Oct 27

Book Blitz: Psycho Romeo by Jocelynn Drake & Rinda Elliott (Excerpt & Giveaway)

Filed under Book Blitz, Giveaways

Title: Psycho Romeo

Series: Ward Security Series #1

Author: Jocelynn Drake & Rinda Elliott

Publisher: Drake and Elliott Publishing, LLC

Release Date: October 27, 2017

Heat Level: 4 – Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 81K

Genre: Romance, Thriller/Suspense, Romantic Suspense, Gay Literature, Gay fiction, bodyguards

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Synopsis

Geoffrey Ralse is known for being the life of the party. He loves the club scene, hanging with his friends, and flirting with whomever catches his eye. He certainly isn’t going to stop living his life just because some would-be stalker starts sending him threats.

But it all changes when Geoffrey is drugged and wakes up half naked in his own home with a new message from his stalker.

He needs help and there’s only one person he trusts…

Protective Agent Sven Larsen has been fighting Geoffrey’s flirtatious advances for months, even though he’s impossibly drawn to the man. There’s no way he can be around him twenty-four/seven and not finally crack. But one look at Geoffrey’s haunted eyes, and he knows there’s no way he’s letting Geoffrey walk out of Ward Security without him.

Even if it means breaking his own rules, he will keep Geoffrey

Excerpt

Once again, Geoffrey had surprised him. That jump to his defense had been swift and hard. Sven watched anyone who came near them, but he also watched Geoffrey fume as he walked the wrong direction on Freedom Way. People strolled the sidewalks all around them. In the back of his mind, he stayed aware of the fact that they didn’t know for sure his stalker was a part of his group. It could be anyone.

Over a million followers on one site alone.

He shook his head and stayed close as he took in everything about their surroundings. Skyscrapers of downtown Cincinnati rose up behind them while the Great American Ballpark was on their left. There was the rush of traffic on nearly all sides, but Geoffrey appeared to be heading away from the biggest crowds of people and toward Ohio River rippling in the distance, winding between Ohio and Kentucky.

Sweat gathered on his back, under his arms, and at the back of his neck. Maybe it was time to cut the hair. He’d grown it in a challenge with his brothers—who could stand it the longest. His oldest brother still held out. But Sven could out-stubborn them all.

Mostly because he actually liked it. Low-maintenance hair—just needed a brush or something to keep it off his neck. Digging into his pocket, he found one of the thick hair ties he used and looped his hair into a messy knot at the back of his head. He glanced down to find Geoffrey watching his movements with fascination.

“I don’t know how you stand it. Mine drives me crazy when it gets past my ears.”

He eyed the light blond gelled hair brushed back off Geoffrey’s forehead. “It suits you.”

“Thanks.” Anger returned to his expression, tightening his lips and he stomped off again. He had his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans—probably to keep from throwing them about as he did when his emotions were high. And they were. It was obvious in his quick, hard steps, his tight expression, and the energy radiating from his body. Sven had never met someone with so much liveliness. So much fire. He’d often marveled over it during the classes at Ward, fascinated and drawn to all that brightness and vitality like Geoffrey had hooked him on a short fishing line.

He could hardly ever take his eyes off him.

And now that he’d seen the sexy, trim body under all those clothes, he was having trouble not watching for the flex of muscle underneath the slouchy blue T-shirt Geoffrey wore today. When he shrugged, it slipped off his shoulder and Sven wanted to lift him high, press his back into the nearest wall, and put his mouth on that tantalizing collarbone. Learn the taste and scent of his skin. And he wanted the laughter back. Amusement transformed him, making him all golden sunlight and joy. He’d throw his head back, revealing white teeth and when he let himself go like that, the trace of sadness he seemed to carry at all times disappeared.

Sven had the feeling Geoffrey’s loneliness ran deeper than his own, and he’d felt the ache of it for some time now. He didn’t enjoy bars or nightclubs and although he’d downloaded a hookup app onto his phone, he’d never seen anyone on it worth contacting. But he wasn’t one for anonymous sex, so he mostly went without. Hoping he’d eventually meet someone worth the effort it would take to build a real relationship.

His fierce attraction to Geoffrey made little sense. They couldn’t have been more opposite in personality, size, income bracket…pretty much everything.

Except for the loneliness.

Geoffrey had tons of people around him, yet none of them were true friends. Not any that he’d met today anyway. And every time his gaze had locked with Geoffrey’s, he’d seen something that had ripped the world right from under his feet.

Geoffrey knew. He was completely aware that they used him. For money, for notoriety, for another selfie on their social media accounts.

The absolute…fakeness of it all tightened his chest to the point of pain. Because he could see, in those blue eyes, that Geoffrey Ralse needed so much more.

Purchase

Drake and Elliott Publishing, LLC | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes | Smashwords

Meet the Authors

Rinda Elliott
Rinda loves unusual stories and credits growing up in a family of curious life-lovers who moved all over the country. Books and movies full of fantasy, science fiction and romance kept them amused, especially in some of the stranger places.
For years, she tried to separate her darker side with her humorous and romantic one. She published short fiction, but things really started happening when she gave in and mixed it up. When not lost in fiction, she loves making wine, collecting music, gaming and spending time with her husband and two children.
She is the author of the Beri O’Dell urban fantasy series, the YA Sister of Fate Trilogy with Harlequin Teen, and the paranormal romance Brothers Bernaux Trilogy. She also writes erotic fiction as Dani Worth.
She can be found at RindaElliott.com and her Dani Worth blog . She’s represented by Miriam Kriss at the Irene Goodman Agency.

Jocelynn Drake
Love comes in many varied forms. There is the love of family, love of country, and love of chocolate. But for Jocelynn Drake, one truly treasured love is the love of a good story. This former Kentucky girl spends the majority of her time lost in the strong embrace of a good book.
When she’s not hammering away at her keyboard, frowning at her monitor, or curled up with a book, she can usually be found cuddling with her cat Demona, walking her dog Max, or flinging curses at the TV while playing a video game. Outside of books, cats, and video games, she is completely enamored of Bruce Wayne, Ezio Auditore, travel, tattoos, explosions, fast cars, and Anthony Bourdain (but only when he’s feeling really cranky).
She is the author of the urban fantasy series: The Dark Days series and the Asylum Tales. She also occasionally writes as Joy Douglass when she’s in the mood for a little historical romance. She can be found at JocelynnDrake.com.

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Oct 26

Book Blitz: How to Domesticate a Russian Bear by CB Conwy (Excerpt & Giveaway)

Filed under Book Blitz, Giveaways

Title: How to Domesticate a Russian Bear

Series: A Russian Bear III

Author: CB Conwy

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: October 26, 2017

Heat Level: 4 – Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 91,000

Genre: Romance, Erotica, ; MM, BDSM

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Synopsis

How to Domesticate a Russian bear
(A Russian Bear III)
CB Conwy

So, all Mischa really wanted was sex. Hot, kinky sex, and preferably lots of it.

But then he got a sub, and then the sub turned into a fiancé, and now apparently Mischa is supposed to settle down and be all domesticated. However, Mischa does not do tame.

Well, at least he didn’t use to. Now he’s beginning to think that yes, he does indeed do tame. Unfortunately, his sub doesn’t seem to get that.

Tom knew that Mischa was a handful. Hell, that’s basically what made Tom fall head over heals for him. But figuring out how to handle his postgraduate studies combined with a long-distance relationship is driving him nuts. And not in the great, Mischa-is-torturing-me-with-kinky-sex-toys way (even though that happens, too. A lot). More like in the this-is-killing-me-slowly-and-I-don’t-know-what-to-do-about-it way. Unfortunately, Mischa finds out and puts his foot down, and then suddenly Tom has some very hard choices to make.

