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Honorary Blogger Rhiannon Ayers: Not Your Typical BDSM Romance Author – Excerpt + Giveaway!

Posted on August 7, 2014 by thebloggergirls

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Not Your Typical BDSM Romance Author

by Rhiannon Ayers

As a romance author, there is a question I get asked more than any other: why do I write about BDSM that doesn’t include whips and chains and pain for pleasure? The Blogger Girls have been kind enough to host me today, so I’d like to take a moment to answer that question once and for all. Here goes nothing.

When I sat down to write my books, one of the biggest things I wanted to accomplish was to help people realize that D/s doesn’t have to be about pain. At its core, it is only about control. Everything else, all the trappings and drama, are secondary and depend on the individual needs of those who are participating. Therefore, to assume that all practitioners of the lifestyle always do the same things is erroneous. No two Doms are the same, just as no two subs have the same needs.

How do I know all this? Because I am a practicing Domme. My husband and I have been together for fourteen years, ever since I claimed him as mine. We live the D/s lifestyle 24/7. Notice, though, I said D/s, not BDSM. That’s because, in our relationship, there is no bondage and there is no masochism. We practice the purely psychological D/s.

What are the differences, you might ask? In my latest book, ANGEL WITHOUT, two of my MC’s have a poignant conversation that really sums it up. The story follows Amber Whitman, a young woman who got involved with a man who claimed he was Dom, and who promised that he would teach her the BDSM lifestyle. But instead of treating her like a true Dom would, he abused her, destroying her faith in her instincts and terrorizing her to the point where she refused to even consider being with a Dominant man again. This conversation takes place after she meets Maddox Henley, a Dom with a dark past of his own. As the two of them get to know each other, Maddox gets her to tell him about her previous Dom—and proceeds to explain why he wasn’t a Dom at all.

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About Angel Without

1When Amber Whitman’s fiance suddenly turns violent, she flees back home—only to be told she has no choice but to marry the bastard. Refusing to live her life as an abused woman, Amber takes off in the dead of night. But now she’s out of money, out of options, and out of ideas. She has no place to turn…or does she?

All these years, Amber thought her beloved adopted brother, Allen, was dead. When she discovers he’s not only alive, but living in the same city, she runs to him for help. Fortunately, Allen and his lovers have a plan to keep Amber safe. Allen brings his little sister to stay with Maddox Henley, a Dom with a dark past, and Riley Jones, an ex-soldier with a dark secret. Together, these two strapping construction workers have the balls and ability to keep a young woman safe from all outside threats.

But can they keep her safe from the threat they pose to her heart?

Available at: Siren Bookstrand

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An Excerpt from Angel Without

“I can teach you, if you truly want to learn,” he told her honestly. “But, there are a few things I need you to promise me first.”

Fear flashed in her beautiful blue eyes. Maddox schooled himself to patience, forcing himself to wait for her answer, despite the overwhelming urge to take her in his arms. This was the first step toward building trust—she needed to know her decisions counted, right from the beginning. Otherwise, she would never trust his intentions, never trust him when he said he cared about her thoughts and feelings. It was a fine line, the very line that defined Dominant from submissive, and it was a line that was far, far too easy to mistake for something else entirely. So he waited, keeping his expression open and welcoming, praying she would find the courage to trust him, just a little bit more.

Amber licked her lips again, swallowed hard. Then she whispered, “What promises?”

Maddox kept up his slow massage of her hand, never taking his eyes off hers. “First, you will promise never to lie to me. Even if it hurts, even if the answer embarrasses you, you must tell me the truth at all times. In return, I promise to do the same. There can be no trust between us if we’re both wondering what the other is hiding. Can you do that?”

She was silent for a moment, considering. When she finally nodded, Maddox’s heart soared. He let out a silent sigh and continued. “Good. Second, I need you to promise me you will never do something against your own desires just because you think it’s something I want from you.”

She cocked her head, obviously confused. “What? But I thought…”

He interrupted her immediately. “Wrong. You thought wrong, Amber. You and Brandon both got it wrong, right from the start. Being submissive doesn’t mean giving up your dignity, angel. And being Dominant doesn’t mean you want to control your submissive’s every thought and action. In point of fact, it’s the exact opposite.”

She shook her head. “I don’t understand. I thought…I thought that’s what it meant, to be a sub. What it meant to be a Dom.”

“Not even close.”

“Then…what does it mean?”

He sighed. “I’ll explain it to you the same way Sidri explained it to me.” He paused for a smile. “That woman has a way with words,” he said with a chuckle, earning a soft smile from Amber that hit him right in the balls. He bit back a curse, reaching under the table to adjust himself before continuing.

“There are a million different ways to express submission or Dominance. So many, in fact, that it is very rare to find two submissives with the same needs, or even two Doms. Every person is unique. That said, there is a core understanding that does apply to every single one of us, and it comes down to physical motion.”

At her curious look, he gave her a soft smile. “Being Dominant means needing to be in control of the motion during sex.” He paused, noting the shiver that washed down her spine as he said the word. He bit back a groan. “Understand, I saidneeding to be in control—not wanting.”

“What’s the difference?”

He met her gaze squarely. “Exactly what it sounds like. I’m a Dom, Amber. For me, that means that in order to find satisfaction, in order to reach orgasm, I need to be in control of the motion. I can’t get relief unless and until I am in control of the physical motion—how fast, how hard, how deep.” He watched the blush staining her cheeks, desperately wanted to lick and suck his way down her chest, just to see if the skin was as hot as it looked. He cleared his throat, but his next words still came out loaded with lust.

“It means you could ride me all night long, angel. You could be on top of me all night long, riding for all you were worth, and I still wouldn’t be able to come. I just can’t. I have to be on top, have to be in control of the actual physical motion, in order to find release. It’s how I’m built. How Sidri and Tatum are both built. And that is, at the very core of its definition, what it means to be a Dom. Everything else is secondary.”

She licked those lips again, her blue eyes shining impossibly bright. “So…what does it mean for a sub, then?”

“The exact opposite,” he replied quietly. “For a true submissive, it means you can’t be in control of the motion. In order to reach orgasm, you need to have your partner take care of that part. Otherwise, if you find yourself having to worry about the mechanics of things, the whens and whys and hows, you can’t let go enough to release. Which means that even if you did ride me all night long, you wouldn’t be able to come, either.”

She shivered again, and he bit back yet another groan. Christ, this woman was going to be the death of him. Time to spice things up a bit more.

“Of course, that doesn’t apply to self-stimulation,” he rumbled, allowing his gaze to sweep over her. Amber’s cheeks turned bright pink. “It only applies to being with a partner. In point of fact, a sub who ends up with a man who isn’t Dominant enough is more likely to prefer masturbation. You can always get yourself off, right?”

Amber’s mouth worked up and down, her eyes darkening with desire. Maddox cursed himself, knowing he’d be fantasizing about her touching herself all night long.

“So, those are the basic definitions,” he went on, throat raspy. “For most people, there really isn’t that much of a separation between the two—they can be either in control or not, as the situation calls for it. It’s only for those of us who find they actually need control—or truly need their partner to take it from them—that the true demarcation begins. After that, it depends on the individual, what each wants and needs. And, for a Dom, that means meeting the sub’s wants and needs on every level possible.” He stopped and made sure he had her complete attention. “Do you understand what I’m saying, angel?”

She shook her head, and his heart went out to her for the umpteenth time that day. He reached up a hand, slowly smoothed her bangs away from her forehead. She shuddered under his touch, but didn’t pull away.

“For a Dom, the sub’s needs transcend all else,” he explained quietly, projecting as much confidence and sincerity as he possessed into his voice. “When a true Dom chooses a submissive, he does so because that sub needs something from him, which he in turn knows he can give. Everything a Dom is, everything a Dom does, is for the sub’s benefit—not his own.

“That’s why Brandon wasn’t a Dom, angel. He couldn’t be, and still do what he did to you. Tying you up simply to have more power over you, hurting you for his own pleasure, goes against everything that makes a Dom what he is.”

“Help me understand,” she whispered hoarsely. Her gorgeous blue eyes had darkened even more as she looked up at him through her lashes, making them almost purple. He used his thumb to trace her cheek, her lower lip, as he continued his sensual explanation.

“The submissive’s needs transcend all else,” he said again. “That means a Dom does nothing, nothing, without knowing for absolute certain it is what the sub actually wants. A Dom doesn’t whip a sub because the Dom likes pain, or wants to hurt the sub physically, he does it because the sub needs the pain to find release, to let go. It isn’t done for the Dom’s benefit, it’s done for the sub. A man who whips a woman because he likes hurting her isn’t a Dom—he’s a sadist, pure and simple. And any man calling himself a Dom who went into a club like the one where I met Sidri and Tatum would quickly find himself kicked out, if not outright arrested, for displaying such behavior in that environment. It goes against everything we are, period. No exceptions.”

He rubbed the back of her hand while she thought about his explanation. “I guess that makes sense…for pain,” she said after a pause. “But what about…restraints? Why would you tie someone up unless you wanted to have more control over them?”

He immediately sobered. If he didn’t explain this right, if he bumbled through it and confused her, he’d only end up convincing her he didn’t understand his own beliefs. Worse, what he was about to try and explain was actually part of her nature, not his. He knew what he knew because of experience dealing with subs, and because of Sidri and Tatum being so thorough in his education. That said, because he was a Dom and not a sub, he couldn’t personally understand what it truly meant to be submissive. He was nothing more than a walking, talking dictionary, about to give a clinical definition to someone who needed the emotional understanding to comprehend it.

No pressure.

Maddox licked his bottom lip as he gathered his thoughts. “First and foremost, you need to remember—to accept—that a true Dom does nothing without knowing it’s what the sub wants. So if being restrained wasn’t something you wanted for yourself, no true Dom would ever make you go through it. Please, angel, trust me on this, okay?”

She gave him a halting nod, eyes still wary. Aching for her, Maddox cleared his throat and went on.

“That said, you are right about there being an exchange of power—but it’s the other way around. The Dom doesn’t tie the sub up so he can have more power over her. He does it so the sub knows he’s in control.”

“How is that different?”

“Semantics,” he said with a tiny grin. She rolled her eyes, making him laugh. “I’m serious. You say the Dom restrains a sub because he wants control, which is true on the surface. But he doesn’t want control for himself—he wants it because his sub needs him to be in control in order to find release. By both definitions, the Dom is in control. But the underlying meaning, the part that actually matters to someone like you or me, is that the sub is the one choosing to be restrained, because that sub wants to give control to her Dom. If she didn’t, then she wouldn’t be submissive.”

Amber smoothed the hair behind her ear with her free hand and regarded him thoughtfully. “So, what you’re saying is, I’m looking at it from the angle of it being a bad thing—the Dom wants control for himself, to feel powerful. But in reality, in a true D/s situation, it’s actually the sub who made the original decision, who chose to be restrained in order to hand control to her Dom.”

He beamed. “Exactly. Does that make sense? Can you see the difference?”

She nodded slowly. “Mostly. But…why would a sub want to be restrained at all?”

“Remember what I just said, about a submissive’s nature being tied to physical motion? How a sub can’t be in control if they want to experience orgasm? There are a million different ways to express that need. For some, it may just be needing to be on the bottom, to be able to lie back and let your partner do most of the work. But for others, it goes deeper. And there are levels, degrees that apply to different kinds of submissives.”

“Like what?”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you comfortable talking about your brother’s sex life? Because he’s a perfect example.”

Her blush made his balls draw up. “As long as you don’t, you know, describe them having sex in crazy detail, I should be okay.”

“Fair enough. You know your brother is a sub. He has particular needs, which led him to Sidri and Tatum. They are both Dominant, and both of them fall into the category of psychological Domination.” He caught her gaze. “That means they exert their control with words and emotions, not physical means. Your brother does not want to be restrained, does not want pain with his pleasure. Therefore, Sidri and Tatum will sometimes give him the illusion of restraints to force his mind to make the choice to follow their orders, but they will never restrain him in truth. That’s not what he wants, not what he needs, so they will never, ever ask it of him.”

“How do you give the illusion of restraints?” she asked in a breathy whisper, her eyes flashing with sudden lust.

“Will you trust me for a moment?”

Her blue eyes widened, filling with shadows again, but she nodded. Maddox choked back the urge to kiss her, make her forget her fears by force of sheer sensual overload. She wasn’t ready. Not yet. Not until she could bring herself to believe, body and soul, that he had no intention of harming her.

That thought in mind, Maddox rose from his barstool and circled the island. When he stood behind her chair, he carefully, slowly danced his fingers down both shoulders, down both arms, until he reached her wrists. Gently, letting her know she could pull away at any time, Maddox pulled her hands out and back, finally wrapping her small fingers around the vertical slats that supported the stool’s short backrest. He brought the heat of his body right up behind her, knowing her hands were tantalizingly close to his throbbing erection, but forced himself to focus. He left his fingers circled around her wrists, forming loose manacles.

“Hypothetical situation,” he said in a soft rumble. “Say I ordered you to put your hands behind your back, grip the back of the barstool, just as I have you doing now. I could use true restraints to keep you in the position I’ve commanded. Some submissives require the real thing, because they want to be able to pull against those restraints. They want to know down to their toes that their Dom is totally in control because the restraints are there, keeping them from disobeying his orders. The physical restraints reinforce their desire to have their choices taken away for the duration of the encounter, allowing them to let go and stop worrying about mechanics. Restraining that kind of submissive isn’t done so the Dom feels more powerful. It’s done so the sub can feel free enough to let go.”

She was trembling in his hold, obviously heavily identifying with his words. God, she was going to make him explode. Clearing his throat roughly, Maddox fought for control and went on.

“Or, I could simply give you the order,” he told her in a soft, sexy whisper. He leaned down, put his lips next to her ear. “Put your hands behind your back, grip the back of the barstool. Don’t let go, or everything stops.” Then he removed his hands from around her wrists and took a half step back, so there was no chance of her accidentally touching him. Standing behind her, out of her sight while he spoke, would drive her wild.

“My command is the illusion, Amber. There’s nothing holding you back but your own will. You have to choose, to make the choice to obey me, and not just once—throughout our time together, you would need to make that choice, over and over again. You’d have to constantly remember my command, be forced to consider it and decide whether or not to obey, again and again.

“As Sidri is fond of saying, it’s actually much, much harder to keep still when you know nothing is holding you back but your own mind. A sub who prefers physical restraints wants to be able to pull against them, to feel the physical evidence of their Dom’s control. But a sub like your brother”—like you—“prefers the illusion, so that he has no doubt whatsoever that everything that is happening to him is by his choice and his choice alone. A sub who wants to be restrained physically wants their choices taken away. A sub who prefers the illusion wants to make certain he has all his choices, at all times.”

He watched Amber’s shoulders tighten, her knuckles going white around the slats. After a moment, he stepped forward, carefully pulled her fingers away. He walked around in front of her, gathered her hands again, and brought both to his lips for a gentle kiss. Smiling softly at her stunned look, Maddox drew the closest stool over and sat down next to her, keeping possession of one of her hands.

“The biggest thing I need you to understand,” he said quietly, “is that you’re the one with all the power, angel. Nothing happens without your say-so. You have a choice, every time, no matter what. I never want to take your choices away—I want you to make the choice to be with me, over and over again. If you don’t want me to have control, then I won’t have it. It’s all up to you.

“That’s why I asked for that second promise,” he said after a time. “I don’t want you to agree to do things simply because you think it’s what I want from you. So if I were to ask you to do something you truly did not want to experience, I would expect—no, demand—that you say no. I have no desire to force you into something that makes you uncomfortable, angel. No desire to force my will onto yours. All I want, all I need, is to know that you’re finding pleasure in what we do together.”

Her eyes flashed with lust. “You’re so certain…we’ll be doing things together?” she said in a breathy voice.

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About Rhiannon Ayers

Rhiannon Ayers has lived in many cities over the years, having grown up the daughter of parents who suffered from wanderlust. Currently, she and her husband reside near the Gulf of Mexico with their children, both the two- and four-legged variety. An artist to the bone, Rhiannon spends her days dreaming up snappy headlines and creating eye-catching artwork for clients all over the world, though telling stories has always been her first love. After writing her first epic adventure series at the tender age of eight, she went on to garner several creative writing awards, including the prestigious Vanderbilt Award for Excellence in Creative Writing. Becoming a published author is her single greatest achievement to date.

Rhiannon loves getting feedback from readers. Please email her at rhiannon.ayers@yahoo.com or you can find her at her Website, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

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Rhiannon has graciously offered up a $25 gift card to either Siren-Bookstrand or Amazon.com to one lucky winner!! The giveaway starts now and ends August 13, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. To enter, just click the link below!

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Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway, except to verify your Rafflecopter entry.

Don’t forget to check out JustJen’s review of Angel Without to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Excerpts, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, M/F, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , | 9 Comments

Honorary Bloggers Rachel Haimowitz & Heidi Belleau: I Want to but I’m Afraid: Ten Reasons to Read the Flesh Cartel (And One Very Good Reason Not To) + Giveaway!

Posted on August 6, 2014 by thebloggergirls

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Hello all, and welcome to the Oh Thank God It’s Finally Finished last-episode blog tour for the Flesh Cartel! 🙂 Episode #19 has just released, and thus concludes the serial whose first episode released nearly two years past. We’re so excited to be sharing the boys’ happy endings with you, and to be with you here on this last look at the nearly 400,000 word journey into and then out of the darkness of human trafficking. We’ve done our best to make this tour fun and interesting both for folks who haven’t yet read the books but might be considering doing so, and for folks who’ve already begun (or already finished!) the series. Plus, there’s some very cool prizes up for grabs at the end of the post!

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I Want to but I’m Afraid: Ten Reasons to Read the Flesh Cartel (And One Very Good Reason Not To)

by Rachel Haimowitz & Heidi Belleau

One of the most frequent comments we’ve heard about the Flesh Cartel is actually from folks who haven’t read it yet. Basically, it’s some version of “This sounds really awesome, but I don’t want to be scarred for life.” Which is actually super humbling and flattering, because that means they’ve heard folks talk about it as a powerful experience, and when you set out to write psychological fiction, that’s pretty much the best response you could ever hope for–that it affected someone. Deeply.

And while there’s no denying that the Flesh Cartel goes to some very, very, very dark places–often in spectacularly graphic detail–a lot of people have grabbed on and gone for the ride and loved it. So here are ten reasons why you might be one of those folks who’d enjoy the rollercoaster too. Beware vague thematic spoilers if you read on.

1. All that suffering serves a purpose. The Flesh Cartel isn’t just dark to darker to darkest. Both brothers, and even some secondary characters, have distinct character arcs and growth–they learn something (or many things) over the course of their trials, and come out the other side stronger and more self-aware.

2. Brotherly love! The kind of love Mat and Dougie have for each other is a kind of love many of us dream of having. Like Sam and Dean from Supernatural, they’d die for each other, and worse, go straight to hell for each other–but also like those two idiots, they have their share of of unhealthy control, communication, and stuck-forever-in-unhealthy-roles issues. Unlike those two idiots, their shared trauma allows them to work through those issues and end up in a much healthier place.

3. Romantic love! This doesn’t start showing up until Season 4, but the relationship that develops between Nate (the FBI agent working the brothers’ missing persons case) and Mat is nuanced, slow-burning, and achingly beautiful. Neither of these men is perfect, and both have their baggage (Mat especially), but what they build together is a love for the ages.

4. Complex, careful, and challenging explorations of the human psyche. Three of our key driving questions at the start of this story were “What does it take to break a man?” “What does it take to not break a man in an inherently breakable situation?” and “What does it take to put a man back together when the nightmare ends?” That last one’s a bit of a trick question, of course, because even when a victim of such horrible crimes is free, the nightmare still isn’t over. But exploring that part of it was important to us too. So if you’re worried that the story won’t take these questions seriously, or that the writers didn’t do their research, or that very serious topics will be handled ineptly or unseriously, have no fear. We’re not psychologists, and I’m sure we’ve made mistakes, but we did the homework to minimize them, and to treat these issues and questions with all the gravity and respect they deserve. Writing this story challenged us, and pushed some of our individual boundaries. Reading it may very likely challenge you and push some of your individual boundaries too. And sometimes that’s exactly what we want in our entertainment.

5. Kink! If you’re into that sort of thing. Which, let’s face it, we are. If you love the dark stuff–all the noncon sex and violence and bondage and servitude and humiliation, belt whippings and object insertion and forced feminization and double penetration and dehumanization–you’re gonna love the Flesh Cartel. The last two seasons might not tickle you quite as hard as the first three, but we hope by then you care so much about the boys you don’t mind if the kink dials down.

6. Horror! If you’re into that sort of thing. If the kink ain’t your cuppa, then you can read the Flesh Cartel for a thrilling, soul-deep scare. Men are the greatest monsters of them all, yeah? And boy do we have some choice pickings in the Flesh Cartel. If you love psychological horror and tense thrills–all the locked rooms and unpredictable violence and near-escapes and red herring moments of hope, followed, of course, by the inevitable victorious rescue (or is it?) and subsequent mental and physical fallout–you’re gonna love the Flesh Cartel. Even if the kink is totally not your thing. Because for all that the kink is there, it’s never gratuitious, and every moment of abuse, every moment of pain, serves the story. (Okay, except a little in Season 1 when we were clearly enjoying ourselves a little too much sometimes ;-p)

7. Healing! We kind of covered this in the first three reasons, but this is important enough to deserve its own. For as dark and awful as the story is, almost 30% of the story–all of Season 5 and a quarter of Season 4–is spent focused entirely on the healing process. (About 110,000 words’ worth of focus, to be specific.) So while there’s a huge dose of hurt, there’s also a significant dose of comfort at the end of it. Just as we made sure to put the boys together again after we broke them, we make the same promise to you the reader: you’ll be whole and happy (hopefully crying happy!) by the end of Season 5.

8. But also suffering! Because who doesn’t love angst? If you need a palate cleanser in between bouts of fluffy romance, an episode of the Flesh Cartel is just the thing to get your hackles rising–and even sometimes the tears flowing (and very definitely not happy tears in the first dozen episodes). It makes for a great change of pace, and even more awesome, it makes the happy stories even happier. You know what they say about not knowing light without dark or happiness without pain? Yeah. We’re here to meet all your dark and painful needs so your light happiness feels even more light and happy when the time comes.

