Blog Tour + Giveaway: The Enchanter's Flame (The Ellwood Chronicles #1) by Michele Notaro


Celebrate the release of paranormal romance, The Enchanter's Flame (The Ellwood Chronicles #1) with author Michele Notaro and Vibrant Promotions! Enter in the giveaway to win an eBook copy of The Enchanter's Flame!

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The Enchanter’s Flame
The Ellwood Chronicles I
Michele Notaro
Gay Fiction/Paranormal Romance
Release Date: 08.18.18

The Enchanters Flame Amazon Cover


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BLURB
Strange things are happening all around Brinnswick. Things that remind me of a piece of my past I’d rather forget. Girls are being killed, drained of blood, and left with strange markings on their bodies. When I finally connect the cases together, a specialist is called in—though, what he’s a specialist of is beyond me
When the chief assigns him as my new partner for the case, I can’t help but groan on the inside. Why of all people would I be assigned to Ailin Ellwood? The man is a disaster waiting to happen and a jerk to boot. A sexy jerk, but a jerk nonetheless.
What will Sebastian think when he discovers Ailin’s specialty? Will he make a run for it or will he stick around and discover a world of magic hidden beneath the city’s surface?
***The Enchanter’s Flame is the first book in the Ellwood Chronicles. It’s a paranormal romance that contains explicit material and is intended for mature adults 18 and over.***

Enchanters Flame Teaser 1

Enchanters Flame Teaser 2

EXCERPT
I needed to pee, so I set the cat on the floor and went to take care of business. The thought of jumping in the shower while Ailin was out crossed my mind, so I pulled the shower curtain back, but yelled out in surprise. Holy shit! There was a fucking snake in the tub! “What the fuck?” I ran out of the bathroom and scooped up Seraphina so she wouldn’t go investigate the bathroom and wind up hurt, then I ran straight for the phone to call the front desk to take care of it. I had no idea what kind of snake it was or how it’d gotten in there or whether or not it was venomous or whatever. But I didn’t want to take the chance of trying to grab it myself. If it was venomous, I could end up in the hospital.

I picked up the phone and dialed the front desk, but just as the girl picked up on the other line, Ailin slammed the door open and boomed, “What’s wrong?”

I blinked at him as a huge rush of wind came in through the door, blowing the loose side of his hair. I lowered the phone a little and answered, “There’s a snake in the tub.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Who are you calling?”

He looked… terrifying. It was like the wind coming through the door was playing off his emotions. I knew that wasn’t really happening, but he looked as stormy as the weather behind him. “I-I was calling the front desk to come get it.”

“Hang up the phone, Seb.”

“Wh-what? Why?”

“I’ll take care of the snake. They’ll probably just kill it. I can grab him and release him outside.”

I stared at him for several seconds before hanging up the phone. I could see how serious he was, and I knew he was right, that the front desk girl would likely just kill the animal. It seemed like Ailin’s love for animals knew no bounds.

He glanced at me, then noticed the cat in my arms, and his gaze softened a little. “You saved Sera.”

“Of-of course I did. I didn’t want her to get hurt.”

Some of the wind died down. “Thank you.”

He headed straight into the bathroom, so I got up and followed him, holding the kitten tight to my chest. I stood in the doorway to watch him. He made a few sounds, like hissing, and I swear the snake hissed back, then Ailin spoke under his breath, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“How are you going to get—”

I cut myself off when Ailin reached a hand into the tub, and a second later, the snake was slithering up his arm. I took a step backward and stared in disgust. What the fuck is he doing? That thing is going to bite him! Ailin stood and the snake wrapped around his arm, then around the back of his neck.

“Ailin, it’s going to bite you,” I whisper-yelled.

Ailin shot me a cocky smirk. “It’s nice to see that you care, Sebastian, but I guarantee he won’t hurt me.”

“How can you possibly say that?”

He shrugged and I frowned as the movement caused the snake to shift so its head was near Ailin’s throat. “He’s just lost.”

I blinked at him. “Okay, well, go… throw him in the parking lot or something.”

Ailin frowned at me. “I’m going to help him find his home. I think he comes from the same woods we’re heading to, anyway.”

“That thing is not coming in my car!”

Ailin huffed. “You and the car rules again! How can I possibly keep up when you keep adding more and more rules?”

