Two Chicks Obsessed with Books & Eye Candy

Smoke & Mirrors by Charlie Cochet: Pre-Release Day Review

July 7, 2016 by Denise

synopsis

Life for Dexter J. Daley has never been easy, but he’s always found a way to pick himself back up with a smile on his face. Taken from his home and the arms of Sloane Brodie, his boyfriend and THIRDS partner, Dex finds himself in a situation as mysterious and lethal as the Therian interrogating him. Dex learns what he’s secretly believed all along: his parents’ death wasn’t an accident.

Discovering the whole truth about John and Gina Daley’s homicide sets off a series of events that will change Dex and Sloane’s life forever. As buried secrets rise to the surface and new truths are revealed, Dex and Sloane’s love for each other is put to the test, with more than their relationship on the line. If traversing the waters of murder and secret government agencies wasn’t enough, something inexplicable has been happening to Dex—and nothing will ever be the same.

Title: Smoke & Mirrors
Series: THIRDS Book Seven
Author: Charlie Cochet
Release Date: July 8, 2016
Category: Mystery/Suspense, Paranormal, Werewolves/Shifters, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 230

morgan review
WHAT A FANTASTIC STORY!!
When I finished this book I was a complete wreck, but in a good way. I believe Smoke & Mirrors is my favorite yet. Charlie has created an amazing world with the THIRDS and each story seems to be even better than the last. With this next installment we get to see a lot of our questions answered and a lot of new things about Dex’s past revealed. Dex and Sloane are met with even more struggles in their relationship and Dex is going through something that will blow everyone’s minds. This story had me laughing out loud, gripping my seat though the action scenes and crying my eyes out on more than one occasion. Omg, my emotions were all over.

Charlie is an amazing writer. I cannot wait to see what she comes up with for the next book in the series. I am really looking forward to seeing how the story plays out with Seb and Hudson. I have been completely hooked on this series from day one and she can’t write them fast enough. I was so happy with this new installment and Smoke & Mirrors definitely gets 5 pieces of eye candy from me.

5 pieces of eye candy

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denise review

I don’t give 5 pieces of eye candy out anymore. For me, the biggest factor on that is, is this a must re-read again. The answer to that is an emphatic YES!!! SOON!!!

Charlie has taken the THIRDS world and turned it on its head. We learned previous to this book, a little about TIN, and we certainly learn so much more in this book. And we learn how that affects Sloane and Dex’s lives. There is no turning back now.

The opening chapter literally gutted me. I couldn’t read it without crying, and cursing Charlie. (I “might” have been messaging someone about it, because I was upset). The rest of the book was a roller coaster like only Charlie can do. Things you think shouldn’t be related, definitely are. Things that happened in the recent past come back to change their worlds. Things that happened in the long ago past do the same.

Their worlds are changing, and we are so fortunate to have Charlie taking us along for the ride. My emotions were at a huge high, and a sad low. Few authors can take me on that journey, Charlie and her band of merry men did that.

A note of warning…before you read the epilogue, make a stop to grab some tissues. Your heartstrings will be pulled…tightly. What I see ahead for the group, well, it’s still a bumpy ride.

Without question, 5 pieces of eye candy. I will be getting it in paperback, and audio, when I can. And you should too!

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Dreamspinner Press

KRANE by Nicole Colville: Cover Reveal and Giveaway

July 7, 2016 by Denise

Book Title: Krane: Knights to Remember

Author: Nicole Colville

Release Date: August 1, 2016

synopsis

At the age of thirty-seven, local giant and semi-professional rugby player, Krane Buchannan, had spent his life hiding behind a tightly locked closet door with a wife as a shield and a gut full of regrets.

Coming out may not have been his decision, but ending his marriage was. With an ugly divorce starting up and a vindictive soon to be ex-wife making his life a living hell, Krane finds his once comfortable life in the small Scottish village changed forever. Unprepared and still unwilling to admit the truth, Krane has some tough decisions to make.

