adult contemporary

Odd Hearts CHARGED–Review and Giveaway!

Charged RWB BannerHi there! I’m so excited to share an excerpt, review and giveaway in support of a brand new contemporary romance from Jay Crownover. CHARGED is the second book in her new Saints of Denver series. You know I really enjoyed BUILT, so I had to keep reading this series!

Catch the excerpt and be sure to enter the $25 GC and signed book giveaway below!

Charged (Saints of Denver, #2)About the book:

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Marked Men books comes the second installment in the Saints of Denver series featuring a bad girl and a by-the-book attorney who could be her salvation…or her ruin.

Avett Walker and Quaid Jackson’s worlds have no reason to collide. Ever. Quaid is a high powered criminal attorney as slick as he is handsome. Avett is a pink-haired troublemaker with a bad attitude and a history of picking the wrong men.

When Avett lands in a sea of hot water because of one terrible mistake, the only person who can get her out of it is the insanely sexy lawyer. The last thing on earth she wants to do is rely on the no-nonsense attorney who thinks of her as nothing more than a nuisance. He literally has her fate in his hands. Yet there is something about him that makes her want to convince him to loosen his tie and have a little fun…with her.

Quaid never takes on clients like the impulsive young woman with a Technicolor dye job. She could stand to learn a hard lesson or two, but something about her guileless hazel eyes intrigues him. Still, he’s determined to keep their relationship strictly business. But doing so is becoming more impossible with each day he spends with her.

As they work side-by-side, they’ll have to figure out a way to get along and keep their hands off each other—because the chemistry between them is beyond charged.

How about a little taste?

Quaid

              She let her arms fall and scooted forward on the chair. She leaned forward and looked at me intently. Her eyes were mesmerizing and I found myself distracted by all the different colors trapped there. I had to ask her to repeat herself when I realized she said something and was waiting for a response from me. I needed to get my head in the game where this girl was concerned…this girl…that was the part I seemed to keep forgetting.

              “What did you say?” My voice dipped lower than it normally was and I shifted in my seat as other parts of me started to notice all the interesting and attractive things about Avett Walker as well.

              “I said, I Googled you.” She swept some of her hair back from where it had fallen over her shoulder, and I literally had to force myself to keep my gaze locked on her face as the motion pushed her chest up higher and tighter against the plain, black T-shirt she had on.

              “Oh, yeah? How did that work out for you?” I knew what she would find: my service record, my wedding announcement, my work history from the firm, various tidbits on my most high profile cases, and various articles chronicling my divorce. Most divorces weren’t newsworthy, but when one of the people involved came from money and the other was as high profile as I was, it made for good filer on a slow news day. I was curious to see what her interpretation of the snapshot of my life that existed on the internet was.

              She got up from the chair and started to pace back and forth in front of my desk as she talked. “It worked out well enough, I guess. I saw that you were enlisted when you were younger, which explains why my dad immediately liked you.” She looked at me over her shoulder and a tiny grin tugged at her mouth. “He doesn’t usually like anyone instantly. It takes him a while to warm up.”

              I listened with half an ear as I watched her brightly colored hair swish around her shoulders. She didn’t come across as the girly or overly feminine type, so I wondered why she had gone with such a delicate and pretty pink when coloring her hair.

              “I learned that you’re a Colorado native, that you grew up in the mountains, that your birthday is right around Christmas, which means you’re almost thirty-two, so you’ve accomplished a lot in your career in a short amount of time. I also learned that you own a lot of suits.”

              I snorted out a surprised laugh at that last part, which made her stop pacing. She took a step closer to my desk and put her hands on the opposite edge, leaning forward. The new position made her T-shirt gape at the collar, and even though I refused to look down, I could see the hint of a leopard-print bra peeking out. That hint of something forbidden made my mouth go dry and had my pulse kicking. It was a powerful reaction to very little provocation, and I made myself beat it back, forcibly.

My Review:

While this is the second book in a series, it can be enjoyed on its own. Avett Walker is a 22 year old mess. She’s been arrested as an accessory to rob her father’s former bar, even though she didn’t do it. Nope, her good-for-nothing junkie boyfriend thought up that scheme, and he hit Avett when she wouldn’t help.

Still, he’s claiming it was all her idea and Avett’s in jail awaiting arraignment when a clearly high-priced (if his suit means anything) lawyer arrives. Quaid Jackson doesn’t want to hear Avett’s story. He’s used to defending scumballs if the price is right and he’s on a retainer from the new owner of Avett’s father’s bar–Rome. Avett can’t even fathom the reason behind that.

Thing is, there are tons of people who owe Avett’s father a debt of honor, as one might call it. Avett is one of them, but she can’t seem to ever make the right choice. That she’s attracted to the no-nonsense Quaid is simply proof-positive.

Quaid Jackson is a poor boy done good. Literally. He worked his way from nothing to an almost-guaranteed partnership in his firm. Unfortunately, all his wealth and standing is beginning to feel a bit hollow. His marriage to his high school sweetheart turned out to be a big sham, and he’s on the hook for the divorce. His luxury apartment has every furnishing, but no soul. Meeting Avett, who is so completely woebegone over her bad choices and earnest in her desire to make reparations, is a gust of fresh air for his jaded heart.

You can expect Avett’s troubles to double, and triple in this romantic suspense. See, her ex turned to selling drugs to support his habit, and…well, like a lot of junkies, he used the drugs he was supposed to sell. Knowing his suppliers will kill him if he doesn’t turn over the cash causes him to implicate Avett! Just when she’s almost getting things worked out with her family–WHAM!! Huge problems with the drug lords. While Quaid is no longer on her case, he’s totally willing to bear Avett’s burdens for her.

I liked the book a lot. I really identified with Avett’s sorrow and desire to fix things. She’s had some bad experiences, including losing a good friend a few years back for reasons she takes as her own. It’s made her semi-self-destructive. Being around Quaid helps her take steps to building back her self-esteem, and each time she makes amends to someone she’s hurt brings Avett more in-line with the kind of woman she wants to be.

Quaid is a stand-up guy, and he’s ready to defend Avett against snarky district attorneys and murderous drug kingpins. I had a LITTLE trouble accepting his rationalizations at times–any physical relationship with a client is really frowned upon, ethically, but I totally dug how he wanted to get a new start in life, and that meant thinking beyond his nouveaux-riche world. I liked how he took charge of his career, and made choices that were healthy for him.

I totally saw the end coming, and yet wasn’t even a little disappointed, which I think is a hallmark of a good story. There’s some nice sexytimes, but the book is mostly all about redemption, and how to get out of a bad mess of your own making.

Interested? You can find CHARGED on Goodreads, Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. And don’t miss the first titles in The Saints of Denver Series, LEVELED and BUILT.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link for your chance to win a $25 gift card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble–winner’s choice–and a signed copy of BUILT.
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

DSC02158-EditAbout the Author:
Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men and The Point series. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she’ll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.

Catch up with Jay on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

InkSlinger PR Blogger Banner - New

A Grieving Brother CHASING SHADOWS–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for a newly release contemporary M/M romantic suspense from Annabelle Jacobs. CHASING SHADOWS features a grieving man who finds more than he expects–including love–when he sets out to collect the belongings of his missing, presumed drowned, brother.

Chasing ShadowsAbout the book:
Jamie Matthews goes to Cornwall to find his missing brother. The police are convinced Michael drowned, but Jamie knows better. No way would Michael swim to his death, especially on a beach with a wicked rip tide. Finding a stranger in his brother’s cottage only deepens his misgivings.

Felix Bergstrom is recently discharged from the British Army. Unable to put the past behind him, he takes an unhealthy interest in old acquaintance and millionaire businessman Karl Weston, hoping to catch him up to no good. Michael’s disappearance adds fuel to Felix’s suspicions. Weston’s clifftop home overlooks the beach where Michael supposedly walked into the sea, but Weston has an alibi for that day.

