Release Blitz + Giveaway: Unstraight by John Thurlow

 

Title:  Unstraight

Author: John Thurlow

Publisher:  NineStar Press

Release Date: 09/13/2022

Heat Level: 2 - Fade to Black Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 114800

Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, children, cleric/priest, coming of age, coming out, college, established couple, friends to lovers, humorous, hurt/ comfort, in the closet, over 40, psychic/medium, religion, religious extremism, reunited, soulmates, tearjerker, therapist, slow burn

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Description

David Sterling lives the suburban life. He has been married to Carrie for fourteen years and they have two daughters. To the onlooker, life behind the Sterling’s picket fence looks perfect, and in many ways it is—save for the fact that David carries a burdensome secret…one that he has guarded well since he was a teenager.

David’s life is unravelling and he cannot carry the burden any longer. To make peace with himself and his world, it is time to tell the truth, a gamble that may lose him all that is precious. But he needs to be released from the shame, the guilt, and the fear.

In the pain and hurt of the aftermath, this deeply personal journey is driven by David’s desire to hold on to those he loves, while at the same time revealing who he really is to them and the world.

Excerpt

Unstraight
John Thurlow © 2022
All Rights Reserved

Dropping the Bomb

23 June 2013

My heart was beating in my throat. I was terrified and while time seemed to stand still, the digital clock on the opposite end of the room carried on counting the minutes. I planned to drop the bomb at around eight o’clock. It was now heading for nine and the evening was running away. Oblivious to my fear, Carrie was engrossed in the movie—unaware of how her world was about to change.

As the clock jumped from fifty-four to fifty-five, I knew I needed to seize the moment. I sat up straight—too quickly almost. Adrenaline pumping in my veins, everything seemed to go into slow motion.

“Carrie,” I sputtered—my voice quivering, “please turn down the TV, I need to talk to you.” I turned myself around and sat at the foot of the bed facing her. I looked into her startled eyes and I felt the tears welling up in my own.

“What is going on?” she asked. I took a deep breath and I began to babble.

“You know things haven’t been great between us lately?” I asked and stated at the same time. “I think you might suspect that I’ve been having an affair,” I continued, “… I’m not… I would never.” The colour ran away from Carrie’s face and her eyes were frozen. “I feel so bad, seeing that you don’t look happy,” I explained. “I know you’re hurting… and more than anything in the world, I don’t want to cause you any more pain. I’ve tried hard to fight this, but it won’t go away.” My babbling came to an abrupt halt and I took a deep breath. I knew I had rambled on for too long and what I had wanted to say hadn’t come out as I had planned. Carrie looked stunned; she didn’t say a word.

I took another deep breath—I needed to get the words out, they were strangling me from the inside. Then, somehow, they escaped hurriedly and with some trembling.

“Things are not as they should be because I’m gay.” The air in the room felt heavy and dry. I had just dropped a secret… my secret! One which I had harboured in my head for at least 30 of my 44 years. A secret I had carried, protected and nurtured—and a secret I was ashamed of.

I said the words with both a feeling of liberation and a huge sense of fear. I felt unshackled because the secret was out of the dark and it had no more power over me, but I was also afraid because it was uncaged and I was no longer its keeper. Equally, I was terrified at how Carrie would respond to the unexpected revelations. I had no idea of what awaited me on the journey that I had just begun.

A few moments of silence followed and staring directly at the confusion and pain on Carrie’s face bore no comfort.

“How long have you known this?” she asked. Anger and bewilderment were evident in her eyes. I hadn’t anticipated the question, but I knew I needed to speak the truth.

“Probably since I was teenager,” I spluttered, clenching my hands tightly together.

“Then why the fuck did you get married?” she barked. The f-word and a raised voice always meant I had crossed the line with Carrie. She didn’t use it often, but I guess I had crossed the ultimate ‘line’—there was no going back now. I also needed to be cognisant of the fact that this was an issue I had been processing and mincing in my head for the better part of my entire life. In a few moments, I had thrown it all at her… she needed time to unpack it.

I looked over my shoulder to make sure that the girls hadn’t stirred and made their way to our bedroom door. Why had I gotten married?

