Wednesday 22 June 2016

Practice Makes Perfect (Housemates #3) - Jay Northcote - Release Blitz & Giveaway


Author: Jay Northcote

Release Date: June 22

Universal Buy Linkhttp://mybook.to/PMP_JayN

Length: 54,000 words

Cover Artist: Garrett Leigh 

Genre: Contemporary Gay Romance 

Blurb: 

Getting experience with the guy next door seems like a great idea—until the lines blur.

Dev, a geeky first year physics student, has zero sexual experience and he’s determined to change that ASAP. After a bad time in halls of residence, he’s starting the summer term with different housemates and a new plan of action.

Ewan lives in the house next door to Dev. He’s young, free and single, and isn’t looking to change that anytime soon. When awkward circumstances throw them together, Ewan offers to help Dev out in the bedroom in return for maths tutoring, and Dev jumps at the chance.

They work their way through Dev’s sex-to- do list, but what starts as a perfect no- strings arrangement gets more complicated as their feelings for each other begin to grow. If they’re going to turn their lessons in lovemaking into something more permanent, they need to work out how they feel about each other—before they get to the end of Dev’s list.

NB: Although this book is part of a series, it is a complete story with different main characters and can be read as a standalone. 

Excerpt

Sitting on his bed, Dev yawned, his full stomach making him sleepy. He stared at his phone as he contemplated calling home but decided he couldn’t face it tonight. He loved his mum, but she did tend to bang on. Once she got him on the line, she’d end up talking for ages and asking him a million questions he was too tired to answer. Instead, he sent his mum a quick text.
All moved in, everything’s good. I’m shattered now so I’m going to have an early night. I’ll call you tomorrow.
She replied within seconds as though she’d been waiting for him to call.
Okay sweetie, glad you’re settled. Sleep well xxx
He picked up his notepad and crossed off phone home. Texting counted. He also crossed off everything else on his list for today. 
That was Saturday done. Dev set his notepad aside, opened his laptop, and pulled up his lists app. He liked his notepad for day-to- day organisation; it gave him a certain satisfaction to cross out the things he’d done and to get to the end of the day with all the tasks completed. But for longer-term planning, he kept his lists on his Mac, synced to his phone.

For the first time in six months, Dev could breathe again. Finally he had a safe place where he could get back on track and look to the future. He began to type.
Things To Do This Term
Make some friends
Learn to cook
Research sex stuff
Join Grindr
Get some experience
Find a boyfriend
He stared at the words on the screen and sighed. That seemed like a lot of things to aim for. But it was good to have goals, right? Jez and Mac seemed really nice, so hopefully Dev was already on his way to achieving the first objective. And that bloke Ewan… Dev’s mind conjured up the image of the flame-haired hunk who lived next door. Ewan had been friendly.
Maybe there was potential there too.

Author Bio:

Jay lives just outside Bristol in the West of England, with her husband, two children, and two cats.

She comes from a family of writers, but she always used to believe that the gene for fiction writing had passed her by. She spent years only ever writing emails, articles, or website content. One day, she decided to try and write a short story–just to see if she could–and found it rather addictive. She hasn’t stopped writing since.



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Tuesday 21 June 2016

Cover Reveal - Lillian Francis - Resistance

Author: Lillian Francis

Release Date: July 5

Preorder: Amazon Universal Link


Cover: Garrett Leigh at Black Jazz Design

Length: 53,600 words

Blurb: 


How long can you wait on a promise?


After his first night with Mal, Rick broke the habit of a lifetime and invited the
sexy radiographer to spend the weekend in the sleepy English village he 
called home. Rick isn’t in denial but he’s afraid to reveal his sexuality in the 
close-knit community that has known him since he was a babe in arms.

The sex is amazing but equally Mal loves lazy days spent in the garden at
Slopy Bottom, and every precious moment he spends with Rick. For Mal the 
village quickly becomes an oasis of peace, far from the noise and grime of life 
in London, a slice of tranquillity with Rick at the heart. But Mal has defied his 
family and his religion to be true to himself, and there is no way can he join 
Rick in his self-built closet, no matter how comfortable it is...

Rick is afraid revealing the true nature of his relationship with Mal will change
the way his neighbours see him. He adores these people, this village, and he 
can’t face the thought of losing everything over who he chooses to sleep with. 
When the alternative is giving up a man who has slotted perfectly into his 
life—a man who he might just love—it’s no choice at all. But, knowing what 
has to be done isn’t always as easy as putting it into practice.

About the Series

Resistance is book 1 in my new series, Village Love. Village Love is set in the fictional Sussex village of Slopy Bottom. I'll let Rick tell you how Slopy Bottom got its name.