When Jamie and Felix meet, the physical attraction is instant. Mistrust keeps them from acting on it until finally all their secrets are laid bare. But time isn’t on their side. Before they’re able to work out whether they have a future, danger catches up with them and threatens to put an end to everything.

My Review:
4.5 stars for this contemporary M/M romantic suspense.

Jamie Matthews is heartsick over the apparent drowning of his water-phobic younger brother, Michael. He goes to Cornwall to pack up his brother’s effects from the rental cottage he’d taken–and hoping to investigate a bit more himself. He can’t believe Micheal would willingly enter the roiling ocean he’d been so carefully sketching, no matter how hot the day had been. Jamie’s grief is so acute, and so accessible. He and Michael were best mates, shared an apartment together and all once they both left uni. Being without his brother is a constant nagging ache that brings Jamie sleepless nights and loss of appetite.

Jamie meets Felix Bergstrom, caretaker for Michael’s cottage and a former British Army soldier. Felix has his suspicions about a recent emigre to the Cornwall coast: Karl Weston, an old army acquaintance and millionaire businessman. Felix believes that Weston may have had a hand in the death of their mutual friend, Jason, less than a year ago. Felix has been maintaining an unofficial surveillance on Weston over the last several weeks, but never noticed Weston and Michael interacting. Like the police, he believes that Michael drowned.

Jamie doesn’t trust Felix–not after he finds him in the cottage rummaging through Michael’s belongings. He can tell Felix is holding back information about Weston, and–because he’s grasping for any information about Michael–that burns. Felix does have some sympathy, and is encouraged by his friends to confess all he knows about Weston, however little it helps Jamie.

During the several days they spend together in close proximity, Jamie and Felix sense an attraction. Jamie is wracked by grief, and Felix is a willing outlet for that sorrow and frustration. I liked how well they got on, once they began…

Naturally, things go awry. And that’s where the suspense builds. This comes at the near tail-end of the book, with a dramatic discovery, terrific impatience and more than one unexpected turn. I really liked how Weston was characterized. He’s this suave, smarmy guy, with ultimate confidence. And, he’s so manipulative, but in a way that gets his way and lets you know he’s taking it. He’s smug, and stone cold, and never felt overblown or cartoony. We don’t deal with Weston much, in person, but when we do, he leaves an impact.

Felix and Jamie are really such a good pair. I’m glad that they could get past their insecurities enough to find some peace. The end is a spectacular reveal, with an HEA that may surprise. For me, I was very satisfied.

Interested? You can find CHASING SHADOWS on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance and Smashwords.

About the Author:
Annabelle Jacobs lives in the South West of England with her three rowdy children, and two cats.

An avid reader of fantasy herself for many years, Annabelle now spends her days writing her own stories. They’re usually either fantasy or paranormal fiction, because she loves building worlds filled with magical creatures, and creating stories full of action and adventure. Her characters may have a tough time of it—fighting enemies and adversity—but they always find love in the end.

You can find Annabelle on her website, Facebook, and twitter.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!

Double Crosses Abound–MR. AND MR. SMITH–Release Day Review

RB Banner-1Hi there! Today I’m sharing a release day review for a new M/M romantic suspense from HelenKay Dimon. MR. AND MR. SMITH is a spy/counter-spy drama that features two US agents abroad who meet, fall in love, and then discover neither is who they claim to be. For these agents to survive, they have to trust one another–when they probably shouldn’t.

Mr. and Mr. Smith Ebook CoverAbout the book:

Secrets and seduction make for an explosive combination in HelenKay Dimon’s edgy, thrilling new series, which kicks off with a novel about two men who can handle any threat—except the one posed by desire.
 
Fisher Braun knows how to keep a secret. As a covert paramilitary operative, his job—and his life—depends on it. He’s at the top of his game, ready for action and always in control. No enemy has ever brought him to his knees, but one lover has: Zachary Allen, the man currently sharing his bed. The perfect package of brains and brawn, Zach is someone worth coming home to, and Fisher hates keeping him in the dark about what he does. But the lies keep Zach safe. Until the day Fisher loses everything. . . .

Zachary Allen is no innocent civilian. Although he plays the tech geek, in reality he’s deep undercover for the CIA. In a horrible twist of fate, the criminal enterprise he’s infiltrated has set its sights on the man whose touch drives him wild. Zach would do anything for Fisher—except blow his own cover. Now, in order to save him, Zach must betray him first. And he needs Fisher to trust him with all his heart if they want to make it out alive.

My Review:

Fisher is a CIA operative working in London as part of a well-oiled extraction team. The book opens with Fisher’s house being invaded and the message that his secret lover, Zach, has been kidnapped. Fisher must now come clean to his team about his sexuality (funnily enough none of these guys had any misconceptions of Fisher’s sexuality…) and his lover.

The attempt to recover Zach turns Fisher inside out and upside down. Mostly because Zach’s on the wrong side of the gun. Yup. Is Zach, as he later claims, a deep cover operative investigating international human trafficker organization–Pentasus? Or, is Zach just a bad dude.

The rest of the book is Fisher and Zach coming to terms with their secret lives. They had been living together, secretly, for months, and Fisher had thought he’d found a man to spend his life with–until Zach’s Big Secrets are revealed. The time frame of the book is really compressed–the whole span is roughly 48 hours, so we have an hour-by-hour unfolding of their relationship–from fury and betrayal, to reconnection and resolve.

Zach must get back to his role, and Fisher thinks it’s a suicide mission. It likely is–except Fisher won’t stand for it.

Expect hate sex, make up sex, making love and lot and lots of explosions. For me, I wanted a bit more of Fisher and Zach, on the page. It was tough coming in at such an adversarial moment, and it took a while for me, as a reader, to catch up. I really loved the ending, and I look forward to more books in this setting–clearly we have some men to catch up with in a new book. (HUNTER AND WILL!!)

Interested? You can find MR. AND MR. SMITH on Goodreads, Amazon (US, UK) Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, GooglePlay, and BAM.

About the Author:
HelenKay Dimon spent the years before becoming a romance author as a divorce attorney—not the usual career transition. Now she writes full-time and she’s much happier. The author of more than thirty novels, novellas, and short stories that have twice been named “Red-Hot Reads” and excerpted in Cosmopolitan, she’s on the board of directors of the Romance Writers of America and teaches fiction writing at UC San Diego and Mira Costa College.

You can find HelenKay online on her website, Facebook, twitter Tumblr and Pinterest.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!

Out Now! ALEXEI’S MOUSE–Excerpt and Giveaway!

BannerTemplate-21Hi there! Today I’m spreading the word on a brand new paranormal M/M romance from AC Katt. ALEXEI’S MOUSE is the fifth book in the Werewolves of Manhattan series.

Catch the extended excerpt below and enter to win copies of the first FOUR books in the series, too!

AlexeisMouse_432About the book:
Alexei Davidoff suffered three years in a Russian labor camp where he was tortured and defiled daily. Alexei knows suffering on an intimate basis. He’s rescued by Armand and Etienne members of the North American Council of werewolves. His household came with him from Russia and all of them are worried that Alexei will go back and challenge both the government and the Russian First.

Then early one morning Alexei goes jogging in Central Park in an effort to get back his strength to fight the Russian First. He finds a prostitute on a park bench covered in newspaper and not moving. Bearing in mind his recent ordeal Alexei decides to help the boy. He lifts up the newspaper and finds a needle hanging out of his arm. The boy is dying of an overdose and he’s Alexei’s Mate.

