Release Blitz + Giveaway: Draw (Overtime #3) by V.L. Locey

Author V.L. Locey and Signal Boost Promotions host today's release blitz for Draw (Overtime #3)! Learn more about the latest romance in the series and enter in the giveaway of Point Shot Trilogy eBook!

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Length: 62,000 approx.

Cover Design: Meredith Russell

Vic & Dan Books

Point Shot Trilogy
Coach's Challenge (Cayuga Cougars #3)

Overtime Trilogy

Book #1 - Rebound
Book #2 - Final Shot

Blurb

They say first loves never last. Jackie Blue Kalinski was about to show them—whoever they are—that the word never is not in his vocabulary.

From the time Jack Kalinski was a preschooler he had a good sense of who he was and where he wanted to go in life. His childhood was spent drawing beautiful dresses for pretty people, male and female alike. Growing up with two dads who played hockey wasn’t exactly conducive to late night talks about tulle or tailor’s chalk, but he never let that stop his dreams of becoming a fashion designer or expressing the genderqueer heart that beat in his chest. His family’s love and support helped him through some painful losses that shaped him into the strong, vivacious, and charismatic college student he is today. Life hasn’t been a smooth ride, but Jack has persevered and is about to take the fashion world by storm.

Little does he suspect that his tidy life is about to be scorched by a chance meeting with one of the men playing hockey on the gay team his father coaches. Martin McKittrick not only catches Jack’s eye, but the much older man wins his heart. The passionate affair with the captain of the Marine Unit of the BFD burns red hot until the new couple run into a few snags that might dampen the inferno: Jack’s ascent into the fashion world, Martin’s job and the inherent dangers that come with it, and the fact that the well-kept secret romance has just been exposed to the world in a rather big way.

USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.

When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.

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Review: Dalí by E.M. Hamill

Dalí Tamareia has everything—a young family and a promising career as an Ambassador in the Sol Fed Diplomatic Corps. Dalí’s path as a peacemaker seems clear, but when their loved ones are killed in a terrorist attack, grief sends the genderfluid changeling into a spiral of self-destruction.

Fragile Sol Fed balances on the brink of war with a plundering alien race. Their skills with galactic relations are desperately needed to broker a protective alliance, but in mourning, Dalí no longer cares, seeking oblivion at the bottom of a bottle, in the arms of a faceless lover, or at the end of a knife.

The New Puritan Movement is rising to power within the government, preaching strict genetic counseling and galactic isolation to ensure survival of the endangered human race. Third gender citizens like Dalí don’t fit the mold of this perfect plan, and the NPM will stop at nothing to make their vision become reality. When Dalí stumbles into a plot threatening changelings like them, a shadow organization called the Penumbra recruits them for a rescue mission full of danger, sex, and intrigue, giving Dalí purpose again.

Risky liaisons with a sexy, charismatic pirate lord could be Dalí’s undoing—and the only way to prevent another deadly act of domestic terrorism.

I’m giving this review my first heart reaction rather than sitting on it and trying to analyze my feelings.

This story was a winner for me. Superb character development. Complete worldbuilding which was easy to follow; I was immersed in this intergalactic world.

The plot was well paced and didn’t appear to have any holes. I have zero complaints in terms of storyline or character development. I was completely connected to Dalí the entire time. I love them. I think they are amazing, complex, and definitely a risk taker by nature.

This story starts out sad. Dalí is grieving the loss of their Husband, Wife, and unborn child. They are on a self-destructive path with petty fighting, and anonymous sex.

It isn’t until they sleep with the brother of an anti-Third Gender activist and son to the President of Europa that Dalí almost gets the sweet oblivion of death they are seeking. Only, once they are recovering, they realise it may not be death they want, but to wade out of the loss and find purpose again.

Dalí’s grief lends an edginess to their character, without the story being too dark or depressing. The sharp pain is there, like a wave, and as a reader I was completely aware of it the entire time I was reading, but the story, while centering around Dalí’s pursuit for answers to their loss, didn’t get bogged down with the constant ache and depression.

All of the characters in this story are well plotted out. I’d say there is room for more expansion on some of the characters, and culture and customs of the difference species, but that would require a lot more time and the Glossary at the back gives a basic overview if the reader wants to refer to it while reading (or before reading if you’re that way inclined). Within the story, there is enough information to satisfy during the encounter, and some species who get more page time, are explained a little more with each encounter. I enjoyed the balance. There is no information overload in this story.

