Bookblast/Review: Wolf Run by B.A. Tortuga

Welcome to the book blast for B.A. Tortuga's

Wolf Run

Publisher: Resplendence Publishing

Blurb:

Mick is a lone wolf in all ways. He’s left his pack, he’s left his homelands and he’s on the road, footloose and fancy free. Well, at least until he wanders up to a fence and finds a little wolf running his ass off behind it. Mick stops to let the pup out and is stunned to hear the young wolf, Scotty, tell him “no”. Scotty's mate and best friend, Danny, asked Scotty to stay behind the fence, so he will be safe while Danny fights to support them both. All this leaves Mick’s fur standing on end. Maybe, Mick doesn’t need one mate to bring him home. Maybe, he needs two.

Excerpt:

He dropped his wolf form as soon as he was out of sight, his body lengthening into a biped. “Dude, why are you in a cage?”

The pup yelped and scrambled back, leaping onto the porch.

“Hey, I’m not here to hurt you. I can open the gate.”

The pup looked at him then boom, a lovely lean man stood there, shaggy blond hair curling around his face. “H-hey.”

“Hi. Would you like to run? I can get you out.” God, the kid was adorable and plenty old enough to play.

“Oh. Oh, no. Daniel would be so mad at me for getting out again.” Eyes the color of brandy caught the sun. “Daniel says I’ll get hurt, lost.”

“Does Daniel mistreat you?” Because Mick could beat someone down just for fun.

“Daniel? My Daniel?” The pup’s laugh was happy, joyous, the look on his face fond and warm. “Oh, no. Daniel loves me. He works for both of us. He brings me half his food every day. He’s a good mate. We… The Alpha said ‘too many males’, and we… Daniel pays for this home, he brushes me, he works all day every day.”

“Do you work?” Mick tilted his head, waiting, nodding in sympathy. Damn, it was hard for bachelor males to manage when thrust out on their own, especially ones who needed an alpha as much as this one did. It seemed like the kid barely held it together, at least on two legs. Sweet baby.

“I paint. I paint pictures, and I wash Daniel’s uniforms. I… I get… He follows rules better than me, and he can stop a shift, if he needs to. He can even work during the moon.”

Mick smiled, liking this kid a lot. “What’s your name, honey?”

“Scott. Scott Miller. What’s yours?”

Scott. It worked.

“I’m Mick Eagleheart. I like your belly. I kinda want to lick it.”

Sandra's review:




This was in equal parts charming, sweet and hawt. There's very little plot outside what's revealed in the blurb, and there's a lot of wolf shifter mating going on, with licking and sucking and tasting and kissing and tongues.

But it's also a charming menage romance between two young, lost and abandoned wolf boys, and the Alpha male they've been needing all along.

All three of the men are likable. The author gave us fully formed characters that were all very different, but ultimately worked well together as a three wolf pack.

Unfortunately, toward the middle and until the end, the writing was somewhat repetitive - a lot of the things being said in dialogue and narration had been said before in this book. It limited the experience of this novella, especially as there isn't a whole lot of plot to begin with.

I did find the wolf issue Danny was experiencing rather interesting, and thought that the author gave a reasonable explanation for what was going on. From a psychological perspective, for all three characters, their actions and words made sense.

A nice read for a summer afternoon, swinging in a hammock with a cool beverage.

** I received a free copy of this book for review as part of the book blast. A positive review was not promised in return. **

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Blog Tour: Forever Hold His Peace by Rebecca Cohen

Today we shine the spotlight on Rebecca Cohen's third book in the 

Crofton Chronicles series

Forever Hold His Peace

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Blurb:

Sebastian Hewel has never been happier. But his life playing the role of his twin sister Bronwyn, the wife of Anthony Redbourn, Earl of Crofton, is about to change. Rumors abound that Bronwyn is using witchcraft to enthrall her husband, and false evidence has been found. Practicing witchcraft is a crime that could have Bronwyn brought in for questioning by the sheriff, and that would reveal Sebastian and Anthony’s secret.
Together they must decide whether it is time to lay Bronwyn to rest. Anthony intends to ensure that whoever implicated Bronwyn pays for the treacherous deed. Whatever happens, Sebastian and Anthony must prepare to face an unknown future together.