I closed my eyes and my nostrils flared in irritation. “I’m not changing the rules. I told you before I didn’t want a cat in my car, so it’s the same rule… it applies to all animals.” Sera hissed a little at me, and I mumbled down to her, “You don’t count. I like you.” Okay, so I guess Ailin isn’t the only one that talks to her.

“But you changed your mind and let her in. Why would it be any different with George?”

“Did you seriously just name that snake ‘George’?”

“No, that was his name already.”

I had no words for that. “You… you’re not bringing George into my car!”

“Then I guess I’m walking to the crime scene.” He clenched his jaw, then shouldered past me out of the bathroom as I tried to scramble away from the snake. “And you think I’m the mean one.”

Michele Notaro Logo
Michele is married to an awesome husband that puts up with her and all the characters in her head--and there are many. They live together in Baltimore, Maryland with their two young boys and two crazy dogs. She grew up dancing and swimming and taught dance--ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, & modern--for ten years before her kids came along. Now she stays home to write about the sexy men in her head and does PTA everything--as long as coffee is involved. Two other tattooed moms run the PTA with her, and though she wants to rip her hair out from it, she still loves it.

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Blog Tour + Giveaway: Lights and Sirens (Emergency Services #2) by Lisa Henry


Welcome Lisa Henry and IndiGo Marketing on the Lights and Sirens (Emergency Services #2) blog tour! Lisa Henry doesn't only share an excerpt, but a few exclusives and a mega giveaway: $20 Amazon voucher and a package of whatever Australian goodies the author can think of!


Title: Lights and Sirens
Series: Emergency Services 2
Author: Lisa Henry
Publisher:Self-Published
Release Date: September 13th 2018
Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 231 pages
Genre: Romance

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Synopsis

Paramedic Hayden Kinsella is single and the life of the party. He likes driving fast and saving lives, and he doesn’t do relationships—he does hookups. Except he wouldn’t hook up with copper Matt Deakin if he were the last guy on the planet. Hayden thinks the feeling is mutual . . . until clearing the air leads to a drunken one-night stand, which leads to something neither of them was expecting: a genuine connection.

Police officer Matt Deakin moved to Townsville to take care of his elderly grandfather. In between keeping an eye on Grandad, renovating his house, and the demands of his job, he somehow finds himself in a tentative relationship with Hayden and very slowly gets to know the damaged guy beneath the happy-go-lucky persona.

But the stressors of shift work, fatigue, and constant exposure to trauma threaten to tear Hayden and Matt apart before they’ve even found their footing together. In the high-pressure lives of emergency services workers, it turns out it’s not the getting together part that’s hard, it’s the staying together.

Excerpt

“Okay, who wants to tell me what happened here?”

Hayden Kinsella snapped his head up at the sound of that familiar, stern voice. Great. No, not great. Typical. It was fucking typical. He raised his eyebrows and met Kate’s gaze. “Watch out,” he said. “Constable Dickhead’s here.”

Kate looked down pointedly at the patient lying in the sand between them. The guy’s face was scrunched up with pain, but even he was side-eying Hayden right now.

Hayden grimaced as he checked the patient’s neck brace.

Okay, so he wasn’t being very professional, but it wasn’t like it mattered. The guy’s dirt bike was lying ten metres further down the beach; he had a fractured wrist, abrasions all over him, possible spinal injuries, and his breath stank of alcohol. He had problems of his own. It wasn’t like the first thing he was going to do was dob Hayden in for calling one of the coppers Constable Dickhead.

Still, Hayden’s bravado withered a little under Kate’s frank stare.

Yeah, it was unprofessional and he shouldn’t have said it. The copper just got under Hayden’s skin, and not in a good way. He glanced the short distance along the beach to where Constable Dickhead was trying to get information out of the patient’s clearly unwilling friends. There was a lot of foot shuffling and head shaking going on in response to his questions.

Kate finished bandaging the guy’s wrist and positioned it across his chest. “Can you keep that there for me?”

The guy tried to nod, discovered he couldn’t do it with the neck brace, and so grunted his assent instead.

“Okay,” Hayden said. “I’ll get the stretcher.”

He rose to his feet, sand raining out of the creases in his pants, and left Kate with the patient. Bloody beaches. His boots were full of sand as well. The ambulance was parked up on the road, on the other side of the grassy dunes. Getting the patient out was going to be a pain in the arse, and he was going to have to ask for help. He was going to have to ask Constable Dickhead.

