Saturday, June 30, 2018

New Release-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway: NOBODY ELSE'S by Nell Iris




Buy Links: 


Length: 20,000 words approx.
Publisher: JMS Books


Blurb

Mars enters Pisces, giving Beckett Cooper the opportunity to assert himself when it comes to a secret infatuation; his best friend's younger brother Levi. But can Beckett trust what's in front of him and be brave enough to take what he wants?

With Venus in Virgo, people usually become more reserved, but Levi Byrne always takes the opposite road of what's expected of him. So, instead of pulling back, he reaches out for a man he's been interested in for years; Beckett Cooper.

Is it the celestial bodies aligning to bring together two people destined for each other? Or is it a simple tale of boy meets boy, boy likes boy, and boy wants to kiss boy? Do Beckett and Levi even care, or are they too busy getting to know each other ... and falling in love?



Excerpt

“Beckett?”

The voice made my stomach jump and the corners of my mouth turn up even though I was so tired I’d thought I’d never smile again just a moment ago.

“Levi. Hi!” Stubble covered his face and he approached me with a spring in his step and a happy grin that made my heart pitter-patter in my chest. Oh gawd, he was cuter than ever. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

He threw his arm around my neck in a quick, one-armed hug. The heat of his body penetrated my cold soul, but before I had time to hug him back, he let go of me and stepped back. I missed his warmth instantly. I wanted more. I wanted to bury my nose in the crook of his neck and just stay there until this crappy day was gone and forgotten. Feel his hands on my back and his soothing breaths in my ear.

Sh*t. I swallowed around a lump that appeared in my throat. I had it bad.

“I’m here to get some celebratory ice cream. I finished my project on time, so I thought I’d treat myself.”

“Great job. Congratulations!”

“Thanks!” His eyes sparkled at me. “Are you getting ice cream, too?”

“No. I was trying to figure out what to eat for dinner. I can’t decide what sounds the least disgusting,” I said and picked up two depressing looking boxes. “Lasagna or pepperoni pizza?”

Levi drew his eyebrows together and then took both from me and threw them back into the freezer. “You can’t eat crap like that. It’s no good for you.”

“I know,” I sighed. “But my fridge is empty and I’m too tired to both shop for groceries and cook.”

He looked at me then, swept his gaze from head to toe. “You look exhausted. I’m sorry I didn’t notice earlier.”

“It’s fine.”

With an unconvinced look on his face, he asked, “Are you all right?”

“Yeah. Just tired. I had a terrible day at work.”

“I know all about those.” He sucked his lower lip into his mouth, letting his eyes flick over my face, taking in what I was sure was tired lines around my eyes and a mouth trying its best to smile. “I have an idea,” he said after a few moments. “What if I make you dinner? I’d need to borrow your kitchen of course, but if you feel like a homecooked meal ... I’m your guy.”

I drew a breath and held it. Blinked. “Are you serious?” I asked in a whooshing exhale.

“I am.”

“But what about your ice cream celebration?”

“It can wait.”

His kindness coupled with my fatigue choked me up. Half a second from bursting into tears, I asked, “Why?”

“Because you look like you need someone to take care of you.”

I couldn’t help it then. A tear escaped. I turned my face away and squeezed my eyes shut. A part of me wanted to turn and run away, hide my stupid sensitivity from him and not be the guy who cries in the grocery store aisle. But another part knew he could be trusted and even if I broke down completely here, he wouldn’t make fun of me.

“Then yes. Thank you,” I choked out.

Gentle fingers plucked the shopping basket from my grip. His other hand found it’s way to my nape and caressed me for a second. It was just a brief touch, but it gave me the strength to wipe away the tear and look at him again.


“Let’s go. I know just the thing.”


Carra's Review

Okay, you know when you read a romance story and you catch yourself saying “Awww…” a whole bunch while you’re reading?  That’s this book in a nutshell.  Levi and Beckett are so adorably cute both on their own and together, and this story was everything I needed to read right now.

This is a relatively quick read, but was still a satisfying and complete story.  Both Beckett and Levi go through the “I really think he’s cute and I like him” phase, but they also get to demonstrate to each other how considerate and thoughtful they each are when it comes to the other—and that’s even before they go on their first date!  It’s swoon-worthy and had me happy-sighing quite a bit.

Levi’s brother Matt—who is also Beckett’s best friend (so you’ve got the whole best friend’s brother/brother’s best friend situation going on)—is an interesting secondary character with his frankly oblivious attitude and stereotyping thoughts about those who are LGBT.  But he does support both his brother and Matt, and provides some laughs…even if they are annoyed laughs…with his penchant for talking in texting acronyms.  


