Cover Reveal: Venerably Daray (D’Vaire #28) by Jessamyn Kingley

Author Jessamyn Kingley and Gay Book Promotions return to preview the new cover of upcoming fated mates romance, Venerably Daray (D’Vaire #28)! Learn more about the book today!

COVER REVEAL

Book Title: Venerably Daray (D’Vaire, Book 28)

Author: Jessamyn Kingley

Publisher: Independently Published

Cover Artist: LJ Anderson of Mayhem Cover Creations

Release Date: March 31, 2022

Genres: MM Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

Trope: Fated mates

Themes: Love

Heat Rating:  3 flames

Length: 95 441 words

It is book 28 in the D’Vaire series and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads Series Link

Even with Fate’s blessing, there are no guarantees in life or love.

Blurb

Skeleton Lord Brynnius Daray is happiest when he’s wielding his daggers or elbow deep in flour, baking some wondrous treat. As an elite assassin, Brynnius spends his days protecting the Council of Sorcery and Shifters, and his evenings are for family. The Darays are lively and dedicated, and Brynnius loves them fiercely. However, at night he is alone, and Brynnius yearns for his mate.

Having been recently resurrected, Samson is desperate to prove his worth as a fallen knight. The trouble is, Samson is part of a ground-breaking experiment—and the new spell is flawed. Or perhaps it is the man himself that has issues. While Samson struggles to understand his purpose, he learns that Brynnius is the other half of his soul.

Although Fate has brought them together, neither man is sure what the future holds. To figure it out, they must confront the past and reconcile their present. Just when Samson and Brynnius finally find common ground, the world intrudes. Nothing will ever be the same for the Darays.

Excerpt 

Brynnius loved his job, and he had a wonderful family and a beautiful home, which he shared with the rest of the Darays. When he wasn’t fighting crime or combing through Council bills to aid Alaric in voting appropriately, Brynnius was baking. If there was a recipe for something sweet or delicious, the sentinel wanted to hunt for the ingredients.

Around him, the Darays and his larger extended family, known as D’Vaire, praised his baked treats, which gave Brynnius the confidence to continue to make them yummy things. It was fun to travel around the world to grab things unavailable within the Council, and Brynnius liked surprising everyone with novel treats. 

Brynnius was pondering whether to make the blackcurrant tarts he’d recently found a recipe for when he pulled open the door to the resurrection room inside the shared training center that belonged to the fallen knights and sentinels.

The moment Brynnius crossed the threshold, his entire body went haywire. As a sentinel, Brynnius lacked sexuality, and had no concept of outer beauty, so his dick growing hard stunned him. It was a sensation foreign to Brynnius, yet it wasn’t unpleasant. 

His mind was overloaded with the terrific smell—a mixture of vanilla cupcakes and cinnamon coffeecake. At the end of the hall, Brynnius spied Venerable Knight Arvandus Ruarc-Daray—a member of his family and the only man to be permanently resurrected twice.

Next to Arvandus was a stranger with a head full of glossy, gorgeous black curls. He was built on a massive scale. As they moved closer, Brynnius wondered if the stranger’s shoulders were even broader than his own. Although he wanted to get closer to the stranger, there was too much chaos in Brynnius’s mind for him to move. The man at Arvandus’s side was Brynnius’s mate, and Brynnius had no idea what to do. 

A beautiful smile crossed the man’s face, and there was a confused curiosity in his gaze. Since the man was freshly resurrected, Brynnius doubted he understood their connection or felt the same clamoring inside himself. 

“Fallen Knight, Rank One Samson, this is Skeleton Lord Brynnius Daray,” Arvandus said with a flash of his oft-used grin.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Skeleton Lord. I apologize that I don’t have a last name yet to give you. The Arch Lich wishes to honor my dragon and needs to speak to the Emperors in order to decide how best to do that.”

“The pleasure is mine, Samson,” Brynnius remarked softly and offered him a nod. 

Sentinels did not touch strangers, though Brynnius readily admitted to himself that he wanted to be close to Samson. It would have to wait. The fallen knight was unsteady on his feet, so Brynnius didn’t want to keep him in the hall, despite his innate desire to know everything about him and not leave his side. 

“Are you on the way to your room?” Brynnius asked.

“Yes, VK Arvandus told me to pick the one closest to the cafeteria.”

That was no surprise to Brynnius; he was aware Arvandus always offered that favored space to the first recruit. Flustered, Brynnius was unsure if he’d remembered to offer Samson a traditional sentinel nod in greeting, so he bobbed his head. 

“Good choice. Good luck with your training,” he said.

“Thank you, Skeleton Lord.”

“See ya later, Brynn,” Arvandus remarked. 

They turned the corner toward the dormitories, and Brynnius smiled at Samson, who turned back twice. The fallen knight might not understand their connection yet, but Brynnius was bolstered by his interest. It’d help him get through the next eight weeks, since Brynnius couldn’t be with Samson until he graduated. 

Brynnius was determined to allow Samson to train without distractions as Reverent Knight Drystan had allowed his mate to do when he was resurrected. But unlike Drystan, Brynnius intended to tell no one about his encounter with Samson. The last thing Brynnius wanted to do was keep his family on pins and needles with excitement over the next two months. 

After Samson was discharged from the Ascension Center, Brynnius would finally be able to talk to him again, and they’d be able to start their journey as mates. Until then, Brynnius planned on reflecting often on the extraordinarily handsome man with the unique eyes, and preparing for their future.

About the Author 

Jessamyn Kingley lives in Nevada where she begs the men in her head to tell her their amazing stories which she dutifully writes it all down in what has become a small mountain of notebooks. She falls in love with each couple and swears whatever book she wrote last is her absolute favorite.