9. Tropes you love, (hopefully) without the cliches you hate. Especially for fandom folks–boy does the Flesh Cartel have things for you 😀 Hurt/comfort, obviously. Angst and abuse too. Abduction (and even sort of abduction as seduction). Master/slave (including an auction). About eight thousand selections from the kink meme. UST (ogod so much UST in Season 5). Antiheroes. Warriors. Houseboys. Training. First times and forced orgasms. Competence (this is a huge kink of Rachel’s). Soooo much discipline. Enemies forced to work together. Multiple mindfucks. Trust issues. Vulnerability. Even a tiny touch of crossover (thank you Abi)! Cliches it doesn’t have? No magical healing cock. No instalove. No insta-breaking. No conveniently forgotten traumas for the sake of sex or romance.

10. Characters and story that will win your heart (we hope!). Mat, Dougie, Nate the FBI agent-slash-love-interest, Nate’s parter Louise, Mat’s MMA coach Darryl, Mike the foster dad, Doug’s friend Corinne, Beth the therapist . . . these are all folks we hope you’ll come to know and love and root for and sympathize with. Even Nikolai’s very first pet, Roger. And Nikolai, of course, is a character you’ll love to hate–and maybe even, to your horror (or delight?), find yourself liking sometimes. As for the story, well, ultimately the Flesh Cartel is about the triumph of good over evil and love over cruelty, and what’s not to like about that?

All that being said, we also promised you One Very Good Reason Not To Read the Flesh Cartel, and here it is:

1. If you’ve read all this and you still don’t think it’s worth weathering the subject matter.

Let us assure you one hundred percent, that is okay. We meet so many readers who apologize to us for not reading Flesh Cartel, or for reading the first episode and then not wanting to continue on. And our response is always: there’s no need to apologize! People who enjoy or can bear the subject matter aren’t better or braver or edgier or wiser, they just have different tolerance or tastes for very specific content. If you don’t have that tolerance or taste, we don’t count that against you, and neither should anyone else. There’s nothing more important than having boundaries, knowing them, and respecting them. Rachel and I had boundaries too on where we took this story and why. If the story doesn’t appeal to you, if it upsets you, if it makes you emotional in a bad way . . . give yourself permission not to read it, and not to feel inadequate because you didn’t. In fact, that applies to everything in life–books, tv shows, movies, even the company you keep. We wrote the Flesh Cartel for a specific subset of readers looking for a specific experience, and if you’re not one of them, we wholeheartedly support that! Read what you love and what satisfies you.

(And if that happens to include the Flesh Cartel, welcome and enjoy the ride!)

Thank you all again so much for sharing the experience of the Flesh Cartel with us, and for being a part of our farewell tour. Thanks also to our host for having us!

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About Flesh Cartel 19: Promise

iIn the exciting final season of the Flesh Cartel . . .

With the help of the FBI, Mat Carmichael has let himself be re-taken by the Flesh Cartel. Objective? Rescue his brother, exact revenge, and destroy the entire organization from the inside.

FBI Special Agent Nate Johnson will be playing backup, of course, but to get Dougie out alive, Mat will need to make sure his brother is out of Allen’s clutches before calling in the troops. Now that Mat’s back in bondage, though, there’s no way he can do it alone. He’ll have to ask for help from the only man within the Cartel who cares about Dougie’s welfare: Nikolai. And even knowing it will destroy him, Nikolai delivers.

Bringing down the Cartel should have been the hardest part, but it doesn’t take long to realize that the real challenge has only just begun. Dougie doesn’t know how to be free anymore, and Mat is forced to admit that he may no longer be strong enough to help himself, let alone his brother. But with loved ones in their corner and their love for each other banked but not extinguished, Mat and Dougie learn that you can come home again, no matter how desperate the circumstances you’ve left behind.

Available at: Riptide Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

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About Heidi Belleau

Heidi Belleau was born and raised in small town New Brunswick, Canada. She now lives in Alberta with her husband, an Irish ex-pat whose long work hours in the trades leave her plenty of quiet time to write.

She has a degree in history from Simon Fraser University with a concentration in British and Irish studies; much of her work centred on popular culture, oral folklore, and sexuality, but she was known to perplex her professors with unironic papers on the historical roots of modern romance novel tropes. (Ask her about Highlanders!)

Her writing reflects everything she loves: diverse casts of characters, a sense of history and place, equal parts witty and filthy dialogue, the occasional mythological twist, and most of all, love—in all its weird and wonderful forms.

Connect with Heidi at her Blog, Twitter, Goodreads or email her at heidi.below.zero@gmail.com

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About Rachel Haimowitz

Rachel Haimowitz is an M/M erotic romance author and the Publisher of Riptide Publishing. She’s also a sadist with a pesky conscience, shamelessly silly, and quite proudly pervish. Fortunately, all those things make writing a lot more fun for her . . . if not so much for her characters.

When she’s not writing about hot guys getting it on (or just plain getting it; her characters rarely escape a story unscathed), she loves to read, hike, camp, sing, perform in community theater, and glue captions to cats. She also has a particular fondness for her very needy dog, her even needier cat, and shouting at kids to get off her lawn.

Connect with Rachel at her Website, Tumblr, Twitter, Goodreads or email her at rachel@riptidepublishing.com.

Blog_Tour_Giveaway

If you follow/have been following the tour, you’ll see that one of our tour stops features art by the exceptionally talented Ariaa (y-gallery link). As a special treat for one lucky commenter on our tour, we’re commissioning one more Flesh Cartel-themed image from them . . . and the blog tour grand prize winner gets to pick the scene of their choice! So if you have a favourite scene from the series that you’d like to see brought to life in gorgeous art, now’s your chance! The lucky winner will also receive a $25 gift certificate to Riptide Publishing.


Haven’t read the series yet? We’re also giving away a copy of the first season to five lucky commenters! That’s six fantastic prizes in total! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on any stop on the tour. Each comment (up to one per tour stop) counts as its own entry, so the more you comment, the more chances you have to win.

Don’t forget to check out JustJen’s review of Flesh Cartel 19: Promise to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , | 14 Comments

Honorary Blogger Charlie Cochet: 5 Things You Might Not Know About Dexter J. Daley + Giveaway!

Posted on August 5, 2014 by thebloggergirls

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Hello all! Thank you for joining me on another stop of the Blood & Thunder Blog Tour where I celebrate the release of the second book in my law-enforcement shifter series the THIRDS! Thank you Blogger Girls for having me!

One of our main heroes in Blood & Thunder is Dexter J. Daley, mischief-maker extraordinaire. For today’s stop I thought I’d share a small list: 5 Things you might not know about Dexter J. Daley.

Dex…

– is afraid of goats. Same way some people are afraid of spiders or snakes. As he says in Blood & Thunder: “Have you seen their eyes? The way they climb up the side of mountains or perch on branches like gravity doesn’t apply to them? They’re evil! Evil I say!”

– a total lightweight when it comes to alcohol, especially with spirits. A couple of shots and he’s wearing his sunglasses indoors and wondering who turned off the lights.

– was escorted out of the CDC Therian Registration Office when he was a kid for trying to beat up a doctor who’d made his little brother cry. Cael was being marked on his neck with his Therian tattoo which the family was informed was a painless procedure. It wasn’t. Little Cael cried his heart out and big brother Dex went all Street Fighter on the doctor. After it was all over, Tony took his boys out for ice cream.

– dressed as Boba Fett for his high school yearbook picture senior year. The caption underneath read: Dexter J. Daley. “Scoundrel? I like the sound of that.” – Han Solo

– was outed by the movie Dirty Dancing when his dad caught him in his room with his shirt tied up over his belly playing the role of Baby in the Lover Boy scene. Tony was very understanding. It was followed by an onslaught of questions from young Dex, including “How do boys do it?”, “How do boy parts fit together?”, “Can boys have babies?” and several others. Tony Maddock is currently being nominated for sainthood.

Warning: book contains Cheesy Doodles, karaoke, annoyed lion Therians, broody jaguar Therians, romance, comedy, sexy-times, big bad alphas, drama, explosions, and that one weird guy’s shenanigans.

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About Blood & Thunder

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When a series of bombs go off in a Therian youth center, injuring members of THIRDS Team Destructive Delta, and causing a rift between agents Dexter J. Daley and Sloane Brodie, peace seems unattainable. Especially when a new and frightening group, the Order of Adrasteia, appears to always be a step ahead. With panic and intolerance spreading and streets becoming littered with the Order’s propaganda, hostility between Humans and Therians grows daily. Dex and Sloane, along with the rest of the team, are determined to take down the Order and restore peace, not to mention settle a personal score. But the deeper the team investigates the bombings, the more they believe there’s a more sinister motive than a desire to shed blood and spread chaos.

Discovering the frightful truth behind the Order’s intent forces Sloane to confront secrets from a past he thought he’d left behind for good, a past that could not only destroy him and his career, but also the reputation of the organization that made him all he is today. Now more than ever, Dex and Sloane need each other, and, along with trust, the strength of their bond will mean the difference between justice and all-out war.

Read Chapter One here.

Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and All Romance eBooks

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About Charlie Cochet

CCochet100Charlie Cochet is an author by day and artist by night. Always quick to succumb to the whispers of her wayward muse, no star is out of reach when following her passion. From Historical to Fantasy, Contemporary to Science Fiction, there’s bound to be plenty of mischief for her heroes to find themselves in, and plenty of romance, too!

Currently residing in South Florida, Charlie looks forward to migrating to a land where the weather includes seasons other than hot, hotter, and boy, it’s hot! When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading, drawing, or watching movies. She runs on coffee, thrives on music, and loves to hear from readers.

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Visit Charlie’s Author Website | Sign up for Charlie’s Newsletter

THIRDSHQ | THIRDS Nerds on Goodreads | THIRDS Nerds on Facebook

Blog_Tour_Giveaway

As part of this blog tour, Charlie is giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Card & THIRDS swag pack! To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out Susan65’s review of Blood & Thunder to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

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Categories: Book Promo, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , | 13 Comments

Honorary Blogger Carol Lynne: About Writer’s Block – Excerpt + Giveaway!

Posted on August 4, 2014 by thebloggergirls

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Do You Ever Get Writer’s Block?

How Do You Deal With It?

by Carol Lynne

There are definitely days when every sentence is a struggle, but I try not to give up. Even if I spend the entire day writing only five hundred words, it’s five hundred more than I had the day before. Sometimes when I’m stuck on a story, another story idea pops into my head, and I give myself permission to write it. I rarely finish those stories, though. I have dozens and dozens of books in my files that are just under 10k.

On occasion, I will go back, but for the most part, the diversion does its job, and my writer’s block retreats. I sometimes wonder what people would think of me if they saw some of my partially written stories. They are so incredibly varied. I have vivid dreams and so do both of my girls. I have several story ideas that I’ve written up based on dreams. I also have a couple that are based on what I’m most afraid of, waking up to find myself completely alone in the world, hearing there’s been a shooting at my girls’ school, dying before I have a chance to say goodbye to the people I love. You see a theme?

My story ideas aren’t always for other people’s entertainment. Often, they are a way for me to work through my own issues, and I have a bunch.