Then there’s Mischa’s busybody bridezilla friend, karate practice with people who actually hit back, and the arrival of the inlaws. Because just what do you do with the finest privately owned dungeon in North America when your family turn up?

That’s when Tom realizes that domesticating a Russian bear may take more work than even he realized.

Warning: An unrepentantly grumpy Dom with an unrepentantly pain-loving sub, kink so hot that the reader will be in imminent danger of blushing, and two characters who do their very best to turn a perfectly nice romance into a porn movie every chance they get.

Excerpt

Tom was using all his willpower to keep his steps calm and measured as the cab drove off behind him; desperation was never a pretty sight, even though he most of all wanted to sprint up the driveway stretching in front of him.

Finally he stood in front of the door. He took a deep breath, trying to compose himself, and reached up to knock at the door.

Before his hand made contact with the dark wood, the door was flung open and he was pulled into an embrace so tight that he couldn’t breathe. For a moment, he was shocked; then his brain registered the scent of Mischa, and Mischa’s arms around him, and he gave up on any pretense of being stoic and mature and simply clung, breathing in deeply and finally, finally indulging in the feeling of being back in Mischa’s arms.

He’d envisioned this meeting pretty much every single day since they’d parted. He’d pictured Mischa kissing him, Mischa having kinky plans that started right on the doorstep, Mischa bossing him around.

He hadn’t imagined this desperate clinging. Mischa held on so tightly that it felt like Mischa’s arms and Mischa’s body were his entire world.

He hadn’t imagined, either, the way Mischa was hiding his head against Tom’s shoulder, and he certainly hadn’t imagined the labored breaths that sounded suspiciously moist. Tom gently let one hand slide through Mischa’s dark hair, rubbing softly, comforting.

“Hey, hey,” he whispered. “It’s okay. We’re okay now.”

Then he realized why he was whispering and pulled a little harder on Mischa’s hair. “But you could consider letting me breathe sometime soon. It would probably be good for my health.”

Mischa mumbled something, and his arms loosened slightly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that?” Tom said, gently massaging Mischa’s neck.

Mischa finally lifted his head. His eyes were somewhat shiny, and Tom would bet that his shirt would be slightly damp where Mischa’s face had been. “I said, ‘you sarcastic little shit’.”

Tom barked out a laughter. “Jesus, Mischa, you’re such an asshole. I had completely forgotten…” But then Mischa’s lips were on his, and any coherent thought promptly left his head.

He had imagined this meeting over and over. How kinky it would be. How forceful Mischa would be. However, Tom couldn’t, not in any way, have imagined this kiss.

Mischa’s lips were soft, almost searching at the beginning, the tip of his tongue gliding gently over Tom’s lower lip. Then, when Tom eagerly opened up – it was Mischa! – he embraced Tom tightly and took his mouth so thoroughly that Tom could do nothing but surrender to the feeling of finally, finally being this close to Mischa again.

He might have made a needy sound. He did know that he wasn’t just clinging anymore, he was crawling up Mischa until his legs were around Mischa’s body and Mischa was holding him tightly. They were moving, he thought, but he was tasting Mischa, surrendering to his tongue, opening his mouth to let Mischa plunder it however Mischa wanted to take him.

Then they were sitting somewhere, on a couch, Tom thought, and Mischa pulled back slightly, gently holding Tom’s head in his hands. “I’ve missed you,” he said, his voice sounding slightly gruff.

“I’ve missed you, too. God, Mischa, what were we thinking with the whole ‘Tom’s got to settle in so Mischa can’t visit’ thing? That was really, really stupid!”

Mischa nodded sagely. “It was stupid. Very.” Then he bent forward and kissed Tom again. Their lips met, and their tongues slowly explored what they hadn’t had for so long: The intimacy of two bodies being close, two breaths mingling and getting heavier, then slowing down when one of them pulled back. Mischa gently kissed Tom’s forehead at one point, and Tom closed his eyes, suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling of being cherished like this. Then Mischa’s lips were on his again, gently teasing the tender flesh, and Tom shuddered as his body responded to the slight soreness of his bitten and overused lips. He briefly registered Mischa’s grin; then he was being lowered onto the couch, and finally they were lying next to each other, stretched out and able to let their hands rove as much as they wanted.

In the beginning it was light, almost like exploring someone you didn’t know for the first time. Then their bodies seemed to recognize the feeling of each other, and impatience took over. Mischa none too gently opened Tom’s pants, and then his hands were finally on Tom.

Tom gasped into their kiss, and he could sense Mischa’s breathing quickening as well as the grip on Tom’s dick tightening. Whimpering, Tom fumbled with the opening of Mischa’s slacks, determined to have Mischa right there with him. It seemed to take forever, maybe because Mischa’s lips never left his, but then he finally held Mischa’s cock in his hand.

Mischa rewarded him with a groan and a firm stroke all the way from the root of his dick to the tip, the precome making everything slick.

It was so easy after that. Their lips met where they breathed each other in, Tom whimpering every time Mischa rubbed the sensitive head of his dick, Mischa growling when Tom sped up, demanding that Mischa be right next to him in his pleasure.

It was impossible to say how long it lasted, but the wave came inexorably, pulling them with it and crashing over them, making Tom shout in pleasure and joy and Mischa groaning, sounding almost pained, his teeth deep in Tom’s shoulder as they came together.

***

“Did you actually bite me?” Tom’s voice was surprisingly mellow for someone asking that question. Mischa only grumbled and pulled him closer. He had managed to locate a blanket on the back of the couch, and now they were snug and warm and, most importantly, as close to each other as they could possibly get. He had no intention of moving for the foreseeable future.

Maybe forever, really. He stretched languidly, keeping a firm hold of Tom while doing so.

He felt more than heard the drowsy chuckle against his chest. “You’re not going to let me go any time soon, are you?” Tom didn’t sound terribly upset about that fact.

“I will if you keep up that racket,” Mischa muttered. God, he felt good. He had completely forgotten how it felt being like this, all fucked out with a sweet boy in his arms. He stubbornly ignored the fact that it had been a very long time since he had had any boy but Tom, and that he’d never really bothered to hold those boys, sweet or not. If being a badass Dom took a bit of self-delusion, he was all for it. Reputations had to be upheld, if only in your mind. He smirked.

“Are you making plans to take over the world again?” Tom raised his head and looked down at Mischa, expression half suspicious, half blissfully satisfied. He had a tuft of hair sticking up in front, and the general impression was one of a mussed and very happy man. Thoroughly mauled, in other words.

Okay, not as thoroughly mauled as he would be later, but still, Mischa considered it a job very well done.

“You are, aren’t you? You’re not listening at all.”

“I most certainly am making plans,” Mischa answered haughtily. Or, well, he aimed for haughty. His yawn might have ruined the impression somewhat.

At least it must have to Tom. He got this soft expression on his face, reaching down and gently moving a lock of Mischa’s hair away from his forehead.

“What do you say we postpone the ‘hanging Tom from the ceiling and torturing him’ scene and spend the evening on the couch? We could get some take-out.”

“I don’t hang you from the ceiling,” Mischa said, letting his hand slide lightly over Tom’s side.

“No, because you think that ropes are boring. Hey, should I worry about the fact that neither of us are protesting the torture part?”

“No, because I’m very good at torturing you,” Mischa said. In his opinion, a pretty good comeback. Unfortunately, his stomach chose that moment to make known that he had only had two bites of a decidedly sad airplane sandwich since this morning, and rumbled loudly.

“That settles it. There’s no way I’m having you starve to death before you torture me. After, sure, but I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for ages. Besides, bodies would be really hard to hide in this neighborhood.”

Mischa did try to smack his butt, but Tom was surprisingly quick for somebody being all mellowed out from sex. Or maybe Mischa didn’t try too hard.

