Release Blitz + Giveaway: Hearts & Health Volume 1 by D.J. Jamison

Celebrate the release of Hearts & Health Volume 1 with author D.J. Jamison and Signal Boost Promotions! Learn more about the medical profession romance today and enter in the giveaway! You could win a $10 Amazon gift card!

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Blurb

Three full-length novels in a m/m romance series have been boxed up for one price! Sexy nurses with trust issues, overconfident doctors coping with reality checks, and hard-working students come together to find their hearts and health in small-town Kansas.


Heart Trouble (Book #1)


Fresh off his latest heartbreak, nurse Ben Griggs is wary when one of his patients shows an interest in him — especially when that patient showed up in the ER after a motorcycle accident. Ben isn’t the kind of guy who can hold the interest of an adrenaline junkie like Gage Evans for long. If he can’t find a way to trust Gage with his heart, they may be destined to have a fling that goes nowhere.


Bedside Manner (Book #2)


Dr. Paul Johnston can’t get a set of dark, somber eyes out of his head, and the timing couldn’t be worse. Zane Kavanaugh came through the ER, a victim of a hate-fueled assault, and Paul can’t forget him. But under review after a complaint, he also can’t afford to fall for a patient. Paul is afraid to start a relationship, and Zane can only handle so much more rejection. Paul may have to make a choice: His career or the first man to capture his heart.


Urgent Care (Book #3)


Dr. Trent Cavendish made a huge mistake when he walked away from the love of his life at age 18. When his best friend suddenly dies 12 years later, it rattles Trent into seeing how empty his life has become. He returns to his hometown, hoping to make amends to the man he left behind. Instead of the sweet but tame guy he remembers, Trent runs into a smoking-hot Xavier James dressed in bits of lace and silk at a gay nightclub. His plan to earn Xavier’s forgiveness immediately shifts to lust, and love’s not far behind.


Each of these books was previously published individually as part of the Hearts and Health series.

Excerpt from Book 1, Heart Trouble


The man had done a real number on himself. Angry scrapes covered his leg, and he was going to need sutures in two places. But everything looked clean and disinfected, so he reattached the bandage and slid the sheet up.


A smile tugged at his lips when, in the process, he glimpsed tight orange briefs under Gage’s hospital gown. Interesting underwear choice. This guy has a bit of flair.


“Is the leg your only damage?”


Gage chuckled, and Ben’s eyes shot up to his face. His lips smirked as he replied. “That’s debatable. What kind of damage are we talking: mental, emotional or physical?”


Ben laughed. “I only deal with the physical, honey.”


Gage’s smile widened, and Ben realized how that sounded. He hurried to get the conversation back on track. Flirting with patients was not ordinarily something he did, and he especially didn’t need to flirt with a biker. Despite what he’d said to Tripp, he was in no hurry to be another guy’s fuck buddy until he got bored.


“What I meant was, that jacket is looking abused. Do you have any other injuries?”


Even as he asked, Ben grabbed the chart to skim over the details once more. Not that he didn’t trust the patient, but he wanted to be sure he knew what had been detailed thus far.


“Jacket saved me,” Gage mumbled. “I might have a few bruises.”


Ben tsked. In addition to sutures, Gage was going to need a round of examinations to ensure there were no breaks or internal injuries to his body.


“Want me to take it off?”


Ben startled, glancing up. “What?”


“The jacket?” Gage said. “Do you need to see the rest of me?”


Ben bit down on his lip hard as images spilled through his mind. Even in a hospital gown covered by a leather jacket, Gage was a good looking man. His chest was firm and his shoulders broad. It was tempting to agree, just to look a little, after the dry spell Ben had experienced since Tripp dumped him.


That would be playing with fire, and he knew it.


Ben shook his head and replaced the chart.


“The doctor will make a more complete examination,” he said. “Let me go hunt down Dr. Johnston. I’ll scold him until he makes you his top priority.”


Ben smiled his polite nurse smile and turned for the door. He needed to get out of that room before he drooled all over his patient.

Author Bio

DJ Jamison worked in newsrooms for more than 10 years, which helped tremendously when she began her series centered on The Ashe Sentinel, a fictional small-town newspaper in Kansas. She lives in the Midwest with her husband, two sons and three glow-in-the-dark fish.


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Review: Hard Line (The Woodbury Boys, #2) by Sidney Bell

Premed student Tobias Benton is making amends for his past. He keeps his head down, mouth shut and colors within the lines. But when his close friend Ghost goes missing, Tobias will do whatever it takes to get answers—including using blackmail to enlist some help. The last thing he’s looking for is romance.

