Friday 31 March 2017

Fiery (A Smokey Glen Novel) by Lea Bronsen

Hi, and thank you for hosting my new dark romantic suspense!
Fiery 10-16 is a scorching firefighter story of desire, abuse, and bravery.
 
fiery-1016_ebook-cover

Runo Wiggins is a scarred man, the wounds etched into his psyche deeper than those on his skin. But he loves his job: fighting fires helps reenact his survival of a house fire as a teen, one that killed his mother and brutal stepfather. Dawn Caravello is married to a psychotic drunk. She can take his beatings as long as he doesn't touch their children, and she'll do anything to put food on the table, even if it means stealing from the town hero. When Runo meets the fiery Dawn, sparks fly. But he suspects she is victim of the same abuse as his mother was. As day turns to night, the past and the present blend in an exhausting, nerve-wrecking chase to prevent another death.  

Excerpt:


Dawn's eyes shimmered with a mix of stubborn pride and extreme sadness. They seemed to be made of molten brown stone. Runo had never seen eyes like these. So vibrant, saying so many things. They revealed her life, her endurance, her dreams, her combats, her despair. And she was still so young. While he stared, she leaned forward and kissed him, an act a whole lot more intimate than he was comfortable with. A short, hard peck, a statement. Not the tender gesture a kiss was supposed to be, but one telling him her gratitude as well as her dignity. She thanked him, but was going to go back to her life and continue fighting. He stood shocked, his entire body rigid, didn’t know what to do. She, such a small woman thing a whole head shorter, shook him, a giant of muscle and stupid testosterones inside a hard shell. He would definitely take care of Dawn and her kids. Any way possible. Alert the authorities and make sure they got the protection they desperately needed. She stepped backward, her features softening, and turned on her heel. Not so fast. He cleared his throat and called, lifting a weak hand. “Hey, wait!” His heart hammered in his chest, blood pulsed in his ears. She turned. “What?” “Promise to be good. Promise it’s the last time you do it.” “Do what?” Her eyes gleamed with humor. “Kiss you?” In the midst of this emotional turmoil, she found the strength to tease. “Steal.” And lie. She pursed her lips, looking like a disappointed little girl. Maybe she still was a child inside. A child taking care of children. A child beaten savagely. He swallowed. “Promise.” After several long seconds, she nodded. But her gaze told a different truth. Liar.  

Links:

Add the book to your Goodreads list!
 

About Lea Bronsen:

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I like my reads hot, fast, and edgy, and strive to give my own stories the same intensity. After venturing into dirty inner-city crime drama with my debut novel Wild Hearted, I divide my writing time between psychological thriller, romantic suspense, and erotic dark/contemporary romance.

I love to hear from my readers! Write to leabronsen@yahoo.com or meet me on:

 

Thursday 30 March 2017

Bronze Star (A Veterans Affairs Story) by A.E. Wasp - Release Blitz




Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Veterans Affairs Series

Half-Broke: A Veterans Affairs Short Amazon US | Amazon UK 
Incoming: A Veterans Affairs Novel Amazon US | Amazon UK
A Christmas Outing: A Veterans Affairs Story Amazon US | Amazon UK
Paper Hearts: A Veterans Affairs Novel Amazon US | Amazon UK
Paper Roses: A Veterans Affairs Story Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

Chris Dobbs is used to getting what he wants, and what he wants now is his boss.
Everything about the dangerously handsome enigmatic older man drives him to his knees in more ways than one, ways Chris is realizing he’s always craved.

Giving Jay-Cee his body is as simple as breathing, but when Chris smashes through all of Jay-Cee’s hard earned control, he learns Jay-Cee demands more than just his obedience. He wants things Chris can’t give him - his heart, his soul, and his trust.

Jay-Cee offered his brilliant young protégé everything. In return, Chris took only the pieces he wanted and rejected the rest, leaving Jay-Cee reeling.

But the deep connection between them isn’t easily severed, and it promises to heal them both of the scars of their pasts. If they are to build a sanctuary from the rubble of their broken hearts, they’re going to have to risk everything.


Author Bio

After time spent raising children, earning several college degrees, and traveling the world with the U.S. State Department, she is returning to her first love - writing.

A dreamer and an idealist, Amy writes about people finding connection in a world that can seem lonely and magic in a world than can seem all too mundane. She invites readers into her characters’ lives and worlds when they are their most vulnerable, their most human, living with the same hopes and fears we all have. An avid traveler who has lived in big cities and small towns in four different continents, Amy has found that time and distance are no barriers to love. She invites her readers to reach out and share how her characters have touched their lives or how the found families they have gathered around them have shaped their worlds.

Born on Long Island, NY, Amy has lived in Los Angeles, London, and Bangkok. She currently lives in a town suspiciously like Red Deer, Colorado.


