Book Review: Jewel Cave by Elizabeth Noble

Reviewed by Nikyta

SMJewel Cave Final 12614 copyTitle: Jewel Cave
Author: Elizabeth Noble
Series: Circles #3
Heroes: Griff & Clint
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 155 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: April 1, 2015
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Through ten wonderful years Griff Diamond and Clint Bishop weathered good times and bad together. Lately they haven’t spent as much time together as they’d like, and their physical relationship is suffering. Then Clint loses his job at the steel mill. Instead of worrying, he sees it as an opportunity to lean on his steady partner, start his writing career, and rekindle the passion they’ve lost.

But a friendly relationship with another author turns to obsession, putting Clint’s life in danger. Taken against his will to the Jewel Cave system in South Dakota, Clint must rely on the skills he’s learned from Griff to survive.

Fearing the worst, Griff tracks Clint across the country. As a US Marshal, Griff’s always been the man who keeps everyone safe, but he doesn’t know how he and Clint will survive this.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Light From the Dark by Mercy Celeste

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: Light From the Dark
Author: Mercy Celeste
Heroes: Micah Beasley/Christopher Auberon
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 246 Pages
Publisher: MJC Press
Release Date: March 6, 2015
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: After a year of picking up the pieces of his shattered life, former US Marshal Micah Beasley takes a job as body guard for a spoiled rich kid who can’t leave his house. It’s a cupcake assignment. He just needs to get back in the game. What can go wrong?

Brilliant and incredibly talented, Christopher (Kit) Auberon wears tragedy as a second skin. Kit is all that’s left of a powerful family. Seemingly forgotten he’s spent his entire life in seclusion and he likes it that way.

Death threats are a fact of life, but when those threats become real, Micah and Kit are forced to put their differences aside to discover who wants Kit dead. Only to discover that there are monsters in Kit’s closet that should never be disturbed.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2015, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Redemption by Viki Lyn and Vina Grey: Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway!

Blogger_Exclusive Excerpt

Exclusive Excerpt from Redemption

by Viki Lyn and Vina Grey

Uri pulled back from Michael’s grasp. “You can’t ask this of me.”

He couldn’t believe Michael’s complete lack of compassion. It had taken him years to rouse any interest in life. At firsthe’d blanketed his grief in fury. Slowly, his anger died. He was too mentally exhausted to hold on to his rage. Now all he felt was indifference.

Michael’s voice penetrated Uri’s thoughts. “You are our most gifted empath. And that’s not all—”

“To hell with that. We’re all empathic.”

Michael dryly chuckled, rolling his eyes at Uri’s cuss word.

Angels rarely gave in to their anger, but Uri had too much at stake to agree to the Vox Dei’s request. Didn’t Michael know how much it’d crack the fragile ice around his heart if he were to see Razi again? Since his lover’s death, and that’s how heregarded it, he’d burrowed deep within the Libraire, researching ways to bring Razi back to him.

He often wondered how far he’d go—what dark arts he might employ. Years later, he still hadn’t found a solution.

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About Redemption

Redemption_432Thou shall not kill

Archangel Raziel had no choice. He would break the Infinite’s commandment again to save his lover, Uriel, from a demon’s talons. Yet even the Infinite’s most trusted archangel cannot avoid punishment. Forced to go through the Cleansing, Raziel loses his memories and is renamed Izar, a Protector sworn to kill for the angels.

Years later, Izar is summoned to work alongside Uriel to capture a killer. Izar is shocked when his bloodlust spikes hot for the archangel. But a relationship between Protectors and angels is forbidden. As they rush to find the killer, their passion plays into the demon’s plan. Izar will have to choose between life and death if he is to save Uriel again.

