Re-release Spotlight: Deeds & Confetti (Mary's Boys 4) by Brandon Witt

Join us today as we celebrate the re-release of Brandon Witt's

Deeds and Confetti

Mary's Boys #4

Blurb:

Steven Conley loves owning his own Hamburger Mary's restaurant in Denver, Colorado, and his chosen family of coworkers makes life even better. Steven never regretted leaving the corporate grind behind until his father's harsh deathbed words leaves him doubting himself.

Ryan Fuller abandoned a lucrative career to start his own party-planning business, but he keeps afloat by coordinating funerals. When Ryan bumps into Steven-his best friend's uncle and the man Ryan has secretly crushed on forever-the attraction explodes into a night of passionate abandon for both men.

Steven is blown away by the care and deep connection he feels for the hot young funeral director-until Ryan admits who he really is. Reeling from the recent upheaval in his life, Steven must decide whether to give Ryan a chance. To find love, they must risk it all...

Ryan followed Steven’s truck. They didn’t speak as they each got out of their cars and walked to the front door of Steven’s apartment.

They made it into the elevator. Steven suddenly wished they’d met a few years ago. Back when he had money, when he had a beautiful Cherry Creek house. All that was gone into mortgages, deeds, and remodels. He was bringing this beautiful man to his dated apartment he hadn’t even bothered to decorate. At least it was clean.

Steven hit the button for the eighth floor, then glanced over at Ryan. He seemed nervous. Maybe scared, even. Shit.

The elevator doors separated, and Steven put his hand out, holding them open.

Ryan hesitated.

“If you’ve changed your mind, it’s okay.” Steven sounded like he meant it, which was a surprise. He didn’t. He hadn’t been remotely close to tears all day, not for a second. But if Ryan went back down the elevator, Steven knew with certainty he’d lock himself in his apartment and break.

There was that smile again, nervous and beautiful. “No, I’ve not changed my mind. I’m just kind of blown away you want to be with me again, to be honest.”

An explosion of a laugh burst from Steven, a mix of disbelief and nerves. Then he noticed Ryan’s change of expression. “Oh, you’re serious.”

Ryan didn’t answer for a few seconds, then gave a slight nod, as if making a decision. “Come on.” He stepped off the elevator, and Steven followed.

Steven led the way to his apartment, unlocked it and opened the door, then let Ryan walk through first. “Sorry, I’ve been so busy with the restaurant for the past while, I’ve not decorated my apartment. It’s kinda sparse.”

ARC Review: Albin Academy #1 Just Like That by Cole McCade

From The Blurb:

Carina Adores is home to highly romantic contemporary love stories featuring beloved romance tropes, where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters. 

Summer Hemlock never meant to come back to Omen, Massachusetts. 

But with his mother in need of help, Summer has no choice but to return to his hometown, take up a teaching residency at the Albin Academy boarding school—and work directly under the man who made his teenage years miserable. 

Professor Fox Iseya. 

Forbidding, aloof, commanding: psychology instructor Iseya is a cipher who’s always fascinated and intimidated shy, anxious Summer. But that fascination turns into something more when the older man challenges Summer to be brave. What starts as a daily game to reward Summer with a kiss for every obstacle overcome turns passionate, and a professional relationship turns quickly personal. 

Yet Iseya’s walls of grief may be too high for someone like Summer to climb…until Summer’s infectious warmth shows Fox everything he’s been missing in life. 

Now both men must be brave enough to trust each other, to take that leap. 

To find the love they’ve always needed… 

Just like that. 

In Just Like That, critically acclaimed author Cole McCade introduces us to Albin Academy: a private boys’ school where some of the world’s richest families send their problem children to learn discipline and maturity, out of the public eye. 

This book is approximately 65,000 words 

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise! 

A new Carina Adores title is available each month: 

The Hideaway Inn by Philip William Stover 

The Girl Next Door by Chelsea M. Cameron 

Hairpin Curves by Elia Winters 

Better Than People by Roan Parrish 

Full Moon in Leo by Brooklyn Ray 

The Beautiful Things Shoppe by Philip William Stover 

Just Like Us by Cole McCade

Karen's rating:

Sometimes it's the little things that fuel our imagination...