Jessamyn is married and working toward remembering to start the dishwasher without being distracted by the scent of the magical detergent. For personal enjoyment, she aids in cat rescue while slashing and gashing her way through mobs in various MMORPGs. Caffeine is her very best friend and is only cast aside briefly for the sin better known as BBQ potato chips.

Visit her website 

Join her Facebook group, Jessamyn's Ruffian's

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Release Blitz + Giveaway: The Gemini Strand by L.J. Hasbrouck

 

Author L.J. Hasbrouck and IndiGo Marketing share The Gemini Strand release blitz! Read more about sci-fi tale and enter in the NineStar Press credit giveaway!

 

Title: The Gemini Strand

Author: L.J. Hasbrouck

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 12/28/2021

Heat Level: 1 - No Sex

Pairing: No Romance

Length: 91600

Genre: Science Fiction, sci fi, family-drama, futuristic, dystopia, gay, ace, professional assassin, cloning, Mars

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Description

Life on Mars is no fairy tale for Morgan, a scrappy adventurer who plunders Earth’s carcass in search of loot—and evidence of an elusive scientist. She hopes he can cure her father’s dementia, but instead he kidnaps her father and flees into the deceptive dreamlands of Mars. During her frantic search to locate them, Morgan begins experiencing strange hallucinations that make her think she’s losing her mind.

Meanwhile, Nil, a tormented killer struggling to repress his humanity, thinks his hallucinations are a flaw in his system. Soon his pesky emotions roar back to life, throwing a dagger into the whole “cold-blooded assassin” thing. While he pursues his next mark, a witty hacker trying to save Nil’s other victims, he battles with his disorienting visions and burgeoning emotions.

What he doesn’t realize is that he’s falling in love for the first time—and the hacker he’s falling for is also the scientist who kidnapped Morgan’s father.

Drawn together by their common target, Morgan and Nil harness their mysterious visions to find each other amidst holographic recreations of Oz, Wonderland, Neverland, Atlantis, and Camelot. Before she loses her father forever, Morgan must work with a killer and kidnapper to discover the sinister truth behind her father’s illness and her bond with Nil. And Nil is forced to decide between protecting the man he loves and helping the girl he’s inexplicably linked to.

Because they share more than disorienting hallucinations—and what they share will change everything they thought they knew about themselves.

Excerpt

The Gemini Strand
L.J. Hasbrouck © 2021
All Rights Reserved

NIL

I don’t know why I kill. I’m ordered to, true, and it’s all I’ve been trained to do. I’m good at it.

But that doesn’t mean I like it.

Lately, I’ve been losing my touch. Each time I suffer an emotional episode, my handler remedies it by sending me in for reconditioning. The guilt goes away, my efficiency improves, and the nightmares stop.

But the guilt always returns. And so do the nightmares.

Up to the point I awoke at the Guild’s headquarters, all I remembered was a dim, murky muddle of nonexistence. My eyes opened to a roomful of shadows. Vague shapes hovered over me, surrounding me in a nebulous circle. My vision remained hazy, my awareness cloudy—I mistook what would be my first memory for a chilling dream.

“Good morning, my son,” a cold but cajoling voice said. Lilith. My handler. “Your slate has been wiped clean. Let’s see if you do better this time.”

I was floating. But when I moved my arms, I displaced something thicker than air: water. My bare, pale limbs drifted in the translucent pool. Reflecting on it now, it was my birth. And the darkness delivered me.

Which makes Lilith the closest thing I have to a mother.

Tonight, she’s ordered me to slip into the Emerald City, Oz’s entertainment subdistrict. The buildings are green and glittery, disorienting like the rest of Mars’s vast and vacuous districts. Citizens stumble along a yellow brick road nestled between fields of red and pink poppies. A tiny dog frolics through the field alongside his mistress, an adolescent girl in a gingham dress and silver slippers. She darts in front of me, but I walk right through her. The image shimmers, light particles interrupted by my mass, until she reassembles and skips off without a sound.

None of it is real. It’s a projection, both literally and metaphorically, an idealized vision of our world according to the minds who invented it. A fantasy brought to life. All I’d have to do to destroy it is smash the lenses installed on the construction’s framework, strip the taciturn gray structures of all their glimmering emerald, and reveal the ordinary bricks beneath the yellow. Dorothy and Toto would disappear. The poppy fields would vanish, expose barren cayenne clay and ashen rock.

At least shadows are real. Honest. I slink into them, darting between hologram-cloaked buildings and grappling to the rooftops. Ads promising the improbable—the cure for any ailment, all at the low cost of submitting yourself to the Pantheon’s experiments—glint and glitch at the skyline’s zenith. I set up a zipline to the adjacent roof and grapple from rooftop to rooftop, leaving as many lines as I can in my wake. Haste isn’t necessary when entering the target zone, but a speedy exit is crucial.

As I traverse the rooftops, I scan for thermal signatures beneath and behind me. No one’s noticed me. Good. Though I pass several Bouncers patrolling below me on the street, they’re all underneath the Guild’s thumb and therefore instructed to ignore us. Even if a civilian sees me, they’d never see my face again—or see it at all. I use a different shroud on every job, but I sometimes leave them turned off in lieu of the full black bodysuit, which means I resemble some subverted superhero creeping and swinging through the night, mask and all. Not the most outlandish sight on Mars, believe it or not.