Which was fully rewarded for the rest of the evening. They put on a film that they watched pretty much nothing of, stuffed themselves with Chinese food, and did something that was questionably close to snuggling for Mischa’s taste. Just to make up for it, he did make Tom scream before they went to bed. That boy really liked a blowjob.

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Meet the Author

Doing relatively sane and responsible things during the day, I’m always looking forward to coming home to see what my characters have been up to. It’s only very rarely what I want them to do, but there you go. I have no problems whatsoever reading both Flaubert and smut (although not at the same time), and the only thing I like more than chocolate is a good comfort read.

To me, the best thing about writing is the rush; it’s almost a physical high when you’re writing and it’s going well. As for the worst part: Nobody ever told me that fictional characters do exactly as they please! All that talk about ‘the author’s intention’? This author is running around, desperately trying to figure out what my heroes want to do and then coaxing everybody into something vaguely resembling a consistent plot. Sigh.

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Oct 23

Release Blitz: Testing the Limits by Tamryn Eradani (Excerpt & Giveaway)

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Title: Testing the Limits

Series: Daniel and Ryan, Book 9

Author: Tamryn Eradani

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: October 23, 2017

Heat Level: 5 – Erotica

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 11100

Genre: Contemporary, BDSM, contemporary, established relationship, businessmen

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Synopsis

Daniel and Ryan take their relationship to the next level, trying new things in scene and clarifying what they mean to each other.

Excerpt

Testing the Limits
Tamryn Eradani© 2017
All Rights Reserved

Mark: Haven’t seen you at the club in a while. Is work keeping you busy?

It’s a check-in and an inquiry rolled into one. Mark’s looking for personal answers while knowing he and Daniel aren’t…personal. Daniel’s been absent from the club for a long time, even for him, and knowing Mark, this is both a genuine question and a subtle feeling-out to see if Daniel’s still open to scening.

Mark’s always been good at giving Daniel space without it seeming like coddling. Mark knows who Daniel is and what he’s like, and he tries to meet him where Daniel’s most comfortable. Gavin never did. Gavin was Gavin, and it meant Daniel always knew what he was in for when he scened with him, but it also meant Daniel had to be in the right headspace. Gavin didn’t adapt.

Mark’s more flexible—too flexible sometimes. Daniel likes having someone to push against. He likes when they push back.

Ryan pushes back in the best of the ways. He pushes Daniel right up to his limits and, if Daniel wants, he pushes past them. There are some hard limits Daniel has but there are others which are only limits because he’s afraid to test them on his own or with a partner he doesn’t completely trust. With Ryan, Daniel’s learned how his body is capable of more things than he thought.

The message is still waiting for Daniel when he opens his phone.

It would be easy to send back a simple yes or maybe a more in-depth big project—performance reviews coming up. Mark would accept either of those. And he’d read into what Daniel didn’t say—I’ll be back when work’s quieted down.

Easy but disingenuous. Daniel doesn’t expect to be at the club any time soon. He hopes not to be. It’s not like Mark can’t find other partners to scene with; he’s easygoing and perceptive, and Daniel knows he was seeing at least two others while also seeing him. Different people for different things. Different people for different schedules.

Maybe he should send back exclusive arrangement at the moment. It has the benefit of being true, and it leaves the door open for the future.

Again, there’s a touch of not-right in this answer. Because he doesn’t want this relationship with Ryan to end? Because it’s strange to plan for the end of a relationship while in one? Because he doesn’t know where he and Ryan stand?

Daniel’s been with partners before who preferred monogamy, but it’s been for a variety of reasons. Some liked the feeling that they were the only one—possession sometimes, emotional attachment others. Some liked that it meant sex was safer—only one partner, regular testing, everything clean, no surprises. Some liked the implication that they were the only person their partner needed. Daniel’s never identified with the last one.

Different people for different schedules.

Different people for different needs.

Ryan’s the first person Daniel’s been with whom he could be happily, long-term monogamous with.

He’s just not sure if Ryan feels the same way.

Daniel leaves the message unanswered, because he doesn’t know how to answer it.

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

Meet the Author

Tamryn studied English and Creative Writing in school but has been writing since she could first hold a pencil. Recently, she’s turned her focus towards writing erotica. She enjoys writing stories where sex comes first, then feelings, because doing things out of order can be fun.

Tamryn has spent the past few months writing the Daniel and Ryan series with a lovely view of mountains out her window, and she’s now searching for a new mountain range to serve as her backdrop as she begins her next project.

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Oct 23

Release Blitz: NineStar Press Halloween Series (Giveaway)

Filed under Book Blitz, Giveaways

Get in the holiday spirit with the Halloween collection of stories from NineStar Press

Releasing between October 9th and October 23rd, don’t miss a single one!

Available October 23rd

Synopsis

It’s been twenty years since the quiet Midwestern town of Lakeview was struck by tragedy. But every year on the anniversary of the event Teddy returns home for ‘The Reunion’. Lakeview, like Teddy, has secrets and not all mysteries should come to light.

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Synopsis

The path to true love is never easy, especially when you are on opposite sides of the world’s greatest theological debate.

It’s Halloween, and the Demon of Masturbation—Dom, for short—has come to Earth to collect sins and souls for his boss. But a representative from the Interfering Angel Network—Ian—has been sent to put a crimp in his plans. Frankly, though, the two seem less interested in sins and souls than in the three bottles of tequila they down during the night. Alcohol can lower the inhibitions, but it also impacts judgment, and Dom and Ian soon find themselves in the world’s most awkward threesome with a young mortal virgin.

Forget battling for his soul—their real passion seems to be for each other. But Halloween night is waning fast, and the veil between the worlds is only lifted for one night. How can two beings from opposite sides come together when they know they are destined to forever be apart?

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Synopsis

It’s Halloween time in Hawai’i and of course Gabe Maxfield is in business. Gabe owes lu’au owner Hiapo a favor (read Tiki Torches and Treasure to find out why!) so when weird things start happening at his lu’au, strange enough to frighten off his hula dancers, he comes to Gabe for help. Skeptical as always, Gabe steps into a creepy mystery where things are going missing or getting moved around and people are disappearing left and right. Can he solve the mystery before everyone he knows falls prey to the woods?

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Synopsis

Kicked out of private school, Allen has to brave a public high school where most of the kids don’t know supernatural creatures exist. He expects to be miserable, but he finds himself romantically pursued by two people: a shy, but fascinating boy named Jeremy and a spunky girl named Chloe. The demon in Allen wants to feed off Chloe, but the human part of him is falling for Jeremy. Which will win?

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Oct 16

Blog Tour: Into the Mystic, Volume 2 by Elna Holst, Valentine Wheeler, A. Fae, Sita Bethel, CC Bridges, Laura Bailo, Jacqueline Rohrbach, MK Hardy, Lina Langley, TS Porter (Excerpt & Giveaway)

Filed under Blog Tour, Giveaways

Title: Into the Mystic, Volume 2

Author: Elna Holst, Valentine Wheeler, A. Fae, Sita Bethel, CC Bridges, Laura Bailo, Jacqueline Rohrbach, MK Hardy, Lina Langley, TS Porter

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: October 16, 2017

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Female/Female

Length: 94100

Genre: Paranormal, lesbian, bisexual, romance, short stories, selkies, werewolves, wicthes,

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Synopsis

Ten lesbian/bisexual paranormal short stories…

Green Love – Have you heard about the aspen clone in the heart of Blackwood forest? Some say it’s enchanted, while others…

Dead Letter – Signed, sealed, delivered…or was it?

Seaside Escape – Just because it’s been done for generations doesn’t mean it should be.

Dressed in Wolf Skin – She was never particularly fond of werewolves, but she hated skinwalkers.

Unraveled – Summer can hack their magic, but she can’t hack her own heart.

The Holy Company – On an ancient holy path, they will come face to face with one of the local legends.

Vampire Hours – One’s a vampire. The other is human. One wants forever. The other wants everything to end.

To the Sea – Sometimes you just have to hold your breath and dive in.

Holy Water – She might be the most dangerous being in the world, but Clara is still in love with her.

Lighthouse Five – Is it possible for a mermaid and a human to build a relationship?

Blurbs

Green Love

Elise, a serious-minded environmentalist, hikes into the forbidding forest of Blackwood to find the clonal colony of aspen said to exist at its centre. Her journey is as much a struggle to break free of the overprotectiveness of her older sister and make peace with the loss of their parents as it is a mission to save the woods from the threat of deforestation. Once arrived at the aspen grove, she seems to have stumbled across more than she bargained for. Is someone, or something, out to get her? Will she make it out of Blackwood alive?

Dead Letter

Rosie’s new job as a letter carrier is much harder than she expected. The discovery of a haunted letter box certainly doesn’t make it any easier. For years, Olive has been waiting for the right person to talk to, and it seems Rosie might just be the one.

Seaside Escape

Helping men acquire wives from an ocean of beautiful selkie is a generational thing with Fiona. It’s part of being a witch. Until the day Kinley swims into her world and turns everything she ever knew on its fin. Through Kinley and her selkie sisters, Fiona finds love, a new outlook on her life, and a chance to rectify her past.

Dressed in Wolf Skin

A werewolf with no pack is in danger of becoming the most powerful addition to a skinwalker’s wardrobe. She’s rescued by a witch who lives alone in the desert. Although both are stubborn and independent, they develop feeling for each other while the witch nurses the werewolf back to health. However, the skinwalker still wants his trophy and will do anything to claim it.

Unraveled

Unlike other witches, Summer doesn’t make her own spells. A former foster kid, she learned not to waste anything. She hacks old enchanted items and sells them as good luck charms to poor college students. Her one mistake is in giving a powerful charm to her crush, Imogen, a brilliant biology grad student. That gets Summer noticed by another witch on campus, Imogen’s science professor. Now she must either give in to the professor’s blackmail or risk her wrath. Either way, Imogen’s life hangs in the balance.

The Holy Company

Sophie curses the day she said yes to Anna’s idea of walking Saint James’s Way in Spain. She’s exhausted, and she doesn’t think she can keep her feelings for her a secret for much longer. But a day of rest soon turns into a nightmare when they come face-to-face with one of the local legends, and Sophie’s secret is no longer safe.

Vampire Hours

Janna and Stacy disagree on a lot of things but not on how much they love each other. Realizing that bond isn’t enough, Janna turns Stacy into a vampire, hoping she can be convinced that life is a quirky trip best taken together.

To the Sea

While working with a beach clean-up crew in the aftermath of an oil slick, Kay meets Rose. A reserved and melancholy soul, Kay is utterly enchanted by Rose’s energy and optimism. But everybody has their secrets, even Rose. As the two grow closer, will Kay accept and understand Rose for who she is?

Holy Water

On her eighteen birthday, Clara comes face to face with the spirit that has been calling to her, the one that everyone in her pueblo is afraid of. Despite warnings to stay away from her, the spirit is all that Clara can think about. Soon, she finds herself in an impossible position: stay away from the woman she loves for her own well-being or help her despite the immeasurable risk to her own life.

Lighthouse Five

Chris is happy living a solitary life on her tiny lighthouse island. When she discovers a stranded mermaid named Jewels, and carries her get back to the water, it marks the beginning of a strange new friendship. As they bond over sharing bits of their cultures and finding out their similarities and differences, Chris begins ask herself—how close can a human and a merperson get?

Green Love by Elna Holst

Excerpt

The moss underfoot was soft enough for sleeping on, but also too squishy for the pegs to be securely fastened. Elise’s tent keeled considerably, the roof dipping as the back of a worn-out horse. And, of course, there was the damp. She unfolded the second flooring sheet, the one the sales clerk at the outdoors supply store had sworn by all that was holy would keep her as dry as tinder. The man was obviously a blasphemer. But then, in all fairness, the tinder in the outside pocket of her knapsack was anything but dry.

It would work. It would have to work. It couldn’t keep raining forever.

Undoing the slippery-wet knots on her boots with some difficulty, Elise left them to fend for themselves under the flysheet and pulled her knapsack after her into the inner tent. It was cottony and a yellowish orange, like the one favoured by Buddhist monks. She had thought this would bring her peace. Heat. Resilience.

And it would, Elise decided. Just not tonight. She rolled out her mat and unfurled her sleeping bag from its compressible sack. This ritual had always left her flabbergasted as a child—she couldn’t figure out how all that abundant fluffy goodness, which held the promise of a toasty night to come, could be contained in such a diminutive carrier. Her father, the magician, had flaunted his tricks to the appreciative audience of his two giggling daughters. Or she had been giggling. Betsy, it occurred to her, in hindsight, had mostly looked grim. She hated camping. She hated the discomfort of it, the challenge. She abhorred the midges, the prickliness and sliminess—all the threatening aspects of the natural world. And the damp, certainly.

In her current state of wretchedness, Elise couldn’t fault her sister there. The damp was enough to make anyone miserable. Even so, as she peeled off her jacket and windbreakers, and pulled down the zip of her alluring bag, Elise felt a childish rush of unbridled joy at the prospect before her. “Creature comforts,” their father’s voice echoed back from the past. “You need to be out here to appreciate them fully.”

Didn’t you just. She slipped her aching body between the folds, zipping her sleeping bag all the way up again. Rain pattered against the flysheet. The wind soughed through the trees outside.

“Listen,” her father teased. “They’re whispering their secrets to you.”

“What’s that?” little Elise asked breathlessly. Little Betsy groaned and turned on her mat.

“Now, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret, would it?”

Elise frowned. Two years older, Betsy had, of course, heard it all before.

Fifteen odd years later, in her one-woman tent in the woods, shielded from the civilized world by sheets upon sheets of rain, a tear escaped down Elise’s mud-streaked cheek. She could do with a wash. Tomorrow.

“This one’s for you, Dad,” she murmured into the dark and flipped the switch of her torch. “Wherever you are.”

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Oct 16

Release Blitz: NineStar Press Halloween Series (Giveaway)

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Get in the holiday spirit with the Halloween collection of stories from NineStar Press

Releasing between October 9th and October 23rd, don’t miss a single one!

Available October 16th

Synopsis

Danton is a 1200-year old vampire, blinded by the Medieval Church, who makes his life as a paranormal romance novelist. He writes about a vampire detective and “pretends” to his fans to be a vampire himself. But book sales are down because he has been without love for over 30 years and just doesn’t have that spark of romance left in him. Until he meets Kevin, a disbelieving young man, desperate for a job, who is brought in by Danton’s agent to try to lighten up his life and heat up his prose.

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Available October 16th

Synopsis

Drew hates labels, but loves Halloween and he wants a trick-or-treat of his own. At his mother’s to deliver emergency candy, she has him get the door in his gender-bending costume. The handsome man with the little trick-or-treater would be Drew’s perfect treat.

David’s attraction to Drew is no trick. He wants the whole Drew, in all his unlabeled glory, making Drew think this could be a treat that lasts long past the holiday.

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Oct 16

Book Blitz: In Over Our Heads by CJane Elliott (Excerpt & Giveaway)

Filed under Blog Tour, Giveaways

Title: In Over Our Heads

Series: Stories from the Shore

Author: CJane Elliott

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Release Date: October 16, 2017

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 67,000

Genre: Romance, Second Chances, Vacation

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Synopsis

Anthony Vallen is the life of any party. Full of energy and fun, Anthony adores romance and enjoys playing matchmaker for his friends while dancing the night away with a series of Mr. Right Nows. But he’s given up on his own happy ending. A bad breakup years ago made him a secret cynic about love… until he runs into Walter Elkins—the boy who broke his teenaged heart—on a scuba-diving vacation in Key West. Suddenly, Anthony’s reasons for shunning romance no longer hold much water. Being with Walter again forces Anthony to get serious—about himself, his worth, and his heart’s desires.

Brilliant and self-contained, scientist Walter Elkins prefers deep thoughts to other people. He’s a good boss and a model citizen, but Walter doesn’t let anyone get close. After a tragedy drove him out of his science career, Walter landed in Key West and became owner of a dive shop and a bar. Things are fine until Anthony Vallen—the only person who ever penetrated his defenses—shows up, and Walter’s calm, controlled life capsizes. He and Anthony have a second chance for love, but Walter must confront the old fears that threaten to torpedo their happiness.

Excerpt

The door burst open, and Sophia sailed in with my morning cappuccino. She was humming under her breath and had that telltale postsex glow about her. I tried not to hate her too much.

“What’re you doing in here with me, doll? Don’t you have a sexy dive instructor to entertain?”

“She had to leave early.” Sophia handed me the mug. “She’s taking her group out on the ocean dive too, and she had to go to Back Bay to get the boat ready.”

I took a restorative sip of cappuccino. “Ahh. Well, I hope you didn’t tire her out too much last night. Or vice versa.” I winked at her, even though I didn’t feel very winky.

“Guilty on both our parts, I’m afraid.” Sophia smirked, then perched on the side of my bed. “Can we talk more about what’s going on with you and Walter?”

“Going on?” I blinked and buried my nose in the cup. “I mean, I told you guys last night. What more do you need to know?”

“Whatever it’ll take to help you and him figure yourselves out, because second chances like this don’t come around often.”

“God, not you too. You and Jonny need to start a group for incurable romantics.”

She straightened, her dark eyes snapping with intensity. “Caro! You’re the one who talks about destiny. This is your destiny!”

I sighed. She was so over the top sometimes. Must be her Italian blood. “Maybe my destiny is to be reminded to never let a guy walk over me the way Walter did.”

“I…. Look, Marco has a good point, and I agree with him that Walter needs to apologize. It was awful of him to drop out of sight. You so don’t deserve to be treated that way.”

“Right.” I put down my cup, having lost my taste for the cappuccino.

“But you two were barely out of high school. So young! People change. It certainly doesn’t seem in character with how he is now.”

“Doesn’t it?”

“Well, I mean, Walter seems so conscientious and thoughtful. Yes, a little gruff, but not someone who would knowingly hurt you. But maybe… safety seems to be a huge concern to him. And maybe he couldn’t stand that you almost drowned, and he couldn’t face you after that? Did he ever explain it to you?”

“No. I begged him to tell me why, and all he would say is ‘I’m not good for you. I don’t want to hurt you anymore.’ I guess the safety thing is the most plausible explanation. Because other than that, it’s bizarre that he would walk away and throw away a great thing. We were….” I paused, hit by an unexpected wave of grief. “Damn it, Soph, we were really good together. Yes, we were young, but we complemented each other so well. Like, I brought him out of his shell, and he calmed me down. And he took me seriously. He listened to me in a way no one but Jonny ever had before.” My eyes betrayed me by welling up.

“Oh, Anthony. That’s lovely. I can tell he still does. Take you seriously, I mean. He hasn’t been able to stop staring at you the whole time we’ve been around him. It’s obvious he still cares.”

Sophia’s words threw little daggers at my silly heart. Jonathan had said essentially the same thing. If they both thought Walter still cared for me, maybe it was true. And God, if it was true, I was in deep waters. I knew I should stiffen my backbone and armor myself with outrage. But I couldn’t. Still hung up on Walter Elkins? Guilty as charged. Convicted. Lock me up and throw away the key, because I had no hope of rehabilitation. I put my face in my hands for a moment. What a hopeless sentimental fool!

Luckily for my humiliation factor, Marco came barging in with a brilliant grin. “All right, darlings! Today’s the day! Scuba diving or bust! Get ready for the adventure of your lives.” He stopped short and peered at me. “You okay?”

Pulling myself together, I returned his smile. “Fabulous, doll! Off to the reefs we go to swim with the fishies!”

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Celebrate the release of In Over Our Heads with a special sale: All the Way to Shore is on sale for 99 cents at Amazon through October 24 with that price matched at the Dreamspinner Press store October 16-24.

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Meet the Author

After years of hearing characters chatting away in her head, CJane Elliott finally decided to put them on paper and hasn’t looked back since. A psychotherapist by training, CJane enjoys writing sexy, passionate stories that also explore the human psyche. CJane has traveled all over North America for work and her characters are travelers, too, traveling down into their own depths to find what they need to get to the happy ending.

CJane is an ardent supporter of LGBTQ equality and is particularly fond of coming out stories. In her spare time, CJane can be found dancing, listening to music, or watching old movies. Her husband and son support her writing habit by staying out of the way when they see her hunched over, staring intensely at her laptop.

CJane is the author of the award-winning Serpentine Series, New Adult contemporary novels set at the University of Virginia. Serpentine Walls was a 2014 Rainbow Awards finalist, Aidan’s Journey was a 2015 EPIC Awards finalist, and Sex, Love, and Videogames won first place in the New Adult category in the 2016 Swirl Awards and first place in Contemporary Fiction in the 2017 EPIC eBook Awards.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | eMail | Dreamspinner | Amazon

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Oct 16

Release Blitz: Angels and Man-Beasts by T.L. West (Excerpt & Giveaway)

Filed under Book Blitz, Giveaways

Title: Angels and Man-Beasts

Series:Author: T.L. West

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: October 16, 2017

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 22000

Genre: Paranormal, angels, were-creatures, banshees, fantasy, paranormal, explicit, gay, mythical creatures, gods, shifters

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Synopsis

Zachary is an ordinary young gay man. He works for his father, has a crush on his straight roommate, and likes to procrastinate.

While visiting his aunt’s old cabin, he finds a wounded man, and the door to safety is forever closed. At first, Zachary doesn’t know what to make of the handsome stranger dressed as a knight, but he feels a connection with him.

Zachary’s life is turned upside down as his eyes are opened to the supernatural world. Not only must he survive dangerous man-beasts, but he is also forced to make sense of what it means to fall for an angel, and involve himself in a war between the Gods.

Excerpt

Angels and Man-Beasts
T.L. West © 2017
All Rights Reserved

Chapter One

“Are we safe?” asked Grant. He looked at his twin brother, Brent. They were in a forest, hiding behind one of the numerous wide trees. They had been on the run for hours now, and Grant wasn’t sure if he could keep going any longer. He couldn’t understand why this was happening to them. They had done nothing wrong. He looked at the full moon shining in the dark sky above him. He could feel its power inside him, but it wouldn’t be enough to defeat the creature that was after them.

“Shhh!” Brent instructed him, not taking his eyes off the path the creature would come through. Grant saw Brent’s elongated fingernails digging into the tree trunk. Grant could sense his brother’s emotions, and it worried him. He knew Brent was thinking of fighting their pursuer.

“Don’t,” whispered Grant as he placed his hand on Brent’s arm, trying to calm him down.

“What choice do we have?” Brent answered through gritted teeth. “We’re dead either way. Might as well put up a fight against that thing!”

“But we’re nearly there, aren’t we?” asked Grant. “We’re near to—”

“Those humans don’t care about the likes of us!” Brent cut through. “If the Rockfort Paranormal Department really did care for us we wouldn’t be running for our lives right now.”

Grant stayed quiet. A part of him wanted to believe his brother, but he also didn’t want to give up hope. He had seen his pack and some officials from the Rockfort Paranormal Department, or RPD, interacting quite respectfully with each other. Both Grant and Brent belonged to a registered werewolf pack in the area. They were under the protection of the department as long as they followed RPD’s rules.

But where were they when your whole pack was massacred? The question shot into Grant’s mind. He and his brother were out scavenging for food when they’d felt something occurring. They immediately knew their pack was in danger. They had hurried back but weren’t able to reach them in time. Their alpha, their friends, everyone lay dead in front of them. It was Brent who saw the attacker first, hiding in the shadows of the forest, and he pointed it out to Grant.

Grant had never seen such a creature in his life. In the few seconds he was able to look at it before the two ran away, Grant could only make out a silhouette of a humanoid form with large wings, and a flash of silver that could’ve been a sword.

But what supernatural being had such large wings and carried a sword? thought Grant. He couldn’t make sense of what was happening right now. He just wanted everything to end. It all felt like a nightmare he wasn’t able to wake from.

“It’s here,” said Brent, and he walked away from the tree.

Not wanting his brother to fight alone, Grant also came out of hiding. The humanoid form in front of them slowly walked near. Grant couldn’t see any wings as the creature shone under the moonlight. He was sure it had wings when he had seen it before. The humanoid creature wore a silver cloak, its face covered with a hood, but Grant could still make out long strands of silver hair from underneath. What is this creature? The only thing Grant was sure about was that it wasn’t human. It smelled different than anything he had encountered before.

“What do you want from us?” Brent growled. He bared his fangs at the enemy, and his eyes flashed orange.

The being stopped a few feet away from the twins.

“Answer me!” Brent growled again. “Why did you attack our pack?”

The being didn’t answer. It reached around its back and took out a long sword. It held up the sword and pointed it at Brent.

“Take that thing away from my face!” yelled Brent, and he dashed headfirst to attack the enemy. Grant hesitated for a moment but followed his brother. Brent raised his claw to strike at his opponent. There was a sharp sound of a sword slashing through the air.

“Ahhhhhh!” cried Brent as he dropped to his knees. Grant couldn’t make himself say anything to his brother. Brent’s cries of pain spread throughout the forest. The being had cut his hand clean off with a single swipe. Finally forcing his body to move, Grant came between his brother and the sword-wielding creature.

“No! Grant! You need to run!” Brent growled through the pain.

“I’m not leaving you,” said Grant, not taking his eyes off the attacker.

The creature raised the sword again. It came down at him, but through sheer luck Grant was able to dodge it. Making the most of the opportunity, Grant body-slammed the attacker.

“What the heck?” Grant’s eyes opened wide in surprise. He had used all his might against the enemy, but it hadn’t moved an inch.

“Grant!” Brent called out before pulling his brother away from the attacker.

Grant immediately got up on his feet from the place his brother had thrown him. “No! No! No!” Grant shook his head at the image in front of him. His brother had been cut in two. He died saving him.

The being looked at the sliced-up body of the werewolf on the ground and then slowly turned its head to stare at Grant. It’s over, thought Grant as the being walked toward him. It’s all over. He saw the sword in the air and closed his eyes to embrace death. Will it hurt?

The sound of metal striking metal made Grant open his eyes. Another humanoid being stood in front of him. It too was wearing a silver cloak that hid its face, and it also carried a sword. Grant quickly crawled away from the two strange beings as they continued their sword fight. Neither spoke a word as the sound of their sword strikes filled the forest around them.

Grant looked at his brother’s dead body. He couldn’t make himself leave without him. He had to give his brother a proper burial. “Run away!” cried the being that had saved his life.

“Huh!” Grant snapped out of the trance he was in.

“I said, run away!” yelled the being again. It was a man’s voice. It sounded human, but Grant knew better. Whatever those two were, they were definitely not human.

“The followers of Fenrir cannot escape my blade,” said the being that had murdered Grant’s pack. His voice seemed to hit Grant’s soul, sending a chill down his spine.

“Not all shape-shifters follow him,” answered the other being.

“I will not risk it,” said the enemy.

Making a promise to come back for his brother’s body, Grant got to his feet. He was about to run away when something sharp pierced his body. His rescuer yelled in anger, and then Grant fell to the ground, moving no more.

“I will make you pay for that, Adriel,” yelled the being. He wanted to keep yelling in anger, knowing that the young werewolf he had just tried to save was now dead.

“When will you learn, Barachiel?” Adriel smiled at his opponent as they blocked each other’s attacks. “They are all lost souls. They are beyond your help or anyone else’s.”

“No!” Barachiel swung his sword at Adriel, who easily dodged it.

“You are wasting my time.” Adriel didn’t care to hide the boredom in his voice. “If you feel love for these wretched beings, then you shall join them.”

There was a quick flash of silver, and pain surged throughout Barachiel’s body. His sword fell from his hand. “I will stop you,” he managed to say through the blood in his mouth.

“And I’ll be glad to see you try.” Adriel smiled at him. He walked toward Grant’s body and pulled the dagger he had thrown to kill the young werewolf from where it protruded from his back. “You are too young to understand the grand plan, my dear Barachiel.”

“What grand plan involves murdering the innocent?” asked Barachiel. He was on his knees. He couldn’t understand what kind of power Adriel had used on him. He wasn’t healing properly. The large wound on his chest wasn’t closing up the way it was supposed to. Barachiel looked at his sword. If only he could reach out and grab it.

“Unless you side with us, you are a disgrace to us all,” said Adriel. He looked at Barachiel’s sword on the ground. “You do not deserve this weapon.”

“I deserve it more than you,” Barachiel answered before spitting out more blood.

Adriel let out a laugh. “Fool,” he said looking at the sword in disgust. “Until next time, sweet Barachiel,” he added and walked away into the darkness of the forest.

Barachiel wanted to yell at him. He wanted to make him stop what he was doing, but he felt too weak. His eyes began to lose focus. I… I have to get up, he thought. He looked at the two dead werewolves near him. His heart ached at the sight of them. He could never forgive himself for not being able to save them and the rest of the beings Adriel had killed in cold blood. Mustering all of his energy, Barachiel forced himself to stand. He picked up his sword and started to walk slowly through the forest. I should’ve healed by now, he thought. What did Adriel use on me?

Barachiel remembered a cabin he’d seen while on his way to rescue the werewolves. He decided to go there to rest and heal himself. He tried not to think about the other innocent beings that Adriel was on the hunt for. He couldn’t understand how the fear of Fenrir, the wolf god of blood and chaos, was enough for Adriel to go to such lengths. He too feared the revival of God Fenrir, but that didn’t mean his kind should go and kill every werewolf and shape-shifter in sight. That was not the purpose of their kind.

Barachiel remembered his birth as he made his way toward the cabin. He was made out of pure light along with numerous others. Angelic beings like him were born as either young males or females. But they could also choose the gender they preferred. They stayed young and served their Gods as immortals. They were only able to be killed by a God or a supernatural creature.

He was only a few days old when the war among the Gods occurred, and he didn’t want to experience it again. Darkness filled the realms and all of existence was at the brink of destruction. He didn’t fight during the war. He was deemed too young by his creator, Perun, one of the many Gods of thunder and lightning. But he still remembered the countless lives that were lost. But now, being 2030 years old, and after years of study and combat training, he knew he had what it took to stop such a war from occurring again. He couldn’t let a wound keep him down.