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About Snake Charmer

gSometimes it takes finding an opposite to show us the beauty within ourselves.

When security consultant and ex-mercenary, Gabrielo ‘Snake’ Barbas, thwarts an attack of one of his co-workers, Riley Banks, he takes it upon himself to keep the smaller man safe. His job is made harder when he discovers the attacker is actually Riley’s ex-boyfriend, a ruthless man from a very wealthy and powerful family.

After a night of passion, Snake decides to take Riley far away from Richmond, Virginia to a town in Wyoming for the annual Cattle Valley Days celebration. He should have known that sex with Riley wouldn’t be enough, but he feels he has nothing else to give such a nice guy. Riley is the sexiest man Snake’s ever taken to his bed despite Riley’s claim otherwise.

Riley knows he’s average-looking at best, so why does Snake continue to flatter him? It’s obvious he’s not going to kick Snake out of bed, even after Snake informs him that sex is all he has to give. Why does Snake see him so differently than the rest of the world?

While Riley is busy trying to figure out the man who touches him like no other has before, Snake is busy trying to protect him from a monster in a business suit.

Available at: Totally Bound

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An Excerpt from Snake Charmer

“We need to talk.”

Shit. Shit. Shit. “You’re not supposed to be here, Cal.” He hit the unlock button on the key fob and reached for the door handle.

Cal laughed. “I do a lot of things I’m not supposed to do.” He reached over Riley’s shoulder and slammed the door shut, almost smashing Riley’s fingers in the process. “We have some unfinished business.”

“I didn’t press charges. You’re the one who violated the restraining order,” Riley mumbled.

“And you’re the one who took out the fucking thing in the first place!” Cal screamed in Riley’s ear.

Riley closed his eyes and winced. The last time Cal had found him, he’d broken three of Riley’s ribs and given him one hell of a concussion, not to mention the bruises he’d sported afterwards. “Please leave me alone.”

“Problem?” a deep voice asked.

Riley bit his bottom lip. He’d been forced to get a full protection order against his ex after the preliminary order had lapsed while Cal was in jail for the last beating.

“No problem. We’re just catching up,” Cal answered. He put his hand on Riley’s shoulder and squeezed. “Isn’t that right?”

Riley tried to remember the reason he’d taken the job at Tisdale, even though it hadn’t paid as much as his previous job. “No.” He opened his eyes and tried to pull out of Cal’s grasp. “I’d like to go back inside the building.” He turned his head to the kind stranger who’d interceded and was surprised to see the scary, sexy guy he’d seen roaming the halls from time to time. “Would you mind walking with me?”

With a narrowed gaze, the hot tattooed hunk motioned at the car. “Lock up your car,” he instructed.

Riley tapped the fob again and heard the locks engage. He stared up at Cal. He couldn’t believe he’d once thought the man was gorgeous. “I was issued a protective order against you, and it’s good for two years. Next time you come near me, I’ll call the police.”

Cal, who was roughly the same size as the tattooed man, chuckled. “Good luck with that, and unless you plan to sleep at your desk, you have to leave sometime.”

Riley was knocked to the side as the hunk slammed Cal against the car.

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About Carol Lynne

An avid reader for years, one day Carol Lynne decided to write her own brand of erotic romance. Carol juggles between being a full-time mother and a full-time writer. These days, you can usually find Carol either cleaning jelly out of the carpet or nestled in her favourite chair writing steamy love scenes.

You can find more about Carol Lynne and her books on Totally Bound.

Blog_Tour_Giveaway

Join Carol Lynne on her blog tour to celebrate the release of Snake Charmer. Find out more about her and her writing as each day she reveals answers to more questions.

Don’t miss out on the fun by entering for your chance to win a bundle of eBooks from Carol’s backlist with Totally Bound Publishing. The giveaway will be run from the July 28th to August 12th, celebrating the launch of Carol’s new title Snake Charmer, with winners being announced at Totally Bound’s Facebook release party on August 12th. To enter, just click the link below!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

Don’t forget to check out Susan65’s review of Snake Charmer to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Excerpts, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Honorary Blogger Iyana Jenna: Three Wishes – Excerpt & Giveaway!

Posted on August 3, 2014 by thebloggergirls

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Three Wishes

by Iyana Jenna

There is this song I like called 3 Wishes from Dave Thomas Junior. Some of the lyrics are:

If I had three wishes
You would be all three

I’m sure those are my wishes, too. This time, though, I would like to talk about other wishes, in my writing world.

However before I start I would like to say thanks to The Blogger Girls for the chance for me to visit again. 😀 Thank you, lovelies! Hope you and your readers like what I’m sharing today.

So. 3 Wishes.

First, I wish my native language is English. I’m not regretting the fact that in my daily life I use my mother tongue, Indonesian, instead of English. Don’t get me wrong. I love my language, but to write, I prefer to use English. I feel a bit awkward writing a story using my own language. Besides, it’s difficult to go international if my stories were published in Indonesian language.

Still, I have a lot of drawbacks in writing using a foreign language. Grammar, word choice, sense of words—those are just some of my weaknesses. Some of my sentences feel awkward because of the influence from my language. I hope my betas and editors will not give up on me. I’ve learned a lot and I hope my writing has improved. Another thing, I need longer time to write compared to others.

My second wish has something to do with the fact that I write m/m stories. I wish I were a boy. This thought came to me right after my friend who was also my BFF at that time (we hardly keep in touch right now since he left the office) told me he was gay. I loved hanging out with him and he was the source of all good songs, movies, and places to eat out. He is a brilliant man. I think he’s genius. He left the office because it wasn’t the right place for him. You see, he is a fashion designer. He is very good in teaching but English wasn’t the thing he wanted to teach. I think I fell for him. People at the office thought we were together. I don’t know if he’d like me if I were a man but at least my chance would not be zero. Well, no matter what, he is my main inspiration for my stories.

I wish my dad were still here to see me published. This is my third wish that is really my first. He watched me writing all the time every day and one day he teased me for it. But I know he would be proud if he knew I got to publish my work. He was such an open-minded man. I have no doubts he’d accept what I write.

So, what are your three wishes?

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About Ya Like That?

dEvan Foster is left with nothing after his father screwed up their family company. Evan’s father ended up in jail, his mother in a mental institution, and they lost all their possession to the bank. Evan dropped out of college and he still has to pay for his mother’s treatment. He has a job at a diner but it isn’t nearly enough.

Brian Donaghue is a millionaire with a multinational company but isn’t lucky in love. When he sees the picture Evan sends in with a resume, he’s immediately interested. But the way he ropes Evan into his company is far from conventional. Brian makes Evan an offer he can’t refuse.

Or can he?

Available at: JMS Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance eBooks

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An Excerpt from Ya Like That?


Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.

Evan’s heart constricted looking at the huge manor standing before him. It reminded him of his family’s former house although that wasn’t as big as this. He shook off the mental picture and strode to the security post, another thing different from his family’s home.

“Hi. I’m Evan Foster. I have an appointment with Mr. Donaghue.” The security guy looked him up and down, making him squirm.

“Can I have your driver’s license?”

Evan gave the man his driver’s license and got a visitor’s card in return.

“Thanks.” He turned toward the house.

“Wait. There’s a message for you.”

“Huh?” Evan took the envelope from the security guard’s hand and opened it. There was only one small piece of paper inside and he took it out.

Go into the house and come to the room at the end of the hall.

Evan frowned. It sounded like a line taken from a bad porn movie. Or perhaps Mr. Donaghue just liked to joke around.

Evan climbed up the short flight of stairs to the porch and reached out for the door knob.

“Hello?” His voice echoed in the large empty hall. Inside, it was dimly lit just like it was outside the house. Evan braced himself. He had permission to be there and instructions. He might as well do what he had to do.

Evan knew he had to get to the room at the end of the hall but he couldn’t help but feel intrigued and wanted to look around. Everything a mansion should have was here in this house: a vast welcoming area for guests, carpeted stairs spiraling up to the next level, and old portraits hung on the walls above the railing. Once he almost strayed, completely spell bound. He shook himself mentally and turned back to the hall.

After passing several rooms and doors, he got to the end of the corridor. He guessed it was the one on the left, for the one on the right was some feet before that. Evan tried the door. It was unlocked and dark inside. He felt around and found the switch. His breath hitched at the sight he was welcomed with. The room was bare, save for the thick red rugs on the floor and another piece of paper. Evan was written across it. He picked it up, turned it over, and read another message for him. Suddenly all of the air felt like it was being sucked out of his lungs. His sight blurred and his knees turned to jelly. He staggered until his back hit the wall, the pain throwing him back to awareness. He looked at the paper once more, hoping that it was just a figment of his twisted imagination. It wasn’t. The message still read the same.

Take off your shirt and shoes. Kneel on the floor in the middle of the room. Put your arms behind your head.

What was that supposed to mean? He signed a contract to be a personal assistant and not some … sex slave or something. Or was that what they meant by personal assistant? Bile bubbled up in his throat. So it was for this reason that they paid him high, huh? A high-class whore? Evan wanted to run away, not having anything to do with them or the man named Brian Donaghue, whoever he was. He just wanted to forget he’d ever brushed with this … this kind of stuff.

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About Iyana Jenna

Iyana lives in Jakarta, a city famous for its traffic jams, a lot of cars and motorcycles, and people selling stuff on the roads. You can spend two hours on the road going to a place you can reach in half an hour in a normal situation. Thanks to the traffic jams, though, Iyana can come up with a lot of stories, mostly shorties, as she prefers to spend the time during her trips writing into her cell phone rather than sleeping.

Another thing Iyana loves is kitties. Right now she has five of them. Their names are Larva, Nyil, Cil, Betsy, and Horus. When she doesn’t write, she plays with them, or they would play with her when she writes.

Visit Iyana on her Blog, Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Facebook Fan Page or Twitter.

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Iyana has graciously offered up an eBook copy of Ya Like That? to one lucky winner!! The giveaway starts now and ends August 9, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway, except to verify your Rafflecopter entry.

Don’t forget to check out JustJen’s review of Ya Like That? to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Excerpts, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , | 19 Comments

Honorary Blogger Merry Farmer: Switching Things Up + Giveaway!

Posted on August 2, 2014 by thebloggergirls

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Switching Things Up

by Merry Farmer

One question I’ve been asked a lot lately is “What made you decide to write an M/M Romance as part of a more conventional M/F series?”  I actually really like this question because it leads me to talk about the reasons I write the stories I write on a much bigger level.  It allows me to talk about why stories get written.

The easy answer to why I wrote Somebody to Love is because I knew that the character of Phineas Bell was important to the series, to Cold Springs, Montana, and to me personally.  He’s a really wonderful character that has been in the Montana Romance series from the very start.  He was an important secondary character in the first book of the series, Our Little Secrets, and he’s continued to make his presence felt in so many ways in the lives of the people of Cold Springs.  I knew that Phin needed to have his own love story.  He’s just that kind of sweet, earnest, lovable guy.  It was inevitable that Elliott would come into his life.

Yep, I wrote Somebody to Love, an M/M Romance in the middle of a non-M/M series, because Phin needed that story.  The world demanded it.  It wasn’t really up to me in the end, it was up to Phin.  Because the secret of writing is that the characters write their own stories.  We authors are merely the conduit through which those stories are told.