Let’s set the scene…

Moscow,
February
Four years ago

Ominous dark gray clouds rolled in. Snow came down as small ice pellets that cut like glass shards on the skin. They swirled around the mourners as they stood over the twin coffins. A northeast wind blew over the loup garou cemetery outside of Moscow. It cut through the thickest coats and scarves. Alexei Davidoff shivered in his beaver coat and hat. His Enforcers lowered the bodies of his former Chief Beta and his Beta’s Mate into the ground. Newly joined, they were dead for the crime of being gay and holding hands in a public square in Moscow.

“This cannot stand. There has to be an answer to this, someone has to stand up against these thugs.” Alexei moved his platinum hair off his face. His navy blue eyes flashed both anguish and resolve.

“The perpetrators were human, one of the government’s army of gay bashers, Alpha. There is nothing we can do. We cannot harm a human, and the government gives us no recourse to law.” The Beta shook his head.

“When is the next protest?” Alexei paced across the icy ground in front of the graves.

“Tomorrow at noon, in the square,” Vasily Yudin, Alexei’s new Chief Beta said reluctantly.

“I will be there.” Alexei watched Vasily’s expression. His body folded in on itself in resignation. Alexei knew Vasily realized it was useless to argue. He saw that his Alpha had made up his mind. Alexei could tell his Betas were scheming to mitigate the damage.

“We’ll go with you, Alpha.” Vasily gestured to Grigory and the six Enforcers in the funeral party.

“No, I will go alone.” Alexei clenched his fists and set his jaw in defiance.

“Alpha, it’s dangerous. We can’t let you go alone. If the FSB picks you up, there is no guarantee that the council will be able to negotiate your release. Please, both Grigory and I think you should let us and the Enforcers go with you, or you should stay at home. The FSB under the current president is worse than the KGB that preceded them. Peter and Sasha wouldn’t have wanted you to put yourself in danger. There is no helping them now.”

“I cannot let this go unanswered, Vasily. The man who did this wasn’t even arrested despite the fact that I reported the assault. I must protest to the authorities. We have an obligation to try to right this wrong. He was one of mine, one of my household, my personal staff. I am responsible.”

“But, Alpha, we can’t let you go alone into a dangerous situation,” Grigory persisted. “We would be shirking our duty as your Betas if we let you go alone.”

Alexei Ivanovich Davidoff straightened his spine and spat. “I will lose no one else to the government. As your Alpha, I am ordering you to stay away.”

“Alpha,” Vasily got on his knees in supplication.

Alexei put up his hand to silence his Beta. “I will hear no more of this. I will lead the demonstration tomorrow.”

Vasily and Grigory hung their heads in defeat.

* * *

March
Three Years Later

“I don’t think I can make it,” Alexei said as he attempted to walk out the front gate of the gulag to the waiting car.

“Let Grigory and I help to hold you up.” Vasily and Grigory each put an arm under one of his shoulders and half-walked, half-carried him to the car.

They strapped him in the back and Grigory spent the twelve hours it took to get to the dacha trying to hold his Alpha up so he wouldn’t fall where he sat.

When Vasily and Grigory finally got him into the dacha, Vasily’s mouth hung open in shock when he took off his Alpha’s coat. Their six foot six, two-hundred-pound Alpha weighed less than one hundred forty pounds.

“What did they do to you?” Vasily asked, tears pouring down his face.

“I was caged most of the time I spent in the gulag. They tortured, beat, and defiled me daily, all because I’m gay and dared to report Sasha’s and Peter’s deaths, and point to who was responsible.”

“They call it prison now, Alpha.”

Alexei sighed wearily, “In modern Russia, they call it a prison. But I’ve been alive long enough to remember Stalin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev’s slave labor camps. They can change the name but it’s still the gulag to me.”

“Alpha, you need to make the change. It will erase your scars and after you’ve changed a number of times, your injuries. It will take a while. Your injuries are severe.” Grigory helped Alexei into a roughhewn chair.

“I can’t change. I don’t have the strength.” Alexei put his head in his hands.

“Katya, Boris, something to eat for the Alpha, right away.” Katya ran to the kitchen and brought back some borscht.

“Finish this, Alpha. You have to eat constantly so your stomach can extend again.”

Grigory and Vasily knelt in front of their Alpha. Vasily spoke, “We’ve been pleading with the First for three years. The council finally negotiated your early release on the condition that you emigrate once you recover. We took the liberty of contacting Alpha Daurensbourg, from Saskatchewan and the Central US…”

“I am aware of Etienne Daurensbourg. He is a friend.”

“The council arranged for your emigration and that of your household. Alpha Daurensbourg will receive you in New York and already purchased a seven-floor townhouse and nine two-bedroom apartments for our people in New York City. Grigory, I, and our Enforcers will emigrate with you along with Boris and Katya.”

“But I have no funds, and you have families here. There I will no longer be an Alpha. I won’t be able to care for you.”

“You are our Alpha,” Vasily said with a stubbornness he had not shown to Alexei before. Alexei narrowed his eyes.

Alexei didn’t fight the emigration, only their participation. Vasily continued, “That’s the beauty of this course of action. Alpha La Farge, who was the North America’s Second, is no longer an Alpha. He is an Omega scrubbing Siberian toilets and can’t make the change. They sent him here eighteen months ago to die in disgrace for kidnapping The Alpha Mate. You have blood right to his territory in Colorado. Alpha La Marche has it now. I know he finds the packs fractious because he has no blood tie and they want one of their own. I’ve made inquiries. He’ll give it to you and you can become Second in North America.”

“I don’t want to be Second, Third, or Fourth for that matter. I can’t save the world. I learned that lesson the hard way. I will see my old friend Etienne Daurensbourg and maybe he can help me find a place to go. I have no funds…”

“Excuse me for the interruption, Alpha, but you do,” Vasily said with some satisfaction.

“As your factotum, Boris handled your funds. He put all of your accounts overseas as soon as the government started its campaign against homosexuals, only leaving enough rubles in Russia for operating expenses. As soon as they arrested you, he liquidated the rest of your investments and wired the funds to our London banker who in turn, had them sent them to The North American Alpha for safekeeping. Alpha La Marche reinvested everything. The American Stock Market has done very well. You are worth ten times what you were before and it’s all protected from the Russian government.”

“We bought first-class tickets to New York flying Air France on a nonstop flight to JFK where Alpha Daurensbourg will meet our party. Alpha Daurensbourg would have sent his jet, but the Russian government refused entry. However, Alpha Daurensbourg obtained green cards for the whole household. It’s all arranged for as soon as you are able to travel,” Grigory added.

It took until November for Alexei to regain his health and put on enough weight to have the strength to make the change that would take away the scars from the constant whippings. He still had some internal bruising that would only go away with time. Alexei needed rest, food, and a place to recover. But, even many transformations couldn’t take away the psychological damage the gulag caused, the malaise of the soul. For that, Vasily thought his Alpha needed a miracle. As soon as Alexei could bring out his wolf, Vasily and Grigory had their Alpha and his party on a plane to America. It was right before Yule.

* * *

At Alpha Daurensbourg’s urging, Armand La Marche, the Chief Alpha of North America, gave Alpha Alexei Ivanovich Davidoff the territory of Colorado and a seat as Fifth on the Loup Garou Council of North America.

“You were Second in Russia, Fifth is an insult,” Vasily complained.

“No, it’s not. I’m grateful. I’m tired of tilting at Russian windmills. I need time to gather my strength and clear my mind. I have a place waiting for me at Garou as the officer in charge of Research and Development once I’ve fully regained my health.”

“You’re entitled to…” Grigory sputtered.

“I’m entitled to nothing. I was born in Russia. My mother was a citizen of the United States. She never filed for American citizenship for me when I was born. It was too long ago. I’d have to forge papers and with my accent, they would know I’m Russian which in the current climate, is not a good thing. I have a green card. I can become an American. For once, I’m going to be able to do the job I trained for. I have degrees in three kinds of sciences. Research and Development is where I belong.” Alexei sighed. “I don’t want anything else.”