Private investigator Sullivan Tate isn’t above a little breaking and entering to solve a case, but when Tobias catches him in the act, it’s almost game over. Their uneasy alliance only gets more complicated when Sullivan learns that Tobias shares his interest in kink. Mixing sex and work could kill Sullivan’s career, but Tobias’s acceptance of Sullivan’s darkest urges is nearly impossible to resist.
Side by side, Tobias and Sullivan spend their days searching for the truth and their nights fulfilling their respective fantasies. But the answers they seek are far more dangerous than they realize, and soon they find themselves fighting for more than just each other.

I'm going to try not to gush. Let's see how that goes. But when you find an author whose words speak to you... the struggle is real. You should see how many highlights I made in this thing. I think the highlighting feature gave me the bird at one point. Sassy kindle.

I jumped on the Sidney Bell bandwagon when I saw everyone adding Loose Cannon. I was on NetGalley, it was on NetGalley so why not? That was the best decision I've made in awhile because she turned out to be my breakout author of 2017. Hard Line has now bumped her into auto-buy territory and I will buy this once it comes out so I can see the cover and read it in a non-wonky PDF conversion form.

Enough of that, let's get down to (hopefully) some non-spoilery bidness.

Hard Line is Tobias' book and in the beginning I figured this would be the placeholder to get to Ghost's book. Wrong. Tobias surprised me. I didn't think he had it in him and I'm delighted to have been wrong. If you've read Loose Cannon you probably have a decent grasp of who Tobias is, Tobias is the good one. Earnest, kind, polite. He's come to a crossroads in his life so expect some angst as this is his journey of self-discovery but who he fundamentally is doesn't change. He does become a better, more confident version of himself and that is due in part to his relationship with Sullivan.

Things between them progress naturally but quickly so fans of the slow burn may have trouble with this one. I like a slow burn as much as the next but when you stir kink into the mix it doesn't work as well for me, especially when the sub is a newb like Tobias, so if you're kink averse, this is probably going to be a miss for you.

The kink is mostly D/s but Tobias does like pain. Bless him. Edging, a little humiliation, some bondage, spanking/paddling, begging, dirty talk and no high-protocol stuff. Praise be! It's also very focused on the headspace of both Tobias and Sullivan which is another thing I tend to gravitate towards in my kinky reads. There is a fine line between kink being used as cure-all for mental illness and needing to get out of a certain headspace. Bell deftly straddled that line. These characters have enough "stuff" to make them interesting and require some conversations, because trust is paramount to do what they do which should appeal to hurt/comfort fans, though this is on the lighter side. Their kinks are how they connect but that connection soon morphs into something more.

"...he felt helpless here, overwhelmed and stupid and shocked, and all he could do was keep kissing Tobias, keep kissing him as if they would never stop, not until the sun expanded and the world went up in flames. It still might not be enough"

Sidney Bell is a wordy author but here's the thing, all those words have meaning. They either drive the plot forward, flesh out characters or establish a connection between protagonists, so they're not misspent or superfluous to my mind. Here she uses them to bring both Tobias and Sullivan to vivid life. I know them and understand them through their inner dialogues, their adorable banter and their edifying conversations. These two communicate. They use their words and do very little assuming, so none of that push/pull thing that can drive some readers to DNF.

Hard Line is character driven with the focus being on these two but there is a subplot that carries over from Loose Cannon that is Ghost heavy. Fans of Ghost will not be disappointed! He plays a fairly large role in Part 2 which has ramped up my excite to impossible levels for his book. With Sullivan being a PI, Tobias hires him to find Ghost then decides he's going to help. Nothing like an experienced and emotionally invested "helper" when there are dangerous, mobbed up whackadoodles involved. Some may find the daily grind of PI-ing boring but that brought a certain authenticity to the narrative, in my opinion.

The epilogue was sublime and if these two aren't more happy than not for all the days to come, there's something bad wrong with the world.

I would not recommend Hard Line be read as a stand alone but I would recommend this series to all the peoples!

Sorry. I think I failed on that non-gushing thing. Oops.

An ARC was provided by NetGalley.

Audio Release Blitz + Giveaway: September (Pride and Joy #1) by Robert Winter

Celebrate the release of audiobook, September (Pride and Joy #1) with author Robert Winter and IndiGo Marketing! The Kale Williams narrated romance is out and you can listen to an excerpt below! Plus, TWO lucky winners have a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card! Good luck!

Title:  September

Format: Audiobook

Series: Pride and Joy, book 1

Narrator: Kale Williams

Author: Robert Winter

Publisher:  Robert Winter Books

Release Date: February 7th,  2018

Heat Level: 4 - Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 10 Hours 01 Minutes

Genre: Romance, May December, hurt comfort, second chance

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Synopsis

A May-December contemporary gay romance for lovers of second chances

David James is smart, successful, handsome… and alone. After the death of his lover, Kyle, from cancer, he buried himself in his law practice and the gym. At forty-eight, he is haunted by his memories and walled off from the world. When David injures himself working out, he’s assigned to Brandon Smith for physical therapy. The vibrant young therapist is attracted to David and realizes he needs a hand to get back into dating. What begins as a practice coffee date escalates to friendship, passion, and maybe something more, as they navigate a new relationship in Washington, DC, and the gay mecca of Provincetown.

