mmromance

Hotshot (Elmwood Stories Series, Book 5) by Lane Hayes: RB, Excerpt and Giveaway

September 24, 2024 by Denise

. .

The rookie superstar, the desperate cowboy, and a naughty proposition…

Denny

The press calls me this year’s hotshot, the rookie who scores at will and conjures plays out of thin air. Truth is…I’m a PR nightmare. Seriously. Ask my agent.

My anxiety is off the charts. I can’t talk to the media without breaking into a cold sweat, but once I get through the season, I can regroup at home. Life is simpler in Vermont.

Well, not anymore. There’s a new cowboy in town. Literally, a cowboy. At least, Hank looks like one—he owns a horse, wears a hat, and did I mention he’s hot?

And get this…he has a proposition for me.

Hank

Proposition is a strong word. I prefer to call this a mutually beneficial arrangement. See, I could use Denny’s help with a family business venture, and though I was planning to offer cash, the jock has a sexier idea.

Not gonna lie, I’m interested.

This could be a fun distraction while I’m stuck in Elmwood. Nice enough place, however, the locals are wary of an outsider taking over the neighboring mill. Long story short…they don’t trust me. But they love their hometown hockey hero.

I get it.

I’ve never met anyone like Denny—skittish in street clothes and a feral beast with cunning instincts on the ice. He’s fascinating, sexy, smart, and—

Whoa! I’m not falling for the hotshot rookie. No way, no how, no chance…

Too late.

Hotshot is an MM bisexual, age-gap, small town romance featuring a hotshot rookie, a sexy cowboy, and a proposition that changes everything.

Title: Hotshot
Authors: Lane Hayes
Narrator: Nick J. Russo
Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
Series: Elmwood Stories Series, Book 5
Genre: Contemporary.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

Audible

“Let’s get this over with. What did you want?”

“Ouch. I can’t remember the last time anyone was happy to see me,” he groused without heat. “Except Steve the contractor. He likes me okay, but he’s being paid well. Our employees do well too, but sadly, they don’t like me at all.”

“I can’t help you with that. Sorry.”

Hank sipped his beer and shrugged. “Yes, you can. I’m extorting you, remember?”

“Oh…yeah.” I chuckled.

And fuck, I didn’t want to be amused. I didn’t want to like Hank at all, but it was hard not to appreciate his self-deprecating honesty. He emanated “nice guy” vibes with the right amount of edge. No wonder drunk me had gotten flirty with him. Fortunately, sober me knew he was more than I could handle.

Which was fine since Hank wasn’t interested anyway. He wanted my alleged star power, not me.

So why was I grinning like an idiot?

Fuck, I had a bad feeling my eyes were twinkling too. I had to rein that shit in, stat.

“So…let’s make a deal,” he said, thankfully unaware of my inner detour. “I need an Elmwood buddy. My dad gave me the all-clear to make my offer sexy, so…what’ll it be?”

I bugged my eyes out. “Sexy?”

“Yeah, something interesting. If it’s money, name your price. Tell me what you want in exchange for your time.”

You.

The word tripped to the tip of my tongue. I bit it back and swallowed it, clearing my throat to be sure it was gone.

“I just…want to make sure that whatever I blabbed while I was wasted off my ass stays between us.”

“Yeah, but I’ll do that for free. You can trust me.”

“I don’t know you,” I retorted.

“True,” he conceded, sipping his beer. “But you don’t really have a choice. I can’t prove that I won’t sell you out. It’s a trust thing. Let’s talk about the sexy angle, ’cause I need an Elmwood buddy like yesterday.”

“I can’t believe I’m asking this, but…what does an Elmwood buddy do?”

“He shows the new guy the ropes.” Hank leaned in. “Introduce me, give me tips on who’s who and what to avoid. I suck in Elmwood and I need a champion, a liaison…a friend. That can be you.”

I huffed in amusement, feeling strangely at ease. He was charming as fuck and I was not immune. “How can you suck in Elmwood? Everyone is cool there.”

He slumped on his stool. “I don’t know, but I’m even worse in Wood Hollow. I don’t get it. People in Denver like me just fine. Even you like me.”

“No, I like your hat.” I reached for his water and winked.

I fucking winked.

Me.

That was me flirting. Ugh. Bad, Denny. Bad.

I felt surprisingly relaxed with him. Like I had last weekend when I’d spilled my guts and…other things. The point was, I could talk to him without feeling immediately depleted, and that alone was a minor miracle.

