Showing posts with label Christine d'Abo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christine d'Abo. Show all posts

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Losing It (Ringside Romance #4) by Christine d'Abo



Christine d'Abo and Riptide Publishing visit on the final day of the Losing It virtual book tour! Learn more about the final book in the Ringside Romance series! Comment on today's post for your chance to win $25 Riptide credit--ends February 24th 12AM EST!


Hello, my name is Christine d’Abo and I’m so happy to be here today.

All things, no matter how good and loved, must eventually come to an end. When I originally planned to write my Ringside Romance series, it was only going to be three books. But then my lovely Justin came into being and there was no way I could leave this world without giving him his happy ending. So here we are, at the final stop on the journey, with both excitement and a few tears.

Justin’s character was my way of showing myself that every character can be his or her own hero. That we don’t have to be slaves to our circumstances, that given the right motivation and support from those who love us, we can move past our own negativity and become someone more.

Justin thought the person to help him was Grady.

That was because he hadn’t met Finn yet.

By helping Finn find his voice, Justin realizes that there’s more to life, more to himself, than he’d ever realized. I hope you’ll join me for LOSING IT, the final tale in the world of the Ringside Gym, where even the most unlikely of heroes can find his happily ever after.




About Losing It



Finn Miller doesn’t do social. He works his IT job from home as often as he can to avoid people. If it weren’t for his weekly training sessions at Ringside Gym, he might never leave his apartment. And he only does that because of Leo, the gym member he’s in love with. When Finn gets talked into attending a speed dating fund-raiser at the gym, his greatest wish is to have the courage to try to say something—anything—to Leo.


Justin McCormick has spent most of his adult life being used, whether playing a corporate heavy, or acting as guard dog for his ward. So when he leaves Vancouver for a fresh start in Toronto, he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself.


The moment Justin sees Finn at a speed dating event, he knows there’s no way he’ll make it without a little help, so he offers to coach Finn on the art of conversation. What he doesn’t count on is his unexpected attraction to this shy boxer, or his fear that if Finn gets his way, Justin might lose out on his best chance at love.



About Ringside Romance


Deep in the heart of Toronto lies Ringside Gym. Once a safe haven for troubled teens, Ringside has gone derelict, a forgotten memory of past days. Until a group of friends set out to do what they can to bring life back to the ring and create a new home for LGBT youths.


But when their lives threaten to pull down their dreams, each man must turn to others to help make it a reality. Winners take all—but there are no losers in love.







About Christine d’Abo

A romance novelist and short story writer, Christine has over thirty publications to her name. She loves to exercise and stops writing just long enough to keep her body in motion too. When she’s not pretending to be a ninja in her basement, she’s most likely spending time with her family and two dogs.


You can visit Christine at her website www.christinedabo.com, and chat with her on Facebook and Twitter. Want to keep up with Christine’s new releases? Sign up for her newsletter and receive a free book!



Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Losing It, 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 February 24, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Giveaway + Blog Tour: Faking It (A Ringside Romance Novel) by Christine d'Abo


Christine d'Abo's here today talking about her latest Ringside Romance novel, Faking It.

Be sure to enter to win a $25 Riptide credit below. Good luck!



Hello, my name is Christine d’Abo and I’m so happy to be here today.

I’m a firm believer that the good friends are the family members that we get to choose. The get us on a level that sometimes our biological family doesn’t. When I came up with the idea of Ringside Gym and the men who were involved with it, I wanted to make sure that their relationships reflected that feeling.

Max would be the “middle” child of the trio of heroes. He’s my peacemaker, the one who wants to make sure everyone and everything is okay. But Max has a problem – he doesn’t know what to do when he’s not needed. Zack no longer needs him now that he has Noland in his life, and their other friend Eli has been MIA due to his MMA career. Max’s life begins to drift and he questions not only what he wants, but also who he wants in it.

When Grady Barnes shows up on the scene, Max is equal parts intrigued and annoyed. Here is a man who seems to have it all, but is seemingly at the whim of his father. When Grady asks Max for help, he takes a leap of faith and agrees. What Max doesn’t anticipate is how quickly Grady will work his way into his heart.

All Max needs to do is find a way to prevent Grady from being forced into a marriage he doesn’t want, while not giving in to his impulse to sweep Grady into his arm.

Simple, right?

You can visit Christine at her website www.christinedabo.com, and chat with her on Facebook and Twitter. Want to keep up with Christine’s new releases? Sign up for her newsletter and receive a free book!


