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Chasing Destiny by Megan Erickson: New Release Review and AWESOME Guest Post

July 30, 2017 by Denise

Some live on memories…

Almost dying during a pack uprising has a way of shaking things up. I’m no longer Mr. Laid Back now that there’s an itch under my skin I can’t scratch.

On a volunteer mission that goes beyond the walls of our compound, we enter the territory of a pack long thought dead, and find ourselves on the business end of their spears.

What I’m not prepared for is what I find within their walls—The one shifter I never thought I’d see alive, the one I’d mourned twice, the one I’d always loved. He is alive, and if I have anything to do with it, he’ll stay that way. But he’s got secrets, and exposing them could lead us to an enemy worse than the bloodthirsty undead shifters wanting to kill us all…

Amazon

Kobo Books

Barnes and Noble

Oddest things I found while researching for the Silver Tip Pack series:

Don’t search Etsy for werewolf. Don’t do it! I thought I’d mosey on over there to see if they had any cool things for giveaways and instead I came away with the knowledge that someone, somewhere, makes werewolf dildos. I never needed to know that, and I don’t think I’m a better human for it.
There are a million YouTube videos about werewolf shifting. This one is a great compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfUrSodTwDw There is even one entitled “Man shifts into werewolf live on camera.” Okay. Sure, Jan.
I need to thank the Underworld movie franchise for their lychan special effects because they have provided me with endless gifs to promote these books. Thanks Underworld producers! http://gph.is/28VF6yy
Plumbing! My characters might be shifters, but the have working toilets and showers.
Building supplies! My packs live in fortified compounds. I had to figure out how they’d build these compounds, and what they would use. Also farming. Dystopian writing is hard, but fun. 🙂

Okay, I seriously don’t read paranormal wolf/shifter, etc books, and I REALLY don’t read dystopian, cause well…I don’t know, I just don’t. However, with it being Megan Erickson, and with the above guest post, how could you not? I mean really…I had to!

And I loved it. I need to just stop judging a book by…well what I think it will be like. 🙂

Chasing Destiny, being book 2 in the Silver Tip Pack series, can be read as a stand alone (and since I didn’t read book 1, I can vouch for that). The author does a great job explaining the things you (likely) would have learned in book 1 that you need to know. And I was able to follow along, and get to meet, and fall in love with all the characters.

This is a second chance love (if being young teenagers when you lose your first love counts) between Bay, the brother to the Silver Tip Pack leader and Nash, the man who everyone thought was dead.

What an emotional punch when these two see each other again. Bay never stopped thinking that Nash was out there, and never stopped wanting him back. Meanwhile Nash did everything he could to keep himself away, knowing it would likely kill him to stay away and everyone he loved if he considered returning. His mind told him to stay away, but his heart and his mate would not let him go, and that was the emotional punch the reader takes as they read this. There is so much love between these two, no matter how hard Nash tries to deny it, and push it away, for the betterment of everyone, it can’t be denied, and we are fortunate enough to come along as Bay fights for Nash, until Nash is strong enough to fight for himself. *Spoiler* Nash gets there, but it takes a HUGE revelation for him to do it, and the reader will love every second of it.

So, here’s what I learned…that there better be a book 3, because I want to know what happens to Bay and Nash as they continue on their path, and there might be a couple others in the pack that I definitely want to follow into their HEA’s.

Once again, Megan draws me in, as she always does, and I don’t want to leave…except now I have to go read one of her series I haven’t yet… 🙂

4 pieces of eye candy

Say Yes by J.R. Gray: Blog Tour, Exclusive Author Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

July 30, 2017 by Denise

James failed.
He tried to be what they wanted.
He tried to deny it.
He tried to be a good Catholic boy…but it’s become too much.
He craves pain, submission.
He’s denied himself far too long, and it’s eating him alive.

Charles thrives off the exchange of power. He knows the world revolves around control. It’s given and taken like currency, in business and in pleasure. He won’t get attached, though, or so he tells himself, until James turns his world upside down. He’s defiant and snarky, but Charles can taste the submission on him.

Charles holds the key to his salvation but James has to Say Yes.

Title: Say Yes

Author: J.R. Gray

Publisher: Self

Release Date (Ebook & Print): July 24

Note: Say Yes was originally published in an alternative form by Omni Lit Publishing on December 1, 2015.