Hayden headed up towards the ambulance, his boots slipping in the sand. A small interested crowd had gathered at the top of the dunes: dog walkers, sunbathers and perverts. The usual Pallarenda types. Between Hayden and the dunes, the patient’s unhappy friends were still being questioned by Constable Dickhead.

Hayden sighed as the copper turned around and saw him. He forced out a smile. It was nothing at all approaching the range of friendly, but more of a ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ type of smile.

Constable Dickhead—shit, he had to stop thinking that. Deakin, Constable Matt Deakin—returned the smile with a curt nod, and that was it.

Hayden looked away, fixing his eyes on the ambulance and fighting down his irritation. A nod. A curt fucking nod. Deakin was just a tool. And good luck to him. Hayden wouldn’t give a shit except it felt like Deakin had been stalking him for weeks now. Somehow their shifts had synced up lately and their respective Comms were sending them to a lot of the same jobs. That was the problem working somewhere the size of Townsville. It was a good-sized regional city, but it was too small to avoid the people you didn’t want to see. Particularly in the narrow field of emergency services.

Hayden climbed the dunes heading for the road, his boots finally hitting the wooden rungs that had been laid down as a path through the beach spinifex and finding some traction again. He quickened his pace and made it to the car park at a jog, then opened the back doors of the ambulance and hauled the stretcher out. It was light enough now, but it would be a different matter when their patient was strapped to it. He closed the doors again.

The assembled onlookers watched him curiously as he headed back to the shore. His boots sank in the sand, slowing him down enough to give him a moment to appreciate the view.

The white beach glimmered like a thread of ribbon under the afternoon sun. The water shone. It was as smooth as glass this afternoon, reflecting the brilliant blue sky above it. In front of him, in the bay, lay hilly, green Magnetic Island. To the north, following the sweep of the beach, smaller islands dotted the water on the way to the horizon. To the south, Castle Hill rose out of the centre of the city. It was only a ten-minute drive away, but it seemed almost distant in the shimmering light.

The salt air filled his lungs as he made his way back towards Kate and the patient.

Would be nice, Hayden thought, to come and spend some time here when he wasn’t lugging a stretcher. Maybe he could even come back here after his shift, and just sit for a while. Soak it all in and enjoy the salt air and the sand without being in the middle of a job.

Things had livened up a little while Hayden had been collecting the stretcher. All of the patient’s friends were talking now, all of them at once, all of them with a different, strident story, and Hayden hid a smile. Sucks to be you, Deakin.

Hayden positioned the stretcher in the sand beside the patient, took a moment longer to enjoy the stony-faced expression on Deakin’s face as the patient’s friends jabbered at him, and then braced himself mentally. He had to ask Constable Dickhead—the living, breathing definition of the fun police—for help.

He walked over to where Deakin and his partner were listening, unmoved, to the friends’ litanies of excuses. Well, Deakin appeared unmoved. His partner was new, and at every job Hayden had seen him he’d been wearing a slightly panicked look like he was barely managing to keep himself together.

“Hey,” Hayden said. “Can you fellas give us a hand with the stretcher?”

Deakin gave another curt nod and closed his notebook. He eyed the rider’s friends. “Stay right here. Understood?”

They mumbled their assurances.

Deakin turned to Hayden. “Where do you want me?”

Holy hell. Wasn’t that the loaded question? And the image that had shot into Hayden’s head the second Constable Deakin had asked it was unprofessional, inappropriate, and filthy as fuck. Hayden shook it off. There was no point fantasising about the cop, or even flirting with him. Jesus, there was no point even being friendly. He’d tried that once, and Deakin had shot him down in flames.

He’d been speeding at the time. Not by much—he’d been doing seventy-one in a sixty zone down Hugh Street. And it had been the middle of the night, and there had been no other traffic on the road, but Hayden had still been prepared to cop it sweet when he’d seen the flash of red and blue lights behind him.

Cop it sweet, hell yes. The cop who’d approached the window was cute. And cute plus uniform equalled smoking hot—that was simple maths. He was slightly taller than Hayden, pushing about six foot, and he was lean. Not ripped, not thin, but lean. The fine light hairs on his arm had gleamed in the streetlight as he’d gestured for Hayden to put the window down. Hayden had caught a glimpse of a tattoo poking out from under his shirt sleeve, just curling down towards his elbow, and he’d wanted to follow it all the way up the cop’s arm to his shoulder and throat.

