review

Forgive and Forget by Charlie Cochet: Release Day Review

April 1, 2016 by Denise

He’s hot. He’s dangerous. And he can’t remember anything.

As the owner of Apple’n Pies, Joe Applin leads a quiet, uneventful life, content to spend his days serving customers who come from all over to eat his delicious homemade pies. Along with his motley crew—Bea, Elsie, and Donnie—Joe couldn’t be happier in his little kingdom of baked goods and java.

Experience has taught Joe that love is overrated—and at times dangerous. He has no intention of repeating past mistakes. But then he meets a mysterious, handsome man with amnesia, and Joe can’t deny something sweet is in the works. He isn’t one to take risks, not with his heart and certainly not with his life, but the more time he spends with the man he knows as Tom, the closer he is to losing both.

Title: Forgive and Forget
Author: Charlie Cochet
Release Date: April 1, 2016
Category: Contemporary, Dreamspun Desires, Mystery/Suspense
Pages: 194

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and while the idea of amnesia has been done many times I didn’t find this book predictable at all.

Joe Applin stumbles across an injured man in his neighbors garden and begs Joe not to call the police or take him to the hospital. When the stranger comes to in Joe’s apartment he can’t remember who he is or where he has come from.

The two work together over the coming weeks in Joe’s pie shop trying to help “Tom” remember who he is. Tom knows someone has hurt Joe badly, so if he is going to make a move he needs to be sure of himself and confident so he doesn’t send Joe running. Joe needs to decide if he can let go of his painful past and give Tom a chance, even though he’s sure Tom will run for the hills once his memory is restored.

When Tom’s past comes knocking Joe must decide if he’s going to run or stand and fight for Tom.

I really enjoyed this story. Once I stared it I wasn’t able to put it down. Dinner didn’t get made, laundry didn’t get done. I had to know who Tom really was and I wasn’t disappointed. The story has a steady build up which remain interesting and fun. This one is definitely going into the re-read pile!

4 pieces of eye candy

Amazon

ARe

Dreamspinner Press

House Hunt by Jackie Keswick : Release Day Review

March 30, 2016 by Denise

Jack Horwood hates owing favors. But when a simple day out to treat Gareth to the best oysters in England leads to a discovery of drugs and counterfeit money—things that neither Jack nor Gareth have the jurisdiction to handle—he has to call in help. Help that doesn’t come cheap, and that forces him to do something he promised himself he’d never do again—walk away from Gareth and the family he’s starting to make for himself.

Three months undercover is a long time. After missing Gareth’s birthday, Jack is determined not to miss their first anniversary. But coming home and being home are two very different things. So when he is asked to assist with a corporate espionage investigation, Jack can’t say no, despite knowing it will impact his already straining relationship.

Except, of course, he’s walking into a trap….

Title: House Hunt
Series: The Power of Zero: Book Three
Author: Jackie Keswick
Release Date: March 30, 2016
Category: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense
Pages: 300

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press

ARe

The next installment in the Power of Zero series doesn’t disappoint.

A day trip for Jack and Gareth leads them to uncovering a large amount of drugs and counterfeit money. Jack goes tumbling into a three month undercover assignment to bring down the leader of the drug cartel.

Jack comes out of his undercover assignment feeling unsettled and a little unsure of where his relationship with Gareth stands. Together, while trying to find a mole within Nancarrow Mining they must work to strengthen the foundation of their relationship until Jack realizes that home has always been with Gareth.

Loved this one. Once you start you won’t be able to put it down. A well written plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this series!

4 pieces of eye candy

Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews : Guest Post, Review and Giveaway

March 29, 2016 by Denise

Thanks so much to 2 Chicks for inviting me here today to talk about my new contemporary romance Beyond the Sea. Denise asked me to share where I got my inspiration for the book, and it came from various places.

First off, I visited Fiji 17 years ago (where does the time go?!), and the South Pacific is just so stunning. The clear water and fine sand, bright sun and peaceful calm. It was absolutely idyllic, and I long to return.

When my dad got sick and passed away last fall, it was obviously a very stressful time. I wanted to work on a book that was an escape and unlike any I’d written before. I’ve always loved to read stories about strangers thrust into survival situations together, whether it’s battling the elements or evil villains. On the latter count, Dark Rivers of the Heart by Dean Koontz springs to mind as a fave. (And since Koontz got his start as a romance writer using a female pseudonym, his books often have a satisfying romantic element.)