Available at: Amazon

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About Viki Lyn

Multi-published and award winner, Viki Lyn is a successful writer of gay paranormal and contemporary romance. After reading and collecting whatever she could get her hands on, she wrote her first male/male romance. And that was ‘it’ for her. She never looked back. Viki travels the world in search of inspiration. She considers herself blessed to have traveled to many of the mystical sites she had dreamed about as a child. Her travel experiences have been influential in creating her paranormal worlds. When she needs to relax, she calls a friend to meet at their favorite coffee house. When the chattering in her head goes off the charts, she plays one of her favorite RPGs on her PS4 and immerses herself in the world of dragons and magic.

Find out more about Viki on Facebook.

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About Vina Grey

Vina Grey has lived in eight different states and if her family hadn’t grounded her, she’d be on the move again. So, instead she writes, living out her adventure-lust in her books. She made up stories in her head from the time she could register thoughts, so yes, there are many more books to come. Coffee, chocolate, Scotch, Kindle books, and traveling to far away lands are among her…ahem…very few vices. Actually they can be lands close by, too. But at the end of the day, to write a love story that makes a reader sigh with satisfaction–that’s what it’s all about.

Find out more about Vina on Facebook.

Blog_Tour_Giveaway

As part of this blog tour, Viki & Vina are giving away an eBook copy of Redemption or a book from our Orbus Arcana series to one winner from Amazon!! 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.

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Excerpts, Giveaways, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

Book Review: Sugar on Top by Marina Adair

Guest Reviewed by Ami

1Title: Sugar on Top
Author: Marina Adair
Series: Sugar, Georgia #2
Heroine/Hero: Glory Mann/Cal McGraw
Genre: MF Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 Pages
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  She’s sassy and sweet

The last thing Glory Mann wants is to become chairman of the Miss Peach Pageant in Sugar, Georgia. Spending months hearing nothing but the clinking of pearls and judgment? No thank you! But when Glory is forced to take the rap for a scandal she didn’t commit, the judge sentences her to head the committee. Even worse, her co-chairman is rugged, ripped . . . and barely knows she’s alive.

He’s ready and willing

Single dad Cal McGraw can’t take any more drama in his life. After a difficult divorce, his little girl became a boy-crazy teenager and his hands are full. The last thing he needs is to spend his down time with the town bad girl. Glory is pure trouble-tempting and tantalizing trouble. But he can’t deny the strong chemistry between them-or how her touch turns him inside out. Now as squabbles threaten to blow up the contest and the town of Sugar itself, Cal must risk everything on the sexy wild card to get a second chance at love . . .
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, M/F, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Rock Solid by Riley Hart

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: Rock Solid
Author: Riley Hart
Series: Rock Solid Construction #1
Heroes: Trevor Dixon/Simon Malone
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 271 Pages
Publisher: Riley Hart
Release Date: April 27, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Trevor Dixon has made too many mistakes to count. Sober for thirteen months, he’s determined to do the right thing: rebuild his relationship with his family, and help his brother get Rock Solid Construction off the ground. Failing them again isn’t an option. Too bad the first estimate Trevor goes on alone is for an uptight doctor with a superiority complex.

A hand injury took away the only important thing in Dr. Simon Malone’s life—performing heart surgery. He doesn’t do well with people and has no family, but being a damn good surgeon? He always had that. Now, he doesn’t know who he is. The last thing he wants to deal with is the young construction worker who blows his shot at remodeling Simon’s home.

Trevor and Simon form an unlikely friendship. The more time they spend together, the more Trevor starts wondering if maybe Simon’s not as straight—or uptight—as he thought…and maybe Trevor’s new attraction for Simon runs both ways.

There are too many reasons they shouldn’t be together: they have little in common, their age difference, Trevor needing to focus on his sobriety…yet there’s something about each other that they just can’t shake. They don’t feel so lost when they’re together. But with their footing so unsteady, forming a relationship that’s rock solid seems impossible. There’s blow after blow, and the last one just might be powerful enough to crack their foundation for good.
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Categories: Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Honorary Blogger Kate Fierro: From a Fantasy to True Love – A Learning Process + Giveaway!