VISIT MY BLOG
LIKE MY FACEBOOK PAGE
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
SEE INTO MY BRAIN AT PINTEREST
AND GET
HALF-BROKE: A VETERANS AFFAIRS STORY FOR FREE



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Wednesday 29 March 2017

Rainbow Sprinkles by Anna Martin - Release Day Review



A States of Love Story
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Novella / 77 pages
Buy links: Dreamspinner | Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb

Cooper Reed has a fairly relaxed life for someone who lives in LA. He’s no celebrity—just the guy who makes sundaes at the Dreamy Creamery, and that’s the way he likes it. The highlight of every week is the beautiful guy who turns up and orders a sundae with rainbow sprinkles. Cooper still isn’t sure if that’s a code, because he has a huge crush and the hot guy is terrible at flirting.

Drew Tanner, it turns out, is an original California dreamer. He’s as wholesome as apple pie and twice as sweet, a real-life Disney Prince at Disneyland. But while Drew’s head is in the clouds, Cooper’s feet are firmly on the ground, and their different outlooks might be more than their new relationship can take.

My thoughts

Rainbow Sprinkles is a sweet and easy story about two men who bond over ice cream.

Cooper is down to earth, doesn’t have particularly high expectations of life or of himself and while he knows his life could get better, he’s not inclined to push himself or rock the boat.

Drew Tanner is more of a dreamer. He’s an aspiring actor working as a Disney Prince in Disneyland and thoroughly enjoying his job while working towards an opportunity to break into fame and fortune.

I adored the early part of the story. I smiled because both Cooper and Drew are convinced they’re not good or special enough for the other. I loved the dates Drew organised for them and their slow but steady coming together. The conflict between them, when it arose, felt a bit like ‘much ado about nothing’ to me, and I didn’t think it warranted the two men being apart for as long as they were.


On the upside, I adored the secondary characters almost as much as I did Cooper and Drew and I loved how the story ended with a definite ‘happy for now’ and glimpses of a ‘happy ever after’ without forcing the issue. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novella—yes, even the bits I was less happy with content-wise. Anna Martin knows how to tell a story and presents characters that capture the reader. All in all this was a great story to read out in the sunshine on a Saturday afternoon. The only thing missing from that experience was my own ice cream with rainbow sprinkles.

The Heart (Ice Dragons #2) by RJ Scott - Release Blitz







Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Cover Design: Meredith Russell


Ice Dragons Series


The Code (Book #1) - Amazon US | Amazon UK


Blurb


The team captain and the rookie firefighter never meant to fall in love; but they’ll fight tooth and nail to protect what they have.

Alex Simard, captain of the Ice Dragons hockey team, didn’t intend on rescuing a baby from a burning car. Doing what anyone else would’ve done doesn’t make him a hero. Add the press hounding him, to on-ice injury, warring Russians, and the season from hell, and he’s losing focus. Getting his team to the Stanley Cup is his priority; falling in love isn’t even a footnote on his to-do list.

Jo Glievens, rookie firefighter, never meant to fall in love with a hockey player. Her career is everything to her and right now she doesn’t want to add a man to her life. She has a plan and is sticking to it. But someone is out there planting bombs, destroying lives, and she has to make choices when this criminal's actions hit way too close to home.