The action and suspense is done exceptionally, and I couldn’t put this book down. I was completely engaged the entire time. I wanted to know what would happen next, and how the relationships built between Dalí and other characters would work out. Lord Rhix was an especially complex situation that kept me guessing. I couldn’t tell where the story would go while Dalí and Lord Rhix were interacting.

The peculiar connection between Dalí and the Sontavians was of great interest to me, and I wish there was more information on this, but I suppose if Dalí doesn’t understand it, then the reader shouldn’t either.

Sci-Fi can be a bit hit and miss for me. It took a long time for me to get into it, and only certain stories will keep me interested without my eyes glazing over in confusion of a completely made-up world. This was expertly delivered to readers like me. It wasn’t overly complex, but it was definitely apparent that this was futuristic and Earth no longer existed. Everything was clean and direct, flowing seamlessly through the storyline.

I will be stalking this author for any future gems, and I really hope Dalí becomes the lead in a series. If not, I will have to revisit them often within the pages of this book.

Recommended for all Sci-Fi readers, this is not a romance, but an action adventure story with some conspiracy plots, and some light erotic content.

A review copy was provided for an honest review.

Blog Tour + Giveaway: Queer Magick by L.C. Davis

The Queer Magick blog tour drops by today! Author L.C. Davis and IndiGo Marketing celebrate the fantasy/horror QUILTBAG fiction with a quickie interview, excerpt and $20 Amazon gift card giveaway! Check it out!

Title:  Queer Magick

Series: Queer Magick Vol. 1

Author: L.C. Davis

Publisher:  Self-Published

Release Date: April 26, 2017

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: M/M/M, Male/Male Menage

Length: 212 pages

Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Horror, lgbt, polyamory, genderqueer, trans MC

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Synopsis

An LGBT+ fantasy of apocalyptic proportions.

Twenty-something Holden Adams never asked to be the harbinger of the apocalypse, or for the seven lovers who come with the job. All he wanted in Stillwater, Vermont was a fresh start, but his past as a preacher's kid turned witch threatens any hope he has of a normal life in the idyllic town. A fateful encounter with a strange cat on the brink of death earns Holden a new enemy and some unlikely friends, but as Stillwater reveals itself not to be as conventional as it appears, the line between the two becomes irreparably blurred.

Daniel St. James is getting too old for this crap. The love of his life turned out to be a cold-blooded killer and while Dennis got away with murder thirteen years earlier, Daniel and the rest of the town are still reeling from the tragedy. Now some kid who claims to be a witch waltzes into town and all of a sudden, Daniel's unflinchingly straight best friend is head over heels for Holden. Chaos has a way of following Holden, revealing a web of supernatural secrets around Daniel that makes him question everything he believes about the town he's lived in his entire life--and everything he doesn't.

Welcome to Stillwater. Things are a little queer here.

Excerpt

"Cute guys don't just pick up and move across the country to live in the middle of nowhere with no connections unless there's something they want to leave behind."

Cute guys? The term didn't make my skin crawl quite as much when it came from Nick, but maybe that was just because I was too busy trying to remember how to breathe. My lips parted as if his kiss was just something that was supposed to happen, something I had been programmed to respond to long before it ever crossed my mind. His lips were as warm as his hands, but much softer as they pressed mine, gentle at first as he gauged my reaction. His fingers played in my hair and I moved closer, drawn to him by some unseen force as his tongue slipped into my mouth.

When he finally pulled away, I was breathless and the look in his eyes wasn't helping. Neither was the smile on his lips. It suited him, but I could think of far better things those lips could be doing...

"I can protect you, Holden," he said, reaching for my hand in my lap, stroking the back of it as he looked into my eyes. I found myself incapable of blinking or looking away, my hearing focused on the rich sound of his voice to the exclusion of all else. It was so warm and soothing I felt like it was enveloping me as he spoke. Just like his eyes, that sound was tinged with gold. The difference between sight and touch and sound seemed negligible as he caressed my cheek, pulling me deeper into some hypnosis I was all too eager to succumb to. "Whatever you were running from, I believe something else brought you here to me, and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you or take you away."

I felt the urge to respond, to say whatever he needed to hear, but all I could do was nod.

"Who is it, Holden?" he asked gently, leaning in a little closer. "Who are you so scared of?"

"My father." The words came out like a breath.