Length (word count): 35K words, 126 pages

Subgenre: Contemporary M/M BDSM

Amazon US – Kindle Unlimited

Amazon UK

Amazon CA

Last December I got the email no author wants to receive, my publisher was closing. I won’t get into details, or go on an angry rant about them, one side of this has to have some class right? Or so I’m going to keep telling myself as I contain my rage. Mostly kidding, I’m happy to have my rights back. When I first started publishing, self publishing scared me. It was this big unknown of making a ton of decisions without much

guidance. After publishing quite a few books, I’ve found I prefer to have all the control I can. I am not at all saying I don’t love working with a publisher as well. I have a wonderful publisher who is a dream to work with and allows me the control I want.

But here I was with the rights back to a book that had been out a year. I knew what I had to do, new cover, paperbacks, add content, work with my amazing publicist to get the book visible, but one of the issues in putting all this work into an old release is time vs potential earning. Every cost has to be weighed and debated based on how well I think Say Yes can find a new audience or bring back the original audience with new content.

I think the hardest part of rereleasing is getting people to pay attention. There are so many new releases every single day in queer romance a book has to stand out again to make readers stop. I’m excited about this rerelease.

“It’s a good thing I never lose.” He turned away, with astute arrogance which couldn’t be faked. It took years of Upper East Side inbreeding to obtain the level of innate sophistication, above even the level of wealth James had been raised with.
“Maybe this will be the first time,” even as James said the words he wanted to swallow them back.
“I don’t think so.” Charles’s voice was almost sing-songy.
“Cocky dick,” James muttered under his breath, not loud enough for Charles to hear him, or so he thought.

“I think you need a little bit of this dick.” He kept getting further away, and James felt like he was losing him.
“Come back here.”
“Well since you asked so nicely.” He flashed him a wink and stalked in close, like the last twenty minutes hadn’t happened. He lifted a hand and placed it at the base of James’ neck.
“Not here.” James glanced around. No one was looking, but they were still so exposed, which seemed an absurd idea considering where they were, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it—yet.
Yet? Where had that idea come from? James was reeling. He’d never even given in to the temptation of fucking a man, and now he was considering submitting to one in public. He must have lost his damn mind.
Charles fisted a hand in his shirt. “Tell me where?”
The look in his eyes made his knees weak. “Who’s the dominant here?”
Charles tightened his grip on James’ throat. The pressure wasn’t suffocating, but arousing, owning—possessive even. He’d never felt so turned on in his life. The next morning he’d expect to find bruises.
“I want you, and I’m going to have you.” Charles’ voice had dropped so low, James could barely hear it.

When not staying up all night writing, J.R. Gray can be found at the gym where it’s half assumed he is a permanent resident to fulfill his self-inflicted masochism. A dominant and a pilot, Gray finds it hard to be in the passenger seat of any car. He frequently interrupts real life, including normal sleep patterns and conversations, to jot down notes or plot bunnies. Commas are the bane of his existence even though it’s been fully acknowledged they are necessary, they continue to baffle and bewilder. If Gray wasn’t writing…well, that’s not possible. The buildup of untold stories would haunt Gray into an early grave, insanity or both. The idea of haunting has always appealed to him. J.R. Gray is genderqueer and prefers he/him pronouns.

Rafflecopter Code for Giveaway of 3 ecopies of SAY YES:

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Losing My Religion by A.S. Tucker: Release Blitz, Excerpt and Giveaway

July 29, 2017 by Denise

Title: Losing My Religion

Author: A.S. Tucker

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: July 27, 2017

Jaden Barker is a good boy.

For as long as he can remember, he’s been preparing for the day he’ll be called as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He’s ready. He’s more than willing. And he can’t wait to spend the next two years serving the Lord and his church. But when a new proclamation from the church is announced, it leaves him questioning everything.

Quinn Owens is trouble with a capital T.

An aspiring actor living in the bowels of Los Angeles, he’s fought long and hard to get where he is, and he’s not willing to give it up for anything. Working for a homophobic boss presents quite a challenge when you’re a gay man, but Quinn knows losing this job means losing his dream.

Jaden is lost and confused.

Quinn won’t let anything stand in his way.