“Your status…”

“If you are upset about the reduction in my status, go work for the new Russian Second.” Alexei’s face turned hard.

Vasily bowed his head in supplication baring his neck. “No, Alpha, we’re yours. Whatever you decide to do, we will go with you. I just wanted you to have options.”

“I’m taking an option. I’ll be Fifth and grateful for the consideration. I’ll leave the politics to Armand. Obviously, he’s better at it than we are. Although there has been some resentment, miraculously gay bashing is now a hate crime in the United States, against federal law, and gay marriage has become legal.”

Wow! Lots of intrigue broiling in those pages.

Interested? You can find ALEXEI’S MOUSE on Goodreads, MLR Press, and AllRomance.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link for your chance to win cipeis of the first FOUR books in the Werewolves of Manhattan series!
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
AC Katt was born in New York City’s Greenwich Village. She remembers sitting at the fountain in Washington Square Park listening to folk music while they passed the hat. At nine, her parents dragged her to New Jersey where she grew up, married and raised four children and became a voracious reader of romantic fiction. At one time she owned over two thousand novels, until she and her husband took themselves and the cat to New Mexico for their health and its great beauty.

Now, most of AC’s books are electronic (although she still keeps six bookcases of hardcovers), so she never has to give away another book. AC is a late bloomer, however, she claims to have found her niche writing LGBT romance.

She hangs out on line on her website, blog, Pinterest, Facebook and twitter. To get snippets of new releases and Works in Progress subscribe to AC Katt’s Kattery by sending an e-mail to mlhansel@gmail.com.

pride

Freefall Into Love on THE SPIRAL DOWN–Review and Giveaway!

spiral down book tourHi there! I’m sharing a review and giveaway for a new contemporary M/M romance from best-selling author Aly Martinez. THE SPIRAL DOWN is quite the clash of hearts between a bisexual pilot and the prima donna rocker that aims to convert him.

Catch the excerpt, my review and enter to win a $50 Amazon GC below!

the spiral down coverAbout the book:
I was afraid to fly.
He made me soar.

After years of climbing the ladder of success in the music industry, I finally had everything I could want.

Yet I still found myself wandering through life alone.
Captain Evan Roth was the one man I never saw coming.
Tall, dark, mysterious… Straight.

We were both damaged beyond repair and searching for something so elusive we weren’t sure it even existed.

But, when two broken souls collide in midair, falling is a given.
I just never expected to crave the spiral down.

Now for a tasty excerpt!

“How about you and one of your girls come out to my show in L.A. next week? My treat. Dinner, drinks, the whole deal. Evan and I would love to take you two beautiful ladies out for an evening.”

“Excuse me?” he exclaimed, cocking his head to catch my gaze.

I leaned back into my seat and lifted a hand to massage his shoulder. I was barely able to suppress a moan when the angle of his firm trap muscle met my palm.

Fuck, this guy was built like a brick wall. And I was going to love every second of watching him crumble for me.

“Oh, come on, Evan. It’s the least we can do. Double date.” I winked at Jessica. “You can fly them out! My plane should be ready by then.”

Jessica’s eyes jumped to Evan’s. “You’re a pilot?” Her smile spread irritatingly wide.

Back off, Ginger Spice.

Snapping my fingers in her direction, I corrected, “He’s my pilot.”

Subtlety was not a virtue I possessed. Was subtlety a virtue at all?

“Your temporary pilot,” he amended before shaking his head and then tipping his beer to his lips for a long pull.

“Anyway. Do we have a date?” And, by date, I meant feeding her dinner while I attempted to work my way into Evan’s pants.

She pressed one finger to her lips and then nervously flashed her eyes around the cabin.

“Oops. Sorry.” I shrugged sheepishly. Lifting my drink to my mouth, I discreetly passed her my cocktail napkin and then not-so-discreetly brushed my forearm against Evan’s chest as I pulled away.

He offered her a tight smile just before she disappeared.

I grinned proudly.

“What the fucking hell was that?” he whisper-yelled at me.

“That was me getting a woman’s number.”

He arched an eyebrow. “A woman. Really?”

“What? Is that not allowed?” I feigned innocence.

He clenched his fist in his lap, and it made me suddenly aware that my own hands had stopped trembling—and in record time, I should note. Evan seemed to be quite useful in the art of distraction.

He leaned closer. “Don’t bullshit me. I looked you up. You’re…” He stopped, unwilling to say the big, bad “G” word.

“I’m what?” I taunted.

He rolled his eyes and chugged the rest of his beer.

We went back to silence until Jessica came back by with another drink, complete with her phone number written on the napkin.

“I’m not going on a double date,” Evan said as I tucked the napkin into my pocket. “You want me to fly them out? Not a problem. Schedule it with Jackson. But that’s the extent of my professional responsibilities. And, since I’m off the clock right now, I’d also like to mention that I think whatever play you’re planning to run on that woman is fucked up.”

My head snapped to his. “I’m sorry. Play?” I asked with more attitude than I had originally planned.

“Yes. Play,” he sneered.

I stirred my drink. “Let me get this straight. I’m offering to fly her out in a private jet, feed her dinner at one of the best restaurants in the city, and put her front row at a concert that has been sold out for over a year. That doesn’t seem like a play to me. It sounds like I’m trying to do something nice for a woman I was rude to earlier.” I casually leaned back in my seat. “My conscience doesn’t ‘play’ when it comes to apologies.”

“Right. Well, maybe you should have a chat with your conscience, because she looks like she just won the date of a lifetime. Meanwhile, you don’t even like women.” He stalled, no doubt looking for just the right word to express his disgust without sounding like a bigot. Judging by his gentleness when we’d taken off, he wasn’t the type of guy to go for the fag bomb.

I watched him intently, excited to see how he was going to handle this.

“You’re gay.”

I frowned at his lack of creativity. “Not that it’s any of your damn business. But I’ll have you know I love women.”

It wasn’t a lie. I adored women. Especially Levee and Robin.

I just didn’t like pussy. Meh. Semantics.

He gaped. “You’re bi?”

“And I’ll repeat: None of your damn business. But yeah. Do you have a problem with that?”

Again, it wasn’t necessarily a lie.

Was I bisexual? Fuck no. My cock was in no way an equal opportunity employer.

I was somewhat bilingual though. I knew how to ask for a blow job in English and Spanish. I pretended that was what he meant.

Chupame la verga.

My Review:

I really enjoyed this contemporary M/M rock romance. Henry is an out-gay singer, newly rich and perpetually single. As an orphan that suffered through many a lacking foster home, Henry craves a partner that will be completely gone over him. His ideal mate is a straight man that he “converts” because this man will have (in Henry’s mind) no previous experience with male lovers and also be completely smitten, because…reasons. Did I mention Henry’s a little neurotic? Oh yeah, and a terrible flyer after a REALLY bad experience a few years back.

He owns his own plane, even if he only flies a few times annually. This allows him to completely lose his shit and not risk the public humiliation of being bumped off a commercial flight. Unfortunately, Henry’s flight to LA is grounded when his highly-vetted pilot experiences chest pains. The replacement pilot, Evan Roth, is stunning, young, and apparently straight. Henry has acquired his newest target…

Thing is, Evan’s not exactly straight. He’s pretty much the right guy for Henry, though. Henry’s chase is hampered by Evan’s refusal to repeat the mistakes of his youth, falling for a man who’ll surely let him down. That said, Evan gets on board with the sexytimes plan without TOO much delay.

That’s when things go sideways. Henry and Evan share a connection, one that builds over the course of a couple of months. Still, Henry’s childish attachment to being The Only Man Ever for his perfect mate is patently ridiculous and causes undue heartache. It’s good that he has peeps who are willing to call him out for his prejudice, and that Evan’s willing to forgive his mistakes. I really liked Evan bunches. Henry wasn’t my fave love interest, but I found space to forgive his nonsense, much the same as Evan did.

