Release Blitz + Giveaway: Behind the Sun, Above the Moon Anthology by Various Authors

The non-binary science fiction and fantasy anthology, Behind the Sun, Above the Moon, is out from NineStar Press! Join the authors and IndiGo Marketing the celebration! Interested in learning more? There are featured stories from authors Ziggy Schutz, Paige S. Allen, Brooklyn Ray, J.S. Fields, S.R. Jones, Alex Harrow, Emmet Nahil, Sara Codair, and Anna Zabo! Plus, you can enter in the $10 NSP credit giveaway!

Title: Behind the Sun, Above the Moon

Author: Ziggy Schutz, Paige S. Allen, Brooklyn Ray, J.S. Fields, S.R. Jones, Alex Harrow, Emmet Nahil, Sara Codair, Anna Zabo

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: February 17, 2020

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: M/NB, F/NB

Length: 91300

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy, LGBT, contemporary, fantasy, science fiction, trans, nonbinary, magic, short stories

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Synopsis

A Queer anthology inspired by magic and the cosmos, a vast and beautiful place where planets, stars, comets—entire galaxies, even—live without borders, specifications or binaries. Stories span science fiction, science fantasy, contemporary, fabulism and magical realism, and celebrate Non-binary and Transgender characters.

twice-spent comet by Ziggy Schutz

From Dusk to Dying Sun by Paige S. Allen

Lost/Found by Brooklyn Ray

Awry with Dandelions by J.S. Fields

The Far Touch by S.R. Jones

Ink and Stars by Alex Harrow

Horologium by Emmet Nahil

Death Marked by Sara Codair

Weave the Dark, Weave the Light by Anna Zabo

Excerpt

twice-spent comet
On an isolated asteroid, Fer serves out their sentence with a found family of ramshackle criminals. Life takes an exciting turn when they befriend Ophelia, a beautiful humanoid creature with a tail like a comet.

From Dusk to Dying Sun
Jay Morrison almost believes the rumors of magic and mischief haunting the US-50. But their partner, Luis Inoa, has made a career guarding the dusty Nevada trails. According to him, the only scary things on the highway are the silences, until a group of tourists break open the sun and disappear into a fiery blaze.

Lost/Found
When Hollis Griffin, a lonely sex worker living in Venice Beach, forms an unlikely friendship with a fallen star, she begins to face the truth about her life, her past, and what the future holds.

Awry with Dandelions
For thirty seconds every night, a disembodied specter named Mette visits with Orin who has long since written the ghost woman off as a recurring dream. But when Mette suggests meeting in real life, Orin’s inner world turns out to be more substantial than imaginary, and xie embarks on a journey to discover the truth of Mette and their strange connection.

The Far Touch
A long-standing coven of witches trek to their sacred space and accidentally discover life on another planet when their Solstice celebration interferes with a lone practitioner.

Ink and Stars
Locked in a contract to steal their ex-lovers ship, Chaz Neoma comes face to face with consequences, lost partnership, and the chance at a future, after discovering they aren’t the last Weaver in the universe.

Horologium
In the far reaches of the Horologium Supercluster, an astronaux is stranded alone on a long-distance astral ship where they’re visited by three apparitions, telling stories of ancestors who traveled space before them. Coeie must decide whether to follow the ghosts of the past, or forge their own path through the cosmos.

Death Marked
As chief security officer in the Lunar Guard, Enzi is in charge of the security for their sister’s coming of age ceremony. A fragile relationship with their family doesn’t make keeping Ulsa safe any easier, and neither does a group of pesky drones or a hidden plot to overthrow their sister’s place in the family.

Weave the Dark, Weave the Light
On a crisp night, Ari, a supposed elemental witch, meets Jonathan Aster, a powerful being they desperately want to understand. As they explore an intense, intimate and passionate relationship, Ari unearths long-hidden mysteries about themself and their magic.

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

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Giveaway + Blog Tour: Reverb (Twisted Wishes #3) by Anna Zabo

Join author Anna Zabo & A Novel Take PR in celebrating the release of Reverb (Twisted Wishes #3) which is out now! Find out more about this contemporary rockstar romance, read an exclusive excerpt & enter in the giveaway for a $10 Amazon gift card & a backlist ebook from the author! Good luck!

