing heeled black boots with chains on them and a loose, lacy, unbuttoned blouse and piles of long pearl necklaces. Rings on every finger click as he fidgets. His Adam’s apple moves as he drinks from a bottle of water.

He started with a boy band a decade ago. And, while I listen to plenty of pop music, I’ve intentionally ignored him just to piss Emily off. I’m mature like that sometimes. I’m not sure why I even started that—she and I love a lot of the same music and go to concerts together whenever we can, but at some point I decided he was just too cheesy, and then it became a thing. Julian is now on his own, the only one from his original group to have a successful solo career.

Of course I’ve heard his music. I’m generally aware of him, because I live in a condo in America and not under a rock cut off from communication with the outside world.

I’ve just never put his songs on voluntarily. Now I wish I knew more about him.

The table’s been set up for the meeting with bottles of fancy water and carafes of coffee. Readying himself for introductions, Julian sets down his water and stands up.

I walk over to shake his hand, and it’s like it happens in slow motion. One second I’m standing, and the next my toe hooks on a chair leg and I go flying. My flailing wrist manages to knock his open bottle of water from the table, and I take him down to the floor in one fell swoop, splashing water all over him as I go.

He lands on the industrial carpet with an “Oomph,” and I end up sprawled on top of him.

Heat singes my cheeks. Oh shit, oh shit. I won’t blame him if he pulls a diva fit after I ruined his clothes. They’re next season’s Gucci.

I start mentally updating my résumé.

“Oh my god,” I whisper, fumbling up to the table to grab a stack of paper napkins from the coffee service while struggling to get off of him as fast as I can.

Julian frowns, and then he jackknifes up to a sitting position, forcing a laugh. His now-wet shirt leaves little to the imagination, revealing the shapes of tattoos scattered all over his chiseled torso. I kneel at his feet and start wiping his pants, only to realize that, yeah, I’m trying to dry off the crotch of a Grammy-nominated recording artist.

“Oh my god,” I repeat. “I’m so sorry.”

I can’t stop dabbing at his crotch.

With a white napkin.

That’s leaving shreds of wet lint.

On his dark designer pants.

I’m making it so much worse—and my reaction to him is getting worse, too. Partly because there’s a bulge underneath that zipper, and it’s not small. Like, not at all small. Partly because he smells amazing—like maybe rum and vanilla—which makes my body hum and my cock wake up.

Even though I don’t live my life as a train wreck, apparently it can get derailed in one second flat.

 

About the Author

Leslie McAdam is a California girl who loves romance and well-defined abs. She lives in a drafty old farmhouse on a small orange tree farm in Southern California with her husband and two children. Leslie’s first published book, The Sun and the Moon, won a 2015 Watty, which is the world’s largest online writing competition. She’s gone on to receive additional literary awards and has been featured in multiple publications, including Cosmopolitan.com. Her books have been Top 100 Bestsellers on both Amazon and Apple Books. Leslie is employed by day but spends her nights writing about the men of your fantasies.

 

Author Links

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Yours, Everlasting by Beth Bolden #kindleunlimited #giveaway

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Yours, Everlasting

Author: Beth Bolden

Cover Artist: Sleepy Fox Studio

Release Date: April 6, 2022

Genre: Fantasy MM Romance

Tropes: Opposites attract, road trip romance, secret admirer

Themes: Good versus evil, staying true to one’s self, redemption

Length: 92 000 words

Heat Rating:  4 flames      

It is not a standalone story. It is book 2 in the Enchanted Folklore series and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link  |  Amazon US  |   Amazon UK  

 

 

Blurb

Evrard . . .Rhys . . .Evander . . .

Evander has gone by many names in the last thousand years. He’s lived almost as many lives, using his immortality and his unique shapeshifting abilities to become anyone and anything. His goal was simple: to eradicate the malevolent magic threatening all humankind.

After finally succeeding, Evander feels he’s earned a justifiable and peaceful retirement. But the past never stays buried, and he discovers that it’s been watching him . . .

Marcos, the Guardian of War, has waited, he’s observed, he’s admired, and he’s yearned. But now it’s time for him to step into the light and let Evander see him for who he truly is.