There’s some fun sexytimes, including a busted menage that blows the smoke out of Evan’s eyes. If only Henry could have been that forthright all the time.

interested? You can find THE SPIRAL DOWN on Goodreads, and Amazon (US and UK).

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link for your chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card!
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

aly martinezAbout the Author:

Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Aly Martinez is a stay-at-home mom to four crazy kids under the age of five, including a set of twins. Currently living in South Carolina, she passes what little free time she has reading anything and everything she can get her hands on, preferably with a glass of wine at her side.

After some encouragement from her friends, Aly decided to add “Author” to her ever-growing list of job titles. Five books later, she shows no signs of slowing. So grab a glass of Chardonnay, or a bottle if you’re hanging out with Aly, and join her aboard the crazy train she calls life.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Tsror

Rough Times in THE STORY OF LOVE–Excerpt and Giveaway!

BannerTemplate-20Hi there! I’d like to wish a very happy Book Birthday to a new contemporary M/M romance from A.E. Ryecart. THE STORY OF LOVE may be the second book in her Urban Love series, but it’s fully enjoyable as a stand alone.

Catch the snippet below and be sure to enter the giveaway for a copy of the book!

amazon-kdpAbout the book:
No strings. No names. No repeats. Archie Jones and Zack Lorrimer-Grant’s ground rules have always kept them safe – until now.
Getting down and dirty with anonymous hook-ups is a game Archie and Zack have always played. It keeps life fresh and exciting and everybody’s having fun. Aren’t they?

Archie isn’t. The hook-ups stopped being fun long ago. It’s a game he wishes he’d never started and he wants to stop playing. Now. Right now.

The men keep Zack’s fear at bay. Fear that without them, Archie will realize Zack alone will never be enough to make him truly happy.

Terry Franklin isn’t a hook-up. He’s far more dangerous, and Archie is determined to do whatever it takes to keep the man out of their bed and out of their life.

Where Archie sees a threat, Zack sees a kindred spirit. Terry is the lifeline Zack never knew he needed, but this lifeline could mean the death of him and Archie…

The Story of Love is the second in the Urban Love Contemporary Gay Romance series but can be read as a stand-alone. If you love your MM romance laced with angst and high emotion and your MCs complex, multi-faceted men facing up to and overcoming challenges against all the odds, A E Ryecart’s story of Archie and Zack will leave you breathless.

How about a little taste?

“Hey, sleepyhead, wake up.” Archie gave a soft tug on Zack’s hair.

Zack yawned and stretched and opened his eyes. He reached up and ran his forefinger over Archie’s lips. Archie caught it and sucked it into the warmth of his mouth.

“You can have something else of mine in your mouth, if you want,” Zack said.

Archie’s eyes narrowed, and he released Zack’s finger with a wet smack.

“In front of all these people watching a romantic sunset? Mr Lorrimer-Grant, you are nothing more than a dirty slut.”

“Which is why you love me and I love you.”

Silence wrapped around them shutting out the noise of the crowds and the traffic from the road behind. As Zack gazed up at Archie, the world stopped turning. Archie hadn’t responded, hadn’t said that he loved him back. The warm air felt dense and heavy, like a huge weight had settled on his chest as the words he needed to hear were left unsaid. His chest tightened and grew heavier. Zack tried to fill his lungs with the warm night air, but it was no good.

It sure seems like things are going to be tense!!

Interested? You can find THE STORY OF LOVE on Goodreads, and Amazon.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link for your chance to win an ebook of THE STORY OF LOVE!
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
A E Ryecart writes mm romance/gay fiction. Filled with angst, high drama and emotional tension, she writes the books she likes to read. An avid people watcher, most of her writing takes place in a local café amidst the background hum of hissing coffee machines, where she can check out the other customers for character and story inspiration!

A born and bred Londoner, she may have moved to someplace more leafy but the city is still very much part of her DNA, which is why her books are set in and around present-day London providing a thrilling, metropolitan backdrop to the main action.

You can find Ms. Ryecart on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
pride

Finding Love on the POWER PLAY–Review and Giveaway!

BannerTemplate-19Hi there! I’m so excited to share a review and giveaway for a new contemporary M/M sports romance from Avon Gale. As you know I adored her hockey playing hunks in SAVE OF THE GAME so I was ecstatic to get my hands on POWER PLAY. So, so good! I’m not even a hockey fan, and I treasure these stories!

Check out the excerpt below and enter to win the first TWO books in the series, too!

PowerPlayfsAbout the book:
A freak accident during the Stanley Cup Playoffs put an end to Max Ashford’s hockey career. Despite everything, Max gets back into the game he loves—only this time, behind the bench as an assistant coach of the Spartanburg Spitfires, the worst team in the entire league. But nothing prepares him for the shock when he learns the new head coach is Misha Samarin, the man who caused Max’s accident.

After spending guilt-ridden years for his part in Max’s accident, Russian native Misha Samarin has no idea what to do when he’s confronted with Max’s presence. Max’s optimism plays havoc with Misha’s equilibrium—as does the fierce attraction that springs up between them.

Not only must they navigate Misha’s remorse and a past he’s spent a lifetime to forget, but also a sleazy GM determined to use their history as a marketing hook. But when an unwelcome visitor targets the team, Misha revisits his darkest days, which might cost him and Max the beginning they’ve worked so hard to build.

How about a little taste?

“I’d never watched this, you know.”

“The YouTube video?” Misha had seen that too. It was filed with angry commenters yelling that he should be deported back to Russia.

“The hit.”

Misha blinked. “You’ve seen the commercial, though. Yes?”

“Yeah, I wish I could say I haven’t seen that. But I meant, I didn’t watch this until a few months ago. They played that game on the NHL channel, so I watched it.”

It never occurred to Misha that Max wouldn’t have seen it, but then he remembered that Max was the hero, not the villain of the story. Misha watched the hit play out on the screen. What must that feel like, to watch the moment it all ended? When Max hit the ice, did he know that game was his last? Did Misha know it was his? How had he felt? He couldn’t remember.

The scene switched to the replay. Misha watched dispassionately, retreated into the blinding pain of his migraine, and told himself that it was all right to suffer, that he should, that he deserved it.

Max paused the video. “Look. See what I have there?”

Misha blinked. He had not expected questions. “I—what?”

“The puck, Misha. The puck. Your hit wasn’t late.”

Oh. “Yes. I know.”

Max stared at him. On the television screen, their younger selves were suspended at the moment everything changed.

My Review:
This is the third book in a series and can be completely enjoyed as a standalone.

Max and Misha are new coaches on the Spartanburg Spitfires low-pro hockey team. They were competitors back in the NHL, and both of their careers ended at the same time, due to the same injury–a hit that Misha put on Max caused him to have a bum knee and decreased peripheral vision.

They returned as coaches, and their new boss is hoping that sparks will fly by reuniting them on the ice. Not so much, however. Max and Misha are consummate professionals. Misha’s the head coach, and Max is his assistant. They work well together, building a team of misfits into contenders through solid fundamentals. Misha’s known his whole life that he’s gay–it was one reason he fled from Russia as a teen. Max always considered himself hot, but he’s had some experience with men, and both of these guys find the other attractive.

They try to hold off their lust, for the team’s sake, but it’s too strong. Plus, working together really strengthens their mutual regard. They realize they work in complimentary fashion, and that’s to the teams benefit.

I really loved the development of the love story here. They are strangers in a strange land, so to speak, and their lust is a constant presence. I liked how Misha took the lead when necessary to build something with Max. And, I loved how Max accepted Misha’s terrible history with grace and recognized the strength it took for Misha to survive in terrible circumstances–this back in Russia. They have a great influence on their goalie and captain–the irreverent Isaac Drake of the blue hair and lip piercings…(expect him to find love int he next book in this series!!). It was so fun how the whole team knew about Max and Misha, and wanted them to stay together because Misha was a more gentle coach when he was getting regular loving! Ha!