But David remains trapped behind the barrier of fear and guilt. Will he remain loyal to Kyle’s memory if he moves on? Can he and Brandon manage a twenty-two-year age gap? Brandon thinks he understands David’s concerns, and for him, the answer to those questions is yes. He wants to be with David, and he believes he can overcome David’s barriers. But Brandon fails to account for the world’s reaction to a handsome young man attached to an older, wealthy lover.

David’s memories, Brandon’s pride, and an unexpected tragedy might cost them something very special…

Listen to an Audio Excerpt

http://geni.us/SeptemberACX

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Robert Winter Books | Audible | Amazon | Itunes

Meet the Author

Robert Winter lives and writes in Provincetown. He is a recovering lawyer who prefers writing about hot men in love much more than drafting a legal brief. He left behind the (allegedly) glamorous world of an international law firm to sit in his home office and dream up ways to torment his characters until they realize they are perfect for each other. When he isn’t writing, Robert likes to cook Indian food and explore new restaurants.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | eMail | Instagram

Meet the Narrator

Kale Williams lends his voice to bring to life romance books of all stripes. Known for his distinct characterizations and natural intimate storytelling, he is as comfortable with the cowboys on the prairie as he is with the cops of the big city, from the slow burn to the hot steam to the HEA. Love is love is love.

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Review: Once Upon A Wolf (Wayward Wolves #1) by Rhys Ford

Once Upon A Time, There Was A Wolf….

Gibson Keller’s days are fairly routine: wake up early, get some work done, drink lots of coffee, and take care of Ellis, his older brother stuck in wolf form after coming home from the war. It’s a simple life made up of long runs on two legs—or four—and quiet evenings…. Until Ellis chases a handsome man off a cliff and into the frozen waters beside their cabin, changing Gibson’s life forever.

For Zach Thomas, buying an old B&B is a new start. Leaving behind his city life, he longs to find peace and quiet, and hiking the trails behind his property seems safe enough—right up to the moment an enormous black wolf chases him into a lake, nearly drowning him. Discovering werewolves are real astounds him, but not as much as the man who rescues him from the icy water then walks into Zach’s heart as if he owns it.

Loving a werewolf—loving Gibson with all his secrets—has its challenges but Zach believes their love is worth fighting for, especially since his heart knows the big bad wolf is really a prince in disguise.

I LOVE Ellis. I love his wolfish shenanigans, the mystery of his story, and how far he came throughout... the problem is that it isn’t Ellis’ story. I think?

Gibson is a wolf shifter that lives with his brother (Ellis) in a mountain cabin. One day Ellis decides to play a game of chase with an unsuspecting stranger… except the stranger is terrified and slips down the mountain. Luckily, Gibson is able to rush to the aid of the badly injured Zach.

Zach is the new neighbor that purchased a bed & breakfast and he connects with Gibson *super* fast. Well, maybe not a connection but they are attracted to each other right away… even badly injured, Zach is wanting to mount Gibson (which I would totally believe if this was a mates type shifter book). It just seems a foregone conclusion that because they are the only two men within miles, they would end up together. I get it, last man on Earth and all- but it didn’t seem authentic IMO. Unfortunately there isn’t much else to the Zach and Gibson show. The romance/connection between Gibson and Zach was put on the back burner as all focus went to Ellis. Because of this, the relationship felt forced.

As the synopsis mentioned, Ellis is stuck in his wolf form to cope with the nightmares that never leave. This book provides in-depth coverage of Ellis’ status, the growth he makes, the danger he gets in, and the care he receives from Zach and Gibson. Ellis and Zach form a special bond that I believed and a connection I felt. It's a damn shame it wasn't their story.

One of the things I adore about shifter stories is the possessiveness. I love the growly mine and the unapologetic need to be near the other and the ultimate desire to claim them. With this book, any time Gibson showed a hint of possessiveness, he went apologetic. *sad face* There wasn’t much heat on page and I was glad for it. Without the connection between the MCs, more sex would have just felt out of place to me.

I can’t recommend this book for the MCs but I was a fan of Ellis and if he's getting a story, then reading this would be necessary. I’ll continue on this series *only* if Ellis gets his official story.

Don't miss the Once Upon a Wolf blog tour HERE - Ends 2/21/18 12AM EST!

Blog Tour: Just for Nice (States of Love) by H.M. Shepherd

H.M. Shepherd is here today to talk about one of her characters from her debut novella, Just for Nice.

In my other blog tour posts I've spoken a lot about setting and why the subject of Dreamspinner's States of Love collection resonated with me. However, I'd like to use this last scheduled post to talk about something else deeply important to me, and that's bisexuality.