My characters Troy and Brian fortunately don’t have any shadowy government figures on their tail, but they must work together to survive, totally cut off from the rest of the world. I wanted to strand two people who would normally never have known each other. Troy is a boy bander who grew up a child star, and Brian is an emotionally scarred pilot struggling with survivor’s guilt.

Brian’s past ties into another interest that contributed to the idea for this book: my love of aeronautical science. I’m purely a layman, but I find it so fascinating how we can fly, and what factors—from weather to a tiny mechanical part the size of a pencil—can cause an emergency. I watch a lot of documentary shows on the subject, and was shocked to learn that only 2-3% of Earth is actually covered by radar. (For Troy and Brian, this fact naturally proves to be a huge problem!)

Troy and Brian are unhappy and emotionally marooned in their lives, and I wanted to explore how by being lost, we can become found. This is a story of survival, exploring your sexuality, and finding true love where you least expect it.

Can two straight men fall in love without it being some dirty secret left on a deserted island? After reading Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews, yes, I think it is. This is not a tale of men being gay for the right person, bi for the right person, or whatever other label you might want to give it. It’s the story of two men in a situation most of us couldn’t even fathom who wind up falling in love.

How many real life stories are there out there about people who come together because they’ve been through a traumatic experience together? Brian and Troy were the survivors of a plane crash on a deserted island out far enough that it was unlikely either of them would be found alive. I’d say that qualifies as the type of experience which would instantly bond them to one another. When they were tempted to give up, the only person they had to turn to was the other. It’s going to bring people closer together.

Add to that the very basic need for human touch and you have the recipe for two people falling in love.

One thing I love about how Keira Andrews wrote Brian and Troy’s story is that it wasn’t this instant, easy attraction. Even once they started fooling around, I don’t think they were totally comfortable with it, but it was the touch of another person. Not even just in a sexual way. It worked.

What really sealed the deal for me was how the men acted once they were rescued (yeah, sorry for the spoiler there). If this was nothing more than a deserted island fling, Brian and Troy would have said their goodbyes and moved on with their lives. But they couldn’t. What happened on that island changed them. It opened their eyes and forced them to approach love from an emotional rather than anatomical perspective. It’s a beautiful story that, I hope, will someday not be seen as scandalous.

GREAT JOB, Keira! 5 pieces of eye candy

Two straight guys. One desert island.

Even if it means quitting their boy band mid-tour, Troy Tanner isn’t going to watch his little brother snort his future away after addiction destroyed their father. On a private jet taking him home from Australia, he and pilot Brian Sinclair soar above the vast South Pacific. Brian lost his passion for flying—and joy in life—after a traumatic crash, but now he and Troy must fight to survive when a cyclone strikes without warning.

Marooned a thousand miles from civilization, the turquoise water and white sand beach look like paradise. But although they can fish and make fire, the smallest infection or bacteria could be deadly. When the days turn into weeks with no sign of rescue, Troy and Brian grow closer, and friendship deepens into desire.

As they learn sexuality is about more than straight or gay and discover their true selves, the world they’ve built together is thrown into chaos. If Troy and Brian make it off the island, can their love endure?

This is an LGBT romance about discovering yourself, finding love, and eating way too many coconuts. 85,000 words.

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1RGVrIr

Amazon Global: http://mybook.to/BeyondTheSea_KA

ARe: http://bit.ly/1UlSagE

iTunes: http://apple.co/1nDnESx

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1QS6SaI

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1SGDmsU

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1QTCzAp

After writing for years yet never really finding the right inspiration, Keira discovered her voice in gay romance, which has become a passion. She writes contemporary, historical, paranormal, and fantasy fiction, and—although she loves delicious angst along the way—Keira firmly believes in happy endings. For as Oscar Wilde once said, “The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.”

Website: http://www.keiraandrews.com

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/2Z-G5

Twitter: https://twitter.com/keiraandrews

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keira.andrews.author

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1366040.Keira_Andrews

Amazon Author Page: http://author.to/KeiraAndrews

TCO is giving away a copy of Beyond the Sea to one commenter on this post. So, tell us what one thing you would bring to a deserted island if you had a choice.

