Guest Review: Cupcakes & Christmas by R.J. Scott

The story of long nights in a wintry mountain hotel, a baking show with secrets, a snowman called Jeremy, and finding the greatest love of all.

After winning season four of ratings hit World’s Best Baking Show, Brody Thomas had become a sought-after cake maker to the stars. Happily married, he dreamed of a bright future, but his perfect life imploded when he discovered that his husband had done nothing but lie to him. A year later, Brody is mid-divorce, and his life has been turned upside down, so being part of the WBBS charity event is excellent timing. He’s sure it will give him time away from home and space to get his head straight, only he never expected to meet the man of his dreams in a snowy Alberta.

Winning season one of WBBS gave Justin Mallory a chance to outrun the demons of a childhood lost in the foster system. A social media influencer, with millions of followers and internet celebrity, leads to dollars in the bank. His marketing team signs him up for the WBBS Christmas charity show, even though everyone assumes that he won’t make it past the first round. Only, after a few days in the competition, his worry isn’t that he’ll be the first to leave, it’s that he’ll lose his heart to rival baker, Brody.

Reviewer: Shee Reader

If you follow RJ on any of her social media, you’ll know how obsessed she is with the Great British Bake Off (GBBO) which she cites as the inspiration for this festive tale. I love GBBO and I adored this book too!

It is charming, funny, sweet, exciting, and includes the cutest love story between rival bakers Brody and Justin. The characters are delightful and as charming as you’d expect from RJ. The dialogue is engaging and emotional. I so, so wanted Justin to be a bit more gentle with himself, and see that he was deserving of more than such a harshly pursued ‘brand’. And dear Brody - ah, his ex is a thorough douche, not good enough for him at all!

This book was a festive delight. The snowy hotel, the competition with bizarre sabotage and bake disasters and the cutest little romance. Oh when they built the snowman! *happy sigh* It was thoroughly lovely from start to finish.

I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Release Blitz + Giveaway: We Go Together by Abigail de Niverville

Author Abigail de Niverville and IndiGo Marketing promote contemporary YA release, We Go Together from NineStar Press! Learn more about the novel and enter in the $10 NSP credit giveaway!

Title: We Go Together

Author: Abigail de Niverville

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: August 10, 2020

Heat Level: 1 - No Sex

Pairing: Male/Female

Length: 62700

Genre: Contemporary YA, LGBTQIA+, contemporary, Canada, YA, bisexual, trans love interest, friendship, summer, beach, abuse, depression, grieving, family

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Synopsis

The beaches of Grand-Barachois had been Kat’s summer home for years. There, she created her own world with her “summer friends,” full of possibilities and free from expectation. But one summer, everything changed, and she ran from the life she’d created.

Now seventeen and on the brink of attending college, Kat is full of regret. She’s broken a friendship beyond repair, and she’s dated possibly the worst person in the world. Six months after their break-up, he still haunts her nightmares. Confused and scared, she returns to Grand-Barachois to sort out her feelings.

When she arrives, everything is different yet familiar. Some of her friends are right where she left them, while some are nowhere to be found. There are so many things they never got to do, so many words left unsaid.

And then there’s Tristan.

He wasn’t supposed to be there. He was just a guy from Kat’s youth orchestra days. When the two meet again, they become fast friends. Tristan has a few ideas to make this summer the best one yet. Together, they build a master list of all the things Kat and her friends wanted to do but never could. It’s finally time to live their wildest childhood dreams.

But the past won’t let Kat go. And while this may be a summer to remember, there’s so much she wants to forget.

