Blog Tours

Black Moon By Sam Burns & W.M. Fawkes: Blog Tour, Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

May 10, 2021 by Denise

An apple a day won’t keep this doctor away.

Linden Grove has always known that he’s not destined to be the next pack alpha. That position belonged to his brother Aspen—but then Aspen left the pack to join the military. When the unthinkable happens and the pack is left rudderless, someone has to step up and take care of it. Can a doctor go from “do no harm” to defending his own with his teeth and claws?

Colt Doherty is used to a certain kind of life. Glittering, picturesque, and . . . empty. As the youngest child of the country’s only werewolf senator, Colt has grown up in the spotlight, and he’s all too used to knot-headed alphas taking credit for the work of others, especially omegas like himself. When his editor sends him to write a story on the Grove pack, though, he finds something completely unexpected: Linden Grove in his unpolished perfection, as shiny and unexpectedly sweet as the apples his pack are known for.

A Grove pack omega has been kidnapped, and someone has to step up. The pack needs Linden to fill his father’s shoes, but no wolf can stand on his own. To save the day, sheltered Colt has to drop the politics and become the action hero he never thought an omega could be.

Black Moon is an 90k word standalone novel featuring one fiery journalist, one doctor with an obsession for hand knit sweaters, and the sweetest apple pies on the whole eastern seaboard, all bundled up in a non-mpreg A/B/O universe.

Title: Black Moon (Wolf Moon Rising, Book 1)
Authors: Sam Burns & W.M. Fawkes

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads

If you’ve never driven the side roads off Virginia highways, let me tell you, you’re missing out on a whole bunch of fields. Hours and hours of trees and farmland. Endless, mundane hours.

Before I even got to Grovetown, I lost patience with the audiobook I’d been listening to, slammed it off, and turned on an old Blink-182 album, shouting along with lyrics worn familiar by a youth spent pissed the fuck off.

Finally—fucking finally—I wound my Prius up hilly roads, passing what looked to be an apple orchard with a sign out front that said, “Grove Apple Grove.”

Right, the Grove pack had been founded around an orchard, wolves rushing in from the coast back in ye olden times and settling where they could grow fruit plentifully.

Sounded kind of nice, all those sweet apples. A whole pack’s hopes and dreams growing deep with tree roots in soil.

Hey! Maybe apples were the key to overcoming the Condition. An apple a day and all that shit. You never know, but I was already looking forward to heirloom apples and cider donuts.

Whatever the case, I was surprised by how much I liked the sound of a pack with a place to belong. There was, of course, a pack in DC. Dad was alpha, but we were spread out through the whole district, and everybody had drives and intentions outside of the good of the pack. There wasn’t much communal about it, just, if two wolves had a problem, if an alpha got out of hand, Dad was expected to delegate someone to handle it.

That was the kind of pack I was used to, not the kind who looked after each other, settled in close to their neighbors, and worked together.

As idyllic as it sounded, it was just a nice thought. Like the drive through the countryside, there was no damn way that kind of life wouldn’t bore the ever-loving shit out of me the second I was done writing about the Grove pack’s weird traditions and backward habits.

I really, really wanted to like this book. I love all of Sam Burns’ other books.

What I really enjoyed about this book:

The world building was excellent
The detail really brought you into the story
The editing was excellent

What I didn’t enjoy about this book:

It was so boring… (I am an avid reader and it took me all day to get through this book)
The romance was lackluster there was absolutely no chemistry
The story was too long (it lagged)
The conflict was resolved so quickly
The action was talked about, but not shown

Honestly the story had a lot of potential. If they showed more than talked about the action or the kidnapping or the rescue I would have given the book 5 stars. I think the reason that it lags was because there was too much internal monologue rather than actual speaking. Which in turn, caused the MC’s to have no chemistry. Sam Burns is still one of my one click authors but this book just really didn’t do it for me.

3 pieces of eye candy

Sam is an author of LGBTQIA+ fiction, mostly light-hearted fantasy romances. Most of her books include a little violence, a fair amount of swearing, and maybe a sex scene or two. Or four.

She is a full-time writer who lives in the Midwest with her husband and cat. Someday, she plans to be a full-time writer who lives near the ocean with her husband, cat.