But fate is fickle, destinies aren’t set in stone, and as much as Marcos hopes Evander might be his, it will be the fight of his life to not only win Evander’s heart, but to defeat the evil that once again raises its sinister head.

 

Excerpt 

Marcos knew he would not tire easily, but Rhys—Evander, that was Evander under that unassuming exterior, a marvel that would never fail to astonish him—undoubtedly would.

After watching him for hundreds of years, both keeping near to him, and also keeping his distance, Marcos was still not sure how reduced his power was.

Marcos knew he’d retained some of the magic he’d possessed before, but unlike when he’d been the Guardian of Secrets, now, he was clearly more particular about how and when he used it.

“We should stop for a rest,” Marcos said, after they’d been walking all night and partway into the day, almost without pause.

They’d stopped once, to fill their waterskins at a cold, bubbling stream. They’d long since left Beaulieu behind, and they had not even passed through a single village. Out of choice, Marcos had assumed, but it still surprised him that Evander kept to the disguise of Rhys.

Surely now that Marcos had revealed himself, Evander would let the shape of unassuming, gruff Rhys melt away until he finally was himself again.

Except not once, as far as Marcos knew, had Evander taken his normal shape since he’d been banished.

But now, now that he was with Marcos again, surely the subterfuge was unnecessary.

Rhys glared at him. Even after all these hundreds of years, watching Evander be someone else, he was not used to seeing Evander stare out at him through someone else’s face. “Do you need to stop?” he asked.

“No, of course I do not,” Marcos said. “I am a Guardian, I could walk all the way up the North Mountain without stopping. But . . .”

“But I am no longer a Guardian,” Rhys interrupted him. “Your point is clear.”

But even if it was clear, Rhys was obviously annoyed that Marcos had brought it up.

He doesn’t trust you, he thinks you’re to blame, which isn’t all that surprising, and now he thinks you’re patronizing him.

It was not the most auspicious beginning, but Marcos still held out hope that maybe they could forge a partnership, even after all this time had passed.

He just had to stop himself from saying the wrong thing and angering Evander—he is Rhys, Marcos reminded himself—even more.

So far, he had not managed even that.

Rhys stopped when the sun reached its zenith in the sky, finding a shady grouping of trees, with a large fallen log they could rest next to.

“Is this sufficient?” There was still a bite to Rhys’ words.

“Perfectly sufficient,” Marcos said, taking care to make sure there was no additional inflection to his words that would anger Rhys further. He certainly was not going to be stupid enough to remind the ex-Guardian that he did not need to rest at all.

Rhys settled down against the log. He looked tired. Perhaps if he changed forms, back to Evander, he might find additional strength. Maintaining a different form could be a strain on his power reserves.

Marcos would have suggested it but the silence that had fallen between them, and Rhys’ defensiveness every time he made even the simplest suggestion, kept him quiet.

He waited until Rhys closed his eyes, and then shut his own, sure that Rhys, who was obviously exhausted, would fall asleep quickly.

But a moment later, Rhys spoke up. “You did not mean to reveal yourself to me.”

Marcos had never been as accomplished a liar as Evander had been. He’d never needed to be. Fighting was often straightforward, with little need for deception, and he’d never gotten into the practice of telling falsehoods well.

He could lie, but it was unlikely Rhys would believe him, and the chances of Rhys being even angrier at the lie were considerable.

“No,” he said carefully. “No, I did not mean to reveal myself.”

Rhys looked like Rhys, and not anything like Evander, not like . . . not like the Guardian he’d known for so many years . . . but Marcos’ heart beat faster anyway when he opened his eyes and Rhys was staring at him—like he was trying to figure Marcos out, still.

 

About the Author 

 

A lifelong Pacific Northwester, Beth Bolden has just recently moved to North Carolina with her supportive husband. Beth still believes in Keeping Portland Weird, and intends to be just as weird in Raleigh.

Beth has been writing practically since she learned the alphabet. Unfortunately, her first foray into novel writing, titled Big Bear with Sparkly Earrings, wasn’t a bestseller, but hope springs eternal. She’s published twenty-three novels and seven novellas.

 

Author Links

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