This was a wonderfully sweet and uplifting story, with a bit of naughtiness peppered throughout in the form of some awesome daily horoscopes.  Nobody Else’s was a 5-star read for me, and I do highly recommend it.  I think once you read it you’ll Lima Oscar Victor Echo it as much as I did (you’ll need to read it to get that!); I know this is one I’ll be rereading in the future any time I want a pick-me-up.  As sweet as it is, it still is for readers 18+ for adult language, a splash of sexual content, and those delightfully naughty horoscopes.



About the Author

Nell Iris is a romantic at heart who believes everyone deserves a happy ending. She's a bona fide bookworm (learned to read long before she started school), wouldn't dream of going anywhere without something to read (not even the ladies' room), loves music (and singing along but, let's face it, she's no Celine Dion), and is a real Star Trek nerd ("Make it so"). She loves words, poetry, wine, and Sudoku, and absolutely adores elephants!

Nell believes passionately in equality for all regardless of race, gender, or sexuality, and wants to make the world a better, less hateful, place.

Nell is a forty-something bisexual Swedish woman, married to the love of her life, and a proud mama of a grown daughter. She left the Scandinavian cold and darkness for warmer and sunnier Malaysia a few years ago, and now spends her days writing, surfing the Internet, enjoying the heat, and eating good food. One day she decided to chase her lifelong dream of being a writer, sat down in front of her laptop, and wrote a story about two men falling in love.

Nell Iris writes gay romance, prefers sweet over angst, and wants to write diverse and different characters.



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Friday, June 29, 2018

Review, Excerpt & Giveaway: DANIEL-The Third Legacy by RJ Scott



Buy Links: 

Now available in Kindle Unlimited

Length: 51,000 words approx
Cover Design: Meredith Russell

Legacy Series

Kyle - The First Legacy - Amazon US | Amazon UK
Gabriel - The Second Legacy - Amazon US | Amazon UK


Blurb

Daniel worked hard at college, using coping strategies to shut himself off from any situation that might hurt. But, persistent nightmares and fears for his future drive him to revisit the past. Now Legacy might be the only place to give him a chance at peace.

After the tragic loss of his parents, Corey is head of the family now, and the welfare of his three younger sisters are what matters the most. Corey is desperate to find Daniel, tell him the truth and somehow convince him to keep secrets. Even if this leads to heartbreak.

When the world crumbles around Corey, and Daniel is running scared, Legacy ranch is their only hope.

A new story set in the world of Jack and Riley Campbell-Hayes and the Double D Ranch, Texas.



Excerpt


Chapter 1

Eight years ago

I want to go home.

Daniel Chandler trudged miserably down the long black ribbon of road, tears burning his eyes, and hopelessness tightening his chest. The heat of an August Texas day had subsided to a slightly cooler evening, and the sky was a brilliant mass of stars, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up at them anymore.

How had everything gone this badly wrong? Brett had promised that he would take Daniel somewhere far away from his foster family, but one weird question from an inquisitive cashier at a gas station and Brett had panicked. He’d refused to go any further, and said he was going home.

Daniel didn’t want to go back to San Antonio. He wanted freedom, and the ability to decide for himself where his life was going. He’d overheard his foster parents talking about how he was a liability; that he costed them more than they made, and he knew it was only a matter of time before they got rid of him anyway.

So he refused to leave with Brett and got out of the car.

Brett didn’t care, and he drove away, leaving Daniel stranded.

Daniel kicked a stone, stumbling a little when he misjudged the curve of the road. He’d eaten the cereal bars that Brett had tossed him and used up all the water. Which left him in the heat, without food or drink, and carrying a backpack with limited clothes. He also had books—his favorites, and a wallet which contained nothing more than a couple of hundred dollars he’d saved from his gardening job. The only official thing he had in the bag was his ID.

He’d left his most recent home at six-thirty a.m., with no real idea of where he was going or what he was doing, only knowing he wasn’t going to spend another minute in a house where he wasn’t wanted.

Hunching his shoulders against the weight of his backpack, he carried on. Sometimes he hummed to a song in his head. Other times he counted the steps he took, but most of the time he stared ahead, not counting or humming at all.

A car pulled up alongside him. No, a truck, and at first his heart leaped. Brett was back. He’d changed his mind and returned to help Daniel.

A female voice called out. “Can we give you a lift somewhere?” she asked through the open window.

Daniel saw she wasn’t much older than he was, long blonde hair swept up into a ponytail, her smile wide, her expression kind. A man sat in the driver’s seat, but he was in the shadows, and at first, Daniel couldn’t make out his face until he leaned forward. The first thing Daniel noticed was the dog collar, then the same kindly smile as the girl. They were clearly related, both fair, with light eyes and an angular balance to their features.

“Hello, young man. My daughter and I are heading to Laredo. Would you like us to take you?”