Connect with Sam:
www.burnswrites.com
facebook.com/sam.burns.52459
https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlickerFoxBooks
goodreads.com/author/show/16897949.Sam_Burns
amazon.com/Sam-Burns/e/B07123MZ62
instagram.com/samburnswrites
Sam@burnswrites.com

Connect with Waverly:
fawkeswrites.com
waverly@fawkeswrites.com
facebook.com/w.m.fawkes
https://www.goodreads.com/wmfawkes
twitter.com/FawkesWrites
instagram.com/w.m.fawkes

To celebrate Sam & Waverly’s new release, we are giving you 1 of 3 chances to win an e-copy of Black Moon!

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The Job by Cara Dee: Excerpt and New Release Review * 2

May 10, 2021 by Denise

With the help of their ball-busting daughter, some questionable morals, and an important job to get done, Casey and Boone will steal you away to the grit and glitz of Las Vegas in this fast-paced romance.

I’m not supposed to do this job without Boone.

We may not share genes, but it’s been us against the world since his mom took me in as a toddler. The rowdy O’Sullivan boys who raised all the hell that Vegas could handle. Not that all my memories are wild and make my heart race. After all, I realized I was in love with the bastard at some point, so there’s been plenty of pathetic yearning and jealousy too.

Even so, it’s been him and me. Brothers, partners in crime, and, for the past six years, co-parents to an amazing little girl. But that’s another story. Right now, I gotta focus on the job our cousin gave us, and I need Boone by my side.

The problem is we haven’t really been on speaking terms for four years now.

This story takes place in Cara Dee’s Camassia Cove Universe, a fictional town where all books stand on their own, unless otherwise stated, and the reader can jump in wherever they want.

The Job by Cara Dee

Series: Standalone, Camassia Cove Universe
Genre: MM Romance/Crime Romance
Tropes: Organized Crime, Comedy Romance, Suspense, Bad Boys, Family, Single Dad, Hurt/Comfort

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

“By the way, do you love me, Daddy?”

I shrugged to myself. “You’re all right, I guess.”

She giggled and peered up at me.

I smirked and dipped down, pressing a smooch to her forehead. “Of-fucking-course I do. What do you want, and how much is it gonna cost me?”

She knew that one. “Lunch at Denny’s. And I want Dad to come along.”

Fuck. This was one of those times I didn’t allow myself to hesitate or get bitchy. “Okay.” I nodded and swallowed the resentment that bubbled up. Not at her, just…our fucked-up situation. “The three of us will go out after the game.”

“Yes!” She fist-pumped the air, only making me feel like a dick.

Boone showed up shortly after, and she forgot I existed for a beat. She ran over to him and jumped into his arms, to which he picked her up and positioned her on his hip like back when she’d been little. To him, she was still tiny, I guessed. He dwarfed most people around him, including me, even though he only had a couple inches on me in height.

“Can you braid my hair?” she asked, holding up a rubber band.

“Sure thing.” He set her back on the ground when they reached me, though he paid me no mind whatsoever.

Something was wrong with him, and it pissed me off. He looked tired and couldn’t pretend to be happy to be here. He usually loved coming to her games.

As soon as he finished with her hair, Ace beamed up at him and gave him a big hug before she ran off to join the team. With the game about to start, I bent down and picked up the two camping chairs I’d brought and my cooler and walked off to the side.

I glanced over my shoulder and noticed Boone wasn’t following. “Oi. You comin’ or not?”

He looked my way, visibly exhausted, and made no reaction. He followed, but his face was blank. It was as if someone had punched the life out of him.

It rattled me. My hatred toward him took a shitload of energy to maintain, and if something was seriously wrong with him, I feared what it would do to me.

I unfolded the chairs in a spot where we’d have the perfect view of our daughter scoring goals, and I sat down and opened the cooler.

“You want a beer?” I asked.

“Sure.”

I popped two cans into a couple koozies and handed him one.

Like shit attracted flies, one of the mothers was quick to come over to us.

“You can’t drink beer here,” she snapped.

I eyed her over the brim of my shades and held up my can. “Are you blind? It says right here.” I pointed to the text on the koozie. “‘It’s just soda, dumbass.’” Last year’s Father’s Day gift from Ace.

“You think this is funny?” The woman did not like me. “For heaven’s sake, it’s ten in the morning.”

That one pissed off Boone. “Never you fuckin’ mind what we do at ten in the mornin’. Take a hike.”

For one brief second, I was flooded with energy and memories from better times when it’d been Boone and me against the world. When it’d been us, like a team, raising Ace together. Working together. Spending most of our time together.

It was a kick in the gut.