For years he’d been dead inside, going through life but never actually living. He thought he’d never find that one special person, but when he meets an attractive brunette with legs to die for, Krane’s world is tipped upside down.

“I’m going to ruin you for every other man. You’re mine. I own you.”

The heat and the passion scorches them both, and in the space of a few hours, Bailey becomes much more than a one-night experience. Every touch from Bailey was branded onto his skin, forever imprinted like the intricate ink work covering him, something which couldn’t be washed off or forgotten, but worn forever.

Bailey was showing Krane how life should be.

Coming from entirely different worlds, both struggle to overcome the worries and fear of entering into the other’s life, but the searing white hot heat which builds between them with every look can’t be ignored. With hesitant steps, Krane enters into the secretive world of BDSM and Bailey cautiously re-enters the world he’s tired so hard to forget. The world outside the club.

Krane screamed power. Bailey could sense it simmering across the room and filling his lungs with his alpha aroma.

There’s a sadness which clings to Bailey and his unwillingness to open up about the dark secrets from his past makes Krane doubt everything but he’s had enough of giving up and is prepared to fight for what he wants, and what he wants is Bailey. He just has to convince Bailey to want the same thing.

z1wwyh4M Nicole grew bored being a supermodel genius who worked part time for NASA, and decided to take a break from helping solve the mysteries of the universe with Stephen Hawkins to write m/m romance.

She has a loving relationship with her hubby of twenty years, and has achieved a lot in her short life considering she’s only eighteen. She has fourteen dogs of all different breeds, plus twenty cats, and when she’s not tending to their every need, and solving complex math problems, she loves to sew and can be often found knitting in the garden, which she maintains all by herself with her magical green fingers.

Finding time to make all of her own clothing and master the kitchen better than Gordon Ramsey, she’s also a vegan domestic goddess and can often be found cooking up a storm bare foot in her kitchen.

Okay, so that’s not true, especially the cooking part, though I do tend to be bare foot and I swear like Gordon does while burning my latest creation — and I still think NASA will be getting in touch. Any day now!! *crosses fingers* I could sooo do that job because I’m so obviously awesome, but until they do…

I’m a full time author of M/M Romance and Erotica, and somehow I have several bestselling books under my belt. I’ve been writing for four years, and I self publish all my work under Hidden Pleasures Publishing along with my amazing team of helpers in the form my cover designer Kellie Dennis, editor Jessica McKenna, and all of my beta readers and PA’s.

I’m a wife to my beloved hubby and mother to two young girls, and I do in fact have two cats who I adore, but no dog, as the hubby put his foot down. I live in Leeds in the North of England and I love it, despite the terrible weather.

My men are all seeking what everyone is, true love mixed with passion and their own happy-ever-after full of laughter and tears.
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Last Mechanic Standing by L.A. Witt: Release Day Review DSP

July 6, 2016 by Denise

synopsis

Everyone at Jim Irving’s garage is gung ho about Wrench Wars, a new reality show featuring mechanics. Everyone, that is, except talented mechanic Chandler Scott, the sole employee who has refused to sign the contract. The rest of the mechanics are pressuring him too, because without Chandler—and his volatile interactions with his boss—no one’s getting on the show.

Chandler’s one ally is Jim’s son, Mark, who’s being forced to work for his dad until he pays down his student loans or finds a better job—and who’s been Chandler’s secret lover for a while.

Then a playful tryst in the garage blows up in their faces, giving the network ammo to blackmail Chandler by threatening to out Mark to his father. Now Chandler is backed into a corner, and Mark needs to decide how far he’s willing to go to protect the man who’s been sharing his bed… and may have stolen his heart.