About Faking It

Max Tremblay should be happy. His nightclub, Frantic, is one of the most popular gay clubs in Toronto, and his childhood refuge, Ringside Gym, is well on the way to reopening. But when he finds yet another drunk in the alley beside the bar, Max isn’t sure this is the life he truly wants.

Grady Barnes has it all. He’s rich, famous, and wants for nothing. Well, nothing but a good relationship with his father. When he discovers that his father is going to force him into an arranged marriage, Grady has had enough. He tracks down Max, the man who got him to safety after a night of overindulgence, and makes him a proposal: pretend to be his fiancĂ© for two weeks and he’ll invest in Ringside Gym.

When the pair travel to Vancouver to attend a family wedding, the flames of their mutual attraction ignite, and they discover that the only difference between pretend and reality is how well they can fake it.

Now available from Riptide Publishing.

http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/faking-it


About the Ringside Romance Universe

Deep in the heart of Toronto lies Ringside Gym. Once a safe haven for troubled teens, Ringside has gone derelict, a forgotten memory of past days. Until a group of friends set out to do what they can to bring life back to the ring and create a new home for LGBT youths.

But when their lives threaten to pull down their dreams, each man must turn to others to help make it a reality. Winners take all—but there are no losers in love.

Check out Ringside Romance.

http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/universe/ringside-romance


About Christine d’Abo

A romance novelist and short story writer, Christine has over thirty publications to her name. She loves to exercise and stops writing just long enough to keep her body in motion too. When she’s not pretending to be a ninja in her basement, she’s most likely spending time with her family and two dogs.

Connect with Christine:

Website: christinedabo.com
Blog: christinedabo.blogspot.ca
Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorChristinedAbo
Twitter: @Christine_dAbo
Tumblr: christinedabo.tumblr.com
Pintrest: pintrest.com/christinedabo
Goodreads: goodreads.com/christine_d_abo



To celebrate the release of Faking It, 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 May 13, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!


Giveaway + Blog Tour: Working It (Ringside Romance #1) by Christine d'Abo


We welcome Christine d'Abo today to talk about her newest release.

Don't miss out on an opportunity to win a $25 Riptide Credit below either!


Thank you for having me here today. I’m so happy to be able to talk to you about my new book, WORKING IT, which is book one in my new Ringside Romance series. Don’t let the series title fool you, this is low on the boxing and high on sexual tension.

As an avid reader of all things romance, I personally love it when authors take chances and play around with what we consider typical romance tropes. Those situations that for whatever reason, really work for us as lovers of romance. One of my personal favorite tropes is the whole boss-assistant dynamic. There’s something wonderful about the tension that can be created when two people are working together, under pressure and in close quarters, that appeals to me.

I wanted to take this trope and do something a little fun with it. What would happen if both the characters were gay? What if they were so vastly different that under any other circumstance they probably never meet, let alone fall in love? What if they worked day in and day out in an office together?

In WORKING IT, Nolan Carmichael is working through the trauma of a serious car accident. He gets a job as Zack Anderson’s executive assistant, a position that no one at the company wants. Somehow the two of them work through their differences and fall in love.

I hope you’ll come along for the ride.


You can visit Christine at her website www.christinedabo.com, and chat with her on Facebook and Twitter. Want to keep up with Christine’s new releases? Sign up for her newsletter and receive a free book!

About Working It

Nolan Carmichael is getting a fresh start—new career, new company, new life. The only problem is, he liked his old life just fine . . . until an accident robbed him of his health, his job, his self-confidence, and his ability to go out in public without having anxiety attacks.

Zack Anderson has scared away his last four executive assistants. So when he hires Nolan on a whim, he’s not too worried, since Nolan will be gone within the week anyway. Two weeks later, Nolan has made himself indispensable, completely reforming Zack’s schedule, life . . . and libido.

But in a company already torn by internal politics, one wrong step could ruin both their careers. And not only are they working to reopen Ringside Gym, Zack’s retreat when he was a troubled teen, but they also can’t help themselves falling for each other. If only the rest of their lives could go as smoothly as things do when they’re alone together.

Now available from Riptide Publishing. http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/working-it


About Christine d’Abo

A romance novelist and short story writer, Christine has over thirty publications to her name. She loves to exercise and stops writing just long enough to keep her body in motion too. When she’s not pretending to be a ninja in her basement, she’s most likely spending time with her family and two dogs.

