Two Chicks Obsessed with Books & Eye Candy

Sharing our love of M/M Romance

Dantès Unglued by Jocelynn Drake and Rinda Elliott: Double Release Day Review, Excerpt and Giveaway

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When private investigator, Shane Stephens, is hired by the mayor of Cincinnati to track down the hacker who has been threatening him, Shane is sure this is the opportunity to launch the Merleau Detection Agency into the big time. He even convinces Rowe Ward of Ward Security to loan him one of his best IT specialists, Quinn Lake.

Shane, a man who prefers casual intimacy, is surprised by his attraction to the moody computer geek, but when Quinn suggests they have fun for the month he’s on loan, Shane happily agrees. Both men are expecting nothing more than a good time.

But the investigation takes an unexpected turn and they quickly discover they are facing more than a hacker out to ruin the mayor’s re-election chances. And as they spend more time together, they realize their relationship may be a lot more than just a good time.

With only weeks until the election, Shane and Quinn race to gather the proof they need while dodging bullets and possibly…falling in love.

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After one quick knock on Rowe’s door, he stepped inside without waiting for him to call since he was already expected. But he stopped short when he saw the tall man standing next to Rowe’s desk, his hands on his slender hips as he grinned down at Rowe. Quinn couldn’t stop his eyes from quickly sweeping over his broad shoulders and chest that tapered into a narrow waist. His eyes snapped back up to find a pair of brown eyes that twinkled as they finished checking him out as well.

“Sorry,” Quinn mumbled, instantly taking a step backward. “I can come back.” Rowe rarely saw clients. He had customer representatives that handled talking to the clients. Of course, with Rowe’s lack of a filter, it was better if he didn’t talk to the new clients directly.

“No, come in, Quinn,” Rowe said sharply. He stood behind his desk, drawing Quinn’s gaze to his shorter but broader frame. His dark red hair stood up slightly as if he’d been running his fingers through it. Quinn never took that as a particularly good sign.

With a quick jerk of his head, Quinn stepped in and shut the door behind him. The other man was smiling at him, that assessing look still in his eyes, and Quinn didn’t want to think about the fact that he was dying to take another longer look at him, but not with the freaking boss in the room.

“Quinn Lake, this is Shane Stephens. He’s a private investigator with The Merleau Detection Agency,” Rowe introduced.

Shane extended his hand to Quinn and Quinn clenched his teeth, trying to hide his discomfort at taking Shane’s hand. His own palms were sweaty, making the momentary contact awkward. Why the fuck was he always so damn awkward around hot guys?

“Rowe tells me you’re the best,” Shane said, releasing his hand.

Quinn couldn’t help the skeptical look he shot at Rowe, who only shrugged as he sat down again. “Well, I said you and Gidget are the best.”

“Is this about a job?”

“Sit, Quinn.” Rowe absently waved toward the two chairs in front of his desk. He shuffled some papers around without seeming to actually look at them, placing them in piles at the edge of his desk.

Shooting one last uncertain look at Shane, Quinn moved to the farthest chair and sat, his tablet clenched in both hands. His mind raced as he tried to figure out why he’d been called into this meeting. Clients didn’t meet with Rowe, and Quinn didn’t meet with clients unless they’d already been assigned a bodyguard. And while they’d worked with some private investigators in the past, Rowe wasn’t usually involved. He had a company to run.

“Shane recently acquired a client who is the victim of a hacker,” Rowe started.

Quinn looked up at Shane, who was still standing beside Rowe’s desk, his mind finally turning away from too many questions to a problem he could understand. “Identity theft? Bank accounts drained?”

“No, not yet.” Shane shook his head, some of his dark curly hair falling forward against his temple. “At least, not that we’ve uncovered.”

“Then how do you know this client was hacked?”

“There are other signs…but I can’t go into it.”

Quinn frowned for a second. That certainly wasn’t going to make his job easier. “Well, do you just need improved protection? Alerts on accounts? We’ve got a comprehensive list of things we can do to help shore up the client’s account protection and privacy.”

“Shane isn’t looking for protection from the hacker for the client.” Rowe paused until Quinn looked back at him. “His client has hired him to track down the identity of the hacker.”

“Whoa…” Quinn said on an exhale, sitting back in his chair. That…that was not an easy task. Most hackers were pretty damn good at not being found. You had to be if you wanted to survive as one. If you sucked, you were usually snagged by the FBI pretty damn fast. Quinn would know. He’d started hacking at a young age—not stealing other people’s money but just breaking through security systems because he could. It took the feds a solid five years to catch him. But his boss knew all this. Rowe knew everything about the people working for him.

“We’re not equipped to handle this level of…” Shane frowned at Rowe’s computer as if he blamed it for his problems. “Well, we’re not staffed yet to handle computer things like this. I can do some of the forensic research in accounting matters, but I need a computer genius like you.”

“That’s why I agreed to loan you to Shane and his business partner, Ethan, for one month,” Rowe announced.

Quinn was out of his seat in a shot, hovering over the edge of the desk as he looked down at his boss. Pain shot through his chest, and he was suddenly having trouble catching his breath. Panic clouded all of his thoughts. He loved working for Ward Security. He’d been there for just less than two years, and he’d never found another place where he’d felt like he fit so damn perfectly. This was home. These people he worked with, they were his friends. He didn’t have to hide or pretend or feel uncomfortable.

And Rowe…Rowe had always been amazing. Sure, he could be cranky and a little crazy. He was always loud and tended to speak before thinking. But Quinn always knew exactly where he stood with Rowe. He always felt like Rowe had his back.

But this…

“Are you getting rid of me?”

“What?” Rowe snapped. “Where the fuck did you get that idea?”

“You’re hiring another IT person. I saw the listing. And this? Putting me ‘on loan’?”

Rowe groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. With a heavy sigh, he pointed back at the chair Quinn had just vacated. “Sit.” Grudgingly, Quinn followed direction while Rowe looked over at Shane. “Can you give us a minute?”

Sigh….I love this series.

In this one, we have Quinn… very cute, shy and insecure IT nerd who works for Ward security, and Shane, who works for a fairly new start-up PI company who’s been hired by the mayor or Ohio.

Someone’s been sending him threatening emails, signed by his ex-wife who had recently passed away. The mayor seems like an alright family man, with two daughters, so, Shane takes on his case and promises discretion. Because Shane and his friend don’t have the money or recourses for an IT guru like Ward does, Rowe loans Quinn for the month until reelection to help Shane out.

Of course, they’re attracted to each other, but Shane is a serial bachelor and not a bit interested in relationships or monogamy and Quinn is inexperienced and not all impressed with the experiences he has had.

A month of long nights in the office together, working side by side with a man you’re attracted to each other, leads to hooking up, of course it does… what neither guy was expecting was to fall for each other. But, as things heat u between them, they get more complicated with the investigation and its hard to figure out who’s the guilty one in the scenario. Things just aren’t making sense, and after some miscommunication and differences of opinion, the guys take time to get their heads together.

Although I loved Quinn and his blushing and backbone when it came to Shane. I liked how Shane seemed to do a 180 with his feelings of commitment and relationships once he got to know Quinn better. It wasn’t hard to break him of all that and he didn’t fight it.

I feel like both of these guys got to prove themselves and I kept hoping that the misunderstanding would get cleared u for Quinn. I honestly thought it was going to be forgotten about, but… nay, it made me love them both more. Quinn for being able to ask about it and Shane for being awesome about it.

I loved these two. Im gonna have to go back and reread about Frost and Jude, cuz… just their small appearance, made me remember how hot their story was together. LOL, I’m such a sucker for the guys in this series. I might just go back and read them all. I’m very much hoping for more about Royce. That’ll be a good one, I just know it!

If you haven’t, you most definitely should!

5 well deserved pieces of eye candy from me!

First off, you really need to read book one. I guess *technically* you could get away without reading it but that would be silly. Trust me. Would I lie to you?

We had gotten to know Quinn and Shane a bit in previous books. Quinn is one of the computer geeks at Ward Security and Shane is part owner of a private investigator agency- way more gumshoe than smoking gun. When he is hired to track down a hacker, he has to enlist the help of Ward Security and Quinn.

Quinn and Shane have immediate chemistry and fight it for a bit. Partly because Shane only does one time things and Quinn was built for relationships. But after a steamy kiss, they come to a compromise- a short term “relationship” while they are working on the case.

Quinn and Shane are HOT together. And even though it is Shane who doesn’t want a relationship- he is the one who seems to be super sweet and almost romantic. Those little touches, brushing Quinn’s hair back, staring at him across the room when they are supposed to be working. Just swoony.

That being said, I think Quinn was the more developed character. Shane could have given me just a little more.

Like in all of the previous books there is excellent banter between not only the main characters, but the supporting characters as well. And we see most of them- I think only Lucas was left out. He might have been in there though. Apologies Lucas if you made an appearance and I missed your arrogant self.

The overall story was a bit convoluted, but it was ok. I really expected more than what I got. With focusing on the “hacker” and how it isn’t something you just pick up and do, I wanted a bit more explanation of how the hacker did it. I hope that made sense. I hate spoilers so I am trying desperately not to spoil.

And I didn’t love the title. I get it, but meh. After Psycho Romeo, and Shiver, Shatter, Torch, it was a bit weak.

4 pieces of eye candy

Who are Drake & Elliott?

Jocelynn Drake and Rinda Elliott have teamed up to combine their evil genius to create intense gay romantic suspense stories that have car chases, shoot outs, explosions, scorching hot love scenes, and tender, tear-jerking moments. Their first joint books are in the Unbreakable Bonds series.

Author Links

Website: http://drakeandelliott.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drakeandelliott/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrakeandElliott

Tumblr: http://drakeandelliott.tumblr.com/

Email: drakeandelliott@gmail.com

 

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La Famiglia by Deanna Wadsworth: Exclusive Guest Post and Excerpt

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Forrester Giordano comes from a huge, nosy Italian family, and with their homophobic jokes and slurs, he’s decided to stay in the closet. He finds respite in his bookstore in the quaint village of Gilead—where he has a huge crush on one of his customers, Kyle Benson.

Kyle is determined to live his dreams, and though life isn’t easy being deaf, one by one he’s making them come true. He’s scored a great job practicing law, bought a cute bungalow where he can finally have a big flower garden, and he has a dog he loves, Jasper. Now he just needs one thing to complete his happiness: a family of his own to make up for the one he never had.

Forrester and Kyle’s relationship starts off hot and heavy, and neither man can deny the depth of their connection. When Forrester’s little brother gets mixed up with their heroin-dealing cousin and his mother falls ill, Forrester has a decision to make—maybe the hardest of his life. For the first time, he’s found a man worth coming out for.

Unfortunately nothing ever goes according to plan with la famiglia.

 

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Thanks for hosting me, Two Chicks Obsessed! I brought along a sexy and funny excerpt exclusive for your readers. For those of you who fell in love with Phin and Scott from THE RHUBARB PATCH, my first Men of Gilead novel, you know that Scott was working on a short story about an alien with three cocks. LOL, crazy right? Well, Forrester from my latest book LA FAMIGLIA, owns a bookstore and that’s where he meets Kyle. Naturally two guys into books and sci-fi would read a book about an alien with three cocks as foreplay, right?

Enjoy!

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:

Forrester followed Kyle to the sink to wash their dishes, letting his hand linger on the small of Kyle’s back. “You got plans today?”

“I was going to plant my flowers, but the weather isn’t cooperating. Don’t you have plans?”

“Nope.” Forrester glanced out the window into Kyle’s little backyard. The rain was still coming down, but not as torrential as last night. He grinned at Kyle. “I was planning a lazy Sunday curled up with a good book. Care to join me?”

Kyle grinned too. “I know just the book.”

As Kyle put the disgruntled Jasper in his kennel—he would give them no peace if he were free—Forrester retrieved the book from the laundry room. He headed for the stairs, but Kyle halted him with an “Ah-ah! We’ll read in the living room like civilized people.”

Grinning, Forrester followed him. They sat on the love seat, Forrester positioning himself sideways so Kyle could sit in front of him and between his legs.

Kyle put his feet up and cuddled back into Forrester’s arms. “I haven’t had story time in years.”

Forrester chuckled and gave him a squeeze. He opened the book. “Ever read a book as foreplay?”

“Can’t say as I have.”

“Me neither. How many pages before the sex starts?”

“Page four or five? Aren’t you going to read it from the beginning?”

“Nope, I wanna get to the good parts,” Forrester said.

“Impatient, impatient.”

If this book was as hot as advertised, it wouldn’t take long before reading led to fucking. And after discovering Kyle’s offer to sleep over had been far more significant than mere sex—though that had been amazing—Forrester longed to be connected to Kyle again, to solidify what was already building between them.

Forrester held the book in front of them and speed-read the first couple of pages. “Lonely bear in the woods, taking a bath all by himself,” he summarized for Kyle. “Woah! Here we go.” He began to read, surprised by his husky voice. “The village was busy this time of year, so I hadn’t had a chance to be alone in some time. I immediately took my cock in hand, stroking myself to erection. My shaft was long and thick, warm beneath my fingers. At night, alone, I dreamed of having a cock like mine—or even bigger—inside me. They were never big enough.” He chuckled. “Well, I don’t know about that.”

Kyle giggled with nervous excitement.

Forrester read on. “I tugged on my nipples, pulling them until they were aching and hard. Grunting, I shifted to the edge of the bank, opening my legs so I could play with my asshole while I imagined being stuffed with a bigger cock than the one in my hand.”

Kyle traced a finger down Forrester’s arm then up and down Forrester’s thigh. When he moved, Forrester was more than aware of the heat of Kyle’s body leaning against him. Inside his khakis, his cock throbbed.

Smiling, he shifted until he had one knee up and Kyle’s bottom pressed against his groin. He thrust a little, dreaming about making Kyle feel as good as he’d made Forrester feel last night.

“Keep reading,” Kyle said.

“Where were we?”

“The guy was about to finger his ass.”

“Jeez,” he said, trembling. He found the page but couldn’t concentrate long enough to make sense of the words because Kyle’s fingers were toying with his inner thigh and making his insides flutter and ache.

“Am I distracting you?” Kyle shifted and took the book, his eyes alight with mischief. He studied the page, then turned it. “Here ya go, bright light, spaceship, green alien, and now: My gaze traveled down the corded muscles of his torso, and much to my surprise, I saw three long shafts hanging above a large smooth ball sac. Arousal began to burn within me, and my mouth watered. I was already fully erect, and my cock ached to come. The green man with three cocks saw this and smiled. He took a cock in each of his hands and began to stroke them, leaving one neglected in the middle. He came toward me, and I fell to my knees, knowing what I had to do.”

Forrester groaned. “Enough.” He took the book and dropped it to the floor. He was already so primed his ears were throbbing with the static of his pulse. He turned Kyle’s upper body so he could kiss him.

“Too much stimuli for you?” Kyle asked.

“You’re too much stimuli.”

With very little effort he had Kyle’s shirt off and him on his back. Smiling, he undid the button on Kyle’s pants and slowly, teasingly, slid the zipper down.

Mmmm, black boxers.

When he revealed the bulge, he palmed it, running up the warm length. Kyle thrust into the touch, and a visceral jolt shot through Forrester’s body.

“I know we just had breakfast, but I’m still hungry.” Forrester kissed his way down Kyle’s body, in no hurry, sucking at his nipples along the way.

“Well, by all means, help your—oh!” His words ended in a cry of surprise as Forrester mouthed the ample swell still hidden beneath those boxers.

Forrester inhaled the savory scent and a sudden flash of heat and desire whipped through him. Touching Kyle still felt new and exciting.

But it also felt as easy as if they’d done it a million times.

Deanna Wadsworth might be a bestselling erotica author, but she leads a pretty vanilla life in Ohio with her wonderful husband and a couple adorable cocker spaniels. She has been spinning tales and penning stories since childhood, and her first erotic novella was published in 2010. She has served multiple board positions for different RWA chapters, including President of the Rainbow Romance Writers in 2017. When she isn’t writing books or brainstorming with friends, you can find her making people gorgeous in a beauty salon. An avid reader, she also loves gardening, cooking, music, and dancing. Often she can be seen hanging out on the sandbar in the muddy Maumee River or chilling with her hubby and a cocktail in their basement bar. In between all that fun, Deanna cherishes the quiet times when she can let her wildly active imagination have the full run of her mind. Her fascination with people and the interworkings of their relationships have always inspired her to write romance with spice and love without boundaries.

Website │Facebook │ Twitter │Pinterest │goodreads │Amazon │Instagram │ BookBub

You can also find her young adult alter ego, K.D. Worth Facebook │Twitter

Buy Deanna’s books at Dreamspinner Press, Decadent Publishing or at any reputable eBook seller like Amazon

Sound of Silence by Mia Kerick and Raine O’Tierney: Exclusive Excerpt, Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway

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High school senior Renzy Callen hasn’t uttered a word in years. He likes being invisible to all around him; it keeps life safe and predictable. In his attic bedroom, he experiences a world far from the drama of his family. He doodles, listens to music, and contemplates the troubled souls he observes when attending self-help meetings designed for people with problems he doesn’t have. Renzy lives his life like a spectator, always on the outside of life’s games, looking in at others.

Everything changes when Seven and Morning Moreau-Maddox relocate from their glitzy lives in Paris to boring, picturesque Redcliff Hills, Missouri. Tall, platinum blond, and as put-together as a pair of European high-fashion models, the sophisticated siblings befriend Renzy, drawing him in and then pushing him away. What starts as nothing more than a means to an end for Seven, however, quickly becomes something more. Could icy-hearted Seven be thawing for the silent, quirky charm of Renzy Callen?

Determined to find the cause of Renzy’s selective mutism, the three teens set off on a road trip, during which they discover that flawless physical facades can conceal the most scarred souls, and that sometimes silence is better than golden.

Title: Sound of Silence

Authors: Mia Kerick and Raine O’Tierney

Release Date: January 23rd 2018

Genre: MM Contemporary Romance

 

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EXCERPT

Renzy

Maybe someone “like me” is supposed to feel shitty about himself. Maybe I’m supposed to feel small and broken and weak. But I never really did. When I was small, I thought of it like a superpower. It vanquished my stutter and got the other kids to ignore me. It was like turning invisible and even had a name, so sayeth the GP I saw when I was seven.

Selective mutism. Isn’t that amazing? Selective mutism is such a misnomer, at least to me. That makes it sound like seven-year-old Renzy could talk, but he chose not to. I promise you this, I wasn’t hoarding my words back then. I couldn’t speak. When I would try, I would become so anxious and get so dizzy, my nose would bleed. I even passed out a couple of times.

Does that sound like a dragon hoarding his prized words? No. I couldn’t speak.

So here’s the big Q. Can I speak now? Am I physically able to vibrate those ol’ vocal cords? Could I force a few words out if I were alone in the attic? I honestly don’t know, and right now, even thinking about talking makes my throat seize up. I rub my neck and the muscles there are tight. I was okay until the thing with Seven at the lockers, then I started to feel closed in. The gazelle to Seven’s cheetah—socially claustrophobic. In that moment, I felt more like the seven-year-old with selective mutism than the nineteen-year-old who doesn’t worry about these things. If it came down to vocal confrontation or taking a punch, I would gladly go home with the black eye.

It’s the questions.

It’s when I can’t get away from the questions.

Jesus, even thinking about it is making me crazy. I’ve got to get back to Heart Aflame. What’s going on tonight? Overeaters and a knitters’ prayer group, I think. That’ll do. No one will ask me anything. I can sit in the corner and design some tats. Everything will be fine.

 

 

Hmmmm, I did not expect this one. Not usually one for YA’s ,  I was intreiged by the premise of this story. Renzy, had his voice ripped away from him at a young age, for so long he couldn’t speak, but now that he’s a teenager, he just doesn’t. He doesn’t know if he can or not, he just knows that he doesn’t… It’s fine with the people of his house, though… they just seem to overlook him after all this time. My heart broke for him so much in the beginning, because imagine that, what it would be like to live in a home where nobody even saw you. You were just a shadow that lives in the attic…. Never fitting in anywhere, never belonging, but always wanting to. It was just…sad. Renzy though, he just keeps on, keeping on….

However, Renzy has a thing for group therapy… all kinds, any kinds, he doesn’t care. He just goes. The same building, different groups, he just observes….getting what he needs from all of them, even if he doesn’t quite know what that is. That’s where he meets Morning; at a rape survivor’s meeting. She’s annoyed with him at first, but, he kind of has a way about him. He’s charming and he doesn’t seem to let anyone get him down. Even mornings older brother Seven.

Seven…. Is something else… Have you ever seen the Ryan Phillipe movie, Cruel Intentions? He reminds me so much of that character. He’s arrogant and douchey and thinks mighty highly of himself because he’s so cultured and educated. He was annoying at first and I wasn’t sure I was going to like him. However, something tragic happened to his sister and with absentee parents, he had to take on the role of her mother and father, brother, friend, babysitter, ….everything. He was everything to her, and then she got hurt and he was everything times ten! He took that job very seriously and he liked being needed. He wanted to fix her, and in the beginning, she needed it. Upon meeting Renzy though, they turned their focus on him, on fixing him… and sure, Seven goes about it the wrong way at first and I really wanted to knock him out, but heart was always in the right place. He meant well and once he started caring about Renzy, he just wanted the two people in the world that he cared about, to be happy, instead of haunted. And they both were, they both were haunted by something tragic from their past.

So, here is where it gets tricky…. Trying to find out the reason Renzy didn’t speak. Trying to figure out the thing that happened to him, that caused him to lose his voice. After a big blow out with his parents, Renzy, Seven and Morning jump in the car with what little clues that have and set out about finding out what happened to Renzy. It’s crazy, the whole thing and just when you think you have it figured out…. You don’t.

It’s crazy because, with mysteries such as these, I often find myself bored and skipping to the end to figure out what everything was about… but this one, I was gripping every page until the end. Again, what you think you know…. You don’t.

The ending was a bit bittersweet for me. I hated how it ended so abruptly, just as things were finally okay with Renzy and Seven. It’s like… we went through this whole thing and get a tiny glimpse of their happy and BAM, it’s over. Didn’t like that.

What I loved through all of it though, I loved that Morning and Seven was there for Renzy when he needed someone most. I love how they took care of him and wanted to help him so much and just make him happy. And I loved the way in through all that, it helped Morning to heal. I loved how Seven and Renzy was there for Morning, in a way that gave her something to care about again. It was kind of surprising that these were supposed to be just kids, because their problems were so real and expertly handled. I never once felt like they were kids, in a YA situation.

I also loved Renzy’s dad. His family and how finally, after all the years of overlooking him, they truly did care for him. Especially his dad. I loved that. What a good dad he turned out to be.

Overall, it was a really good, emotional read. I’d definitely recommend it!

4 pieces of eye candy from me!

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—a daughter in law school, another in dance school, a third studying at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son still in high school.  She writes LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing English papers. Her husband of twenty-four years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on emotional growth in turbulent relationships. As she has a great affinity for the tortured hero, there is, at minimum, one in each book. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of said tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press and Harmony Ink Press for providing alternate places to stash her stories.

Her books have won a Best YA Lesbian Rainbow Award, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, and a Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, among other awards.

Mia is a Progressive, a little bit too obsessed by politics, and cheers for each and every victory in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.

Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com. Visit her website for updates on what is going on in Mia’s world, rants, music, parties, and pictures, and maybe even a little bit of inspiration.

Links: Facebook | Twitter

 

Raine O’Tierney loves writing about first loves and friendship. She believes the best thing we can do in this life is be kind to one another, and hopes her stories always reflect that. Raine loves encouraging people to write and has been known to repeat the phrase “I believe everyone has a story to tell” endlessly, until she breaks down even the most stubborn non-writer!

Raine lives outside of Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband, fellow M/M author Siôn O’Tierney. When she’s not writing, she’s either playing video games or fighting the good fight for intellectual freedom at her library day job.

Contact her if you’re interested in talking about point-and-click adventure games or about which dachshunds are the best kinds of dachshunds!

Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

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The Hockey Player’s Heart by Jeff Adams and Will Knauss: Exclusive Video Guest Post, Release Day Review and Giveaway

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I’m so super excited for you guys to see this vlog post by Jeff and Will, and if you haven’t ever watched their Big Gay Fiction Podcast, you need to. Love watching that! Their vlog below is all about their character inspirations. Check out the great giveaway, and congrats to Jeff and Will on the release of The Hockey Player’s Heart. Thanks for stopping by, gentlemen!

 

Hometown hero. Hockey superstar. Perfect boyfriend?

When hockey star Caleb Carter returns to his hometown to recover from an injury, the only thing he’s interested in is a little R & R. He never expects to run into his onetime crush at a grade school fund-raiser . Seeing Aaron Price hits him hard, like being checked into the boards. The attraction is still there, even after all these years, and Caleb decides to make a play for the schoolteacher. You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take, right?

Aaron has been burned by love before and can’t imagine what a celebrity like Caleb could possibly see in a guy like him. Their differences are just too great. But as Aaron spends more time with Caleb, he begins to wonder if he might have what it takes to win the hockey player’s heart.

Title: The Hockey Player’s Heart
Series: Hockey Hearts: Book 1
Author: Jeff Adams and Will Knauss
Release Date: January 16, 2018
Category: Contemporary, Dreamspun Desires
Pages: 226

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Many thanks to Denise for having us here at Two Chicks Obsessed today so we can talk about our new book The Hockey Player’s Heart. We’ve got a special video for this tour stop, so we hope you’ll have a look. Don’t miss the Rafflecopter below either for your chance to win an ebook, or maybe even a signed paperback!

 

Oh my, how I do love the Dreamspinner Press category romances. They just make me happy. And The Hockey Player’s Heart is no exception. Small town, famous hockey player, an MC who returned back to his hometown jaded and hurt. All adds up to a read just begging for an HEA, and Jeff and Will give us that.

I love that Caleb came back to their hometown, remembering the crush he had on Aaron in high school, and was determined to re-spark that, even if it was just their friendship, despite Aaron’s initial resistance. He allowed Aaron his space, yet continued to express his delight in spending time with Aaron. It allowed these men to build a trust between them, something that Aaron deeply needed in order to feel comfortable enough to ever begin a relationship with someone famous again.

There were so many “feel good” moments, that it allowed you to sit back and enjoy as their romance slowly unfolded. And the ending made a difference, it showed a heart, and such thoughtfulness, the reader has to end up with at least a few tears, even though you had a feeling what was happening. That didn’t matter, because the feelings, the trust, the caring and the honesty all shown through.

Oh, and I’m ready for one best friend of Caleb’s to show up in book 2, please. That one is going to fall hard and fast. Can’t wait! 😉

4 pieces of eye candy

 

Jeff Adams and Will Knauss are husbands, authors, and podcasters based in Northern California. They write gay romances, sometimes together and other times separately. Jeff also writes young adult LGBT fiction. Together they host Jeff & Will’s Big Gay Fiction Podcast, a weekly show devoted to gay romance literature and the pop culture they love.

Websites:

Jeff: JeffAdamsWrites.com

Will: WillKnauss.com

Podcast: BigGayFictionPodcast.com

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Forever With You by Londra Laine: New Release Review

by

Kelly Brooks Montes is only nineteen years old and just starting college in New York City when tragedy strikes, and he becomes a single dad to his toddler brother. Four years later, Kelly and his baby brother, Jaylen, are doing well, though Kelly leads a double life to make ends meet. He’s a high-level administrative assistant by day and a racy go-go boy by night. Between raising his brother, dancing, and trying not to run afoul of his new boss, Kelly doesn’t have time for a boyfriend. Even if he did want a man in his life, a past trauma makes him question whether he can ever trust a man with his body or his heart. But then Kelly receives an unexpected but steamy birthday kiss from his boss, a man he was sure hated him, and he begins to wish for things he knows he shouldn’t.

Andrew Whitman knew from the moment he held Kelly’s hand that the man was special, and it both annoyed and terrified him. Kelly makes him feel a little out of control and Drew is a highly controlled man. He has to be to keep his sexuality a secret from his father, a conservative politician. And he is OK with that. He has a perfectly good, mutually beneficial, life plan with his best friend, Lex. A long time ago, he’d made his peace with the fact that he’d never find a man worth turning his life upside down for. Then he ends up with his capable and gorgeous assistant under him on top of his desk, and his life plans change. Drew can’t seem to get out of his own way when it comes to the quiet, sexy, and surprising single dad, but he can’t stop himself from falling for Kelly and his sweet baby brother. And just when it seems that Kelly has worked through his past hurts enough to let Drew into his body and his heart, manipulative family and words unspoken threaten to tear them apart. But after getting a taste of a life he never thought he could have, Drew won’t let anything tear his fledgling family apart.

***Please be aware that this book contains a flashback of and several references to sexual assault that may be triggering to some readers.***

 

Amazon

 

Kelly thinks his boss, Drew, doesn’t like him and it makes things pretty awkward at the office. Especially since Kelly has a big ol crush on him. Unfortunately, Kelly doesn’t have time to act on that attraction, or any other attraction with anyone else, because not only is he working two jobs, but he also is guardian to his little brother Jaylen, who he’s had custody of since Jaylen was a baby and their parents died in a car accident. Doesn’t matter anyway, because Drew doesn’t like him, anyways… right

Wrong. Drew is just as infatuated with Kelly as Kelly is with him, he just doesn’t know how to show it and he seems to run hot and cold with Kelly. Being his boss is just topping on the cake. However, after Kelly bluntly asks him why he doesn’t like him…. Things take a turn from there. Neither of them hold back what they’ve been hiding and it gets hot and heavy pretty fast.

However, again…. Kelly has some hang-ups, from a date gone bad in his youth and it has him running away from Andrew, just as things start getting good. It’s tough and I felt for Kelly, but my goodness, it happens so many times, I started to feel badly for Andrew. There is a lot going on in this story as these two guys get their bearings and date. Kelly has his little brother to think about his back and forth is kind of exhausting. Some of the dialogue was iffy for me. Kelly was said to be this confident, self-assured man, but he doubted himself a lot, and flat out asked Drew a couple different times, why he liked him, then proceeded to tell him all that was wrong with him, like he was trying to talk Drew out of liking him. That’s annoying to me. Like, I get that you need assurances, but don’t do that, it sounds like your fishing. Especially if you do it more than once.

Other than that, and sometimes cringy dialogue, they run into some trouble with Drews dad… they have great friends, both guys do and I love that they have the support, they’d definitely need it, since Drews dad is kind of like the worst villain in any hero movie. I’m not sure why the whole thing didn’t seem believable to me, but it seemed like something you’d see on a lifetime movie or something. The blackmail, the lies and downright hatred the father had for Drew, up and out of nowhere and the lengths he was willing to go to hurt Drew. Then, the alternate life Drew had with his bestie and how that whole thing played out. I dunno, it seemed like a drama movie and I saw it all coming and the fallout, though I couldn’t have predicted the bad A move by Drew at the end….I was pleased with that…. But the rest was just ..a lot.

Fortunately, all’s well that ends well and Drew got the little family he fought so hard for. I loved that part, you couldn’t help but love Drew. He never wavered in his love and patience and understanding and care for Kelly and Jaylen. I love that in a hot guy, especially when he’s a hot dad type. We all know how I feel about those!

Overall an entertaining and somewhat angsty read.

4 pieces of eye from me!

Romantic Behavior by L.A. Witt and Cari Z: Blog Tour with Giveaway, Double New Release Review

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Detective Andreas Ruffner is no fool—he’s found a man who loves him, puts up with him, and has stuck with him through hell and back, and it’s time to put a ring on it. Darren Corliss is the love of his life, and he wants the whole world to know it.

Now the fun part—the wedding!