I’ve fairly recently discovered Cara Dee. I know, I know. I’ve loved everything I read so I jumped at this. I started reading and I wasn’t connecting. So after a couple pages I went back to read the review request and saw that it recommends reading Auctioned, Deserted and Stranded as they are loosely connected. So guess what I did? Read Auctioned, Deserted and Stranded. Then I started The Job over (I was only like 10 0r 20 pages in) and it made more sense. Now I knew who Darius was and why he was asked these 2 main characters to do something for him.

So back to it!

Best friends who literally became brothers when the mom of one adopted the other. And when another friend dies, they are tasked with raising her daughter. Together.

Flash forward 4 years. Now they share custody- they each get a week at a time- and they barely tolerate each other. Huh. It takes some time before we find out what exactly that is all about. But when their cousin calls with a job for them, they immediately fall back into their established roles when doing a job. They pretty much stop bickering and sniping at each other AND Boone weasles his way back into living with Casey. And their daughter.

Their daughter. OMG she is hilarious. She has a potty mouth on her, which usually seems forced like it is only there for comedic purposes, but that mouth of a trucker completely fits the 8 year old’s personality. And for a kid who’s mother died when she was 4, doesn’t know her real father, is being raised by brothers who don’t really speak and has a grandmother who watches her often- she is pretty well grounded. And I LIKED that. Yes, a lot of kids would have trauma from any one of those things. But not every kid would. It was nice to see.

Casey and Boone work great together on the recon for Darius. Working together also gives them the time to work on their relationship. Because Boone doesn’t understand why Casey kicked him out of his life and Casey doesn’t understand how Boone doesn’t see him pining over him.

The entire story, from them doing the job to reconciling, just flows. Nothing was awkward or forced. And above all else- these two guys put their daughter first. Everything they did was to make her life better.

Do you HAVE to read the first three books? Nope. Is it worth it to read the first three books? Yup. They are different and definitely not a normal romance story AT ALL.

Fun, hot, funny with a good story to back it up. Definitely recommend.

4 pieces of eye candy

I love Cara Dee‘s books. I will say though I didn’t read the Auctioned series, simply because I can’t do angsty generally. That’s Erin’s cup of tea. 🙂 However, this book was a great departure from angsty, as it was full of humor, action, and a whole lot of “when are they going to just go it already”. My favorites.

One of my favorite things about this book was how different the MC’s were from what you might normally read. Quite often, the MC’s are good “upstanding” citizens, working their day jobs, saving kittens, etc. However, these guys are petty criminals, have done jail time, are in the process of committing crimes in the book, and yet are still really good guys, who just want to do right by their daughter. They don’t care that they live in a trailer park, or that she curses as much as they do. Just that she is healthy and happy, and can count on them both to be there no matter what.

I really enjoyed this book, and these two were great together. And even better with their sweet daughter, Ace. I would love to read more about these three. Recommend!

4 pieces of eye candy

I’m often awkwardly silent or, if the topic interests me, a chronic rambler. In other words, I can discuss writing forever and ever. Fiction, in particular. The love story—while a huge draw and constantly present—is secondary for me, because there’s so much more to writing romance fiction than just making two (or more) people fall in love and have hot sex.

There’s a world to build, characters to develop, interests to create, and a topic or two to research thoroughly.

Every book is a challenge for me, an opportunity to learn something new, and a puzzle to piece together. I want my characters to come to life, and the only way I know to do that is to give them substance—passions, history, goals, quirks, and strong opinions—and to let them evolve.

I want my men and women to be relatable. That means allowing room for everyday problems and, for lack of a better word, flaws. My characters will never be perfect.

Wait…this was supposed to be about me, not my writing.

I’m a writey person who loves to write. Always wanderlusting, twitterpating, kinking, cooking, baking, and geeking. There’s time for hockey and family, too. But mostly, I just love to write.

Find Cara on social media here: https://www.caradeewrites.com/cdwlandingpage

Gideon’s Wish: Gay Romance by Bryan T. Clark: Blog Tour, Excerpt, Release Day Review and Giveaway

May 5, 2021 by Denise

He might be Mr. Right, but their timing is all kinds of wrong…

Gideon Miller is done letting his heart do the thinking for him. Been there, done that, still has the emotional scars to prove it. Besides, he’s leaving Los Angeles soon. There’d be no point in starting up a new romance now. But when he meets the off-the-charts sexy, ex-military man next door, Gideon starts to question everything…

Isaiah Williams needs a fresh start. With his time in the Navy—and a painful, toxic relationship—behind him, he’s ready to start a new life. Now all he has to do is figure out how to keep his matchmaking mother out of his business…and how to not fall for his sweet, nerdy, and entirely too attractive neighbor…

They’re complete opposites with nothing but trust issues in common. Their timing? Terrible. And yet…none of that matters when they’re together. Will love be enough to get Gideon and Isaiah to happily ever after? Or are they destined to remain star-crossed?