Excerpt

We Go Together
Abigail de Niverville © 2020
All Rights Reserved
There was blood on my sheets.
“Not again,” I sighed, pulling the covers off me. Right at the top of the covers was a smattering of reddish-brown smears, prominent and angry.
I held my arm over my head and assessed the damage. The eczema that covered my inner arm burned bright against my pale, freckled skin. A few sores had broken, but no trace of blood. I lifted the other arm to check. The back of my hand was also flaring up, the knuckles bursting open.
“Goddamn,” I moaned, pressing my broken knuckle to my lips. Kissing wouldn’t make it better, but at least it was something. Months ago, my skin had been smooth and cold to the touch. Now, it was red, dry, and hot. All because one thing in my life had changed. Skin was so weird.
One big thing. But still. One thing.
I dragged myself out of bed and pulled the sheet off the mattress. This needed some serious stain removal. No dabs of water with a washcloth could save this mess.
I passed a brush through my hair, working out the knots, from the top of my head to the tips. I never brushed it back. I never put it up. Not anymore. The box of hair accessories stayed closed on the top of my dresser, the bows I’d collected over the years forgotten.
They had to go. But parting with them proved difficult. Every time I tried, I’d remember where they came from. Some were gifts, some were bought on significant days, some I’d worn on nights that held meaning. They all mattered to me in some capacity. Not enough for me to wear them without question, but enough that I’d hesitated whenever I tried to throw them in a donation bag.
The hair bows weren’t me. They used to be. I used to love vintage dresses and paper bag curls tied in a bow. Used to get all dressed up in blouses with lace and frills. It was my thing, the ultra-girly retro aesthetic. But since Christmas, wearing those clothes hadn’t given me the same joy it used to. The bows became young and kiddish, the clothes a caricature.
I was trapped between two versions of myself, and I didn’t know how to cross over from one to the next. I didn’t know how.
The bedroom door creaked open as I stepped into the hall, the smooth, painted wooden floorboards cool on my feet. Kay always left the stair window open, though nights were cold in Grand-Barachois. She said the air was good for us, and there was something refreshing about waking up in a chilled room.
The bathroom window had also been left open, and I went to it to lower the pane. Below, the water from the bay lapped on the beach. The cool air sifted into the small bathroom and hit my face. I pushed the pane down so it was only open a crack and moved to turn on the water at the tub.
I opened the cupboard below the sink, grabbed the box of baking soda, and shook some in, not bothering to measure the amount. When a small mound formed under the water, I considered that a success. Swishing my hand back and forth, I watched it dissolve and cloud the water.
This was my morning routine.
Somewhere in the midst of all this, I usually cried. It was hard to not, to let it all go. The love I’d had for him still lingered, but a hurt did too. An abandonment. And something else I couldn’t name yet, something that drove me to tears every day.
You need to move on.
My friend Gianna had told me that a few weeks ago, done with my pity party, with my lack of interest. Done trying to make me feel better. So, she snapped.
And who was I? What right did I have to be this upset, this…whatever? Gianna had had her heart broken three times. She had mastered the art of steeling herself, of being strong in the face of heartbreak. I was crying over a first love because I was naive enough to think we’d be together forever.
For the record, I never thought that.
I was crying because it hurt so much to be left the way Aaron had left me. Like I was nothing, and I didn’t matter. I was crying because he’d been nearly my first everything, and it had all happened the way he wanted it to. I was crying because…
Now, I was actually crying.
I slipped into the tub, holding my breath, as though that’d stop the tears. I splashed my face with water, rubbed it into my eyes. A melody hung in the air above me as I cried, the words repeating in my head over and over.
How did I end up here?
If you cried in the tub, were you really crying? Or was it water in your eyes? Or leftover soap on your hands making the tears well up?
If you cried in the tub, the water swallowed your tears. Like they were never there at all.

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon

Meet the Author

Abigail de Niverville is an author and composer based in Toronto, Canada. Born on the East Coast of Canada, Abigail draws inspiration from her experiences growing up there. When she’s not writing frantically, she also composes music and holds an M.Mus from the University of Toronto.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

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Review: But by the Grace of Dog (Four Legged Friends #1) by A.F. Henley

Thom Baron has been struggling with social anxiety his entire life. He's taken the medications, gone to the therapists, followed the programs, and concluded his best life is a solitary one. When he comes across a dog in obvious need at his local market, it rekindles the desire to have some company around. It may come with a dishevelled coat, a notched ear, and a refusal to respond to anything but its given name "Ugly," but it could still be a friend. 

However, Thom's new fur buddy has no such need to keep to itself and immediately befriends the man Thom has secretly coveted since he moved in -- Justin, Thom's gorgeous, bright-eyed neighbour. No matter how Thom tries to evade the man, the dog keeps drawing them back into each other's lives, and it doesn't take Thom long to recognize it's simply pursuing the demands of Thom's own heart. With the dog giving him the courage to try, Thom reaches out to return the love being offered. 

Until a stranger shows up insisting the dog is his and demanding its immediate return ... a loss Thom knows will take all of his efforts and newfound confidence with it.

Oh Dog, I would give you all the treats. All of them.

But by the Grace of Dog hits on some heavy topics in an approachable and honest way, given the level of Thom’s social anxiety, it really should have read more heavy than it did. Being in Thom’s head wasn’t always easy, but the author sure made the journey enlightening and worthwhile.

Thom has a severe case of social anxiety, being Thom isn’t easy and reading about what he went through to accomplish everyday tasks I handle with ease was a real eye opener. It was heartbreaking and exhausting just to read, so I can’t truly deem to imagine what it’s like to live like Thom on the daily.