Patchwork Paradise by Indra Vaughn : Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway

March 28, 2016 by Denise

Oliver and Samuel’s relationship is fairy-tale perfect. They share a gorgeous house in Antwerp, go out with their friends every weekend, and count down the days to their dream wedding. But their happy ending is shattered one late night, and just like that, Ollie is left bereft and alone.

The months that follow are long and dark, but slowly Ollie emerges from his grief. He even braves the waters of online dating, though deep down he doesn’t believe he can find that connection again. He doesn’t think to look for love right in front of him: his bisexual friend Thomas, the gentle giant with a kind heart and sad eyes who’s wanted him all along.

When Thomas suddenly discovers he has a son who needs him, he’s ill prepared. Ollie opens up his house—Sam’s house—and lets them in. Ollie doesn’t know what scares him more: the responsibility of caring for a baby, or the way Thomas is steadily winning his heart. It will take all the courage he has to discover whether or not fairy tales can happen for real.

I read this book basically in one sitting. It definitely kept me hooked in. So many things going on this book, but not overly done in that respect.

From minute one in the book, you are already anticipating what you know is ahead, the death of a beloved young man, and the growth into a new relationship. I’ve never read a book that walked its reader through the entire grief process, as part of an mm romance. The author did an amazing job with it, though. The book takes place over the span of a year, and yet, you see every stage of Ollie’s grief at losing Samuel, and every stage of Thomas’ losing Ollie over and over again.

The story never dragged on, it allowed the reader on the journey as Ollie learns how to be himself, and how to learn to love someone in an entirely new way (actually two someones). What a blessing for him to find a way to not only let go of the past, but find a way to incorporate it into his future.

I really enjoyed following along on this journey to Ollie becoming a new man, a family man, and Thomas finally getting what he had wanted since the first day he met Ollie.

4 pieces of eye candy

Amazon

After living in Michigan, USA for seven wonderful years, Indra Vaughn returned back to her Belgian roots. There she will continue to consume herbal tea, do yoga wherever the mat fits, and devour books while single parenting a little boy and working as a nurse.

The stories of boys and their unrequited love will no doubt keep finding their way onto the page—and hopefully into readers hands—even if it takes a little more time.

And if she gleefully posts pictures of snow-free streets in winter, you’ll have to forgive her. Those Michigan blizzards won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

Connect with Indra:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/indra.vaughn.7
Twitter https://twitter.com/VaughnIndra

To celebrate, Indra is giving away an ebook from her backlist at EVERY BLOG STOP! She’ll also be giving out a grand prize of $25 in Riptide credit. Leave a comment to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on April 2, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Close to You by Skylar M. Cates : Release Day Review

March 28, 2016 by Denise

It’s hard to recover from a first love. Some people never do.

How hard would you fight to keep your best friend? Marc Lucas and Tomas Santos have been best friends forever, but now their friendship is in a crisis. When they were boys, betrayals ripped their world apart. They thought it was fixed, but some parts remained broken. Ever since he saved him from a humiliation at school, Marc has loved Tomas. The last thing he expects is for Tomas to love him back. To keep his best friend, Marc revisits an abusive past he’s tried to forget.

For Tomas, loving Marc has been anything but easy. His upbringing told him it was wrong, so why did it feel so right? Accepting who he is as an adult, Tomas decides he needs a committed relationship. To his deep sorrow, he can’t seem to find it with Marc.

When the two find themselves alone and in the grip of a hurricane, long-buried feelings emerge. Being “just friends” is no longer an option. They must risk it all on love.

Title: Close to You
Series: Sunshine and Happiness: Book Three
Author: Skylar M. Cates
Release Date: March 28, 2016
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 248

I started reading this one not knowing it was part of a series. The story is strictly about Marc and Tomas but there are a vast number of characters from the previous books that I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read those first.

Marc and Tomas met in high school, Tomas new to town and Marc a boy from the wrong side of the tracks with an abusive father. It’s a beautiful first love and they both fall hard but circumstances beyond their control tear them apart. Years later they come back together with Marc stating they must only be friends, even though both of them are still in love. I believe Marc is afraid to lose Tomas all together and to make sure that doesn’t happen he tucks him safely in the friend zone.

Tomas realizes they are stuck in a holding pattern and moves away to try to move on with his life. Marc realizes he needs to make some changes and let down some walls or he may lose Tomas forever.

Aside from not having read the previous two books this was a good read. The POV pulled me out of the story at times and without chapter titles it was hard to know if I was reading about the past or the present.