Title: Last Mechanic Standing
Series: A Wrench Wars Story
Author: L.A. Witt
Release Date: July 6, 2016
Category: Contemporary
Pages: TBC (Novella)

denise review

I was surprised by this one. And I’m not sure why, because every single time L.A. Witt hits the mark for me. She has an incredible ability to not only create characters that I care about, but to put them in situations that are challenging in ways I can’t always understand, and make them fall in love, still giving me my HEA.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy a book about a reality series, and men that are mechanics, but I really did. Chandler was an honorable man, willing to stand up for his reputation, and not allow himself to be bullied into doing something he had no desire to do. But his downfall was being in love with Mark, who not only needed the show, but needed his job under the crushing student loans he had. Blackmail, however, only ever hurts people and clearly it does nothing but hurt these two men.

I loved though, that they found a port in the storm of this reality show in each other. They didn’t turn on each other. Instead, they turned to each other when they needed to be centered, and to feel safe. That was refreshing. It showed that their relationship could stand the difficult challenges that come with a work romance, in a highly stressful situation. They supported one another, and didn’t allow others to pull them down.

Every read by L.A. Witt is one in which I am continually surprised, not because she is not a fantastic writer, but because she makes me care about characters that I might not have ever thought of as one’s I would connect with.

4 pieces of eye candy

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Dreamspinner Press

Daniel & Erik’s Super Fab Ultimate Wedding Checklist’ by K.E. Belledonne: Blog tour Guest Post and Giveaway

July 6, 2016 by Denise

When Daniel gets caught up in the demands of a cheeky wedding planning app, his fiancé Erik grows frustrated with his preoccupation with adhering to heterosexual traditions. Will Daniel’s groomzilla ways give them the wedding of their dreams, or ultimately lead to their relationship’s demise?

Author Name: K.E. Belledonne

Book Name: Daniel & Erik’s Super Fab Ultimate Wedding Checklist

Release Date: June 23, 2016

Pages or Words: 53,000 words, 188 pages

Categories: Contemporary, Gay Fiction, Humor, M/M Romance, Romance, Rom Com

Goodreads Link

Publisher: Interlude Press

Cover Artist: C.B. Messer

“I think Aurora is disappointed in me.”

“What?” Erik rubbed at his eye. It wasn’t even early morning, judging by the weak light coming through the blinds from the streetlights. “Who?”

“Aurora. The wedding planning app.” Daniel lay on his back, wide awake and staring up at the ceiling.

“The wedding planning app is not a sentient being. It has no feelings or opinions.”

“I feel like she’s judging me. I’m sorry if I woke you up.”

“Oh my god, go to sleep.”

“I can’t. I’m never going to sleep ever again.” Daniel tugged the blanket higher up his chest, folding his arms over it and exhaling heavily.

“You’re being dramatic.”

“I’ve got too many things buzzing in my head. There’s too many things I’m going to forget to do.”

“I thought that’s why you had that damn app, so you don’t have to remember anything; it’s all right there saved on your tablet.”

“Yes, but I have to remember to put everything in it.″ Daniel rolled over. ″She doesn’t just know everything—”

“A: She is not a she. It is an it. B: What are we doing tomorrow?”

“Oh my god, what is the point of sharing the app calendar if you’re never going to look at it?” Daniel wailed.

“I look at it. It’s just crammed so full of everything that I have no idea what’s going on when.”

Daniel blew out his breath. ”Look, I know you don’t like the calendar. We’ve been over that, but I don’t know how else to keep track of all of these appointments and deadlines.”

“I told you, we could color-code them, or something,” Erik rolled to his side and punched at his pillow.

“Aurora doesn’t give you that option.”

“Well, it should.”

“I agree, but there’s nothing I can do about that.” Daniel bunched his pillow up under his head. “Tomorrow, we have four appointments to meet with caterers: two in the morning, two in the afternoon.”

“Why so many in one day?”

“It’s the only day we both have available this week, and I am not going to make any decisions about the food at our reception without you there to discuss it.”

“Seriously, you could just make a choice, and I’ll live with it.” Erik rolled over.

“I don’t want you to just ‘live with it,’ Erik.″ Daniel tried to keep his voice neutral, but failed. ″This is our wedding. I don’t want you to just ‘live with it.’”

“Why are you getting so worked up about it?”

“We only get one chance at this. Everything needs to be perfect.”