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From a Fantasy to True Love – A Learning Process

by Kate Fierro

Every relationship has the potential to be a learning experience. We discover things about ourselves and our partners, and we learn to fit together in unique ways that will never be exactly the same in any other relationship. We grow and mature as we learn, and so do our emotions. We may not, technically, learn to love – I believe that’s an ability inherent to human nature – but we do learn about love and relationships. Or, if we flip it: our partners and lovers won’t teach us how to love or how to feel love, but they may just teach us something about our emotions.

Love Starved starts with a simple, yet seemingly impossible request: “Show me what it’s like to feel loved.” Micah, a successful man in his late twenties, doesn’t ask the escort he hires to teach him how to feel love – he just wants one night to experience what he’d always imagined as that perfect romantic state of being “loved, wanted, cared for, like [he’s] the center of someone’s universe.” What he ultimately gets from the whole experiment is so much more than that, and yet not what he’d been picturing at all.

When I was writing Love Starved, I wanted to play with the concept of fantasies – things we imagine, often in great detail; things we dream of, and maybe assume we can never have – and how, if we decide to pursue these fantasies, they can turn out different from what we visualized. It’s true both in regard to sexual fantasies (someone getting aroused by the idea of a BDSM scene or a threesome may not actually enjoy it if they try it in reality) and dreams connected with other areas of our lives. Dreams and fantasies are, after all, subjective, idealized things.

Micah comes into his arrangement with Angel with certain preconceptions about love – beliefs based on literature and pop culture, on observing other relationships around him, as well as on his own limited experiences. He hires Angel, certain he knows what he wants. And he does, in a very narrow way. But during the course of the story, he gets so much more than that, and learns not just about feeling love, but about giving it as well.

So yes, learning and teaching things about love may be considered one of the themes in my book, but I wouldn’t say it’s about teaching anyone how to feel love. Rather, it’s about showing what love can be and how many different forms it can take; that it’s not a one-size-fits-all, unchanging thing. And in the end, the teaching goes both ways. Both men show each other things about love that they’ve never believed possible; things that change them and their lives.

I hoped to capture the personal and emotional growth that comes from all kinds of good, solid relationships between people – not just romantic relationships, but friendships, work and family relations, too. Have I succeeded? I will leave that for the readers to judge.

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About Love Starved

Love Starved FrontCover-WEBMicah Geller considers himself lucky: at 27, he has more money than he needs, a job he loves, a debut book coming out, and a brilliant career in information security before him. What he doesn’t have is a partner to share it with—a fact that’s never bothered him much.

But the romantic in him isn’t entirely dead. When a moment of weakness finds him with a contact to a high-class escort specializing in fulfilling fantasies, Micah asks for only one thing.

Show me what it’s like to feel loved.

Available at: Amazon

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About Kate Fierro

Kate Fierro spent ten years translating, editing, and reviewing other people’s words before making an impulse decision to write down some of her own. She hasn’t been able to stop ever since. Kate lives in Europe and is bilingual, with more love for her adopted language than her native one.

With nearly a million words under her belt, Love Starved is Kate’s debut novel.

Find out more about Kate on her Website or Twitter.

Blog_Tour_Giveaway

As part of this blog tour, Kate is giving away a $25 Interlude Press 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.

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , | 6 Comments

Book Review: Never Too Early: Finding Their Way by Chris Owen and Tory Temple

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: Never Too Early: Finding Their Way
Authors: Chris Owen and Tory Temple
Series: Never Too Early #2
Heroes: Chance/Tucker and Take/Tor
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 172 Pages
Publisher: Torquere Press
Release Date: April 15, 2015
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Continuing from the first book in the series (Never Too Early: The Beginning), Chance and Tucker and Jake and Tor find themselves involved in a friendship that goes much deeper than any of them initially suspected.