Excerpt

Jo walked in on a team meeting.
Not her team; not the big burly firefighters that formed her life and mostly sat around looking all kinds of badass whenever they had a meeting.
Nope, it was the key members of the Ice Dragons hockey team that had congregated in her friend Kat’s living room. Of course, it was also Ryan’s living room given Kat and Ryan were recently engaged, and it was their new house. Hence why Ryan would be there.
“Excuse the noise, we’ll study upstairs again where it’s quiet,” Kat said.
“It’s a team meeting then?”
“Less meeting, more smack-down and telling Alex like it is. Poor guy can’t stay at his own place because of all the media attention, so he’s staying here, but he’s pissed and probably scared of being off-ice for far too long.”
“It’s fine,” she said, although she wasn’t exactly concentrating on what Kat said, so had missed most of it.
And all because, from there she could see the center of attention, one Alexandre Simard, or Simba as his teammates liked to call him. She only knew that Simba was his nickname because he’d done those ridiculous car sales ads for a local Toyota dealership a couple years back. They’d made this whole thing about his blond hair, and his name, likening him to a lion based on his hockey nickname.
She’d seen the ads so many times she could almost recite them from memory; too much down time at the firehouse between calls.
Of course, his face had been fixed firmly in her mind after she and Mitch had been the ones who dragged his trapped and heavy ass out of that car, the flames burning through his jacket and the jersey beneath. He’d been the one who looked up at her and asked, not about himself, but about the baby.
The damned man had crawled back into the burning car for the dad. He could have died. Jo had been furious at his actions; the last thing professionals needed were civilians getting involved, but when the action of the call had faded she’d thought past the rookie checklist for civilian interaction on scenes. Instead, she’d gone from seeing him as a man who’d helped to sell cars, played a game for a living, to a man who risked his own life for a child and father.
With no thought for his own safety.
He was pretty much a local hero if you listened to the news, a tall, gorgeous, blond-haired, blue-eyed hero. Could the guy be any more of a cliché? And why did he have to look so sexy and handsome, even when he was angry?
“They’re all mad,” Lieutenant Dennison had said when they were working on getting the car clear. “Hockey players, all mad,” he elaborated when she’d stared at him not really understanding at first.
Seems like they weren’t just mad for putting themselves in danger, but they were mad-angry as well. So, it wasn’t so much a meeting she’d been warned was happening at the same time as her study session, as much as a heated debate.
There was some language she didn’t understand, although it was deep and guttural and likely Russian, and then one hell of a lot of cursing. She caught some of it, a shouting match over ice time and why couldn’t their fucking captain understand the concept of fucking rest.
She didn’t watch hockey that much, sometimes caught highlights on shift down time, but being the probie at the firehouse kept her busy. That would all be ending soon when she passed probation and her exams, but for now, it sucked. She kind of wanted to watch hockey, the way that her fellow officers and the paramedics talked about it, the game was fast and changed on a dime. Burlington had an expansion team, or so she’d read in the paper that morning. In fact, she’d learned a lot about hockey the past few days. Ever since the accident actually, because the articles on it were everywhere.
To be fair, every article she’d read about the Dragons’ captain and him risking his life had begun with the words Alexandre ‘Simba’ Simard, Captain of The Dragons, the NHL’s newest expansion team…she’d looked it up, knew what expansion meant, that it was a new team, only five or so years old, and that this year they’d started strong before setbacks had them trailing in the rankings.
Not to mention they’d lost their captain for at least four weeks. Maybe six. One writer pointed out the team didn’t have the chance to label it as a generic upper body injury, meaning other teams wouldn’t know the captain’s vulnerabilities. Nope, there were pictures and news reports of burns and a fractured radius.
According to news reports, the team losing their captain was vital, and Jo could understand that. Captains were key pieces in their teams, the leader, the one that everyone looked up to. He was also a real American hero, or at least that is what the news was painting him as. Without thought for his own safety, he’d rescued a father and baby from their car only seconds before the fire spread.
Brave. Not everyone was a firefighter like her, not everyone would have risked their own life to rescue others. Not everyone was trained like her. Brave, stupid, they were different sides of the same coin.
She glanced into the main seating area, the one with the views out over Burlington, in the beautiful place that Kat and her fiancé had bought. They’d only just moved in, but this was the third time Jo had visited. The view included shouting, sexy, angry hockey players; men who were clearly pissed at something.
“You’re not coming back early,” one strong, steady voice said, and Jo recognized Ryan, Kat’s other half, as the owner of the voice.
“Fuck you, Flynn,” the captain snapped.
“This is not up for discussion, you hard headed idiot,” Ryan shouted louder. Seemed it was that kind of meeting where each person shouted louder than the last just to be heard.
She counted it as a win that they hadn't spotted her; there was something compelling about being able to see them in person. Kat was watching with amusement on her face. Of course, her fiancé was one of them, and she probably knew more about the whole thing than Jo ever would.



Author Bio

RJ Scott is the bestselling romance author of over 100 romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men and women 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.

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.

mailto:rj@rjscott.co.uk







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Monday 27 March 2017

Holding by Graham Norton



Pages 312
Bookclub Read

The blurb

The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama; and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn't always been this overweight; mother of­ two Brid Riordan hasn't always been an alcoholic; and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn't always felt that her life was a total waste.

So when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke - a former­ love of both Brid and Evelyn - the village's dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated PJ struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community's worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.

Darkly comic, touching and at times profoundly sad. Graham Norton employs his acerbic wit to breathe life into a host of loveable characters, and explore - with searing honesty - the complexities and contradictions that make us human.

My thoughts

“The past was opening up like a great dark bottomless pit, and she felt herself falling.”

Holding caused a stir when it was first released. The reviews in Irish newspapers were glowing and it shot up the bestseller list. All the to-do sure made me curious and I was delighted when my library bought extra copies of the book so it could be read by the Reading Groups. Now that I’ve read the book I’m not entirely sure what to say and am afraid I could well end up damning the book with faint praise.

Let me start by saying there is absolutely nothing wrong with this book. The story is well written and the characters are painted in such a way that I could see them. In fact, a lot about this story was recognisable, probably because I live near a town even smaller than Duneen.

On the other hand, there wasn’t anything in this book to make it stand out as remarkable either. In fact it all felt a bit like ‘same old – same old’, almost to the extent that those recognisable characters felt like caricatures, and Duneen like a prototype Irish small town. As for the mystery, I don’t want to say too much about that because I realise that just because it wasn’t much of a mystery to me doesn't mean it won't be surprising to others. I had however worked out almost exactly what had to have happened long before the solution was presented on the page, and I was almost sorry when it turned out I had been right.