I send Isabeau off to survey the area around the soaring spires of the Emerald Castle, my target’s last known location. The synthetic falcon launches from my shoulder, wings shimmering as she slices through light beams shining in the air. I close an eye and perceive what she sees, one camera transmitting an image to another. This eye isn’t mine; it’s a replacement implanted with a chip. I don’t recall how I lost mine, but Lilith says it had something to do with the traumatic incident that sabotaged my memories.

I’m not sure I believe her, but I can’t question the woman who controls my life—unless I want to risk losing it.

Isabeau perches on a ledge outside the building. She monitors the area through a faux stained-glass window, her viewpoint displaying in my cybernetically enhanced eye. Inside the Emerald Castle, writhing clubgoers surround my mark.

I activate my shroud and shimmy down the side of the building with my grappling hook. The regulator installed in my chest controls the speed my heart beats at, keeping my pulse and temperature low at all times. Makes it tougher for thermal imaging and pulse readers to pick up on my signal. There shouldn’t be many people around with tech that can outdo mine, but a few paranoid denizens carry them as a precaution.

Not everyone trusts the Pantheon. With good reason.

I glance into a compact mirror to ensure my shroud works, then stow my gear and waltz into the street, blending with the crowd. The music inside the club vibrates beneath my feet as I approach the front doors, so I prepare my ears for the decibel assault. I nod at the Bouncer, make eye contact, press my palm into the scanner. It approves my print and accepts my false identity with a beep.

Purchase

NineStar Press | Books2Read

Meet the Author

Knowledge-seeking animal-lover, supporter of diversity, and OG Floridian. Lifelong gamer who grew up drawing Disney characters, whales, and dinosaurs. Proud INTJ (which I share with the likes of Hannibal Lecter, Batman, and Ellen Ripley).

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Giveaway

One lucky winner will receive a $50.00 NineStar Press Gift Code! 

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Book Blast + Giveaway: The Dead Don't Lie (Dead Generations #1) by Anne Russo

Author Anne Russo and Gay Book Promotions host a book blast for JMS Books contemporary romantic suspense, The Dead Don't Lie (Dead Generations #1)! Read more about the first in the series and enter in the $20 Amazon gift card giveaway!

 

BOOK BLAST

Book Title: The Dead Don't Lie

Author: Anne Russo

Publisher: JMS Books 

Cover Artist: Written Ink Designs 

Release Date: 3/13/21

Genres: Contemporary MM Romance, Suspense, Thriller, Action-Adventure

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Forbidden Love, Forced Proximity, Slow Burn, Found Families

Themes: Death & Dying, Betrayal, Love & Sacrifice, Family, Guilt & Loss 

Heat Rating: 4 flames  

Length: 75 000 words/250 pages

This is the first book in a series and features an unresolved ending/cliffhanger.

Goodreads

Buy Links 

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK  |   Apple

Barnes & Noble  |  Bookstrand  |  Google Play

Kobo  |  Scribd  |  Smashwords

Blurb

While young doctor Adam Morrow resigns himself to an uninformed existence, world-weary assassin Ian Abbott struggles with a life he never asked for. When the two strangers meet by chance, the attraction is immediate. And deadly, as Adam walks in on Ian in the middle of a hit.

The situation spirals out of control once Ian discovers he and Adam share a connection far more profound than either imagined. Shocked by the discovery, Ian makes the hasty decision to kidnap him.

Overnight Adam is torn from his promising career and a family who believes him dead. Things go from bad to worse when he finds himself reunited with a mother he never knew who is now head of a covert and shadowy group of killers for hire. Forced into joining their ranks, with Ian as his reluctant trainer and handler, Adam is given a series of impossible tasks to complete.

To survive, he must fight with everything he has to keep his life, his sanity, and his very soul from being swept up in a violent and chaotic world even as he battles his unwanted and complicated feelings for Ian.

For his part, Ian, a man with dark secrets of his own, has a past he isn't ready to share with Adam even as the other man worms into his life in more ways than one. The two grow closer and lines blur -- between good and evil, friend or foe, enemy or lover. But something, or someone, plots against them, determined to do everything in their power to keep them apart. Even if it means destroying them both.

Trigger Warning: This story contains a brief scene of sexual assault and features an unresolved ending/cliffhanger.

Excerpt 

Assignment completed, Ian glanced down at his coat, noticing a few questionable stains even black couldn’t hide. Sighing, he stepped into the adjacent bathroom for a quick wash. He was cleaning off the excess blood splatter when he heard the door open. He stopped and listened as a curious voice called out, “Hello?”

Ian reached for his handgun, quiet as he slid it into his hand. He edged forward, waiting for his visitor to discover Mr. Mallory was no longer among the living. Ian didn’t have long to wait.

“Jesus Christ,” the visitor swore, taking several steps backward where Ian waited in the shadows. Once he was close enough, Ian pressed the gun's muzzle into the back of his head, stopping him in his tracks.

“Don’t move,” he ordered. Even in the darkened room, Ian knew he looked familiar. “Turn around.”

Slowly, the man turned toward him, shaking. Ian didn’t miss the shock of recognition when he saw who held him at gunpoint.

“Yeah, I remember you too. This is unfortunate,” Ian remarked and meant it. He didn’t relish putting a bullet right between those pretty eyes, but he’d seen his face. Not once. But twice now. And, unfortunately, he’d have to die for it.

“Wait,” the young doctor urged, his hands in the air. “You don’t have to shoot me.”

No crying. No begging. A statement. The doctor even met Ian’s eye when he said it. Ian couldn’t help but admire this guy's guts. A shame he had to kill him, but he didn’t have a choice. His finger twitched on the trigger.