Exclusive Excerpt for BMBR:

Now David was here. Compact, intelligent, handsome David, with his bell-like voice. Seemed pretty damn mature.
“How old are you, anyway?”
She’d asked right as he’d taken a bite of his Italian sub. David rolled his eyes and chewed, taking his time. She chuckled and went back to eating her own food.
When he finished, he took a gulp of water and met her gaze. “I’m forty-three.”
She nearly choked on her sandwich. No fucking way he was ten years older than her. She couldn’t say anything because her mouth was full. Payback.
David’s eyes danced with amusement. “I know. I look younger.”
She finally swallowed, and with a rough voice answered, “Much.”
He made one of those amused sexy grunts guys could do. Damn him. But he slipped into serious with an apologetic shrug. “You shouldn’t be kept out of the loop. I can show you the stuff Adrian’s been getting and explain the situation, if you’d like.”
Fucking at last. “This gonna throw me off practice?”
“Yes,” Ray said. “Mish…don’t. Not now.”
David inspected his food, then met her gaze. “It’ll probably piss you the fuck off, so I’d recommend later. And maybe a beer or something stronger after that.”
Well, fuck. “You do realize that I’ve been an opinionated woman on the internet, right?” She’d kept a low profile after joining Twisted Wishes, but before that—well. She’d had some choice words thrown at her. Different name back then, though, so nothing to connect her to Twisted Wishes unless you knew where to look.
His brows furrowed. “It’s not rape threats or someone yelling whore or cunt or trying to doxx you.” He took another bite—a small one—and chewed. Stalling technique? Probably.
“So after practice, then. Go out for drinks?”
He shook his head. “Somewhere private.”
Well, there was only one place that would fit the bill. “Hey, David, wanna go home with me?”
He had the decency to blush. Granted, it was faint, a hint of color on his cheeks and under his beard, but a victory nonetheless. “Sure,” he answered. “I’ll even walk you.”
Her very own bodyguard. “Suddenly I feel like I’m in a Whitney Huston musical.”

Reverb by Anna Zabo

Series: Twisted Wishes #3

Publisher: Carina Press

Release Date (Print & Ebook): May 6th 2019 (E-only at the moment)

Length (Print & Ebook): 105,000 words

Subgenre: Contemporary Rockstar romance, LGBT romance (m/f with a queer trans man and a pansexual cis woman)

Warnings: Plot revolves around the stalking of a rockstar. Two scenes in a hospital. Short flashback to the start of attempted sexual assault of a minor that is quickly interrupted.

Universal link: books2read.com/u/mgLQD7

Book synopsis:

Twisted Wishes bass player Mish Sullivan is a rock goddess—gorgeous, sexy and comfortable in the spotlight. With fame comes unwanted attention, though: a stalker is desperate to get close. Mish can fend for herself, just as she always has. But after an attack lands her in the hospital, the band reacts, sticking her with a bodyguard she doesn’t need or want.

David Altet has an instant connection with Mish. A certified badass, this ex-army martial arts expert can take down a man twice his size. But nothing—not living as a trans man, not his intensive military training—prepared him for the challenge of Mish. Sex with her is a distraction neither of them can afford, yet the hot, kink-filled nights keep coming.

When Mish’s stalker ups his game, David must make a choice—lover or bodyguard. He’d rather have Mish alive than in his bed. But Mish wants David, and no one, especially not a stalker, will force her to give him up.

Anna Zabo talks Reverb:

Sometimes protectors need protecting, and there’s no shame in that. It doesn’t make you weak. Sometimes you have to let go of the expectations you’ve carved into yourself to be with someone. Also that the love of family and friends is just as important as romantic love.

About Anna Zabo:

Anna Zabo writes contemporary and paranormal romance for all colors of the rainbow. They live and work in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which isn’t nearly as boring as most people think.

Anna grew up in the wilds of suburban Philadelphia before returning to their ancestral homelands in Western Pennsylvania. They can be easily plied with coffee.

Anna has an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, where they fell in with a roving band of romance writers and never looked back. They also have a BA in Creative Writing from Carnegie Mellon University.

Anna uses they/them pronouns and prefers Mx. Zabo as an honorific.

Connect with Anna:
https://twitter.com/amergina
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AnnaZabo/
https://annazabo.com/
https://www.instagram.com/amergina/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6571479.Anna_Zabo
https://www.facebook.com/AnnaZabo/
http://eepurl.com/1QCZ9 (newsletter)

Win any back-catalog e-book by Anna Zabo + a $10 Amazon gift card. Open internationally. Must be 18 to enter and win.

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Giveaway + Blog Tour: Outside the Lines (A Bluewater Bay Novel) by Anna Zabo

Anna Zabo & Riptide Publishing are here today to promote the newest Bluewater Bay novel, Outside the Lines. Be sure to leave a comment to be entered to win a $25 Riptide credit! Good luck!