“Gideon’s Wish, a standalone, steamy, lightly angsty, M/M contemporary romance, features a loveable, openly gay handyman and the not-so-openly gay alpha male of his dreams. HEA guaranteed. Download today and get ready to fall in love with your next favorite read.”

Publisher: Cornbread Publishing

Release Date: Saturday, May 1 2021

Page Count: 364

Cover Artist: Karrie Jax

Genres: Romance MM

Amazon

“Your dad and I are so proud of you and the work you’ve done on the house. I admit, I thought your dad was crazy to want to take the loan out to do this…But it really looks nice.”

He knew she was referring to the latest pictures he’d sent her. Although he’d spent every bit of the twenty grand from the home equity loan they’d taken out for the project, they saved so much money in labor by him doing the work himself.

Gideon groaned into the receiver. He hated talking money with her. It was always ‘we can’t afford that.’ “Well, I wanted to talk to you and Dad about the master bathroom. I was thinking we should redo the bathroom before we put it back up for rent. I can pay for it with the money I’m making, and…” The sound of a door closing caused Gideon to look over his shoulders, out the window, and into the carport that he and his neighbor, Daisy, shared.

Jesus! Gideon’s lower jaw dropped as he stared at the young man coming out of Daisy’s house holding a trash bag. Shirtless, his gorgeous brown chest muscles were like two rounded mountains.

As the guy walked across the carport, Gideon’s eyes traced down his picture-perfect six-pack abs to a tapered waist and strong thighs. He had the classic military hair cut, trimmed short all the way around except for the top of his head.

“Hold on! Your father’s walking in. Talk to him about that. I love you!”

“I love you, too,” he tried to say before she was gone. As he waited for his dad to get on the phone, Gideon now remembered Daisy saying last week that her son, Isaiah, was coming home and would be staying with her until he got on his feet. Was this who this gorgeous specimen of a man was?

Gideon’s gaze fell below the guy’s waist. Holy shit! What the hell is that swinging in his black nylon gym shorts? Obviously, commando under the tight shorts, the sheer size of it sent blood flooding into Gideon’s own groin.

The man’s warm chestnut skin tone complimented his black hair and thin, neatly-trimmed mustache that dropped to his jaw line. If this was indeed Isaiah, he was way better-looking than his brothers and in great shape. He was all kinds of sexy.

What a cute read!
I completely fell in love with Gideon and Isaiah….they are seriously the cutest.
Let’s discuss….

Gideon is in town only long enough to fix up his grandma’s house that the family inherited, so they can rent it out and hopefully make some money to use towards their tourist destination in the rainforest, where he lives with his mom, dad and brother. The rainforest and nature and the family business has been his life and up until now, he’s been okay with that.

Following a slimy ex and then getting sick and staying for treatment under the guise of working on the house was more apt to say but his family didn’t know that. I truly felt for him and I liked that Gideon wasn’t a perfect character, but one with what some might consider a flaw or two that would take an understanding partner to come to terms with.

When we meet Isaiah, I wasn’t sure what to think of him. Gorgeous ex-navy man, he’s staying with his mother while he’s back in town and studying to graduate the police academy… Gideon is their neighbor and though he isn’t typically Isaiah’s type, he doesn’t deny that he’s smitten with him the moment he lays eyes on him. He tries to talk himself out of it, but Gideon is so charming and so unexpectedly cute, he can’t help but fall for him….. and calling him Puppy…. I loved that.

Unfortunately, the more time these two spend with each other, the deeper their feelings grow, and that sucks because eventually, Gideon has to get back to his family. He can’t stay… no matter how much he wants to… See, the tourist destination thing is his family’s dream… or his dads, I should say… not his. He just doesn’t want to disappoint them. He knows that his dad is getting up there in age and he’s expected to take things over when his dad can no longer do it. Meeting Isaiah made him want things he couldn’t have….for more than one reason.

This was a really sweet read with very little angst and it was exactly what I needed today. I won’t tell you all how it ends or give any more details, (like I like doing because I have no self-control) but I’ll say that if you like sweet couple’s who find their way to forever, this is the one for you. What a cute ending as well. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of these two and their families.