Barachiel opened the wooden door of the cabin. He walked in. He could see cobwebs on the ceiling and even on some of the old pieces of furniture. The single window was covered in…fungus? Grease? Moss? Barachiel didn’t have time to make sure. There was also a fireplace and a small kitchen. It wasn’t large, but it would have to do for now.

He smiled when he saw the bed a few feet away. He took off his cloak and placed it on an old chair near the door. He walked the short distance across the room and placed his sword next to the one-person bed. It disappeared, waiting to be summoned again. Without wasting time, he sat on the bed and then lay down to rested his head on the pillow. Things like dusty sheets didn’t bother a being like him.

A few strands of his blond hair fell on his forehead, but he felt too weak to brush them away. He closed his eyes to rest and give his body time to recuperate, knowing that as soon as he regained his health he would go after Adriel and do his best to stop another war from occurring.

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Meet the Author

T.L. West is an author of paranormal romance, mystery and fantasy. He enjoys writing characters that grow during the story and feel relatable to readers. His stories are a mix of romance, action, and danger. He’s been writing since high school. He has a degree is Human Genetics. Along with writing stories he also loves staying healthy, drawing, reading and taking the time out to relax. He likes maintaining his privacy. You can find T.L. on Twitter.

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Oct 12

Book Blitz: Love By Number by DJ Jamison (Excerpt & Giveaway)

Filed under Book Blitz, Giveaways

Title: Love By Number

Author: DJ Jamison

Publisher: DJ Jamison

Release Date: October 12, 2017

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 31,000 words

Genre: Romance, LGBT, m/m contemporary romance

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Synopsis

Aidan doesn’t have the best record with relationships, but he’s had a lifelong love affair with baseball. Player stats and computer simulations make sense. People don’t. But when he needs a ride to the World Series, he must rely on another person: a sexy artist who is as spontaneous as Aidan is predictable.

Jesse doesn’t care about baseball. As an artist, he’d rather paint a player than watch him at bat. But his grandpa loves the Kansas City Royals, so he takes him to every home game. He has no idea a fender bender in the parking lot is about to deliver new inspiration in the shape of a man with a whole bag of quirks.

Despite their differences, Jesse and Aidan hit it off, and their sexual chemistry is fantastic. But when Aidan’s numbers betray him, Jesse isn’t prepared for the fall-out. If Aidan continues to put his passion for baseball stats above everything else, he could miss out on the most important numbers in life: the number of smiles, kisses and laughs they could share in a lifelong journey together.

Excerpt

Aidan clutched at his hair, heart hammering in his chest. The front driver’s side of his black Saab was crumpled. The wheel well took a direct hit, the force of the collision pressing it into the tire. He could tell from just looking that the axle must be bent, if not broken, by the way the tire tilted at the wrong angle.

It’s not drivable, he thought, and his heart hammered harder. He felt his hands trembling, and not as an aftershock of the accident. Well, not from experiencing the accident, at least. He was shaking because his plans had just been thrown in the blender.

“Hey, you okay?”

He looked up, gazing blankly at the figure approaching him. A man, but his features were lost in the shadows. Not that Aidan could focus on something like facial features right now. That wasn’t easy on a good day, much less in a moment like this.

“It’s not that big a deal,” he muttered to himself, as he’d learned from his therapist years ago. “It’s not. It’s not. But …” He groaned and clutched at his hair some more. “How am I going to get to the World Series now? I have to get there!”

He’d wrapped up so many hopes in getting to that series, in watching the Royals perform in high-stakes games. It was the perfect time to prove out his math. It might not be rocket science, but Aidan still wanted to watch his math come to life on the baseball field, in the most important series of the season. In person.

A hand touched his shoulder, and he flinched away.

“I’m sorry. Are you hurt?” a voice asked. A nice, mellow voice. He liked the raspy quality of it and the cadence of the man’s words. His tone calmed Aidan.

He managed to drag his gaze from the damage to the man’s face. “I’m …”

Sexy Artist Guy.

He faltered when he recognized the dark hair tinted with maroon highlights, dark eyes and sculpted lips — all coming together in a perfect symmetry. A perfect representation of geometry in nature, really. And the freckles splashed over his nose, highlighted now by the security lights overhead? They somehow added to his sex appeal instead of detracting from it.

Aidan had seen an open sketchbook on this man’s lap more than once when passing by on a bathroom break. He mostly drew portraits, from the look of it, but Aidan had only caught a glimpse. It made sense he was an artist since his entire appearance was like a work of art to Aidan’s eyes. He couldn’t imagine being so creative with his hair or his wardrobe or his skin, where Sexy Artist Guy had embraced both tattooing (his right bicep) and piercing (both ears and right eyebrow).

“I’m so sorry,” Sexy Artist Guy said again. “I saw an opening and went for it. I didn’t see you coming, but my grandfather was distracting me—”

“Blame it on the old man, why don’t ya?” a hoarse voice boomed loudly enough to make Aidan jump.

“Gramps, not now, huh? The guy is freaking out.”

“I’m not freaking out,” Aidan said sharply. The fascination with the stranger’s face faded as he remembered why he was in this situation. He gestured to the damage. “There’s no way I can drive that.”

“We can give you a lift,” the old man said, at the same time the handsome stranger said, “We’ll call you a tow truck.”

“But look at my car!” he said, not sure they understood the direness of the situation.

Artist Guy frowned, then glanced behind Aidan. Following his look, he realized they were blocking traffic. A line of cars snaked through the parking lot, headlights shining on Aidan’s personal disaster.

“I should move my car.” He glanced back at the bent wheel well, frowning. He hoped he could move the car.

“Jesse,” the old man spoke, “you help him push. I’ll get in and put it in neutral.”

They all took their positions, and with some work managed to push the car into an empty space next to the Lincoln Towncar that had so cruelly crunched the Saab. Aidan cringed at the scraping metal sound as his car rolled out of the lane of traffic.

Once off to the side, Jesse pulled out his wallet. He handed his license to Aidan, who stared at it. He took in all the details: 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, born one year after Aidan, making him twenty-six.

Jesse cleared his throat, and Aidan glanced up.

“Aren’t you going to take a picture?”

Damn. He’d been staring. The old saying popped into his mind: Take a picture, it’ll last longer.

He flushed. “Sorry.”

He started to hand the license back, but Jesse looked at him as if he had a screw loose. Then it clicked. Take a picture. For insurance. Right.

He dug out his phone and clicked the pic of the license, and then of the insurance card that Jesse handed over. He was still rattled by the accident, thrumming with bottled-up anxiety.

“You okay? You’re pretty twitchy,” Jesse said. “I’m sure the insurance will cover the damage.”

“Yeah, but it’s my car.”

“Yeah?”

Aidan waved to his car, unsure how to make Jesse understand.

“It was reliable.”

“Um, won’t it still be reliable when it’s fixed?”

“The World Series is in two days.”

“So …”

“Jesse, stop being thick,” the old man interrupted. “Obviously, he was going to drive up to St. Louis, and a Saab is a foreign car. He won’t be able to get the parts locally. Maybe not even the mechanic. They don’t make those cars anymore. He can’t get it fixed in time.”

“Oh.”

“I have to go to that game. I go to all the away games within driving distance. I always do. And this is the World Series. I’m going to have to take a bus, and, oh God, I can’t stand to ride the bus—”

“Jesse will drive you.”

Aidan looked at the older man. He had a bushy head of white hair and enough wrinkles to give a Shar-Pei a run for its money, but his tone was confident, the kind of confident that brooked no nonsense. He’d heard that tone from his own mother too many times to count.

“He will?”

“I will?” Jesse echoed. “Gramps, I’m sure Aidan doesn’t want—”

“That would be great!”

Normally, Aidan wouldn’t want to ride long distance with a stranger, but when contrasted with a bus full of strangers, he jumped at the opportunity. Besides, Jesse and his grandfather had been at every home game. If Jesse were some kind of predator or bully, he’d have shown it by now. Right?