“I’m afraid I do,” Ian answered, glancing at his name tag. “Dr. Adam Morrow,” he whispered under his breath, the name hitting like a sucker punch to the gut. “Your name is Adam Morrow?”

“Yeah, that’s my -- why?”

Ian wasn’t listening, rendered speechless as he studied the man. Pieces were clicking together in a hail of memories, memories he fought for years to keep hidden. Now they came rising to the surface one by one, swifter than he could recall them. All tied to the image of a child’s face. A child whose cheerful grin and name, Adam Morrow, had haunted him for the last fourteen years.

Ian snapped into the present. He charged forth, seizing him by the arm. Adam tried to shake him off as he propelled him toward the windows. Meager light from outside street lamps was enough to spy the lingering traces of that boy. One whose existence itself had been a terrible mystery he’d never wanted to delve too deep into, terrified of the answer awaiting him on the other side.

“Look at me!” he ordered, pressing the muzzle under Adam’s chin.

Adam hesitated but didn’t have much say so with a gun buried in his throat. One glance and the truth slammed into Ian like a bolt of lightning. A sweeping recognition. His eyes told him the entire story in an instant. They were remarkable, dark green, and flecked with gold, memorable --her eyes. There was no way he’d be able to kill him. Not now. The implications of his discovery growing as they sized up the other, each of them unsure what to do next.

“Who the hell are you?” Adam asked, low and shaky.

“Who the hell are you?” Ian countered.

About the Author

Anne makes her home in Connecticut with her wonderful and ever-so-patient partner. A lifelong reader, writer, and curious student, Anne hopes to create exciting multi-dimensional characters and worlds but with a queer sensibility. The Dead Don’t Lie is the first book in the Dead Generations series and her first novel.

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Release Blitz + Giveaway: Love Bleeds Deep (Fatal Fidelity #2) by Rien Gray

Author Rien Gray and IndiGo Marketing host today's release blitz for Love Bleeds Deep (Fatal Fidelity #2)! Read more about the darker romantic suspense and enter in the $10 NineStar Press credit giveaway!

Title: Love Bleeds Deep

Series: Fatal Fidelity, Book Two

Author: Rien Gray

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 05/10/2021

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 51100

Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, contemporary, romantic suspense, nonbinary, queer, bisexual, interracial, established couple, assassin, dark, #ownvoices, PTSD, revenge

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Description

With her husband dead, Justine finds herself balancing newfound freedom and a blossoming relationship with Campbell. They steal her away to a slice of paradise in France, but it’s a working holiday, and their new contract is a heavy hitter.

A local diplomat wants her ex-boyfriend—also her ex-bodyguard—dead. He’s been stalking her for weeks, and his years of experience as a Special Forces interrogator make him a hard target to catch. He’ll kill anyone who gets too close: Campbell included.

Campbell is used to giving up everything for the job, but old memories and old friends leave a weakness to exploit. Justine takes Campbell back from the brink of a violent collapse, but it comes at a dire price.

What survives afterwards will change them both forever.

The books in the Fatal Fidelity series are best read in order.

Excerpt

Love Bleeds Deep
Rien Gray © 2021
All Rights Reserved

The first time I flew to Paris, I was twenty.

I didn’t have a first-class seat, but back then, it didn’t matter. Knowing I was going to paint surrounded by masterpieces I’d only seen in books and slideshows overwhelmed everything else. It was my capstone year in college, and even now, the memories feel more like a dream. Happiness seemed inevitable, with the brightest future in front of me I could possibly imagine. After I came home and graduated, I met the man who would one day be my husband. In a few short years, we were married.

It was all a façade. I lost my art, my friends, my dignity, and half my sanity to Richard’s abuse. By the time he’d devoured a decade of my life, I was convinced there could be no way out. Then I met the person who made everything right.

Campbell sits next to me in a cushy blue seat, gray eyes locked on the murder mystery they bought from the terminal on our way in. They’ve already made it halfway through the book, only taking breaks between chapters to nurse the cool glass of water by their elbow. The same hands holding their drink with care, turning pages without leaving a single crease in the spine, are responsible for killing Richard without a hint of remorse.

There are a lot of ways and reasons to love someone. I don’t love Campbell because they’re a killer, but it’s not despite that either. They’re utterly confident, competent, and quick-witted, which makes them very good at their job, but what’s under the mask is what I care about. When they’re protective of me, when they’re grieving, when we’re in bed and it’s as if the world has shrunk down to fit the two of us and no one else.

Somehow in the scheme of things, murder barely makes the list.

“You’re smiling,” Campbell says, eyes still focused on the book.

I startle a little bit. After how we met, I should be used to their ability to read everyone around them, but repeated exposure doesn’t make it any less uncanny. “How can you tell when you’re not even looking at me?”

“Emotion doesn’t only show on the face. Whether we’re smiling or bracing for impact, it goes through the whole body in a hundred subtle ways.” Campbell’s gaze meets mine, dark with amusement. “But I did look at you. You were too busy staring at my hands.”

Heat rushes up the back of my neck. Guilty as charged. “You have very nice hands.”

They accept the compliment with a quick flash of teeth. “Yet I don’t think that’s what was on your mind.”

If we were elsewhere, I might have kissed Campbell or drawn them close, whispered all the thank-yous and apologies brimming on my tongue. Except we’re on a plane with a hundred other people, and even the privacy curtain can’t make me so bold.

I settle for shifting in my seat to lean my head against their shoulder. Campbell adjusts slightly, making the angle more gentle for my neck. They make no comment on my silence, turning to the next page, but their attention on me lingers. Drawing Campbell’s eye is its own sort of satisfaction.