Excerpt:

Blog Tour: Secrets Of Neverwood - Anthology

Today we shine the spotlight on Libby Drew, Diana Copland and G.B. Lindsey, 

and their anthology

Secrets Of Neverwood

(One Door Closes, The Growing Season, The Lost Year)

Publisher: Carina Press

Blurb:

Three men with vastly different lives are called home to Neverwood, the stately Pacific Northwest mansion of their youth. The one thing they share is a promise to Audrey, the woman they all called mother—that upon her death, they would restore the house and preserve it as a home for troubled boys.
But going home is never easy.
Cal struggles to recover from past heartbreak, while Danny fears his mistakes are too big to overcome. Devon believes he may never break down the barriers that separate him from honest emotion. And a benevolent spirit lingers in Neverwood's halls, intent on guiding her foster sons away from the mistakes of their youth and toward true love.
On the path to brotherhood, they discover the old mansion holds more than dusty furniture and secret passageways. An old mystery stirs up a new danger, one that could cost the men far more than just the house.

Buy the anthology:

Buy One Door Closes:

Buy The Growing Season:

Buy The Lost Year:

About the authors:

Book review: Keep Swimming by Kade Boehme

Blurb:

fter his partner dumped him with a pregnant surrogate four years ago, Cary Whitmore was forced to play single parent while starting up a new business. With the dog bakery now semi-successful and his son healthy, Cary thinks he may be ready to date again.

Heath Cummings is trying his damnedest to get his charter boat service off the ground and dreams of one day soon being able to quit his job as an offshore driller. Paying off his dream requires making it through a couple more years, which means being open about his sexuality isn't in the cards just yet.

When the two take their flirting to the next level, Cary wonders if he can handle another guy who might take off, while Heath has to decide if he can risk his dream of a laid back life—and giving up his long-held and much enjoyed bachelor status while taking on a child when being a father was never on his to-do list. Will they sink, or will they keep swimming?

Dani's rating:

This is an easy and sexy story with plenty of steam and tender moments.

I loved Gus, Cary's son, in this one. He was a typical 4-year-old and didn't take over the story. So often, kids in romance books are pawns of the plot and act like adults on steroids, but not so with Gus.

Cary and Heath's relationship developed naturally. I could see Heath willing to trust more, and Cary opening up about his needs and feelings. The secondary characters, particularly Heath's friend Kyle, were three-dimensional and added humor and interest to the plot.

BUT I disliked the drama over Heath's ex-lovers. I get that he was bisexual and didn't do relationships, but did that have to be such a huge focus in this book? I felt like my face was rubbed in Heath's bisexuality everywhere I turned. Always, there was yet another person Heath had screwed.

I particularly didn't care for Becca's involvement. She was painted as a sympathetic character, but I felt like she and Heath had too much history for their relationship to feel nonthreatening. And don't get me started on the slut who came on to Heath, and Heath's pathetic attempt at controlling his dick. That was such bullshit and really didn't belong in the story.

Also, everyone has fawned over the HEA in this one, but, honestly, I didn't see it. This was a HFN for me. After all the drama, I wanted more, so I felt vaguely unsatisfied when the story ended.

I should mention there were a few editing issues, mostly typos and missing words, but they didn't really detract from the story for me.

I like Kade's characters. They always resonate with me, even if I don't like them.

This was an entertaining read; recommended. And I am very glad to see that we'll be getting Kyle's story next!

Get the book:

Thanks for visiting our blog, and happy reading!

Download links are provided as a courtesy and do not constitute an endorsement of or affiliation with the book, author, publisher, or website listed.

ARC Review: Hostile Ground by L.A. Witt and Aleksandr Voinov

From the blurb:

Enemy territory is a dangerous place to fall in love.

After the deaths of three undercover cops investigating a drug ring in a seedy strip club in Seattle, Detective Mahir Hussain has been sent to finish the job. He joins the club’s security team in the hopes of finding enough evidence to bust the operation before the men in charge find a reason to put him in a shallow grave.

To protect the strippers, only gay men can work the club. Ridley, the cold and intimidating head of security, knows exactly how to test potential new hires—including Mahir. From the minute they meet, Mahir and Ridley engage in a dangerous dance of sex and mind games. Mahir needs to find his evidence before Ridley figures out he’s a cop—and before they both grow too close to betray one another.

As the game goes on, Mahir burrows deeper into the operation, where he learns there’s much more happening than meets the eye . . . and why every cop who made it this far has been silenced with a bullet. 

Heather's rating:




If this book has told me anything it is that romantic suspense is sooooo not my genre.