“I married you because I love you, Carrie.” My trembling words were calm and sincere. I hadn’t planned to launch into this detailed explanation, but it seemed appropriate and I had spent many of the fourteen years we had been married trying to make sense of the journey in my head. “When we got married, I believed I had overcome this sexuality issue,” I took a deep breath, feeling clumsy, “I honestly did.” She seemed disorientated and who could blame her. “I loved you and thought—and hoped—that those urges would be gone forever.”

“What urges?” she scowled.

I didn’t answer the question and continued.

“At the beginning, I thought they were gone, and I have fought them really hard for many years.” Carrie didn’t seem convinced by this answer and a few minutes of silence followed. The torturous still felt like a lifetime. Carrie’s anger broke the quiet:

“Why did you choose me to do this to?” she scorned. A relevant question, but there was so much else I needed to say. It was difficult not being in control as my secret took flight, but I knew I needed to let her lead the process. I had already given up the control.

“I didn’t choose you to do this to,” I replied. “This was not planned, nor premeditated—I love you and I love everything that we have created and established. I know that you don’t feel loved and cherished because it doesn’t come naturally to me. I can see that you hurt every day.” Carrie’s eyes were distant in the aftermath of the shock.

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NineStar Press | Books2Read

Meet the Author

Born in Zimbabwe and raised in Zambia and then South Africa. John now lives in Henley-on-Thames in the United Kingdom.

John started out his career first as a primary and then as a secondary school teacher. After twelve years of teaching, he moved into the education development sector where he continues to manage a variety of education programmes that support teaching and learning in underprivileged communities. He holds a PhD in Education.

John loves chocolate and travelling… sometimes he likes running and walking. He always likes telling stories, with the characters based on his own personal experiences and interactions. Human relationships are super important to him and his family is the centre of his universe.

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Release Blitz + Giveaway: Awakening (Darklight #1) by Connal Braginsky and Sean Ian O’Meidhir

Join authors Connal Braginsky and Sean Ian O’Meidhir, along with IndiGo Marketing, as they celebrate the release of Awakening (Darklight #1)! Discover more about the new paranormal release and enter in the $10 NineStar Press credit giveaway!

Title: Awakening

Series: Darklight, Book One

Author: Sean Ian O’Meidhir & Connal Braginsky

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: May 11, 2020

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 93100

Genre: Paranormal, LGBTQIA+, immortal, psychic ability, therapist, vampires, paranormal

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Synopsis

Nathen was recently diagnosed with autism, and he’s a newly created vampire. His maker, a multinational corporation with its finger on the pulse of the technology industry, has recruited him to stop a terrorist plot. In the process, he meets Cameron, a telepath and psychologist, who has a troubled past he keeps locked up in the shadows of his psyche.

Nathen is confused by social cues and Cameron can barely block out the thoughts of others.

Together, they find common ground, and with the help of their friend Syn, they work out the secrets of the terrorist group and learn that the plot is far greater than they could have imagined.

Excerpt

Awakening
Sean Ian O’Meidhir & Connal Braginsky © 2020
All Rights Reserved

Nathen

Sterile. That was the name for a room like this. Brightly lit, the room had a mirrored wall reflecting the enormous, white, tempered glass-topped board table surrounded by at least forty, comfortable, white chairs. Sitting across from Nathen was a middle-aged, nondescript albeit impeccably dressed, man in a dark pin-striped suit that cost more than most people pay in monthly rent. He was sitting impossibly still with a demeanor of infinite patience and calm, observing Nathen with an unreadable expression. Behind him was a paper-thin monitor mounted on the wall that reflected the back of the man’s balding head, and Nathen. They were alone in the room, and there were two doors leading out on the side of the room opposite the mirror. What looked like an original Pollock hung between them, the only color in the room.

“Oh good, Mr. Hale. You are with us. Welcome to your new…position.” The man’s voice was as boring as his appearance, though there was something strange about the way he spoke. Nathen couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He even sounded blasé, as if he had given this speech a hundred times before. “It is good to have you as the newest member of the Impetus family.”