“I have a silly question,” I say.

Campbell gestures with the book. “The mystery part of this murder is a four out of ten at best, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

A soft laugh leaves my lips. “No. I…”

Are they going to take offense to me asking? I know it’s possible, but I’ll take full responsibility either way.

“Is Campbell your first or your last name?”

They raise a brow, but it’s followed by silence. I’m about to apologize when a smile slowly pulls across their lips.

“You fell for me without knowing the answer?”

Now I’m flustered for an entirely different reason. “Yes. I mean, I know it’s your name; I just…feel like I’m missing context. Never mind. I said it was silly.”

“It’s not,” Campbell counters, the mirth fading from their face. “I know everything about you, Justine. At least, a lot more than I should for someone who never asked those questions.”

I hadn’t thought about it that way.

They set the book down in their lap, holding the page with one knee before reaching into their jacket. It’s a nice one, made of black, butter-soft leather and tailored perfectly to Campbell’s frame. I’m not sure what they’re looking for until Campbell pulls out their passport, offering it to me between two fingers.

“See for yourself.”

Purchase

NineStar Press | Books2Read

Meet the Author

Rien Gray is a queer, nonbinary writer who has worked in ghostwriting, TTRPGS, and video games. They have a treasured (and ever-growing) collection of LGBTQ+ history books as well as a deep, abiding love for Greek myth. Rien has an upcoming short story in Neon Hemlock’s Baffling Magazine. They live in Ireland.

Website | Twitter

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Review: A New Empire (Fog City #3) by Layla Reyne

Legacies were made to be rewritten.

Assassin Hawes Madigan wants to do right—by his family, his organization, his city, and the man he’s falling for, ATF agent Christopher Perri. But Hawes’s rules are being challenged by someone willing to kill for the old ways. To save his soul and his empire, Hawes must make an impossible decision: fight from the outside or bend the knee to win back his throne from within.

Chris is used to being the inside man, the one undercover. Now, he’s on the outside marshaling forces in support of the man and the ring of assassins he was supposed to take down. His mission shifted when he found something that’s been missing for ten long years—a home, with Hawes.

As Hawes and Chris make a dangerous play for control, the lines between allies and traitors blur. Trusting the wrong person could destroy the legacy Hawes envisions for the Madigans. But not trusting anyone, or each other, could mean lights out on their love and lives forever.

The King and King Slayer fight together in this thrilling conclusion to the Fog City Trilogy!

Sweet, a little bit sexy and definitely action packed end to the series.

There weren't a whole lot of surprises in the finale and that was fine by me! I loved all the action sequences and there is a certain cerebral quality that has been simmering in this series that went next level in A New Empire.

Hawes and Chris have made a good team since the beginning so it was very enjoyable and gratifying to watch them solidify their relationship and truly join forces. It was clear to me early on that a spinoff would be happening and not only am I looking forward to seeing where those go but also catching up with Chris and Hawes and where they've taken the business as well as their relationship.

I may fumble this a bit, but what will stick with me about this series and in particular this installment is the careful handling of the gun violence issue. I don't want to get too soap-boxy but I appreciated the restraint and wanted to give kudos for it.

If you're looking for an entertaining and fun romantic suspense read then you should give Fog City a visit.

An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Tour + Giveaway: The King's Dragon (Fire and Valor #1) by W.M. Fawkes & Sam Burns

Welcome authors W.M. Fawkes and Sam Burns, as well as A Novel Take PR, today as they celebrate the recent release of LGBTQIA+ high fantasy romance, The King's Dragon (Fire and Valor #1)! Learn more from today's teaser and excerpt! Enter the giveaway where you could win one of 2 e-copies of any book from the Lords of the Underworld series! Good luck!

The King’s Dragon by W.M. Fawkes & Sam Burns

Series: Fire and Valor #1

Release Date: September 26, 2019

Subgenre: LGBTQIA+ High Fantasy Romance

Order here:
Universal: http://mybook.to/thekingsdragon
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XC67S95

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47945724-the-king-s-dragon

Synopsis for The King’s Dragon:
Lord Tristram Radcliffe has a secret—he is the only dragon at the king’s court in Llangard. It’s a secret he’s kept from the knights he’s fought beside, from the ladies who bat their lashes at him, and from his closest companion, Prince Reynold. If it were to get out, he’d be banished to the Mawrcraig Mountains along with the rest of his kind, but the kingdom of men is the only one he’s ever known, and his heart lives in the stone halls of those who’d count him an enemy.

When the old king dies and Prince Reynold takes the throne, two visitors from the north throw Tristram into the middle of the ancient conflict between dragons and men. They put him on a collision course with the king’s shadow, Bet Kyston, a dangerous assassin who may want him dead or may want more of Tristram that he’d ever thought to give.

With the eyes of dragons upon him and a threat from the north creeping toward the home he loves, Tristram must weigh his allegiances before his dual legacies tear him apart.

Author Blurbs:

“Simmering with sexual and political tension, The King’s Dragon will pull you close, and won’t let go until its final pages. A wonderfully rich and compelling world.”

~ Ariana Nash, author of Silk & Steel


“Intricate plot threads intertwined with gripping tension, chemistry, and built on a fantasy world that rivals any peer in the genre. Vivid characters that aren't cutouts of fantasy tropes, but real people with faults and virtues that will engage the reader.

This book showcases the best of Fawkes and Burns' writing and style—perfectly meshed storytelling rich in complicated and complex characters, with a plot that kept me afraid, engrossed, and my heart in my throat. An added dash of upended gender stereotypes and a refreshing addition of varied LGBTQ+ romances made this a standout in the genre. A fantastic start to a series and I cannot wait for the rest!”