However, none of what I said in the previous paragraph means I didn’t enjoy the book. It was an easy read, at times poignant, and somewhat dark. The only thing mentioned in the blurb I do not agree with is the description of this book as ‘darkly comic’. I don’t think I so much as smiled while reading this story, never mind laughed out loud.


To say I’m on the fence about this one would be an understatement. I certainly wouldn’t discourage anybody from reading Holding but neither is it the first book that would spring to mind if I were asked to recommend a mystery set in Ireland. In fact, it was the Irishness of this story that made it so very predictable for me, which means that people who don’t live in Ireland might well get a lot more out of this book than I did. As it is I’d rate this book a very solid 3.5 stars; there’s nothing wrong with it but it’s not something to write home about either.

Saturday 25 March 2017

The Night Mark by Tiffany Reisz – Pre-Release Review



432 pages
Publisher: MIRA
Release Date: April 1
Buy Links: Mira | Amazon | Amazon UK

The blurb

She has nothing to live for in the present, but finds there's something worth dying for in the past…

From Tiffany Reisz, the international bestselling storyteller behind The Bourbon Thief and The Original Sinners series, comes an enthralling new novel about a woman swept away by the tides who awakens to find herself in 1921, reunited with the husband she's been mourning for four years. Fans of Kate Morton and Diana Gabaldon will fall in love with the mystery, romance and beauty of an isolated South Carolina lighthouse, where a power greater than love works its magic. 


My thoughts

“The night mark is the pattern the light flashed. Some lighthouses had a steady beam. Some lights flashed. That’s how navigators told lighthouses apart.”

Surely I don’t need to tell you that Tiffany Reisz tells amazing stories. Her imagination is a thing of wonder and her characters are always, not so much larger than life, but painted with such clarity they come to life.

The Night Mark is a very emotional story. When it starts and we meet Faye she is only surviving. Four years after her soul mate, Will, died, she’s still buried so deep in her grief that it felt almost as if it was the only thing that kept her going. Grief is Faye and Faye is grief and while she’s making an attempt to kick start her life again, it seems as if that life will have to fit around that grief, accommodate it, because when Faye lost Will, she lost her reason for being.

“Whoever first said it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all had neither loved nor ever lost.” – Faye

Then Faye almost drowns and when she comes to she thinks she’s been reunited with her Will, or at the very least that she’s experiencing the most lucid dream she has ever experienced. Except that the man isn’t Will, and she isn’t dreaming. Instead she finds herself almost a century in the past, and in the company Carrick, who closely resembles, but isn’t Will.

I’m not going to say a whole lot more about the story itself. Twists and turns kept me turning the pages as secrets were revealed, and surprises kept me guessing. This is a love story in its purest form. A ‘love-overcomes-all’ sorta story. The wording is both lyrical and at times introspective, but never too much of either. And both the main and the secondary characters we’re fascinating and so well portrayed I felt I knew them on a personal level.

I loved how this story played with time. It is not impossible that time-travel purists will have one or two questions relating to whether or not history should or could change, by the time the story ends. I just lost myself in the romance of it all and decided that I would stick to Carrick’s theory.

“To think I spent my whole life believing time only went in one direction, (…). Thought it was a river. Turns out it’s an ocean. Waves come in. Waves go out. Sometimes those waves take us with them.” – Carrick

While Tiffany is an all-round fabulous author, there is one thing she does better than anyone else I’ve ever read; she writes the best priests ever. Pat Cahill in this book proves that once again.

“My job entailed turning wine into God’s blood, so I don’t think I can judge you too harshly.” – Pat Cahill.

I received an ARC of this title through Netgalley and while it pains me to do so I have to say that I hope this wasn’t the final version. I came across issues both with  both formatting and editing. Nothing so major or shocking it took me out of the story, never mind put me off reading it or even made me mark the story down, but enough of them to make me sit up and mention them here.


To summarize: The Night Mark only confirmed what The Original Sinners books had already told me; this author possesses a rare and wonderful form of genius. And while the Original Sinners will, in all likelihood, always be my favourite stories and characters by this author, I now know, without a shadow of doubt, that she can write just about anything she puts her mind (and fingers) to. And I will continue to greedily devour those words of hers.

Friday 24 March 2017

Shifting Silver by Brandon Witt



Pages: 49
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Buy links: Dreamspinner | Amazon | Amazon UK

The blurb

The year is 1618, and Allakau is different from the other members of the Alaskan Yupik tribe. His people survive by hunting, but Allakau is unable to kill or eat flesh. As another season reaches its end and winter approaches, Allakau encounters a narwhal with silver eyes similar to his own. He saves the creature’s life but incurs his father’s wrath, and Allakau is given one last chance to prove himself a productive part of the tribe or be left behind to die. As he spends time alone in the woods, clues about his past and destiny begin to fall into place with the aid of another silver-eyed creature. His hunt might finally lead him to the truth about what sets him apart and where he belongs—if he can survive it.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2016 Daily Dose package "A Walk on the Wild Side."