Impetus? Nathen knew that company. He may have only been twenty-two years old and more concerned about playing World of Warcraft than following Fortune 500 companies, but he knew that corporation had its hands in just about everyone’s pots. He became distracted by his reflection in the monitor and thought his raven hair, which was usually unkempt, looked uncharacteristically styled.

The man held up a finger as if to silence, though Nathen had not made a sound. “You have been recruited for an extraordinary purpose. And while I am certain you may have questions, please hold them until I am finished. Here is your on-boarding packet.” He referenced a single sheet as he pushed a small pile of papers across the table, sitting a mahogany Montblanc pen atop them.

“I will need you to read through this stack of papers and sign where there is highlighted space…” Nathen considered the huge stack of papers, then shook his head. Wait…he had spaced out again. How much did the man just say he was going to be paid?

“…As long as you remain with the Company, we will see to all of your needs. Of course, you are welcome to hunt as you see fit, as long as it does not reflect poorly on the Company. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Please, read and sign, and we will move to the next step. I will explain everything you need to know about your first assignment. Oh, and what being a vampire means.”

A whole slew of thoughts and emotions went through Nathen’s mind as he adjusted his glasses. The sheer amount of information was overwhelming, and because he didn’t have time to process it all. The only things he had paid attention to were the money figures and the fact they had mentioned benefits for his family. How did I get here? I didn’t sit for an interview, did I? Did I even apply for this job? And what is it about that man’s speech? He sat still for a long minute, sorting and retracing his steps after leaving the office of the psychologist. He had been there that morning after two days of testing the previous week, only to have the diagnosis of Autism confirmed, which he had not yet fully processed. The short of it was that he had a social communication deficit and didn’t pick up on everything in social interactions. It explained why he was confused when people were supposedly being sarcastic, and he never had been able to tell if someone was flirting with him. His doctor had told him he saw things as black and white, but missed the rainbow. It had made Nathen laugh at the time, though the doctor hadn’t laughed with him, so he stopped. But he had found it funny that he was missing rainbows. Nathen’s eyes darted as he was sorting his visual memory.

Finally, he admitted, “I’m sorry. I’m confused as to how I got here. And I don’t remember applying for the position you are offering. Um…what is it that I’m getting hired to do?”

As the words left his mouth, he noticed something strange about how his teeth and tongue moved, as if there was something new, though he couldn’t place what was different. He reached up to his chin feeling it for pain. Maybe he had been knocked out with a punch?

The man arched one eyebrow almost imperceptibly and stared at Nathen, speaking slowly, “You are being hired for your computer prowess, Mr. Hale. We are aware of your unique abilities to find your way into just about any system you attempt to enter, either legally or illegally. You will be putting your talents to work for us, and for the greater good if I may be so bold. Your first assignment will be to assist us in defeating those who are currently threatening children and their families, a story I am certain you have heard about. I will tell you more once you have officially accepted the position.” The man tapped the on-boarding paperwork that he had pushed over moments before. “And, you did not apply. You are being drafted.”

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘illegal,’” Nathen protested, his mind racing as he tried to figure out if he had done anything to worry about with his latest online endeavors.

Quickly trying to cover up, Nathen explained, “I’m paid to find vulnerabilities in systems, hired by companies to discover and report. And how did I get here? The last thing I remember before waking up here is leaving the doctor’s office.”

Nathen picked up the forms and started reading them, then glanced back up as his thoughts replayed what the man had been saying. It sometimes took him a few minutes to catch up if he wasn’t paying strict attention. “And what do you mean by ‘Vampire?’ Is that the internal project name I’ll be working on?”

The man fixed Nathen with a stern glare. “Do not play games, Mr. Hale. You are what is known by many as a ‘hacker’ and engage in a number of extracurricular activities I am certain you do not wish everyone to know about. But we do know. And that skill set makes you valuable. Please sign, and I will move forward with explaining everything else.”

Nathen thought about it, reasoning that it was a competitive salary for California and appreciated that his family would be covered. Because his mother was an attorney, Nathen knew never to sign a contract without reading it first. Trying to be polite, Nathen asked, “Do you mind if I read over the contract so I know what I am getting into?”

The man waved his hand, a gesture of patient permission, with a slight inclination of his head as a way of acknowledgement. One of his hands gently came to rest on the other, both folded in front of him atop the leather portfolio as he stared ahead, returning to a state of perfect calm.

Purchase

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

Meet the Author

Connal Braginsky is a software engineer who lives in San Diego, California. Diagnosed with high functioning autism, Connal sometimes struggles in social situations, but has an inner world that is always incredibly rich. With an insatiable thirst for knowledge about many esoteric things, Connal brings a lot of personal philosophies and interests to writing.

Sean Ian O’Meidhir is a psychologist who lives in San Francisco, California. Sean is a hedonist who believes in living for today, living every day to the fullest, and enjoying as much as possible. Sean has been gaming since adolescence and has written about and played hundreds of lives, reveling in the chance to take on new personalities, dramas, even disorders.

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Release Blitz + Giveaway: Love on the Spectrum by Alec Nortan

Celebrate the release of Love on the Spectrum with author Alec Nortan and IndiGo Marketing! Discover more about the hurt/comfort romance set in Paris and enter in the $10 NineStar Press credit giveaway!

Title: Love on the Spectrum

Author: Alec Nortan

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: January 6, 2020

Heat Level: 1 - No Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 37900

Genre: Contemporary, LGBT, Contemporary, romance, gay, Asperger syndrome, burns victim, France, Paris, friends to lovers, hurt/comfort, therapist

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Synopsis

Hervé has Asperger’s, a specific kind of autism that makes him unable to interact with other people.

Luc has been severely scarred by fire and flees human presence to avert the way people glare and frown when they see him.

It was impossible for them to meet, but life sometimes likes to cheat the odds. Is it just a trick or a way to bring together two men who could be each other’s lifeline?

Excerpt

Love on the Spectrum
Alec Nortan © 2020
All Rights Reserved

Chapter One
During their life, everyone meets thousands of people. Some of these encounters are fleeting, like the person you ask for directions in the street, and others last a lifetime. Each of them, as short or as long as it is, can change your life for the better or for the worse.

I’ve encountered maybe two hundred people. And that’s with a generous margin for error. A very generous margin. And yet I’m thirty-four and should have met a lot more. If I haven’t, it isn’t because I don’t want to, on the contrary. If I only consider the meaningful encounters, well, I’m down to a figure I can easily display with my fingers. The last one took place two years ago. His name is Pascal, and he made my life better. A whole lot better. We met through the Internet, the way of getting in touch with people I’m most comfortable with. Taking our time, we got to know each other, and he became an important part of my life. It wasn’t always easy for him, but he managed to accept my difficulties, and for the first time in my life I discovered what being in a relationship was really like. We weren’t quite ready yet to live together, but we were getting close.

And then, six months later, he dumped me. There was no fight, no argument, but it devastated me all the same. My problems had eventually gotten too tiresome for him. He simply couldn’t cope anymore, and I don’t think any less of him for that. Living with someone like me isn’t always easy. Quite the opposite. He had done all he could, but it hadn’t been enough.

My relationship with Pascal helped me understand one thing: I will spend my life alone. I’m not being dramatic; it’s just a simple observation. Even I can’t bear myself at times. If I can’t, who could?

What is my problem? To make it easy to understand, let’s say I am unable to interact with people. It probably sounds stupid put like this, but when sarcasm, irony, implied speech, and body language—well, all those elements that allow a conversation to take place—are completely foreign to you, a simple discussion with another human being can be quite hazardous to negotiate. And if on top of that you really cannot stand physical contact and noise, like me, you’re on a slippery slope toward the deepest pit of hell. I begin to slide as soon as I have to say hello…

When I say I have autism, in a desperate attempt to evade embarrassing situations, here are some of the answers I usually get:

“But it doesn’t show.”

Or

“Can it be cured?”

Or the most common reaction:

“That’s great! Can you count playing cards?”

No, I am not Rain Man, and most of the people who suffer from the same problem—Asperger syndrome—don’t have any kind of superhuman capabilities. And you can’t cure it. It would be like asking a one-legged man if he can be cured. No, it’s just a part of me. That and the fact you can’t see it when you look at me only makes it more difficult for people to understand. A one-legged man doesn’t have to explain that he only has one leg. A white cane or a service dog is usually enough for a blind person to be recognized as such.

I always have to justify myself.

Luckily for me, I’ve been going to a psychologist once a month for years. His specialty is autism, including Asperger syndrome. He helps me learn all those social rules that completely elude my grasp, and cope with my difficulties.

But it’s also because of him I’m standing here.

It’s a fine day. The weather is nice, the street is mostly empty. Although it’s almost noon, a few people pass by, and they walk purposefully, taking no notice of me except to avoid me. I’m standing still, almost stuck to the wall behind me, a white-stone building blackened by years of pollution. The sidewalk is barely wide enough for two people and gives way to a long line of parked cars and then a two-way street. On the other side is the same chain of cars, the same sidewalk, and the same dirty façades.

Despite all this, this part of the city welcomes lots of tourists, but this particular street is a little too far from the main avenues and the famous monuments to get their attention. If it were to be described by a saying, it would be “a secret life is a happy life.” Maybe that’s the reason why I like it. Because it likes to stay hidden. Just like I do. And this is definitely one of the reasons why I’m standing here right now.

The other reason is the small restaurant facing me. I’ve been looking at it for a little while now. The frontage isn’t very long, but a wide French window occupies almost all of it. Painted on the glass, blue letters spell out the words “The Scullion Restaurant–Traditional Cooking”. The text isn’t perfectly centered. It is about three inches too high for that, and the “C” and the “U” of Scullion are slightly too close to each other. The first “T” of Restaurant is also slightly tilted.

I am pretty certain no one else notices these imperfections, but they kind of jump out at me. I wonder if I shouldn’t have chosen another place.

But I’ve thought about this choice for a very long while, and I’ve even had to negotiate bitterly with my psychologist. The objective of the test is simple enough: having lunch at a restaurant. But he knows me too well to stop at such a simple goal. Without any further rules, I would have chosen the worst restaurant in the city, in a deserted part of town, to make sure there would be as few other clients as possible. I would even have gone in the early afternoon, when all the NTs have long since finished their meal—NT is short for Neurotypical, “normal” people as opposed to Aspies, the nickname for people like me with Asperger Syndrome—to have the greatest chance of seeing no one else other than the waiter, which is quite enough for me.

Knowing if he let the reins go I would choose an empty restaurant, which I have to admit would have rendered the exercise moot, my psychologist fought hard until we reached a compromise (more acceptable for him than for me) and chose a popular but small venue and a “normal” lunchtime.

This negotiation took place two days ago, and I’ve been anxious ever since. This morning, I woke up with my insides twisted. I almost broke into tears thinking about having breakfast alone at my place because it reminded me that my next meal would be a trial. When I was about to leave home to come here, instead of opening the door, I was sorely tempted to make sure it was safely locked and go hide in my bedroom under my blankets.

But here I am, in front of the restaurant. Inside, I feel like a gelatinous blob mounted on a drill. I still evaluate the chance of my running away before the time comes to enter at one in two.

I take a look at my watch.

12:58

My psychologist made the reservation—one of his dirty tricks to prevent me from bailing out—for one o’clock. He knows perfectly well I can’t stand lateness (or earliness) or an appointment cancellation without calling beforehand, and, as a consequence, I would never do that to someone else.

12:59

It’s too late to call the restaurant and cancel now. I stifle an emerging sob and move to the pedestrian crossing on my right. There are no cars passing, but I never cross a street elsewhere.

Just like every time I’m nervous, I’m tempted to embrace my old habits again. Right now, this means not stepping on the white paint of the crossing. I don’t know where I got that from, but it took me several sessions and a lot of training to be able to ignore the color of the ground I walk on.

I bite my bottom lip and stare straight in front of me so I can’t see my feet. I reach the other side of the street without further ado and walk the short distance to the entrance of the restaurant.

12:59

13:00

I open the door with a racing heart and step into my worst nightmare: a crowded public place.

Purchase

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

Meet the Author

Alec Nortan is a French social services worker. Though he learned English at school, he chooses this language to write in. His works are gay-related fictions, varying from young adult, science fiction or fantasy adventure, to romance.

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Review: Believe (Skins #3) by Garrett Leigh

Flight paramedic Rhys Foster is hooked on adrenaline. By day it’s blood and guts, by night it’s the thrill of the club. With a different face in his bed most nights, he doesn’t have time to be lonely…right?

Entertainer Jevon Campbell is a play therapist like no other—dancer, magician, acrobat, he brings it all to his global mission to help children in need laugh again. He’s on a rare home visit when he encounters enigmatic Rhys in a London bar.

Their connection is instant, but Rhys fast realises Jevon’s easy confidence doesn’t stretch as far as the bedroom. He has no idea how mesmerising he is—how beautiful—and Rhys resolves to show him.

They grow closer, but time isn’t on their side. Rhys seems unable to articulate how he feels, and with Jevon’s imminent departure from the UK hanging over them, their separate commitments could tear them apart forever.

As the days slip by, Rhys must learn to believe he’s worth the happiness Jevon is offering.

The third story in the Skins series, Believe focuses on Rhys. I was really excited to learn more about him because he was a regular playmate of Dylan and Angelo from book one, Dream, and if it wasn’t going to end up a polyam relationship I wanted to know him better.

Since it didn’t turn out in my favour with three in the bed full time, I will settle for Rhys finding his own man, and Jevon appears to be that man, whether Rhys knows it or not.

I was not at all happy when Jevon snuck away from Rhys without leaving his number, and I am very glad that they crossed paths again. Rhys knows he wants to spend as much time as he can with Jevon but appears really averse to naming the relationship. He has some baggage and is intent on ignoring it, but still wants Jevon to be around as much as possible.

Unfortunately Jevon travels a lot and is usually overseas where ever joy is needed for traumatised kids. Jevon’s job as a play therapist has him away from London most of the year so it appears they snatch small windows of time throughout this whole book.

I really enjoyed this story. I enjoyed the long distance element. Rhys really needed to work through his own stuff and having to miss someone gave him time to really reflect on himself.

Jevon is such a warm character and his loving nature was so much what I needed to read. I am not loving angsty books at the moment, but this was more of a remove obstacles than drama and I really appreciated that.

I’d say this theoretically can be read as a standalone but I wouldn’t recommend it. Start with Dream. There are appearances from characters in previous books and I think it would be worth the time getting to know them before diving into this.

Recommended for all contemporary romance readers.

A review copy was provided for an honest opinion.

Release Blitz + Giveaway: Lone Wolf by Anna Martin

Celebrate the Dreamspinner Press release of Lone Wolf with author Anna Martin and Signal Boost Promotions! Learn more today and enter in the giveaway for a chance to win a back list eBook from the author!

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner

Length: 70,000 words approx.

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design

Blurb

Jackson Lewis isn’t a typical werewolf. He isolates himself in a small town outside Spokane and dedicates himself to making his business—Lone Wolf Brewery—a success. If it leaves him little time for romance, he’s okay with that. His soul mate could be out there somewhere, but he isn’t actively looking.


So he’s in for quite the shock when he literally bumps into his soul mate—Leo Gallagher, an adorable, nerdy, vibrant music therapist who’s Jackson’s polar opposite.


But he’s human. And a man.


Jackson is straight—or at least he’s always assumed so. Though he can’t deny his attraction to Leo, it’s a lot for both of them to deal with.


While Jackson and Leo figure out what their future might hold, they face prejudice from both the human and werewolf communities—including a group of fanatics willing to kill to show humans and werewolves don’t belong together.


Author Bio


Anna Martin is from a picturesque seaside village in the southwest of England and now lives in the Bristol, a city that embraces her love for the arts. After spending most of her childhood making up stories, she studied English literature at university before attempting to turn her hand as a professional writer.


Apart from being physically dependent on her laptop, Anna is enthusiastic about writing and producing local grassroots theater (especially at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she can be found every summer), going to visit friends in other countries, and reading anything thatís put under her nose.


Anna claims her entire career is due to the love, support, prereading, and creative ass kicking provided by her best friend Jennifer. Jennifer refuses to accept responsibility for anything Anna has written.


https://www.annamartin-fiction.com/

http://www.facebook.com/annamartinfiction

http://www.pinterest.com/annamartinficti/

http://instagram.com/missannamartin

http://www.twitter.com/missannamartin

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Blog Tour + Giveaway: Flash Me (Heathens Ink #7) by K.M. Neuhold

Author K.M. Neuhold and Vibrant Promotions make the final stop on the Flash Me (Heathens Ink #7) blog tour today! Learn more about the poly romance and enter in the giveaway to win a $10 Amazon gift card!

FLASH ME

A Heathens Ink Novel

K.M. NEUHOLD

M/M ROMANCE

RELEASE DATE: 09.03.18

Blurb

Liam

I was kicked out at sixteen for being transgender, but it turned out to be one of the best things to ever happen to me. At twenty-one, I have a fantastic new family made up of my brother and a handful of wonderful friends, I own my own photography business, and I’m happier than I imagined possible. There’s just one thing missing… Okay, maybe two…

Wyatt

When I took the position volunteering as a therapist at Rainbow House, I knew I’d found my place in the world: helping teens who had been rejected by their families. What I didn’t expect was the friendship I formed with Liam or how it would grow over the years into a crush I just couldn’t shake. I’m happy to see him finally opening himself up to dating with someone he trusts like Owen. But when he comes to me and asks if I can help his boyfriend, I feel like there’s more to the request than just a few therapy sessions. The more I get to know Owen, the more I like him, too.

Owen

I’m not sure why I believe so much in fate when she’s dealt me nothing but crappy hands—a stint in prison and enough childhood horrors to fuel all my adult nightmares. But I still hold on to the idea that everything happens for a reason. What I can’t figure out is why fate would plop me naked into Liam’s bed under the pretext of helping him with a photo series for a gallery showing. Or why my stomach goes funny every time he smiles at me. Liam is too sweet to be exposed to my demons, but I don’t know how to protect him…Maybe that’s why fate gave us Wyatt.

***This is the seventh book in the Heathens Ink series. Each book in the series CAN be read as a stand-alone, but characters do re-occur so it’s more fun to read them all!

AMAZON US: https://amzn.to/2PrlaFj

AMAZON UK: https://amzn.to/2LPnm7g

AMAZON CA: https://amzn.to/2PY2HkL

Excerpt

Holy fuck.

My eyes greedily memorize the way Owen's soaked shirt clings to his muscles. The colorful skin of his arms glisten under the fluorescent lights of the coffee shop, and the scent of his sweat tickles my nose. I can’t say I’ve ever found anything particularly sexy about a sweaty man. Sex sweat is fine, but not something that revved my engine. Consider me a convert, because it’s taking all my willpower to keep myself from flattening my body against Owen’s and drenching myself in his sweat, licking it off his neck, and rubbing against his slick body until sweat isn’t the only thing he’s drenched in.

Fuck, I’m such a bad person. His date with Liam was last night and here I am imagining humping him like an unneutered dog.

“Out for an early run?” I guess, looking down at his running shoes.

“Yeah,” he answers without any further elaboration.

I’ve known all the guys from Heathens Ink for years now but Owen is the only one I’ve hardly talked to, and I’m not sure why. Maybe because he’s always come off as more standoffish than the other guys? That doesn’t usually stop me with people, but I don’t have any other explanation. It feels like an oversight I should rectify. If Liam’s going to be dating him, I should get to know him better.

My stomach clenches, hot with jealousy knowing I was too late. Not that I was even too late, that I never had a shot with Liam to begin with. How can it hurt this much to know I can’t have him, when I only just realized I wanted him?

“How was your date with Liam?” I ask conversationally as the line inches slowly forward. Owen looks surprised by my question. “Liam and I are close,” I explain.

“Oh, yeah, I guess I should’ve realized. I’ve seen you two together a lot. It was great, Liam is…” Owen trails off, seeming to try to think of an adjective to describe Liam. I could help him out with that— Smart, funny, adorably shy at times, flirty and playful others, sexy, perfect.