~SJ Himes, author of Knight’s Fire


“Incredibly detailed world building, and a raft of characters who keep me guessing and turning pages!”

~ Allison Temple, author of Cold Pressed

Teaser

Sidonie was from the southern reaches of Llangard, where they did not have women like that. There, women were hard workers with strong backs, field-roughened hands, and leathery skin. Rhiannon had seemed like a bauble worn by a noble lady, glittering and beautiful.
And not for the likes of Sidonie.
Still, she found herself scanning the crowd for signs of golden, almost white-blonde hair. Lord Tristram was from the north, wasn’t he? Perhaps that was simply the look of northerners. Most of the women in court were regularly aflutter over his pale hair and golden eyes, including Her Highness, Princess Gillian.
She supposed among men, Tristram was a decent choice. He had fine features and full lips that most men did not. Sidonie had never seen the appeal of blunt, angular, masculine features. Give her a soft curve and a round cheek any day.
Golden-blonde curls twirled on the breeze in front of her, followed by their owner, the beautiful sylph from the day before. Her eyes were bluer than the sky, like the wildflowers that grew along the roads, and of course, she had a few of those tucked behind her ear to show them off. The smirk on her face was downright dangerous. His Majesty was wrong if he thought this woman was trouble he could handle. She was too much trouble for any man.

Excerpt

When he glanced up to meet Bet’s eyes, they were wide, the whites showing all around them. He wondered, for a moment, if he’d earned a stabbing, but then those eyes dropped to his lips, and Bet’s own parted a fraction.
As was his most unfortunate habit, Tris dove in head first.
Their mouths crashed together, a clash of tongues and teeth that started out anything but good. Tris tasted blood in his mouth, and he wasn’t sure whose it was.
In a flash, Bet turned them so that Tristram was the one with his back to the wall. He wrapped a hand around the side of Tristram’s neck, thumb coming up to hold his jaw in place in a grip that felt downright dangerous. Then he turned his head a fraction, opening up a little space between their noses and allowing himself full access.
Not to stab anyone, thankfully, though he pushed his way into Tris’s mouth as though convinced he’d be rebuffed and wanted to taste his fill before that. Tris just tilted his head up to meet the onslaught, eyes sliding shut and fingers scrabbling against the tapestry on the wall.
Bet kissed like he fought: hard, fast, and with no intention of taking prisoners. His free hand fell to Tristram’s trousers, as though he would strip them off right there in the hall, and slowed to press against his growing arousal. It seemed he appreciated what he found there, because he let out a growl that reminded Tristram of his own nearly inhuman one.
What he’d have done, Tris would never know, because a giggle echoed down the hallway, and Bet pulled back as though he’d been slapped. He turned to see a couple of ladies’ maids enter the hall, and before Tristram could so much as say his name, Bet turned and melted into the shadows.

Author Bio:

W.M. Fawkes is an author of LGBTQ+ urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She lives with her partner in a house owned by three halloween-hued felines that dabble regularly in shadow walking.

Sam lives in the Midwest with husband and cat, which is even less exciting than it sounds, so she's not sure why you're still reading this.

She specializes in LGBTQIA+ fiction, usually with a romantic element. There's sometimes intrigue and violence, usually a little sex, and almost always some swearing in her work. Her writing is light and happy, though, so if you're looking for a dark gritty reality, you've come to the wrong author.


Author links:
Joint Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlickerFoxBooks/

Waverly Fawkes:
http://fawkeswrites.com
https://facebook.com/w.m.fawkes
https://twitter.com/fawkeswrites
https://www.instagram.com/w.m.fawkes/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18156587.W_M_Fawkes
https://www.pinterest.com/fawkeswrites/


Sam Burns:
http://burnswrites.com
https://www.facebook.com/sam.burns.52459
https://www.instagram.com/samburnswrites/?hl=en
https://us15.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ef13dc96493795a8fdb75611c&id=e0fb058bf2
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16897949.Sam_Burns
https://twitter.com/SamBurnsWrites
https://www.pinterest.com/samburnswrites/

Giveaway:

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Review: Larry Boots, Exterminator by John Inman

Kenny Long is living a new life. Blinded in an accident, he has taken control of his unexpected reality the best way he can, and it’s working out better than he hoped.

Of course Larry Boots doesn’t know any of that. All he sees is a beautiful man sitting on a park bench.

Larry has a few problems of his own: his mother. His job. The lack of romance in his life.

His job. In the course of that job, Larry strikes up a friendship with Kenny. The next thing he knows, he’s so head-over-heels in love, even his mother doesn’t seem so bad. Of course his career is still a problem, but he’s working on that. Hopefully he’ll have the problem resolved before the man he’s being paid to murder succeeds in murdering him first.

And before the man he loves finds out he’s a cold-blooded killer.

This John Inman mashup was such a treat. Any Inman-phile knows he writes 5 heart books in a multitude of genres and Larry Boots, Exterminator brings together two of my favorites, sweet, sweet romance and horror. It really doesn’t get much better than that for me.

I wasn’t sure how this was all going to come together, the dichotomous paths the author wanted to bring together (based on the blurb), merging them sounded like an awkward impossibility. But of course, it wasn’t and the two pieces melded together perfectly.

Larry is an assassin (don’t call him that, he hates it), but he’s dedicated his life to delivering justice to those who were let down by the system. He’s living to avenge others in his twin brothers name. His brother was the victim of a violent crime and in his “honor” he’s turned into a vigilante. He’s a good bad guy though, he’s likable and sympathetic. He loves his crazy mama and his two dogs, he falls in love with Kenny.