My thoughts

Sometimes you stumble across something special, a little gem of a story that fills your heart, feeds your soul, and leaves you fulfilled. Shifting Silver is such a story for me. I can’t think of a single thing in this story I don’t adore. Allakau is a wonderful protagonist and even better narrator. His struggle between remaining true to himself and doing what his family expects of him was real without ever becoming over dramatic. I’m so grateful that there were no truly horrid characters in this story. Allakau’s father’s decision may seem harsh, but even with him the reader knows he does what he believes is best for his son and their tribe, and he had no way of knowing differently.

The ending to this story was perfect and left me with a huge smile on my face. All too often when I read a short story like this one I’m left somewhat unsatisfied. Not this time. The whole story is here, nothing is missing. While I wouldn’t have minded spending more time with Allakau & co, I’m not sure more story would have improved this fabulous tale.


This is a magical story set in a mythical past. It talks about enduring love and soul mates and shared the most wonderful message: Being ‘other’ does not mean being less. The descriptions of nature and creatures are breathtakingly beautiful and vivid. I could almost feel the cold, see the snow, and touch the animals.  I’m so happy I read Shifting Silver; it was a wonderful reading experience.

Embrace the Fire (Through Hell and Back #3) by Felice Stevens - Release Blitz






Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK 

Cover Design: Reece Dante  


Length: 90,000 words 

Through Hell & Back Series 

A Walk Through Fire (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK  
After The Fire (Book #2) Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb


Brandon Gilbert has spent years in hiding, but he’s finally accomplished his dream of working as a public school teacher. When offered the chance to help bullied children, there was no way he could say no. Not to mention that meeting Dr. Tash Weber, the psychiatrist who helps them, a sad yet sexy older man, ignited a spark inside Brandon he’d never had before.


Though five years have passed since the death of his lover, Dr. Sebastian "Tash" Weber has no interest in relationships or love. But young, enigmatic Brandon awakens his heart and his desire. Despite Tash’s best efforts to push him away, Brandon unlocks the passion for life Tash thought he’d lost forever.


Falling in love wasn’t part of the plan for either Brandon or Tash, but neither family disapproval nor self-doubts can stop them from embracing the fire that burns between them. And when Brandon returns home to fight for a future he never imagined possible, he and Tash discover that the one thing worth fighting for has been with them all along.


NB This is a re-release and has been extensively re-edited and revised with almost 10k words of additional content added.


About Felice

I have always been a romantic at heart. I believe that while life is tough, there is always a happy ending around the corner, My characters have to work for it, however. Like life in NYC, nothing comes easy and that includes love, but getting there is oh so fun and oh so sexy.

I live in New York City with my husband and two children. My day begins with a lot of caffeine and ends with a glass (or two of red wine). I practice law but daydream of a time when I can sit by a beach somewhere and write beautiful stories of men falling in love. Although there are bound to be a few bumps along the way, a Happily Ever After is always guaranteed.



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Tuesday 21 March 2017

By the Numbers (Sanctuary #10) by RJ Scott - Cover Reveal




Release Date: April 25


Cover Design: Meredith Russell


Blurb


Sometimes the only way to stay alive is to shoot first.

Brandon Hoselton was running scared. With his family threatened he felt he had nowhere left to go and even considered ending his life to keep them safe. Until Sanctuary, in the shape of the enigmatic Daniel Karnes, gives him a reason to stay alive and offers the possibility of a future free from fear.

Daniel is new to Sanctuary, tasked with watching Brandon, a brilliant geek with a wicked sense of humor. Falling in love with the man is way too easy, now he just has to make sure they can stay together.

The only way of taking down Varga is to cut off his money, and the two men become part of an intricate take-down involving millions of dollars in uncut diamonds.

But Brandon knows too much, Daniel has secrets he can never share, and their new love is at stake. When the villain has murder in mind, sometimes, the only way to stay alive is to be the first to shoot.


Sanctuary Series

Guarding Morgan (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK
The Only Easy Day (Book #2) Amazon US | Amazon UK
Face Value (Book #3) Amazon US | Amazon UK
Still Waters (Book #4) Amazon US | Amazon UK
Full Circle (Book #5) Amazon US | Amazon UK
The Journal of Sanctuary One (Book #6) Amazon US | Amazon UK
Worlds Collide (Book #7) Amazon US | Amazon UK
Accidental Hero (Book #8) Amazon US | Amazon UK 
Ghost (Book #9) Amazon US | Amazon UK

Author Bio


RJ Scott is the bestselling romance author of over 100 romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men and women 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.