He smiled at Daniel, this man in black with the white collar. This was an average family. They probably thought he was a hitchhiker and were offering genuine help. If Daniel couldn’t trust a man of the cloth traveling with his daughter, then who could he trust? He scanned the road behind him, waiting for Brett to suddenly appear and pick him up, but he was tired, hungry, and verging on desperate.

“Thank you.” Daniel opened the back door. He’d never hitchhiked before, didn’t know what the etiquette was, but he felt like he should offer to pay. “I can cover gas,” he said.

“No need for that,” the dad said and extended a hand awkwardly over the seat, which Daniel shook. “Father Frank Martins and this is my daughter Andrea.”

Andrea glanced back at him and grinned again. “Hey.”

“Daniel,” Daniel replied, as mute as usual around a girl as he was with boys. She turned back to the front, and Frank put the truck in drive.

“Buckle up,” he said.

Daniel did as he was told. Then settled back for the ride.

“Where are you from?” Frank asked after a few moments of silence, filled only with the soft sound of tires on blacktop.

“San Antonio,” Daniel answered.

“Really? What brings you this far south?”

Andrea shushed her dad, “Stop asking him questions, Daddy.”

Her dad huffed a gentle laugh. “Sorry.” He used the mirror to see Daniel. “You like music?”

Daniel nodded, thankful to Andrea for running interference.

Frank fiddled with the stereo. Country music filled the cab, and Frank hummed along. Andrea was on her phone, as evidenced by the glow of light as screens changed, and Daniel regretted leaving his phone at home. In his mad, stupid, anger, he’d wanted no way for his foster parents to keep tabs on him, but right now, he kind of wished he could phone them. He should pluck up the courage and ask Andrea to borrow hers. Maybe give his foster-parents a quick call, apologize, get them to pick him up, or at least arrange a bus.

They would help him. He didn’t doubt that. Even if he’d been an idiot and they wanted to hand him off to the next family, they would never leave a fourteen year old kid stranded miles from home.

“You thirsty?” Frank asked, and before Daniel could answer, Frank had unlocked the glove box and pulled out a bottle of water, passing it back to Daniel.

He took it with grateful thanks and downed a third of it in thirsty gulps. They reached the outskirts of a small town, and the car slowed to a stop outside a cookie-cutter house, a pretty place with manicured lawns.

Andrea turned around to look at Daniel.

“This is where I get out,” she announced. “Nice to meet you, Daniel.”

I thought they were both going on to Laredo?

Frank turned around as well. “I can take you all the way into the city. It’s only another ten minutes or so to the bus station or somewhere like that? A hostel?”

“I’m not sure—”

Frank interrupted, “Or you could stay the night here or a motel. We have one a few blocks down from here.”

Andrea shut the door and jogged up to the house, vanishing inside.

“Could I just borrow your phone?” Daniel asked.

Frank smiled, nodded, and pulled out his phone, tutting as he did so. “Oh my, the phone’s dead. You want to use my house phone? Or shall I just get you to the city? The bus station, right? They have public phones there.”

So many decisions. So many difficult choices, he thought and yawned.

“Yeah.” Daniel just wanted to get home.

“Yeah, what?” Frank prompted.

Daniel blinked at him. He was tired, and everything felt kind of hazy. “Yeah, home.” Back to his pretend parents and his pretend family, but back to a warm bed.

“Come on. Get in the front here.”

Daniel did as he was told, his limbs feeling heavy, and his coordination shit. Finally, he was belted in the front, and he closed his eyes briefly, exhaustion washing over him.

“That’s a good boy,” Frank murmured. “You sleep now.”

The country music got quieter, Frank’s humming was louder, and the journey to the city took a long time, the car swaying, and Daniel’s head thicker, full of softness and a weird kind of peace. He saw fields and signs, but none of them made any sense. Finally, he couldn’t fight the overwhelming lethargy, so he slept.

And woke up in hell.



Carra's Review

This third book in the series tells Daniel’s story, and in doing so brings the series full circle while bringing closure to the shared history of the boys—now men—that were affected so profoundly by what happened to them when they younger.

Daniel is a pretty amazing person, struggling to come back from his past abuse to work so hard to get his education and make something of himself.  His strength shows with how he gets himself through every day in a world where he is never sure he can trust anyone.  His attitude can be brash and defensive at times, a product of his history.

Corey was leading a pretty normal, happy life until his parents died and everything began to fall apart.  As information comes to light that might tarnish his family, he goes through a lot emotionally in his desperation to make things right while keeping his family protected from the past possibly coming back to haunt them.

Corey and Daniel don’t get off to a great start, and at first it seems that they’d be an unlikely matchup.  In his need to try and make reparation for things that happened in the past (though they were not his own fault), he repeatedly makes things worse instead…much to his continued distress.  The road for these two is slow, but eventually things do become more comfortable between them as they develop a bond.