The copper had light brown hair and blue eyes, full lips, and a smattering of faint freckles on his nose. Too damn cute.

Cuff me, I’m yours.

“Hey,” Hayden had said, handing the cop his licence. God, he was nice. “You new in town?”

A flicker of something had passed through the copper’s eyes. Mistrust? Disgust? Hayden hadn’t been sure.

“I haven’t see you around before,” Hayden had said, flashing him a friendly smile.

The cop had raised an eyebrow and stared back at him.

Which was when Hayden had realised he’d just given him what sounded like a completely cheesy pick-up line, and had tried to laugh it off. “I know most of the coppers in town,” he’d said. “I’m an ambo.”

He hadn’t been asking for a favour or special treatment or anything. There was a line, and Hayden was always careful not to cross it. Dropping where he worked into conversation wasn’t a hint or a demand; it was just making sure the cop had all the relevant information at hand if he wanted to use his discretionary powers. They were all on the same team, right? Generally speaking.

There had been no reaction from…from—Hayden had tried not to appear too obvious as he looked for the cop’s nametag—from Constable Deakin.

Deakin had studied his licence for a moment longer and then eyed him again. There hadn’t been even a flicker of a smile on his face when he’d said: “Then you’re well aware of the dangers of speeding, Mr. Kinsella.”

Hayden had almost choked. Was he fucking serious? Jesus, give me the ticket, arsehole, not the fucking lecture.

“Sure,” he’d managed. “I, ah, lost track, I guess.”

Deakin hadn’t said anything in response to that. He’d written out the ticket in complete silence, and then torn it from the ticket book. He’d handed it over to Hayden along with his licence. “Have a pleasant evening, sir.”

And he’d left Hayden sitting in his car, holding his licence and his speeding ticket and wondering what the hell had just happened.

So when Constable Deakin asked Hayden now, ‘Where do you want me?’ the correct answer was rotting in a shallow grave. Or in lieu of that, living in a cockroach-infested hovel with asbestos in the walls. There was no possible reason in hell he should have suddenly—vividly—imagined Matthew Deakin lying underneath him while he kissed and licked a path along that tattoo he hoped swirled all the way down his shoulders and chest.

“Come on,” Hayden managed, walking back to the patient.

The newbie copper followed at Deakin’s heels like an anxious puppy.

Hayden caught Kate’s gaze. Her lips were curved into a tiny smile, held a fraction away from impassive. The smile was for Hayden alone, because she knew exactly how much the bloody cop got under his skin. Humourless fucking prick. Hot, humourless fucking prick who’d cost Hayden $168 and a demerit point off his licence.

Hayden crouched down beside the patient, his boots squeaking in the sand, and risked a sneaky glance at Deakin.

Deakin was standing back, waiting for instructions. He was resting his hands on his utility belt. One on his Glock, one on his radio. Hayden couldn’t help eying the way the utility belt hung off his slim hips. He also couldn’t help noticing how good the man looked standing in the sunlight with the gleaming ocean at his back. And how the uniform shirt he wore was almost—almost—thin enough to let Hayden see the lean shape of his body in the brilliant light.

Hayden tore his gaze away before his imagination helpfully filled in all the blanks for him.

“How are you doing, mate?” he asked the patient, needing the distraction. And also trying to preserve some level of professionalism at this late stage of the game.

“Good,” the guy wheezed. “Aw, shit, I’m in big trouble with the coppers, aren’t I?”

Hayden smiled at that. “Let’s get you up to the hospital and you can worry about that later, hey?”

“Yeah,” the guy said, squinting at the sky. “What about my bike? Oh fuck, I had my phone in my pocket! Where’s my phone?”

His phone? The guy was lucky they weren’t extracting it out of some bodily orifice during his autopsy.

“You’ll be okay, mate.” Hayden stood up. Yep. No serious injuries here. The neck brace and the back board were a precaution. No doubt this idiot would be up and about again in no time.

He nodded at Deakin’s partner as the guy moved closer. He’d been introduced before, not that it mattered. The newbie took his lead from Deakin and was just as standoffish as his dickhead of a partner.

“Okay,” Kate said. “Hayden will take his head. You guys take his body.” She fixed them with a careful stare. “We’re going to do a log roll. Possible spinal injuries, remember. Take it easy.”

