New Release-Excerpt & Giveaway: A TASTE OF DANGER: A Subparheroes book by Morgan Brice

A Taste of Danger: A Subparheroes book

by Morgan Brice

Publisher: Darkwind Press

Cover Artist: Dianne Thies

Release Date: September 5, 2024

Pairing: MM

Tense/POV: third person, past tense, alternating POV.

Genres: Romance, Mystery/suspense, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

Tropes: Superhero with minor psychic abilities, odd superhero employment agency, craft brewer, secret agent, shifters, supernatural mobsters, fish out of water, small town

Themes: Learning to trust, balancing love and career

Heat Rating: 4 flames    

Length: 65 000 words

It is a standalone book and does end on a cliffhanger.

It’s part of a multi-author, shared world series Subparheroes, and it also connects to my Fox Hollow series. 

Goodreads

Buy Links - Available in Kindle Unlimited

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An unlikely rookie superhero and a dog shifter beer enthusiast team up to stop a nefarious supernatural plot.

Blurb

Food reviewer Scott Dixon didn’t just lose his job—he started getting premonitions linked to random tastes, a new ability he’s not sure how to manage. When an interview lands him a position using his visions to help people and stop criminals, Scott finds himself chasing bootleggers who create beverages specially formulated to control people with psychic abilities. The trail leads to upstate New York, where he meets a sexy craft brewer who takes his breath away, but might be more than he appears, testing Scott’s trust.

Craft brewer and Belgian Malinois shifter Gage Merrick never fit in with his law enforcement family. He loves beer and spent years developing brews designed to taste good to different types of shifters. When he meets Scott, sparks fly. But Gage’s passion for paranormally optimized beverages raises Scott’s suspicions, threatening their chance at happiness.

Will Gage be the love of Scott’s life, or will their affair leave a bitter aftertaste?

A Taste for Danger is a feel-good paranormal super-powered hero MM romance romp filled with secret agents, found family, good beer, quirky humor, sexy shifters, soulful psychics, and supernatural skullduggery!

This book is part of the multi-author MM Romance SubParHeroes series and is also linked to the Fox Hollow series.

Excerpt

“Ninety-nine, one hundred,” Scott Dixon counted out loud as he checked two more failed job applications off his spreadsheet. He sighed and took a drink of his now cold coffee. “Maybe one hundred and one is the charm.”

Getting laid off from his job as a food reviewer for Taste of the Rainbow magazine, which specialized in reviewing LGBTQ-owned and friendly restaurants, was bad enough. Receiving the notice via text two weeks ago was doubly awful.

Dear Scott—

We regret to inform you that due to declining advertising revenue, your position as a full-time food reviewer has been cut. You are free to re-apply to submit work-for-hire articles on an ad hoc basis at our freelance rate. Your keycard and network access have been deactivated. The contents of your desk and cubicle will be boxed and mailed to you. If you had personal items elsewhere, please let us know, and we will include them in the box. Please do not return to the office as you will not be permitted to enter. We wish you well in your new endeavors.

Since Scott had been in charge of hiring freelancers, he knew how their rate compared to his salary. Even if I freelanced the whole damn magazine issue, it wouldn’t pay what I’ve been making. He muttered several extremely impolite descriptions of his former boss as he got up to refill his cup. “Text messaging toadie. ’Fraidy cat f*cker. Anti-social asshole.”

To add insult to injury, his car needed repairs, putting a dent in his emergency stash. The unexpected expense of buying a new shirt and jacket for in-person interviews drained his funds further, even though he had found them at a consignment store.

Scott cut every subscription except his e-book and inventoried his cupboards and freezer for cheap meals so he could skip grocery shopping. Despite that, and even if he picked up some other freelance gigs to tide himself over, he couldn’t go more than a couple more weeks without a real job.

Scott didn’t want to sleep in his car or beg friends to let him couch surf, but that possibility loomed large unless something showed up real soon. He had less than thirty dollars in his wallet, and there wasn’t enough left on his credit card to pay rent.

A fast-food gig wouldn’t pay the rent, and it would eat up time I could use to job hunt. He hated the idea of pawning any of his gaming equipment—that was a last resort.

His phone rang, and he didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”

“Scott Dixon? This is April from SPAM. We received your resume and are very impressed. I’m calling to offer you a full-time, salaried position with very generous health benefits and paid vacation. We’d like you to start immediately, and there’s a signing bonus to ease your relocation to Albany.” She named the salary and bonus. Scott nearly swooned at the amount, a hefty upgrade from his most recent salary.