But when Jaden finds himself living downstairs from the enticing Quinn, neither are prepared for what happens next.

Will Jaden be able to resist Quinn’s charms and remain a devoted Mormon missionary? Or will he fall, finding himself face to face with losing his religion?

5 Stars from Millsy Loves Books – “I loved this read with passion i’ll be honest i really wasn’t expecting it to effect me as much as it did. The words the story the emotions weather good or bad left me not being able to put this book down. I would highly recommend this read.”

5 Stars from Konny on Goodreads – “Losing My Religion is an intense emotional read. I give 5 stars, thank you AS Tucker!”

5 Stars from Amo & Sarah’s Book Corner – “A very different love story, that is beautifully written.”

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As I step into the room, I drop my suitcase on the floor, my duffel bag sliding off my shoulder and falling on top of it. Six bunk beds are crowded into the tiny space, each bed made neatly with a thin comforter stretched tautly across the mattress. It reminds of the dorm rooms I’ve seen in movies and TV shows throughout the years. Except, instead of posters of half-naked women and sports stars adorning the walls, there are pictures of Jesus Christ. Instead of math books and dirty laundry strewed about, there are scriptures and pamphlets about the church.

So, yeah, it’s just like a dorm room—if the dorm room were in a parallel universe where teenage boys read the Bible and The Book of Mormon instead of play video games and drink beer.

Welcome to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.
Elder Scott, the leader of the district I’ve been assigned to, points to the bottom bunk on the left side of the room, indicating I should put my stuff there. All the missionaries in this district of the MTC are going to be serving in the California Los Angeles mission or somewhere in the vicinity. We’re split by the area we’ll be serving in, by the language we’ll be speaking, and, of course, by sex. The sister missionaries are housed in a separate part of the MTC with clear guidelines of what will happen if those borders are breached after hours.

I pick up my bag and toss it onto the bed before leaning over to grab my heavier suitcase with both hands. Elder Scott bends over to help, and together, we lift the monstrosity onto the bunk.

“You can hang your suits in the closet,” he says, pointing to a tiny accordion door next to the beds on the right. “Each of you has one drawer in the dresser. Yours will be one up from the bottom. Go ahead and get your things unpacked. I’m going to head to Elder Burke’s class and see if I can borrow Elder Daniels. He’ll be your companion while you’re here.”

Without another word, Elder Scott turns and exits the room, leaving me in the silent, foreign room by myself. An all-too recognizable pang fills my chest as I look around, and once again, I’m left wondering if I’ve made the right choice.

It’s just nerves, my inner Jiminy reminds me, trying to soothe my budding panic.

Or it’s the fact that you’re a total fraud, and you have no business being here, his less than delightful counterpart retorts.

I shake my head as I sit down on the edge of the bed, grateful for the moment alone. It might be the last one I get for the next two years. Once your companion is assigned, the two of you stick together like the pages of a dirty magazine.

I chuckle softly at my poor attempt at a joke, but then guilt immediately sets in at the thought, considering my surroundings. I can almost feel Jesus’s disapproving eyes boring into me. So, instead of lifting my head to meet his gaze, I unzip my suitcase and begin to unpack my things.

A military brat growing up, A.S. Tucker now resides in Utah with her loving husband. When not writing, you’ll find her reading, binge watching Netflix, or drinking wine. Her three favorite things are animals, coffee, and Harry Potter, not necessarily in that order. She is the author of three other novels, published under a different pen name. She loves hearing from her readers, so please drop her a line!

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Get a Grip by L.A. Witt: Blog Tour, Exclusive Guest Post and Giveaway

July 28, 2017 by Denise

Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/L. A. Witt blog tour for Get a Grip, the latest Bluewater Bay story!

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (excluding Get a Grip) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 29th, and winners will be announced on July 30th. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

If a tree falls in Bluewater Bay . . . could it be fate?

A year after his divorce, Shane Andrews isn’t interested in dating—not that he has time, between three kids and a demanding job as a grip. When a windstorm knocks a tree onto one of the Wolf’s Landing soundstages, Shane’s there to help with the mess . . . and so is firefighter Aaron Tucker.

A former smoke jumper, Aaron’s an adrenaline junkie and way too restless and reckless to be relationship material. As far as he’s concerned, monogamy is for penguins, and he’d rather be alone than tied down. Signing up to be a stepparent? No, thank you.