5 pieces of eye candy

Bryan T. Clark is a hopeless, perpetual, unceasing, relentless, unremitting, persistent, interminable romantic. He is a voracious reader who is blessed with an innate love of writing and who, after over 30 years, remains madly in love with the man of his dreams. So, it is no surprise then, that his passion in life is writing captivating and engaging romantic dramas about men who love men. He is committed to bringing his readers stories of real life, with multicultural characters, riveting plots, and of course, what we all desire…ever-lasting love. A multi-published, Rainbow Award winning author and a 2x LAMBDA Literary Finalist, he is also a funny, loving, family-oriented, and a proud member of the LGBTQ community. He is the founder of Cornbread Publishing Inc. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Bryan and his husband of thirty-six years have made their home and life in the Central Valley of California.

Author Website: https://www.btclark.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/btclarkauthor

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/BryanTClarkx2

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romanceauthor

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53309216-far-away

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Finn’s Fantasy (Maine Men Series, Book 1) by K.C. Wells: Blog Tour, Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

April 28, 2021 by Denise

It’s been twenty years since Joel was with a man, and he doesn’t want to screw this up.
Especially with Finn.

A secret desire
By day, Finn builds houses on the coastline of Maine. Afterhours, Finn dreams of the hot older guy who walks his chocolate lab on Goose Rocks Beach. The man of his dreams ticks all his boxes. Salt and pepper hair. Strong jawline. Blue eyes.
His dream man is perfect fantasy material. As for actually speaking to him?
As if. Their paths won’t ever cross, and the guy is probably straight.

A new chapter
Recently divorced Joel is finally living as a gay man, but he’s not sure he’s ready to jump into a relationship. That doesn’t stop him from noticing his new contractor’s muscular build, hewn from hard, physical work, or his storm-colored eyes. Or the way he wears his tool belt slung low on his hips. The icing on the cake? There’s more to Finn than good looks. Maybe he’s the perfect guy to share long walks on the beach and warm nights in front of a fire.
But it’s been twenty years since Joel was with a man. While he’s not forgotten how to flirt, he’s nervous about making a move.
Especially with Finn.

Title: Finn’s Fantasy (Maine Men Series, Book 1)
Author: K.C. Wells

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads

Joel closed the front door behind him before unfastening Bramble’s leash. “You had to go running off, didn’t you? You had to go talk to your doggy pals.” Bramble gazed at him with those liquid brown eyes, his tail thumping on the floor, and Joel realized he was fighting a losing battle. He could never stay mad at this dog for long. He rubbed Bramble’s ears. “Just don’t do it again, okay?”

Bramble’s soft woof might have been Okay, but Joel would lay even money it was more a case of hey, why are you complaining? You got to meet a hot guy, didn’t you?

There was no denying it—Finn was hot, from the sweep of his hair off his brow, to those gunmetal eyes, the color of the ocean during a storm, to that scruffy beard and barely-there mustache. And then there was his build: the heavy coat might have hidden his frame, but it was obvious Finn was not a slight man, capable of being blown away by a stiff breeze.

It was no surprise to Joel that the word stiff came to mind. And now that he knew where Finn lived, Joel would keep an eye out for him when he took Bramble for a walk.

Down boy. You don’t know anything about him—except that he’s hot.

This was my first K.C. Wells book that wasn’t kink. And it was…nice.

Look, this is book one of a planned series and there is a lot of world building and character development to happen. And we met all of the guys pretty much at once at the wedding of a friend- the bride. I don’t know where exactly she fits in because after the wedding, she doesn’t come up a lot.

The book is set on the coast in Maine with both main characters renting what we call beach bungalows. I swear I could almost smell the inside of those places. I grew up in a beach town and those bungalows are iconic. And a bit of a dying breed. Anyway.

Joel is renting his place after he and his wife split up. Because…gay. I hate how true it is that gay men are still hiding who they are, marrying and having families while carrying that secret. But I digress.

Finn is out and proud. Working construction, he sees Joel walking his dog and becomes intrigued. They meet, Joel hires him to build a deck, etc, etc.

Joel’s ex wife is his best friend and his daughter seems fine with the whole situation, but he has the angty teen son. Always scary.

Everything is very civilized for the most part, Joel and Finn definitely have chemistry, but of course Finn feels like it will end when the project does. Joel worries that Finn is too young and experienced. The usual.

There was nothing earth shattering. No big plot twists. No big misunderstandings before a tearful reunion. Just a nice, sweet, sometimes hot, romance.