I loved that there was a great team dynamic in the story, how they banded together against all odds. Even Jack Belsey, smarmy manipulative owner of the Spitfires was rendered likable, the bastard with the heart of gold, if you will.

Of this series I’ll say one thing:  More. I want more. I adore it all, and I honestly don’t give a fig about hockey! I’m so captivated by the struggle, and the stories, that the sport is low on my list of issues. I’ve learned more about hockey from reading these books than 40+ years living in Chicago and bearing witness to several Blackhawks Stanley Cup runs. That’s a testament to the writing, and creating a world that is accessible to all readers, not just those who love hockey. Highly recommend.

Interested? You can find POWER PLAY on Goodreads, Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks and AllRomance.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link for your chance to win the first two books in this series, BREAKAWAY and SAVE OF THE GAME.
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the author:
Avon Gale was once the mayor on Foursquare of Jazzercise and Lollicup, which should tell you all you need to know about her as a person. She likes road trips, rock concerts, drinking Kentucky bourbon and yelling at hockey. She’s a displaced southerner living in a liberal midwestern college town, and when she’s not writing you can find her at the salon, making her clients look and feel fabulous. She never gets tired of people and their stories — either real or the ones she makes up in her head.

You can find Avon on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest or sign up for her newsletter.

pride

This Family is TOO HOT TO HANDLE–Release Day Review

TOO HOT TO HANDLE - RWB bannerHi there! I’m so excited to share a release day review for a fantastic contemporary romance from Tessa Bailey. TOO HOT TO HANDLE is the first book in her new Romancing The Clarksons series, and it’s definitely an adventure, so far. Expect sexy!

TOO HOT TO HANDLE - coverAbout the book:
When rescue looks like a whole lot of trouble . . .
The road trip was definitely a bad idea. Having already flambéed her culinary career beyond recognition, Rita Clarkson is now stranded in God-Knows-Where, New Mexico, with a busted-ass car and her three temperamental siblings, who she hasn’t seen in years. When rescue shows up—six-feet-plus of hot, charming sex on a motorcycle—Rita’s pretty certain she’s gone from the frying pan right into the fire . . .

Jasper Ellis has a bad boy reputation in this town, and he loathes it. The moment he sees Rita, though, Jasper knows he’s about to be sorely tempted. There’s something real between them. Something raw. And Jasper has only a few days to show Rita that he isn’t just for tonight—he’s forever. 

How about a little taste?

The roof! The roof! The roof is…literally on fire.

Rita Clarkson stood across the street from Wayfare, the three-star Michelin restaurant her mother had made a culinary sensation, and watched it sizzle, pop, and whoosh into a smoking heap. Some well-meaning citizen had wrapped a blanket around her shoulders at some point, which struck her as odd. Who needed warming up this close to a structural fire? The egg-coated whisk still clutched in her right hand prevented her from pulling the blanket closer, but she couldn’t force herself to set aside the utensil. It was all that remained of Wayfare, four walls that had witnessed her professional triumphs.

Or failures, more like. There had been way more of those.

Tonight’s dinner-service plans had been ambitious. After a three-week absence from the restaurant, during which she’d participated in the reality television cooking show In the Heat of the Bite—and been booted off—Rita had been determined to swing for the fences her first night back. An attempt to overcompensate? Sure. When you’ve flamed out in spectacular fashion in front of a national TV audience over a fucking cheese soufflé, redemption is a must.

She could still see her own rapturous expression reflecting back from the stainless steel as she’d carefully lowered the oven door, hot television camera lights making her neck perspire, the boom mic dangling above. It was the kind of soufflé a chef dreamed about, or admired in the glossy pages of Bon Appétit magazine. Puffed up, tantalizing. Edible sex. With only three contestants left in the competition, she’d secured her place in the finals. Weeks of “fast-fire challenges” and bunking with neurotic chefs who slept with knives—all worth it, just to be the owner of this soufflé. A veritable feat of culinary strength.

And then her bastard fellow contestant had hip-bumped her oven, causing the center of her divine, worthy-of-Jesus’s-last-supper soufflé to sag into ruin.

What came next had gotten nine hundred forty-eight thousand views on YouTube. Last time she’d checked, at least.

My Review:

This is the first book in a series that follows the four Clarkson siblings as they make a pilgrimage from San Diego to NYC for the New Years’ Day Polar Bear Plunge in honor of their late mother–the renown chef Miriam Clarkson.

Rita, Peggy, Aaron and Belmont are estranged adult siblings who’ve never really clicked. Their mom knew this and left a journal with the directive that they all gather in Coney Island on New Years to jump in the Atlantic–as an homage to the miracle that kick-started her own life. There is little of the journal revealed, but we know that Rita has read bits–enough to share their mother’s wish on the night her sibs gather around to watch their mother’s (now Rita’s) restaurant Wayfare burn to the ground. Rita followed her mother’s giant footprints and worked side-by-side with her in the restaurant for years. Rita had been on service that night, the first time since she returned from an epic TV cooking contest flame-out, and she’s wrecked over the loss, but only partially. The rest of her is grateful for a new start, in ANYTHING but cooking.

Goth-girl Rita’s almost knocked over when her brothers and sister agree to join her on the road trip to New York–the long drive necessary because Rita doesn’t fly. She also doesn’t get along with her siblings.  Silent Belmont, survivor of a well mishap, Aaron, smooth and smarmy politician, or Peggy, ultimate cheerleader-personal-shopper and four times engaged but never married, are all a mystery to her. Mostly, Rita’s a loner, and she likes it that way. A lot. Well, mostly.

Their vehicle breaks down in Godforsaken, New Mexico (just kidding, it’s actually called Hurley) and a cowboy-slash-motorcycle-god drives up to offer assistance. Jasper Ellis is going on 2 years of forced celibacy, to restore his self-respect after years of manwhoring around. He’s been the talk of his tiny town too long and strives to build a better legacy than his bar, the irreverently named “Liquor Hole”–yes, that’s not an unfortunate pun. (Say it fast, and you get the idea…) He’s about to open an eatery, and he’s immediately attracted to Rita.

What should be a simple overnight stay in Hurley turns into several days as Jasper manipulates time and space to keep Rita nearby. She’s attracted, no doubt, but he’s not really willing to let her get a free ride and toddle off–no matter what his body wants. The dialogue, both internal and external, is absolutely inflammatory, folks. It’s a dirty talk fest that won’t quit. And I liked it bunches. I liked how Jasper was desperate for a woman to find value in him, as a person, and not just as a pleasure giver. Rita’s never felt attractive, and Jasper’s arousal validates her in ways she never expected–and frustrates her, too. She’s on this mission with her siblings, she can’t possibly stay in Hurley with a guy she’s just met. Right?

I really liked the way the relationships between the siblings expanded and grew in this pressure-cooker time of togetherness. There are some very sweet and tender moments, and some that are just trainwreck-gazing. How Belmont handles/mishandles his attraction for Peggy’s bestie, Sage. How Aaron and Rita antagonize, and then sympathize, with each other. How Peggy manipulates everyone with her emotional outbursts…

What’s growing between Rita and Jasper is intense, and HAWT. It’s an ode to dirty-filthy-fantastic sexytimes, and all that with no actual penetration for a good long teasing time. The sexual tension is off the grid, knocked completely from the playing field somewhere into the stratosphere. When it’s finally realized, the payoff is killer. Some of the hottest scenes I’ve read in a LONG time. Woo boy! But Jasper is bound to stay in Hurley, and Rita has plans to continue connecting with her siblings and start a new life in NYC. Their life trajectories are not on parallel courses…but they could be.