The drama of the story comes from bringing up the events of the past as the information Corey discovers begins to come out.  It brings all the guys together—Kyle, Gabriel, Liam and Daniel—as they find out the final pieces to what happened all those years ago, and deal with that knowledge.  As I said, it brings everything full circle and completes their stories.


I thought this was a great story to conclude the series, and it was a 4.5-star read for me.  There is mention of some of the disturbing events of the past and Daniel’s abuse, and that along with the adult language and some sexual content make this book one for readers 18+.



About The Author

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

RJ is the author of the over one hundred novels and discovered romance in books at a very young age. She realized that if there wasn't romance on the page, she could create it in her head, and is a lifelong writer.

She lives and works out of her home in the beautiful English countryside, spends her spare time reading, watching films, and enjoying time with her family.

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


Email RJ - Goodreads Page - RJ's Blog - RJ on Twitter - Facebook - Library Thing Page - Tumblr (some NSFW (not safe for work) photos) - Pinterest


Thursday, June 28, 2018

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: LOST IN INDIGO by V.L. Locey (Colors of Love #1)




Cover Design: Designs By Sloan
Length: 70,695 words 


Blurb

Mathieu Beresford was so close to seeing his dream come true.

The thirty-eight-year-old captain of the Buffalo Surge had led his team to the final round of the playoffs with his aggressive defensive play and leadership. During the first game of the championship series, he was taken down, and his leg snapped upon impact with the boards. From his hospital bed, Mathieu watched his team go on to win it all.


Adrift in anger, resentment, and the new direction of his life, he returns to his mansion along the St. Lawrence River. Alone and sulking, Mathieu is not prepared for Indigo Neu to enter his life. The genderflux twenty-year-old botany major signs on to play nursemaid, confidant, and groundskeeper over the summer and slowly leads Mathieu out of his confusion––one tender smile and touch at a time.

The deeper Mathieu falls, the more he wonders if being lost might not be so bad after all.



About the Author

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, Dr. Who, Torchwood, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, two Jersey steers and a flock of assorted domestic fowl.

When not writing lusty tales, she can be found enjoying her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in hand.






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New Release-Review: RIDE ME by Rebecca Brooke (Jaded Ivory #2)


Ride Me
Series: Jaded Ivory
Author: Rebecca Brooke
Genre: M/M Romance
Release Date: June 28, 2018






 Regret. I’m a man living with regret. It eats at me night and day. 


Eights years ago, I ran from Reagan instead of facing the music. I was sure he would shut me out if he knew the truth, so I beat him to the punch. I left and never looked back.

Or at least I tried not to.

To this day, Reagan is always in the back of my mind, trying to make me remember the fun we had. I always wonder what he would have thought if I’d told him everything. 

The regret echoes in my head.

Now he’s standing in front of me, looking for answers I doubt he’s ready for.

Can Reagan accept me for who I really am?









The combination of a rockstar romance, a version of second chance, and coming out for both main characters made Ride Me a strong draw for me as a fan of M/M romance. This is the first book I’ve read from this author, and though it is the second book in the Jaded Ivory series, I can definitely say you do not have to read the first book in order to enjoy this one; Ride Me stands on its own just fine.

There is a solid cast of characters here, not just the main ones, but with the rest of the band members and both Reagan and Sawyer’s parents as well. I do give a lot of credit to Reagan—he comes across as remarkably nonplussed as his feelings toward Sawyer come to light, ready to explore those feelings, and fully supportive of Sawyer. It’s a bit surprising how easily he steps into the relationship considering he’s never had any inkling of attraction to a man…which does give this story a gay-for-you edge even if at some point he begins to consider himself bisexual.

I adored Sawyer, and understood why he made the choices he did to stay closeted and to take off without telling Reagan years ago…though I might not have agreed with that particular choice. There was also a point near the end of the story where Sawyer makes a decision and does something that I was not happy about—something that is a real pet peeve of mine in any romance story (sorry for the tease, but telling you would be a big spoiler…so you’ll have to find out on your own!). But those things aside, I really did like his character, and I was truly happy for him and Reagan as I watched their relationship develop.

There are some points that are predictable, and some that frustrated me (what I just mentioned with Sawyer), but overall Ride Me was a good read and one that I would recommend. 3.5 stars from me, and the author does have me intrigued about the other band members and their stories. This book is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and sexual content.







Rebecca Brooke grew up in the shore towns of South Jersey. Writing has always been a love for her, as well as reading. She loves to hit the beach, but always with her kindle on hand. She is married to the most wonderful man, who puts up with all of her craziness. Together they have two beautiful children who keep her on her toes. Rebecca is the author of contemporary, new adult, and paranormal romance.





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