Well, after the not-so-fun part of planning the wedding in between dealing with overbearing and impossible-to-please family members. With future mothers-in-law driving them both up a wall, the guest list growing out of control, and the wedding getting ever more complicated, Darren and Andreas have to wonder if they’re in over their heads.

But they’re going to make it to the altar if it kills them . . . and at this rate, it just might.

Amazon

Riptide Publishing

Finally, finally, Darren and Andreas are going to ride off into the sunset. Or are they? If you’ve seen my other reviews for this series, you’ll know I’m a little obsessed. If LA Witt and Cari Z could put out another Darren and Andreas (I tried to ‘ship their names, I’m way too old, so I’ll just keep typing them) every week of the year, I might get tired of them.

Nothing goes smoothly for poor Andreas. The good news is they can laugh about it right along with the readers. With some other couples, the mishaps may have seemed contrived or a bit too much, but not with these guys.

This review is short and sweet, because again, I can’t give away the story and I’m afraid anything I say can or will be held against me. To sum it up, if you haven’t read the Behavior series, you’re totally missing out. Romantic Behavior is, quite possibly, one of the best proposal/marriage stories out there!

4.5 pieces of eye candy

 

I have to go with Heather’s review here. Short and give very little away.

I’ve loved these men since the first book, through all their many trials and tribulations, and so few actual peaceful times. And although this book is about their Happily Ever After, it certainly isn’t without its own trials. But these men keep smiling and laughing through it, even as it is killing them a little.

The authors have given these guys exactly what they needed, some much needed comic relief when they need it most.

A couple fun quotes from the book (and I just can’t give you the best one, because you just HAVE to read it!):

“…he’d saved the wedding planner as “Satan” in his contacts.”

 

“You can pick my mom out of a crowd at twenty paces?”

“When she’s the only woman in the crowd who’s both old enough to be your mom–“

“Hey!”

I just love that these men can sit back and laugh and love each other, and know that they are each other’s ports in the storm, no matter if it’s the storm of Andreas’ kids being kidnapped, or Darren nearly dying, or deal with the wedding planner from hell.

Isn’t that what love is really about?

5 pieces of eye candy

 

It’s “hell no” at first sight for newly partnered detectives Andreas Ruffner and Darren Corliss. Darren is too chipper, Andreas is too gruff, and that whole “IA wants me to prove you’re a dirty cop” thing really doesn’t get them off on the right foot.

It doesn’t matter if they like each other. They’re partners and that’s final. Though Andreas is easy on the eyes. And Darren is kind of cute. And . . . okay, maybe they can make this work.

They’d better, because as their cases get more horrifying—and more personal—they’ll have to trust each other with their lives, and with their hearts.

Check out Bad Behavior!

About Cari Z.

Cari Z was a bookworm as a child and remains one to this day. In an effort to combat her antisocial reading behavior, she did all sorts of crazy things, from competitive gymnastics to alligator wresting (who even knew that was legal!) to finally joining the Peace Corps, which promptly sent her and her husband to the wilds of West Africa, stuck them in a hut, and said, “See ya!” She also started writing, because some things she just thought she could do better. She’s still climbing that ladder, but can’t stop herself from writing, or from sharing what she creates.

Cari enjoys a wide range of literary genres, from the classics (get ‘im, Ahab) to science fiction and fantasy of all types, to historical fiction and reference materials (no, seriously, there are so many great encyclopedias out there). She writes in a wide range of genres as well, but somehow 90% of what she produces ends up falling into the broad and exciting category of m/m erotica. There’s a sprinkling of f/m and f/f and even m/f/m in her repertoire, but her true love is man love. And there’s a lot of love to go around.

Cari has published short stories, novellas, and novels with numerous print and e-presses, and she also offers up a tremendous amount of free content on Literotica.com, under the name Carizabeth.

Connect with Cari at http://cari-z.net/  or via her blog, http://carizerotica.blogspot.com/

 

About L.A. Witt

L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who has finally been released from the purgatorial corn maze of Omaha, Nebraska, and now spends her time on the southwestern coast of Spain. In between wondering how she didn’t lose her mind in Omaha, she explores the country with her husband, several clairvoyant hamsters, and an ever-growing herd of rabid plot bunnies. She also has substantially more time on her hands these days, as she has recruited a small army of mercenaries to search South America for her nemesis, romance author Lauren Gallagher, but don’t tell Lauren. And definitely don’t tell Lori A. Witt or Ann Gallagher. Neither of those twits can keep their mouths shut . . .

L.A.’s backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).

To celebrate the release of Romantic Behavior, one lucky winner will receive a $10 Riptide credit and their choice in an ebook from each of Cari and L.A.’s backlist! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on January 20, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!