The writing combination of L.A. Witt and Aleksandr Voinov is sort of an auto-read for me. I've been known to go gaga for this duo (Quid Pro Quo, anyone??) so I HAD to see what these two would do with a thriller.

The first 25% of the book? LOVE! I loved the hot sex, the power plays, the dirty talking... I adore rough and forceful sex scenes so I was like, "Yeeah baby!" (<--- picture Austin Power's voice) with the early scenes between Mahir and Ridley.

After that? Meh, not so much.

There were a couple things that really bothered me about this book, the most glaring being plot holes. God, I hate me a plot hole. I felt like as soon as the action picked up the leaps and gaps in logic became more and more apparent. Another issue that I had was that this book was REALLY predictable. I knew exactly what was going to happen next, and I'm no sleuth! Part of that had to do with the rambling internal commentary from Mahir, which gave a lot away, IMH.

I also didn't love how the book ended. Too neat and tidy for my taste.

But there was also a lot to like.

I loved the diversity of the characters. A gay practicing Muslim character? I haven't seen many of those. I liked the side plot with Mahir and his family, though I suspect some other readers might not enjoy that as much as me because it took away a bit of focus from the action. I think the writing was tight and, like I said, I always love the writing chemistry between these two authors.

So in the end, I enjoyed this book but I didn't love it. The guns and fighting don't do much for me, and combined with some of my other gripes, it fell short of a home run.

**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Buy this book:  Riptide Publishing, Amazon, Kobo, All Romance, Barnes & Noble

Thanks for stopping by!!

Book Review: An Old-Fashioned Love Song by Michelle K. Grant

Blurb:

Dear Author,

I am so in love with this man, but I’m afraid to say anything because I’m pretty sure he only wants to play and I don’t want to scare him off. He thinks I’m too young to commit to someone, but I’m not. He takes such good care of me, but he doesn’t realize I can take care of him, too. He needs to take control during sex, and I love it when he does. He knows exactly how to get me going, and I don’t want to lose that. 

Photo Description:

In an austere white bedroom, two men are locked in a passionate embrace. The dark haired man, on the bottom, has one arm draped over the hips of the blond man, on top. His other hand tightly grasps his lover’s neck. At the same time, he places a tender kiss on his lover’s neck. His lover, instead of fighting to free himself, grips his shoulder, encouraging him to tighten his grip.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love’s Landscapes" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

Dani's rating:

Good old-fashioned fun, you all: whips, gags, ropes, and breath play.

Also included: two fantastically real and endearing MCs, a supportive (but not annoying or meddlesome!) family, and a desire to swoon every 25 pages.

Extra credit for:

hawtest damn prompt image this side of the Atlantic (INCLUDED in the plot!)

a Dom who's not some filthy rich tycoon but a regular guy who works landscaping and has a disaster of a house

a smart twink who wants to be a sub but goes about it in all the wrong ways

a neighbor with a pet skunk

a claw-foot bathtub

smexy, filthy, delicious fun

sweetness and humour galore (you wouldn't think it, but 'tis true)

This is BDSM for the everyday guy: no fancy scenes or dungeons, no 24/7 Master/slave, BUT hellaciously hot, kinky-as-fuck sex.

Dominant Malachi doesn't want a long-term commitment. Seth DOES, but he doesn't tell Malachi that. So who's playing whom? Or are they playing each other?

Doesn't matter.

Everyone wins.

Download this book for free:

Thanks for visiting our blog, and happy reading!

Download link is provided as a courtesy and does not constitute an endorsement of or affiliation with the book, author, or event listed.

Kindle Weekly Deals~ Week of 6/21/14- 6/27/14

"Shiver" by Maggie Stiefvater- YA, paranormal romance~ Price drop to $2.99!

"Try" by Ella Frank- M/M, contemporary romance~ Price drop to $0.99!

 "When I Break" by Kendall Ryan- NA, contemporary romance~ Price drop to FREE!

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ARC Review: Jay Walking by Jacques N. Hoff

Blurb:

Welcome to the avian shifter world of Undercover Peckers. Where love is instant the moment you find your mate. Where there’s only one true pecker for every man. Where the sex is so hot it will singe your tail feathers. Where bird-watching is both a recreation and a preoccupation—that usually leads to feathers flying.

Simon Spoonwell—intrepid bird store owner and history geek—knows avian shifters exist. With so much myth and lore, there must be a touch of reality. But he doesn't expect his proof to come in the form of hottie cop and blue jay shifter Jay Azure. It’s an innocuous ticket for jaywalking that brings them together, but an inescapable attraction, a love of awful puns, and a shared need to protect the vulnerable will make them true mates.

