Honorary Blogger Liz Borino: In Defense of Flashbacks + Giveaway

In Defense of Flashbacks

by Liz Borino

Do you want to hear a secret? Are you sure?

Okay, here it is: I love using flashbacks in my fiction. I know. I know. Readers find the technique distracting and will rate books that employ it worse automatically. Almost as badly as they rate cliffhangers… which I may also use. Sometimes.

*Innocent smile*

Please put your holy water away, I’m so far past the point where that would be effective, it’s not even worth it. Let’s assume I am a reasonably intelligent heathen who listens to feedback from my much more intelligent beta readers and editors. I’ve proven that flashbacks are risky, but continue to use them. If you’ve read this far, you probably want to know why. (Or you’re bored, in which case, I can recommend some great authors. Most of them aren’t even me. ☺) Still here? Great! Below are my two main reasons for going back in time in Angel’s Hero, the first in the Angel series. Hopefully, I can prove flashbacks aren’t evil. If you lovely readers have suggestions for a flashback alternative to either of the below reasons, please tell me in the comments. The best comment will receive both Angel books.

1. I enjoy writing established couples. Readers want to know how the characters met and fell in love. So, I use flashbacks to give them a taste of the characters’ journey.

2. The heart of the story takes place in present day, but past events offer clues to solving the mystery. I needed the readers to see these scenes, as opposed to hearing them referenced in conversation or thoughts.

blogger_bee_trans

About Angel’s Truth

20760835Book Two in the Angel Series Out March 12! (Sequel to Angel’s Hero)

*Please Note: These Books Must Be Read In Order*

Blurb: “Freeze or I’ll shoot!” Aaron yelled and aimed the gun at Jordan’s chest.

“Angel, no, please.” Hacking fluid-filled coughs broke up Jordan’s words.

“Jordan?” Aaron whispered his name as recognition painted a mural of memories of their life together on his face. 

“Yes.” He coughed red into his dirty hand. “Please help.”

So begins Angel’s Truth, the sequel to Angel’s Hero. Army Captain Jordan Collins arrives home, only to find the man responsible for his imprisonment, torture, and near-execution with his husband. Had his Angel moved on without him?

Aaron “Angel” Collins has driven his family and friends away in his quest to learn the truth of Jordan’s fate, leaving only Major General Troy Hart willing to help him. When Jordan miraculously returns, with a spirit more broken than his body, Aaron realizes Hart was really a liar with an agenda of his own. Aaron is unable to take time to heal his own emotional wounds, because he and Jordan learn Hart’s betrayal is even greater than they originally believed, threatening the entire nation. Now the reunited couple must race against time to keep a promise to Jordan’s savior and prevent Hart from bringing terrorism once again to American soil.

Angel’s Truth releases today March 12, 2014 and is available at Amazon.

blogger_bee_trans

 About Liz Borino

Liz Borino transcribes the world inside her head onto the page, and share it with the people who are stuck in the “real world” to makes their lives a little more interesting. Because in her world, heroes fall and stand up again with the help of their partners and friends. Liz’s world is littered with formidable obstacles, which her heroes overcome with a fire of courage and passion. The beauty of love between two men is celebrated. Who wouldn’t want to live there?

When not with her heroes, Liz enjoys exploring cities, working toward social justice, and editing for other authors. Liz is less than three months from obtaining her Masters’ degree in English and published nine books since 2010.

You can find Liz on her WebsiteAmazon Page or Barnes and Noble

Blogger_Giveaway

Liz Borino has kindly offered to give away an eBook copy of Angel’s Truth!

The giveaway starts now and will end next Tuesday, March 18th, 2014, at 11:59 pm EST. After which the lucky winner will be randomly picked.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below with your email address and you’re in!

Make sure to follow the blog for the winners’ announcement post or check back next Wednesday, March 19th, 2014, to see if you’ve won.

