Blog Tour: Love Has No Direction (Love Can't #3) by Kim Fielding

Could you make it living on a bus? That is the burning question author Kim Fielding wants to know. Find out more about the latest in the Love Can't series & leave a comment on the bus question too.

Hi! Kim Fielding here to celebrate the release of Love Has No Direction, my 26th novel!

One of the protagonists in this book, Wes Anker, lives in a converted school bus. That aspect of the story was inspired by some acquaintances who had to vacate their house for several months due to repair of structural issues. They found a school bus, parked it on the property, and set it up as very comfortable and cozy living quarters. Although the bus had electricity, it didn’t have water or plumbing, so they rigged up a bathroom and outdoor kitchen—the latter covered by an awning—right next to the bus. This was all in southern Oregon, where the weather is generally warm enough to make some degree of outdoor living possible.

Wes is perfectly content with his setup, which he’s maintained for years, and when he meets Parker Levin, Parker finds it charming. My real-life acquaintances, on the other hand, were happy to move back into their more traditional house. They still have the bus and its accessories, however, which I believe they let guests borrow.

Personally, I love seeing the very clever ways people have converted buses, vans, RVs, and similar vehicles into homes. Along the same vein, I think it’s really fun to look at tiny houses. They’re so cute! And I like the way they work to simplify the owner’s life.

But I don’t know if I could live in any of these places for very long. My house is big—over 3000 square feet—and my family has filled it pretty full. Just my book collection alone overflows shelves in nearly every room. Yes, I know a Kindle takes up hardly any space at all, but I like print books too. It would be really hard for me to give them up. I also have quite a few beloved art pieces I’d want to hang somewhere. And then there are my boots! I can envision myself living in an adorable little cottage but needing to cheat by keeping a lot of stuff in storage nearby.

Do you have daydreams of moving into a converted bus or other tiny house? Or do you prefer lots of room to stretch out?

*

Blurb:

A Love Can't Novel

Yet another series of poor decisions lands Parker Levin back in his mother’s house, working at her coffee shop, and feeling like a failure. Then he learns his ex-boyfriend has died by suicide and things go from bad to worse. When he meets a handsome stranger, he doesn’t have much left to lose.

Ten years ago Wesley Anker made a grave mistake. Since then he’s lived in near isolation, supporting himself by making custom furniture and only rarely connecting with other people. When he attempts to make amends, he encounters Parker, a beautiful and colorful young man, and he agrees to Parker’s impulsive request to join him.

Together, Parker and Wes find quick friendship and fierce attraction. But Wes’s past demons haunt his footsteps, and Parker’s struggle to plan a future has him stumbling through life. Then they uncover evidence that suggests Parker’s ex’s death might not have been a straightforward suicide, and every path seems to lead to dead ends and destruction. Can Parker and Wes find their way to lasting love when the route is hidden?

Buy links:

Amazon

Kobo

Author info:

Kim Fielding is the bestselling, award-winning author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.

Having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls California home. She lives there with her family and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.

Follow Kim:

Website: http://www.kfieldingwrites.com/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/KFieldingWrites

Instagram: @KFieldingWrites

Twitter: @KFieldingWrites

Email: Kim@KFieldingWrites.com

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bau3S9

Release Blitz + Giveaway: The Edge Of The World by Garrett Leigh

The Edge Of The World is out! Join author Garrett Leigh and Signal Boost Promotions in the celebration! Learn more about the new friends to lovers romance and enter in the back list eBook giveaway!

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link - Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow with Kindle Unlimited

Cover Design: Black Jazz Design

Length: 60,000 words approx.

Blurb

Shay Maloney is living his dream—on tour with his pirate/folk-rock band. But you can’t know where you’re going until you know where you’re from, and that’s where moody filmmaker and researcher Ollie Pietruska comes in.


The band’s management persuades Shay to let a television company film a documentary about his roots beyond his adoptive Irish family, and Ollie comes into his life knowing more about Shay than Shay’s ever known about himself.


But while Ollie holds the key to Shay’s past, he’s also hiding deep scars. Even as the hardships of the tour bring them closer, Ollie’s demons threaten the blossoming romance. They might both reach the breaking point before Ollie realises he’s been standing on the edge of the world for too long, and it’s Shay who holds the key to his future.


A friends-to-lovers, rock star, road-tripping romance, with a guaranteed happily-ever-after.

Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer.


Garrett's debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.


When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.


Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.