But after a scorching-hot night together, they’re hooked. Aaron is a taste of the excitement Shane’s been lacking, and Shane’s pushing buttons Aaron didn’t know he had. The more they’re together, the less Aaron craves wild nights with other men . . . but the more Shane wants to play the field like he never got to in his twenties.

This could be the love neither man knew he needed, but only if Shane gets his feet back on the ground before Aaron walks away.

Amazon

Riptide Publishing

Writing in an Established Series

Writing in an established universe definitely has some challenges. When that universe is shared, there are even more. But it’s a ton of fun, too, which is why I’ve done it twice (first with Tucker Springs, now with Bluewater Bay), and will probably do it again in the future.

An equal parts pro and con is that you don’t have complete control over your universe. If it’s a shared world, you have other people working on it, which means keeping track of the town’s layout, if that restaurant on First Street is still in business or if one of the other authors burned it down two books ago, etc. With so many people involved in Bluewater Bay, we kept a couple of detailed “bibles” on Google Docs, which we could all access to make sure we had our stories straight.

That can make things challenging, of course, but it can also make things easier. When I want my characters to go on a romantic date, it’s entirely possible another author has already created a restaurant that fits the bill. So I just send my characters to that place and don’t have to worry about naming it, establishing the atmosphere, etc. So it’s a bit of a shortcut!

Similarly, you can have characters introduced by other authors. In Get a Grip, Shane meets a couple of swingers, Simon and Lydia. They’ll be front and center in Anna Zabo’s book, Outside the Lines. And in turn, Anna introduces Jesse, the assistant manager at the Simon and Lydia’s comic book shop, and Jesse will be one of the main characters of my next book in the series, New Hand.

Basically what it boils down to is that you have to make sure you’re consistent with other authors, and you have to keep track of details from one book to the next, but you’ve also got people establishing cast and setting along the way, which can make things really fun. So yes, shared and established universes certainly have their challenges, but they’re really a lot of fun. I don’t know when or where my next shared universe will pop up, but there will definitely be more of them.

About Bluewater Bay

Welcome to Bluewater Bay! This quiet little logging town on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula has been stagnating for decades, on the verge of ghost town status. Until a television crew moves in to film Wolf’s Landing, a soon-to-be cult hit based on the wildly successful shifter novels penned by local author Hunter Easton.

Wolf’s Landing’s success spawns everything from merchandise to movie talks, and Bluewater Bay explodes into a mecca for fans and tourists alike. The locals still aren’t quite sure what to make of all this—the town is rejuvenated, but at what cost? And the Hollywood-based production crew is out of their element in this small, mossy seaside locale. Needless to say, sparks fly.

This collaborative story world is brought to you by eleven award-winning, best-selling LGBTQ romance authors: L.A. Witt, L.B. Gregg, Z.A. Maxfield, Heidi Belleau, Rachel Haimowitz, Anne Tenino, Amy Lane, SE Jakes, G.B. Gordon, Jaime Samms and Ally Blue. Each contemporary novel stands alone, but all are built around the town and the people of Bluewater Bay and the Wolf’s Landing media empire.

Check out Bluewater Bay! http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/universe/bluewater-bay

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 Get a Grip, one lucky winner will receive their choice of two ebooks off L.A.’s backlist and a $10 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 29, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Runner by Parker Williams: Release Day Review and Giveaway

July 28, 2017 by Denise

Matt Bowers’s life ended at sixteen, when a vicious betrayal by someone who he should have been able to trust left him a shell of himself, fighting OCD and PTSD, living in constant fear and always running. When he buys a remote tract of land, he thinks he’s found the perfect place to hide from the world and attempt to establish some peace. For ten years he believes he’s found a measure of comfort, until the day a stranger begins to run on Matt’s road.

He returns every day, an unwelcome intrusion into Matt’s carefully structured life. Matt appeals to the local sheriff, who cannot help him since the jogger is doing nothing wrong. Gradually, after tentatively breaking the ice, Matt begins to accept the man’s presence—

But when the runner doesn’t show up one day, it throws Matt’s world into chaos and he must make the hardest decision of his life.