You can still purchase Angel’s Truth from Amazon and don’t forget to check out Susan65′s review to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT | 7 Comments

Book Review: Remnant by KJ Charles & Jordan L. Hawk

Reviewed by Heather C

20880073Title: Remnant
Author: KJ Charles & Jordan L. Hawk
Series: Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal / Whyborne & Griffin #3
Heroes: Robert/Simon & Whyborne/Griffin
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Paranormal
Length: 15,000 words
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: March 11, 2014
Available at: Smashwords & All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: London, 1899. The beautiful people are dying…

A malevolent power is attacking London’s bright young things, and the only clue to what’s happening is written in ancient Egyptian script. As ghost-hunter Simon Feximal and his companion Robert Caldwell investigate the mysterious deaths, the arrival in London of a notorious scholar-sorcerer seems to hold the answer to more than one of their problems.

A quiet break in London while en route to Egypt turns dramatic for Dr Percival Endicott Whyborne and his lover Griffin Flaherty when they encounter the hostile ghost-hunter. Feximal clearly suspects the worst of Whyborne – and his flirtatious sidekick seems to think a great deal too well of Griffin…

Jordan L Hawk’s heroes Whyborne and Griffin meet KJ Charles’ occult detectives from the Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal in a mystery that takes all four lovers through the decadent underworld of Victorian London in pursuit of an ancient and deadly evil. Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Shifter Week Review: Tiger Tiger by Rachel Wilder & A. Catherine Noon

Reviewed by JustJen

Title:  Tiger Tiger
Author: Rachel Wilder, A. Catherine Noon
Series: Chicagoland Shifters #2
Heroes: Sasha/Neil/Steve/Carlos
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 276 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date:  July 23, 2013
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: When you grab a tiger by the tail, sometimes he bites back.

Veterinary trauma surgeon and animal empath Sasha Soskoff has found everything he ever wanted with his new partners Neal, Steve and Carlos. Life feels as safe and secure as it can be among a group of ex-Marine tiger shifters. Until a homeless man is found, gruesomely mauled and murdered, near Neal’s BDSM club.

When it’s determined a rogue tiger did the deed, the jaguars’ accusing eyes turn toward Sasha’s lovers. The precarious balance of peace tips dangerously toward war.

Neal knows damned well none of his tigers committed the crime. Someone must be in Chicago without his knowledge or permission, and they’d better find him fast before uncertainty and conflict rip the tight-knit band apart from the inside.

As Sasha struggles to heal the stress fractures forming among his tiger family, he begins to wonder if his dreams of a home, and love, were too good to be true. And it’s precisely that moment the killer strikes at the heart of the tiger clan—Sasha himself.

Product Warnings:
This continuing story contains more hot man-on-man and men-on-more-men ménage action than you can shake a cat at. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shifter Week Review: Brian’s Mate by Hollis Shiloh

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Brian’s Mate
Author: Hollis Shiloh
Heroes: Brian & Luke
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 158 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: February 5, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Brian is the alpha of the least impressive pack of wolves at the whole Moon Ceremony. When a human is discovered uninvited in their midst, he bonds with the man to save his life.

Luke doesn’t know about all this wolf stuff, but he’s starting to develop feelings for the gentle man who rescued him. Both Brian and Luke expect to quietly dissolve the bond later. But feelings intervene, and some bonds are not so easy to cast aside.

Building a life together as alphas will take love and hard work—especially when new wolves keep inviting themselves into their lives. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shifter Week Review: Burning Bright by Rachel Wilder & A. Catherine Noon

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Burning Bright
Author: Rachel Wilder & A. Catherine Noon
Series: Chicagoland Shifters #1
Heroes: Sasha Soskoff and Neal Harrison
Genre: M/M/M/M Paranormal
Length: 266 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: September 13, 2011
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Sasha Soskoff has two reasons for moving to Chicago: secure a tenured position in veterinary research medicine, and widen his horizons. After a night at the city s hottest new club, though, a wrong turn down a dark alley narrows his focus to surviving three muggers. As consciousness fades, he catches a glimpse of his rescuer, whose mere appearance is enough to chase the attackers off.

Neal Harrison doesn t often have to call on his skills as an ex-Marine to maintain control at his club. But with Sasha, he can t seem to keep his hands to himself. Yet there s danger in allowing any close relationships, particularly with a naive young newcomer. The safety of his business depends on the iron-clad secret he and his ex-Marine buddies all hide.