Even I have occasionally managed to fall into the trap of referring to Just For Nice as a gay romance when in fact only one of the protagonists is gay. The other, Nick, is bisexual, and the story begins fairly shortly after the end of his long-term relationship with a woman. He never wavers in this identifier, and even references the fact that the guy he likes is probably disgusted by this fact after outing himself. Sam, for his part, is a twenty-five year old virgin who is so grateful to meet someone who openly finds him attractive that it doesn't even occur to him that it could be.

I've thought about what this would mean outside of the confines of the story -- would it be something that would come up later, or could he eventually hold the fact that Nick has had many, many more sexual partners against him? -- and I honestly don't think it's in him to react that way. The way he burst from my head fully formed à la Athena, Sam is so practical and present-focused that anything that occurred before his entrance into Nick's life and anything that should happen should their relationship ends is inconsequential to him; all that matters is that they love each other right now.

This isn't the case for most. When it comes to dating, I usually hide the fact that I'm bisexual around men because I'm tired of being fetishized, and while I'm more open with women I'm always terrified that I'm being perceived as a straight woman looking to play around. Men, I imagine, have a much harder time. I want to avoid playing the Suffering Olympics (guess what I'm watching right now), but anecdotally speaking I've repeatedly heard straight woman talk about how they're absolutely repulsed by bisexual men. Not that I'm grateful that a straight guy's brain automatically jumps to "Threesome?" when he meets a bisexual woman, but at least I don't often have to see his lip curl into a sneer while he talks about how gross I am.

This is definitely a topic I'd like to tackle in another story, maybe in something longer and a little more serious. For now, though, please enjoy a (relatively) angst-free same-sex romance.

Excerpt:

“I didn’t realize you were so young. I kind of feel bad for staring at your ass so often.”

Sam choked on his beer. “You what?”

“Sorry.” Nick took the wine bottle, which was already half-empty, and poured himself another too-full glass. “Don’t pay any attention to me. What is this, anyway?” he asked, squinting at the label on the bottle. “It’s good.”

“Apfelwein.”

Sam heard Nick mutter something about “more German shit.” He swallowed deeply and forced himself to return to the topic at hand. “I thought… you were just talking about your fiancée. I thought—”

“I’m both. Or I like both. I’m bi. Whatever you want to call it. Sorry if it grosses you out.”

“It doesn’t! I mean, I’m….”

“Gay? I figured.” When Sam’s jaw fell open, Nick began to laugh. “No, you’re not, like, you know, sequined-thong-at-a-Pride-parade gay. But in my experience, straight guys don’t tend to panic when people see them touching other men.”

“I don’t—!” But he had, he realized, up to and including multiple times earlier that day.

“So if I do this—” Nick delicately ran his fingers along Sam’s jaw and drew their faces so close that Sam could feel his breath ghosting across his cheek. “—you aren’t going to be watching the road to see if anyone’s driving by?”

Sam wanted to say no but wasn’t entirely sure if he meant, no, he wasn’t keeping at least one nervous eye out for witnesses (he was), or no, he didn’t want to do this (he did). But there was no use in lying. Without another word he ran one of his hands through Nick’s thick, black curls and closed the remaining distance between them.

It was soft at first, just a brush of their lips, and then Nick pulled away, leaving Sam both relieved and profoundly disappointed. But Nick only took another drink of wine directly from the bottle and resumed with greater ferocity. Sam could taste the tart green apple of the wine, a flavor he’d never liked before. But it tasted so good on Nick’s tongue that he found himself wanting more. With a gasp he finally pulled away, his chest heaving as he struggled to get his breath back.

Blurb: 

Nick Caratelli flees the city in an attempt to escape a broken relationship and a career he never wanted. He plans to set up a bed-and-breakfast in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country—despite the fact he has no experience in renovating the old building. Luckily his handsome neighbor Sam approaches him with a curious proposal: he’ll help with the restoration in exchange for Nick babysitting his niece.

As they work to have the bed-and-breakfast open for business by summer’s end, their lives become interwoven without them even trying. Before he knows it, Nick is recovering from his loss and taking his place in the unconventional family that seems determined to form. But for Nick and Sam to be together in all the ways they desire, they’ll have to realize all the arguments against romance exist only in their heads….

Buy Links:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

Author Bio: 

H. M. Shepherd is a twentysomething paralegal living in Berks County, Pennsylvania, with both parents, two dogs, a baby sister who should stop growing up, and a brother who similarly failed to launch. Contrary to the Millennial stereotype, however, she does not live in the basement—a blessing considering the size of the spiders down there. She crochets as a hobby, cooks when she can, and reads as though it were her vocation. She is also an amateur genealogist and spends entirely too much time squinting at old census records and church documents. A little spacey, she once managed to forget that her car needed an oil change until it stopped running, and regularly has milk-in-the-cupboard-cereal-in-the-fridge moments. While she is an avid writer, Just for Nice is her first and so far only professional publication.