About Outside the Lines

Miniature artist Ian Meyers has one week to rebuild his damaged set. Needing help, he goes to End o’ Earth, the local comic and gaming shop. Owner Simon Derry pushes all of Ian’s buttons, and he also has steady hands and the skills Ian needs.

Before they can even grab a beer, Ian meets Lydia Derry, Simon’s wife. If Ian had any interest in women, he’d suggest a threesome, but then Simon explains that he and Lydia are polyamorous, and if Ian wants Simon, neither of them will complain. If anything, Lydia encourages the relationship.

Ian’s all in, and it’s fantastic working with Simon to piece together his set and then take each other apart at night. His friendship with Lydia grows too. The only problem is, the more time he spends with Simon, the more he wants everything Simon already has with Lydia: A house. A cat. A commitment. So Ian runs, and shatters the trust he has with them both—right when they need him the most. Piecing their relationships back together might prove harder than a smashed set.

Available now from Riptide Publishing!

About Bluewater Bay

Welcome to Bluewater Bay! This quiet little logging town on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula has been stagnating for decades, on the verge of ghost town status. Until a television crew moves in to film Wolf’s Landing, a soon-to-be cult hit based on the wildly successful shifter novels penned by local author Hunter Easton.

Wolf’s Landing’s success spawns everything from merchandise to movie talks, and Bluewater Bay explodes into a mecca for fans and tourists alike. The locals still aren’t quite sure what to make of all this—the town is rejuvenated, but at what cost? And the Hollywood-based production crew is out of their element in this small, mossy seaside locale. Needless to say, sparks fly.

This collaborative story world is brought to you by eleven award-winning, best-selling LGBTQ romance authors: L.A. Witt, L.B. Gregg, Z.A. Maxfield,  Heidi Belleau, Rachel Haimowitz, Anne Tenino, Amy Lane, SE Jakes, G.B. Gordon, Jaime Samms and Ally Blue. Each contemporary novel stands alone, but all are built around the town and the people of Bluewater Bay and the Wolf’s Landing media empire.

Check it out at Riptide Publishing!

About Anna Zabo

Anna Zabo writes contemporary and paranormal romance for all colors of the rainbow. They live and work in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which isn’t nearly as boring as most people think.

Anna grew up in the wilds of suburban Philadelphia before returning to their ancestral homelands in Western Pennsylvania. As a child they were heartily disappointed to discover that they couldn’t grow up to be what they wanted (a boy, a cat, a dragon), so they settled on being themself whenever possible, which may be a combination of a boy, a cat, and a dragon. Or perhaps a girl, a knight, and a writer. Depends on whom you ask. They do have a penchant for colorful ties and may be hording a small collection of cufflinks.They can be easily plied with coffee.

Anna has an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, where they fell in with a roving band of romance writers and never looked back. They also have a BA in Creative Writing from Carnegie Mellon University.

Twitter: @amergina

To celebrate the release of Outside the Lines, one lucky winner will receive a $25 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 23, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Review: Daily Grind (Takeover #4) by Anna Zabo

A man discovers that love can show up when you least expect it—and in a much different form—in this piping-hot romance from the author of Due Diligence and Just Business.

Brian Keppler, owner of Ground N'At, the coffee shop beneath SR Anderson Consulting, doesn't have time for a relationship. His most recent girlfriend broke up with him because he'd become married to his shop, which is falling apart without his favorite barista, Justin.

As he struggles to stay afloat, the arrival of handsome British high-tech whiz Robert Ancroft becomes another complication. Rob quickly becomes a fixture at the shop with his sharp wit and easy charm, and Brian soon finds himself looking forward more and more to Rob's visits—to the point where his heart skips a beat when he walks in.

But will Brian be able to come to terms with his previously unexplored sexual identity and find happiness now that he has a chance?

Coffee shop owner Brian Keppler is struggling to keep his business going. The last thing on his mind is a relationship. That is until tech whiz Robert Ancroft walks into his shop, making Brian wants things that he’s never acknowledged before.

Both Rob and Brian want the same thing - a serious relationship. But Brian’s business troubles and reluctance to accept help puts a wedge between the two before they get a chance at their happy ever after.

Coffee enthusiasts will probably love this book. There’s coffee everywhere - the shop, Brian and Rob’s own love for coffee, and the numerous coffee-related puns and jokes. I thought it would get stale at a point, but I didn’t mind the coffee-mania.

I had no trouble connecting with either Brian or Rob. Though it was clear from the beginning that Brian’s business troubles would lead to problems, he’s a genuinely likeable person who cares about his friends and customers.

I really appreciated that the author didn’t bury Brian’s bisexuality, which is often too common in MM romance. There’s definitely no bi-erasure here.

Rob, a ginger-haired techie, was smooth and suave from the first time he stepped into Ground N’At, Brian’s coffee shop. But underneath the polished exterior was a lonely man looking for someone to love who would love him back.

The connection between Rob and Brian is immediate. They have similar interests and both are happy to explore where the spark between them goes. What I liked most was that they instinctively understood one another.

Plus, they were killer in the bedroom. Brian jumps right into the joys of man-on-man sex. And if you like dirty talk, you’ll be pleased.

The relationship moves along very quickly. It’s not insta-love, but it’s close. I thought the “I love yous,” which pop out in the middle of a sex scene, came way too soon. It made me wonder whether that was just the great sex talking, particularly because Brian and Rob had both been alone for so long.

Also, I didn’t really like that Brian’s coffee shop was the third party in the relationship. It was certainly realistic, as a failing business can definitely impact relationships. But it was always there. It got to the point where I started feeling the stress myself.

The drama with the coffee shop ended up distracting me from the actual romance. At a certain point, I just didn’t care what happened to the shop, so long as Brian and Rob could move on.

Even so, ‘Daily Grind’ was quite enjoyable. The business drama took up way too much of the book in my opinion, but Rob and Brian’s romance still delivered on the sweet and sexy. If you’re looking for a contemporary relationship-focused MM book, give this a try.

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Review: Just Business (Takeover #2) by Anna Zabo

From the thrilling new author of Takeover, a steamy new novel about having all the control—and losing it…

Note from the author: This is the followup to Takeover and features Justin and Eli. Sam and Michael are fairly important characters in this book as well.

Justin White may not look like an up and coming corporate superstar, but his new boss knows he has the smarts, grit, and determination to succeed. Now he just has to convince his company’s CFO, Eli Ovadia. Unfortunately, Justin can’t seem to keep his cool around the domineering Eli—and soon he finds himself taking their heat from the boardroom into the bedroom….

Still haunted by a tragic accident that left him with a wounded leg and broken heart, Eli has a need to be in control. But his desire for Justin makes him want to lose that control—and push them both far beyond their limits. But will his need to dominate Justin drive him away—or will Eli find a way to be the man he needs for both of them? 

Just Business started off great! The kinky sexual innuendos slung between Justin and Eli were fun, sexy and had me chomping at the bit. I just knew this was going to be the book that took Zabo to the next level. Unfortunately, this didn't work for me.

There were a couple of hiccups in the beginning, but I was enjoying myself so I raised an eyebrow or two but largely ignored them.

They wend up at the same kink party and two things happened:  (1) I got bored; (2) we took a hard left in BDSM sponsored by Disney.

Eli is the finest, most sought after and, coincidentally, most elusive dom in all the land, I mean Pittsburgh. For reasons. I'm not exactly sure what those reasons are, but I'm assuming we're supposed to just go with it. Fine, fine. What the hell, right?

Though I'm fairly certain that the finest dom in all the land wouldn't fuck a sub's face in public without first having had the limits talk, but maybe I'm being too persnickety. 

Then I got to 42% and read this:

I love their pain, love making them feel it. How they move, how they sound. I-how can I not be a monster? People aren't like this!

NOnononononononononononoNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 

There's a whole party's worth of people that are monsters then! Way to be judge-y, Eli.

If Eli's the finest dom in all the land that implies he's been around, knows the ropes, one might even presuppose that he's made peace with his deviance. I guess one should never presuppose.

So, my interest took a nosedive. Reading manufactured conflict a.k.a. a BDSexistentialM crisis is not my cuppa.

I decided to take a break hoping when I came back it was all a mirage.

Was not to be.

I came back to Justin inexplicably comparing Eli to his former abusive dom on top of Eli's woes! I still can't make heads or tails out of this comparison. It's nonsensical. It came out of left field. I was left with no choice but to deduce that it, too, is as bogus as Eli's BDSexistenialM crisis. 

I realize traumatic events can crop up at unexpected times and wreak havoc and both of them have had a rough go of it and I do empathize with that; however, that doesn't excuse the lie of omission nor does it give one free reign to overgeneralize and pigeonhole another. ANY relationship should be based on trust, especially one wherein you're surrendering your body to the desires of another and that other could very well be wielding a whip.