Jake has been released from the hospital following his fall from the roof, and Chance and Tucker agree to stay in Arkansas for several days to help Tor with Jake’s care. Chance, however, spends much of his time trying to resist the growing attraction he has for Jake. The confusion between the love he has for Tucker and the new feelings for Jake play tricks with Chance’s mind. Is any of this a good idea, or are all of them headed for disaster?

For his part, Jake has to reconcile not only his growing feelings and physical attraction to Chance, but also the promises he and Tor made to each other. They rebuilt their own relationship in the wake of mistakes neither one of them wishes to repeat. How much communication and longing can one — or two — relationships take?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2015, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Audio and Book Review: Hoarfrost by Jordan L. Hawk

Reviewed by Heather C

24901214Title: Hoarfrost
Author: Jordan L. Hawk
Narrator: Julian G. Simmons
Series: Whyborne & Griffin #6
Heroes: Whyborne & Griffin
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Historical
Length: 75,000 words
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: April 21, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Sorcerer Percival Endicott Whyborne and his husband Griffin Flaherty have enjoyed an unprecedented stretch of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, the calm is shattered by the arrival of a package from Griffin’s brother Jack, who has uncovered a strange artifact while digging for gold in Alaska. The discovery of a previously unknown civilization could revive the career of their friend Dr. Christine Putnam—or it might kill them all, if the hints of dark sorcery surrounding the find are true.

With Christine and her fiancé Iskander, Whyborne and Griffin must journey to the farthest reaches of the arctic to stop an ancient evil from claiming the life of Griffin’s brother. But in the rough mining camp of Hoarfrost, secrets fly as thickly as the snow, and Whyborne isn’t the only sorcerer drawn by the rumors of magic. Amidst a wilderness of ice and stone, Griffin must either face his greatest fear—or lose everyone he loves.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: To Be Human by Pearl Love

Reviewed by Nikyta

24226585Title: To Be Human
Author: Pearl Love
Series: To Be Human #1
Heroes: Tim & David
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 326 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 9, 2015
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: TM 05637 was created to be a killer. Genetically engineered for superiority, he was facing a life of missions, blood, and death until his creator decides to set him free. On the run from those holding his leash, he is found by David Conley, an ordinary store owner who stumbles upon a remarkable find. Renaming himself “Tim,” TM 05637 sets out to discover what it means to have a normal life.

Through his friendships with a young boy dealing with a nightmarish family life, and David’s mother, who decides Tim is perfect for her son, Tim slowly discovers his humanity. Even more importantly, David teaches Tim about the power of love. But General Woodard, leader of the project that created Tim, threatens their happiness with his determination to bring his evasive quarry permanently to heel.

As the search net closes ever tighter around him, Tim must find a way to thwart his pursuers so he can stay with David and live out his dream.
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Honorary Blogger K.A. Merikan: No Matter What + Excerpt & Giveaway!

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We finished The Devil’s Ride with so many new book ideas. Some secondary characters simply have stories that need to be told, and it’s something almost impossible to plan. We knew we wanted to come up with a book about Ghost before we even finished TDR, but the idea for the story only came after we wrote the last few chapters. Ghost does mingle with bikers, he loves bikes, but he’s not a ruthless hardass like the others. He’s a good guy, who wants to do the right thing but keeps getting pulled into morally grey situations, because of his friendships and family connections. Even more so when he gets to fight for his and Luca’s love in No Matter What. Will he be able to stay true to what he believes in among all the mayhem?

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About No Matter What

NoMatterWhat-400— A gentle heart has no place in an outlaw’s chest —

Ghost. Not a member of the Coffin Nails MC. Not a doctor anymore. Not gay.
Luca. Bent, not broken. Will not let go of Ghost. No matter what.

Ghost finds out the hard way that people you meet online aren’t always who they seem to be. When he met ‘Zara’ five years ago, they became inseparable. She’s been with him through the rough and the smooth. He’s been there for her when her abusive boyfriend had her in tears.