Connect with Christine:


To celebrate the release of Working It, one lucky winner will receive a $25 Riptide Publishing credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 11, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Happy Anniversary + Giveaway Bonanza




Boy Meets Boy Reviews is three years old!!!! Happy Anniversary!

Bring on the CAKE!


Mmm...yummy!

You know what that means?

Bring on the trikes, ABC's and finger paints, because we're big boys and girls! *claps excitedly*

A bunch of friends who met through their shared love of reading, shared their love with you and we're still going strong!

We're celebrating all month long! And we asked our favorite authors and publishers to join along and get in on the horn action!

And join they did!

A super serious unicorn meeting in progress!

We're of a mind that if it's not broke, don't fix it! Meaning we're hosting our famous 'Giveaway-a-Day'! We can see the excited gleam in your eyes!

Here's a teaser of some of the authors celebrating with us for the month: SO, EE, RR, JI, JC, MC, KA, TS, CS, AM, JR...

Oh you wanted full names? C'mon, you know you have to stick around to find out!

As for publishers: Dreamspinner Press, Less Than Three Press, Riptide Publishing and NineStar Press (it's their anniversary month too) are celebrating in the unicorn jamboree.

With all these people dancing and cavorting, you know who is missing right? YOU!

This year we want to play with you!

We have daily unicorn trivia for those who are interested for DSP credits! See the Trivia Rules (scroll below for more details) - Twitter is mandatory to be eligible for a prize.

Unicorn Trivia Game a.k.a. Another Way to Win Free Stuff!

This year we’re going to have daily trivia questions. They will be worth a specified point value and the person who has the most points per week will win DSP credits!

Rules:

1. The questions will be on LGBT books. We usually have 3 posts a day and the question could be posted on any one of those posts. The questions will ALWAYS need to have the author in the answer, but sometimes we’ll be looking for the title of the book, series name or specific character names as well.

2. The objective is to answer the question correctly first to collect the points. Point values will be noted on the question.

3. Once you know the answer, you’ll need to tag @BMBReviews on Twitter as well as tag (or type if you can’t find them) the author(s) names.

4. Points will be cumulative throughout the week and winners for the week will be announced on Sundays e.g. 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th. The email address you give must match your DSP account to receive the credits.

5. In the event of a tie, there will be a tiebreaker question asked on the following Monday and it will be tagged as such so as not to be confused with the question of the day.

Good luck!



Don't worry Facebook users, we didn't forget you. You know we're on Facebook right? Every Saturday, we're giving away an ebook to FB users too! Answer easy questions on FB, like our page, be eligible for a DSP eBook!

Helped yourself to the party favors? Want something right now? You know we have something up our sleeves!

All that talk of giveaways...how about we give you THREE giveaways today! Three is the magical number, don't you know?







Thanks to Riptide Publishing, 1 lucky US resident will win the entire paperback Bounty trilogy by Christine d'Abo

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway is open until 12:00AM (Eastern time) on 11/4/16. Shortly thereafter, we will contact a winner! 

Please respond to the winning notification within 48 hours or we will choose another winner. Good luck!


Hey international blog followers, you're partying with us too! 



Thanks to NineStar Press, 3 lucky winners will each win a copy of My Boyfriend's Back by Elliott Cooper! (Psst...we reviewed it here!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway is open until 12:00AM (Eastern time) on 11/4/16. Shortly thereafter, we will contact 3 winners! 

Please respond to the winning notification within 48 hours or we will choose another winner. Good luck!




You're not going to believe our third giveaway! It's going to be all month long, open to all. Because guess what the winner gets?

Their very own unicorn!

The hedgehog is beside himself!
That's right! Our very own unicorn artiste extraordinaire, Natasha Snow, will create your very own unicorn! Take the scientifical unicorn test here, learn your unicorn name and should you win, we'll let Natasha know! She'll create her magic and draw your uni persona!

And the winner will also get a gift card of their choice: Amazon or ARe for a special magical prize.

We're dubbing this prize: the Mega Unicorn Prize. (There's super bass to it and everything)




a Rafflecopter giveaway


The giveaway is open until 12:00 AM (Eastern time) on 12/1/16. Shortly thereafter, we will contact a winner! 

Please respond to the winning notification within 48 hours or we will choose another winner. Good luck!

See you at the stable shindig!





Missed a day?