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.

mailto:rj@rjscott.co.uk





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Monday 20 March 2017

From Top To Bottom by Kevin Klehr - Release Day Review



SERIES: N/A
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
COVER ARTIST: Natasha Snow
GENRE: MMM Erotica Comedy
E-BOOK: Yes
PAPERBACK: No
LENGTH:  56 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 20 2017
PRICE:  $1,99 -e-book

Blurb

Can a dedicated top really learn to bottom? Tony wants to find out but he’s scared another die-hard top will just plow through him, instead of taking it nice and slow on a newbie.

Enter Butch, a bear who’ll try anything, and Ford, a guy whose curiosity is tempting him to cheat on his boyfriend. Like Tony, both are dedicated tops wanting to try something new, and on this journey of physical self discovery, all will find that being open means more than taking it doggie-style.

My thoughts

And now for something completely different….

Well, not really, but it is true that this story is NOT a romance. Don’t read this book if you’re looking for a happily ever after (or even a happy for now) ending. Or if you have an issue with cheating for that matter, although that is not what this story is about.

From Top to Bottom is a comical, graphic, and very erotic tale about three men expanding their sexual horizons (among other things). When Tony first meets Butch and Ford, he is single while Butch is in an open relationship and Ford admits to not having told his partner where he is. All three are curious about bottoming and all three waste no time before they explore each other and the new experience on offer.

While Tony develops a crush for Ford, it is Butch who he spends most time with and who takes him to a few orgies. And one of those sexy gatherings was rather special considering the naked guests were being looked after by a butler in full uniform. And I have to admit I had a soft spot of Butch; I mean who wouldn’t fall at least a little bit for a man who insists on baking cakes to be eaten after the sexy times are over.

There were times when this story tried a bit too hard for me; once or twice both the humour and the sexual descriptions felt a bit forced. Of course I’m more than happy to concede that it is far from impossible that this was a result of my (lack of) sense of humour and personal taste. And it’s true that for every humorous remark that didn’t work for me there were at least five others that had me smiling broadly, if not giggling away to myself.

As for the sex scenes, they were graphic and detailed and at times almost poetic. The resulting combination of crude and lyrical descriptions didn’t always work for me but did fascinate me.

I absolutely adored the conversations between Tony and his father. Supportive parents are of course the salt of the earth, but having a parent take a (literally) active interest in your specific version of sex has to be disconcerting to say the least. Mind you, those talks may have been uncomfortable for Tony, for me as a reader they were nothing short of fabulous.

To summarise, From Top to Bottom was a fascinating, easy, fun and fast read. The story contains a lot of sex, but underneath there’s a beautiful message about taking chances, friendship, personal growth and being open to new experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed the hour it took me to read this book and can see myself picking up something else by Kevin Klehr in the not too distant future; my curiosity has been piqued.

The Author


Kevin lives with his long-term partner, Warren, in their humble apartment (affectionately named Sabrina), in Australia’s own ‘Emerald City,’ Sydney.

From an early age Kevin had a passion for writing, jotting down stories and plays until it came time to confront puberty. After dealing with pimple creams and facial hair, Kevin didn't pick up a pen again until he was in his thirties. His handwritten manuscript was being committed to paper when his social circumstances changed, giving him no time to write. Concerned, his partner, Warren, snuck the notebook out to a friend who in turn came back and demanded Kevin finish his novel. It wasn't long before Kevin's active imagination was let loose again. 

Kevin has had a few books out, but sadly his publisher closed their doors. All of his work, both old and new, will be re-branded by NineStar Press in 2017. To find out what’s in store, click here.



Thursday 16 March 2017

The Case of the Guilty Ghost by Amber Kell & RJ Scott - Release Blitz





Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK 

Length: 111 pages



Series

End Street Vol 1 - Amazon US | Amazon UK

End Street Vol 2 - Amazon US | Amazon UK
The Case of the Purple Pearl - Amazon US | Amazon UK


Blurb


Bob is lost in grief, Sam is fighting for his life, and there is no middle ground. Can their love survive?

Bob is grieving over his brother’s sacrifice. Guilt-ridden and devastated, he buries himself in vampire mourning and pulls away from Sam.

Magic tears Sam from the vampire castle and he has to face new adversaries alone, when all he wants is Bob at his side.

Ettore is in the Aset Ka waiting room, next in line for the ceremony for his soul to be torn from his body. Aset Ka has other plans, and Ettore finds himself reunited with a lost love and fighting alongside his brother.

A forgotten past binds Theodore ‘Teddy’ McCurray Constantine III to Ettore, and with the curse tied to Ettore broken by his death, Teddy’s past returns to him with a vengeance.

A royal family in denial, a battle between gods, and long forgotten love leaves no time for Sam and Bob to take a breath. Is it too late to save the supernatural world? 



Excerpt

Sam took the stairs two at a time, all one hundred and sixty of them, to the top of the tower, leaving him gasping for oxygen. He’d seen Bob heading that way, or dreamed it, or half woke and imagined it. He didn’t know what exactly, only that somehow, he knew he would find Bob at the top of the black tower. He ducked the low lintel, slid to an ungainly halt on the stone floor, unbalanced and grabbed at the wall to hold himself upright.