3.5 pieces of eye candy

K.C. Wells lives on an island off the south coast of the UK, surrounded by natural beauty. She writes about men who love men, and can’t even contemplate a life that doesn’t include writing.
The rainbow rose tattoo on her back with the words ‘Love is Love’ and ‘Love Wins’ is her way of hoisting a flag. She plans to be writing about men in love – be it sweet or slow, hot or kinky – for a long while to come.

Connect with K.C.:
If you want to follow her exploits, you can sign up for her monthly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cNKHlT
Got a favourite trope? Then check out this page: https://www.kcwellswrites.com/tropes

You can stalk – er, find – her in the following places:
ALL my links: https://smart.bio/k.c.wellsauthor
Email: k.c.wells@btinternet.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/KCWellsWorld
KC’s men In Love (my readers group): http://bit.ly/2hXL6wJ
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/K-C-Wells/e/B00AECQ1LQ
Twitter: @K_C_Wells
Website: www.kcwellswrites.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/k.c.wells
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/k-c-wells
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/KCWellsAuthor/my-books/

To celebrate the release of Finn’s Fantasy, K.C. is giving away some awesome prizes:

$30 Amazon Voucher
US or UK Audible Code of Finn’s Fantasy by K.C. Wells
A chance to win 1 of 5 ebooks from K.C. Wells backlist

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The Quiet House (Black and Blue Series Book 2) by Lily Morton: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

April 20, 2021 by Denise

Levi Black has mostly recovered from the events of a year ago. The only lingering effects are that he’s much more well known in York than he’d like to be, and he’s a lot more cautious about walking around his house naked. However, those events brought him the capricious and fascinating Blue, so he’s not complaining. On the contrary, he’s happy, in love, and looking forward to Blue finally moving in with him. And if sometimes he wonders what Blue sees in a boring cartoonist, he keeps that to himself.

Blue Billings is finally ready to throw off the memories of his past and move in with the person who means the most in the world to him. His psychic abilities have grown in the last year to his mentor Tom’s consternation, but Blue is determined to look on the bright side. He’s also focused on ignoring all the warning signs that he’s received lately.

However, even deeply buried secrets have a way of rising to the surface. And when a surprise from Blue’s past turns up and draws them away to a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors, Levi and Blue must fight for their survival once again.

From bestselling author, Lily Morton, comes the second book in the Black & Blue series. The books are intended to be read in order.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads

The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings (Black and Blue Series Book 1)

I make my way down the hall and throw the door open, laughing. “So, you did need a hand—”

A stranger stands on the doorstep.

“Sorry,” I say. “I thought you were someone else.”

The man turns slightly to face me. “It happens.”

He’s tall and burly with very wide shoulders. He has a tumble of black and grey hair that frames an eye-catching face with full lips and very light blue eyes. I’d put him in his mid-fifties, and he has an amused look on his face. With that and his dark clothes, he looks rather saturnine. I feel a wave of unease run over me which is startling in its intensity.

“Can I help—” Before I can finish the question, the door is seized from my hand and slammed in the man’s startled face. “Shit,” I mutter. Flicking the catch, I pull the door handle. The door doesn’t budge. “Rosalind,” I hiss. “Please open the door.”

She’s become very protective of Blue and me over the last year. The other week she refused to let the gas man in to read the meter, and although it was a lovely thought, it didn’t go down too well with the gas company. “Rosalind,” I prompt. There’s a very protracted pause and then the door slowly opens.

The man is still standing there with a wry expression, no trace of surprise at having the door shut in his face.

“Sorry,” I say. “The wind caught it.”

“Aye,” he says. His voice is deep and rumbling. He looks up at the house. “I’m sure that happens quite a lot around here.”

A smile still plays on his lips, and I’m seized with the sudden feeling that I know him. Rather than easing my concern, my worry grows and my next question is rudely abrupt.

“Can I help you?”

He watches me, his eyes intent. “I’m here for Blue Billings.”

It’s no secret that I am a big Lily Morton fan. And I really loved the first book in this series. While it still contained some snark that Lily is famous for, there was also mystery and ghosts and psychics and it was just so fun. So I couldn’t wait for book 2.

So worth the wait.

Blue and Levi and now in an established relationship going on a year now. Levi’s house only has one ghost and she is welcome, even if she gets mad when they are messy. Everything is happy. And then Blue’s father- whom he has never met- shows up with a proposal to spend a few days at one of the most notoriously ghost ridden houses in England for a few days. The owner of the house wants to turn it into a macabre hotel and wants genuine ghost stories to tell. So of course hire someone who can see and talk to ghosts. He finds out his boss, friend and mentor, Tom was also invited, so they pack up the car and go.