Dani's rating:

I don’t want to ruffle any feathers (*snort*), but this novella was just too cute for words.

Mind you, this isn’t your typical shifter book. It’s more puns than heat. There is some steam here, sure, but the bird puns sort of take over. And I typically don’t do puns. But when Simon chirped (can't help it!), “Yeah, I tweet,” I laughed for like five minutes. It’s funny in context, I swear.

When Simon and Jay meet, it’s not love at first sight. Well, it kind of is for Jay, but not for Simon, who's ticked because of his recently acquired $250 jaywalking ticket. And the arrogant, snarky cop who gave Simon the ticket? You guessed it in one.

After that, everything happens very quickly. Jay bird is injured (his own damn fault for preening and shakin' that ass).

Simon tries to nurse Jay bird, who's having none of that.

Then Simon realizes that Jay the cop and Jay the bird are...

*gasp*

Also, Jay has a big cock and wants to use it.

Oh, no, that wasn't a pun.

It’s all a little rushed. But that’s okay because this is not a serious book. It’s shifters light: super-fluff, eye-rolling fun.

And the ending promises another Undercover Peckers adventure coming soon!

What a hoot. *giggles manically*

Careful. The puns are contagious.

Get this book:

Thanks for visiting our blog, and happy reading!

An ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

Download links are provided as a courtesy and do not constitute an endorsement of or affiliation with the book, author, publisher, or website listed.

Book Blast: Fused By Fire by Draven St. James

Welcome to the book blast for Draven St. James' 

Fused By Fire

Blurb:

Michael prides himself on being the man that everyone can depend on until one of his firefighters is severely wounded on the job. Will he be allowed to process the situation alone? Not when a loud and persistent Simon Winters shows up on his doorstep. The man hasn't met a boundary he didn't skip across.

Simon has had the biggest crush on Lieutenant Firefighter Michael Donovan since the first day he saw him. Which just happened to be at an interview for a job to work as a firefighter. Before his desire to lick the gruff older man from head to toe affects his work, Simon transfers over to being a paramedic. Just when he's begun to build a life that doesn't include hot shower fantasies of Michael, the object of his angst is thrust into his path.

All too quickly, Simon begins to barrel through Michael's defenses and dig up the desires Michael has fought so hard to hide. As passions flare out of control, tragedies collide from every side. Michael's struggle to keep Simon at a distance starts to crumble beneath the weight of the secrets that Simon is hiding. Will Michael be able to protect Simon when he needs it the most or will he lose Simon forever?

Excerpt:

Author Of The Month - Heidi Cullinan - Finale

Welcome to our Grand Finale celebrations for the absolutely fabulous

Our final post is about Love Lessons, with a Q&A and of course one more giveaway.

You've surely read or at least heard of Love Lessons, rights? Sweet, kind Kelly? Tough-on-the-outside-but-soft-as-a-marshmellow Walter? Their epic romance, all things Disney included?

Blurb:

Love doesn’t come with a syllabus.

Kelly Davidson has waited what seems like forever to graduate high school and get out of his small-minded, small town. But when he arrives at Hope University, he quickly realizes finding his Prince Charming isn’t so easy. Everyone here is already out. In fact, Kelly could be the only virgin on campus.

Worst of all, he’s landed the charming, handsome, gay campus Casanova as a roommate, whose bed might as well be equipped with a revolving door.

Walter Lucas doesn’t believe in storybook love. Everyone is better off having as much fun as possible with as many people as possible…except his shy, sad little sack of a roommate is seriously screwing up his world view.

As Walter sets out to lure Kelly out of his shell, staying just friends is harder than he anticipated. He discovers love is a crash course in determination. To make the grade, he’ll have to finally show up for class…and overcome his own private fear that love was never meant to last.

Buy it:

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Blurb:

Proposals don’t come with instructions. Walter Lucas knows his boyfriend has been looking forward to the newest Walt Disney movie, Frozen, but he isn’t prepared for the reality that is the front row seat of Kelly Davidson’s cartoon obsession. However, there’s more going on in November than just the movie—something is brewing which Walter has been waiting quite some time to do. When Walter set up his elaborate Thanksgiving marriage proposal, it seemed like such a good idea, but as the holiday, the movie premiere and the question Walter never dreamt he’d be asking anyone converge…let’s just say even Alan Menken couldn’t sing and dance his way out of Walter’s tangle.

Get the book, free on Heidi's website

But wait.... there's more. In October 2014, the next book in this series is coming out. On a scale of 1 through 10, how excited are you about that?

Sandra's excitement level is at about 23. Not even kidding!

Blurb:

Sometimes you have to play love by ear. Aaron Seavers is a pathetic mess, and he knows it. He lives in terror of incurring his father’s wrath and disappointing his mother, and he can’t stop dithering about where to go to college—with fall term only weeks away. Ditched by a friend at a miserable summer farewell party, all he can do is get drunk in the laundry room and regret he was ever born. Until a geeky-cute classmate lifts his spirits, leaving him confident of two things: his sexual orientation, and where he’s headed to school.
Giles Mulder can’t wait to get the hell out of Oak Grove, Minnesota, and off to college, where he plans to play his violin and figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. But when Aaron appears on campus, memories of hometown hazing threaten what he’d hoped would be his haven. As the semester wears on, their attraction crescendos from double-cautious to a rich, swelling chord. But if more than one set of controlling parents have their way, the music of their love could come to a shattering end.

Pre-order it:

We are absolutely delighted to announce that we will be participating in the Fever Pitch blog tour, coming soon!

But next, we had some questions for Heidi:


1. What inspires you, meaning, where do you get your plot bunnies?

It really can be anything. Special Delivery is courtesy of an offhand comment by the produce manager at my local co-op (he loves the books, btw). Dance With Me was born when I tried to go to the gym and had the sound system for a crazy aerobics class piped into the weight and cardio rooms. Carry the Ocean got its germ when I fell in love with Gary from Alphas. Mostly I have a fertile imagination and it doesn't take much. I have many thousand more bunnies than I'll ever have time to write. Most stories happen only in my head.


2. What's your writing process? Seat of your pants, meticulous notes, spreadsheets?

Usually the first sign a book might be real is that I make a story collage (see below) and a soundtrack. I may or may not write an initial synopsis and map out a few character details. But shit gets real when I pass the 20k mark. Doesn't matter if the story is 30 or 110k--that's the magic number that means I'll probably finish it eventually.

Then it just sort of clunks around. If I have a synopsis, I break from it. If I have a plan, it falls apart--but sometimes I have to have the plan. Story crafting for me usually takes 2-10 months depending on how much marination it needs, which is why I work so far in advance, sell on partial, and write multiple stories at once so they can have time to think about themselves. I do research as I go, though usually some beforehand as well. When the first draft is done it's usually a mess, and there's another month of polishing that'll need to be done before I submit it to my agent/editor.



3. Who is your favorite character from all the books you've written, and why?

Randy Jansen. Because he's me in male form, except that he's better at math and likes heights.

[Readers - who is yours? Leave us your favorite in the comment section.]


4. Who's your least favorite character?

Brad from Dirty Laundry. It took Herculean effort to keep him from being a flat cartoon of himself, and even there I barely managed it. He just sucked all around, in text and out.


5. If you could go back and change one thing in one of your books, what would it be?

Ha. I shouldn't be allowed to change anything. It's such a devil's trap. I've been able to polish some old work as it's reissued, but the truth is I can't write those books anymore because I'm in a different place. Mostly when I look at old work I want to throw it away. But I really loved being able to tighten Special Delivery and Double Blind.


6. Will there be more of Walter and Kelly in Fever Pitch?

Yes. In fact it's only a series book because Walter showed up and took over, making himself an integral secondary character. This is because he's Randy's white-collar younger cousin.

[Sandra didn't mind this at all!!]

7. Will you be writing more Tucker Springs books?

Not right now--we're all moving in different directions professionally, and I'm having a hell of a time working things into my schedule as it is.


8. When can we expect the next Minnesota Snow book?

November 11, I believe. Sleigh Ride. Arthur and the town librarian.


9. Anything else you would like us to know?

Thanks for having me! :) You guys are awesome.


Thank you!!!! 

About Heidi:

Heidi enjoys reading, watching movies and TV, and listening all kinds of music. She has a husband, a daughter, and too many cats. A passionate advocate for LGBT rights, Heidi volunteers as often as she can for One Iowa and donates with her husband as a monthly partner to the Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal. She encourages you to support your own local and national LGBT rights groups, too.

      

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Thanks for celebrating with us! Until next time, happy reading!!