Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway: Wish Come True Anthology

Proceeds will be donated to Lost-N-Found Youth , an Atlanta-based nonprofit corporation whose mission is to take homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youths to age 26 off the street and transition them into more permanent housing.

It's a five hearts read all in all, I'll give my individual story ratings below and a general review of the anthology - let's face it, with this author line-up it was inevitably going to be a fab read! Including *squee* three of my absolute favourite authors, Suki Fleet, Kaje Harper and Anyta Sunday,

A Very English Christmas by Keira Andrews - five hearts
For anyone who read and love Isaac and David from Keira's Amish series, this is a must read. Their first English Christmas and the author nails it on the sweet romance stakes. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. A fabulous start to the anthology that gets you right in the feels!

Mr Perfect's Christmas by Joanna Chambers - four and a half hearts
Sam is trying to fit into Nick's shoes, and from where he's standing they're pretty big shoes to fill. Sometimes though, if you just look at things from a different angle they can be quite different. I really enjoyed this story of love being found where you last expect to find it.

The Christmas Ship by Amy Jo Cousins - three and three quarter hearts
Beware of the internet! A cute little story of twink meet jock. Best buddies online but when they meet in real life one of them is in for a big surprise. Or is he? Does he know more than he's letting on? I enjoyed this story, it had all the right ingredients for a cute Christmas tale.

That Thing by Megan Erickson - four and a half hearts
When your twin sister is a wedding planner who needs an assistant it's really hard to say no. So Devin doesn't, and when he meets the best man he's really pleased he didn't. The flirtation between Devin and Adrian is ho,t and although we pretty much can guess how the will they/won't they will go it plays out really nicely and left me grinning.

Just Like Heaven by Suki Fleet - five hearts
If I was forced to choose one favourite story from this anthology, it would be this one. By a whisper. Something about Suki Fleet's writing gets me every time. I love her characters and David and Jess are no exception. The gritty reality that is Jess's life collides with David and there starts a story of hope and love that is perfect for Christmas. I adored it.

Not Your Grandfather's Magic by Kaje Harper - five hearts
This is another strong contender for favourite story. Like Suki, Kaje writes wonderful characters; characters I can't help but fall in love with. And it's not just the main characters of Zeb and Matt, but the wonderfully quirky secondary characters that I want more of. I wasn't sure how this story was going to go if I'm honest - but I love the direction it took. Matt stole my heart, every accident prone inch of him, and it was a great story.

Bottle Boys by Anyta Sunday - five stars
I knew this anthology was for Christmas, and really it made my Christmas. My three favourite authors with stories in a row. Anyta Sunday is a wonderful and unique writer. I adore her characters (again!!) and the way she seamlessly pens a storyline. EAsy to read and without fail full of UST, this story was the perfect way to end this anthology.

I cannot recommend this anthology enough, a line up of excellent authors, Christmas stories and the proceeds go to Lost N Found. It's win, win, win.

Question – What's your favorite holiday-themed movie?

Keira Andrews - So hard to choose just one! There are certain movies I watch every Christmas, including While You Were Sleeping, Bridget Jones's Diary, Elf, and Die Hard.

Joanna Chambers - No contest: It's a Wonderful Life. A huge treat last year was watching it all the way through with my older son for the first time. He loved it and got it 100%. My younger one was a bit bored and kept wandering off, but he was really upset when the old pharmacist gets mocked in the bar in the alternate future.

Amy Jo Cousins - Ahhh! I have a dozen! We watch It's a Wonderful Life and The Muppets Christmas Carol every Christmas Eve at my mom's place. Then I go home and wrap presents until the wee hours of the morning because I am a terrible procrastinator. Midnight present-wrapping requires both wine and Love, Actually on the DVD player (yes, I know, it's a terrible movie with terrible plots and characters, but I can't help it! I love it). In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I also make sure to fit in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Boris Karloff narrating the animated version, not Jim Carrey, please), Miracle on 34th Street, and Christmas in Connecticut. That last one, with Barbara Stanwyck, is one of my favorite movies ever. She's so glamorous and everything about the movie is so funny. *sighs* I love it.

Megan Erickson - Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer

Suki Fleet - Die Hard or Gremlins.

Kaje Harper - I'm not a movie person although It's a Wonderful Life is a classic. I love books, though. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and Gift of the Magi and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and many more.

Anyta Sunday - Romantic, touching, and funny, my favorite holiday-themed movie is Love Actually. I love the cue card To Me You Are Perfect scene. Melts my heart every time.