“It’s one p, Slopy Bottom. The village has been there centuries. Local historians think it started life as Slope Bottom since the oldest houses are on the low slope at the bottom of a hill. The rest of the village spread out into the valley as the years went by but the name stuck. At one point the village was all but owned by a French lord, which could account for the mispronunciation, and it appears to have been Slopy Bottom ever since.”

Rick and Mal? Haven't you written about those characters before?
The simple answer is yes. Rick and Mal appeared in a one-off short story, Resonance. Resonance spawned this story which in turn spawned a whole host of storylines. As Resonance doesn't take place in the village it has been assigned as Village Love 0.5.

Do I need to read Resonance to read Resistance?
No. Several of my beta readers didn't read Resonance before working on Resistance and found it had no impact. However, Resonance is the story of how Rick and Mal meet and will obviously shed further light on their relationship.

Where can I buy Resonance?
Resonance is currently available at ARe and Amazon.
At Are it has been free on a semi regular basis since release. It is currently free until 31st July.
At Amazon it is 99p or the equivalent. Here's a universal link to take you to your local Amazon store. myBook.to/ResonanceL_F

Will there be more books in the series?
Definitely. I'm already working on Book 2, and Book 3 has been urging me to write it's opening scene in the last couple of days (I resisted, but I did make
some scrappy notes). I have very brief story lines, if they work out, for at least
a Book 4, and maybe a Book 5. If you read a particular character that you like drop me a line and let me know, I've undoubtedly got a plan to pair him with someone!

About the Author

Lillian Francis is a self-confessed geek who likes nothing more than settling down with a comic or a good book, except maybe writing. Given a notepad, pen, her Kindle, and an infinite supply of chocolate Hob Nobs and she can lose herself for weeks. Romance was never her reading matter of choice, so it came as a great surprise to all concerned, including herself, to discover a romance was exactly what she’d written, and not the rollicking spy adventure or cosy murder mystery she always assumed she’d write.


Twitter @LillianFrancis_




Email: lillianfrancis@rocketmail.com


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Friday 17 June 2016

Release Blitz - Doc Brodie and The Big, Purple Cat Toy - Brigham Vaughn

Author: Brigham Vaughn

Release Date: June 17 2016

Length: 33,288 words

Blurb: 

Can a tabby cat with an appetite for silicone toys bring together a lonely computer programmer and a tattooed veterinarian looking for love?



Grant Murchison is a computer programmer with a great job, a small house he’s fixing up, and a mischievous tabby cat named Molly. Doctor Brodie Hall is a veterinarian with a sleeve full of tattoos and an enormous mastiff named Ruby.

When Molly gets sick after nibbling on Grant’s favorite purple toy, he rushes her to the vet clinic where the doctor works. Grant’s embarrassed to admit what Molly ate, but Brodie finds Grant’s reaction charming.

Brodie decides to pursue Molly’s owner, but getting close to Grant is a bigger challenge than he anticipated. Despite Grant’s attraction to the vet, his past leaves him unable to trust in a future together. Doc Brodie may be great with scared and hurting animals but will his techniques work on Grant?

Author Bio: 

Brigham Vaughn is starting the adventure of a lifetime as a full-time writer. She devours books at an alarming rate and hasn’t let her short arms and long torso stop her from doing yoga. She makes a killer key lime pie, hates green peppers, and loves wine tasting tours. A collector of vintage Nancy Drew books and green glassware, she enjoys poking around in antique shops and refinishing thrift store furniture. An avid photographer, she dreams of traveling the world and she can’t wait to discover everything else life has to offer her.





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Wednesday 15 June 2016

Release Blitz - Heart Ripper - KA Merikan

Author: KA Merikan

Release Date: June 15 

Length: 100,000 words



Blurb: 

-- - You always want what you can’t have. -- -

David. Catholic. Gay. Set on keeping his purity ring.

Raja. Biker. Manwhore. Never refuses a bet.

David has always tried to be the best son his parents could dream of. 
Always at church on Sunday. 
Always eager to help with the garden. 
Always trying his best at school. 
Prim, proper, innocent, and kind.
But deep inside of him, there is a yearning planted by the devil himself, and when a cocky, foul-mouthed biker pulls him a step too far, David doesn’t fall into the abyss. He leaps.
Raja is all he’s ever dreamed of, yet didn’t dare voice. Older, dangerous, a wall of muscle with a grip so strong David can’t resist him no matter how hard he tries.