Title: Runner
Author: Parker Williams
Release Date: July 28, 2017
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 200

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press

Kobo Books

This new book from Parker was such a creative premise to write from. To write from the perspective of Matt, with all his trauma, and his extreme OCD really draws in the reader. I honestly was hooked from the very first page.

Matt, having been through such a trauma literally turned everyone and everything away, including his family. What a tragic start to young adulthood. And to not have any human contact, and not search any out, what a sad existence. On top of it, he didn’t even venture outside his own set of books, almost as if time literally stopped for him from that moment on.

I loved how Charlie came into his life. Not with any forcefulness, merely a presence who ran by his home…for months, allowing Matt to see him not as a threat, but almost as a part of the landscape outside his window. Happening at the same time every day, in the same direction, until one day he doesn’t, and Matt’s world turns upside down even more.

Their relationship took time, and I loved the fact that finally Matt was able to face his demons, fighting through every step of the way, because he wanted to be there, not merely because Charlie wanted him to be there.

At the end of the book, I found myself confused, not quite understanding the timing of how things happened, and in fact, I thought things happened in a different order. It left me wondering if I had missed a piece or if a chapter was moved.

In the end, though, I really enjoyed this book, and I loved the way Matt kept fighting to find himself back in the world, with his family, with his love, and mostly with the person he wanted to become. Well done.

4.5 pieces of eye candy

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Survival Game by Susan Mac Nicol: EXCLUSIVE Cover Reveal and Giveaway

July 27, 2017 by Denise

TCO is excited to welcome Susan Mac Nicol for an exclusive cover reveal for the next book in her Men of London series, Survival Game…check out all the books in the series, and scroll down to see the new cover!!!

**Book 1: Love you Senseless
One of London’s up-and-coming chefs, Eddie Tripp has just the right recipe to drive tragedy from the mind of Gideon Kent—and leave him senseless with desire.
A TASTE OF FOREVER

**Book 2: Sight and Sinners
The murder of a shared friend leads a high-profile investigator and a psychic into a mystery involving lies, blackmail, BDSM—and into each other’s arms.

**Book 3: Suit Yourself
Scarred both physically and emotionally after a motorcycle accident, twenty-five year old ex fashion model and porn star Oliver Brown is about to be stripped bare by flamboyant twink Leslie Scott—and they’ll rebuild love from the bottom up.
BARING THE BEAST

**Book 4: Feat of Clay
Imprisoned and tortured, undercover cop Tate Williams will find redemption in the arms of his boyhood friend, now lover, former SAS soldier Clay Mortimer.
TWO MEN. TORN. TORTURED. LOVED.

**Book 5: Cross to Bare
Tough in business but romantic at heart, fashion designer Lenny James isn’t hiding his masculinity behind his super successful female alter ego, but a vulnerability that only handsome financier Brook Hunter will be man enough to reveal…and worship.
TWO OF A KIND

**Book 6: Flying Solo
Flight attendant Maxwell Lewis has spent years cultivating a bon vivant image only to find he finally wants something more—and that something more includes the never-does-repeats game designer Gibson Henry.
ABOVE AND BEYOND

**Book 7: Damaged Goods
Touched by tragedy, love is an elusive dream never to be realised by eighteen-year-old Jax Grady–until he discovers his secret admirer and receives the sweetest gift he could ever desire.
THE SWEETEST GIFT

**Book 8: Hard Climate
Eco-warrior Mango Manning must shake the demons of his past to win back London nightclub owner Ryan Bishop, who is suddenly facing issues of his own.

WITH BOTH HANDS

**Book 9: Survival Game (Release Date Sept 7^th)

Nightclub Manager Kyle Tripper is trying to put the memories of a past abusive relationship behind him. When he meets tough paramedic Eric Kirby, he believes he might be able to see a future for himself. But Eric has his own demons to face. Is he truly the right man for Kyle to put his faith in?

LOVE IS A GAMBLE

The Men of London series

Boroughs Publishing:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2djWe3R
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2anpy3p
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2cHOAye

Susan Mac Nicol

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2aHt5zu
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/29YISaB
FB Page: http://bit.ly/29TuAVY
Webpage: http://bit.ly/2aFvcSo

Leave a comment for Sue about her new cover, and TCO will enter you for a chance to win any of the backlist of Susan Mac Nicol’s Men of London series.