Kanaxa (cover artist) – Love, Actually. I rage at Alan Rickman for the gift scene with Emma Thompson. Every. Single. Time.

Lenore DiTrani (editor) - I might not care for Christmas music but I love Christmas-themed films! Let's see, some of my favourites. Bad Santa by Terry Zwigoff (I love Billy Bob Thornton!), Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, Millions by Danny Boyle, Eastern Promises by David Cronenberg, Love, Actually by Richard Curtis, Trading Places by John Landis….But I think my all-time favourite is Monty Python's Life of Brian. What do you mean it's not a holiday-themed film. Of course it is!

BLURB:

First love. Young love. Holiday love...

Wish Come True is a collection of contemporary, new adult, holiday short stories by some of our favorite authors!

A Very English Christmas by Keira Andrews
Isaac and David have created a new life together outside the Amish world. Living “English,” they’ve left behind the rigid, isolated community where they discovered their forbidden love. Staying with Isaac’s older brother in San Francisco, they yearn for a home—and bed—of their very own. As they experience the bright lights and merry carols of modern Christmas for the first time, can they make their holiday wishes come true?

Mr Perfect's Christmas by Joanna Chambers
Sam Warren’s new job hasn’t been going so well so the last thing he’s in the mood for is the obligatory office Christmas party, particularly since Nick Foster’s going to be there. Nick–the guy whose shoes Sam has been trying to fill–seems to take very opportunity to point out where Sam’s going wrong. But when Sam receives an unexpected Secret Santa gift at the party, he’s forced to question his assumptions about his rival. Could it be that he’s been misinterpreting Nick’s actions all along? And is it possible that his reluctant attraction to Nick is reciprocated?

The Christmas Ship by Amy Jo Cousins
When a twink who's finally ready to grow up accidentally catfishes a college football player headed to the NFL, it's going to take a lot of honesty and all the faith they can muster in their own One True Pairing to set this Christmas ship sailing.

That Thing by Megan Erickson
Helping his wedding planner sister work an event is not Devin Master’s idea of what he wants to do on his winter break from college. But saying no to his sister isn’t in his wheelhouse, which is why he finds himself embedded in a drama-filled wedding. His first task? Babysit the “troublesome” best man.

Adrian Alvarez wants to do just about anything on New Year’s Eve except attending his best friend’s wedding. Ever since Adrian came out, he’s been shunned in his hometown. By everyone but his best friend, Tony. Which is why he finds himself trudging through the airport to fulfill his best man duties. He doesn’t expect to find out his ride to the hotel is a hot blond with a cocky grin.

Devin can’t get involved with a member of the wedding party, or his sister will kill him, and Adrian just wants to lay low and not draw attention to himself. But neither can resist the chemistry between them and they have to decide if they are willing to ignite or let their attraction fizzle out.

Just Like Heaven by Suki Fleet
One rainy night in December, David helps a busker with pretty eyes get his stolen money back. He doesn’t imagine the strong attraction he feels is mutual. But after overcoming his shyness, David discovers Jess is definitely interested.

Jess just isn’t interested in anything but a one night stand. Or maybe two. Falling for David is definitely not part of his plan. But when David gets trapped in a snowstorm the night before Christmas Eve, Jess realises a night or two is never going to be enough.

Not Your Grandfather's Magic by Kaje Harper
A month away from Zeb Crowe’s twenty-first birthday — just a month before the ceremony that will awaken his psychic heritage — Zeb’s grandfather predicts cryptically, “Hold your mind and heart ready, and something good will come to you.” Shortly afterward, Zeb meets Matt, a smart, gawky, unexpectedly appealing guy who might warm the lonely corners of his heart. But is Matt really the “something good” his grandfather predicted? And is it fair to get close to him, when very soon Zeb’s whole life will change? If Zeb’s dad wasn’t missing, or his grandfather wasn’t such an enigmatic old bastard, his path to love, or power, would be so much clearer.

Bottle Boys by Anyta Sunday
Benjamin Otto is a bottle of liquid luck. Good looks. Good brain. Whatever the challenge: good odds. Except, what happens when those odds change?

Dad’s had enough bankrolling Ben and requests him to get a job. The challenge: make enough money to finance Christmas or face telling his little brother the holidays are dead.