He’d only had one other interaction with Jesse. He’d walked up to Aidan once, when he was trying to quickly record the stats from the latest play and compare them against what he’d predicted for that player’s performance. Aidan had been too distracted to make conversation, especially small talk with a stranger. But he couldn’t help noticing his great smile. Jesse was one of those people who smiled with his whole being, not just his mouth. His eyes brightened, his cheeks dimpled and his body even seemed to vibrate with happy energy.

Aidan liked that because it was easy to see Jesse’s happiness. It wasn’t subtle, which would be lost on him, or confusing — like when people’s mouths smiled but their eyes stayed cold. He didn’t understand that. Was he supposed to respond to their mouth or their eyes? And then there were some people who just smiled all the time, even when they said mean things. What did that mean? Smiles could be confusing, but Jesse’s wasn’t.

“I have tickets to the games,” Gramps was saying now. “I was going to ask you to go, as a favor to me.”

“What? But you said in the car—”

“Hush,” Gramps said, a gleam in his eye. “I’m not up for that kind of travel. I want you to go in my place, so you can tell me all about it. You take this nice young man. It’s the least we can do. Watch the games for me, and tell me all about it when you come home.”

Aidan pulled out his phone to call the tow truck, watching the two men in a staring stand-off. He made arrangements for the tow and disconnected in time to see Jesse sigh and nod.

“Okay, Gramps. For you.”

“Good boy,” Gramps said, clapping him on the shoulder.

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Meet the Author

DJ Jamison grew up in the Midwest and worked in newsrooms for more than 10 years, which came in handy when she began writing stories centered on a series of love connections between small-town Kansas newspaper staffers, their sources and their readers. It was the perfect entrance into the world of fiction, and she has since branched out into ERs, health clinics and other settings to tell the stories of characters who are flawed but loveable. She writes a variety of queer characters, from gay to bisexual to asexual, with a focus on telling love stories that are more about common ground than lust at first sight. DJ is married with two sons and two glow-in-the-dark fish that are miraculously still alive.

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Oct 10

Book Tour: His Convenient Husband by Robin Covington (Excerpt & Giveway)

Filed under Blog Tour, Giveaways

Title: His Convenient Husband

Series: Love and Sports, Book One

Author: Robin Covington

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Release Date: October 9, 2017

Heat Level: 4 – Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 50,000

Genre: Romance, marriage of convenience, interracial romance, sports romance, LGBTQ

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Synopsis

NFL football player Isaiah Blackwell lost his husband three years ago and is raising their teen son alone. He lives his life as quietly as his job allows, playing ball to support his family but trying not to draw unwanted attention. His quiet life is shaken up when a mutual friend introduces him to Victor, a visiting principal ballet dancer who is everything Isaiah is not.

Brash and loud, Victor Aleksandrov has applied for political asylum to avoid returning to Russia, where gay men are targeted and persecuted. He’s been outspoken about gay rights in his home country, and if he doesn’t get asylum, going back to Russia is a death sentence.

Their one-night stand turns into a tentative friendship, a relationship they both agree is temporary…until Victor’s denied asylum. Isaiah can’t offer Victor a happily ever after, but he can propose something that’ll keep Victor in the US and safe. . .marriage He just doesn’t expect his new husband to dance away with his heart.

Excerpt

Victor didn’t even think. If he had thought about it, he would have talked himself out of it, but his body took over, and before he knew it he’d pulled Isaiah into his arms. Nothing sexual, nothing calculated, just an embrace for a man who’d lost something precious and who’d carried the weight of his grief, and the grief of his son, on his shoulders.

Isaiah didn’t fight him, just melted against him, his large arms wrapping around Victor’s body as he allowed the moment to spool out naturally. Victor slowly released the breath he was holding, afraid that any sudden movement would spook Isaiah back into his previous arm’s length regimentation.

The house was quiet, soft music drifting out from the docking station, Evan’s muffled footfalls overhead as he undoubtedly chattered away with his best friend. He curbed his desire to make this more than it was, ignoring the voice in his head that whispered that this was what he always thought having a family would be like. A warm, safe home, children, and a man who loved him, and building a life together.

This wasn’t it, but it was as close to perfect as he was likely to get, so he’d take it. For as long as he could have it. They’d never discussed an end, but the natural end date was when he gained his citizenship. So, three years. Not long, but he’d take it, because Isaiah was quickly getting to him, taking up residence in the part of his heart he’d never thought would be filled.

Pathetic? He didn’t care. Victor was a romantic, something he had in common with Stephen. And look how Stephen had fallen. Victor didn’t have a chance.

The music switched, shifting down into a slower rhythm, not a Latin beat by any measure, but sultry. They began to move together. Victor didn’t make a conscious decision to dance, but it was the language that came most easily to him, and he responded to the natural sway of the embrace.

Isaiah followed his lead, the shuffle of their feet falling easily into a modified variation of the bachata. Limbs pressed against each other, muscles flexing as they moved slowly, finding their own pace. Victor sucked in a breath when Isaiah’s hands ran across the bare skin of his back, callouses dragging and igniting sparks of arousal in their wake. He made a sound, low but audible, and somewhere between a gasp and a moan, prompting his husband to pull back, eyes locked on his own.

Victor was relieved when he didn’t end the exquisite torture, but instead continued to maintain eye contact as they swayed together in the honey-glazed light of the kitchen. He was hard, sure that Isaiah could feel it through the thin material of his sweatpants, because he felt Isaiah’s erection through his dress pants. They shifted against each other, cocks aligning in a way that made the most of the lazy friction, sending ripples of pleasure over his skin and up his spine.

And then Isaiah pulled him closer, and Victor buried his face in the sweet dip of his shoulder, inhaling the scent of laundry detergent, cologne, and the intoxicating smell of his man. Isaiah’s hands dipped lower on his back, fingertips skimming the waistband, the occasional slip below the edge ratcheting his heartbeat up to the point where he knew it could be felt by the man holding him.

“So beautiful.” The words coasted across Victor’s skin, barely above a whisper. “Such a temptation.”

“I’m here for the taking,” Victor replied, his fingers coasting over the nape of Isaiah’s neck just to satisfy the urge to feel skin.

The moment was cloaked in madness, which was the only explanation for his mistake, and he knew it was the last thing he should have said when Isaiah went still, his fingers unconsciously digging into Victor’s hips.

They both pulled back, slowly, stubbled cheek against stubbled cheek, until their mouths were touching. Victor licked against his husband’s soft lips, begging for entrance and diving in when he was granted admission. Spice and sweet lemon and heat were everything in this kiss, more exploration than demand as they held on to each other and gave in.

The remains of dinner were around them, but this was another kind of hunger, and he’d waited too long to have it satisfied. Victor knew how good they could be together, and while he knew they would walk the razor’s edge between emotion and pure physical indulgence, he was willing to risk it. If he fell, then he’d embrace it.

But he knew he’d be falling alone.

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Meet the Author

A USAToday bestseller, Robin Covington loves to explore the theme of fooling around and falling in love in her books. Her stories burn up the sheets. . .one page at a time. When she’s not writing she’s collecting tasty man candy, indulging in a little comic book geek love, hoarding red nail polish and stalking Chris Evans.

A 2016 RITA® Award finalist, Robin’s books have won the National Reader’s Choice and Golden Leaf Awards and finaled in the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice, and the Book Seller’s Best.

She lives in Maryland with her handsome husband, her two brilliant children (they get it from her, of course!), and her beloved furbabies, Dutch and Dixie Joan Wilder (Yes – THE Joan Wilder)

Drop her a line at robin@robincovingtonromance.com – she always writes back.