Social Media Links:

Tumblr: http://hmshepherd-blog.tumblr.com 

Tag Team Review: Love Happens Anyway by R.J. Scott

Hiring a boyfriend for Christmas; what can go wrong?

Derek is facing yet another Christmas where his life feels out of control. He has a new career that doesn’t feel like his, and parents who would just love to see him settled down. All he needs is a temporary buffer for the parties he has to attend, and for his parents to leave him alone. Enter, Luke.

Luke is twenty-thousand dollars short for the renovations on Halligans; his family’s bar in New York’s Financial District. A favor for a buddy has him agreeing to play the part of boyfriend to a guy with more money than sense.

But when the spirit of Christmas works its magic on the two men, and they begin to fall for each other, Derek runs scared, and Luke needs space.

It doesn’t matter what obstacles you throw in the way of love, or how much you run in the other direction, because, when you’re least expecting it, whether you want it or not, love happens anyway.

Most everyone loves the fake boyfriend trope and I am right there with them. It can go sideways quickly for me if there is too much angst overshadowing the potential happy, but Love Happens Anyway gave the perfect balance of both characters so there was no overwhelming worry about one of them getting all ridiculous and threatening the HEA I need.

The story is told in dual POV and I honestly don’t think the result would have been nearly as successful without it. Derek is not the most likable character and if I hadn’t had insight into his inner workings and just saw everything from Luke’s view I wouldn’t have been as satisfied with the relationship because I LOVED Luke and would have wanted better for him. I did have a view into Derek though and I appreciated how the author made his dramatics all his. There was no tragic backstory, just a regular loving family (albeit, they were rich as hell) with some dynamics that needed some . . . tweaking (due to the richness) to be able to communicate and really be happy, letting Derek own his confidence for the first time in his life.

So, Derek has some hang-ups that lead him to believe he needs a fake boyfriend for the holidays and Luke is in need of cash and knows a guy, and the two of them come to an agreement to get both of them what they need. Luke is a pretty stoic guy, but Derek’s somewhat fussy personality pushes all his buttons and it’s obvious when he starts to fall for Derek. Luke is everything that Derek fantasized about personified so when they inevitably started getting to know one another by bits and pieces I ate up every little breakthrough.

When the UST is finally resolved Derek opened up pretty quickly and again, without having his POV throughout, it would have been too jarring to be believable, but knowing this was what he wanted all along, it worked. They still had a ways to go to get to an HEA, but the bathtub scene alone is worth the journey.

Family is very important to both MC’s throughout and after all the revelations, the guys wanted to come clean to their families about how they met, etc. I’m glad the author made that a point to cover, it rang true for both Luke and Derek, especially with the epiphany that Derek came to with his family about their own dynamics.

Once you read the story, the cover makes complete sense and it’s really just too sweet for words. I loved how Luke and Derek appreciated each other and Derek really needed that appreciation from someone he loved and the snowman is such the adorable embodiment of that. For all that love Christmas stories and the bonus fake boyfriend theme, this is the perfect holiday story.

This story is as cute as its cover suggests it will be. I agree though, the cover isn't your typical cover from this genre, but I like that and it makes complete sense by the end of the book.

Everyone loves a fake boyfriend trope - don't they? There is something endlessly sweet about knowing they are pretending but that it's going to turn real by the end of the book (I mean what kind of story would it be if it didn't turn real?) . As long as the twists and turns aren't forced angst then you know it's going to be a lovely read, and with an author as talented as RJ Scott there is no worries about cheap-author tactics.

Luke is a great MC, and though Derek is perhaps not so likeable at first glance, Derek suits him; they work well together. There is a dynamic between them that just draws you in.

This is an enjoyable story, one that can be read and loved anytime of the year. This book is not just for Christmas! I recommended it! 

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Blog Tour: Bobby Green (Johnnies #5) by Amy Lane

Amy Lane is here today to talk about Bobby Green, the latest in her popular Johnnies series.

Bobby Green Blog Tour Post 9

The Flop House

By Amy Lane

So, as some people have noticed (and some love it, some hate it) the Johnnies stories tend to take place on top of each other. Chase’s story starts first, Dex and Kane’s next, Ethan’s, John’s, then Bobby’s. But some of the events are concurrent, and I did this for a reason.

One of the most important lessons in empathy I ever learned was that everybody has their own shit to sort.

It’s a tough one—but it’s important. When I was a kid, my dog got hit by a car—and it devastated me—the entire family, actually. But one of the hardest parts was how it happened. A woman with her own dog who’d been hit by a car was racing to the vet’s office, and she pulled around the car that stopped for our dog—and hit Blue going full bore.

The irony was cruel and painful—and instructive.

My pain is real—but it’s not more important than someone else’s. Everybody is living their own story while I’m the hero in mine.