Then there’s Sebastian. The guy from his politics class who is always coming in second after him. The guy who steals Ben’s idea to collect bottles for quick cash. The guy who makes Ben wonder if any amount of luck will be enough to win him what he really wants…


Edited by Lenore DiTrani
Cover by KaNaXa

Proceeds will be donated to Lost-N-Found Youth , an Atlanta-based nonprofit corporation whose mission is to take homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youths to age 26 off the street and transition them into more permanent housing.

BOOK INFO:
Title: Wish Come True
Authors: Keira Andrews, Joanna Chambers, Amy Jo Cousins, Megan Erickson, Suki Fleet, Kaje Harper, Anyta Sunday
Genre: Holiday, New Adult, Contemporary
Length: approx. 100k words
Release Date: December 1, 2015
Buy Links: Here are the buy links:
Amazon
Amazon UK
Smashwords

RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY:
a Rafflecopter giveaway



Ebook copies from each of the participating authors’ backslists (7 in total) AND a $50 All Romance Ebooks gift certificate!

Review: The Mnevermind Trilogy by Jordan Castillo Price

I pretty much sat down and read the three Mnevermind books back-to-back, I enjoyed them so much I couldn't stop reading when one book was finished. Because I read them all straight off, I'm reviewing them together - I really think anyone interested in these should get all three from the start!


The Blurb: 1
Every day, Daniel Schroeder breaks his father’s heart.

While forgetting your problems won’t solve them, it does seem like it would make life a heck of a lot easier. Daniel thought so once. Now he knows better. He and Big Dan have always been close, which makes it all the more difficult to break the daily news: the last five years were nothing like his father remembers.

They’re both professionals in the memory field—they even run their own memory palace. So shouldn’t they be able to figure out a way to overwrite the persistent false memory that’s wreaking havoc on both of their lives? Daniel thought he was holding it together, but the situation seems to be sliding out of control. Now even his own equipment has turned against him, reminding him he hasn’t had a date in ages by taunting him with flashes of an elusive man in black that only he can see.

Is it some quirk of the circuitry, or is Daniel headed down the same path to fantasy-land as his old man?

The Blurb: 2
No two people are exactly alike, but Elijah Crowe is very, very different. 

Elijah is on the autism spectrum, so the tasks of day-to-day life most people breeze through are a challenge for him. His career suffered because he never got the hang of schmoozing, and now his talents are being wasted teaching classes at the mall. His social circle is limited to his ex, his therapist, and a structured inclusion group at the Rec Center. The one bright spot in his life is the memory science of Mnemography.

Although he loves nothing better than devouring the latest research and tinkering with all the specialized equipment, he never clicked with any other experts in the field until he met Daniel Schroeder. Daniel runs a memory palace—he even writes his own mnems—and that shared interest alone would make him fascinating. But Daniel and Elijah met under unusual circumstances, where the statement, “I like you, and I think you like me,” held some surprising nuances.

Now Elijah suspects he’s gay, but the few prominent people in his life are less than supportive. Some are downright hostile. Elijah might not be neurotypical, but he’s plenty smart. Surely there’s some way to get people to accept him for who he is. If only he could figure out how. 

The Blurb: 3
Daniel Schroeder wants nothing more than to repair his father’s broken memories, but it’s been a long time since he’s thought of himself as a memorysmith. Even though convincing Big Dan of their current reality is the most painful task Daniel faces every morning, somehow life manages to prevent him from finding a cure. He needs to keep their family business running. And he needs to moonlight at a competitor’s shop to keep all his employees paid. Or maybe he’s just trying to keep himself from exacerbating the situation.

A year ago, Daniel would have presumed he was clever enough to memorysmith his way out of their predicament, but nowadays he’s not so cavalier. Playing with people’s memories shouldn’t be taken lightly, and things can always get worse. Even with the help of some of the best minds in the business, Daniel still isn’t sure how to navigate his way out of the persistent false memory that’s crippled his life. Is new programming the answer? Better gear? More money? Or is time the only thing that can heal Big Dan’s memories…if they can even be fixed at all.

What Daniel needs most is some breathing room, and Elijah Crowe is eager to provide it. Since he’s smitten with Daniel, Elijah is determined to prove himself—and he’s more than qualified to clear Daniel’s schedule by taking over some duties at Adventuretech. With the support of his new boyfriend, possibilities begin to open up for Daniel, hints of things he hasn’t even realized he’d stopped hoping for: the contentment of a harmonious family, the fulfillment of his creative expression, and a chance for a relationship with a man he loves.

This book completes the Mnevermind Trilogy.