“SPAM?” Scott’s mind whirled, trying to remember if he had sent a resume to Hormel. Even if he hadn’t, he had heard good things, and the offer had everything he needed. “Albany? I mean, yes, thank you. Sure. I just need to pack. Thank you.”

“How quickly can you come for orientation? We have a project we’d like you to head, and it needs someone to take over in a few weeks.”

“I can be in Albany in two days, just need to wrap up some things here in Rochester.” Scott was still reeling from the sudden reversal of fortune. “Can you please send me something in writing?” he remembered to ask, wary because he had heard about hiring scams.

“Of course,” April said. “I’ll have a confirmation letter out to you this afternoon. Congratulations, and welcome to SPAM.”

Scott stared at his phone for a few minutes after April hung up. I have a job—and a raise. I’m moving to Albany. Holy sh*t—I’ve got a job!

About the Author

  

Morgan Brice is the romance pen name of bestselling author Gail Z. Martin. Morgan writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance, with plenty of action, adventure and supernatural thrills to go with the happily ever after. Gail writes epic and urban fantasy, with less romance, more explosions.

All of the modern-day Morgan Brice and Gail Z. Martin series crossover, so characters from one series appear in cameos and on page in important secondary roles in books from other series. Each book can be read as a standalone, but the more you read the more the expanded universe of friendships and connections becomes clear. 

Morgan and Gail believe that paranormal elements make any story even better, and her worlds are full of ghosts, psychics, shifters, creatures, vampires, monster hunters, and magic. 

She's also a huge fan of the TV show Supernatural. (Chibi art by Kamidiox)

Author Links

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Review, Excerpt & Giveaway: IN STRANGE WOODS by Claire Cray

In Strange Woods

by Claire Cray

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: August 28, 2020

Cover Artist: Sneaky T 

Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romantic Mystery, M/M Gothic Romance

Trope/s: Instant attraction, Hurt comfort, Tortured protagonist, Family secret, Long lost relative, Country boy/City boy, Rural romance, Fish out of water 

Themes: Healing, Found family, Redemption, Heritage, Belonging, Homecoming

Heat Rating:  3 - 4 flames 

Length: 71 370 words /204 pages

It is a standalone book.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links - Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US  |   Amazon UK 

 

In the stormy coastal woods of the Pacific Northwest, 

roots run deep and passions run wild.

Blurb

Reeling with grief after the mysterious massacre of his wealthy family, moody New York photographer James Worthington Crane decides to take his downward spiral somewhere far away: to the rural Oregon Coast, where he’s just inherited a random piece of property hidden somewhere in the woods upriver.

But when James pulls into the decaying seaside town of Brooks, everyone thinks he’s someone else—an elusive local outlaw named Beau. Now James must fight through his grief to unravel a tangled web of family secrets and forgotten history...with help from a soft-spoken local hunk named Hunter Quaid.

Hunter’s been on his own since he left his fundamentalist family at the age of fifteen. It’s taken years of hard work to build the steady life he has now, fixing up seaside houses while living alone in a trailer by the river. Then James blows in like a winter storm, disturbing the peace and stirring up a hunger like nothing he's ever felt.

As Hunter helps James search for the truth, their lives intertwine in unexpected ways—and they begin to discover what it means to find out where you really belong.

Excerpt

Hunter pulled his truck into one of the slanted parking spaces along the Brooks sea wall and turned off the ignition, cutting off Bobbie Gentry in the middle of ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ to let the roar of the waves take over. It was windy out, and he took a second to rake his dark-blond hair into a stubby ponytail at the nape of his neck before getting out of the truck.

His work boots hit the asphalt with a heavy thud, and he strolled over to the rustic stone barricade to look out at the dark ocean. A wave immediately exploded up in front of him, white foam fanning out and dissolving like a burst of fireworks, and he filled his lungs with the sharp, salty air. It never got old, no matter how many times he came here. None of it did, though. Not the trees, the rivers, the sunsets, the storms. This rugged little chunk of the coast had been his most consistent, and sometimes his only, source of joy since the first summer his parents dropped him off at his grandma’s place upriver, where he now lived alone.

Today had been long as hell, but satisfying. He was in the middle of renovating a beautiful midcentury house on Cedar Crest, a wooded cliffside high up on the north edge of town. It was the biggest project he’d ever landed since striking out on his own as a contractor, and it was turning out to be a dream come true. The owner was some Portland banker who didn’t give a sh*t what he did as long as he stayed within budget, and Hunter relished the freedom to make actual design choices.