11/2 - Cari Z.
11/3 - Stephen Osborne
11/4 - Edmond Manning
11/5 - Kim Dare
11/5 - Piper Vaughn
11/6 - Eli Easton
11/7 - Kim Fielding
11/8 - Jenn Burke & Kelly Jensen
11/9 - Barbara Elsborg
11/10 - Keira Andrews
11/11 - Misha Horne
11/11 - Rick R. Reed
11/12 - Lisa Henry
11/13 - Wes Kennedy
11/13 - Mary Calmes
11/14 - Suki Fleet
11/15 - Jane Davitt
11/15 - John Inman
11/16 - Shira Anthony
11/17 - Cordelia Kingsbridge
11/17 - The COX
11/18 - Anyta Sunday
11/18 - NineStar Press
11/19 - Jay Northcote
11/20 - Jacob Z. Flores
11/20 - Alexa Land
11/21 - J.A. Rock
11/22 - C.S. Poe
11/23 - K.A. Merikan
11/24 - Meghan Maslow
11/24 - Cardeno C.
11/25 - Kaje Harper
11/25 - LT3 Press - Part 1
11/26 - Bey Deckard
11/26 - LT3 Press - Part 2
11/27 - Anna Martin
11/27 - Rhys Ford
11/28 - Meg Harding
11/29 - M. Caspian
11/29 - Jay Bell
11/30 - Tali Spencer

Review: No Remedy (Bounty #2) by Christine d'Abo

For months, Mace Simms has been seeking an antidote for the poison killing her mentor. Her only hope is Alec Roiten, a brilliant scientist hiding on a backwater planet. Posing as a research assistant, Mace offers the elusive genius all the help she can, ignoring the explosive chemistry between them. Soon they’re close to a cure.

But then Alec’s former love Byron shows up, attempting to claim a bounty on Alec’s head, and all that careful research gets left behind when they’re forced to flee. And when Byron realizes the tip-off about Alec was a ruse by his rivals to lure him out into the open to kill him, the bounty hunt turns into a three-person scramble for survival.

Byron wants his old lover back, Alec is consumed by a haunting secret about the poison he’s desperate to defeat, and Mace is caught between them. But she’s beginning to think that’s exactly where she belongs as the three are drawn together in their race against death.




TIME TO SUSPEND DISBELIEF, KIDS! 

No Remedy picks up 3 yrs after No Quarter and focuses on Mace, Gar's sister. Mace has left The Belle Kurve in search of an antidote for Faolan. She found a renown scientist, Alec, and has been working with him until a bounty hunter named Byron shows up to collect the bounty on Alec. He might have a teensy bit of grudge since Alec disappeared on Byron 7 yrs ago without a word. But something bad happens and they have to band together to escape the bad guys. 

Once in space there are battles, intrigue and medicinal fucking. 




Yerp! This was a first for me. Alec has taken the lab tinkering a bit too far and given himself something called "Brasillian syndrome" which makes space travel a bit... problematic. Every time anyone with this syndrome goes through a gate they become uncontrollably horny and the only remedy is to flood their system with oxytocin, dopamine and various endorphins OR THEY DIE!!!!!!!!!!





Luckily, both Mace and Byron are ready and willing to take one for the team. Who am I kidding? It was more than once.

They head for a safehouse on a desolate planet that conveniently has a lab so Alec and Mace can continue to search for the antidote and they can hide out from the dudes on their tail. It turns out that Alec disappeared to protect Byron from the bad guys after he discovered he was being used as a weapon of mass destruction and refusing to allow it to continue. Obviously, he still has feels for Byron and he's been attracted to Mace since she showed up in his lab, but can Byron let bygones be bygones? And can they make a successful triad with Mace remains to be seen.

This book is what I would call brain candy. If you like erotica that's short on story and borders on OTT then this is the promised land. If you count sex as relationship development and don't mind your characters being one-dimensional, you too will enjoy this. I'm sure that sounds hella negative, but I don't mean it that way. Sometimes I need to unplug and read some escapist fluff and this fit the bill.

The sex is pretty hot and they bang a lot. Byron is toppy and both Alec and Mace like to be topped. Often. And bitten. These are some bitey folks. The kink is mild with some D/s, spanking and little bondage. My preference would've been for the dudes to have crossed the streams more frequently but d'Abo did a good job of reinforcing their connection and how much they missed each other during their extended, somewhat forced separation of 7 yrs. 


Mace is the new addition and shiny and, apparently, has a fire hydrant between her legs. Who can resist that? *eyebrow raise*


The moisture from her pussy now trickled down her thighs to wet his legs and cock.