Website: http://www.garrettleigh.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garrettleighauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh

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Guest Review: Dilly and Boz by John Inman

It’s funny how love nails you when you least expect it.

Dilly Jones has pretty much given up on romance ever finding him. Boz Jenkins, his neighbor, is recently out of a bad relationship but has definitely noticed the cutie across the street. When Dilly drops a bag of donuts on the sidewalk, it sets a chain of events into motion. And suddenly both men’s hearts are lost.

But Boz’s ex is still hanging around, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get Boz back.With a brand-new romance gearing up to knock their socks off, the last thing Dilly and Boz expect is to get tangled up in a stranger’s murder. Or to find themselves fighting for their lives.

Just as they finally find happiness, their love for each other becomes the thing that threatens them the most.

Reviewer: Annery

Score another victory for the #blurbswhatblurbs camp. This was my first John Inman book, though I’ve had my eye on him for quite a while, and based on this read it won't be my last. I chose this book solely based on the cover, quite beautiful IMO, and the title that led me to believe it was a gentle romance, which in a way it is, but it’s also something deeper, and sometimes darker. Grittier.

Dilly and Boz is the story of two unremarkable people, the kind who are maybe side characters in other books, but never protagonists. Dilbert ‘Dilly’ Allan Jones is 5’ 6”, 25 y.o., skinny, klutzy, miopic, has almost pathological anxiety, and he works as the sole clerk at the Retro Record Shoppe. He’s as lonely & poor as a church mouse, having only his cat Grace for company, but yearns for even a spark of human contact. Bosley ‘Boz’ Maurice Jenkins 27, is not much more physically imposing than Dilly, and has a painful recent past, but he’s marginally better off because he’s got a stable job as a waiter, has his little dog Leon, and despite intense shyness, is willing to risk going after what he wants, which thankfully is Dilly. When these two get together it’s the beginning of a sweet, beautiful, and tender romance which makes you yearn to wrap them up in cotton wool and sprinkle fairy dust on their road to HEA. You never doubt the veracity of them as men falling in love, the scents, and tactility of their physical attraction is clearly, and to my utter delight, written from a male perspective. I loved it.

Supporting characters to the Boz & Dilly show are Leonard ‘Puffer’ Moran, Dilly’s octogenarian boss who’s rarely without a joint, and his equally, young-at-heart, girlfriend Estelle. They provide not only comic relief but a grounding in the real world, unencumbered by inhibitions or fears. I’d say they’re a sound mirror for Dilly & Boz to imagine themselves into a future of joy. So why wasn’t this a 5 star read for me? Read on.

The other prominent character is Bobby Mayfield. Outwardly he’s a poster boy for both gay & heterosexual paradigms of masculine male beauty: tall, stacked, and a former soldier. But currently he’s a methhead, with a violent, and sadistic streak who also happens to be Boz’s ex, and won’t accept that the relationship is over. While he plots, schemes, and threatens to get Boz back he snorts meth in massive quantities and has the unsexiest sex with Angel, an undocumented Guatemalan young man, who deludes himself into believing that there’s a future with Bobby. The author does a tremendous job depicting both of these characters and the downward spiral progression of their story, which is necessarily dark, but at some points I felt like it almost overwhelmed the romance part.

Though intricately woven, they form a sort of unhappy marriage. Boz & Dilly’s story is a refreshing and unexpectedly engaging romance between two ordinary guys with no billionaires, blinding beauties, (save for how the MCs see each other), or six-packs in sight. But the Bobby appearances shift it into suspense territory, and it just threw me off a bit. My other quibble is of the greedy variety. Dilly & Boz grew on me and I’d really like to know more about them. We know nothing of their families, where they came from, or where they’re going, and they seem to have no friends. It’s almost as if they just sprouted in situ. *shrug*

Regardless of my minimal complaints I’d recommend this as a nice change from the common MM romances currently in vogue, and I’ll absolutely be reading more from this author.

Giveaway + Blog Tour: Howling on Hold by E.J. Russell

Join author E.J. Russell & Riptide Publishing in celebrating the release of Howling On Hold. Find out more about this paranormal romance & leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway for a $25 Riptide credit!

About Howling on Hold

Sometimes it’s harder to teach a young dog new tricks.

That’s why werewolves embark on a Howling: a three-year rite of passage in which they’re sent to a group residence to wrestle with their wolfy instincts and assimilate into the Wider World. But Tanner Araya’s Howling is almost over, and he could be called back to his remote pack at any moment. His twenty-first birthday might be his last chance to act on his strongest instinct and finally kiss Chase Denney.