Kenny is a teacher at the blind center in San Diego. He lost his sight in an accident a few years prior and has since relearned how to live his life and support himself. He’s such a sweet man wearing his little sweater vests and bowties, I couldn’t help but fall for him myself as Larry described him and got to know him.

They have a very interesting meet-cute in the park one day. Kenny is there to sit in the sunshine on a park bench and enjoy his lunch. Larry is up in a tree scouting out his next mark. Larry climbs down from said tree and the two strike up a slightly flirtatious exchange. If you didn’t know what Larry did for a living, it would just seem like a set up to a love story that I wanted to read. But, and this is a big but, Larry kills people for a living and there’s really no way to just kind of forget that’s a thing.

Told from Larry’s point of view, he was either practicing his chosen profession or falling in love with Kenny.When Larry was with Kenny I was completely wrapped up in that part of the story. Then the page would flip and Larry would be back to work. Larry’s clients and their stories were truly heartbreaking, so there was a gamut of emotions to run throughout the book. The warm fuzzies with Kenny and the frustrating hopelessness of the families put the reader through the wringer. The author brought the two pieces of the story so well, he really made them mesh in a way that made me buy into every nuance of it.

And then 80% happened. Up until this point Larry’s work and his personal life were pretty well separated, never the twain shall meet. Larry’s lastest mark makes him uncomfortable, he seems to have put his eye on Larry, but Larry can’t be sure. Does he think that because he’s falling in love and finally has someone else to worry about or is this guy really wise to him? Insert tension here.

At 80% Larry is off to do his job, leaving Kenny home alone. That’s all I’m going to say because I want you to ride the tension wave like I did. I loved and hated every bit of the last 20%. The author is a master of the last 20%. He gets me every time and this time it was a little different. I was in romance mode, I was in love with Larry and Kenny’s love, but Larry’s pesky job was hanging over their heads and the resolution was coming. In romance mode, and in the author’s purely romantic books I would just be wallowing in the love pollen. However, Larry Boots, Exterminator has a horror element that won’t be denied so I honestly wasn’t sure how this would play out. I mean, I know what I wanted, but that doesn’t mean I was going to get it.

Larry Boots, Exterminator has so many great pieces that come together beautifully. While I loved the tension and Larry’s work life. His personality, his relationship with his mom, his reasonings, they all made for a fascinating character. But his relationship with Kenny was pure gold. The two of them together were simply lovely in their intimate moments, and not just the tingly, sticky bits, I mean the conversations and declarations between the two. Yes, Kenny was blind and vulnerable to an extent because of his circumstances, but he was also strong and fiercely independent. I loved how fully fleshed out his character was and how well he and Larry complemented one another.

Larry Boots has a permanent spot on my reread shelf. I know I’ll want to visit Larry and Kenny again.

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

Giveaway + Blog Tour: Prince of Killers (Fog City #1) by Layla Reyne

Join Layla Reyne & A Novel Take PR in celebrating the release of Prince of Killers (Fog City #1). Find out more about this romantic suspense, read an exclusive excerpt & enter in the giveaway for a chance to win either signed paperbacks or signed book plates depending on where you live. Good luck!

See our 4 ❤️ review here.

Prince of Killers by Layla Reyne

Series (name + # in series): Fog City #1

Publisher: Layla Reyne (Self-Published)

Release Date (Print & Ebook): June 10, 2019

Length (Print & Ebook): 216 pages (52K words)

Subgenre: M/M Romantic Suspense

Warnings: Explicit sex including mild kink; explicit language; violence;

instances and/or discussion of homophobia; off-page instances and/or discussion

of PTSD, drug use, and abuse of minor characters.

All buy links or pre-order links: http://getbook.at/PrinceOfKillers

Book synopsis:

No indiscriminate killing. No collateral damage. No unvetted targets.

These are the rules Hawes Madigan lives by. Rules that make being Fog City’s Prince of Killers bearable. Soon, he’ll be king—of an organization of assassins—and the crown has never felt heavier. Until the mysterious Dante Perry swaggers into his life.

Dante looks like a rock god and carries himself like one too, all loose-limbed and casually confident. He also carries a concealed weapon, a private investigator’s license, and a message for the prince. Someone inside Hawes’s organization is out to kill the future king.

In the chaos that follows the timely warning, Hawes comes to depend on Dante. On his skills as an investigator, on the steadiness he offers, and on their moments alone when Hawes lets Dante take control. As alliances are tested and traitors exposed, Hawes needs Dante at his back and in his bed. But if the PI ever learns Hawes’s darkest secret, Hawes is sure to get a knife to the heart—and a bullet to the brain—instead.

There’s no shortage of twists and turns in this new romantic suspense trilogy from Layla Reyne. Prince of Killers is book one of three. Fair warning: buckle up, cliffhangers ahead!

PRINCE OF KILLERS (Fog City #1)

Release Date: June 10, 2019

Hawes’s phone vibrated in his hand. Bring him up Shannon. Trap, read the message from Helena.

He gave the order, and Avery aimed them that direction, now herding the van. The van took the bait, thinking it was getting ahead. Avery gunned the engine, pushing them fast up Leavenworth, passing by the nose of the van at the intersection of Post and Jones. Then Avery hung a hard right onto Shannon, the back end of the car fishtailing.