“Bob?” he called into the dark corners of the tower, but there was no reply. His vampire lover didn’t step from the shadows with a smile or words of love. The place was empty, and the only presence Sam sensed was spiders. Knowing his luck, they were man-eating spiders.

“Sam!”

Sam winced at the shout up the stairs, and then heard huffing and cursing as the owner of the deep voice appeared in the doorway. Jin, who had never quite gone home, citing that he was responsible for Sam, was way past pissed. At least Jin, being a dragon shifter, could light up the room. Then Sam recalled he could light up the room just by thinking about it.

“I want there to be light,” he murmured, and then held up his hand to block his eyes as a pure white light exploded in the center of the room, filling every corner before receding back to a steady glowing orb.

He blinked, the light burning his retina. He closed his eyes tight, willing the spotted vision to go.

“What are you doing up here?” Jin asked. He sounded wary, like everyone else tiptoeing around Sam these past two weeks.

“Bob,” Sam said. When he opened his eyes again, he could see the entire room. An elaborate altar took up the far side of the circular chamber, built into the wall and covered in years of dusty cobwebs, likely from the imagined killer spiders. He stepped toward it, a low humming drawing his attention. Jin moved to block his way.

“Leave it, Sam,” Jin said. His hard tone left no room for discussion.

The noise of more footsteps stomping up the stairs, then Lambert, Sam’s vampire liaison, appeared at the top. Lambert, a tall stretched-skinny vampire with eerily cloudy eyes, had a propensity to follow Sam everywhere, spouting fear at everything and anything.

“Sire, you can’t be in here,” Lambert said, waving his hands ineffectively.

Sam spun back around to face the altar. “Stop calling me sire,” he muttered under his breath. He was getting pretty sick of how people treated him in the damn castle. Half the vampires lauded him as a ruler of supernaturals, the other half wanted him either locked up or gone. The first group assigned Lambert to him. They felt Sam needed an escort in the vampire kingdom because he was, in their words, special. Lambert was the kind of paranormal stuck firmly in the past. The historian kept talking about the old days like they were better times.

Sam wasn’t sure why Lambert had been so accepting of him given he was A, human, and B, with Bob.

Jin held up a hand, glowing with the remnants of dragon fire magic and placed it flat on Sam’s chest. It didn’t burn, only fizzled, and popped sending a small shock through his body.

“Sam, talk to me,” Jin demanded.

The humming from the altar intensified, and a voice in Sam’s head was saying the same things over and over, Sam, I am here, and I need your help.

“I can hear Bob in my head, he called me up here,” Sam repeated.

“No, you can’t have heard him,” Lambert corrected. “The mate link is blocked in times of mourning. You are hearing something else, dark magic maybe. You need to come back down to your chamber where you are safe.”

A mixture of exasperation and fear crossed Lambert’s face when Sam stepped back toward the altar.

“I want to see him.” He’d been too long without Bob. Their separation was causing cracks in his sanity.

“It’s not much longer until he’s done,” Jin reassured.

“Please come away, Sam,” Lambert pleaded. That was new. Lambert never called him Sam.

“Just take my hand,” Jin said, holding out his hand.

Sam stepped backward, more toward the altar, and he heard Lambert let out a small curse.

“Take my hand, Sam,” Jin said. “This is stupid and dangerous.”

Sam turned on Jin, sparks flying from his fingers. Jin stepped back from him, narrowly avoiding the biting magic. “Stay away from me.”

He shook his fingers, electricity passing up his arm. Usually when that happened, Bob was there to hold his hands, settle him and take away the pinpricks of pain.

“Come away, Sam,” Jin said.

“Listen to the dragon,” Lambert added, his voice thick with fear.

“You and Jin do what I say,” Sam snapped, not knowing where the superiority in his voice was coming from.

Sam fought his loss of control. So much for me being a higher supernatural. Every day without Bob felt like torture, and Sam was lost without his vampire lover next to him. The headaches, the sparks of energy from his fingers, and the pain in his chest grew more intense with each hour that passed. He knew Bob was in mourning. Hell, Sam respected the traditions, but right then, all he wanted was his lover by his side.

Hurry up, the voice in his head said. I need your help.

He shook off the words and concentrated on Lambert. “Take me to the Sanctum, let me see Bob, convince me he isn’t calling for my help, and I will come with you.” He wasn’t being unreasonable, they were.

“This is an ancient rite.” Lambert seemed stunned that Sam was asking this. “No humans.”

“Something is wrong.” With me? With him? Something is terribly wrong, but no one is listening.

“What is wrong? Is it your head?” Jin asked, his voice low, and his expression concerned.

Yes. No. Hell, I don’t know. I know Bob loves me, and I love him. I just need to kiss him.

Instead, he said, “I have to help Bob with his grieving. We can’t be apart like this.”