As a freshly appointed president of a motorcycle club on the verge of ruin, Raja has a lot to live up to. Being gay doesn’t do him any favors in terms of commanding the respect of his men. He has his way of compensating though.
Always first in a fight.
Always bragging about his sexual conquests.
Always up for a bet.
Daring, tattooed, sexy, and unapologetic.
After he boasts he can have any man he wants, he gets challenged to hook up with the preppy guy wallflowering at a party. Raja can’t wait to pop the innocent cutie’s cherry. But when he finds out the guy is his friend’s younger brother, life gets a whole lot messier. 

Why is the one guy who should be off-limits always the most tempting?

WARNING: This book contains steamy sexual content and graphic violence.

Author Bio: 

K. A. Merikan is the pen name for Kat and Agnes Merikan, a team of writers, who are taken for sisters with surprising regularity. Kat’s the mean sergeant and survival specialist of the duo, never hesitating to kick Agnes’s ass when she’s slacking off. Her memory works like an easy-access catalogue, which allows her to keep up with both book details and social media. Also works as the emergency GPS. Agnes is the Merikan nitpicker, usually found busy with formatting and research. Her attention tends to be scattered, and despite pushing thirty, she needs to apply makeup to buy alcohol. Self-proclaimed queen of the roads.
They love the weird and wonderful, stepping out of the box, and bending stereotypes both in life and books. When you pick up a Merikan book, there’s one thing you can be sure of – it will be full of surprises.

Contact: 




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Release Blitz - Brina Brady - The Runaway Gypsy Boy

Author: Brina Brady

Release Date: June 15

http://mybook.to/RunawayGypsyBoy_BrinaBrady

Length: 93,000 words

Price: $3.99

Blurb: 

Twenty-year-old Daniel Serban loses his dancing job and threats of being outed to his family forces him to flee Limerick, Ireland. Daniel fears his father and the other gypsy men will force him to marry his betrothed, or bring bodily harm to him for being gay. 

As chance would have it, he ends up in Cleary’s Pub, a gay leather bar in Galway where he meets the grouchy, ginger-bear Ronan O’Riley. Little did Daniel know meeting the ginger Dom would change his life style as he knew it. 

Ronan O’Riley has been unable to move on to another sub since the death of his sub a year ago, that is until a troubled gypsy boy steps into Cleary’s. Ronan’s lonely life is about to change. 

Can Ronan convince Daniel to trust him or will Daniel’s fears of his past ruin any chance of a relationship? Unexpected heated attraction in the barn ignites their relationship to move forward. Though, the two men have many of the same dreams, Daniel’s secrets and Ronan’s need to gain Daniel’s trust outlines some of the many challenges they face.


Excerpt:

Daniel peeled off his jeans and T-shirt, then he wiggled into his scanty red G-string for the evening’s show at the Sugar Boys Club. He re-braided his hair so it wouldn’t get tangled while he twisted around on the pole, weaving a red leather strip into one strand. He threw his brush into his backpack. He was glad he’d gotten there early enough to shower off the paint from his day job.

“The boss wants you in his office.” Liam poked his head into their shared dressing room to deliver the unwelcome news. “Now.”

“Now? I have to go on the pole in ten minutes.” Daniel’s stomach twisted in knots, not wanting to be late for his dancing gig, he also didn’t want to talk to the boss, this was never a good thing for any of the dancers.

Liam shrugged in sympathy. “Don’t want to keep Bailey waiting. You know that as much as I do.”

Daniel slipped back into his jeans and pulled his neon green T-shirt over his head. He walked down the hall to Mr. Bailey’s office. The door was open, so he stepped into the office. The fat, gray-haired man sat behind his oak desk with a pipe hanging from his mouth. No one ever wanted to get on the boss’s wrong side. The man had a heavy peasant’s body, sturdy and hard, bursting with juice. He’d been known for taking sexual liberties with his dancers. On his desk sat a large bowl of pastel colored sugar cubes for the boys. The boss expected the boys to eat one cube when they entered his office. All the dancers believed the green ones were laced with drugs. Daniel certainly wouldn’t put it past Bailey to drug his employees.

“Did you want to see me, Sir?” Daniel stood just inside the door, almost gagging from the sweet, fruit-scented smoke from his pipe. The cheap bastard probably smoked some cherry tobacco, the most inexpensive kind available for purchase.

“Close the damn door behind you, boy.” Mr. Bailey propped his legs up on his desk.

Daniel closed the door, unable to move any closer, and leaned against it for moral support.

“Sit.” Mr. Bailey curled his lips in open distaste and pointed to the chair.

Daniel seated himself bolt upright on the straight-backed chair as ordered, immediately reaching for a blue sugar cube and jamming it in his mouth. His head throbbed from the uncertainty of the unexpected meeting. Either that or he had tied his hair too tight. He hadn’t done anything wrong as far as he could tell. He always arrived on time or early for work, never had any problems with the other dancers or the men in the audience. He obeyed all the rules to the letter and had never taken advantage of his employer, co-workers, or any of the clients.


“Did I do something wrong, Sir?” Daniel played with his long braid.

Author Bio:

I am from Huntington Beach, Ca. I taught various subjects at a Continuation High School in Los Angeles, California for 27 years. I obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in history, Secondary Social Science Credential and a Master's Degree in Secondary Reading and Secondary Education from California State University, Long Beach. I also enrolled in some creative writing classes at UCLA. You can contact me at brinabrady@gmail.com.

Connect with Brina Brady here:

http://brinabrady.wordpress.com

http://brinabrady.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/brina.brady.3

https://twitter.com/BrinaBrady

http://www.pinterest.com/brinabrady/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/146904702344189/


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Why Love Matters - Jay Northcote

LGBT Charity Book Release Announcement

Author: Jay Northcote

Release: June 15

Length: 17,000 words

Buy Links: 

Price: $2.99/£2.10

All royalties from sales of this story will be split equally between two LGBT charities: The Human Rights Campaign in the USA and Stonewall in the UK.

Blurb: 

Alastair needs help overcoming issues with touch and physical intimacy in order to clinch a business deal with some demonstrative Italians who prefer hugging to handshakes.

Martin, his assistant, has the perfect solution. His mother runs cuddle workshops, which could help Alastair overcome his fears—if he’s brave enough to try. Alastair is nervous not only about the workshop, but also because he will be sharing a room with Martin, who’s starred in his fantasies more often than an assistant should.

Alastair reluctantly decides to give it a try, so they head to a commune in Wales where Martin grew up. The weekend at the commune with Martin proves to be transformative in more ways than one.



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Tuesday 14 June 2016

Truly, Madly, Boys - A Mad About The Brit Boys Anthology by JL Merrow & Josephine Myles


Authors: JL Merrow & Josephine Myles

Release Date: June 14 2016


Length: 15,000 words

Price: $0.99/£0.99/€0.99

Cover Art: Lou Harper

Other Titles In The Series: 





Anthology Blurb:

Love - the most intense connection.


The challenge of finding love in the world today can take many forms, but at its heart love is the same: it’s all about forging a connection with another person. Experience romance at its most relatable in these four contemporary stories of male-male love with a British flavour from award-winning authors Josephine Myles and JL Merrow.



In these stories you’ll find out how to communicate without words, be teased by a memory that’s just out of reach, flash back to young love and emerging sexuality, and discover how opposites can attract when you meet a stranger in a strange land.


These stories have all been previously published, but are now available exclusively in this anthology.

Anthology introduction by JL Merrow (taken from the ebook):

Contemporary gay romance. While both Jo and I love to experiment with different genres, this is the one we both come back to most often. Why? For me, I think it’s because even though with sci fi, paranormals or threesomes we’re playing in a different sandbox, at the end of the day the game’s always the same: getting two (or more) people together and forging a connection between them that we hope will last. Contemporary romance is, as often as not, romance stripped to the bare essentials.

And it’s probably true to say that a contemporary romance between two people is in many ways the most accessible form of romance to the average reader. It can be hard to really identify with a protagonist from a different world, or a different era. Weaving a story is all about making a fictional world seem real to the reader who comes for a visit, and not everyone enjoys suspending disbelief about ghosts, shifters or space ships. If you’re not poly yourself, it can be hard to relate to a relationship between more than two people. Things that happened decades or even centuries ago can, to those more interested in the here and now, seem far off and irrelevant. (As writers, we’re often told not to distance the reader from the story, which is while I always smile when I see the familiar words, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”)

Contemporary romance is immediate, dealing with the world the reader knows well—or could come to know, simply by stepping onto an aeroplane. Yes, in these stories we may still explore different realities to our own: for example one of Jo’s stories features a deaf main character, and one of mine, a blind man. Another is set in a city I’ve never visited—but they’re all firmly rooted in the world we live in today. You can imagine yourself walking down the street and seeing any of the characters in these stories. Perhaps even being a fly on a handy wall as they fall in love.

And that’s what the stories really have in common, of course: love. In the end, aren’t we all here because we believe in love?

Thanks for reading—and if you enjoy the stories, please consider leaving a review where you purchased them. Feed the authors! ;)

All the best

Jamie x

JL Merrow, May 2016

Individual story blurbs:

Epiphany by JL Merrow

When security guard Vinnie spots a young British guy, Gray, looking lost on a New York street, he thinks he’s never seen anyone so beautiful. The feeling’s mutual: concert pianist Gray loves everything about the huge muscle man who’s offering to walk him back to his hotel. When they stop off at Vinnie’s apartment, sparks fly—but when they finally get back to Gray’s hotel, things seem to fall apart. Is one afternoon all they’ll ever have?

Halfway up the Stairs by Josephine Myles

When Charlie wakes up alone after arguing with his boyfriend the night before, it seems like nothing will resolve the situation. Josh wants them to move, but Charlie is too attached to the house. It’s not just all the work he’s put into it, though, it’s all the memories. One memory in particular, of standing hidden halfway up the stairs, watching and wanting…

Sense Memory by JL Merrow

Blinded by a drunk driver, Colin is haunted by a sense memory—the smell of wood chippings. When he meets up with Alban, who he's been chatting with online, he finally finds out why.

Without Words by Josephine Myles

Is that gorgeous redheaded hunk on the building site really checking him out? Nick thinks it’s worth the risk of getting his head kicked in to find out. Only trouble is, Nick tends to end up spoiling things with his nervous babbling. This time he’s going to have to keep his mouth shut. It’s either that or he’ll have to find some other way to occupy it…

Author bios

JL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again. Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.

She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and mysteries, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy, and her novella Muscling Through and novel Relief Valve were both EPIC Awards finalists.

JL Merrow is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, International Thriller Writers, Verulam Writers’ Circle and the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.

Find JL Merrow online at: www.jlmerrow.com, on Twitter as @jlmerrow, and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jl.merrow



English through and through, Josephine Myles is addicted to tea and busy cultivating a reputation for eccentricity. She writes gay erotica and romance, but finds the erotica keeps cuddling up to the romance, and the romance keeps corrupting the erotica. Jo blames her rebellious muse but he never listens to her anyway, no matter how much she threatens him with a big stick. She’s beginning to suspect he enjoys it.

Jo publishes regularly with Samhain, and now has over ten novels and novellas under her belt. Her novel Stuff won the 2014 Rainbow Award for Best Bisexual Romance, and her novella Merry Gentlemen won the 2014 Rainbow Award for Best Gay Romantic Comedy. She has also been known to edit anthologies and self-publish on occasion, although she prefers to leave the “boring bits” of the ebook creation process to someone else. She loves to be busy, and is currently having fun trying to work out how she is going to fit in her love of writing, dressmaking and attending cabaret shows in fabulous clothing around the demands of a preteen with special needs and a soon-to- be toddler.

Website and blog: http://josephinemyles.com/


Twitter: @JosephineMyles



Excerpt from “Without Words” by Josephine Myles

I walked along the perimeter fence, sweat prickling my palms, trying to maintain a casual amble to give the impression that I was the kind of guy who did this sort of thing all the time. The site looked deserted until I passed the foreman's cabin, where the workers sat outside on piles of breeze blocks, chatting idly under the punishing sun as they swigged down cold drinks and munched on sandwiches. He wasn't with them. That was good. I picked up my pace, determined to find him before he decided to join the lunch crowd.

He wasn't a sociable guy and I'd never seen him chatting - he just got on with his job - taciturn and focused. It gave me hope that here would be someone who could understand me; who could forgive my lack of social graces and ignore my nervous babbling to see the man underneath; the man with intelligent things to say if only he could pluck up the courage. The man who'd never done anything like this before, but was now carefully dressed in tight jeans and close fitted red t-shirt, intent on risking humiliation just to have a chance. It was now or never, as I was due back in London tomorrow and I knew that my work wouldn't bring me back to Sheffield for at least another couple of months.

As I rounded the corner of the large, half-finished building, a solitary figure came into view. There was no mistaking the supple grace of his movements as he hopped up onto the scaffolding, measuring tape in hand. My breath hitched when I saw that he was bare-chested under the reflective tabard, the previously covered skin glowing pink where the sun caught it, and spattered with ginger freckles. His body was stocky, heavily muscled; the type you knew would run quickly to fat if deprived of regular manual labour. Yet despite being built like so many of these sturdy Northern men, he moved with a fluidity that belied his size. The strands of hair that escaped his hat glowed in the harsh light like burnished bronze. He was a work of art. I wanted to study him, learn him. Explore him thoroughly.

I cleared my throat, but he didn't hear me. I waited, paralysed by indecision, clinging on to the wires of the fence panel with white knuckles. Willing him to look down and see me there; to give me that look again that I was sure I'd seen yesterday. That deliberate once over, followed by a slow smile that made my heart lurch and my cock stir.

And then he turned. The moisture leached out of my mouth and I was incapable of forming any words. He must have thought I was a prize idiot, standing there open-mouthed with lust burning in my eyes. I wondered if he even recognised me without the suit. But then that gaze that swept up and down my body, lingering a little longer than necessary, followed by that lazy curve of his lips that seemed to promise so much. He raised an eyebrow, grinned, and pointed to the gate, swinging down from the platform and strolling over with a loose-limbed grace. I followed, stumbling in my haste to get there. We stared at each other through the gate, and I had to look away from the intensity in those green eyes. I watched his grimy hands as they deftly turned the wheels on the padlock, the dust trapped in the creases of his knuckles. His hands were strong and broad, freckled, the hairs glowing like copper filaments in the sunlight, but surprisingly nimble for a builder. I swallowed audibly as I imagined what those hands could do to me. Those thick yet skilful fingers...

The gate swung open and I slipped through, brushing against his arm as he pushed it closed again. The touch raised goosebumps on my arm despite the heat. This close I could smell him; the tang of fresh sweat mingled with something spicy. My mouth started to water as I wondered how he would taste, picturing myself licking at his stubbly neck, then tasting other parts of him. My jeans began to feel uncomfortable as my cock swelled and I fought to get a grip on myself. It wasn't like we could do anything about it here at the gate, in full view of passing traffic.

“I’m Nick,” I blurted out, but clamped my mouth shut before I ruined things by telling him my middle names, date of birth or any other nonsense.

He walked off, turning to beckon after a few yards, so I trailed behind him; absurd fears fighting with my rampant lust as we moved further into the hush of the deserted site. I didn’t even know his name, and the lack of any dialogue was starting to freak me out, but it was also pretty kinky. Besides, the less we talked the less chance I had to show myself up. I concentrated on the way his muscular buttocks moved under their denim cladding. Anything to distract myself from the possibility of humiliation, or worse. He disappeared behind a sheet of plastic hanging in a doorway. I followed. What else could I do?

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Saturday 11 June 2016

Heat - Chris Quinton & RJ Scott Series Recap/Blitz


Authors: Chris Quinton & RJ Scott

Price: 99p/99c for a limited time only! 




Length: 44,300 words

Blurb:

Serving up passion, family, love and hate, with a side order of arson.


Lewis has lost nearly everything, and now it seems that Devon is here to take the last thing he has left - working in his beloved restaurant, Laurels. But when an arsonist threatens everything Lewis loves, he realizes sometimes everyone has their ghosts, and he discovers an unexpected ally who is prepared to risk everything for him.


Set in the small cathedral city of Salisbury, Master Chef Lewis Mandineau no longer owns the Laurels, the restaurant that had been in his family for generations. Betrayed and robbed by an ex-lover, he's had to sell to Carnegie Enterprises, an American corporation. That isn't all Lewis has to contend with. Rachel, his beloved younger sister has been left severely hurt by the car crash that killed their parents, and taking care of her has to be his priority.


Enter Devon Trelawney III, sent to assess the viability of the restaurant and its staff. Devon knows all about family tradition. But he also knows sentiment has no place in business matters, and the Laurels' potential is swamped by the debts it has accrued. Devon is a hardheaded businessman, first and foremost, but Lewis and Rachel test his resolve in different ways. Soon Devon is forced to admit that what seems like an impossible love can sometimes become something very real.


Author Bios

RJ's goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

RJ Scott is the bestselling gay romance author of over ninety MM romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn't with family either reading or writing. 

RJ also writes MF romance under the name Rozenn Scott.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn't like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.


Chris Quinton started creating stories not long after she mastered joined-up writing, somewhat to the bemusement of her parents and her English teachers. But she received plenty of encouragement. Her dad gave her an already old Everest typewriter when she was ten, and it was probably the best gift she'd ever received – until the inventions of the home-computer and the worldwide web.

Chris's reading and writing interests range from historical, mystery, and paranormal, to science-fiction and fantasy, writing mostly in the male/male genre. She refuses to be pigeon-holed and intends to uphold the long and honourable tradition of the Eccentric Brit to the best of her ability. In her spare time [hah!] she reads, embroiders, quilts and knits. Over the years she has been a stable lad [briefly] in a local racing stable and stud, a part-time and unpaid amateur archaeologist, a civilian clerk at her local police station and a 15th century re-enactor.

She lives in a small and ancient city in the south-west of the United Kingdom, sharing her usually chaotic home with an extended family, three dogs, a frilled dragon [lizard] and sundry goldfish and tropicals.


Excerpt

The office door banged open.

“Where’s the restroom?” Devon demanded. Lewis smiled and pointed.

When Devon returned, he paused by Lewis’s workstation just as he finished filling the piping bag with the very pink buttercream icing. Yesterday’s fairy cakes sat on their tray, their tops already sliced off and halved to make the wings.

“For the dining room?” Devon asked doubtfully.

“No, for my sister.” No one else was in the kitchen at the moment, and the door to the staffroom was shut, so no one could overhear Lewis snipe at the new boss. “And before you say it, the ingredients are my own, bought and brought in for the purpose. I’m sure you can work out how much to charge me for the gas I used to bake them.” 

Devon opened his mouth to say something, then shut it just as quickly. Evidently he didn’t want to grace Lewis’s comment with an answer. Immediately Lewis felt lower than low. He was a trained, sought-after chef, not a kid taking cheap shots at someone in his class he didn’t like. 

Then Devon spoke and any inner commentary about feeling guilty was wiped away in an instant. “What is that crap you kept on bringing me?”

“Peppermint and camomile. It’s good for migraines and headaches. And it’s mine.” Then he couldn’t resist. “I’ll be sending you a bill later.”

“Fine. You do that.”

“I will.”

“And you can fix me another one while you’re at it!”

“Fine!” Lewis met Devon’s glower with one of his own. The three-inch difference in their heights made a nose to nose face off a little awkward, but he’d be damned if he’d let the man stare him down. Then Lewis saw the amber flecks in Devon’s coffee- dark eyes and lost track of his anger. If he leant forward just a few inches, Devon would be in kissing range. 

Handsome is as handsome does… Em’s voice echoed in his mind, and he stepped back. Devon moved away at the same time, and the subtle tension that had nothing to do with anger faded away. 

Their gazes were still locked, and gradually the silliness of their confrontation struck Lewis. He struggled to contain his smile, knew he was failing and bit his lip. Devon glanced down and focused on Lewis’s mouth. Devon flushed, and suddenly Lewis’s gaydar kicked in. 

It was like a bucket of icy water thrown in his face. Having the hots for a straight man was one thing: they were suitable dream fodder, safe and out of reach. But not for another gay man. Not after Peter. Especially his boss, an ill-tempered arsehole who seemed to be hell-bent on alienating every one of Laurels’ staff.

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Monday 6 June 2016

Relese Blitz - Return To Zero (Shatterproof Bond #2) - Isobel Starling


Author: Isobel Starling

Release Date: June 6 2016

Price: £4.99/$4.99

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Length: 71,000 words

Previous Books In Series: 


Blurb:

Pulled into a world of secrets and lies for the man he loves, Declan Ramsay’s life has changed immeasurably in the eight months since meeting, and falling for his boss’s son, Sam Aiken.  Declan journey of personal discovery is about to take a darker turn, and for Sam, the world becomes more treacherous than he could ever have imagined.

Two agents are missing -- presumed dead, while on a reconnaissance mission at an outdoor adventure centre in the Scottish Highlands.  Sir James Aiken sends his son and Declan to follow the trail, and discover the fate of the agents.
As the mission offers his first chance to use the skills he learned on the MI6 training course in Morocco, Declan is keen to get started. However, Sir James sees to it that the seeds of doubt and discord have been sewn between the couple, as they begin their mission.

The journey to their Highland location, and the discoveries they make when they reach the G’wan Adventures centre, prove that Sir James Aiken has been less than honest with his son.  Events in the Highlands force Sam and Declan to face their greatest fears, and understand what they both really want from life -- and from each other.

Author Bio:

Inspiration strikes at the strangest of times. 
Born in Germany, Isobel Starling spent most of her twenty-year professional career making art.  She relocated to the UK and, faced with the dreaded artist’s creative block, Isobel started to write and found she loved it more than making art. 

Isobel’s first novel “Schonling” was a best seller in the GLBT-Bisexual genre on the ‘All Romance ebooks’ site.  She mainly writes M/M Romantic comedy thrillers and has just completed her sixth book.  Isobel has also signed French translation rights for novella “As You Wish”. 

Isobel adores the M/M genre and enjoys writing about wounded souls and the complexities of personal relationships.  Despite not having found proof yet, Isobel believes in love at first sight and endeavors to give her men a thrilling journey and a satisfying ending!

Social Media links

http://isobelstarling.wix.com/books
https://www.facebook.com/isobelstarling
https://twitter.com/isobel_starling
https://isobelstarling.wordpress.com


Excerpt from “Return to Zero” (Shatterproof Bond #2) By Isobel Starling

“Hullo,”

“Parcel for Samuel Aiken” The gruff male voice said. Declan peered at the CCTV image on the wall tablet screen of a courier wearing a Swift Co tabard.

“Hang on a minute” Declan replied “You expectin’ anythin Sam?” He hollered. He would not be fooled a second time. Sam sauntered out of the bedroom, bare
chested, with dark grey jersey pyjama trousers hugging his prominent hip bones.

“Let him in,” He directed, so Declan did as he was told and pressed the button to unlock the downstairs door. Sam and Declan stood either side of the closed front door, both on edge, expecting… something. Had James sent them a message at last?

They both startled and sniggered at each other, at hearing the hard thump on the front door. Sam took a quick look through the peep hole to see the courier — a grey haired, slightly obese Asian man in his early fifties, with Fred Flintstone stubble on his chubby face. He held a package the size of a shoe box, wrapped in brown paper and tied with string, in an old fashioned way. Sam opened the door, and was immediately knocked back by the scent of sweat and cigarettes. The man smelled like he had bathed in kebabs. If this was an attempted assassination, the courier’s armpits would surely do the job. The man shoved a clipboard in Sam’s direction. He browsed the delivery note attached. The ‘sender’ address box was empty.

“Where d’ya pick this up from mate? I weren’t expectin’ nuffink,” Sam said in a rangy East London accent.

“I picks up from the depot, and delivers. Don’t know nuffin’ abaht where vu packages comes from, not my business,”

“Well, it had better not be tickin’” Sam joked, his expression gormless. The courier snickered and put the box to his ear.

“Nah, prob’ly a pair of shoes, or somefink — nice surprise from your lady love?”

“Yeah, prob’ly,” Sam mimicked. He signed an illegible squiggle, took the box, and was immediately surprised by its lightness. “Cheers mate, have a good one,” he said, giving the clipboard back, and then closing the door.

Declan observed the wall mounted tablet screen as the courier left, and the main entrance door sealed behind him. He then opened the apartment front door and checked the hallway and staircase. Nothing had been left behind. Declan felt a little melodramatic and over cautious with his behaviour, but he had a strange gut feeling that something was afoot, something that would bring more sweeping changes to his life. He couldn’t put his finger on it. Declan had felt this tinge of something ever since coming back from Morocco, like he was still in a holding pattern, waiting for permission to land. Sam didn’t seem to be unduly concerned about James lack of contact, but the past few months had seen a huge shift in the way Declan lived his life, and his self-esteem. Long hidden memories had been uncovered by the ‘interview’, and the flashes of remembrance that Declan couldn’t dare talk about, made him feel unnerved and uncomfortable.

Sam sauntered into the kitchen and retrieved a pair of scissors from a drawer filled with miscellaneous kitchen implements. He put the box on the kitchen island worktop and cut the string. There was one branded Swift Co courier label on the front of the box, and no return address. Sam made an incision at the side of the brown wrapping paper, and then cut along one side, so as to keep the adhesive tape and any fingerprints or DNA that may have gotten stuck to it, intact. He slid out a cream coloured shoe-sized box. Sam looked curiously up at Declan, who stood silently beside with his arms folded.

“Would you like to do the honours?” Sam asked witheringly. Declan held his palms up in surrender,

“Nah, yer grand. I think The Amazing Sam’s got this one” he snickered.

The box displayed no visible wires, there was no ticking sound, and the box was feather-light. Sam thought that he would feel completely foolish about the cautious way he approached opening a package if it were empty, but he’d been trained to be cautious. He returned to the drawer filled with kitchen implements, and retrieved a pair of plastic barbeque tongs.

“You know I love you, right?” Sam said dramatically, as if they were to be his last words.

Declan shook his head at the ridiculousness of the charade and pursed his lips.

“On three. Ready?” Declan nodded,

“One…” Sam flicked the lid up and Declan reflexively stepped back covering his head with his arms.

“Ye said on three,” Declan whined, feeling like an idiot. Sam snickered with relief at the lack of fireworks. He used the tongs to remove a sheet of white tissue paper that covered the contents. When Sam saw what the box contained, he gasped and stepped back.

“What?” Declan said in alarm, seeing Sam’s complexion turn ghostly pale.

“Nothing” Sam flattened his expression and then reached to replace the lid. Declan stilled his hand, and took a look. The box held a noose made from red paracord rope. Just like the rope that had been secreted into his pocket at the Coburg Bar, nearly three months earlier.

“I’m going out. I’ve got to get this to the lab” Sam said coldly, his stare detached and light-years away.

Declan was suddenly overcome by a wave of frustration. “What the hell’s this about Sam? Jesus, I don’t even know where the fucking lab is!” he roared furiously.

Sam was shocked by the anger in Declan’s tone. He felt a prickle of guilt for behaving all ‘cloak and dagger’ with his partner — the one person he was supposed to trust. Declan had every right to know about the A.L.L lab and warehouse.

“Get dressed,” Sam directed, and then he turned and left the kitchen.


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