While Neal seems happy to satisfy Sasha s insatiable curiosity about the erotic scenes played out in the club s private rooms, Sasha senses his new lover is holding something back.

When the truth claws its way out amid a night of tribal blood and violence, Neal discovers his lover has a secret of his own. And that the forces arrayed against them all could make a mugging look like a walk in the park

Warning: Contains explicit, adult situations: male on male, more males on several more males, no-holds-barred erotic scenes, no-claws-barred violence, and love forged in the heat of desire Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2011, Susan65's Reviews, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Stormhaven by Jordan L. Hawk

Reviewed by Heather C

18633099Title: Stormhaven
Author: Jordan L. Hawk
Series: Whyborne & Griffin #3
The Heroes: Percival Endicott Whyborne & Griffin Flaherty
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Paranormal
Length: 68, 140 words
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: December 3, 2013
Available at: Smashwords, Amazon, All Romance eBooksBarnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf at: GoodreadsBooklikes

Blurb: Mysterious happenings are nothing new to reclusive scholar Percival Endicott Whyborne, but finding one of his colleagues screaming for help in the street is rather unusual. Allan Tambling claims he can’t remember any of the last hour—but someone murdered his uncle, and Allan is covered in blood.

Whyborne’s lover, dashing ex-Pinkerton detective Griffin Flaherty, agrees to prove Allan’s innocence. But when Allan is deemed insane and locked away in the Stormhaven Lunatic Asylum, Griffin finds himself reliving the horrifying memories of his own ordeal inside a madhouse.

Along with their friend Christine, the two men become drawn deeper and deeper into a dark web of conspiracy, magic, and murder. Their only clue: a missing artifact depicting an unknown god. Who stole the artifact, and why can’t Allan remember what happened? And what is the truth behind the terrible experiments conducted on Stormhaven’s forbidden fourth floor?

It will take all of Whyborne’s sorcery and Griffin’s derring-do to stop the murderers and save Allan. But first, they must survive an even greater challenge: a visit from Griffin’s family. Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Shifter Week Review: Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Murder of Crows
Author: Anne Bishop
Series: The Others #2
Heroine/Hero: Meg Corbyn & Simon Wolfgard
Genre: M/F Urban Fantasy
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: March 4, 2014
Available at: PenguinAmazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb:After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murder of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard—Lakeside’s shape-shifting leader—wonders if their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or a future threat.

As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now, the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all. Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An Honorary Blogger Post: Shift it with Jackie Nacht + Giveaway

Honorary_Blogger_Nacht copy

TBG: Today’s Honorary Blogger Girl is Jackie Nacht, who has a lovely shifter series called Moon Compound that she’s here to talk about. So, everyone give her a warm welcome and we hope you enjoy what she has to say!

blogger_bee_trans

Shift it with Jackie Nacht

First I’d like to thank Blogger Girls for having me here today. Thank you!

I’m extremely excited to introduce you all to Moon Compound.

I knew when I started writing that I wanted to write a shifter series. I love paranormal and have always been fascinated by it. However, I also knew that if I didn’t bring something new to the table so to speak, that the series as a whole would be boring.

Therefore, I analyzed the procedure of the shift, what packs did for the individual and well…asked myself a lot of questions. Then I took my answers up a notch and threw a couple of rules out the window. I love breaking rules. LOL

In Moon Compound series, shifters take years to control their shift, hence the reason why they are locked up. Packs send their pre-transition twenty-two year olds to go live at the compound. It’s a little cross between a prison, since they are locked up on the full moon, and a home.  The pre-shifters will live there until they get control of their shift and with some shifters, it can take quite a few years. Medical staff is on hand to help them afterward, since shifts are extremely painful.

The other part of Moon Compound is that while it focuses strongly on a mated pair in each book, there is an underlying plot that carries from book to book. Each book reveals more to the plot and opens up the world.  That world involves their enemies, Hellhounds.

For those that have read some of my books, this is very different to my typical sweet and light writing. Moon Compound had a dark and gritty edge to it that flows throughout the series. My goal is to continue to surprise readers and give them a wild ride.

Again, thank you Blogger Girls for having me here today. Have a great week everyone. Hugs!

blogger_bee_trans

About Jackie:

Short, sexy and sweet—where a little love goes a long way.