Chase is RA at the Howling residence affectionately dubbed “the Doghouse,” and he takes his job seriously. So seriously that when he realized he was developing feelings for a resident, he forced himself to keep Tanner at a distance. But now that Tanner’s twenty-one, he’s not Chase’s charge any longer. They could be friends or—if Chase is lucky—something more. At least until they both return to their home packs for good, as tradition demands.

It would take a miracle for them to get together—especially when the other Doghouse werewolves insist on “helping.”

Warning: Many Frisbees are harmed in this story, forgiveness is not always easier than permission, and the five-second rule does not apply.

Now available from Riptide Publishing!

About the Mythmatched Universe

Wait . . . Is that . . . No, it couldn’t be. Could it? A fae at the florist? A demon at the deli? A werewolf at the Y?

Humans will never know. They can’t know, or the lives of every supernatural creature on this world—or under it—would be at risk.

So the supes of every nation, culture, and pantheon joined together in uneasy alliance, vowing to keep their society secret in order to survive among humans.

But when you spend every moment hiding your true nature, how can you ever find true love?

Check out the Mythmatched universe today!

About E.J. Russell

E.J. Russell holds a BA and an MFA in theater, so naturally she’s spent the last three decades as a financial manager, database designer, and business-intelligence consultant. After her twin sons left for college and she no longer spent half her waking hours ferrying them to dance class, she returned to her childhood love of writing fiction. Now she wonders why she ever thought an empty nest meant leisure.

E.J. lives in rural Oregon with her curmudgeonly husband, the only man on the planet who cares less about sports than she does. She enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.

Connect with E.J.:

Website: ejrussell.com

Blog: ejrussell.com/bloggery/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/E.J.Russell.author

Twitter: twitter.com/ej_russell

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/ejrussell/

To celebrate this release, one lucky person will win a $25 gift card to Riptide. Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on January 17, 2020. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. For more chances to enter, follow the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info! 

Release Blitz + Giveaway: Breaking the Surface (The Outsider Project #2) by Rebecca Langham

Breaking the Surface (The Outsider Project #2) is out from NineStar Press! Join author Rebecca Langham and IndiGo Marketing in celebrating the release and enter in the $10 NSP credit giveaway!

Title: Breaking the Surface

Series: The Outsider Project, Book Two

Author: Rebecca Langham

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: January 13, 2020

Heat Level: 2 - Fade to Black Sex

Pairing: Female/Female

Length: 81300

Genre: Science Fiction, LGBT, captivity, interspecies, politics, Sci-fi, teacher, futuristic, lesbian, space

Add to Goodreads

Synopsis

Alessia is an Outsider—a member of the not-quite-human community that has recently been released from their underground prison. Shortly after their liberation, Alessia is given an ultimatum: obey all the United Earth Alliance’s demands, or her mother will forever remain a hostage—a mother she’d believed dead for fifteen years. Reluctantly, she agrees, though she has no idea what those demands may be or how she will balance her obligations to the UEA with her responsibilities to her people and her family.

As the UEA tightens its grip on humans and Outsiders alike, it becomes clear that meaningful social change will not be possible without a revolution. Alessia and her peers embark on a mission to discover just how far the government is willing to go to maintain their monopoly on power.

What Alessia and her comrades discover, however, goes much deeper than they’d ever anticipated. Who are the Outsiders, really? What secrets of their destiny lay hidden within a top-secret space station? And why are the Outsiders linked to an emerging disease the UEA seems desperate to keep secret? As they delve deeper, it isn’t only Alessia’s identity that will be called into question, but the fate of the entire planet.

Excerpt

Breaking the Surface
Rebecca Langham © 2020
All Rights Reserved

Lydia wanted so badly to pace, to burn away her fear one exaggerated step at a time, but there was nowhere to go, no floor space to haunt. The Camp had been a sanctuary for them all, keeping her friends safe from unwanted attention since they’d taken their first steps as free people, but now it suffocated her. It may have been off-the-grid, but the complex was also small. Too small.

Given the number of people in the control room, she had to settle for crossing her arms over her stomach and gritting her teeth. But even then, she couldn’t silence the dissenting voice in her head. Something wasn’t right. Why would the United Earth Alliance be demanding a meeting so forcefully?

The UEA had been quiet in the two weeks since the Outsiders relocated from the colonies, granting an eerie yet welcome period of radio silence. Now they’d not only made contact, but threatened legal action if Alessia and the Green Hats didn’t acquiesce to an immediate communication with one of the government’s top advisers.

Lydia’s stomach churned.

As though reading her thoughts, Alessia slid her hand into Lydia’s and squeezed her fingers. Lydia forced a weak smile as she turned. “I don’t trust them.”

Alessia’s face—which, more than ever, reminded Lydia of a finely carved alabaster statue— softened.

“Of course not,” she replied, her tone sympathetic yet firm. “But it may not be wise to ignore the request. This could be nothing more than an administrative issue and I don’t want to invite trouble, not so soon after the release.”

“I don’t think you can ignore it, Ly-dee.” Helen swivelled gently in an office chair, forearms resting on her thighs as she considered her daughter. After all those years without Helen’s presence, hearing that fruity voice still managed to surprise her from time to time. Lydia had believed her mother to be dead for years. Finding out she hadn’t died, but rather become a kind of political hacker, was unsettling to say the least.

Life had changed so much in the last nine months. Alessia did not remain trapped beneath the ground, and Helen had re-emerged from the void.

No longer living with her politician father, even Lydia had been partially freed from the web of her old insecurities and frustrations. Sometimes though, it seemed like those frustrations had dissolved only to be replaced by a whole slew of new concerns. It had been a lot to process.

Helen sighed, a little too dramatically. She reached for a cup of tea she’d left cooling on a nearby bench and cradled it between her hands. “We knew they’d get their claws back in sooner or later.”

“Two weeks,” Lydia huffed. “They only waited two weeks. Please can’t we refuse?” The frustration in her voice exposed Lydia’s raw emotional state in a way she wasn’t comfortable with. Until recently, she’d worked hard to present a subdued version of her thoughts to the outside world. With such a prominent father, she’d had to if she had any hope of protecting herself from those who sought to exploit her. Whether it be to splash her personal life about the goss-channels, or to pressure her to influence her father regarding some political issue or another, there had been no shortage of people trying to use Lydia. It had been a kind of self-preservation to surround herself in the dark veil she’d become enveloped in, making it harder for people to really see her. But then Alessia had burst into her life, a quiet yet powerful blaze of light.

Alessia and the other Outsiders had reached right into her and reawakened feelings and sensations she’d muted long ago.

“Is refusing a good idea?” Peleus looked up from where he sat cross-legged on the floor a couple of metres away from Helen. Peleus had been one of her earliest and most faithful followers and friends, embracing her efforts to slowly change culture in the colony by sharing positive stories and messages with the children. “They’re providing accommodations and integration assistance to the four thousand Os who’ve had their entire existence uprooted. Not taking their meeting might give the UEA reason to withdraw support.” As Alessia’s confidante, Peleus’s presence always lent a certain sense of thoughtful tranquillity to a situation.

Alessia pulled Lydia closer until their bodies pressed together, banishing the air between them and soothing Lydia’s nerves a little. They’d barely had time to catch their breath since Release Day. When they had finally pushed their way through the obscenely large crowd of onlookers in Thracia after the ceremony, they’d boarded an air-transport and come directly here to the Green Hat headquarters in Quadrant Four.

Affectionately known by its inhabitants as the Camp, the secure underground complex supported a community of approximately a hundred people. Every one of them had dedicated their lives to undermining the UEA’s ever-worsening abuses of its own laws.

The main control room at the Camp was capacious and circular, with curved desks and ergonomic chairs that hugged the wall. Each workstation offered a user access to the G-Hat virtual network, but to connect with the outside world, one had to utilise the cylindrical, glassy tower in the centre of the room. A reflective pillar when inactive, the hub featured a projector that sent holograms into the middle of the tower as required.

The hub worked much the same way as any Hive wall, but with some modifications helping to prevent hacks into the rest of their system. It was also perfect for situations in which more than one person needed to participate in a communication link. Lydia believed the entire setup was nothing short of spectacular. No doubt they’d been able to develop the untraceable consoles only because of whatever financial support the MacNay Corporation had been providing.

Still, Alessia and Lydia had traded one isolated abode for another. At least this one wasn’t full of protectors or tainted by decades of oppression. Greys had been replaced with blues, locked doors with open spaces, and obstacles with possibilities.

The dormitory was unfortunate, though. Each night, the enticing heat of Alessia’s body rejuvenated Lydia, yet they were acutely aware of the other people sleeping nearby, and so Lydia had accepted the fact they’d have no privacy for the foreseeable future.

In truth, she experienced relief and disappointment in equal measure. They’d only spent a few weeks getting to know one another in the Q4C, after a month of silent glances in crowded corridors. The six months of separation following Lydia’s departure had done little to quiet Lydia’s fears her connection to Alessia wasn’t as strong as she’d thought, that perhaps she’d imagined the whole thing given the immediacy of their attraction. Slowing things down, being with one another without expectation, could be the best way for Lydia to validate the tether between the two of them.

The rest of the refugees had been relocated to government-sponsored accommodations in the major cities of Thracia and New Sydney. Only Peleus and Fermi knew exactly where to find Alessia, and Lydia wanted it to stay that way for the moment, regardless of Alessia’s initial protestations.

The entire world knew Alessia’s face now, and there was no way to predict how she’d be received by the mainstream population or what her own people might expect from her as their de facto leader. Leader.

Lydia rested the side of her face against Alessia’s bicep. Her stomach clenched as she capitulated. “Peleus is right, isn’t he? We should hear them out.”

Alessia kissed the top of Lydia’s head, then nodded. “Yes.” She looked at Lydia’s mother. “Helen, I’m ready.”

Purchase

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

Don’t miss Book #1 in the The Outsider Project series, Beneath the Surface, available from NineStar Press

Meet the Author

Rebecca Langham lives in the Blue Mountains (Australia) with her partner, three children, and menagerie of pets. A Xenite, a Whovian and all-round general nerd, she’s a lover of science fiction, comic books, and caffeine. When she isn’t teaching History to high schoolers or wrangling children, Rebecca enjoys playing broomball and reading.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Giveaway

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Blog Tour: Rules to Obey (Davey's Rules #5) by Susan Hawke

Susan Hawke and Vibrant Promotions visit on the Rules to Obey (Davey's Rules #5) blog tour! Learn more about the Daddy kink romance today!

Rules to Obey

Davey’s Rules Series Book 5

Susan Hawke

M/M Romance, Daddy/boy

Release Date: 12.12.19

Blurb

Davey’s Rule #83: Daddy will encourage his boy to be the best he can be and be supportive of his boy’s career choices.

Marcus Alves has waited most of his adult life to find the perfect match. A sweetheart who will love cuddles, need a Daddy to help him thrive, and most importantly… be the type of boy that might want to use the binky that Marcus keeps hidden in his pocket. Now in his forties, he’s refusing to give up on his dream—or the unused playroom that’s waiting for someone to enjoy.

Jeff Robustelli has had a rough life. Growing up in a commune with absent parents was hard for a rule-following straitlaced guy with a genius IQ. When the uncle who saved him died, Jeff did what he does best—buried his head in the sand and pretended life wasn’t changing. Working in a Daddy club has shown him what he really wants, but Jeff is too afraid to take a chance on something new.

When Jeff has a sudden need for a fake fiancé, he strikes a deal with the older man who always seems to be there when his world is crumbling and makes him feel safe. In exchange, he agrees to a fake Daddy/boy experiment designed to let him try out being little without any pressure.

While Marcus and Jeff navigate their “deal” and the unexpected new feelings that begin to emerge, Marcus also must help the younger man through a series of life changes that put him on the road to being the adult he’s been too afraid to be. When everything in Jeff’s life is in turmoil, Marcus is his one stability. But can Jeff trust his own heart when nothing else in his life is making sense anymore?

This is the fifth book in a series about not-so-perfect Daddies, adorable “boys,” and one sassy brat with an insane list of rules. Grab your fan and tissues because this series comes with both a high heat advisory and all the squishy feels you’d want from a Susan Hawke book.

getbook.at/RulesToObey

Excerpt

My heart raced with excitement as I thought about the surprise I'd left for him among the coloring books. "How about we start easy? First off, I would like to call you Jeffy when we're together like this. Is that okay?"



He seemed to consider that for a moment, his lips silently forming the little name a few times before finally nodding. "Jeffy. I like that because it's not too different from normal but sets me apart when I'm being…" He paused, lowering his voice to a whisper as he finished his sentence. "Little. It sets me apart when I’m little." He was so earnest and sweet that I wanted to eat him up.



"Good boy. Thank you. The name suits you, Jeffy. Now, why don't you look down on the bottom shelf and choose a coloring book? There is also a plastic box filled with crayons that you'll want to use."



Jeffy licked his lips and hesitated for half a second before crouching and carefully examining the stack of coloring books. I held my breath as I waited for him to get to the bottom. Somehow, I thought I was safe ignoring Davey's advice about not having Jeff make choices when I'd hidden the perfect surprise for him. It only took a few moments as he neatly slid each book from the top of the stack and moved it to the bottom while he carefully examined each one. I knew when he found it because he blew out his breath so fast that it whistled through his front teeth.



He looked up at me with shining eyes and held the coloring book high like a trophy. "Transformers? You have a Transformers coloring book? And I can use it?"



I couldn't help but chuckle. "Not only can you use it, but I got it especially for you. Why don't you look at the plastic box beside them now? That was also chosen just for you."



He picked up the blue box with the metallic logo, and the smile I got was worth the time I’d spent searching online for the Transformers pencil box. After he put the other coloring books back on the shelf—taking a moment to meticulously straighten them first—Jeffy stood, hugging his prizes to his chest. He still looked like he had half a mind to take off at the slightest provocation, but he wasn't looking quite as overwhelmed as he had a few minutes ago.

As an avid reader and big romance fan myself, I love sharing the stories of the different people who live in my imagination. My stories are filled with humor, a few tears, and the underlying message to not give up hope, even in the darkest of times, because life can change on a dime when you least expect it. This theme comes from a lifetime of lessons learned on my own hard journey through the pains of poverty, the loss of more loved ones than I'd care to count, and the struggles of living through chronic illnesses. Life can be hard, but it can also be good! Through it all I've found that love, laughter, and family can make all the difference, and that's what I try to bring to every tale I tell.

I'm a happily married mom with one snarky teenage boy, and three grown "kids of my heart." I'm more widely known for my mpreg writings as Susi Hawke; this new name is a departure from that. Whether written by Susan or Susi, the books are filled with that all-important love, laughter, and family I mentioned; the only difference is that this name has no male pregnancy. I look forward to sharing my stories with you, and to bringing more romance and laughter into this world that needs it so very badly.

Amazon Author: https://amzn.to/2Hdgwvl

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSusanHawke/

Catch up with the series here:

Rules to Follow: getbook.at/RulesToFollow

Rules to Break: getbook.at/RulesToBreak

Rules for Santa: getbook.at/RulesForSanta

Rules for Growing: getbook.at/RulesForGrowing

Audiobook Review: Nothing Special V (Nothing Special #5) by A.E. Via

Atlanta's notorious narcotics task force is at it again. They are stronger, bigger, and better than ever. Especially when a city councilman sends RECON Marine, Edwin Steele - who’s been blacklisted from his Oakland department - to join the team. God and Day weren't recruiting. They have a lot on their plates, like the fact they're supposed to be getting married soon. They don't have the time or the patience to integrate a decorated war hero with a slight chip on his shoulder into their well-oiled machine.

A hothead that's uncontrollable and terrible with authority… but wasn’t that their team motto?

Steele was ready to hang up his shield. He was done fighting with bigoted bastards that couldn't respect the job. He was good at fighting; he just needed the right team to fight with. When his uncle - City Councilman, Rasmus Steele - shows him a video of God's team in action, he knows right away, it's where his nephew belongs in order to restore his faith.

Steele pointed to the driver, a behemoth of a man wielding those massive firearms like a true beast… like a soldier. “And him. Who the hell is he?”

“That’s your new boss. Lieutenant Cashel Godfrey… they call him… God.”

Steele was skeptical about his new placement, but when he meets God's technology specialist/computer genius, “Tech,” he's willing to give it his all, and he definitely shows and proves.

Tech is stunning. His sweater vest and khakis, a stark contrast to the blue-jeaned roughnecks he works with. A beautiful sheep amongst the wolves. Steel thinks there's no way the brilliant man would be interested in a hardhead like him, but Tech has a few badass hidden talents of his own and manages to fool him... fool all of them.

Narrator: Aiden Snow
Listening Length: 12 hours and 29 minutes

Reviewer: Shee Reader

Oh my goodness, it is so long since I read the first few Nothing Special books, that I decided to treat myself to a re-read and I was not disappointed! These guys are the absolute best.

No-one writes alpha male law enforcement officers like AE Via and I adore the huge powerful bad asses and the men they love. The fact that the entire squad is hot and happy is such an escape from the reality of life at the end of 2019 that I adored this new book too.

Our main men are new-boy Steele, a decorated marine and Tech, the genius behind the scenes brains behind God and Day’s squad who wants to go in the field and has been secretly training. I was almost rubbing my hands together with glee to this match up.

So the bad guys are as awful as ever, but God and Day and the crew are at their best to clean up the streets of Atlanta. The guys are so hot together, and the emotional development goes alongside their sizzling chemistry. It is a wonderful addition to the series.

The audio is as stellar as we have come to expect from Aiden Snow. The characterisation is superb and I was swept along so powerfully by the narration.

Highly recommended!

I received a free copy of the audio book in exchange for an honest review.

Release Blitz + Giveaway: Unraveling by Rick R. Reed

Rick R. Reed and IndiGo Marketing promote new release, Unraveling! Discover more and enter in the $10 NineStar Press credit giveaway!

Author: Rick R. Reed

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: January 13, 2020

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 68300

Genre: Contemporary, LGBT, deep closet, coming out, men with children, virgin, #ownvoices, humorous, EMT

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Synopsis

Randy Kay has the perfect life with his beautiful wife and adorable son. But Randy’s living a lie, untrue to himself and everyone who knows him. He’s gay.

Marriage and fatherhood, which he thought could change him, have failed. He doubts if anyone can love him for who he really is—especially himself.

With his wife’s blessing, he sets out to explore the gay world he’s hidden from all his life.

John Walsh, a paramedic with the Chicago Fire Department, is comfortable in his own skin as a gay man, yet he can never find someone who shares his desire to create a real relationship, a true family.

When Randy and John first spy each other in Chicago’s Boystown, all kinds of alarms go off—some of joy, others of deep-seated fear.

Randy and John must surmount multiple hurdles on the journey to a lasting, meaningful love. Will they succeed or will their chance at love go up in flames, destroyed by missed connections and a lack of self-acceptance?

Excerpt

Unraveling
Rick R. Reed © 2020
All Rights Reserved

Chapter One
RANDY

I have my death all planned out.

Unlike the thirty-two years that have gone before, I want my passing to be peaceful and free of the discord and pain I’ve lived with for as long as I can remember. I want it to be easy. Effortless. Guilt-free.

Whether it’s any of those things remains to be seen.

I’ve rented this hotel room at a small boutique hotel off Michigan Avenue. The Crewe House has been standing on this same ground on Oak Street for at least a hundred years. The rooms are small, fussy, and charming, with flocked wallpaper, four-poster beds, and claw-foot tubs and pedestal sinks in their black-and-white bathrooms. It’s charming, and I deserve something nice to gaze at before I close my eyes for good.

I have some sandalwood-scented candles lit, and the fragrance is warm, enveloping. Their soft flicker is the only illumination. Outside, the winter sky darkens early. Dusk’s cobalt blue makes silhouettes of the water towers, train tracks, and buildings to the west of the hotel. Near the horizon the sky is a shade of lavender that mesmerizes me, makes me think of changing my mind. If a sky like this can exist, with its electric bands of color, maybe the world isn’t such a horrible place.

Maybe I can go on.

No.

What else have I done to ease my passage into whatever comes next? I have a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, my favorite champagne, uncorked and resting in a silver ice bucket, filled with melting ice. A flute stands next to it, waiting.

I’ll wash the sleeping pills down with the bubbly.

Before getting into bed, I’ll turn on the cassette I have in my boombox, Abbey Road. I have it queued up to “Golden Slumbers.”

I’ve been carrying this weight for such a long time.

I long for smiles.

At last, I’ll undress and stretch out on the four-poster. I’ll pull the eiderdown duvet loosely over me and close my eyes.

The plan is I will slowly slip under, my brain becoming a soft velvety fog, and I’ll simply fall into the arms of a comforting—and obliterating—slumber.

I will not dream.

It won’t take long.

And I’ll leave a beautiful corpse.

That’s the plan, anyway. Some of my research into this method of offing myself runs counter to this gentle fantasy, but I don’t want to consider the downside of overdosing on strong barbiturates.

I want to go to sleep.

I want to forget the impossibility of being able to become the man I know I should be.

Husband.

Father.

I blink back tears as I sit on the bed, staring out at the deepening twilight. They don’t deserve this: what you’re going to leave them with. I know the voice inside, the one that’s always made me do the right thing, at the expense of my very being, is right. And even though they don’t deserve it, you know they will hurt, of course they will, but in the end, they’ll be better off.

Who wants a husband and father who can’t seem to make himself straight, despite trying therapy, the Catholic Church, the Buddhist faith, self-help groups, and self-help books. A group of pathetic married men meeting once a month and thinking they can change. Nothing works. If I could change, I would.

And since I can’t change, I’m left with three options:

Accept myself as I am. How can I do that? I’d be a failure as a husband, a father, a son, a brother. I’d go on wearing this suffocating mask. I’d continue to live a life that’s essentially a lie.

Everyone who loves me doesn’t even know me.

They love a façade, a projection, a mirage made of wishes, impossible hopes, and self-hatred.

No, acceptance is not an option. It never was.

Second, I could resist. I could knuckle down and brace myself against the attractions I feel, the dreams that pop up in my sleep despite my desperately not wanting them there. I could hold myself back from falling prey to the temptations I feel on the streets, the subway, the locker rooms—everywhere I encounter a beautiful man.

The reason I find myself here is because I can’t resist. Not anymore.

And the third option is simply the one I have to choose—remove myself from the pain. Remove myself from existing as this broken thing that God nor man can fix.

Yes, Violet and Henry both will find a way to move on, and they’ll be happier, more anchored in life without me.

Who needs a gay dad? Or a husband who, deep down, doesn’t want what his wife has to offer? Or worse, a dad who contracts the death sentence of AIDS?

Enough of the grim thoughts. They were not part of my plan. Tonight, I go out peacefully. I’ll shut my eyes and remember things like my joy six years ago when Henry was born and seeing him take his first breath. I shouted, “We got a boy!” and fell into the deepest, most effortless love I’ve ever felt. I’ll remember proposing to Violet when we were both college sophomores and the thrill when she accepted the cheap diamond-chips ring I gave her. Things will be okay now, I remember thinking. I can change.

I really believed that. And I know I love Violet as best I can.

It’s sad when your best simply isn’t good enough.

I reach over for the bottle of sleeping pills on the nightstand. There are thirty of them, and I intend to take them all, two or three at a time. If it takes the whole bottle of champagne to get them down, well, things could be worse. No?

I tip the bottle and look at the tablets against the dark wood, so innocent, yet so lethal.

I’m just reaching for one when there’s a sudden knock on the door. Loud. Forceful. Urgent.

“Randy? Randy? Open up, please.”

The door knob turns as Violet’s voice penetrates the heavy wood of the door, making her sound muffled.

I close my eyes. I could ignore her, hope she goes away.

How did she find out where I was anyway?

She wasn’t supposed to know until she got the letter, the one neatly folded and an arm’s length away on the nightstand.

Pounding. “Please!” Violet calls.

I gather the pills, shoving them back in the bottle, then hide the container in a nightstand drawer.

How will I explain?

I get up, cross the room, and open the door.

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Meet the Author

Real Men. True Love.

Rick R. Reed draws inspiration from the lives of gay men to craft stories that quicken the heartbeat, engage emotions, and keep the pages turning. Although he dabbles in horror, dark suspense, and comedy, his attention always returns to the power of love. He’s the award-winning and bestselling author of more than fifty works of published fiction and is forever at work on yet another book. Lambda Literary has called him: “A writer that doesn’t disappoint…” Rick lives in Palm Springs, CA with his beloved husband and their fierce Chihuahua/Shiba Inu mix.

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Giveaway

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Guest Review: The Other Man (Starting Over #2) by Matthew J. Metzger

He’s never minded the other men—except for this one.


Aled’s jealous, and he doesn’t like it.

He’s always had an open relationship with Gabriel and it was working fine—until he saw those messages from Michael. Now Aled can’t get the tone out of his head, and the nagging feeling that Gabriel deserves better than a man like that.

But Gabriel only gives Aled control during their games and is wary of giving too much to a dominant boyfriend with a distinct sadistic streak. Outside the bedroom, Aled has to tread much more carefully if he wants to keep what they have.

Can he persuade Gabriel to part ways with the creepiest man Aled’s ever met, or will the dominant have to learn when to submit?

Reviewer: Shee Reader


Okay, so I must preface this review by saying I adore Matthew’s writing. His crafting of totally relatable imperfect human beings is breathtakingly powerful, and funny, and clever.

However, I found this story really hard to get into. I think that has much more to do with the fact that I have zero experience with open or poly relationships than to do with Matthew’s writing or story line. I found it hard to empathise with the protagonists, but I still cared about them and was invested in the development of their relationship.

The dialogue is often so achingly realistic that I did get swept along and was super engaged the happy ending for the guys. The story is so gritty yet at some times funny, it was a huge development arc, particularly for Aled.
I heartily recommend it!

I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.