From my very first story—Vulnerable—I’ve tried to show this layering of a community’s drama in action, and it’s given me some glorious characters. The hurt prick in Donny’s story in Super Sock Man was Chase. The nice guy who introduced Chase to Johnnies in Chase in Shadow was Dex, and the psycho goofball who hung out with Dex was Kane. The touch-hungry sweetheart who hung with Dex and Kane in Dex in Blue got his own story in Ethan in Gold—and so on, down to Bobby and Reg, who got casual mention in all four of the stories and had to be woven into the tapestry with precision, and, I hope, grace.

So those guys all had their stories told by the time I was done with Bobby—but they were peripheral characters to the originals, and I realized that they had their own peripheral characters to deal with—and that’s where the flop house comes into play.

Bobby is practically homeless when he meets Dex and shoots his first scene—and Dex, ever helpful, gives him the contact info on a bunch of guys who room together to help make ends meet.

A bunch of porn models, most of whom are unattached, rooming together.

Oh my God, it sounds like the premise of a porn movie.

And some of it was—I won’t lie. Rick and Skyler have noisy sex everywhere in the house with as many people they can talk into it, right up until Bobby points out a very obvious, embarrassing truth. Lance the doctor in training only sleeps with friends—but he has a lot of friends, and the loneliest heart of anybody Bobby’s ever known. Trey is working his way through school, and he loves his Johnnies guys—but he’s got a chip on his shoulder that gets in his way. Billy is straight—but he’s a good friend, and he likes the guys so what’s to do?

So it was a little like writing mini-episodes of an X-rated Big Brother—and that was delicious. But it also begged the question—would these guys get their own stories?

Short answer? Yeah.

I mean, Rick and Skyler have their story pretty much written as periphery characters—they might get a short on the blog eventually. (For those of you who don’t know about my blog and shorts, look under the label of “ficlets” and choose your poison.) But Lance? Trey? Anybody who wanders in to take Bobby’s place?

Yeah.

I think there’s a lot of guys who have stories in the flop house—and now that the timeline has moved completely (Bobby Green ends a full year after Chase’s melt down) it’s time for new blood.

With new twists and new stories, and new pain.

Oh, the places we’ll go, the boys we will know, and the delicious angst we can feast on—it’s like the flop house is a whole new buffet.

Blurb

Johnnies: Book Five 

Vern Roberts couldn’t wait to turn eighteen and get the hell out of Dogpatch, California. But city living is expensive, and he’s damned desperate when Dex from Johnnies spots him bussing tables.

As “Bobby,” he’s a natural at gay porn. Soon he’s surrounded by hot guys and sex for the taking, but it’s not just his girlfriend back in Dogpatch—or her blackmailing brother—that keeps him from taking it. It’s the sweet guy who held the lights for his first solo scene, who showed him decency, kindness, and a smile.

Reg Williams likes to think he’s too stupid to realize what a shitty hand life dealt him, but Bobby knows better. What Reg lacks in family, opportunity, education, and money, he makes up for in heart. One fumbling step at a time, they connect, not just in their hearts but in their bodies, where sex that’s not on camera, casual, or meaningless, becomes the most important thing in the world.

But Reg is hampered by an inescapable family burden, and he and Bobby will never fly unless he can find a way to manage it. Can he break the painful link to his unrealized childhood and grow into the love Bobby wants to give?

Book Links:

Amazon

DreamspinnerPress

Author Bio

Amy Lane is a mother of two grown kids, two half-grown kids, two small dogs, and half-a-clowder of cats. A compulsive knitter who writes because she can't silence the voices in her head, she adores fur-babies, knitting socks, and hawt menz, and she dislikes moths, cat boxes, and knuckleheaded macspazzmatrons. She is rarely found cooking, cleaning, or doing domestic chores, but she has been known to knit up an emergency hat/blanket/pair of socks for any occasion whatsoever or sometimes for no reason at all. Her award-winning writing has three flavors: twisty-purple alternative universe, angsty-orange contemporary, and sunshine-yellow happy. By necessity, she has learned to type like the wind. She's been married for twenty-five-plus years to her beloved Mate and still believes in Twu Wuv, with a capital Twu and a capital Wuv, and she doesn't see any reason at all for that to change.

Review: Hearts and Flour by Tara Lain

Second Edition
Can a raw food enthusiast find love with a guy who bakes cupcakes?

When Micah Truveen’s devoted health-food customers start showing up with white flour, Micah wants to chew nails! To make his misery worse, he finds his yoga teacher boyfriend in bed with another guy the day before Valentine’s Day. Micah decides to drown his misery at a friend’s anti-Valentine’s Day orgiastic hookup party—and meets the beautiful Queen, a gorgeous cross-dresser who’s got Southern sugah in his mouth and the right equipment under the dress. But when the hookup turns serious, Micah has to compromise to protect Queen’s secrets from his beloved grandmother. With everything against them, can two hearts rise above the flour?