“Yeah, he is,” I agree with his unfinished sentence, knowing he must be thinking the same things I am based on the smile tilting the corners of his lips.

I'm an author of m/m and new adult romance. I have a strong passion for writing characters with a lot of heart and soul, and a bit of humor as well.

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Review: The Veranda (Lavender Shores #3) by Rosalind Abel

Donovan Carlisle helps countless people in Lavender Shores with his skills as a therapist. It seems, however, that his ability to enable others to live their happiest life only works outside of himself. Donovan truly loves his life, but isn’t able to find a relationship that satisfies his heart’s craving. Maybe the problem is that the only man he wants is off-limits.
Spencer Epstein came to Lavender Shores to find himself. Instead, he married one of the local town beauties. He’d thought his prayers had finally been answered. Then, he met his pregnant fiancée’s brother. It turned out those answered prayers were just cruel twists of fate.
A decade later, after a divorce and crumbling of all Spencer thought was set in stone, he sees his brother-in-law at a masquerade sex party. He takes full advantage of the anonymity and acts on the desires he’s held at bay all those years. The problem is, those silent and frenzied moments didn’t satiate anything. The fire and heat between the two men only grows as secrets are uncovered and they must determine if the cost of their passion is too high.

Once again, Rosalind Abel has written a beautiful story about love, life and the pursuit of happiness without any messy drama or stupid miscommunication angst getting in the way.  Hooray!  I will sing this author's praises til the cows come home for that.

For those of you who have been keeping up with this series, The Veranda is Donovan and Spencer's story.  Donovan we know from The Garden, Gilbert and Walden's story (otherwise known as Book Two).  Donovan is Lavender Shores's resident therapist.  He knows everyone's secrets and has helped many of the town's people through their hard times, most notably talking Gilbert from the edge.  He's older, wiser, quiet and unassuming.  But, he's been harboring his own secret for nearly ten years now.

You see, Donovan is and has been for quite some time, in love with his sister's husband.  Sure, it's unrequited but that doesn't make it any less real.  It was love at first sight that was never acted upon and there's no hope for it to ever become anything more, even if his sister's divorce is now final.  You can't turn a straight man gay; life is not a M/M romance novel, after all.

After a chance encounter at a Pride party, Donovan may have to rethink the past ten years of his life.  Turns out, Spencer may have been harboring a secret of his own.

I really enjoyed getting to know these two men and watching their journey together.  I always love it when I get a story with characters who are older than the normal twenty-two year olds that are in most stories of this genre.  I'm in my early forties with kids who are the same age as most of those characters and it kinda weirds me out to read about the sexcapades of what I consider to be barely adults.

Donovan has a good head on his shoulders and isn't prone to drama.  I really liked that about him.  I loved Spencer more though.  Spencer is a man who knows what he wants and isn't afraid to go after it.  He's got his second chance in life and he doesn't squander it.  He's not repressed but he isn't wild either.  No mid-life crisis for this man!  He's not out to anyone other than his parents and his ex-wife yet but he's working towards it.  I wouldn't say he's closeted, really.  He's got his kids to think about.  He doesn't want to do anything that will hurt them, especially since the divorce is so recent.  Once he makes up his mind, though, hot damn!  He's direct and assertive and, holy cannoli is that some kind of hotness right there!

"I'm not a kid, Donovan.  I'm thirty-nine, a damn good lawyer, a father of two, and I know what I want.  I've known what I've wanted for a long, long time.  Just because I didn't allow myself to have it or act on it doesn't mean I wasn't certain of it."

I've said it before but it bears repeating:  what I love most about this story, this series and this author is the communication.  There's no running away, no miscommunication and no Big Misunderstanding to be found in any of these books.  The characters actually talk to each other; tell each other how they feel.  Communication is so damned sexy!

I love all of the characters in this series.  It was great to see everyone again.  I have fallen in love not only with these two men, but this town and all of it's inhabitants.  Except Erica.  She can take a long walk off a short pier.  That woman has Issues (yes, that's capitalized, because reasons).  She could use a good dose of therapy.  Maybe Donovan could hook her up with a colleague or two.  Or four.  She really needs it.  Bratty woman is bratty.