What follows is very Willy Wonka-ish when they arrive and find that they are not the only ones invited. They are the only ones with the gift though. And there are ghosts EVERYWHERE. And they are not happy.

Blue’s 2 former partners are also there, which doesn’t make for a fun time for him. But the quirky owner of the castle seems oblivious to the tension. Blue is also hoping to maybe get to know this man who is his father while he is there.

If you are easily frightened by scary things in books, you might get scared. Because the focus of the book really is on the ghosts and this castle or manor where they live. Blue and Levi are solid and there’s isn’t even a silly conflict that tears them apart before bringing them back together.

Tom is a treasure and I loved reading about he and Blue trying to figure things out.

If you read and enjoyed the first book, you’ll enjoy this one as well.

4 pieces of eye candy

Lily writes contemporary romance novels, and specialises in hot love stories with a good dose of humour.

Lily lives in sunny England with her husband and two children, all of whom claim that they haven’t had a proper conversation with her since she bought her first Kindle.

She has spent her life with her head full of daydreams and decided one day to just sit down and start writing about them. In the process she discovered that she actually loved writing, because how else could she get to spend her time with hot, funny men!

She loves chocolate and Baileys and the best of all creations – chocolate Baileys! Her lifetime’s ambition is to have a bath in peace without being shouted by one of her family.

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Nothing Special VIII: SWAT Ed.: Fox & Bull by A.E. Via: Blog Tour, Excerpt, New Release Review *2 and Giveaway

April 19, 2021 by Denise

A fox can set many traps to catch his target—but this one only needs one to catch his.

Dominic “Bull” Walker is used to the simpler things in life. Give him his own land to work, a strong horse, and twelve hours of daylight, and he is a contented man. But when someone threatens to take away the successful ranch that took him two years to rebuild, he’ll accept any help he can get to defend it.

Mandel “Fox” Tucker is a sixth-generation SWAT soldier. It’s embedded in his bones to protect and serve his community. So when he gets word of the vandalism occurring on the Walker Ranch, he quickly volunteers the free time he has, thanks to his recent suspension.

The brief visit Fox had with Bull four months ago had been a contentious—but powerful—encounter. Therefore, he’s not surprised when he shows up on his doorstep unannounced and has to pull out some of his best tricks to get past the six-foot-four, stubborn Texan.

Fox is only there to safeguard what’s most important to Bull. But being on the ranch brings an awareness to him that he embraces with both hands. Nature, peace… love—things he never found in the city.

This book contains the love story of two new characters. It is a part of a series but can be read as a standalone.
There are no multiple pairings or sharing. Ends in a very HEA.
Trigger Warning: Mild police violence. Scenes are not graphic.

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“Hey,” Fox said, staring up at him. “I’m going to find who did this…and when I do…I’m going to make ’em pay.”

Bull realized Fox was almost standing on top of him they were so close. But his aura exuded protectiveness and power that Bull needed whether he wanted to admit it or not. “I haven’t made any enemies, Fox. I’m not that kinda man. I don’t go looking for trouble.”

“You don’t have to, Bull. Sometimes trouble comes looking for you.”Fox nodded towards the house where a couple of Bull’s maintenance workers were tacking plywood over the missing window. “Let’s go inside and eat breakfast, then we can work out what you’re gonna tell your employees.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like. I don’t want you to tell anyone I’m a cop. Not yet anyway. It’s best to let people feel comfortable around me, and no one is ever comfortable talking to a detective,”Fox said. “We’ll just say I’m here doing land surveys. No one really knows what those guys do in that line of work. I think their job is to just walk around on land. Besides, you don’t want a small town spreading gossip that you got a detective snooping around your place of business.”

“That would definitely turn people off from bringing their kids around here. I can’t afford to lose any business right now. Especially during the cold season,”Bull said gravely.

“Then let’s hope it doesn’t take me long.”Fox put his hand on Bull’s shoulder and squeezed, the firm, reassuring touch reaching him even through his thick black Carhartt coat.

“Yeah. Let’s hope,”Bull muttered as he followed Fox back to the house because there was nothing else he could do. He’s only been here a few minutes, and he’s already talking about hurrying up. If that wasn’t enough for Bull to get his head out of the clouds, he didn’t know what would be. At thirty-three, Bull was in the settling-down phase of his life. And men like Fox were not catchable.

We, as a fandom, have been eagerly awaiting this book. The sparks between Fox and Bull were just too hot to ignore.