It’s true.  I can’t tell you how many of my stories have started out with solid, grounded characters with vivid personalities and interests.  At first a lot of them have wandered around, being a character with a little motivation but not a lot of plot.  Some of these characters have hung around me for years, flitting in and out of different story ideas before settling on one of their own.  Once they’ve found the story for them, though, they soar!

I’m sure you’ve heard of writers who are “plotters” and writers who are “pantsers”.  I tend to think of myself as something in between.  I roll around with these characters in my mind for a while, and when they’re ready, they start to plot their own stories.  I begin writing knowing a lot about the characters and what they want, and in a lot of cases the things that are holding them back.  That’s what I know when I start, but as my fingers fly across the keyboard, I get to discover the twists and turns of the plots of the characters as they unfold them to me.  Really, it’s like I get to read the book myself for the first time as I write that draft.

Phin and Elliott’s story was easy for me to write because I felt so close to both of them as I worked.  Granted, that’s not always the case.  Sometimes the characters don’t want to talk.  But these guys wouldn’t be still or be quiet at all during the entire writing process.  They knew where they wanted to go, and I just kicked back and followed them.  So much of what became of the plot began with my knowledge of how much Phin loves his niece, Eloise West, and how desperately Elliott wants a home and how terrified he is of being rejected.  Everything else came together once I knew those few things.

I fell completely in love with both of these guys as I wrote.  How could you not?  It was far easier to write a love story between two men than I thought it would be because it was these two that I was writing about.

Of course, the other question I am asked a lot these days is “Do you plan to write more M/M Romance?”  And here’s the thing.  Maybe.  I don’t know.  At the moment, I don’t have another M/M story poking at me from the inside, waiting to get out.  I do have more gay characters, but they haven’t found their soul mates in my imagination yet.  I definitely won’t rule out the possibility.  I love the kind of response I’ve gotten from Somebody to Love so far and I would love to give this new audience of mine more.  So stay tuned!  You never know when the characters will start talking to you and telling you their story.

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About Somebody to Love

1For Phineas Bell, love has not only been out of reach, it has been impossible. In a world where men who love other men are anathema, he has poured his love into his work, his town, and the friends who accept him as family. But when a handsome new lodger takes over his home and his heart, breaking all his careful rules, Phin must choose between playing it safe and letting love in.

War hero Elliott Tucker is the answer to Cold Springs’s prayers for a sheriff worth his salt. But with every single woman in town throwing themselves at him, Elliott has eyes for only one person: Phin. The sparks are hot between then, but in spite of Elliott’s best efforts, Phin’s heart proves the toughest nut to crack. A love that starts with fire threatens to burn them both…

… until a shocking abduction throws Phin and Elliott together on the trail of ruthless kidnappers. Will their efforts to save a child wrench them apart or will it prove that at last they’ve found somebody to love?

Available at:  Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance Ebooks

blogger_bee_transAbout Merry Farmer

Merry Farmer HeadshotMerry Farmer lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats, Butterfly and Torpedo. She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn’t have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. It was the best day of her life. She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always have something to write about. Today she walks along the cutting edge of Indie Publishing, writing Historical Romance and Sci-Fi. She is also passionate about blogging, knitting, and cricket and is working towards becoming an internationally certified cricket scorer.

Find Merry Farmer on her Website, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon Author Page.

Blog_Tour_Giveaway

In this blog tour, Merry Farmer is giving away a whole host of prizes from eBooks to even a gift card! To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out Trish’s review of Somebody to Love to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

GRL Blog Tour: TM Smith – Gearing Up For My First GRL! + Giveaway!

Posted on August 1, 2014 by thebloggergirls

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Gearing Up For My First GRL!

by TM Smith

Hello everyone, allow me to introduce myself.. Author TM Smith here. I write Adult Dystopian LGBT fiction. I’m quite excited to be attending my first book signing and convention this year, GRL in Chicago in October. As well, I’m a nervous wreck! What do I wear, what do I bring, what if people don’t like me or my books?? These are just a few of my many questions I’ve asked my author friends these past few months.

I’m already mentally packing my suitcase, which will be stuffed to the brim I’m sure. I’m in the process of getting my book into print so I’ll have some shiny new copies at the event to sign. I have an excellent wingman, or woman in this instance, that is attending the event and has agreed to be my roomie. Author Morticia Knight! And my list of people I want to meet is probably longer than Santa’s naughty list.

Above all though, I just want to go and have fun. I’m going with no expectations and a realization that I won’t get to do everything I want to do while I’m there. I’m probably going to embarrass myself when my brain shifts into fangirl mode when I get to meet some of these amazing LGBT authors who are attending this event. So, I hope that you will all come see me in the Supporting Author’s room when we have our meet, greet and signing. And I do love a good party, so I hope to visit and share stories during each evenings gathering as well.

And now, the good stuff. So my series Opposites is an Adult Dystopian majorly M/M series that is set in a future society where being gay/lesbian is the norm. To be straight labels you an Opposite and makes you the outkast. I say majorly M/M because there are F/F and M/F couples as well. I’m an equal opportunity sexist. And, let’s face it, a dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste, I use mine thoroughly, daily. I say adult because there is lots of sexy, sensual storylines woven into the mix as well.

Book 1, Opposites and The Library, an Opposites novella, are both available for download through Amazon, Smashwords and Are now. Book 2, Appearances, is currently in the final stages and should be available August 31st. For all the up to date info on the series you can follow my blog, www.ttcbooksandmore.com, @TTCBooksandmore or Author TM Smith on facebook.

Thank you to the lovely Blogger Girls for hosting me today as part of the official GRL blog tour for GRL 2014! See you all in Chicago!!!

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About Opposites

OppositesOpposites, #1

In the year 2081 our planet survived global warming of an apocalyptic scale. When the dust settled and the water receded Dr. Anthony Smith, one of only a few hundred survivors of GWI, started society anew. Having come to the conclusion that injudicious breeding played a huge role in the destruction of Earth as we knew it in the twenty first century, he worked closely with other survivors to isolate the Dionysus gene. This gene has the ability to manipulate human DNA to ensure that all male children be born gay, and all female children be born lesbians. A new society is born.

In the year 2300 Dr. Smith’s descendants are ushering in the twenty fourth century having maintained control of the government that still rules society. Twins Aiya and Aiyan are preparing to meet their matches and take control of House Gaeland, the current ruling House. But not everything is as it seems.

Love is Love.. it knows no gender and doesn’t conform to restrictions and boundaries. Aiyan has found his soul mate in Kaden, the prince of House Devi that he is matched with and eventually marries. But when the person Aiya falls in love with tests the boundaries put in place after GWI, all hell breaks loose. And in the midst of one secret unraveling, another will emerge. There is a growing anomaly that threatens to destroy over two hundred years of progression. This anomaly is known as Opposites.

*WARNING* Opposites is a majorly M/M New Adult novel that contains explicit sexual content and relationships between gay, lesbian and straight couples.

Available at: Amazon, Smashwords & All Romance eBooks

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About The Library

The Library {an Opposites series Novella}Opposites, #1.5

Three gay couples run amuck in this short story where clothing, beds, even four walls are all optional!

Want to know what happened that night in the library?
Cirian and Rian had a fight in the library and Rian ends up naked on the desk, on his back, at Cirian’s mercy.

Want to know how far things went with ice cream?
A romantic evening by the fire feeding his husband ice cream leads to a lot more than heavy petting for Aiyan and Kaden.

Want to know what was going on when those birds fled?
Travelling hundreds of miles, battling the rebels and then travelling back to House Gaeland will take it out of you. But when Tanis wants something, he takes it. Raven is about to be bent over a tree!

A Note from the Author: I’ve taken three scenes from Opposites that were cut short and elaborated on the shenanigans that ensued. I also focused more in the beginning on the relationship between Cirian and Rian, to give readers a chance to know them and their inner workings better. I hope you enjoy this free read set in my world of Opposites!

**Warning, The Library is a novella set in the same world as Opposites. It’s an adult dystopian majorly M/M novel that includes consenting and explicit sexual relationships between gay, lesbian and straight couples**

 Available at: Amazon, Smashwords & All Romance eBooks

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About Appearances

Appearances (Opposites, #2)Opposites, #2

Appearances, can be deceiving.

Raven and Tanis are trying very hard to merge their vastly different lifestyles, but Tanis issues with his own past could prove to be more than their fragile relationship can handle. Is their love for each other strong enough to weather the oncoming storm?

Aiya and Sawyer have fought hard to be together in a world where Opposite relationships are generally forbidden. Yet, they are still forced to keep their relationship a secret while they are outside the walls of House Gaeland.

Everyone assumes that the only threat lies outside their walls, the group of rebels led by Cillian. But something is happening within House Gaeland, something that hasn’t happened since GWI. And with all the attention focused on that, their guard is down. An evil that was under their nose all along strikes, and someone will make the ultimate sacrifice to save another.

Appearances is the second book in the Opposites series, the series should be read in order.

** Warning, Opposites is an Adult Dystopian majorly M/M series that contains explicit sexual content and relationships between gay, straight and lesbian couples. **

Available for purchase on August 31st, 2014.

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An Excerpt from Appearances

1 ~

Unyielding

Aiyan walked through the garden, violin case in hand, heading toward the bench that sat in the center. Sitting, he removed his violin and stroked the strings. He hadn’t played in days and needed to feel the instrument in his hands as he poured his pain into the music. It was the only outlet he could think of at the moment that wouldn’t cause someone else bodily harm.

His life had changed drastically over the past several months. He met and married his match who, thankfully, turned out to be his soul mate. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loved Kaden like no other almost from the minute he laid eyes on him. He realized just how much and how much he stood to lose when Kaden was kidnapped by his uncle. An uncle he didn’t even know he had until after they’d rescued Kaden and brought him back home where he belonged.

He heaved in a deep breath and brought the instrument up to rest on his shoulder, running the bow across the strings a few times to adjust the tone. Then he closed his eyes and let it all go, let all of the pain and anger flow out of his body and into the music. He thought of Kaden inside the palace, in their room packing for their impending trip to House Devi. He thought back to the first time they’d made love after the incident. How loving, tender and gentle he was with his husband; who was still broken and bruised from his captivity.

For a moment he felt the anger seeping back into him as his thoughts strayed to Gorilla man, his uncle, and the violin screamed out a note in agony. He released a breath and regained his composure, moving his thoughts back to Kaden and how they’d leaned on each other in those days and weeks when they first returned to the palace. The melody leveled out as Aiyan stopped trying to control the emotions and just let them flow freely, the insanely beautiful whine of music filled the night air.

***

Kaden closed the last suit case and lifted it off the bed, carrying it over and sitting it by the door with the others. He stood upright when he thought he heard a shrill cry coming from outside their bedroom window. Their bedroom was just off one side of the garden when you looked out the window, which made sense as the garden was Aiyan’s favorite place to be. Kaden walked over and threw the window open, closing his eyes and smiling when he realized what it was he’d heard.

Kaden quickly made his way out of the palace and out into the garden, hell, he would have just jumped out the window to make the trip quicker if he thought he could do it without hurting himself. Kaden rounded the corner and stopped, soaking in the sight of his husband, completely oblivious and completely sexy.