Thom is destined to stay in his stressed out bubble until he meets Dog at the farmer’s market. Dog is a stinky stray, well, dog, whose future is the shelter where he probably won’t survive. Thom is a good guy to his core and there’s no way he can let that be a thing, so he adopts Dog and the two begin a journey that’s messy, ridiculous and just the absolute best.

Thom has a huge crush on his neighbor, Justin, and Dog manages to “create” scenarios where the two end up having to spend time together. It’s definitely not easy on Thom and the author did a really good job of balancing charmingly awkward moments with the true struggles Thom deals with. There was no magical peen that made everything miraculously better. Thom and Justin would take two steps forward and a step back, three steps forward and four back and so on and so on. But, they did move forward and the hard earned steps were like reading multiple meet cutes in one story.

Justin was the ONE for Thom, right from the get go. And the story could have been so full of angst if Justin weren’t so open, it was refreshing to read and was what made Thom and Justin (and Dog) work. I believe in these two (three) for the long haul and same goes for this series. If the next critter I meet in book 2 is half the critter Dog is, I’ll be a happy reader.

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

Blog Tour + Giveaway: But by the Grace of Dog by A.F. Henley

Welcome author A.F. Henley as they visit today with the But by the Grace of Dog blog tour! Henley chats about about writing this book and also sharing about the "A" word. Read more of today's visit to learn more! Plus, the author hosts a DOUBLE giveaway! Comment on today's post for a chance to win one of these adorable keychains, along with a promo pack! And enter in rafflecopter for a $25 JMS Books credit!

Hello, and welcome to the "But by the Grace of Dog" release tour. Thank you so much for joining me! I'm beyond excited for this release for a bunch of different reasons, but two of those reasons stand out as the most important for me. One – I just had way too much fun writing it. I got the opportunity to be puppet-master for a dog being its most silly-awesome self, I got the chance to re-explore the atmosphere of an open-air market, which is one of my most favourite ways of shopping, and I got to first spark and then fan the flames of new love between two deserving characters, and that always makes me all kinds of happy.

The second reason is that throughout the process of writing this novel, I was able to explore an aspect of myself and some close friends of mine that up until now, I'd done my utmost best to either hide or ignore completely – the "A" word.

That's right, anxiety.

As a child, I dealt with a lot more anxiety than I would have ever admitted to anyone. Both my brother and I experienced it frequently. My mom had a lot of her own issues that manifested from anxiety. It was something none of us talked about, however. In my family, it was quite actively enforced that we didn't even acknowledge it, let alone vocalize anything about it. That kind of weakness was not allowed. Ever.

Unfortunately, my own personal struggles with anxiety came to a head about three years ago following some intense and dramatic life changes that I had known were coming for a long time, but that I was still unprepared for. Not that I knew that was the problem... (My friend Kelly will be eyeing me in a not sweet way for that comment. There may have been one or two instances where Kelly gently suggested I might be experiencing anxiety attacks. There may also have been ninety or nine hundred, but who's keeping count?)

So, maybe I did know, but it would have taken an entire an entire herd of wild horses fleeing a forest fire while being chased by marauders with butcher knives to drag the admission out of me. I wasn't having anxiety attacks, you see, I was dying. I wasn't experiencing panic attacks – they were heart attacks. This wasn't something *gasp* mentally *gasp* challenging, it was physical, damn it, so give me a pill or do some kind of surgery, and let me get on with life.

As it turns out, I was not dying. They were not heart attacks. And the only thing "they" could do for me was help me help myself, although in the beginning there were some pills involved. But admitting that self-perceived weakness was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Continuing to admit it hasn't really grown any easier, but it's a work in progress and to be fair, here I am, talking about it and writing characters who are dealing with it.

I do hope you enjoy the story if you decide to read it, and I'd love to know what you think if you do. Anxiety is something we've all been forced to feel bad about, to keep hidden, so we can all keep pretending that we're stoic, untouchable beings made of mental and spiritual steel. I say, forget that. Let's share. Heck, let's share here in the comments below if you feel so inclined.

Please don't forget to keep reading for a short exclusive excerpt and all the details for not just one, but two giveaways to say thank you for your time. All it takes is a comment here for a chance at one of the adorable keychains pictured below and a promo pack. And, if you click through to the Rafflecopter, you'll get yourself a second chance at a freebee, this one for a $25 credit to JMS Books!

I'd also take this final minute to thank Boy Meets Boy Reviews for hosting me today. I couldn't do it without you, so thanks for having me!

Man + Dog + Neighbour = True Love (but does it equal a HEA?)