*****

These books sum up pretty much everything I love about reading. They are unique, have great characterisation and a fantastic edge of reality - considering the subject matter is not a real thing (yet!).

The latest craze/fad/leisure activity is Mnemming, that is the ability to enjoy a dream-like world for a few hours where your greatest fantasy can come true. In a mnem the world is your oyster and you can spend a few blissful hours in complete happiness, once your time is up you go back about your everyday business and the memories of the mnem slowly fade over the next few hours, leaving you with nothing but a feeling of bliss. Sure, you might be a bit disorientated for a start - after all the mnem world feels remarkably realistic - but all will soon be back to normal.

Except when it isn't.

In a very few cases there have been reports of a persistent memory happening, that is when the brain retains wht happened in the mnem so much so you believe it actually happened. Not a problem? Well imagine trully believing, and experiencing, a big lottery win and spending as if that were the case...yeah, not so good when the cheques you're writing suddenly start bouncing.

Daniel Schroeder and his father, proud owners of Adventuretech, a memory palace, have been playing about with mnems for years. Then, a year ago, Daniel (a qualified memory smith) authored his own mnem, Life is Awesome, and among others his dad, Big Dan, tried it out. The problem was when Big Dan tried it out, for some reason, it caused a persistent memory and so everyday for the last year Daniel has to remind his father that he was separated from Daniel's mom, and she had moved on to pastures new.

Daniel carries the guilt of authoring the mnem that caused the persistence, dreads having to break the news to his dad each and every day, and is trying to keep his failing business afloat by running two jobs. In book 1 he meets Elijah in one of the mnems, when he (Daniel) was trying to retrieve a client at their allotted finish time. Nobody should be in a mnem apart from the client and those in the client's imagination, and Elijah was not part of the client's fantasy.

From here a wonderful relationship develops between Elijah and Daniel. Both have a love of nmeming in common, but things were never going to be easy for them. The fact that Elijah is on the autistic spectrum is not something that bothers Daniel, but it does mean he has to learn how to deal with this alongside their budding relationship. I loved the fact that book 2 was written from Elijah's perspective. We learn loads more about him and his first foray into a gay relationship. He also has a quite different way of looking at, and dealing with, Daniel's growing problems.

Through all three books we see several things happen. Firstly, the relationship between Daniel and Elijah - watching it grow was wonderful. It was so realistic not all moonlight and roses. The whole storyline about Elijah wanting to bottom but it not happening just felt so real. So true - it made me believe these characters all the more.

The ongoing problem with Big Dan's memory. I love Elijah's suggestions. No he couldn't take away the memory persistence but he did his best to help Daniel, to take some of the burden away from Daniel, to help seek a solution - permanent or otherwise. The same with the business. While Daniel is the kind of character who wants to shoulder all the responsibility for everything over time the cast of characters came into play to help him - Big Dan, Elijah and his work-friend Larry. All the characters in this trilogy were great.

The first book was slightly confusing at times - in a meant-to-be-like-that-way. Think The Matrix, it had that similar quality at times, leaving me never quite sure what was real and what was mnem. But I followed the string to the end of book 3 and it all became clear - and more importantly, I enjoyed every word.

Daniel, Elijah and co have found a place in my heart and this cleverly written series will be read again. I would absolutely encourage everyone else to give it a go. Refreshingly real and unputdownable it's worth a place in any book collection.

For more information check out Goodreads

A copy of these books were given in exchange for an honest review..

Review: Wild Summer by Suki Fleet

Stand Alone spin off to This is Not a Love Story. 

This is Crash's Story.


At fifteen, Christopher falls in love with a boy whose life he saves. But things go wrong and four years later, he wishes he'd acted differently. His conscience begins to haunt him and he knows he must find Summer again.

At seventeen, Summer pushes away the boy who saved him. Four years later, he is stuck in an abusive, damaging relationship. When he sees Christopher again, it's a sign he can't go on living like he is, but he can't begin to see a way out.

For either boy to stand a chance at happiness, they must find each other and obliterate the wrongs of their shared past.

It is no secret that This IS Not a Love Story by Suki Fleet is one of my favourite 2014 reads, so when the chance to read and review Wild Summer came in I jumped at the chance. A stand alone spin off from TINALS I was really excited about reading it...until nerves set in. What if it wasn't as good as the first book? What if I didn't like it....would that ruin my love for Julian and Romeo's story? I, of course, need not have feared. I LOVED it.