“You’re going to drive us both crazy, you know that, right?” Erik tugged the blankets back up over his shoulder.

“Well, then, we’ll both be crazy.” Daniel squinted up at the ceiling. He was so tired of making these decisions. Why were there so many options? Why were there so many decisions? The planning was getting on Erik’s nerves; he was getting on Erik’s nerves. Erik was getting on his nerves. They were both just a pile of irritated nerves because the to-do list didn’t seem to be getting any smaller.

Daniel’s phone chimed with another notification from Aurora.

New Private Message from: MommyMargie.

His mother probably had another ludicrous suggestion for the reception, or a passive-aggressive reminder of the hymn that she and his father had had played at their wedding, that their grandparents had had played at their wedding and that she expected to hear at his wedding. Or maybe his parents had decided to paint the living room green. Who knew?

Guest Post: Hmmm…how about something around the hetero vs gay wedding traditions referenced?

There are no gay wedding traditions referenced in this book, and here’s the reason why:

Daniel is a young man coming from a family that is hyper-critical of nearly everything he does. He’s out, and they accept him – they’re not picking on him because he’s gay, they’re picking on him because they don’t know how else to be. They’re treating him just as they treat the rest of the family.

He just wants one thing that they have nothing to tear him down about, so he plans the very most hetero gay wedding that there ever was. This is how all the weddings in his family have gone, and he doesn’t want his to be any different. He doesn’t want to stick out, or do anything outlandish that would give his family more fodder to complain about.

Even though he’s come out, he feels like it’s with a caveat. He’s gay, but he’s not “too gay.” He still using them as his measure for how he “should” be.

Of course, if you’re constantly measuring yourself up against another party who will always find you lacking or faulty, everything is going to fall to pieces. Daniel relishes saying “I am not like my family”, but even that is still allowing them to be the definition, to be the metric he is compared against. It’s not until he is able to say simply “I am me, and this is who I am” that he is truly able to realize that it’s not the wedding traditions that matter, gay or hetero. It’s that the person he loves is standing in front of him and promising to love him forever.

** spoiler alert ** I must have PTSD from planning my own wedding 11 years ago, because this book made me have flashbacks.

Daniel and Erik are getting married, Daniel downloads a super-fab app to help plan the wedding which only adds stress. Erik doesn’t see the point in a big wedding but Daniel feels it’s something they have to do. The stress of the wedding planning and the stress of life push Daniel and Erik to the breaking point, will they be able to survive together?

Holy hell, based on the title and the cover I was sure I was in for a sugary sweet read, boy was I wrong. The emotions in this book were so well defined I was feeling stressed about the wedding planning! It was obvious that Daniel and Erik were a matched set and watching them work through the issues that arose was endearing.

When Daniel and Erik called it quits over wedding planning I almost cried. I was so happy when Daniel pulled his head out of the clouds and went after his man.

I’m not usually a fan of a book that flips back and forth from past to present but that format really worked for this story.

This book left me with a warm gooey feeling, I love it! Even though the wedding planning was super stressful the book is low angst, Erik is so chill that there is almost no drama.

I would love a follow up novella that explains why Annika is so evil and why she hates Daniel. I know Erik said he thought she had feelings for him but I want backstory.

4 pieces of eye candy

Interlude Press

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K.E. Belledonne is a writer, editor and translator. A native New Englander, Kat spends her spare time listening to Glenn Miller records, reading history books and cheering on her beloved Red Sox. Her first novel, Right Here Waiting, was published by Interlude Press in 2015.