That’s the best way to describe Jackie Nacht’s stories. I was introduced to M/M Romance through my sister, Stephani, and read it for years. Then, I thought it was time to put my own stories on paper. I began writing short and sweet stories that ended with a happily ever after…and sometimes more than one, in the case of my YA Fork in the Road series, which has interactive endings.

Thinking back to my own book addiction, where there were many nights I stayed up way too late so I could read just one more chapter—yeah, right—I decided to write short romances for young adults as well as adults. Hopefully, they will give high school and college students, or working men and women something they can read during their lunch hour, in between classes or just when they want to briefly get away from the daily stresses of everyday life.

You can find me on Facebook, Twitter and at my webpage: www.jackienacht.com.

blogger_bee_trans

Moon Compound Series:

Full Moon Lockdown (Moon Compound #1)

Blurb: Can surviving the horrors of the night lead Colin to find the one that was meant to love him and bring him back to the light?

Colin Brantford is an Omega wolf. When his pack is destroyed by hellhounds, he and his brother are transported to Moon Compound. There, Colin must enter into a world where all wolf shifters are sent to learn to shift. Two years prematurely.

Sloan Atwater has been at the compound for three years and still has no control of his wolf. That is until he spots Colin, making Sloan crave the slightest touch. Will he be able to claim Colin for his own? And when Colin needs Sloan, will he be able to control his wolf?

Available at Extasy Books.

blogger_bee_trans

Full Moon Feral (Moon Compound #2)

Blurb: With all great sacrifices for love, there must be consequences.

Brendan has been at Moon Compound and gone through his first shift. He feels like hell when his mate walks into his life in chains. Devastated that his mate is feral, he mourns for the mate he is bound to lose before he ever has him. Desperate not to lose his mate, he does something that will forever change his life. Will Brendan be able to save his feral?

Available at Extasy Books.

blogger_bee_trans

Full Moon Gamma (Moon Compound #3)

Blurb: When Rayce finds he has two paths before him, the unknown consequence is the only alternative to help the man he loves survive.

Rayce is sent on a recon mission to find out if hellhounds are in Lansing. What he discovers on his way is his mate, Peyton, has followed him into the very heart of danger.

Peyton has loved Rayce from the moment Rayce saved him. He knows he probably shouldn’t be following Rayce, but the instinct driving him to protect the man he has already fallen for causes him to go recklessly into the city. All is not as it seems, and Peyton will have to find strength to survive for not only himself but his mate and friends as well.

Available at Extasy Books.

You can also find Jackie’s other books on Extasy Books, MLR Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Barnes and Noble and Bookstrand.

Blog_Tour_Giveaway

Jackie Nacht is having an 8 week long blog tour to celebrate a few of her recent releases. In honor of that, she’s also hosting a blog tour giveaway! At the end of the tour, the giveaway will end so don’t waste time! Enter now but clicking on the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Don’t forget to check out Nikyta’s review of Full Moon Lockdown to see what she thought of it!

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

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT | Tags: , , , | 8 Comments

Halestorm Winner!

Halestorm

And the winner of an eBook copy of Halestorm by Mathew Ortiz is… Continue reading

Categories: Giveaways | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

Shifter Week Review: Full Moon Lockdown by Jackie Nacht

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Full Moon Lockdown
Author: Jackie Nacht
Series: Moon Compound #1
Heroes: Colin & Sloan
Genre: M/M Paranormal Romance
Length: 94 pages
Publisher: Extasy Books
Release Date: August 4, 2013 (approx.)
Available at: Extasy Books, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Can surviving the horrors of the night lead Colin to find the one that was meant to love him and bring him back to the light?

Colin Brantford is an Omega wolf. When his pack is destroyed by hellhounds, he and his brother are transported to Moon Compound. There, Colin must enter into a world where all wolf shifters are sent to learn to shift. Two years prematurely.

Sloan Atwater has been at the compound for three years and still has no control of his wolf. That is until he spots Colin, making Sloan crave the slightest touch. Will he be able to claim Colin for his own? And when Colin needs Sloan, will he be able to control his wolf? Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments