Blogtour: The Diary of a Late Bloomer by L.M.L Gil

The Diary of a Late Bloomer 

A quirky coming of age novel

L.M.L Gil

Publication date: June 29th 2020

Genres: Coming of Age, New Adult, Romance, Sports

Every wallflower blooms at their own perfect time, but some like quirky Lo, take longer than others. 

Lo is a sheltered 20-year-old who loves baking, manga/anime, and octopi. 

When she spots her college swim team’s tryout flyer sporting her favorite sea creature, an octopus she knows it’s a sign that she must join the Flying Octopi. The only things standing her way are her social awkward nature and the fact that she just learned to swim. 

Will Lo find her place to shine or will her social anxiety DQ her dreams? 

Late Bloomer is a new adult novel that is a cross between Bridget Jones’s Diary, Baywatch and Kuragehime.

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We entered a musty smelling store filled with CDs and posters of bands. The loud growling music was only over powered by the employees arguing about the band that was playing. Jackson and Martin darted to opposite sections, leaving me to my own devices.

I took a staircase down to the cellar which was filled with band shirts, vinyl, more posters and a sale section. I browsed through the sale section. In my infinite wisdom, I had only brought $10 dollars, so I couldn’t afford anything at full price.

Over the years I have developed a method of finding new bands I might like: first I look at the covers and titles of the CDs to see if something calls out to me, then I check their song list. If all three interest me, I get the CD.

I had discovered one of my favorite metal bands, Testament, that way. The CDs clanked as I scanned through them. Nothing called out to me.

“I was wondering where you disappeared to,” Jackson towered over me “You’re being anti-social.”

“Huh?” I had forgotten that I came with them.

“We’re supposed to hang out together and you’re here hiding,” he smirked.       

I wanted to argue with him, but I could tell he would win.

“Sorry,” I whispered. 

Jackson came closer. I tried to move back but there was no space. He looked down at me. My heart beat faster. I felt his breath.

“Martin’s waiting for us upstairs,” he said and stepped back.

“No, I’m not,” Martin said, “I wanted to see what they had on sale.”

“There’s a bunch of stuff,” my heart slowed.

Jackson went to look at the band t-shirts while Martin and I flipped through CDs.

“I gave Nirvana another go,” he broke the silence.

“So what did you think?” just hearing their name perked me up.

“I could see what you mean by playing with words,” he looked up at me, “but they’re not my cup of tea.”

Knowing he had remembered our conversation made me feel warm inside. 

“As long as you were open to try.” 

“This is my favorite band,” Martin showed me a CD cover with soldiers on it. 

“BoySetsFire, After the Eulogy.”

I took it from his hand and scanned the song titles. 

“It looks interesting.”

“Yeah, I think you’d like them,” he smiled.

“I’ll buy it then,” I would use all my money.

“I can lend it to you if you want?” he took it and put it back on the stand.

“Sure. I would love that.”

“What would you love?” Jackson slinked behind me.

Release Blitz: North Point by Thom Collins

Book Title: North Point

Author: Thom Collins

Publisher: Pride Publishing 

Release Date: July 7, 2020

Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance, Thriller and Suspense

Trope/s: Going home, murder mystery 

Themes: Fatherhood, survival

Heat Rating: 4 flames 

Length: 61 000 words

It is a standalone story

Goodreads 

Buy Links

Pride Publishing | Kobo | Barnes and Noble 

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA

 

Will an idyllic summer holiday lead Arnie to the love of his life, or the end of it?

Blurb

It should be the start of a perfect vacation. After a period of stress, Arnie Walker takes his nine-year-old son AJ home for the holidays. Arnie grew up in Nyemouth, a picturesque fishing town on the North-East coast of England, and he wants AJ to experience the kind of carefree, endless summer he enjoyed as a boy. It’s a short-lived dream. While taking an evening walk along the North Point cliff, Arnie and AJ witness a murder attempt.

For the volunteer crew of Nyemouth Lifeboat Station, it’s a rescue mission like none before, Helmsman Dominic Melton is part of the team who rescue the victim from the deadly North Sea. When Arnie and Dominic come together in the aftermath of the attack, the attraction is instant. Arnie isn’t looking for a relationship. He’s committed to his son’s well-being and has no time for a distraction like Dominic, even though the handsome ex-naval officer is hard to dismiss. Is it possible for Arnie to fulfill his promises to AJ while falling for Dominic?

Despite the distraction, a fledgling killer remains at large. As feelings between Arnie and Dominic develop, so does the danger they are in. North Point may be a beautiful place to fall in love, but it could also be the most dangerous.

Excerpt

“The police are outside,” Dominic said. “They want statements from all of us.” He had large and very expressive brown eyes. Within them, Arnie saw flecks of amber and gold. With his dark hair and muscular build, Dominic looked every inch a hero.

No, Arnie corrected himself. This guy doesn’t look like a hero. He is a hero. The entire crew are. It was more than the way he looked. There was an aura about Dominic, an undefined energy that made him incredibly attractive. Arnie had worked with some exceptionally good-looking men in his career, bona fide Hollywood heartthrobs, and none of them had Dominic’s naturally sexy quality. Everything about him—his face, his hair, his build—appealed. He was a knockout.

Come on, Arnie thought, pulling himself up. You’ve just witnessed a horrendous crime. A woman is fighting for her life this very minute and you’ve taken a fancy to the local hot guy. Get a grip.

He dunked a biscuit into the tea and ate it. His father was right—the sugar seemed to have an instant effect and his senses became clearer.

“How rough were things out there?” Martin asked.

“The sea’s getting up,” Dominic answered. “The wind too. Another half hour and we might not have got in there. It wouldn’t have mattered if we did. The tide would have taken her by then. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”

“You’re amazing,” Arnie said, and meant it. Dominic and the crew of volunteers had risked their lives for the safety of a complete stranger. They might all have died trying to rescue her.

“I just drove the boat,” he said. “My colleagues— Joanne and Minty—they did the hard work. They transferred the woman from the rock to the boat and kept her stable the whole way back. That’s no easy job in those swells.”

“Does anyone know who she is?” Martin asked.

Release Blitz: Drifter by Eden Winters

Title: Drifter

Author: Eden Winters

Publisher: Rocky Ridge Books

Release Date: 7/7/20

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 238

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Rocker

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Synopsis

Some legends never die.

Killian Desmond met his end in the fiery crash that killed his band, or so the newspapers say. Now a nameless drifter, he plays one pick-up gig after another in a haze of pain and regret, moving on the minute someone says, “You sound like that guy from Trickster.”

Getting outed cost Mike Rose his musical family. A bassist without a band, he’ll play any kind of music to earn a paycheck, but Trickster’s music provides light during the darkest moments of his life.

A chance meeting brings together two lost souls who spark enough heat to set their guitars on fire. Their chemistry, both onstage and off, feels like something written in the words of a song and gives them courage to face life again.

But to seize their future, they have to confront their past.

Excerpt

The throbbing beat blended with screams from the crowd; a crowd hidden by bright lights. Sweat and cologne and beer filled Killian Desmond’s nose. Familiar sounds. Familiar scents.

Home.

Did he love this life or hate it? Who cared, he’d never known another. Back to back with his brother Elliot, he shredded his electric acoustic guitar, improvising for the fans. The strings bent to his callused fingertips, note after note falling from his guitar.

Elliot kept up. Elliot always kept up. Others might get lost in Killy’s musical fantasies, but El gauged Killy’s intentions by the way he moved, held his shoulders, or gestures, like pausing to flip his sweat-dampened hair out of his eyes.

The drummer and keyboardist faded away, letting El set the tone with a deep bass beat.

Killy strutted to the front of the stage. Hot lights illuminated him from behind, shining on sweat-soaked skin. “What you wanna hear?” He didn’t need the words to know they’d be sticking to their prearranged lineup. At their manager’s urging, he’d saved the best for last.

Highway!” roared through the arena.

He grinned and cupped a hand to one ear. “What’s that? I can’t hear you.”

Highway!” roughly six thousand voices cried out in unison, louder this time.

“Aw, c’mon, now,” Killy teased. “We’ll play whatever you want, but you gotta tell us.”

The thunderous chant of “Highway! Highway! Highway!” threatened to blow the roof off the building.

Strolling over a few paces and throwing an arm around his brother, Killy said, “Well, I reckon we better do as they say.”

“Since when have you ever taken orders?” Elliot shot back.

Faster than most could follow, Killy slung his guitar back into place and launched into their best-known riff.

The screaming nearly deafened him. He tried again. On his sixth attempt the crowd settled enough to begin.

He grinned. Adoration and energy flowed from the crowd, straight into his veins, to gather strength and escape through his fingers and his voice.

His deep growl purred through the arena, pouring out the melody he’d written in a single night in a hotel room God knew where. High on life, cheap vodka, and the rush of their first big show, he’d settled onto the bed in the dark, except for the flickering image of a black and white movie on the TV, sound turned down, and began strumming.

The words flowed out of him unbidden, leaving him raw, shaken, and in possession of a number one hit.

He didn’t sing or play Highway—the melody made him its bitch, possessing him, demanding release into the world.

Who was he to refuse?

ARC Review: Spotlight (Famous #2) by Eden Finley

Blurb:

Ryder

When I quit the biggest boy band on the planet, I was supposed to get my life back.

It’s not that I wanted to leave the spotlight. I felt like I had to for my daughter. Her picture shouldn’t be splashed all over the tabloids.

I thought I could do this parenting thing on my own, but it’s obvious I need help. I just didn’t expect to find it in the form of a gorgeous guy I meet by chance.

I can put my attraction aside for my daughter’s sake. I’ve put my whole life on hold for her.

If only he wasn’t so tempting.

Lyric

Working as a nanny is my backup to my backup plan. My first plan is fame, but something always holds me back.

When I randomly run into Ryder Kennedy and end up becoming his daughter’s nanny, I figure it’ll be a short-term thing.

But then Ryder finds out I can sing. He wasn’t ready to give up music, and now he’s found a new way to have it: through me. He wants to produce my demo and make me a star.

He says I was born to be in the spotlight, but I think I was born to run from it.

It doesn’t help that each day I’m with him and his daughter, the deeper I fall into fantasies of being part of their family. And not just as the nanny.

Todd's rating:

I adored this second book in the "Famous" series right out of the gate, where pop star Ryder met up-and-coming musician Lyric in McDonalds (?), after Ryder overheard Lyric telling his young nephew how badly he thought Eleven, Ryder's old boy band, sucked.

Despite their odd first meeting, Ryder ended up hiring Lyric to be his 4 y.o. daughter's nanny, which of course led to pining and, eventually, to a big ole' case of The Feels from both guys.

They were a very well-suited pair; however, when Ryder offered to help him with his music career, Lyric's staunch refusal to become a sell-out, like his deceased musician father, became a point of contention for them to overcome.

I thoroughly enjoyed how, no matter their desire to play nice and avoid fights, both Ryder and Lyric communicated openly with one another.

This eventually led to Lyric finally admitting that no major record label contract would ever be good enough for his strict standards, then him finally getting out of his own way, so that both men could be happy and move forward. Together.