Hank kicked my shin playfully. “Nah, you like me. You did last weekend, anyway.”

“I was drunk, and I’m still mortified. Go easy on me.” I took a swig of water as if I were knocking back whisky.

“I’ll try, but…you shook your dick at me, then fell buck-ass naked in my bed, so c’mon.”

My eyes had to be saucer-sized. “I shook my dick at you?”

He inclined his chin and winked in a touché move that made my cock swell against my zipper.

“A week later, I’m still thinking about it,” Hank drawled.

Whoa. Was he serious?

Lane Hayes lives in sunny Southern California with her amazing husband, who thankfully doesn’t mind cooking, and their fabulous fox red Labrador, George, who’s pure mischief. Both provide oodles of inspiration for the low-angst, humorous books Lane loves to write.

She’s been telling stories about sexy, funny, sometimes geeky and quirky men who find love for a dozen years now and loving every minute. In her previous life, she sat at a desk and dealt with numbers, so yes…romance is much more satisfying!

Lane loves tea, travel, and chocolate…in any order. Add a book and she’s set!

Connect with Lane:
My Readers’ Group, Lane’s Lovers: https://bit.ly/3aIbMYg
My Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3cICfaK
Blog: www.lane-hayes.com
Twitter: twitter.com/LaneHayes3
FB: facebook.com/LaneHayesAuthor
Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/lanehayes
BookBub: bookbub.com/authors/lane-hayes
Instagram: instagram.com/lanehayes3/
Instagram: instagram.com/lanehayesauthor/
Goodreads: goodreads.com/LaneHayes
Tiktok: tiktok.com/@lane_hayes
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Love and Loathing in El Olvido by Sylvia San Sebastian: RB, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

September 18, 2024 by Denise

. .
Harvey and his mother have spent the past twelve years fleeing from the Lucchesi crime family that massacred their clan. But the same day his mother dies of a heart attack, he receives an anonymous letter. Someone knows who killed his family, and they want him to take revenge. They list three killers, plus Nicolas Lung Lucchesi, the heir to the Lucchesi family. He’s young and short on allies, and he’s Harvey’s ticket in.

With nothing left to lose, Harvey returns to his hometown under a fake identity. When Harvey del Rosario meets Nico Lucchesi, it seems like fate—two lonely men attracted to each other’s orbit. Harvey, the sweet and charming outsider; Nico, cool and mysterious. When Nico offers Harvey a job, Harvey digs his claws in deep. He’ll do anything to remain by Nico’s side. He’ll become his friend, his confidante, his lover—all to destroy the Lucchesi family from the inside.

KinnPorsche meets 91 Days in Love and Loathing in El Olvido, a 73k word adult contemporary mafia romance inspired by the tradition of erotic thrillers. This is the first book in the El Olvido trilogy. Harvey and Nico’s story will be continued in the sequel.

Title: Love and Loathing in El Olvido
Authors: Sylvia San Sebastian
Length: 73k
Series: El Olvido, Book 1 (There is a cliffhanger for the main characters)
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense, Mafia Romance.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

Goodreads

All I know is that his fingers are soothing in my hair. He scratches my scalp and I

melt into his touch, into his mouth, into his eager lips on my jaw, my throat, my

collarbone. I shudder as I think about how close his teeth are to my neck. I bare my

throat to him. I let him mark me as he likes—as his tool, as his toy, as his possession.

All the blood rushes to my dick.

I can’t even muster up any disgust at myself. Nicolas Lucchesi’s hands roam my

body and I welcome it. I need his skin on my skin. I need more than a good fuck. I need

to be inside him so completely that I’ll be living inside his ribs.

New to me author, although they only have 2 books out right now. And the sequel to this book will be 3 *taps foot impatiently*. The blurb sounded good, so why not?

This book is gritty, dark, violent, very morally gray, sexy and at times you totally forget that Harvey is playing Nico to get what he wants.

Where does this book even take place? I have no idea. Could be Mexico? Texas? Central America somewhere? The only clue is that Spanish is spoken, but a lot of the players are Italian. It’s like a dusty old Western with a modern backdrop.

There are a lot of politics at play within “The Family”. Power struggles, allegiances, even a silent power struggle with the families of Nico’s parents. That marriage was a business deal and still is. But that business deal created Nico who is half Italian and half Asian and all gay. Big strikes against him in The Family.

Harvey infiltrates The Family through Nico. He is out for vengeance now that his mother has passed. He wants to kill those responsible for killing his entire family when he was a child. He got a mysterious letter with some big hints, but one of the men hasn’t been unmasked yet.

I really loved how Harvey was portrayed. He played his role so well as Nico’s lover, but with the dichotomy of wanting to exact revenge and falling in love with Nico- even if he wouldn’t admit it.

I “GRRRRRRRR’ED!” out loud at the end of the book because I wanted the story to continue. Book 2 is too far away. It was so different than any mafia book I’ve read. I definitely enjoyed it.

4 piece of eye candy

Sylvia San Sebastian writes queer romance novels with bite. She lives on a tropical island in Southeast Asia. If you buy her books, you help feed her two cats.

Connect with Sylvia:
https://sylviasansebastian.substack.com/
https://instagram.com/sssylviawrites
https://twitter.com/sssylviawrites
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A Taste of Danger by Morgan Brice: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

September 11, 2024 by Denise

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

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

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

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

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

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

Title: A Taste of Danger
Authors: Morgan Brice
Length: 65k
Series: A Subparheroes Book (Shared World), Book 14
Genre: Paranormal, Shifters, Urban Fantasy.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

Goodreads

“You were a food critic. Surely you had enemies.”

Scott thought for a moment. “There was a chef with a meat cleaver who didn’t like what I said about his béarnaise sauce. But since they all wanted positive reviews, they mostly sucked up to me. It was nice while it lasted.”

“We won’t be sending you into combat,” Ted promised. “Actually, your background as a food critic will be a perfect cover. If it helps, think of yourself as an investigator. You’ll have a reason to go to the restaurants and bars we think are operating as a front for the smugglers. Some of those groups are also bringing in similarly augmented, off-the-books paranormal pharmaceuticals, so you may end up bagging some big-wigs.”

Scott frowned. “How are they getting the supplies?”

“They’re a bunch of coyotes coming in from Canada,” Ted said.

“I thought coyotes brought undocumented people across the border,” Scott replied.

Ted shook his head. “Not those kind. The furry sort—shifters.”

“Real coyotes…running illegal drugs.” Scott’s world tilted again. “Isn’t that more a problem for a game warden?”

“You’ve got the perfect background as a food reviewer to get into the locations and ask lots of questions. Poke around. Talk to people. Keep your eyes open. The restaurants and bars they’re operating out of want good publicity. Half the time, the front of the house has no idea what’s going on in the back of the kitchen,” Ted assured him, ignoring his question.

If I go back to Rochester now, I’ll be sleeping on couches and sending more resumes. I’m overqualified for fast food and underqualified for haute cuisine. I don’t want to be broke. Scott slumped in surrender. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

Ted smiled. “You’ll be a natural. Your cover is as a food writer. We aren’t expecting you to go in guns blazing. You get cozy with them for your article. Keep your eyes and ears open. And when you know who’s who and what’s where, you phone it in, and our team swoops in like the wrath of God and shuts them down.”

Scott just stared at him. “And you don’t think they’ll figure I ratted them out and come after me?”

“We’ll extract you before the team goes in,” Ted assured him. “We take very good care of our assets.”

I’m an asset. A spy. And I didn’t even get a secret decoder ring. “Aren’t there a bunch of other things I need to know?” Scott tried to remember every espionage movie he had ever seen. “Like how to hotwire a car or make a bomb out of household materials or defuse a nuke with a paperclip?”

“Those skills are strictly on a need-to-know basis,” Ted replied. “If you’re ever assigned a case where it’s likely you will need to do any of those things, instruction will be provided.”

I wanted him to laugh and tell me that was completely nonsense. But no—it’s just that I’m too junior to know how to blow things up. He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to remind himself that real spies didn’t faint.

Morgan Brice is the romance pen name of bestselling author Gail Z. Martin. Morgan writes urban fantasy male/male paranormal romance, with plenty of action, adventure and supernatural thrills to go with the happily ever after. Gail writes epic fantasy and urban fantasy, and together with co-author hubby Larry N. Martin, steampunk and comedic horror, all of which have less romance, more explosions. Characters from her Gail books make frequent appearances in secondary roles in her Morgan books, and vice versa.

On the rare occasions Morgan isn’t writing, she’s either reading, cooking, or spoiling two very pampered dogs.

Series include Witchbane, Badlands, Treasure Trail, Kings of the Mountain and Fox Hollow. Watch for more in these series, plus new series coming soon!

Connect with Morgan/Gail:
Facebook Group
Pinterest (for Morgan and Gail)
Twitter: @MorganBriceBook
Newsletter
Follow me on BookBub
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Something Borrowed (Confetti Hitched Book 2) by Lily Morton: Blog Tour, Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

August 8, 2024 by Denise

Stan has never let his blindness hold him back, but he’s beginning to realise his love life is keeping him from moving forward.

He can’t remember a time when he wasn’t in love with his best friend. Rafferty is everything to him—his partner in crime, his confidante, and the person who understands him best. But Rafferty is incapable of reciprocating Stan’s feelings.

As a successful wedding planner, Rafferty is passionately committed to helping newlyweds begin their happily-ever-afters, but after a rootless childhood he’s equally determined not to seek his own. How can he trust in love and marriage when so many of his brides and grooms are repeat customers?

Stan is the glue that keeps the pieces of Rafferty’s life together, and as such Rafferty has always kept Stan safely in the friend box where he can’t lose him. However, lately that conviction has wavered and now Rafferty is bursting with complicated feelings for his best friend. The timing couldn’t be worse because Rafferty has realised he’s in love with Stan just as Stan is moving on.

From bestselling author Lily Morton comes a friends-to-lovers story about realising you have the perfect man when you’re on the brink of losing him.

This is the second book in the bestselling Confetti Hitched series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

I moan despairingly when I see the time. “It’s ten o’clock. Oh god.”

“Is there a problem?”

Instead of answering, I tap a familiar number on my phone’s screen. “Come on, come on,” I mutter, pacing as I listen to it ring. “Climb off Lachlan’s dick and answer the phone.”

“Who are you talking to, sweetheart?”

The call connects. “What?” Joe says cautiously into my ear. I can’t begrudge him his air of worry.

“I need a favour.”

He groans. “Last time you said that we got fined for causing a public disturbance.”

“No, this time it’s really bad,” I whisper. “I need you, Joe.”

“Joe?” the man asks from behind me. “Who the fuck is Joe?”

“Who’s that?” Joe asks.

“No one,” I say over the insistent voice of the man who is now frowning at me—the man who appears to think we’re married.

“It doesn’t sound like no one,” Joe says, his voice rich with amusement as my bedmate paces the room and shouts about people who cheat.

“Well, it is,” I say in a quelling voice. “Joe, I’ve got the Hollis wedding today.”

“Yeah, I know. You’ll be fine.”

“That might be true if I’d gone to bed at an early hour in my own bed. Sober,” I add with emphasis.

“Oh god,” Joe says.

I walk back into the bedroom. “I know,” I whisper. “I woke up naked, and apparently, I’m now in some sort of a relationship I have no memory of agreeing to. I leave that sort of behaviour to you, mate.” Joe laughs. “This is serious,” I hiss. I look at my watch and groan. “The bride will arrive at the church in an hour.”

I look over at my bedmate, who’s joined me in the bedroom and is still frowning. I ask him, “I don’t suppose you have a spare morning suit hanging around?”

“I don’t know any dead people,” he snaps.

I just love a Lily Morton. The characters are fun and quirky, there is little to no angst (although there is pining…oh the pining…) and we get a happily ever after.

Right off the bat I loved Stan. His snark and wit, his fierce loyalty to his friends and his family, carrying on the record store for his hippie uncle and functionally blind. Maybe we missed his pity party when he learned he was blind as a teen, but by now he is accepting and moving on with life. Which is why his relationship with Bennett didn’t make a lot of sense because he was so controlling and condescending.

The opposite of controlling and condescending is Stan’s best friend Rafferty. And even though he is a wedding planner, he doesn’t believe in love and commitment. You can thank his selfish parents for that. Stan and Raff can be inseparable if you let them, which Bennett hates.

EVERYONE sees what these 2 numbskulls don’t. That they are obviously in love with each other and belong together and Raff needs to get over himself and his anti romance no commitment self. Especially since they have experience being friends with benefits.

I mentioned the pining right?

I loved these two together. I also loved the representation of a character that has gone blind and is still waiting for the last of their sight to go. So many people think blind only means zero sight. It also showed how they are treated by others. As incompetent or needy or like children. Stan got his barbs in where needed and it made me laugh.

The plot kept moving and I hated putting the book down each night. Great story that was fun, sweet and hot.

4 pieces of eye candy

Lily is a bestselling gay romance author. She writes love stories filled with heat and humour.

She 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 got her Kindle.

Lily 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 would she get to spend her time with hot and funny men?

She loves chocolate and Baileys and the best of all creations – Chocolate Baileys.