She is The One, and despite all his friends considering him crazy, Ghost is about to propose.

But ‘Zara’ turns out to be Luca, and Luca is most definitely a guy. Yet Luca is the same person with big dark eyes, so desperate to be saved that Ghost can’t help but fall head first.

Luca’s so-called boyfriend is not just abusive. He is a Sicilian drug lord, a man dangerous and ruthless. If Ghost is to ever save the person who wreaked havoc on his heart, he has to make a deal with the Coffin Nails MC. But being a member is a destiny he’s always tried to avoid. And when a life of violence becomes too much to bear, he might be the one needing Luca to catch him when he falls.

Themes: Outlaw motorcycle club, criminal activity, hurt/comfort, abuse, catfishing, independence, sexual orientation issues, mafia, PTSD.

WARNING: Adult content. Explicit gay sex, strong language, violence, potentially triggering sexual abuse scenes. Reader discretion advised.

Check out some inspiration images for No Matter What here: Pinterest

Add to your Goodreads shelf:  No Matter What

Available at:  Amazon

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An Excerpt from No Matter What

A photo came through. It was a red square plate of some vegetable rolls with a brown sauce. Ghost raised his head to have an even better look around. He frowned at the plate in front of the guy, and had a discreet look at him. He was close enough to see it was a very similar dish, but that could be a coincidence― Ghost’s heart stopped beating completely when an onyx bracelet slid lower down the guy’s forearm.

And then it hit him that the guy actually had a similar coloring to Zara in the picture: dark olive skin, wavy black hair that reached past his shoulders, and dark eyes. Only other than that, he was nothing like Zara. No softness in him, just firm jawlines and broad shoulders hidden in a coffee-colored shirt with rolled-up sleeves. As striking as he was, he was most definitely not the girl from the picture.

Ghost got up even though his legs were like made out of Jell-O. Five years. Five fucking years. This meant he’d had webcam sex with a guy. Many times. He couldn’t breathe, the ring in his pocket somehow burning like acid. How could he have been so stupid? He made his way toward the table as if it were a lucid dream. A nightmare he was about to wake up from.

With the young guy busy with his cell phone, one of the middle-aged businessmen noticed Ghost first. He straightened up and narrowed his eyes, tapping the chopsticks against his plate.

“Can we help you?” he asked in a heavily accented voice.

‘Zara’, or whatever his name was, raised his eyes, and the small smile he was sporting fell from his lips like slush on a sunny day. God, he was even prettier up close, with thick eyebrows and a straight, shapely nose. His mouth dropped open, but he made no sound as he stared at Ghost, wide-eyed.

Ghost ignored the older man, and looked straight into the eyes of someone whom he knew so well, yet didn’t know at all. “How could you do this to me?” was all he managed to choke out.

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About K.A. Merikan

K.A. Merikan is a joint project of Kat and Agnes Merikan, who jokingly claim to share one mind. They finish each other’s sentences and simultaneously come up with the same ideas. Kat and Agnes enjoy writing various kinds of stories, from light-hearted romance to thrillers. They love creating characters that are not easy to classify as good or evil, and firmly believe that even some villains deserve their happy endings. It is easiest to find them in galleries, restaurants and historical sites, always with a computer or notebook, because for Kat and Agnes, every day is a writing day. Future plans include lots of travel, and a villa on the coast of Italy or a flat in Paris where they could retire after yet another crazy venture, only to write more hot gay romances.

As K.A. Merikan, Kat and Agnes have published a number of books, which cross genres while always being gay romances.

Find out more about K.A. on their Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest or email them at kamerikan@gmail.com.

Blogger_Giveaway

K.A. has graciously offered up an eBook copy of No Matter What to one lucky winner!! The giveaway starts now and ends May 2, 2015 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.

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Excerpts, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post | Tags: , , , | 14 Comments