Hayden knelt down in the sand, placing his hands to support the patient’s head and neck. Kate made sure the coppers were positioned correctly, and got the stretcher ready to shove under the guy. “On three, you roll him towards you, onto his side. Ready?” She waited for their nods. “One, two, three.”

Kate slid the stretcher into place and they eased the patient back down onto it.

Hayden stood up. He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“Hayden and I will take his head,” Kate said. “You guys take his feet.”

They hefted the stretcher up smoothly.

It took a long time to reach the road, up through the dunes and the grass. And Deakin, to his scant credit, didn’t take the opportunity to give the rider a lecture on stupidity. Or drag him off the stretcher and cuff him.

Jesus though, Deakin was uptight as well as arrogant. He kept his shoulders stiff as he carried the stretcher, and that would cost him in the morning. His jaw was also so tightly clenched that it was surprising he didn’t crack a few teeth.

When his boots finally hit bitumen again, Hayden was probably more relieved than the patient to see the back of the coppers. They loaded him into the ambulance, and Kate tossed Hayden the keys.

“Don’t drive too fast, honey,” she said with a wink the coppers couldn’t see.

Hayden smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of it, dear.”

Kate climbed into the back with the patient, and Hayden flashed a grin at a stone-faced Deakin as he swung himself up into the driver’s seat of the ambulance.

He reversed out of the parking bay, and headed for the road. In the rear-view mirror, he watched as Deakin and Newbie trudged down to the beach again to deal with their unwilling witnesses.

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Author Visit


Hi! I’m Lisa Henry, and welcome to the blog tour for my new release, Lights and Sirens. I’m visiting some of my favourite blogs around the place to talk a bit about writing Lights and Sirens, and sharing some of my influences, my ideas, and even an excerpt or two! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway, for your chance to win a prize of a $20 Amazon voucher plus a selection of Australian treats that I’ll post worldwide. The winner will be drawn on September 21.

In Lights and Sirens, I got the chance to write about my hometown. Given that I’ve previously written about Wyoming in the 1880s, and space stations in the future, it was a real change of pace for me to fall back onto the familiar. In Lights and Sirens, Pallarenda is mentioned a few times. Pallarenda is only about a ten-minute drive from the centre of the city, but it’s bordered by the ocean on one side and national park on the other side. And on the road out there, that curves around Rowes Bay, there are lots of places to stop and park to visit the beach. There is a walking trail beside the road, off-leash areas for dogs, and even beach access for horses.

The opening scene in Lights and Sirens is set at the beach at Pallarenda. Paramedic Hayden Kinsella and his partner Kate are sent to a job to deal with a guy who’s come off a trail bike and injured himself. Which is right when Hayden’s nemesis, police constable Matt Deakin, arrives. Hayden hates Matt, but in the middle of thinking of all the horrible things he’d like to happen to the copper who gave him a speeding ticket that one time, he at least takes a moment to drink in the view:

Hayden climbed the dunes heading for the road, his boots finally hitting the wooden rungs that had been laid down as a path through the beach spinifex and finding some traction again. He quickened his pace and made it to the car park at a jog, then opened the back doors of the ambulance and hauled the stretcher out. It was light enough now, but it would be a different matter when their patient was strapped to it. He closed the doors again.
The assembled onlookers watched him curiously as he headed back to the shore. His boots sank in the sand, slowing him down enough to give him a moment to appreciate the view.
The white beach glimmered like a thread of ribbon under the afternoon sun. The water shone. It was as smooth as glass this afternoon, reflecting the brilliant blue sky above it. In front of him, in the bay, lay hilly, green Magnetic Island. To the north, following the sweep of the beach, smaller islands dotted the water on the way to the horizon. To the south, Castle Hill rose out of the centre of the city. It was only a ten-minute drive away, but it seemed almost distant in the shimmering light.
The salt air filled his lungs as he made his way back towards Kate and the patient.
Would be nice, Hayden thought, to come and spend some time here when he wasn’t lugging a stretcher. Maybe he could even come back here after his shift, and just sit for a while. Soak it all in and enjoy the salt air and the sand without being in the middle of a job.


From Pallarenda, this is Hayden’s view from the foreshore back to the city. Castle hill, in the background left, is in the CBD of Townsville, and the city is build around it.

 :townsville-beach-2854197_960_720.jpg

Later in the story, when Hayden and Matt have actually gotten together, they revisit Pallarenda at night. This time it’s a much more romantic moment:

The beach was mostly empty. Hayden saw a few figures some distance away to the left: he and Matt turned right. It was a bright, moonlit night and the ocean swelled and receded, pushing tiny waves up onto the sand.
In the distance, lights from the city were visible, as were the lights on Magnetic Island. Red and green buoys flashed in the bay between the city and the island, marking out the safe shipping channels from the port through to the open ocean. There was at least one large cargo ship moving slowly out to sea now, lights blazing.
Hayden and Matt walked, bumping shoulders at first and then, as the people further up the beach were swallowed by the darkness, holding hands. They walked close to the water, and small waves tickled Hayden’s toes. His bare feet sank in the wet sand, and the hems of his jeans were soaked wet and stuck to his legs. He tasted salt on his lips.
“I always forget I live ten minutes away from the beach,” Matt said. “I mean, it’s really nice, but it never occurs to me that it’s an option to just come out here, you know?”

Matt takes the words right out of my mouth there. Ten minutes away, but I rarely make the time to go there, because other things always get in the way. One good thing about writing Lights and Sirens was the chance to view my hometown in a new way, and to describe it for my readers, and to remember that I should take the time to enjoy it as well.

To celebrate the release of Lights and Sirens, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Amazon voucher and a package of whatever Australian goodies I can think of!  Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on September 21, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact email!
 



Meet the Author

 
Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.

Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn't know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she's too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.

She shares her house with too many cats, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.

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Tour Schedule

9/13 - Joyfully Jay
9/14 - Love Bytes

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Review: Haunted (Hours of the Night #2.5) by Irene Preston & Liv Rancourt

Noel Chandler had a good reason for leaving the L.A.P.D. for New Orleans, but when he walks into a burned out Garden District mansion, he discovers there are some things he can’t outrun. The spooks can find him anywhere.

As the resident historian for the cable show Haunts and Hoaxes, Professor Adam Morales keeps an open mind about the supernatural. Or that’s what he tells himself, until he meets a man who puts that principle to the test. Noel’s smart, sexy, and has killer cop instincts. One glance from his bedroom eyes has Adam ready to believe anything.

But is Noel haunted, crazy, or just another hoax?





I have loved this series ever since I read Vespers but I didn't love this short.

Preston and Rancourt created two rich and multi-dimensional characters in Thad and Sara. The atmosphere they've crafted for them to inhabit is luscious, capable of transporting me to the Big Easy every time.

"Haunted", by comparison, is anemic. I know it's not meant to be compared nor is it fair to do so, but Thad and Sara cast a big shadow and Noel and Adam failed to break from that shadow. For me.

I found their connection implausible and they weren't well developed. Noel starts off being an anger ball but 180s for seemingly no reason in the middle and starts disclosing things to Adam and trusting him when he ordinarily trusts no one.

The paranormal aspects had potential, but again, they fell flat for me.

There are any number of secondary characters in this series that have potential and perhaps a different pairing would've been more successful but these two characters failed to hold my interest. Maybe if it longer and they were more fleshed out it would've worked better.

I wouldn't recommend this but I would most definitely recommend the rest of the series, however my opinions are my own and YMMV.


A review copy was provided.



Giveaway + Blog Tour: The Mystery of the Moving Image (Snow & Winter #3) by C.S. Poe


C.S. Poe is here today promoting the latest in her popular Snow & Winter series from DSP Publications, The Mystery of the Moving Image! Read an exclusive from the series and be sure to enter to win signed paperback copies all 3 of the books in the series! Good luck!


Hello one last time, friends! I’m C.S. Poe and this is the final stop on The Mystery of the Moving Image blog tour. This is the third book in the mystery-romance series, Snow & Winter. Here is the conclusion to the frustrating apartment hunt that Sebastian and Calvin have been enduring since Book Two, The Mystery of the Curiosities.

And check out the last giveaway as well! I have the first three paperback books in the series signed and ready for a bookshelf!

Please enjoy Part 5 of my coda.