I think she should maybe see someone about this because the squirting is supposed to happen after the good times have rolled. 

My one complaint is my continued disappointment that all of these people are human! There's a blue dude on The Belle Kurve. Why can't I get some alien love? Can I get a tail or some tentacles, maybe an extra cock or some KNOTTING? Something cool. Instead I'm saddled with lube and fingers which, in my humble opinion, is kind of a waste of space AND why do they even need lube with the resident fire hydrant? Use the resources you have! #StopLitteringInSpace

Otherwise it's a fun little read with some space battles, a bad guy, someone to save the day and get the girl and the boy and an HEA.

Recommend to those who enjoy a bit of kink, can suspend disbelief and like light sci-fi.






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

Find out more on Goodreads.

Review: No Quarter (Bounty #1) by Christine d'Abo

When bounty hunter Gar Stitt is given a simple locate-and-retrieve mission, he’s convinced it’s a waste of his skills. His success rate is legendary, after all, and Captain Faolan Wolf isn’t hard to find. He’s the most notorious pirate in the galaxy, and when he shows up planetside to take his pleasures, he’s far from subtle.

Faolan never expected a hot but tightly wound hunter to walk into his private party and try to apprehend him single-handedly. And when an unexpected betrayal forces them to work together, Faolan’s even more surprised to find himself drawn to Gar personally—especially since neither of them do personal.

Gar had intended to put Faolan in prison. Instead he finds his solitary existence shaken by his desire for the pirate. And when the bounty hunter becomes the hunted, he must put his faith in Faolan and his pirate crew, or run the risk of ending up dead.



I'm not rating this for ethical reasons which I'll get to, but that doesn't mean there weren't a lot of things to like. And for what it's worth I've already signed on to read the next book in the series if that tells you anything.

In No Quarter we have a scoundrel of a space pirate named Faolan and the posh, kinda fussy and renowned bounty hunter that's come to collect him, Gar. 

IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!





√ Space battles. 
√ Space intrigues.
√ Two dudes hot for each other. In space.
√ Nefarious dealings with nefarious characters. In space.

I was entertained. Sure, there was maybe a bit too much cock talk. You know, when something as banal as 'pass the salt' equates to instant boner. But that usually led to some loud and messy sex which I am not now nor will I ever be complaining about. 


"Make sure you're watching, Gar. I want you to learn all my secrets so the next time I'm spread out beneath you, you'll know how to make me scream."


To top it off there is actually a plot full of double crossing friends, a poisoning, a long lost relative and two seemingly opposing forces banding together to defeat a common enemy. In space. With battles and whatnot.

It was some good storytelling with decent world building. I will admit I was a scoch disappointed that neither of these dudes had any special abilities. They're both plain ole humans with no knots or hooks or extra appendages. They still have to use lube and the 1,2,3 finger thing. I had some sadz over this.




Maybe it was a tad overly reliant on the chemistry connection between Faolan and Gar when there was adequate time to base their connection on experiential knowledge but whatevs. Randy space dudes.

Were it not for the events at the 40% mark this would've been a solid read, but those events soured my experience altogether.

Both of these characters have lost people close to them and handle those losses in their own ways. Faolan has a penchant for anonymous sex and hydro vodka. Whereas Gar tends to bury his in avoidance by isolating himself and making his environment as tidy and organized as possible. And work. Always work.

I'm not going to make excuses for Gar because there aren't any; but I believe the intent was to show him being triggered or goaded into a dissociative fugue of sorts and thus not responsible for his actions which sets my teeth on edge because of the implications. Nothing excuses abuse. No one asks for it. Having a mental illness doesn't excuse it. And don't ever blame the victim in my presence. If someone resorts to violence once it's highly probable they will again. No matter how sorry they are or how much they promise it'll never happen again.

The fact that the scene was included at all I found appalling mainly because I can guarantee were Faolan a woman it would've never made it through the editing process, but because they're both men it's somehow acceptable. But it's not. It's really not. Presumably because men can "defend themselves" it's not abuse, yet Faolan never fights back. Never raises a hand to Gar. And is beaten unconscious.

I was left with the feeling that it was all done in an effort to depict their relationship as passionate or dynamic; that Gar beating his lover unconscious was a twisted means of foreplay. Because not five minutes afterward they're fucking.




For this reason I can't rate it as I feel any rating would condone domestic violence and that I can't do. 

Nor can I recommend it which is a shame since there were quite a few things I enjoyed about this book.







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

Find out more on Goodreads.