I liked the end–which is a total HEA–and I liked where the series is going. I’m so eager to read the next book.

interested? You can find TOO HOT TO HANDLE on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, and GooglePlay. I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Tessa Bailey - headshotAbout the Author:

Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans and laptop, driving cross-country to New York City in under four days.

Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.

She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband of eight years and four-year-old daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.

You can catch up to Tessa online on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

InkSlinger PR Blogger Banner - New

Outbreak! HOW TO WISH UPON A STAR–Review and Giveaway!

How to Wish Upon a Star Blog Tour Banner
Hi there! Today I’m so excited to share a review for the newest book in the Mad Creek universe from Eli Easton. HOW TO WISH UPON A STAR is the third M/M canine shifter romance in this series and I’m absolutely loving them. Check out my reviews for both HOW TO HOWL AT THE MOON and HOW TO WALK LIKE A MAN because these are books to not miss…

Also, don’t miss the excerpt or the fab giveaway below! A $25 gift card and paperback books up for grabs (2 winners!)

How to Wish Upon a Star (Howl at the Moon #3)About the book:
Dr. Jason Kunik is working on the most earth-shattering genetics project ever, DNA mapping of a new species, the quickened—dogs who can shift into human form. The problem is, no one knows the quickened exist and Jason can’t betray them by publishing his studies. When he moves to Mad Creek to continue his research in a town full of quickened, all he wants is peace, quiet, and to be allowed to bury himself in his work. Perhaps if he figures how out the mutation is activated, he can silence his own inner dog forever.

Milo is a hospice comfort dog who has bonded with, and lost, many beloved patients in his life. He intuitively understands sickness and pain on a spiritual level most can’t see. When he gains the ability to become a man, he thinks he finally has everything he ever wanted. But being a man isn’t the same thing as being loved, and taking shelter in Mad Creek isn’t the same thing as finding a home.

When a mysterious illness hits Mad Creek and threatens all the quickened in town, it’s up to the scientist and the comfort dog to figure out what it is and how to stop it. Along the way they might discover that true love is possible—if you wish upon a star.

How about a delicious nibble…

Milo put a hand over the keyboard as if to break Jason’s never-ending focus. “Why ask so many questions, Jason? What is the work to do?”

“Do you mean, what is my work for? What am I trying to accomplish?” Jason corrected.

“Yes.”

Jason tried to at least hit CTRL-S to save his progress in Excel, but Milo threaded his hand through Jason’s. By now, Jason was so used to Milo’s touch, he didn’t think twice about it. He held Milo’s hand. Milo’s body temperature ran warm and touching him was like touching a man-shaped heater.

“Well, Milo, I’m glad you asked me that. It’s good for a man to be curious about what’s going on around him. And I’d like it if you took an interest in my work.”

Milo gave him a look of disbelief. “Jason, I answer every question.”

It was remarkable how adept Milo was at throwing shade, seemingly unconsciously. Jason couldn’t hold back a smile. “Yes. You’ve already shown an interest in my work. Quite right. Well, to answer your question, the point of all this is that I’m trying to determine how an ordinary dog, like you were, Milo, gains the ability to change into a man. What triggers that process.”

“Oh, that. I know that,” said Milo, very matter-of-factly.

Jason chuckled. “Well that would be nice, Milo. But I don’t think you really do know. Not the way I mean.”

“How do you mean?” Milo squeezed Jason’s hand as his feet started to kick under the table restlessly.

“I mean the actual scientific process, what happens inside the body.” Jason waved his free hand up and down to indicate Milo’s physique. “Inside the cells.”

Milo looked befuddled, as well he might. “Oh. I don’t know that. But I do know why it happens.”

Jason was curious. “Why do you think it happens, Milo?”

Milo got a bashful look on his face and he leaned in to whisper, as if it were a great secret. “You make a wish on a star.”

Jason turned his face away and pretended to look out the window. Laughter bubbled inside him, and he had to swallow hard to keep it down. Milo was so serious. It was adorable. If you were the sort of person who found things adorable. Which Jason wasn’t. It really wouldn’t do to laugh in Milo’s face.

Milo continued, pointing towards the window. “You go outside at night and pick a good star. You look at it and make a wish. That’s how I became a man.”

Obviously, Milo was not educated enough to understand the difference between fantasy and reality, or cause and effect. Maybe he had made a wish and assumed it had come true. Still, it was odd. No dog, no matter how smart or sensitive, would think to look up in the night sky and ‘make a wish’. Did dogs even know what wishes were?

“This is important, Milo,” Jason said carefully. “You’re sure you looked up at a star, and made a wish, before you ever shifted into a man’s form, or before you even had any symptoms of it? The itching under the skin? The noticeable change in the ability to think or understand speech?”

Milo thought about it. “I could understand what people said sometimes. But I was just a dog.”

Jason hummed. “Who suggested such a thing? Did you hear one of the nurses talking about it? One of the patients?”

Milo’s lips somehow turned up and down at the same time, resulting in a sad little smile. “An angel told me to.”

“What?”

“When she came for Parker. I was so, so, so sad.” His lower lip trembled and he blinked rapidly. He looked down and picked at a thread on his jeans. “She told me: ‘Oh little pup, don’t cry. Make a wish upon a star, and if you want something badly enough, it will happen.’ It came into my head what she meant. How to do it. So the next night, when Sally took me for a walk, I made a wish upon a star.”

Wow. That was…. Jason rubbed his forehead with his fingers. Sad. But also more than a little ridiculous. Where did he even start? “Milo… there are no such things as angels.”

Milo looked at Jason with his thousand yard stare. “But I saw them.”

“You saw them.”

“At the hospice. They come when people die.”

Jason felt a flash of annoyance. Probably some nurse at the hospice had talked about angels and heaven and all that rubbish, and Milo had bought it hook, line, and sinker. Of course he had. He was a dog. He would believe anything human’s said. “You, personally, saw angels? I suppose you can describe what they look like?”

Milo wrinkled his nose. His eyes looked past Jason as he tried to remember. “You don’t see them here.” He pointed to his eyes. “You see them here.” He tapped his belly.

“You saw angels with your stomach,” Jason said flatly.

Milo tilted his head and bit his lip. He looked at Jason from under his lashes, guiltily, as though he could tell he’d said something wrong, but he didn’t know what.

“I want some cheese,” Milo said. He stood up and wandered off towards the kitchen.

My Review:
I think I fall more in love with this series with every book I pick up. It’s not *required* to read the previous two books to understand this one, but I’d recommend them.

This series revolves around a secret colony of canine shifters–collies, German shepherds, bulldogs, the gamut–who either became “quickened” (able to turn human) after bonding with a special human, or were born “quick” to quickened parents. This colony exists in Mad Creek, California, a tiny mountain town which is fiercely guarded by Sheriff Lance Beaufort, a collie shifter.

Jason Kunik is a quickened Malamute geneticist working for a pharma company in Vegas when he got a bad vibe from one of his superiors and learned his personal research (sequencing his own DNA to find clues about quickening) was under direct scrutiny. He fled to Mad Creek, the only home he’d really known, even if he hadn’t been back since high school graduation. Anxious to do something worthy of his knowledge and skill, Jason begins interviewing newly quickened humans, to learn if there is a specific pattern to gaining the Spark…and it goes disastrously. Jason isn’t a people-person, and he’s not a dog person, either. He scares away any of his subjects by being brash and obtuse. *sigh* (Not all scientists act this way!!)

Milo was a shelter rescue adopted by the staff at a Fresno hospice, and he’s miserable. All the humans he bonds with are dying. Lily Beaufort discovers him while visiting a friend, and dog-naps him back to Mad Creek. Milo’s so skittish and in serious emotional pain, only wanting a real home where he’s actually wanted. Jason takes pity on him and brings him back to his big cabin, for a few reasons–he finds Milo attractive, he feels a kinship to him as they are both rather misfits, and Jason expects that he’ll be able to study Milo’s growth into humanity at close range if they live together.

They have an unexpected tenderness to their developing friendship. As a care dog, Milo can sense the pain and suffering in others, and even illnesses! He’d been around so many dying people, he developed in a very different way from the “regular” quickened, and that makes him so unique and precious as a subject–but Jason soon finds that he’s getting swept away by Milo’s tender nature and compassion.

This book has a major outside threat: illness. A former Mad Creek resident returns–in his dog form–and he’s too sick to shift back to human. Quickened first responders are now becoming ill, and that includes major characters…the backbone of Mad Creek, in essence. Jason, Milo, Tim and Matt (from previous books) are put on the trail to an Arizona shelter where Patient Zero likely had contact with normal, but sick, dogs. I liked how this played out, with Milo and Jason coming to terms with each other, and balancing each other’s strengths. Milo seems to love Jason, and Jason’s totally afraid to lose his heart to Milo, even if he already has. I really wish we had a little more time in Milo’s brain, so we could see how his compassion was only one facet of his affection and growing love for Jason.

I’m not a virologist, but I appreciated the actual discussion of the disease, and Jason’s attempts to get control of it. He’s not a virologist, but as a scientist he has learned the most important lesson out there: admit what you don’t know. He seeks help, as surreptitiously as possible, so he won’t reveal the colony, but in a way that will gain him the knowledge and expertise necessary to solve the crisis.

This book will certainly lead to another, as there is a bit of a cliffhanger regarding Jason and his expertise, but the love story is sweetly completed with Jason and Milo becoming a stronger pair than the two were separately. I really would have liked a little bit more loving in this book–it was nearly 75% before we got ANY real sexytimes, and that was almost too long for me. That said, Milo is the sweetest Labradoodle on the planet, and I’m glad that Jason remembered no human–or canis sapiens–is an island unto oneself.

Also of note, I’m keeping a constant observation of my gentle Lab-Pit mix to see if she’s got any hint of a Spark happening. *sadly none as yet*

Interested? You can find HOW TO WISH UPON A STAR on Goodreads and Amazon.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link to win one of TWO prizes! $25 Amazon GC (open internationally) or signed paperback copies of “How to Walk Like a Man” and “How to Howl at the Moon” (US & Canada only).
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

Eli EastonAbout the Author:
Having been, at various times and under different names, a minister’s daughter, a computer programmer, the author of paranormal mysteries, a game designer, an organic farmer, an avid hiker, and a profound sleeper, Eli is happily embarking on yet another incarnation as a m/m romance author.

As an addicted reader of such, she is tinkled pink when an author manages to combine literary merit, vast stores of humor, melting hotness and eye-dabbing sweetness into one story. She promises to strive to achieve most of that most of the time. She currently lives on a farm in Pennsylvania with her husband, three bulldogs, three cows and six chickens. All of them (except for the husband) are female, hence explaining the naked men that have taken up residence in her latest fiction writing.

Catch up with Eli on her website, Facebook, and twitter.
1e96c-enchantress2bdesign2b25262bpromo2btour2bbanner

Getting it Good–FALLING UNDER YOU-Excerpt and Review!

FALLING UNDER YOU - Tour bannerHi there! I’m so excited to share a review for a a new novella from Laurelin Paige. FALLING UNDER YOU is a spin-off from the Fixed series, featuring CFO Norma Anders finding love where she least expects it…in her own office. As you know I really enjoyed FIXED ON YOU and HUDSON, so I jumped at the chance to get this one.

Falling Under You (Fixed, #4.5)

About the book:

Norma Anders has always prided herself on her intelligence and determination. She climbed out of poverty, put herself through school and is now a chief financial advisor at Pierce Industries. She’s certainly a woman who won’t be topped. Not in business anyway. 

But she’s pretty sure she’d like to be topped in the bedroom.

Unfortunately most men see independence and ambition in a woman and they run. Even her dominant boss, Hudson Pierce has turned down her advances, leaving her to fear that she will never find the lover she’s longing for.

Then the most unlikely candidate steps up. Boyd, her much-too-young and oh-so-hot assistant surprises her one night with bold suggestions and an authoritative demeanor he’s never shown her in the office. 

It’s a bad idea…such a deliciously bad idea…but when Boyd takes the reins and leads her to sensual bliss she’s never known, the headstrong Norma can’t help but fall under his command.

How about a little taste?

I groaned and threw the covers off of me, heading for the shower. Usually I ran first, and I still planned to, but I needed something to cool the fire in my veins. Hopefully standing under an ice cold stream of water would do the trick.

It didn’t.

I tried running next, opting for ten miles instead of my normal six, thinking maybe I could sweat out the lust like it was a cold. Or was that a fever? Whatever, I came back tired, achy and soaked in perspiration, and the buzz between my legs was stronger than ever.

I was distracted by it through the rest of the morning. Gwen and I caught up on America’s Got Talent before she planned to go to bed for the day—her job at a nightclub kept her on a strange schedule. Afterward, I couldn’t remember a single thing I’d watched, but I could recall with clarity every moment I’d spent with Boyd the night before. That wasn’t a subject I planned on discussing with Gwen, though. So most of my responses to her were nods and grunts. Then she’d gone to sleep, thankfully, except after that I was left alone with the agony of my desire.

The rest of the night was more of the same, and Sunday as well. By Monday morning, I’d run over twenty miles, cleaned my entire house, taken five showers, and not thought about Boyd Barrett about a thousand times. Maybe even two thousand times. And now I had to go to work and face him.

Help me God.

I decided to go in early. That way I could sneak into my office without having to pass him on the way in. It wasn’t until I was in the elevator on my way to my floor that I remembered I also didn’t want to see Hudson. Several years with a clean, respectable work record, and in one evening I’d shattered my reputation with not one, but two, colleagues. The two colleagues who were the most important to me, no less.

Jesus, maybe I did need to quit.

It wasn’t yet seven, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Hudson were already working. Often, he slept in the loft above his office, which made an early appearance more probable than one from Boyd. Anxiety rose in my chest, an odd feeling for me since I was usually composed and calm. As soon as the doors opened, I ducked my head and scurried down the hallway, letting out a sigh of relief when I made it past Hudson’s office without seeing him.

And then gasping sharply when I ran into him, instead, outside my own office.

“Norma, I was hoping you’d be here early. I wondered if I could have a few minutes of your time.”

My Review:

Norma is a Take Charge professional woman who struggles to find a man that can satisfy. She longs for a man who isn’t intimidated by her brusque personality and workaholic lifestyle. For Norma, the man must be more “alpha” than she is, able to take charge in a way that allows her to relax her iron control. She *thinks* her boss, Hudson Pierce, might be the right man, but he rebuffs her without a second thought.

She never expected her personal assistant, Boyd, would be the stand-up man she craves, but he’s got a dominant side he’s kept hidden, alongside his smoldering attraction for her. Norma’s put off–at first. Boyd’s eight years younger, and her assistant–besides not wanting to lose his professional skills, there’s a work-place regulation prohibiting dating between status classes. Still, Boyd turns her on, and turns her inside out.

I liked this one, a lot. Boyd’s a fantastic character, and he’s so good for Norma. I think I just wanted more. More of their loving sides, more of their relationship building…just more. Their story is so wonderful, I want more than a novella! *shrugs*

Interested? You can find FALLING UNDER YOU on Goodreads and Amazon.

About the Author:

USA Today and New York Times Bestselling Author Laurelin Paige is a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however. When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead, or dreaming of Adam Levine. She’s also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn’t do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio. She is represented by Rebecca Friedman.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | FALLING UNDER YOU on Goodreads

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

InkSlinger PR Blogger Banner - New