All my love,

AF Henley <3

But by the Grace of Dog, now available here: https://www.jms-books.com/af-henley-c-224_406/but-by-the-grace-of-dog-p-3048.html


Blurb

GENRE: Gay Erotic Romance, Canadian English
LENGTH: 49,400 words
RATING: contains some explicit sex scenes
NOTE: contains brief character thoughts about suicide

Thom Baron has been struggling with social anxiety his entire life. He's taken the medications, gone to the therapists, followed the programs, and concluded his best life is a solitary one. When he comes across a dog in obvious need at his local market, it rekindles the desire to have some company around. It may come with a dishevelled coat, a notched ear, and a refusal to respond to anything but its given name "Ugly," but it could still be a friend.

However, Thom's new fur buddy has no such need to keep to itself and immediately befriends the man Thom has secretly coveted since he moved in -- Justin, Thom's gorgeous, bright-eyed neighbour. No matter how Thom tries to evade the man, the dog keeps drawing them back into each other's lives, and it doesn't take Thom long to recognize it's simply pursuing the demands of Thom's own heart. With the dog giving him the courage to try, Thom reaches out to return the love being offered.

Until a stranger shows up insisting the dog is his and demanding its immediate return ... a loss Thom knows will take all of his efforts and newfound confidence with it.

Exclusive Excerpt

At that moment, a crowd—perhaps a family, perhaps a bunch of teenagers, it was impossible to tell with the sunlight blaring behind them—stepped into the building. The only options were to walk through the crowd or turn and go out the other way.

Thom spun on his heel, pulling Dog along. The other entrance was at the opposite end of the lengthy building, but if he hurried and his path stayed clear, they’d be okay. They would. They definitely would. Even though his breath was already hitching and even though his heart was fluttering in anticipation of that damn squeeze, he would be all right if he just made it to the door… One of the two back doors suddenly slammed shut.

The reality of the matter was that a single door shutting would make no difference to Thom’s ability to exit the building. Both entrances had extra-wide, double doors that were big enough for all kinds of equipment and animals to enter and exit. Thom’s heart, chest, and lungs were not rational at the moment, though. He shrieked like a kid in a haunted house. Pain lanced through his chest, his free hand clutched his pectoral, and his vision swam.

Move! Go! Get out! his mind screamed at him. He took a step forward, stumbled, and when he went down on one knee, all hell broke loose.

“Oh, my God, I think he’s having a heart attack!”

“Somebody call nine-one-one!”

“Get him on the ground!”

Hands came from everywhere, trying to push him down or roll him over. Somebody tried to get Dog’s leash out of his fist. Dog whined a low, dangerous sound.

“No,” Thom said, although he was pretty sure he was the only person who heard. “Don’t touch me. Leave me be.”

“I got this!”

A set of hands grabbed his shirt, hard enough to catch skin. With his free hand, Thom grabbed back, gripping one of the fists. He wheezed a plea, looked up, and it was Justin. The look on Justin’s face was enough to spike every emotion he was already feeling to its pinnacle, drowning an amygdala that was already pulsing on high alert with a cocktail of embarrassment, shame, and self-pity.
“No,” Thom whispered. “Leave me alone.”

“Come on, I got you,” Justin whispered. Then, to the crowd, “Let us by. He’ll be okay once he gets outside.” He frowned at someone talking into their phone. “Don’t call anyone. It’s not a heart attack. He doesn’t need medical attention.” He looked back at Thom. “I hope. Tell me if I’m wrong.”

Thom shook his head, gasping.

The “walk” was more of a “drag,” and Justin didn’t stop once they were outside. He continued to urge Thom along, mumbling to Dog and directing them until they rested against the temporary fencing that served as the perimeter for the market.

Then he let go, and when Thom sank to the ground, he did, too.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

Thom didn’t say anything, he just shook his head.

“Was it the people? Did somebody touch you?”

Thom shook his head again.

“The smell? The dark? Did you—”

“I don’t know,” Thom snapped. “Damn it, Justin, I don’t know, okay? If I knew what caused every meltdown, I would just not do it. Like I don’t g o to parties. Like I don’t talk to strangers. Like everything else I avoid in my life in an effort to stop this kind of thing from happening!” He tucked up his legs, then rested his head on his knees and breathed until his heart stopped pounding. “Leave me alone.”

“It’s okay. You’re fine. Just keep—”

“I’m not fine and it’s not okay!” Thom pushed away, fumbling to make sure he still had Dog’s leash. “I’m never okay! Don’t you get it? This is always the way it is, and this is not fine.”

~*~

Enjoy the blurb? Your copy is only a click away: https://www.jms-books.com/af-henley-c-224_406/but-by-the-grace-of-dog-p-3048.html

Giveaway

First, leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one of these adorable keychains, along with a promo pack. One winner per blog post. Second, check out the Rafflecopter link for a chance to win a $25 credit to JMS Books. One winner throughout the tour. All contests close December 9th.



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