C.S. Poe


I stepped out of the dangerously overcrowded Starbucks and approached Calvin and Dillon standing beside a USPS postal box. I tried to nudge my sunglasses up with my arm while holding the coffee cups—which didn’t work—and instead some hot droplets of house brew dribbled down my hand and wrist.
“Shit.”
Calvin reached forward, took his latte, and then pushed my sunglasses up my nose with his other hand. “Thank you,” he said.
“Oh sure.” I took a drink of the blessed hot water and bean concoction. “What time is it?”
Calvin looked down at his watch. “7:30 a.m.”
I grunted and began walking. Calvin fell into step alongside me.
“Do you need help at the Emporium today?”
“No, no. Don’t be silly.”
“It’s not silly of me to ask.”
Fuck. How does Calvin do this to me at the most random and seemingly innocent moments?
I slid my free hand around his arm, holding lightly. “Correction. I appreciate the offer, but I want you to enjoy your time off.”
“Call if you change your mind.”
I took another sip of coffee. “Maybe we should consider Brooklyn,” I said with a bit of reluctance.
“Do you want to live in Brooklyn?”
“No. But I’m ready to give up on the East Village.” We stopped at the end of the block and waited for the light to change before crossing. “Max keeps pushing for us to move out there.”
Calvin laughed. “Max just wants a buddy to live closer to hang out with.”
“I’m a decade older than Max.”
“You’re still his friend.” Calvin came to a stop before we reached the end of the next street. He let Dillon sniff a tree. “If you want to stay in your neighborhood, then we won’t stop looking. Got it?”
“Got—” I glanced to my side as a woman stepped out of a front door, cursing while staring at her phone. She was dressed in a smart suit with her hair pulled back in a bun. “—it.” I watched her put the cell to her ear, wait, and then hang up on the call. “You okay, ma’am?”
She glanced up. “Are you Mr. Johnson?”
“Ah, no, sorry.”
She frowned again. “My apologies.” She pocketed the phone. “I organized this early-morning viewing and my client has apparently bailed on me.” She put her hands on her hips. “I got up at 5:00a.m. for this.”
That’s when I noticed the sign behind her on the front door.
FOR RENT
I let go of Calvin’s arm and stepped toward her. “Are you a Realtor?”
She raised an eyebrow, but instinctually pulled a business card from her coat pocket. “Kelly Green. I’ve only had the job a week though.”
I took the card and brought it closer to study the small text.
“I’m not off to a hot start,” she added a bit glumly.
I stared at her again and waved Calvin over, unaware if he was even looking our way. “This is the place?” I asked, nodding my chin at the building.
She turned and pointed up. “Yeah. It just went up for rent. It’s an older building, but on the fourth floor, the apartment has been renovated into a huge, gorgeous loft with stairs. It has giant bay windows overlooking the street. It’s a real steal. I can’t believe that fuc— ah— Mr. Johnson didn’t show.”
I grinned suddenly. “Can we see it?”
Kelly turned to me once more. “Sorry?”
I felt Calvin step close. I motioned to the two of us, her business card still in my hand. “We’ve been trying to find a new place in the East Village for two months. I’m desperate.”
“Don’t you want to know the cost? Additional fees? About the neighborhood?”
“Oh no,” I answered. “Cost— whatever. Fees—we’ll pay them. Neighborhood—I got it.”
O-Okay,” Kelly drew out. “Sure, then. Come inside.” She unlocked the front door, led us past a wall of small mailboxes, and to the stairs. “If you do happen to like it, we’ll have to run a credit report of course.”
“We’ve both got good credit,” Calvin said, bringing up the rear.
Kelly stopped at the second floor. “I didn’t get your names.”
“Sebastian Snow.”
“Calvin Winter.”
“Pleasure to meet you both.” She seemed a bit brighter and more enthusiastic by the time we reached the fourth floor. “The super is very helpful. There’s laundry machines in the basement. Ah, here it is, 4B.” Kelly unlocked the door and let me step inside first. “What do you think?”
I let out a breath. “Hot damn.”


Tour:
09/10/18 – Gay Book Reviews
09/11/18 – Love Bytes Reviews
09/12/18 – Two Chicks Obsessed
09/13/18 – It’s About the Book
09/14/18 – Boy Meets Boy


Blurb:
It’s summer in New York City, and antique shop owner Sebastian Snow is taking the next big step in his relationship with NYPD homicide detective, Calvin Winter: they’re moving in together. What should have been a wonderful week of playing house and celebrating Calvin’s birthday comes to an abrupt end when a mysterious package arrives at the Emporium.

Inside is a Thomas Edison Kinetoscope, a movie viewer from the nineteenth century, invented by the grandfather of modern cinema, W. K. L. Dickson. And along with it, footage of a murder that took place over a hundred years ago.