Skylar Cates has created and interesting cast of characters. I could feel the pull between Marc and Tomas. Definitely an enjoyable read.

Forgive and Forget by Charlie Cochet : Blog Tour, Pre-Release Day Review and EXCLUSIVE Giveaway

March 28, 2016 by Denise

Hello all! Thank you so much for joining me here today for the first stop of my blog tour celebrating the upcoming release of my Dreamspun Desires story Forgive and Forget. For those who may not know about Dreamspun Desires, it’s Dreamspinner Press’s category romance line. Like many romance readers, I grew up reading all kinds of romance, including category romance from Harlequin. You know the ones. Those fabulous tropes about secret babies, amnesia, heiresses, mistaken identities, and secret heirs. We had billionaires and cowboys, sheikhs and secretaries. I had so much fun with those books, so when the opportunity came up to write my own category romance, I jumped all over it.

Obviously with category romance there’s a certain level of predictability. The lovers will always get their HEA. The fun part is what happens on the way there. In Forgive and Forget, we get a sweet, fun little romance with humor and even sexy times. We meet Joe Applin, a somewhat eccentric, awkward, and shy pie maker who rarely leaves his little pie shop in the heart of New York City. Joe doesn’t believe in happily ever afters. Not anymore. He’s content with his life of baked goods, and making his customers happy. He has his motley crew, Bea, Elsie, and Donnie who help him run Apple’n Pies. Enter our mysterious stranger. Well, more like, find a mysterious stranger face down in the garden. Which is where Joe finds the man he calls Tom. Tom has amnesia. Que dramatic music! Tom is sinfully handsome, dangerous, and gives Joe the impression he tastes sweeter than pie.

Joe’s uneventful life is turned upside down and inside out. Just who is Tom and what kind of trouble is he in? How far is Joe willing to go to help a man he knows nothing about? A man who doesn’t even know who he is or what he does? Is apple truly the king of pies? Will Joe ever get the last word over Bea? Find out the answers to these questions and more in Forgive and Forget.

Do you have a favorite category romance trope? Is it mistaken identity? Amnesia? Secret billionaire cowboy sheikhs with secret babies??

Genre: Gay Contemporary Category Romance
Length: Novel, 194 Pages
Published: April 1st, 2016
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Paul Richmond
Ebook ISBN-13: 9781634770170
Paperback ISBN-13: 9781634770163

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OUT APRIL 1st

I will admit to being a bit of a Charlie Cochet junkie. I mean how can you deny it when you have the same books (yes, multiple) in three different formats? But whatever, we all need some addiction in our lives, right? So, getting to read Forgive and Forget early was no hardship, I’ll assure you. And I have been enjoying the Dreamspun Desires series so much!

This book had intrigue, amnesia, guys with guns, and a sweet guy named Joe who just wanted to live his life contentedly making his pies and enjoying his quirky friends. Tom falls into his life, and Joe turns all his previously staunch beliefs that he should be alone on its side. What an enjoyable ride this was!

Always some sexy times with Charlie’s book, but this book was fun, with some hotness, bad guys flirting around the edge, and a mystery to unravel. In the end, Joe…and Tom…get their man, and of course there is your HEA, because it wouldn’t be a Harlequin-esque book, or a Charlie Cochet novel, if there wasn’t an HEA.

I finished this book smiling, and wanting to go right back and read it again, and isn’t that exactly what you want in a novel?

4.5 pieces of eye candy for this one. And a re-read for sure!

Charlie Cochet is an author by day and artist by night. Always quick to succumb to the whispers of her wayward muse, no star is out of reach when following her passion. From Historical to Fantasy, Contemporary to Science Fiction, there’s bound to be plenty of mischief for her heroes to find themselves in, and plenty of romance, too!

Currently residing in South Florida, Charlie looks forward to migrating to a land where the weather includes seasons other than hot, hotter, and boy, it’s hot! When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading, drawing, or watching movies. She runs on coffee, thrives on music, and loves to hear from readers.

[Each tour stop has its own exclusive giveaway. That’s five chances to win a nifty prize! ]

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TOUR SCHEDULE

March 28th – Two Chicks Obsessed with Books and Eye Candy
March 29th – Love Bytes Book Reviews
March 30th – Prism Book Alliance
March 31st – Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance
April 1st – The Novel Approach