"Hm," he said thoughtfully, still absently stroking my hair. "And he wants to hurt you?"

"No," I murmured. "No, he...he wants to take me back."

"Take you back where?"

"To Arkansas. To our church, to the basement..."

Something flickered in his eyes, only it wasn't the reassuring adoration that made me feel like a puddle of happiness. There was murder in that gaze, and it lasted only an instant, but it was enough to make me aware of what he was doing. I had seen hypnotists at work before. My father was one of them, even though he liked to claim his "gift" came from God above. I knew Nick had me in some kind of a trance, but I was powerless to break it.

"Why does he want to bring you back?" His voice was slow and controlled, but rough. It wasn't nearly as hypnotic as it had been, but his spell remained unbroken.

"I can do things," I said, my own voice hoarse from straining against the words he was drawing from me with such ease. "I have power that he wants, that he uses for his ministry."

Something else crossed his mind. I could feel it, like our thoughts were linked somehow even if the influence only went in one direction. This time, it was curiosity. "Power? But you're human..."

I frowned, or at least I could feel the muscles in my face that would have shaped a frown twitch, breaking my mask of complacency. Human? "What else would I be?" I wanted to ask. Instead, he wound a strand of my hair around his finger and the touch lulled me in deeper. "Holden." My name was a command, gentle yet insistent.

"I'm a witch."

He cocked his head to one side. He seemed surprised, but it faded too fast. "And what kind of 'things' can you do?"

My throat was tight, but I couldn't keep the words down. "Awful things."

"I don't think you're capable of doing anything awful, Holden," he said softly. How could someone who sounded so kind be capable of doing something so cruel?

"I killed them..." My eyes burned and the tears spilled over.

He frowned. "Who?"

Before I could answer, before he could force me to, flames interposed themselves on my vision, blocking him out completely. The fire, the church, the screams, it was all bubbling to the surface, everything I'd tried so hard not to allow access to my conscious mind. Someone else was watching me, from the inside of my mind, and at first, I thought it was Nick, but the silhouette was off. This man was taller, slimmer. I couldn't see his face clearly, but I could see a finger pressed against his lips. Light was coming from his eyes and soon it ate up the flames and made it impossible to see anything, either in the vision or in reality.

I cried out in pain as a shrill, mechanical scream merged itself with the blinding light and both were so piercing it felt like my mind would split in half. All I remembered after that was being caught in Nick's strong arms, pressed close to his warm body as he whispered some apology I could only half understand. Then, everything was quiet.

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Author Quickie Interview

Tell us about your current work in process and what you’ve got planned for the future.

I just wrapped up editing for the next installment in Queer Magick, called Fairytales, so I’m super excited for that to come out! I’m also writing the next book in The Mountain Shifters series, which is a breath of fresh air since the last book dealt with some pretty heavy themes.

What was the hardest scene to write in Queer Magick?

I think I actually rewrote the scene where Holden meets Nick for the first time the most out of any scene in the series. There is a lot happening in that scene from Nick's POV, but it's told from Holden's, so it took a while to get it to feel just right.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

I would totally want Mystique’s shapeshifting power. Look like literally anyone you want when you’re not a sexy blue humanoid god? Yes, please.

Meet the Author

L.C. Davis is a trans & nonbinary author of lgbt fantasy and romance with a passion for representation. His current series include Queer Magick, Kingdom of Night and The Mountain Shifters.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | eMail

Tour Schedule

6/12    Wicked Faerie's Tales and Reviews   

6/12    Happily Ever Chapter

6/13    Books,Dreams,Life           

6/14    MM Good Book Reviews       

6/15    Boy Meets Boy Reviews        

6/16    Stories That Make You Smile 

6/17    Sharing Links and Wisdom   

6/18    Divine Magazine        

6/19    Queer Sci Fi   

6/20    Love Bytes      

6/21    Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words           

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Giveaway + Blog Tour: Don't Feed the Trolls by Erica Kudisch

Erica Kudisch is making her clubhouse debut today & she's talking gender roles. Don't miss out on the amazeballs giveaway. See the deets at the bottom!

Hey nerds! Erica Kudisch here promoting my novel DON'T FEED THE TROLLS, a genderqueer romp through internet drama. And if you keep up with the blog tour and its bonus DLC, there's a $50 prize package achievement for you to unlock. Have fun!

GENDER IS WEIRD, OKAY?

People keep asking me if DON’T FEED THE TROLLS is an #ownvoices book. It’s an easier question to answer in person than online, because, frankly, I don’t know. And that’s not a popular answer, in the Discourse that is the Internet.

I have always had a complicated relationship with gender. For as long as I can remember, I have resisted the notion that certain things--activities, clothes, roles--are for boys, and others for girls. A part of me is just habitually contrarian and revels in any opportunity to do what someone says I can’t, but my beef with being defined by marketing and expectations goes too far back to dismiss. I loved playing “male” roles in all my childhood theater projects, and asserted that “boy things” like dissection weren’t gross. I tried out for, and made my school’s American Football team in seventh grade, because I genuinely enjoyed playing the game. However, I never got to play: my family said, “okay, you’ve proven your feminist point, that girls can do it too, but the boys will be abusive to you, so we’re not going to let you on the field.” So I became a cheerleader, which didn’t work out all that well.

I spent a lot of time in high school and college being mistaken for male on the Internet; my gaming hobbies, both on- and offline, assumed male as default. Even when I started writing fanfiction it was in the more male-dominated parts of fandom. And of course I fantasized about how much easier my life would be if I’d been born with a dick, and had all the respect and opportunities that come with being a conditionally-white-passing man of privilege. I’d be 6’3” like my grandfather, and a baritone, and I’d never have been told I should stop dancing, and I’d get all the lead roles I could stand, and no one would call me uppity or confrontational for speaking my mind. I wished. Sometimes I dreamt.

But I’ve never once thought that I should transition.

I can’t deny that I’ve experienced most of my life being perceived and treated as female. I have long hair and a high voice and twenty years of wearing a bra. I present however the hell I want; I often say that I like rhinestones too much to shop in the men’s department exclusively, but because of my size I often have to. But those shoes aren’t “men’s shoes”, they’re my shoes. Or they’re Christian Siriano shoes. Or they’re shoes that I’ve covered in rhinestones because I like rhinestones, and I’d like them and wear them regardless of my junk. I’d be bi/pan no matter what anatomy I started from or transitioned to. And I’d have a lovely wife who’s super gay regardless of my decision to identify one way, the other, or neither.

The protagonist of DON’T FEED THE TROLLS, Daphnis, has some of the same struggles with gender that I do. It’s one of the reasons the book was difficult, and quite personal, to write. And the conclusion Daphnis comes to regarding their identity is no more conclusive than mine.

Can it be an #ownvoices book if the character, like the author, is still figuring out what to say?

About Don’t Feed the Trolls

Gaming while female is enough to incur the wrath of the dude-bros, and they’ve come for me. Instead of fighting back, I’ve created an alternate account. Male name, male pronouns. And I’ve met this girl. I’ve always liked girls, and Laura’s adorable and smart and never gives up, and she likes me back. Or rather, she likes the man I’m pretending to be. But I can’t tell her I’m a woman without the mob coming after her too.

And besides: I might not be a woman, not really.

The truth is, I don’t know what I am anymore. I’ve spent my whole life being told how I’m supposed to act and what I’m supposed to be, but none of it feels right. And my lie is starting to feel truer than anything I’ve ever been.

There’s a convention coming up, but the closer it gets, the more I have to choose: lie or fight. But if I don’t stand my ground as a girl, am I letting the haters win?

Then again, those aren’t the only two ways to live.

Available from Riptide Publishing. http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/dont-feed-the-trolls

About Erica Kudisch

Erica Kudisch lives, writes, sings, and often trips over things in New York City. When not in pursuit of about five different creative vocations, none of which pay her nearly enough, you can usually find her pontificating about dead gay video games, shopping for thigh-high socks, and making her beleaguered characters wait forty thousand words before they get in the sack.

In addition to publishing novellas and short stories as fantastika-focused alter-ego Kaye Chazan (What Aelister Found Here and The Ashkenazi Candidate, both available at Candlemark & Gleam) Erica is responsible for the BDSM musical Dogboy & Justine, and serves as creative director and co-founder of Treble Entendre Productions.

She also has issues with authority. And curses too fucking much.

Connect with Erica:

• Facebook: Erica Kudisch
• Instagram: hardhandmaiden
• Tumblr:  shitmywriterwifesays.tumblr.com
• Twitter: @EricaKudisch

To celebrate the release of Don’t Feed the Trolls, one lucky winner will receive a $30 Riptide credit and a $20 Steam gift card! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on April 8, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!