Off the Clock (Mount Hope Book 2) by Annabeth Albert: New Release Review

August 5, 2024 by Denise

Starting over after retiring as an Army Ranger shouldn’t be this hard…

For twenty years, I traveled the world as a special operations warrior. Newly retired at forty-two, I’m back in my hometown of Mount Hope, pursuing a second career as a small-town firefighter. My meddling sisters and best friends all have opinions about my life, but the only person who seems to truly understand me is Caleb, the younger firefighter tasked with my training.

After a lifetime of denying my attraction to other men, Caleb reminds me of everything I’ve missed out on. I’ve never even kissed a guy.

Until now.
Until Caleb.
Until I push our growing friendship to the next level. While sneaking around like a pair of teens, trying not to get caught by our coworkers, friends, and family, our sexy connection leads us to some…interesting places.

And it turns out that I like taking risks. I’ve never wanted a relationship, and neither of us should be fooling around with a coworker, but we keep courting danger.

The more time I spend with Caleb off and on the clock, the more I like him and the less certain I am about everything else in my life. The one thing I know for sure is that I can’t afford to lose this intense bond we share. Can we find our way from super secret to super real before the clock runs down on this fling?

OFF THE CLOCK features two coworkers with an age gap finding out that opposites really do attract and that first impressions aren’t always accurate. All the big emotions, small-town feels, and hot romance readers expect from this acclaimed author. While certain subplot threads continue throughout the series, each guaranteed happily ever after stands alone!

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

Annabeth Albert writes small towns so well. The history, the residents, the quirkiness, the feel. It makes a difference and it makes it feel like a character itself. This same story set in a large town or city just wouldn’t work the same way.

She also brings friends back together. Those friends create a found family that supports each other through everything.

This time Tony, one of a group of high school friends, moves back to Mount Hope after putting in his 20 years in the military. After a few stumbles that led him to the military, Tony wants to fulfill his previous dream- work as a fire fighter. Sean, the acting chief and one of Tony’s good friends, pairs him with Caleb. The young guy who knows his stuff but often isn’t taken seriously. Oh, and Caleb has guardianship of his 17 year old brother for a year.

Sparks fly, teenagers are moody, bi sides are discovered, fundraisers happen, sneaking around isn’t as sneaky as they thought and new dreams are forged. Caleb is much more mature than people give him credit for. Tony sees him though. And Caleb sees how Tony is struggling a bit.

I really loved how the whole town came together to raise money for the football team so that they could actually play that year. All of the moms (and Caleb!) working their butts off.

Great second book in the series. Can’t wait for book 3. Wondering if Eric remains alone or not…

4 pieces of eye candy

In The Nick of Time (Subpar Heroes Collection) by Elle Keaton: New Release Review

August 5, 2024 by Denise

Have you always thought you were special?

Perennially unemployed loner Nick Sedgewick applies to an online job opening with that exact phrase and expects nothing to come of it. It was likely a no-so-funny prank after all.

If Doug ‘Long Shot’ Swanson wanted a new work partner he’d hire one himself. He’s perfectly happy on his own and if he plays his cards right he’ll retire sooner rather than later. And he certainly wouldn’t hire an irritating spicy-candy-eating slacker who’d probably miss his own funeral.

But somebody is killing off agents and Nick’s new boss needs Doug and Nick to figure out who it is and put a stop to it. And if they accidentally fall in love along the way that is no one’s business but their own.

Neither man wants to be a hero. But maybe between the two of them, they can save the world. Or at least their little corner of it.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

I’ve read a couple of these books and they are fun. I love the premise of super powers that aren’t that helpful. Reminds me of that meme, what would you steal from an ex just to make their life a little annoying? All the batteries in the house. Or all the lightbulbs. Silly, but effective.

Nick has a power that could be way more effective. But being subpar, it’s a little effective. But he still is recruited to partner with a former hero who left the game. And plans on retiring very soon. And doesn’t want a trainee or partner. Too bad.

This one, I will say, is slightly, very slightly, more serious than the others I have read. Mostly because there are dead and missing agents. Doug wants to figure it out, find the missing agents before they are dead agents and unfortunately he has to drag Nick around. Oh. And a 50 pound tortoise named Tim. You’ll see. But there is definte comic relief there.

Naturally, both Doug and Nick are gay and you can see where that is going, yes? I did love how Nick teased Doug so much. Never in a mean way, but to get him to unclench a bit.

A little more background story on Nick would have been nice, but it’s fine. So a former hero, a subpar hero, a tortoise and Vegas. It’s a fun romp.

3.5 pieces of eye candy