Matter of fact, life was pretty good these days, wasn’t it? Business was good, anyway, and that was a lot. Yeah. Steady work with nobody telling him what to do, a place to sleep by the river, all the ocean air he wanted every day…what more could he ask for? There was a time when he wouldn’t have dared to dream so—

A car alarm went off suddenly, jarring him from his thoughts, and he turned his head. Several seagulls were scattering noisily from the sea wall near a black hatchback several spaces away, its horn blasting and lights flashing. He couldn’t see what had set it off. A nosy gull, maybe, or the splash of a wave. At any rate, that wrapped up his relaxing after-work sit by the ocean.

But just as he was about to turn back to his truck, the driver’s side door of the hatchback clunked open and slowly creaked ajar.

Hunter watched, intrigued, as a hand slipped out through the crack, followed by an arm, and then a mop of wavy dark hair. Then, to his amazement, an entire tall, slim man slid out onto the pavement, pooling there in a tangle of long limbs and dark clothing.

The alarm was still making a ruckus. The man groaned low and rolled to his side, wrestling with himself for a moment before yanking a key fob out of his back pocket. He jabbed it toward the car several times until the alarm stopped, then fell on his back with an unintelligible mutter. Just then, a big wave spouted over the wall and showered him with seawater.

Hunter winced sympathetically. Hell of a place to be drunk off your ass. Dude definitely wasn’t from around here. He looked about Hunter’s age, stylish in a cool, classic kind of way. Black jeans, black boots, battered brown leather jacket. Nothing flashy, but obviously outside the local dress code of Carhartts, hooded sweatshirts, and rain gear. Hunter couldn’t help admiring the long lines of the stranger’s body, his carelessly tousled hair.

With a shake of his head and a soft sigh, he turned his gaze back toward the ocean again. Life was good, and all. He loved it here. So what if it wasn’t overflowing with romantic options for a quiet gay man with a taste for tall, slim guys dressed like drifters from the 1960s? No one got to have it all.

Life is good, he told himself stubbornly. Life is fine. Life’s going just great.

The sound of an approaching engine made him glance back over his shoulder, and suddenly he sprang into motion before he could think.

The drunk man was staggering onto the highway, his dark silhouette backlit by the high beams of a log truck that was roaring around the bend.

Another half-second would have been too late. The driver didn’t even seem to see them. The air from the passing truck threw him off balance as he yanked the drunken dumbass out of the road, and they both fell back on the pavement.

“You okay?” Hunter asked breathlessly.

   

  

Carra's Review

I’m normally not much of a mystery book reader, but something about this story caught my eye and said “read me”…and I’m really glad I did.  Yes, there was a bit of a mystery revolving around the murder of James’s family, along with the mystery of whoever in the small town to which he escapes that everyone there seems to think he is.  But more prevalent—at least for me—was the hurt/comfort theme of James trying to cope with the murders, and Hunter offering that comfort which James so desperately needs.

I was hooked from the start, and both James and Hunter’s characters were so easy to become attached to with every page read.  I can’t imagine the pain James was going through.  Then to add on top of that the unknown person in town for whom he apparently is a dead ringer?  The weight on his shoulders was massive.  Hunter though is the perfect balm for all of this, and is everything James needs—and not just in the moment.

As the intrigue with his lookalike comes to the forefront, it opens up so much more about his family.  I do admit—I was worried at first.  And while I did figure things out before they were revealed in the story, getting to that reveal was a treat.

As for James and Hunter together, everything about them just clicks…and don’t even get me started on their incredible chemistry physically.  It will have you rooting for them to stay together permanently just like I was.

In Strange Woods was an overall 4.5-star read for me.  This was the first book I’ve read by this author, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from her in the future.  This story is meant for readers 18+ for adult language, sexual content, and some gruesome descriptions of the murders of James’s family.

About the Author 

Claire Cray writes gay romance featuring hot, complicated men in weird situations. Offbeat and character-driven with a gothic bent, her work has been described as deeply atmospheric and a little bit strange.

Born and raised in the rural Pacific Northwest, Claire takes inspiration from its rich, moody vibes: the ancient forests, rugged coastlines, eccentric characters, and whispers of dark mystery in even the tiniest little towns. Combine all that with steamy sensuality and psychological drama, and you've got a story by Claire Cray.

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Spotlight-Excerpts & Giveaway: The MAGGIE Series by Mya O'Malley

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by Ryan Jo Summers

Spotlight: HALLOWEEN IS MURDER by Carolyn Arnold (McKinley Mysteries #11)-Includes Excerpt & Message from the Author!