Sam didn’t know what made him say it that way; he wasn’t needy, it wasn’t a normal need for lovers to be together. His instincts had been screaming at him that he and Bob shouldn’t be apart.

Ever!
Lambert gasped as he did every time Sam suggested he should be part of any ancient vampire rite. “A non-pureblood cannot help with the rituals of grieving.”

Sam knew Lambert was winding himself up to that whole vampire purity speech and he sighed. Jin must have sensed his irritability because he rounded on Lambert and roared, fire sparking around him. Lambert stumbled back in shock.

“Wait for us outside,” Jin ordered.

Lambert looked torn between staying to keep an eye on Sam, his job, or evading the dragon fire that Jin was breathing all around the room.

Lambert’s eyes narrowed. His calculating gaze flashed from Jin to Sam and back again a few times before he sketched a small bow and left the chamber. “I will go down exactly the seven steps of Aset Ka,” he announced over his shoulder. He was kind of stuck on numbers and more than a little obsessive about the freaking vampire god.

The same god who had made a bargain with Bob’s brother Ettore before returning Bob to Sam, and taking Ettore to some kind of hell, or heaven, or whatever.

“Bob needs me,” Sam said, firmly. “I was asleep and heard him calling me. He must be out of mourning.”

“Sam, you have to stop, he isn’t up here.”

“He must be, he called me.” Maybe if Sam said it enough times one of them would listen.

Jin shook his head. “You heard that through your mate link? In your mind. You can’t have because the link is muted when Bob is mourning.”

Sam shook his head, confused. “No, it was like an image of the stairs, and this room, and there was an altar, only it wasn’t this old. It had gold all over it, a chalice in the center, and Bob was examining it, and he called me over, and there was magic….” Sam pressed his hands against his temples, attempting to ease the tension building from that incessant humming. “He needs me.”

“Sam, it was just a dream. You’re tired. Let’s go get some sleep, and we’ll re-examine this in the morning.” Jin took his arm, encouraged him back to the doorway, but Sam wrenched away and shoved Jin to the side, and with a flick of his hand there was a thick wall of ice between them. Sam stood on the side of the altar, and Jin beat on the ice trying to get through.

Bob needed him, and nothing or no one was stopping him. He’d felt Bob’s grief, through their bond, for four long days and then without warning; the bond was severed. He’d been told that had to happen as part of the rituals of mourning.

Sam was lost. Not even his daughter Mal arriving had helped. At that moment, it didn’t matter that she was the light of his life, he wasn’t whole without Bob. There was no family without Bob.

“Watch Mal,” Sam spoke clearly through the ice, which wasn’t giving way, and Jin snarled at him. “Please.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, Sam! We’ll go down and find Bob.”

But Sam wasn’t doing anything stupid. He was doing what he should have been doing all along, finding Bob and making sure he was okay. Something had happened, someone had come into the castle, stolen Bob from his mourning and only Sam could help. He turned his back on Jin to face the altar. Something there was calling him. Help me, help me.

Bob’s voice? Or was it softer the closer that Sam got to the altar? A whisper of a voice?

He stepped closer, the hum louder, and then another step, and as he neared the low resonating noise stopped, and for a moment he was motionless.

He reached a hand toward the altar, expecting a barrier, or magic, or some booby-trap that would whisk him to killer spider land or some other awful, horrible place.

A crash behind him had him looking back. Jin was nearly through the barrier, melting the ice as fast as he could with his dragon fire; in seconds he would be through. Sam flicked his hand to create another level of ice, but nothing happened.

“Just when I need magic, it isn’t there,” he murmured.

Something inside him began to hurt, an insistent tug at the base of his neck that ran down his spine then back again. The sensation was weird, moving his feet, guiding him, and he had no control over his own body. He was a marionette, and someone else was pulling the strings.

Fear began to spread in the pit of his stomach, Jin screamed his name and the heat of dragon fire warmed his back, but none of it mattered.

Because his hand touched the altar.

And everything went to hell.




Author Bios


Amber Kell has made a career out of daydreaming. It has been a lifelong habit she practices diligently as shown by her complete lack of focus on anything not related to her fantasy world building.

When she told her husband what she wanted to do with her life, he told her to go have fun.
During those seconds she isn't writing, she remembers she has children who humor her with games of 'what if' and let her drag them to foreign lands to gather inspiration. Her youngest confided in her that he wants to write because he longs for a website and an author name—two things apparently necessary to be a proper writer.

Despite her husband's insistence she doesn't drink enough to be a true literary genius, she continues to spin stories of people falling happily in love and staying that way.

She is thwarted during the day by a traffic jam of cats on the stairway and a puppy who insists on walks, but she bravely perseveres.


E-mail: amberkellwrites@gmail.com




RJ Scott is the bestselling romance author of over 100 romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men and women 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.

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.

mailto:rj@rjscott.co.uk



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