First Edition published by Etopia Press, January 2013.

I think it’s important to note that when reading the blurb I somehow missed the word orgiastic. If I had paid better attention, I probably wouldn’t have chosen a story with that being important enough to mention in the synopsis. But, I did choose it and in turn gave my best shot at enjoying it.

As the blurb mentioned, Micah is obsessed with health and eating raw. He’s extremely uptight and wants everyone else to be just as passionate about their health and consumption of shakes that smell like “fresh cut grass.” When Micah catches wind of some sugar and flour creations in the hands of his loyal customers, he nearly loses his mind.

“She looked up at him with big brown eyes. Her cheeks bulged hamster-like and the huge godforsaken cupcake she held poised in front of her face sported a large missing piece. Frosting clung to her lips like cocaine on an addict’s nose. “Mmmpfff.”

Quentin is new to town and opened a Cupcakery that’s become extremely popular. He’s kind, laid back, takes care of his grandma, and still locked in the closet along with all the dresses, wigs, and manties he adores wearing.

After breaking up with his cheater boyfriend, Micah gets invited to the orgiastic party.

“A night of meaningless sex in the name of anti-Valentine’s Day, right? Screw Cupid and all manufactured holidays.”

At this “party,” Micah meets Queen (Quentin) in all “her” red dress, blonde wig, and thong wearing glory. Obviously this is a fuckfest party so Queen and Micah waste zero time getting down to business.

“Queen’s lips came up by Micah’s ear and one hand grasped Micah’s dick. “I want you to stain me and muss me. Ride me and put me up wet, darlin’.”

Before departing, Micah gets Queen’s number so they can actually get to know each other beyond a quickie in the bathroom.

*sigh*

The rest of the book didn’t increase my enjoyment either. Miscommunication, irrational reactions, a crazy ex, and a focus on sex which wasn’t compelling enough to keep my interest left me disappointed. Quentin is from the south and for some reason has this completely affected speaking vocabulary. I’m from the south, have lived in many southern states and it felt *very* fake. Also, he’s 24 and says dear. A lot.

“Let’s not waste that lovely erection on mere masturbation, dear.”

Their conversations were awkward, and interactions cheesy. I’m talking a straight up cheesefest.

“You turn me on like a Ferrari ignition.”

Anywhoo, it wasn’t all negative. I liked Quentin’s sassy grandma. I also liked the way Micah was so uptight about the cupcakes at first. His reactions to them made me smile and I was looking forward to the epic moment when someone loosened the strings on his control. Another positive was manties… because manties!

This book didn’t work for me. There were many elements that held promise but nothing became fully realized. It wound up being ball of fluff covered in jizz from the orgiastic party while lacking anything I could sink my teeth into- besides the epic cupcakes that I’m now craving. Not recommended.

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Once Upon A Wolf (Wayward Wolves #1) by Rhys Ford

Rhys Ford brings wolves to play on the Once Upon a Wolf blog tour! The werewolf romance will be out February 16th! Rhys chats a bit about her shifter book and its results. Plus, she drops some shifter history! Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd a kickass giveaway right in time for Valentine's Day! Rhys take it away...

So…. Werewolves.

Everyone knows about them.

Everyone has an idea about what they are.

And much like people’s opinion about whether or not ketchup belongs on scrambled eggs, everyone has an opinion about what makes a werewolf.

When I was challenged to write a shifter book, I sat down and thought hard about the werewolf I wanted to write. It was going to be gritty, fangy and hardcore.

Then I sat down and wrote Once Upon A Wolf… and it came out… sweet.

Like roses, chocolates, and warm socks out of the dryer sweet. And I wasn’t only good with it, I loved how sweet it came out. Because when it was all said and done, I realized I kind of wanted a werewolf romance story where the romance was key and the werewolf fell in love.

So for this blog tour, it’s going to be short, sweet and all about werewolves. With the assistance of one of the Five, Lee Jay Stura, we’re going to be exploring different aspects of werewolves; mythology, cultural views, in books, on screen, and pop culture.

I’m also going to be giving away a $25 USD gift certificate on each stop of the blog tour. So get your fangs and claws on, enter to win and grab a copy of Once Upon A Wolf by Rhys Ford, out on February 16, 2018.

Shifters Around The World
Werewolves and other types of shapeshifters come from different cultures all around the world. Whether they’re born that way, cursed, or did an arcane ritual to become a shifter, their legends are a part of history, and while they’re not always used to frighten travelers and children as they were in the past, they very much influence our entertainment in the present day.

Some of the first shapeshifter stories come from ancient Greece. Herodotus wrote of the Neuri, people who were turned into wolves every year for several days. In 200 BC, King Lycaon was turned into a wolf for sacrificing his own son and feeding the flesh to Zeus. The word lycanthropy, comes from Lycaon’s name. Arcadia, according to Ovid, also had men who could become wolves.