Most of Ms Via’s books- especially involving the SWAT guys or the guys from narcotics- are action packed roller coasters. This one is tame by comparison. But it works because this story is 99.8% set on Bull’s ranch.

Fox volunteers to check out the ranch after he is benched at work again. Also handy since he has had the hots for Bull since he met him.

Instead of our usual cast of characters, this time we get Bull’s father, their housekeeper, Bull’s best friend, and other random ranch hands.

Don’t worry. God and Day and the others make more than one appearance. But Atlanta PD is not the main focus here.

Instead the focus is on Fox and Bull dancing around each other, figure out who is vandalizing the ranch and Fox figuring out where he belongs.

The heat was NOT turned down at all in this book compared to others. Ms Via can write a sex scene as well as she can write an action scene. Both keep you glued to the pages.

If you are a fan, you’ll definitely want to read. And this really can be read as a stand alone, but going back to book 1 is not a waste of time at all.

4 pieces of eye candy

Sighhhh, I love all of them. I’m always ready for more of this series!

You know how you’re waiting for something for a long time and then you finally get it and then you’re kinda scared of it because you want it to be everything you hyped it up to be but are scared it won’t be? Yeah… this isn’t like that. This was well worth the wait and definitely worth the read.

I’ve been intrigued by Fox and Bull since we were first introduced to them and I loved getting to know them both better in this one. I’m going to try to be as spoiler free as I can because I got in a little bit of trouble in my last review and I don’t want to do that again lol

So, first, Fox and Bull had already known each other and I like the meet again scenario that’s a little different in this book. I also really dig a hot cop and a cowboy because uhmm, duh. Why are we not funding more of this?

I absolutely adored Fox, though my heart hurt for him and all he’d been through and put up with to get where he was. I loved Bull for being this sort of safe place for him.

I loved catching up with some of the rest of the guys, even though I was a little torn with my normally unwavering love for God in this one. I didn’t think that could ever happen, but jeez, what a jerk (this is not the first name I called him but it’s the one safest for my review LOL) I can see where he was coming from, the tiniest bit, but I really felt like he was trying to come in between these two and I really didn’t like that. It clouded my opinion of him slightly, though I still love him so… ya know…

Sidenote: I did not like Dale. I’m not fond of love triangles and I was worried that this one would be. It wasn’t, thankfully, but I still wasn’t a fan of him.

I like the way things progressed here, it was a slow burn, and I feel like it was what both of them needed because both were afraid of getting hurt. I loved their witty banter (especially Fox and Dale) and how fun it was watching them learn to trust each other and slowly give in to their feelings for one another.

It was really sweet as much as it was dirty and sexy and all the other fun words that you expect from Queen V. (Can we call her that? I think that should be a thing)

Anyway… I’m not sure that anyone will ever top Ruxs and Green for me, but these two were entertaining, sweet, heartbreaking, funny and I was really rooting for them. I liked that there wasn’t a lot of angst and though there was drama, it wasn’t enough to make me think that they wouldn’t come out together in the end. I loved the ending and other than a brief wtf moment from God, it was perfect!

A great addition to an already amazing series that I cannot wait to start all over and re-read them again!

5 pieces of eye candy

A.E. Via has been a best-selling author in the beautiful gay romance genre for six years now, but she’s no stranger to MM. She’s been an avid reader of gay literature for over twenty years before she picked up her laptop to place her own kiss on this genre. She’s also the founder and owner of Via Star Wings Books, having published a couple great, new up and coming MM authors.

A.E. has a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Virginia Wesleyan College that she used to start her own paralegal firm after she graduated in 2008. She spent five years preparing and filing bankruptcy petitions for struggling blue collar workers who couldn’t afford to file with a lawyer. It was a rewarding and satisfying career… but another path called to her.

Writing.

A.E.’s novels embodies everything from hopelessly romantic to adventure, to scandalous. Her stories often include intriguing edges and twists that take readers to new, thought-provoking depths.

She’s recently celebrated her 20th book anniversary, and is well-known for her hardcore, love hard, bad boy, alphas. However, she does like to push herself to step out of her comfort zone, exploring different tropes. She’s head over heels for gay romance and she has tons of more hot stories to tell.

Be sure to visit Adrienne on her social media pages and subscribe to her newsletter to never miss another release date! Go to A.E. Via’s official website http://authoraevia.com for more detailed information on how to contact her, follow her, or a sneak peek at upcoming work, free reads, VSWB submissions, and where she’ll appear next.

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