Aiyan’s eyes were closed and the tip of his tongue just barely escaped his mouth, as his head jerked to the side occasionally with certain notes of the song. Kaden could see how relaxed he was surrounded by the things he loved most. The garden that captured so much color and beauty, and his violin that shared not only the color and beauty inside of Aiyan, but the talent he held as well.

Every emotion Aiyan was feeling played across his face as he felt them, Kaden just stood still and watched. The emotions blended flawlessly with the notes; anger brought on a loud shrill note and a scrunched up face; happiness brought on a flowing, sharp squeal and a slight smile; and then sadness was the lightest note of all as a tear trickled down Aiyan’s cheek.

Aiyan’s eyes opened when he heard a low crack as Kaden moved toward him, stepping on a twig. “Oh, sorry, I was just letting off some steam.” Aiyan said, moving to put away his violin.

Kaden moved quickly over to him, “No, please… don’t stop. It was beautiful my prince, please play more for me.” Kaden slid onto the far corner of the bench, smiling slightly as Aiyan smiled back at him.

“You like to beg, don’t you?” Aiyan said playfully, that crooked grin taking over his face. It was true, Kaden had said those exact words to him the night they met, here in the garden, the first time Aiyan kissed him. “No, please… don’t  stop.” Aiyan put his instrument away and then just sat there, silent, staring at the ground. Kaden could not only see, but feel the war of emotions raging inside him. The bond they had seemed to have been there since that first meeting, when they saw the same vision of them kissing on the bed. And it only grew stronger when they were separated. Truth be told, their bond had saved Kaden’s life when Gorilla man had thrown him down that well.

Kaden reached up and pushed Aiyan’s hair back behind his ear, stroking the lobe with his fingers softly as he did. “My prince, tell me what troubles you.” Aiyan didn’t speak, didn’t look up at him, he didn’t even flinch. Kaden scooted a little closer and ran his hand down Aiyan’s arm, joining their fingers together. Still, Aiyan didn’t so much as squeeze his hand back, not even acknowledging Kaden’s attempt to placate him. Kaden brought himself around in front of Aiyan, wedging himself on his knees on the ground between Aiyan’s legs, staring up at him, refusing to be ignored.

They stared into each other’s eyes for several long, intense moments. Kaden toyed with the right words to say, and decided words weren’t what was needed right now. He leaned up and kissed his husband. He just held his lips to Aiyan’s briefly, not attempting to deepen the kiss. When he pulled back Aiyan’s eyes remained closed and he took a few shallow breaths.

“Don’t shut me out Aiyan, not now, we’ve been through too much for you to give me the silent treatment.” That crooked grin was trying to make an appearance Kaden thought, as the corner of Aiyan’s mouth twitched slightly. “There is nothing you can’t tell me. I know you want to deal with these emotions and this anger you feel on your own, but that is the problem Aiyan. Have you thought that the reason you can’t get past this is because you are trying to do it alone? You aren’t alone Aiyan, I am here, right here in front of you, begging you to…….” Kaden didn’t get the rest of his sentence out before he was grabbed and hauled up into Aiyan’s lap. Aiyan’s lips came down on his hard and fierce as Aiyan attempted to tongue fuck him right there on the bench.

Aiyans fingers dug into Kaden’s shoulders and he poured everything he was feeling into the kiss. Kaden moaned into his mouth and melted into his touch as the kiss ignited a fire inside him. The combination of his own hunger coupled with Aiyan’s left his head spinning.
Aiyan pulled back, gasping for breath, when he opened his eyes Kaden saw that they’d turned gold around the rims and he smiled. Aiyan leaned forward until their foreheads were touching, still breathing heavy.

“Okay Kaden, okay. Let’s go back to our room and talk.” He panted out between breaths.

“Just talk?” Kaden whispered. Aiyan barked out a laugh and smacked his ass, which caused Kaden to yelp.

They barely made it into their room before Kaden quickly divested them of their clothing. He pushed Aiyan back against the door and climbed up him, devouring his mouth. Aiyan spun them around as he lifted Kaden up off the floor, and slammed him up against the unyielding wooden door. Kaden wrapped both legs around Aiyan’s waist and thrust his hips up. Aiyan threw his head back and gasped when Kadens thick, hard cock rubbed up against his own. Aiyan kissed him again, his lips as unyielding and hard as the door Kaden was pressed up against. Then he proceeded to fuck Kaden into oblivion, right there up against the bedroom door.

Kaden woke in their bed with the soft touch of Aiyan’s fingers, trailing down his back and over his ass, then tracing back up the path they’d just taken. “Are you awake?” Aiyan whispered.

“I am now.” Kaden just chuckled.

Aiyan didn’t speak again for a while. He just ran his hands along Kaden’s skin, setting it on fire. Finally, he let out a ragged sigh, “I’ve never felt the kind of anger I feel toward him Kaden, and it scares me. I swear sometimes I feel like the hatred will consume me. I want
to kill him, I want him to suffer. What does that say about me Kaden, for Christ sake, he’s my uncle?!” Even if the touch of Aiyan’s fingers on his skin hadn’t gone from gentle to rough, Kaden could feel Aiyan’s anger inside him through the bond they shared.

Kaden rolled over onto his back and Aiyan laid his head on his chest, he ran his fingers through Aiyan’s hair comforting and calming him all at the same time. “It says that you are my husband, my partner and you will do anything to make sure I’m safe. I would do the same for you. Do you feel better, now that you told me this?” Aiyan nodded but didn’t speak. “Then that is enough for now. I love you Aiyan and we will deal with this together. Everything, always together.” Aiyan smiled and Kaden could feel the curve of his husbands lips on his skin, which made him smile in turn, remembering.

Those three words took Aiyan back to the past, to the night they decided to get their named tattoos. When Aiyan first broached the subject just days before their Mehndi ceremony, Kaden had balked at the idea. But then when Aiyan and Raven showed Kaden drawings of what Aiyan was suggesting they do, Kaden couldn’t deny the sentiment in the gesture.

“I want to get our names tattooed on our arms, here.” Aiyan spoke softly to Kaden as he withdrew his fingers from where they’d been wrapped in Kaden’s and rolled up his sleeve, showing the spot on his upper arm.

Kaden scowled at him, “Don’t you think that is a little grandious, my prince? And what would they say? Aiyan and Kaden, respectively. Or M’anam and My Prince?” Aiyan turned that wickedly sexy crooked grin on his partner before he answered.

“I think our given names, and in a calligraphy style of writing with maybe a celtic border?” Aiyan presented his answer as a question, it would seem he had put a lot of thought into this venture. Kaden still wasn’t convinced, until the next day after lunch, when Raven found him and Aiyan in the library and showed them the drawings he’d made in a likeness of what Aiyan wanted the tattoo’s to show.

“Wow, that’s really simplistic. I was expecting something more… just, more.” Kaden was pleasantly surprised with the simple, uniqueness of the designs. He had no ink anywhere on his body, having never found anything he wanted to permanently place on his skin. But this, this was a representation of his commitment to Aiyan, a way to show everyone he belonged to this man. So when Raven told them he could do the tattoos right then, Kaden didn’t allow himself time to reconsider, he just nodded in agreement and followed Aiyan and Raven.

It was a given that Aiyan’s tattoo would be placed on his left upper arm as he already had a large eagle, and a dragonfly on his right upper arm. Kaden thought his should go on his left arm as well, not only to mirror where his future husbands ink would go, but it was also the hand where their wedding rings would be.

Kaden followed as Raven led them to the area of the palace where the guards slept. “The Guardai and The Order are housed in this wing of the palace. And while Raven’s room is in the main area of the palace with the family, he still keeps a room here as well. He has artwork, instruments, some swords he’s collected and his tattoo equipment here.” Aiyan told Kaden as they walked through the never ending hallways within House Gaeland.

“Oh, and the collection of bibles.” Aiyan stopped mid stride and turned to face Kaden. “There are bibles dating back to before Anthony’s time, Raven has, what a dozen or so?” Aiyan turned to Raven who just nodded his response, before turning back to Kaden. “I’ve read several of them. It’s so interesting to see the different translations, how they are all different, and yet… the same.”

Raven entered the room they’d stopped at and Aiyan and Kaden followed him in. The walls were covered almost floor to ceiling with art and drawings, some of which Kaden was certain Raven had created himself. There was a small bookshelf that indeed held a dozen or so bibles, a rack that held several swords and in the corner sat the oddly made chair that could be molded and shaped to hold a person’s body in the correct position for whatever ink they would be getting at the time. Raven motioned for Aiyan to sit as he opened the case with the tools, “You first Aiyan, so Kaden can see what I’m doing and how, since this is his first tattoo.”

Kaden watched as Raven took the wax paper he had drawn the design on and held it over Aiyan’s arm. His gaze continued to roam over Aiyan’s bare chest, those hard muscles and defined abs, up to his adams apple and then landed on that crooked grin. When their eyes met, Aiyan’s dominate brown eyes sparkled, full of love for only Kaden.

“All done!” Raven stated, turning and grabbing a towel from the table next to him. He ran the towel over the design and then applied some type of ointment from a jar. He noticed Kaden watching his every move, a question in his glare. “It’s just a precaution, some healing herbs mixed with the oils from the allive plant. Can you believe they used to apply tattoos with needles, driving the ink into the skin, and there was so much blood. The risk of infection then was much higher than now, the laser pretty much cordarizes the skin as I draw the image, so no risk of infection. But, better safe than sorry, right.”

Aiyan smiled up at him and twisted his body, holding his arm out for Kaden to see. There on his lovers arm was his name, Kaden, in a fancy script with a border across the top and bottom of the words that was somewhere between the design of barbed wire and a trinity knot.

“Your turn.” Raven waved his hand motioning Aiyan out of the chair and all but pushed Kaden into it. Kaden closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the chair. He felt the tight grip of Raven’s fingers, digging into his arm to hold it still, the heat from the laser as it traced each letter into his skin. A.I.Y.A.N and then the faint trace of the border, but it was never uncomfortable or painful. He opened his eyes when he felt the brush of the towel on his skin.

Aiyan pulled him up and into his body and they were chest to chest, Kaden had to hold in a gasp when their naked nipples brushed together. Aiyan leaned down and kissed him, running his fingers over his name that was now permanently inked on Kadens arm, keeping time with his tongue that brushed over Kaden’s bottom lip. Aiyan pulled back but kept his hand on Kaden’s arm, gently tracing the letters of his name, “Everything, always together.” He whispered.

Aiyan raised his head and smiled down at him, moving his body up and over Kaden’s. His smile widened when Kaden groaned and thrust his hips up, rubbing their groins together. They were both already impossibly hard, again. “Ready for round two? Want me to fuck you into the mattress this time?” Aiyan said, leaning down and running his tongue along Kaden’s collar bone. Kaden just laughed and rolled them on the bed where he was on top of Aiyan.

“Oh no my prince, I’m going to fuck you into the mattress.”

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About TM Smith

AuthorA military brat born and raised at Ft. Benning Georgia; Smith is an avid reader, reviewer and writer. She now calls Texas home from her small town on the outskirts of the DFW Metroplex. Most days you can find her curled up with her kindle and a good book alongside a glass of something aged and red or a steaming cup of coffee!