Where to find the author:

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/kebelledonne

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KEBelledonne

Pinterest: https://fr.pinterest.com/kebelledonne/

Blog: www.kebelledonne.com

Tour Dates & Stops:

23-Jun

Prism Book Alliance, Unquietly Me, Book Lovers 4Ever, Man2ManTastic, Three Books Over The Rainbow,

BFD Book Blog

24-Jun

Bonkers About Books, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

27-Jun

Oh My Shelves, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews

28-Jun

Havan Fellows, V’s Reads, My Fiction Nook, Open Skye Book Reviews

29-Jun

Up All Night, Read All Day, Velvet Panic, MM Good Book Reviews

30-Jun

Molly Lolly, Full Moon Dreaming

1-Jul

Attention Is Arbitrary, Alpha Book Club

4-Jul

Happily Ever Chapter, The Novel Approach, Love Bytes

5-Jul

Nephy Hart, Bayou Book Junkie, Divine Magazine

6-Jul

A.M. Leibowitz, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy, 3 Chicks After Dark

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Everyday History by Alice Archer : Guest Post

July 5, 2016 by Denise

synopsis Headstrong Ruben Harper has yet to meet an obstacle he can’t convert to a speed bump. He’s used to getting what he wants from girls, but when he develops a fascination for a man, his wooing skills require an upgrade. After months of persuasion, he scores a dinner date with Henry Normand that morphs into an intense weekend. The unexpected depth of their connection scares Ruben into fleeing.

Shy, cautious Henry, Ruben’s former high school history teacher, suspects he needs a wake-up call, and Ruben appears to be his siren. But when Ruben bolts, Henry is left struggling to find closure. Inspired by his conversations with Ruben, Henry begins to write articles about the memories stored in everyday objects. The articles seduce Ruben with details from their weekend together and trigger feelings too strong to avoid. As Henry’s snowballing fame takes him out of town and further out of touch, Ruben stretches to close the gaps that separate them.

Guest Post

Moving Everyday Objects

By Alice Archer

At the core of Everyday History is the idea that the objects we live with every day store our memories, and that sharing those stories can connect us with others. It’s really not a very revolutionary concept. So why did I latch onto it to the point of creating a novel about it?

By the time I was 15, I’d lived in 15 places. Dad had wheels instead of feet, it seemed, and when he was wanted somewhere else, off we went. He was a Southern Baptist minister (since then, he’s taken a remarkable trajectory through Presbyterianism, Unitarianism, and now sits outside with his wife on Sundays to talk about spirituality – they call it Church on the Front Porch).

Although I wasn’t conscious of it at the time, the way I stayed grounded through our many moves was by focusing on the things that didn’t change from one move to the next: my personal belongings. I could remember the places we’d left, and the experiences I’d had in those places, because of the stuff I had that I associated with them. Places came and went, but my things remained close at hand. Eventually, the place and the experience and the thing become one.

At this point, I’ve lived in more than 80 places. Man, that’s a lot of packing and unpacking. I don’t have a lot of stuff, which makes moving easier, but every piece is a major treasure and every piece has a story to tell me (like the Stickley desk I’m looking at right now, which my mom bought for $5 at a grocery store in Pencil, Arkansas, when she started teaching school). So many stories. So many places. So many experiences. So much love.

I wanted to write about that. Somehow. Even if obliquely. Everyday History is the result.

During a recent visit with my dad, I finally got around to confessing my novel-writing activities – including that I write M/M erotic romance and that I’d had an offer from a publisher. We were eating dinner at the time, and Dad set his fork on his plate with a clank and gave me a stern look. “Uh oh,” I thought. “Here comes the lecture.” But the guy surprised me – yet again (he’s 83; I should be more used to it by now).

“Honey, that should have been the very first thing you told us, as soon as you walked in the door. That’s wonderful news!” He went on to insist that he would read Everyday History when it was published. I asked if he was sure and he huffed. “I’ve been around, you know,” he said. “I’m not a prude.”

I’ve ordered a book for him (at this point, I’ll pause to send a nod of gratitude to Angel Martinez for our brief talk at GayRomLit in 2014 about her relationship with her father). It seems perfectly fitting for Dad to read this story. If he hadn’t raised me the way he did, I wouldn’t have needed to tell it.

In the following excerpt, Henry has been telling Ruben some everyday histories about his stove.

excerpt

Ruben stands up to get a better view of the stove. “Is there more? Are there more stories about this stove?” he asks.