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New Release: HALLOWEEN IS MURDER by Carolyn Arnold-Includes Excerpt & Author Interview!

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New Release-Excerpt & Giveaway: LOVE AT FIRST CREPE by Heidi Renee Mason

HAPPY RELEASE DAY

Who knew a delicious crepe, a kung fu attack, and an unexpected love could create such mayhem?

LOVE AT FIRST CREPE

Heidi Renee Mason

Genre: Humorous Romantic Mystery
Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing
Publication Date: July 22, 2017

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In Heidi Renee Mason's humorous romantic mystery, an easygoing chef soon discovers life can become complicated when you're falling in lust and foiling murder plots.

Born into the wealthy Simpson family, free-spirited, accident-prone Willow is determined to make her own way in life. Her greatest joy is her food truck, The Dancing Crêpe.  Baking is her one true passion, and she is content to keep it that way. Love and romance have never been on her agenda, but she suddenly finds herself in the middle of a deliciously decadent love triangle. With two gorgeous men vying for her attention, she vows to keep her distance from both of them, but the tantalizing chemistry is hard to ignore.

Willow would be living the sweet life if it weren't for her young, beautiful, gold-digging stepmother, Elizabeth, who is nothing but a nagging thorn in her side. She is determined to save her oblivious father from his bad choices, and hopes to add Elizabeth to the long line of ex-step-mothers. Unfortunately, it seems that someone wants to get rid of Willow instead. One crazy night changes everything, and Willow's life is turned upside down. Between thwarting her own murder plot, keeping her divinely tasty admirers at bay, and trying to stay on the good side of her finicky cat, Omelet, Willow's plate is full. With far too many cooks in the kitchen, will she be able to stay alive long enough to figure out who wants to kill her?

Purchase Links

Available now. Grab your copy today.

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An Excerpt from the Book

Take an inside look at Love At First Crepe. Read this sizzling excerpt from the book.

Unfortunately, my sense of self-preservation seemed to be on vacation. I was completely frozen in fear, unable to move for what seemed like years. The giant didn't move either, and I wondered why. Strangely enough, he seemed just as surprised as I was that he was in my living room. We looked at each other, his beady eyes visible through the holes of his ski mask. The synapses in my brain finally began to fire, and I jumped into action, kicking the intruder as hard as I could in the groin. He groaned in pain and clumsily took a swipe at me with the knife as he sank to his knees.

I rolled out of his path and jumped swiftly to my feet. Unfortunately, the maneuver didn't work exactly as I planned. I lost my towel in the process and was startled to remember that I was completely naked underneath. My lack of clothing was the least of my worries. I had far bigger fish to fry.

I darted into the kitchen and ducked behind the counter. He rose slowly and lumbered toward me. Think, Willow, think!

The man was huge, larger than any human I'd ever seen. I made a quick mental note that his terrifying size might also work against him. Conversely, I was small and quick, and I was determined to use these things to my advantage. I didnít have much else. As he drew close to me, I sprinted back into the living room. Until I figured out what to do next, I had to stay out of his way.

To be honest, I didn't have much to offer in the strength department, and I fleetingly wished that I would have paid more attention to weight training at some point in my life. There was no time for regrets at that moment though, so I took quick stock of what I could use to fight back. There was a large paperweight on the table in the foyer. If I could get to that, I could smash him in the head with it. Of course, if I managed to get that far, I'd be better off running out the front door. I thought about my ballet classes and made a list of moves I could use for self-defense. Granted, it wasn't much, but it was all I had.

A grand battement might do the trick. I could bring my foot right up to his face and take him out, with my toes perfectly pointed of course. Given his size though, I doubted if my foot would reach that far. I groaned, wishing I had some martial arts experience instead. Ballet wasn't exactly famous for its self-defense tactics, but it would have to do. Rich girls weren't brought up to fight intruders. That's what Dad paid the bodyguards to do.

I jumped behind the couch, thankful that there was at least a large piece of furniture between me and the colossus. I was hopeful that one of my neighbors might overhear the altercation, although I knew that was a long shot. I could die there and no one would know until some unlucky neighbor smelled my rotting flesh from the hallway.

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About Heidi Renee Mason

Heidi Renee Mason is an Ohio girl transplanted into the Pacific Northwest. She is a home schooling mom of three daughters, wife of one mail man, and a people-watching introvert who can be found hiding in the nearest corner. She is an Amazon International Best-selling author and writer of your next happily ever after.

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