Sebastian resists the urge to start sleuthing, even if the culprit is long dead and there’s no apparent danger. But break-ins at the Emporium, a robbery, and dead bodies aren’t as easy to ignore, and Sebastian soon realizes that the century-old murder will lead him to a modern-day killer.
However, even with Sebastian’s vast knowledge of Victorian America and his unrelenting perseverance in the face of danger, this may be the one mystery he won’t survive.


Purchase Links:


Author bio:


C.S. Poe is a Lambda Literary and EPIC award finalist author of gay mystery, romance, and paranormal books.

She is a reluctant mover and has called many places home in her lifetime. C.S. has lived in New York City, Key West, and Ibaraki, Japan, to name a few. She misses the cleanliness, convenience, and limited-edition gachapon of Japan, but she was never very good at riding bikes to get around.

​She has an affinity for all things cute and colorful and a major weakness for toys. C.S. is an avid fan of coffee, reading, and cats. She’s rescued two cats—Milo and Kasper do their best on a daily basis to sidetrack her from work.

C.S. is a member of the International Thriller Writers organization.

Her debut novel, The Mystery of Nevermore, was published by DSP Publications, 2016.





Snow & Winter 1 – 3 signed paperbacks.

Rules & Regulations:
Giveaway ends 10/21/18
One winner will be randomly chosen by C.S. Poe
Open to US and International mailing addresses.

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Audiobook Review: Bad Boyfriend (Bad in Baltimore #2) by K.A. Mitchell

Causing trouble has never been more fun.

Eli Wright doesn’t follow anyone’s rules. When he was seventeen, his parents threw him out of the house for being gay. He’s been making his own way for the past five years and he’s not about to change himself for anyone’s expectations. For now, romance can wait. There are plenty of hot guys to keep him entertained until he finds someone special.

Quinn Maloney kept the peace and his closeted boyfriend’s secrets for ten years. One morning he got a hell of a wake-up along with his coffee. Not only did the boyfriend cheat on him, but he’s marrying the girl he knocked up. Inviting Quinn to the baby’s baptism is the last straw. Quinn’s had enough of gritting his teeth to play nice. His former boyfriend is in for a rude awakening, because Quinn’s not going to sit quietly on the sidelines. In fact, he has the perfect scheme, and he just needs to convince the much younger, eyeliner-wearing guy who winks at him in a bar to help him out.

Eli’s deception is a little too good, and soon he has everyone believing they’re madly in love. In fact, he’s almost got Quinn believing it himself….

First Edition published by Samhain Publishers Inc., December 2011.


Listening Length: 6 hours and 34 minutes
Narrator: Chet Daniel


Reviewer: Shee Reader

Quinn comes home early to find his live-in boyfriend of ten years packing up to leave him. Peter has always maintained he’s ‘straight’ despite the boyfriend his family calls his roommate. Quinn is broken hearted, or so he thinks. Meeting hot little Eli in the club and taking him home to soothe the ache, then asking him to be Quinn’s plus one to the family christening the next day isn’t his smartest idea. The baby belongs to Peter (the ex) and his wife who it turns out Peter was cheating on Quinn with. This event is a cluster-f*ck in the making! Quinn’s brilliant beer-fuelled idea that taking a hot date with him will make it clear that Quinn is in fact gay, and consequently so is Peter…

I do absolutely adore the “pretend relationship where they fall in love” trope, and this is a super example of the species! Eli can’t understand why Quinn is so involved with the ex’s family, and decides to have a little fun until Peter propositions him in the bathroom.

The set up for this story is awesome! Eli is a wonderfully flamboyant character who has had some hard knocks. I really liked him from the outset, and he is such a good fit for Quinn, even if Quinn is extremely slow on the uptake! I liked Quinn too, but my heart was for Eli. This is the second book in the series and we get to see Eli’s friends (from book 1) quite a bit in Eli's story. I do love a series where we get to check in on characters and their HEA in the next book!

There was a good deal of pace and low level angst in the story. Peter needed a serious kick up the ass but he didn’t get it. Maybe in the next book??? The HEA is lovely and worth all the drama.

Chet Daniels isn’t my favourite ever narrator, he’s pretty monotone, but he did kind of grow on me, and I didn’t hate his characterisation.

I really liked the story, but maybe I’d have loved it more if I’d been reading and not listening!