“Yes. Many. But that’s enough.”

“Was it enough for Martin?”

Henry laughs. “You’ve just listened to several paragraphs more about this oven than Martin ever cared to know.”

Ruben thinks about how he was never jealous of guys who moved in on the women he was dating, but even the thought of Martin makes him want to punch Martin’s face a few times. The feeling is so novel Ruben’s not sure where to file it.

“Seriously?” says Ruben. “What was Martin’s problem?”

Henry sits down on a kitchen stool as though Ruben’s question added fifty pounds to his shoulders.

“I’m not sure it was Martin’s problem,” Henry says.

“Whatever it was, sum it up. You’re killing me here.”

Henry rubs his hands across his face and says on a sigh, “I think the totality of me got in the way.”

“Got in Martin’s way, you mean?”

Henry shrugs. “He wanted something else.”

“What kind of something else?”

Ruben watches Henry search for an answer. It takes a while. Ruben waits.

“I really care about my stove’s story,” Henry says. “I have a relationship with my stove that feels alive and real and important.” He plucks a potholder from a hook. “Things, the normal, everyday things in my life, are like that for me. They’re so full of the past and steeped with personal meaning that they’re like…. They’re my family.”

Ruben connects the dots. “Martin didn’t care about your family.”

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meet the author

AliceArcher_AuthorPhoto_Collage Alice Archer has messed about with words professionally for many years as an editor and writing coach. After living in more than eighty places and cobbling together a portable lifestyle, she has lots of story material to sort through. It has reassured her to discover that even though culture and beliefs can get people into a peck of trouble when they’re falling in love, the human heart beats the same in any language. She currently lives near Nashville. Maybe this move will stick.

Website: alicearcher.com
Alice on Facebook: www.facebook.com/alice.archer.author

Check out the other blogs on the Everyday History Blog Tour:

Jun 22 – MM Good Book Reviews

Jun 27 – Open Skye Book Reviews

Jun 29 – Prism Book Alliance and Long and Short Reviews

Jun 30 – Dreamspinner Press Blog

Jul 1 – My Fiction Nook

Jul 2 – Love Bytes

What Remains by Garrett Leigh: Book Blast and Giveaway

July 5, 2016 by Denise

WhatRemains_600x900 synopsis

Web designer Jodi Peters is a solitary creature. Lunch twice a week with his ex-girlfriend-turned-BFF and the occasional messy venture to a dodgy gay bar is all the company he needs, right?

Then one night he stumbles across newly divorced firefighter Rupert O’Neil. Rupert is lost and lonely, but just about the sweetest bloke Jodi has ever known. Add in the heady current between them, and Jodi can’t help falling hard in love. He offers Rupert a home within the walls of his cosy Tottenham flat—a sanctuary to nurture their own brand of family—and for four blissful years, life is never sweeter.

Until a cruel twist of fate snatches it all away. A moment of distraction leaves Jodi fighting for a life he can’t remember and shatters Rupert’s heart. Jodi doesn’t know him—or want to. With little left of the man he adores, Rupert must cling to what remains of his shaky faith and pray that Jodi can learn to love him again.

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Riptide Publishing

meet the author

Garrett Leigh is a British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Black Jazz Press. Her protagonists will always always be tortured, crippled, broken, and deeply flawed. Throw in a tale of enduring true love, some stubbly facial hair, and a bunch of tattoos, and you’ve got yourself a Garrett special.

When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible. That, and dreaming up new ways to torture her characters. Garrett believes in happy endings; she just likes to make her boys work for it.

Garrett also works as a freelance cover artist for various publishing houses and independent authors under the pseudonym G.D. Leigh. For cover art info, please visit blackjazzpress.com.

Social media:
Website: http://garrettleigh.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garrettleighbooks
Cover art enquiries: blackjazzdesign@gmail.com

giveaway

To celebrate the release of What Remains, Garrett is giving away $25 in Riptide Publishing credit. Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 9, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

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