At 42 years young, she’s decided to enter the next phase of her life by adding the title of “author” to her list of accomplishments that includes single mom of three disturbingly outspoken and decidedly different kids, one of which is Autistic. Smith is and outspoken advocate for Autism and equal rights for the LGBTQ community.

Her Opposites series is based outside the normal parameters of social acceptability, examining a ‘what if’… What If to be gay or lesbian were the norm? What if to be straight labeled you as an Opposite and made YOU the Outkast?

You can find TM on her Website, Amazon, Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, Pinterest or Youtube.
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The prize in this blog tour giveaway is a change to win a Swag Pack from TM Smith! Here’s what will be in the Swag Pack:

Swag Pack

To enter this giveaway, just click the link below!!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the link above.  Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway but will be welcome anyway.

Good luck!

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Check out TBG’s GRL Blog Tour Schedule

Categories: Book Promo, Excerpts, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, M/F | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Honorary Blogger Silvia Violet: Writing About Navy SEALs – Excerpt + Giveaway!

Posted on July 31, 2014 by thebloggergirls

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Writing About Navy SEALs

by Silvia Violet

The series, like most of mine had a bit of a topsy-turvy, unplanned start. I saw a submission call for a military-themed anthology and decide to write a story since that was a story type I hadn’t tried yet. Other projects took longer than expected and I realized I couldn’t make the deadline so eventually I took the story start I had an developed it into Unexpected Rescue.

As soon as the story came out, I started getting requests for Sport’s story, and I began playing around with ideas and developing a much more involved suspense storyline than I’d originally conceived of. Thus the need to extend Unexpected into a series with several titles.

When I pondered a military theme, I chose SEALs because I’ve been fascinated by them since I started reading Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters series over ten years ago. The grueling training they go through and the amazing things they accomplish awe me. I’m thrilled to have finally included some former SEALs in a series.

Before you read Unexpected Trust, make sure you know where it all began: Check out Book 1 in the Unexpected series, Unexpected Rescue.

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About Unexpected Trust

1Special Agent Hugh Cranford, better known as Sport, is conducting an off-the-record investigation. He’s after Danny O’Sullivan, a spy rumored to have assisted in the ambush of Sport’s former SEAL team. Danny claims he and Sport are on the same side, and the real traitor is the man Sport is working for. But Danny is a master manipulator. He’s also the most seductive man Sport has ever met. Sport can’t help being attracted to him, but that doesn’t mean he’s willing to trust him.

In his quest to bring down a few highly-placed traitors in the US government, Danny O’Sullivan has been keeping tabs on Sport. When Sport comes looking for him, Danny decides to bring Sport in on his secret mission and into his bed. Sport may not trust Danny, but he wants him. As the two men risk their lives to complete Danny’s mission, they discover neither is as strong as they like to pretend.

Available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks and Kobo

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An Excerpt from Unexpected Trust

He closed the box and reached for another. Then he heard the whoosh of a door opening. No footsteps followed. Someone was trying to be silent. O’Sullivan? A security guard? It might be nothing more than a routine check, but his instincts told him he was about to be discovered. He flattened himself again the wall next to the shelves.

Several seconds of silence. The hall door opened and closed again. Sport started to put his gun away.

Suddenly, the office door swung open and Danny was there, aiming a Glock at his chest. Fuck. He hadn’t heard a thing.

Why hadn’t he waited to come back here? Based on what he’d seen of the security, he could have gotten in easily after hours. He could hear his instructor at Quantico berating him for his impatience. Mr. Invincible. Mr. I’m-Better-Than-Any-Fucking-Spook. Look where that got you.

“Hello there,” O’Sullivan said. “Waiting for me?”

The Irish lilt went straight to Sport’s cock. Damn the man. “Just leaving actually,” Sport said, pushing away from the wall.

Danny shook his head. “Not yet. Get rid of your gun and then we’re going to get to know each other better.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, O’Sullivan,” Sport said as he dropped his gun on the floor. Danny kicked it away from him.

“Call me Danny. You’ve obviously been getting to know me already.”

“Can’t say that I have. Not much here to learn from.”

Danny walked to the desk and jerked open the drawer where Sport had seen the bug. Danny ripped it loose, dropped it on the floor, and smashed it with his foot, apparently no longer caring if whoever placed it realized Danny was on to them. “That’s better, now we can have some privacy. So tell me this, why did you bother poking around in this dusty old place when what you really want is right here?” Danny swept his hand down his body, letting it graze over his cock.

“It looked like you’d already found some company,” Sport said, keeping his face neutral. “I don’t do secondhand.”

Danny moved closer. “You’d do me. Any way you could get me.”

Sport fucking hated him, and he hated that he wanted the man under him, begging for mercy. That would be a mistake though; he couldn’t trust a word a man like O’Sullivan said. “Cut the games. Either shoot me or step out of the way so I can get back to my evening.”

Danny took another few steps toward him. Sport could have reached out and touched him, made a grab for Danny’s weapon or…. something else.

Danny reached out and drew a line down Sport’s chest with the tip of his gun. Sport didn’t flinch. Danny wasn’t going to shoot him, not that night anyway. After a while you learned to tell who was likely to pull the trigger and who wasn’t. Danny had no intention of ending things yet. He was the type who enjoyed the game far more than the outcome. He liked pitting himself against other operatives and coming out on top.

Sport could make sure he enjoyed coming on the bottom too.

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About Silvia Violet

Silvia Violet writes erotic romance in a variety of genres including paranormal, contemporary, sci fi, and historical. She can be found haunting coffee shops looking for the darkest, strongest cup of coffee she can find. Once equipped with the needed fuel, she can happily sit for hours pounding away at her laptop. Silvia typically leaves home disguised as a suburban stay-at-home-mom, and other coffee shop patrons tend to ask her hilarious questions like “Do you write children’s books?” She loves watching the looks on their faces when they learn what she’s actually up to. When not writing, Silvia enjoys baking sinfully delicious treats, exploring new styles of cooking, and reading to her incorrigible offspring.

You can find Silvia on her Website, Facebook or Twitter.

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The prize in this blog tour is a chance to win a $20 All Romance eBooks Gift Card! To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out Morgan’s review of Unexpected Trust to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Excerpts, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , | 3 Comments

Honorary Blogger Jake Biondi: The BOYSTOWN Experience – Excerpt (NSFW) + Giveaway!

Posted on July 30, 2014 by thebloggergirls

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The BOYSTOWN Experience

by Jake Biondi

Writing the BOYSTOWN series has been one of the most fantastic experiences of my life. From the moment the idea came to me in the Spring of 2013 until now, I have enjoyed every moment of the writing and marketing process. But what I have really enjoyed the most about the entire experience has been the interaction with the BOYSTOWN readers. BOYSTOWN fans are, quite simply, the best.

I have been so touched and humbled by the outpouring of kindness and support I have received from BOYSTOWN readers since the moment the first episode hit the internet in June of 2013. People began to email me from all over the country – and beyond – to share with me their thoughts and ideas about the BOYSTOWN characters and story lines. I made it a priority to respond to every email that I received not only because I valued the readers’ feedback but also because I want my readers to understand that I want them to reach out to me. I want to hear from them — their ideas, their suggestions, their reviews, their feedback. In fact, their comments and ideas actually can and do impact the future of the series because I have written some of their suggestions into the series. In short, by contacting me, the readers can actually impact what happens to their favorite characters.

Several dedicated fans voluntarily created online BOYSTOWN book tours simply because they loved the books and wanted to bring the series to the attention of others. Some readers have allowed me to post BOYSTOWN promotional materials on their websites and blogs, and others have contacted me to see how they can become involved with BOYSTOWN.

When I held a nation-wide photo contest looking for “models” whose images we could use in the BOYSTOWN promotional materials, the response was overwhelming. People from all over America submitted their photos in the hope of becoming one of the “faces” of BOYSTOWN. I ended up selecting five winners for that contest because I wanted to include as many people as possible. Even after the contest was over, people continued to submit their photos asking to be a part of the BOYSTOWN team and I have welcomed several more of them on board.

I met my new BOYSTOWN Director of Art, Design & Advertising, Michael Vargas, and my new BOYSTOWN Director of Social Media, Patrick Murphy, because they were fans of the books. They contacted me on Facebook, we chatted and got to know each other, and now they are running all the promotional and advertising campaigns for the BOYSTOWN series.

I have also been intrigued by the fans’ responses to certain couples in the series. For example, I never anticipated that so many people would be fans of “Kemmett” (Keith and Emmett). Fans are very vocal about what I did to that couple at the end of “Season One” and provided many ideas for how I should write those characters in “Season Two.” Fans of “Dole” (Derek and Cole) are also very vocal. While most readers like and connect with the character of Cole, some like him with Derek and others don’t. Many fans want Derek to stay with his wife Joyelle. Finally, I was really taken aback by people’s reactions to Justin, who only appeared on the BOYSTOWN landscape at the end of “Season One.” Readers really found him appealing and interesting – and wanted to know everything about him: his sexuality, his motives, his plan. Those fans will be happy to know that Justin is a central character in “Season Two.”

People often ask me how many books the BOYSTOWN series will have. I simple tell them this: as long as the fans are interested in the series, I will keep it going. “Season Three” is already in the works and, if the fans want more, “Season Four” will be right behind it. I hope fans will continue to reach out to me and let me know their thoughts and ideas. BOYSTOWN truly belongs to the fans!

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About BOYSTOWN Season One

1One of the most diverse and lively neighborhoods in the country, Chicago’s BOYSTOWN has something for everyone. So it’s no wonder that Jesse Morgan and Cole O’Brien chose to live there upon graduating from college.

Ready to begin the next phase of their lives in an exciting new city, Jesse and Cole quickly find themselves at the center of a new group of friends. Joyelle and Derek Mancini have been happily married for years, but Derek is harboring a secret that could tear them apart. Derek’s brother Emmett is about to discover that his boyfriend Keith Colgan has a past that will haunt them both. Long time couple Logan Pryce and Max Taylor must face a crisis that neither of them expected.

And, before they realize it, Jesse and Cole find themselves at the center of it all in the adult playground known as BOYSTOWN.

Welcome to BOYSTOWN!

Available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance eBooks

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An Excerpt from BOYSTOWN Season One – Episode One (NSFW)

The emergency room should have been busier, but it wasn’t. After all, Saturday night at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood was usually quite a sight – all the usual unusuals. But things were quiet as Joyelle Mancini checked her cell phone for the umteenth time. She shoved the phone back into her scrubs pocket and headed back to the nurses’ station. Her baggy, blue scrubs covered the form of her gorgeous body and only those who knew her outside of the workplace knew of her model-like physique. She was certainly modest, but enjoyed the compliments she regularly received on a night out on the town.

“Nothing?” Joyelle’s coworker at the admittance desk asked.

“Nope. I just checked again.”

“I’m sure his flight is just delayed a bit. You know O’Hare. Don’t worry, sweetie.” The coworker smiled and Joyelle continued on toward the nurses’ station.   Everyone knew that it was Joyelle’s fifth wedding anniversary and she was anxiously awaiting word from her husband that he was safely back in Chicago from his business trip in Boston.