Justin should've trusted Eli enough to tell at least a portion of the truth, enough to let Eli know where landmines might be. This combined Eli angst/Justin ridiculousity nonsense builds over the next twenty percent, inflaming my ire to dangerous levels. 

All the time building toward a crescendo of epic Theater of the Ridiculous proportions. It's so absurd that I started to think I was reading AU instead of contemporary. Justin willfully (IMO) loses touch with reality and starts making all sorts of bizarre comparisons that have no basis in reality. 

They make medications for this. They're called anti-psychotics. Or therapy. Let's try some therapy, shall we?

Naturally and incomprehensibly, they still want each other, despite the cray cray and make their torturous way to an HEA. My only hope is they will move to an isolated island with all the other whackadoodles so they don't infect the rest of the population. Who knows if this is airborne.

Needless to say, I didn't connect with either of these MCs. The BDSM dynamics didn't work for me, though they were occasionally titilating. The kinky sexual innuendos at the beginning were the bright spot and deserving of a half star. I'm not so callus as to say that I wasn't affected by the resolution, but it still felt like a Disney movie with an oversimplified resolution to complex relational issues. The Judaism aspects were interesting. I always enjoy learning new information regardless of topic, but Judaism is not what brought me to this party nor was it enough to save it. 

A frustrating and disappointing read for me, but judging by early reviews I'm in the minority so... grain of salt.

An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Find out more on Goodreads.

Review: Takeover by Anna Zabo

Michael Sebastian thought Curacao would be the perfect place to have a little fun in the sun—and between the sheets. So far, no one has struck his interest, until Sam Anderson walks into the bar. With one look at his tense body and expensive suit, Michael knows that this is a man in need of release. And Michael is more than willing to lend a hand.

Shattered by the most intense sex he’s ever had, Sam has to face the facts—one night with a handsome, dominating stranger is all he gets before returning to the closet he’s been suffocating in for years. But when Sam starts his new job as the CEO of a failing technology company, he discovers that Michael is one of his new employees.

While Michael is desperate for another night with Sam, he knows he shouldn’t get involved with his boss, let alone another man who can’t accept who he is. But as they’re forced to work together to save the company, the desire sparking between them becomes impossible to ignore… 

In a word-wordy.

This is my first experience with this author and overall I enjoyed it. Was it memorable? Probably not, though I would read something else by this author. Like that anthology that's forthcoming.

I like the premise of a one night stand that turns into something. Michael and Sam meet in a bar in Curaçao, have an intense experience, maybe wish it could be more but know it's only one night. Let me tell you that one night was a helluva way to start off this book!

Naturally, their paths cross again. 

Both Michael and Sam are surprised when Sam turns out to be Michael's new CEO and try to forge a platonic relationship but Pandora's box has been opened. This may be here nor there, but there was an awful lot of cock talk and not a lot of cock action which made them seem like two horny teens rather than two adults. I'd almost want to call this a slow burn were it not for their occasional sexcapades. There are many hurdles to overcome the first being Sam's sort of in the closet and Michael's last relationship crashed and burned because his lover was in the closet and Michael has vowed not to go there again. 

I had issues with Sam's rationale for not correcting his colleagues on his sexuality. I get being prudent rather than Liberaceing out in the boardroom, but it's a contemporary book, set in the US. The same country that allows same sex marriage in 36 states and Sam's convinced that he'll be ruined in the business industry if he came out? I have trouble believing that and what's more it was agonized over to broken record levels.

The inverse power dynamics is the second hurdle. Sam is a sexual submissive/masochist in the bedroom but in the boardroom he's CEO, a well respected CEO at that. Not that I have exacting standards when it comes to romance novels, but this dynamic is actually quite common in RL and I couldn't work out why it was such a sticking point for Sam. It's not as though he and Michael would be posting sex vids on pornhub or anything. Get over it. No one cares. Personally, I liked how needy Sam was and how he craved what Michael could give him. 

The third hurdle was they couldn't get out of their own way. Remember that scene in Cold Mountain? The rain scene with Renée Zellweger? "They made the weather then stand in the rain and say, 'shit, it's raining'!" They do that. It annoys me when people do that. Tons of words to accompany the rain making too. But, the upside was being shown them becoming friends, getting to know each other, building a relationship and how hot for each other they were even if it read a bit adolescent at times. 

The corporate maneuvering could've been toned down. There's only so much I need to know about mergers, acquisitions and routing technology in my romance novels and the end game on this front was anticlimactic anyway. 

So, it has good points and not so good points, but overall I enjoyed it.

A review copy was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Find out more on Goodreads.