The van’s tires squealed behind them, but it righted at the last second, chasing them down the narrow alley. Hawes held his breath through the intersection at Geary, car horns blaring all around them. They made it through, the van still on their tail. As they cleared the first set of buildings, a flash of blonde appeared on the left. Helena, gun in hand, stood on the hood of the town car at the mouth of a parking lot. Then on the right, brown hair and denim, Dante taking a similar position in front of the SUV, in the lot on the other side of the street. Avery sped through the trap, and Hawes twisted in his seat, watching as the van did not, Helena getting its tires on one side, Dante the other. The van swerved and toppled over, glass shattering, metal scraping concrete, twisting and turning until Hawes could see the undercarriage.

And the timer and trigger attached to it.

0:05 in bright red digits.

Not enough time.

He banged the back of the passenger seat again. “Go!”

Hawes took one last look out the back window—watched his sister catwalk over the top of her car while Dante hauled ass the opposite direction, each of them taking cover in their respective parking lots—then dove forward, taking his grandmother down to the floorboard with him.

The blast behind them threw their car into the air, and gravity ceased to exist.

Praise for Prince of Killers:

“Layla Reyne is an auto-buy author for me. She writes it; I devour it. Prince of Killers is an amazing start to a new series. It’s fast-paced and intriguing with the perfect balance of action, passion, and plot twists I’ve come to expect from her books. Layla never disappoints, and I can’t wait to see what happens next in her Fog City series.”  – Aimee Nicole Walker, Bestselling author of the Curl Up and Dye Mysteries

“Prince of Killers gives us everything we adore about Layla’s writing: bullets, boys, and betrayal. From the very first page, Hawes and Dante have sexual tension that sparks off the page. They don’t trust each other, but they have to work together to uncover a traitor in their midst. The result is a steamy dance of push and pull that left me itching for more. I’m excited to recommend Layla Reyne’s Prince of Killers and see what’s next in her new Fog City series!” – Lucy Lennox, Bestselling author of the Made Marian and Forever Wilde series.

"This book made me reach for the 'Oh Sh*t' handle every time I picked it up." –Erin McLellan, author of the Farm College series.

Hair and double denim. My favourite things! –Allison Temple, author of The Pick-Up and Top Shelf

“I bloody loved it!” –Lily Morton, Bestselling author of the Mixed Messages series

"Layla Reyne redefined what a family of assassins looks like with "Prince of Killers." The "Fog City" series kicks off with some mind-blowing twists and I can't wait to see what happens next." - Jeff Adams, Big Gay Fiction Podcast

"PRINCE OF KILLERS is a suspenseful ride through the streets of San Francisco, and the ins and out of a tight-knit crime family. I couldn't stop reading, and when I hit the end, I wanted the next book immediately!" - Hailey Turner, author of the bestselling Soulbound series and the Metahuman Files series.

Teaser:

“I don’t want to be in control.” No decisions to make, no kingdom to rule, no bad guys to sort from the good. Tonight, freedom was the most settling thought there was, especially if it involved the man whose body was pressed alongside his.

“Do you trust me?” Dante said.

Hawes half nodded, half nuzzled Dante’s palm.

“Give it to me, then.”

Hawes’s eyes popped open, and an unexpected laugh bubbled out of him. “I’m not giving you control of my family’s empire.”

One corner of Dante’s mouth turned up in a sexy smirk. “I don’t want that either.” With his arm around Hawes’s waist, he shifted them so they were in front of the ladder, Hawes’s back against the rungs, Dante’s body blanketing his. The pressure, front and back, massaged away any lingering soreness from Ray’s hit last night. Not that Hawes would care when Dante’s long, strong fingers were skirting up the side of his face and into his hair, threading through the strands and cradling his scalp.

Hawes couldn’t look away, couldn’t stop his hands from curling into Dante’s gray tank and hauling him closer. “Please.”

“I want control of you.” Dante’s soft lips brushed the sharp right hinge of Hawes’s jaw. “Let me help you.” He moved to the other side. “Let me make you forget for a while.” Then to the crease at the bottom of Hawes’s chin. “Let go for me.”

Yes.

About Layla Reyne: RITA Finalist Layla Reyne is the author of the Agents Irish and Whiskey, Trouble Brewing, and Changing Lanes series. A Carolina Tar Heel who now calls the San Francisco Bay Area home, Layla enjoys weaving her bi-coastal experiences into her stories, along with adrenaline-fueled suspense and heart-pounding romance. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and its Kiss of Death and Rainbow Romance Writers chapters. Layla is a 2019 RWA® RITA® Finalist in Contemporary Romance (Mid-Length) and 2016 RWA® Golden Heart® Finalist in Romantic Suspense.

Connect with Layla:

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Get to know more about Layla Reyne in this fun Review Tour Q&A!

• Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, are there any you’d recommend?

Yes! One of my day jobs is as a legal resource editor, and I always have an audiobook playing when I’m doing that work. The Tales of Verania series by TJ Klune, narrated by Michael Lesley, is an absolute treasure.

• What are your five favorite words?

I just need one: Fuck, especially the way Tristan James says it narrating audiobooks ;)

• Do you have a favorite cover from one of your books?

This one! Cate Ashwood who did all the Fog City covers sent me the cover concept for Prince of Killers first, and I screamed “Holy Shit!” so loudly that my dogs startled. And I kept repeating “Holy Shit” for like the next week. She deserves so much credit, as does Wander Aguiar for the gorgeous photos, and Patrick Sean (the model) for just being that damn gorgeous.

Enter to win 2 sets of signed backlist paperbacks (Trouble Brewing or Changing Lanes, winner’s choice); if international, signed book plates.

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***Get Phenomenal Romantic Suspense by Layla Reyne on Sale!***

Carina Press has CRAFT BREW on sale for the month of June at only $1.99!