She quickly passed the nurses’ station, patted her hand on the counter twice to get the attention of her colleague, mumbled “I’ll be right back,” and headed toward the ER doors to the outside. As she approached the doors, they flung open before her, and she stepped outside into the cool autumn air. The area that was usually loud with ambulance sirens was eerily quiet and Joyelle took a deep breath. She loved Chicago in autumn: the crisp air, the bright gold and orange leaves of the trees, and the dramatic waves of Lake Michigan. Winter would be here before she knew it and Joyelle had learned long ago to make the most of Chicago’s short fall seasons.

Joyelle first met Derek about seven years ago at their five-year college reunion. She had never known him when they were both undergrads at the University of Michigan, but they were introduced by mutual friends at a dinner event during their reunion weekend. For her, it was love at first sight. He stood there in front of her with his boyish good looks and a great physique that she could recognize hidden beneath his perfectly fitted suit. They talked all night over cocktails as if they had known each other for years. He had played varsity baseball at Michigan, earned both his BBA and MBA there, and worked at a law firm based in Chicago with clients all over the country. He was intrigued not only by Joyelle’s beauty, but her brains as well. She was articulate, sophisticated, and driven. As a nurse, she spoke with compassion and empathy about her patients and was just about the kindest girl Derek had ever met.

Over time, they learned more about each other and each other’s families. They fell deeply in love and five years ago this very night, they were married at a lovely autumn ceremony at Chicago’s Botanic Gardens. It was the fairytale wedding they had both dreamed of and married life seemed to suit them well. They carefully balanced their careers with their personal lives, enjoying friends and neighbors in their Lakeview neighborhood and beyond. Joyelle hated that Derek’s job took him out of town so often, but she appreciated the income it produced so she kept her concerns to herself.

Joyelle glanced at her wedding ring as it sparkled in the autumn moonlight. Derek and she had designed their own wedding rings, specially crafted with both yellow and white gold and a series of diamonds. People always commented on them because they were so beautifully unique.

Joyelle then checked her phone one more time. No texts or missed calls. So she put her phone away, took one last breath of the night air, and returned back into the emergency room to complete her shift. Optimistic, she still hoped that Derek and she could celebrate their anniversary at least a little bit once her shift ended and he landed back in Chicago safely.

Unlike Chicago, Boston was experiencing a severe storm that night – frequent lightning lit the Boston skyline — but that wasn’t why Derek was late arriving back in Chicago. Although rain pounded against the hotel window, music from an ipod next to the room’s bed drowned out that sound. Lightning illuminated the otherwise dark bedroom, revealing the contours of Derek’s muscled body as he rolled back on top of Cole O’Brien.

Derek smiled looking into Cole’s eyes and shoved his tongue down Cole’s throat. Clinging to Derek as if he would never let go, Cole dug his toes into the back of Derek’s calves and cupped Derek’s tight ass with his hands. Derek’s tongue moved down Cole’s neck, then back up along his jaw line to his ear. Cole’s moans urged Derek to continue, and he did.

In some ways, Cole’s body reminded Derek of what his used to be. While Cole’s body was completely smooth except for a small tuft of blond hair that accented his penis, his muscled chest, arms and thighs were reminiscent of the hard body Derek had during his days playing baseball of Michigan. Certainly, his body was still great, but there was a youthfulness to Cole’s that made it even more appealing.

Cole playfully nibbled on Derek’s chin and smiled. Then he flipped over on top of Derek, sitting across his hips and looking down at Derek’s hairy chest. He leaned forward and put his lips on Derek’s nipple, carefully biting the tip. Derek’s twitched momentarily and then laughed, “Oh, no you don’t!”

Derek powerfully flipped back over on top of Cole and pinned him down, his arms over his head. Cole watched the smile leave Derek’s face and anticipated what was about to happen. Derek reached over to the nightstand to grab a condom and quickly pulled it on. Then Derek once again began to kiss Cole and pulled Cole’s legs over his shoulders. As he took Cole’s toes into his mouth, Derek positioned his hard cock against Cole’s inviting hole.

“Yes,” Cole whispered as he grabbed Derek’s butt and began to pull Derek inside of him. Derek thrust hard, and Cole’s face turned red, the tips of his blond hair stuck to the sweat forming on his forehead.   Cole’s toes curled as he felt Derek’s hard dick pumping into his hole. The thrusts were long and penetrating, while Cole’s own hard dick was sandwiched between the men’s hard abs. Cole loved the feel of Derek’s furry chest against his and ran his fingers up Derek’s back, digging them into his flesh each time Derek hit the spot deep inside of him.

Derek continued to kiss Cole as he pounded deeper and deeper, Cole wiping the sweat from Derek’s back.   Derek intended to once again show this boy who was in charge and Cole showed no signs of resisting.

“Oh fuck, I’m close,” Derek whispered as Cole smiled and tightened his ass around Derek.

“Stay inside me….please,” Cole begged, but Derek took orders from no one. He continued to pump as his entire body began to tense up. “Please,” Cole pleaded once again, but Derek swiftly pulled his cock from inside Cole, tore off the condom, and shot his load all over Cole’s smooth chest, letting out a large moan as he did so.   The load was thicker and larger than the previous ones, nearly hitting Cole’s neck. As it settled on Cole’s chest, Cole’s whole body began to tremble. Derek used some his own cum to stroke Cole’s incredibly hard cock. “Oh God,” Cole moaned as his own load shot and mixed with Derek’s. Derek collapsed onto Cole, kissing him and then rolling over onto his back next to his conquest.

Derek took several deep breaths as he looked up at the hotel room ceiling, the lightning from outside casting strange shadows across it. “Fuck…”

 “You rock,” Cole smiled as he planted a kiss on Derek’s chest. He ran his fingers through the mixed cum on his chest, making a random design.

“Looks like you need a towel,” Derek smiled as he hopped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Cole enviously watched Derek’s ass as it disappeared behind the bathroom door. Derek tossed Cole a towel and then closed the door completely.

Cole tasted some of the cum on his fingers, then wiped up the rest with his towel. He sat up and flipped his legs over the side of the bed as he pulled on a pair of Notre Dame shorts and shoved his toes into some flip flops. Then he stood up and walked to the window. It was still raining.

“Oh fuck!” Derek yelled as he ran back into the bedroom. “I’m gonna miss my flight.” Cole turned from the window as Derek scanned the room for this pants and shirt. He pulled on his pants and sat down to put on his socks. Cole crawled across the bed and wrapped his arms around Derek’s back, kissing his neck. Derek smiled and continued to put on his shoes. Then Derek stood up and pulled on his shirt. “Notre Dame? Really?” Derek quipped as he caught a glance of Cole’s shorts.

“Yup. So?”

“I went to Michigan,” Derek smiled. “Notre Dame sucks.” Cole just smiled back at Derek, no comment. “What are you doing in Boston anyway? You said you’re still in school.”

“I’m graduating early, in a few weeks. Job interview here.”

“Oh cool. Good luck with that,” Derek said as he pulled on his suit coat. “I gotta grab a cab.”

“When’s your flight?”

“I think I missed it. Fuck.”

“Before you go, can I get your number?” Cole smiled, then bit his lip.

“I told you. Can’t do that.”

“Aw come on,” Cole pleaded again.

“Look, these two days have been awesome. Hot, even. But I have to go back to my life. And you do, too.” Derek leaned in to kiss Cole quickly on the lips. “Thanks, man.” And with that comment, Derek was out the door and gone.

“Ya, thanks,” Cole mumbled to himself. He walked over to the mirror on the wall and checked himself out. Then he let out a sigh and returned to the window to contemplate the storm. As he walked across the room, the lightning reflected off something shiny on the floor, half-buried in the carpet. He knelt down to take a closer look and picked up what turned out to be a ring. It was both gold and silver in color and had a series of small diamonds in it. Cole turned toward the hotel room door, then looked back at the ring. He examined it more closely and then slipped it on his finger; Derek hopped into a cab outside.

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About BOYSTOWN Season Two

1In the aftermath of the warehouse shootings, lives are forever changed and relationships are forever altered. As the families of the victims work to put the horrific event behind them, they find themselves at the center of an even larger plan for revenge.

Ciancio twins Marco and Gino are as handsome as they are powerful — and they arrive in Boystown with a scheme rooted in the bad history between the Ciancio and Mancini families.

At the same time, Keith Colgan seems hell-bent on getting back the boyfriend he believes was stolen from him, Ben Donovan continues with his plan for Jacqueline Morgan and her son Jesse, and a stranger from the past threatens the future.

It all leads up to a spectacular New Year’s Eve engagement party that no one will ever forget.

Welcome back to BOYSTOWN!

Available at: Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance eBooks

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About Jake Biondi

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Jake Biondi fell in love with “The Windy City” at an early age. He left the Chicago area for four years to attend the University of Notre Dame, from which he graduated with degrees in English and Business. He was awarded the university’s prestigious William Mitchell Award for Playwriting. Upon graduating from Notre Dame, Biondi returned to Chicago where he attended and graduated from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law.   He has been living in Chicago’s Boystown neighborhood for over 20 years.

While studying literature, Biondi became a huge fan of Charles Dickens whose novels were originally released in installments, each ending in a cliffhanger to keep readers coming back for more. Because of his love of those novels as well as television dramas such as Dynasty, Knots Landing, Dallas, and Revenge, Jake Biondi decided to create a serialized saga for contemporary audiences. Thus, BOYSTOWN was born.

Biondi began BOYSTOWN in June of 2013 as an online story and intended to release one “episode” online per month, each ending in a cliffhanger. The story became so popular — and the online reading audience grew so quickly — that people from all over the country began to email him demanding to know what happened to their favorite characters and wanting the episodes to be released faster. They also had suggestions for future storylines! Biondi was surprised and excited by the readers’ response to BOYSTOWN and began to write and release installments more quickly. By November, Biondi had released 10 episodes and his reading audience had expanded well beyond the borders of America.

Because of BOYSTOWN’s huge success online and the serialized nature of Biondi’s writing, readers from all over the globe have been able to correspond with Biondi and influence the storylines of the BOYSTOWN saga as Biondi writes it.

Readers also suggested that Biondi publish the first 10 episodes as a book rather than leaving them online. He took their advice — and “BOYSTOWN Season One” was published in late November of 2013. The book is selling very well locally and nationally. In the meantime, Biondi continued to write additional episodes. Episodes 11 – 20 were released as “BOYSTOWN Season Two” on July 7, 2014. Biondi is currently working on episodes 21 – 30, which will be published as “BOYSTOWN Season Three” at the end of the year.

Because of the popularity of the book, people have suggested that BOYSTOWN be turned into a television series. Biondi has begun to reach out to television networks and producers — and their response has been very positive. Working with actors and other professionals in the entertainment industry, Biondi hopes to bring BOYSTOWN to television in the near future.

BOYSTOWN readers and fans may reach Jake Biondi at BoystownTheSeries@yahoo.com or through the website.

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Jake has kindly offered up an eBook copy of BOYSTOWN Season Two one lucky winner! The giveaway starts now and ends August 5, 2014 at 11:59 pm. To enter, click the Rafflecopter link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway, except to verify your Rafflecopter entry.

Don’t forget to check out JustJen’s reviews of BOYSTOWN Season One & BOYSTOWN Season Two to see what she thought of them!

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Excerpts, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , | 7 Comments