This book, though it has some very sad aspects to it, is not as harrowing as TINALS. Shorter and more compact than the first book, Suki writes a back and forth time-line that works really well. If you've read TINALS, this is Crash's story (if you haven't it doesn't matter this will in no way impair this story for you). We meet a younger Crash, before he's settled into life with his foster/adoptive family, we meet him when he falls in love. Of course it is not a simple, happy-ever-after love, not yet, and we follow Crash both in the present and in the past unravelling the story and finding out what happened before to him and what is happening now to him. It is a great way to read I always find, heightening the mystery, putting clues together.

Though this story does not have the earth moving shattering impact of TINALS, I feel it is worth every one of those five stars. Suki (like all my favourite writers) has wonderful characters in her books, characters to fall in love with. The story is interesting, the writing kept me hooked. Scenes are vividly sketched, each word needed and meaningful - IMO anyway. We see the troubled youngsters that are the stars of the story, but we also see the carefree boys they could be, if only life had dealt them a better hand. 

Summer especially has to make some downright difficult decisions - and the more life kicks him in the balls the stronger he stands. Until he can't any more. Until his strength wanes and his heart, his purpose, is taken away. I loved the way Crash becomes the unlikely saviour. I mean, we know from TINALS what he can do, but here we see him from a different perspective, we've seen some of the hardship he has faced himself and everything that he fights to retain some of himself and not give in to the hurt and pain. 

It's a great story, one YA lovers should most definitely read. I've said it before and I'll say it again - this is an author to watch for. There's magic in them there words she writes and I can't wait to read more from her.

Review: Complementary Colors by Adrienne Wilder

My sister Julia manipulated my life into a prison to keep me silent about our dirty family secret. Her greed made me a slave and circumstance left me with no way to escape.

Trapped, the only way I could silence the nightmares driving me to insanity was to wrap them in color, hold them with shadow, and stitch them to negative space with line.

But no matter how bright the pigments, no one could see my confession.

Except for Roy Callahan.

I thought he was just another nameless one-night stand in a long line of many.
But I was wrong. Roy could see past the façade of my life and through the veil color over the canvas. He could see what the world couldn’t.

And with him I’d find the courage to tell the truth about the boy.

The boy who kissed me.
The boy who loved me.
The boy whose name I couldn’t remember.

"What would life be like filled with simple moments like this? For time to be measured in heartbeats and exhales rather than seconds and minutes?"

This book. Oh my god, this book. I loved it. Hurt and angst and pain are books I read sparingly. Sometimes I can find books featuring disabilities or PTSD or mental health or abuse issues very manipulative. Manipulative in that parts of the story seem to there just for the sake of being there, to add trauma and not a natural part of the story - formulaic maybe. This book though was not at all like that, not one little bit. It was written with beauty, a beauty that shone through even the ugliest parts of the tale.

Paris is the MC and it is through his eyes that we see this story unfold. It's his emotions, actions and broken memories that we are witness to and I have to say I was so drawn into his story that when I fell asleep reading it at stupid o'clock, I found myself waking up an hour later and carrying on into the middle of the night. I felt every single bit of Paris - the parts he exposed and those he tried to hide.

Paris is an artist and I ADORED the way Adrienne Wilder used colours to explain his feelings, his emotions...or I should say, how Paris used the colours. His brain was so full of his half remembered childhood that there weren't always sufficient words to say how he felt...oft times he didn't know how he felt, it was all colour to him. The good times and the bad. Adrienne has a beautiful, descriptive way of writing - poetic really.

"Morning turned the kitchen into gold, and dust motes dance and twirled in the sunbeams. A door slammed somewhere, and a woman yelled. An infant cried for his mother. Then someone turned up their radio drowning out the sounds of urban poverty under a steady bass thump."

Along with the wonderfully broken MC, the author managed to create some vivid characters. Part of me felt almost shocked at how nasty and manipulative Julia was, not I think because she was female, but because she was his sister. Malignant from the inside out, she terrified me and I truly did not know how this story would end. Roy. The saviour really, I will always have a soft spot for Roy from now on. I Love characters that protect, characters whose love means more than their own life.

I think that really this story is a love story. It is the love between Roy and Paris but it is also Paris learning to love himself. It is not an easy book to read, you will be dragged down and up again and then back down. It will get you in its grasp and you won't be able to stop reading. You'll need to know just s little bit more, just a little bit more. I would totally recommend this book to everyone, though those who find abusive stories a trigger will want to avoid it. A fantastic book written with depth, feeling and understanding.

An arc of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.