In South America there are tales of the Lobizón or Lobisón, which is a fox-like werewolf. The Lobizón’s legend started as a cursed seventh son that was monstrous and would spend all its time haunting cemeteries, reeking of death, and eating the dead. With the arrival of Europeans, the stories of the Lobizón were corrupted and combined with the European idea of the werewolf until the Lobizón became a half-man, half-animal, figure that was active on the full moon and no longer confined to burial grounds.

It wasn’t only wolves in South America where the jaguar was so important that the animal was considered a deity by many of the ancient people and a monster by others. The Runauturuncu was a sorcerer that made a pact for power and revenge, becoming a man/jaguar mix. They would receive an animal’s strength, a human’s cunning, fangs, and claws.

On the other side of the world, we shift from jaguars to tigers with the weretigers of India and China. In India, the weretigers were not always human to start. Some where tigers who supposedly ate enough humans to become human, but inevitably, they would always revert to their animalistic ways and shape. This legend spread into Thailand as well.

Ancient Chinese teachings said that all people other than the Han were animals in disguise. Some of them were tigers. Some were the ghosts of people killed by tigers, that encouraged tigers to kill more humans in a nasty circle. Occasionally the Chang, would turn normal humans into weretigers as well.

In Japan, they divided their werecreatures, the Henge, by sex Kitsune normally being female and Tanuki male. Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox, and foxes have been entwined in Japanese mythology for centuries. In China the fox spirit, Huli jing, is very similar to the Kitsune where it also can shapeshift into a human, and they will grow more tails as they age becoming more and more powerful. A Kistune with nine tails would be very, very old and strong. There are legends where a Fox-woman has married a human man and bore him children. Kitsune are not seen as the monsters that werewolves and other violent werecreatures are.

Tanuki, the Japanese racoon-dog, is also a mischievous shapeshifter. He is said to be jolly but gullible. He’s not the cunning creature that the Kitsune is, and he’s depicted favorably as well. Tanuki seemed less inclined to get married than the fox spirits. They far preferred taking on human form to make humans look stupid not to entice them into bed.

Unlike the Kitsune, who seemed to be able to come and go as they pleased in their stories, the Selkies and Swan Maids of Europe were normally trapped by men who took their magic from them. Selkies were seals who would shed their skins in order to appear human. Swan Maids, who could also be male, also had swan skins or feathers that they could shed to become human. Their skins would be stolen, and it would often take years for them to regain their skins to escape back to the sea.

Once Upon A Wolf by Rhys Ford
February 16, 2018 • Published by Dreamspinner Press

Once Upon A Time, There Was A Wolf….

Gibson Keller’s days are fairly routine: wake up early, get some work done, drink lots of coffee, and take care of Ellis, his older brother stuck in wolf form after coming home from the war. It’s a simple life made up of long runs on two legs—or four—and quiet evenings…. Until Ellis chases a handsome man off a cliff and into the frozen waters beside their cabin, changing Gibson’s life forever.

For Zach Thomas, buying an old B&B is a new start. Leaving behind his city life, he longs to find peace and quiet, and hiking the trails behind his property seems safe enough—right up to the moment an enormous black wolf chases him into a lake, nearly drowning him. Discovering werewolves are real astounds him, but not as much as the man who rescues him from the icy water then walks into Zach’s heart as if he owns it.

Loving a werewolf—loving Gibson with all his secrets—has its challenges but Zach believes their love is worth fighting for, especially since his heart knows the big bad wolf is really a prince in disguise.

Dreamspinner Press Link (https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/once-upon-a-wolf-by-rhys-ford-9348-b)
Amazon Link (https://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Wolf-Wayward-Wolves-ebook/dp/B079G9BB2Z/)

Follow the rest of the Once Upon A Wolf Blog Tour (Feb 13-17)

13     Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews

14     Boy Meets Boy Reviews

15     The Novel Approach

16     It’s About the Book

17     Joyfully Jay

About Rhys Ford

Rhys Ford is an award-winning author with several long-running LGBT+ mystery, thriller, paranormal, and urban fantasy series and was a 2016 LAMBDA finalist with her novel, Murder and Mayhem. She is published by Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications.

She’s also quite skeptical about bios without a dash of something personal and really, who doesn’t mention their cats, dog and cars in a bio? She shares the house with Yoshi, a grumpy tuxedo cat and HarleyDoodle, an off-kilter flower-faced grey and white cat-dog , as well as a ginger cairn terrorist named Gus. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird and enjoys murdering make-believe people

Rhys’ Blog: www.rhysford.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rhys.ford.author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rhys_Ford
Rhys Ford’s books can found at Dreamspinner Press (http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com), DSP Publications (https://www.dsppublications.com/) and all major online book stores.

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