I admit this is purely conjecture on my part, but I'm going to run with it. Cole McCade is by no means a new to me author...what is new to me is reading a story by this author that is set in the world of Malcolm Khalaji and Soeng-Jae Yoon. Ironically it is also the place where I first crossed paths with the name Summer Hemlock and having said that rest assured those who have not read the Criminal Intentions series will have no problem with reading this story. The connection between that series and this story is minuscule at best...the mention of a name that's it...just a name Summer Hemlock. But I'd like to think that this name grabbed the author's attention and wouldn't let go until he agreed to write a story where Summer Hemlock got to be a real boy and have his own happily ever after.

Release Blitz: His Horizon by Con Riley

His Horizon 

by Con Riley

Temperatures rise when there are two cooks in Jude’s kitchen...

Jude’s drowning in guilt when he can’t save his family business single-handed. The last person he expects to throw a lifeline is Rob, a rival chef who once beat him to first place in a cooking contest. 

Two chefs working together won’t be easy. Not when Rob is everything Jude isn’t—popular, extroverted, and a one-time hook-up. What’s worse is that Rob wears his heart on his sleeve while Jude’s still in the closet.

Jude’s dilemma doesn’t end there. Rob’s rescue package comes with conditions that mean sharing everything from the profits to Jude’s sleeping quarters. 

Sleeping with the enemy will either be a disaster or signal a much brighter future, but only if Jude can meet Rob’s final condition and love him in the open.

Featuring opposites who attract, rivals to lovers, and an out-for-you storyline dripping with hurt-comfort feelings, His Horizon is the first in a shared-world series of standalone MM romance novels from Con Riley.

CONTENT ADVISORY: Grief-related angst, Off-page peril and British-English spelling/grammar.

Universal Link

Goodreads

Excerpt:

It was beyond dark in the boatyard, clouds covering the moon leaving the way deeply shadowed. Rob held out his phone, flashlight app a white beam that sliced through the darkness, his other hand in Jude’s, fingers laced as they walked in silence to the boatshed. It lit the ceiling when he placed it at the head of the bed, the portholes dark circles above them. He stayed quiet until Jude lay flat on his bunk. “One thing,” he then said, after kneeling over him. “Just to check.” Rob dipped down for a kiss, lips barely touching Jude’s before he pulled back a scant inch. “You didn’t help yourself to a finger or two of cognac from the bar before coming to find me, did you?” His knees were so close to the edge of Jude’s bunk that he slipped after straddling him. 

Jude grabbed him with one hand on each of his hips, raising his knees to keep Rob steady. Once he was, Jude slid both hands under Rob’s T-shirt, hands travelling up and around to appreciate where his back broadened. “You think I’d need to be drunk to want this? Why?”

Rob’s gaze skittered away. 

It wasn’t easy to switch position. “Jesus, you’re a lump.” Jude pushed up while twisting, rolling them over so Rob was beneath him. “Why, Rob? You really think my judgement needs to be impaired to want you?”

“No… I… well, yes.” Rob’s hands skimmed Jude’s hips, his waist, the curve of pectorals that were more pronounced after a year’s sailing. “To be fair, I have had months of Lou telling me about how you never do this.”

“This?”

ARC Review: The Redemption of River by Eli Easton

From the blurb:

River Larsen is a world traveler, truth-seeker, and tantric healer. He’s a master of loving all—and no one. Both his past and his spiritual path warn him against attachment. When he falls for his surrogacy client and coffee magnate, Brent McKay, River tells himself it’s a temporary idyll, a beautiful encounter they’ll both enjoy and move on from like two ships passing in the stream of life. Except his heart misses that memo.

Brent McKay hasn’t been interested in sex since his wife died two years ago. When he goes to Expanded Horizons sex clinic in Seattle for help, he meets River Larsen, a sex surrogate specializing in reiki massage and tantric sex therapy. Brent never expected to be interested in a man, but River’s light-filled spirit, inner peace, and electric touch bring him back to life. Brent’s loyal heart is ready to commit again. But how can he convince River that love can last forever—if you just have faith?

Heather's rating:





I loved, loved this book in a squeeze-your-heart-stay-up-all-night kind of way. It moved me to tears at parts, and I didn't want it to end.

You need a tiny bit of an open-minded to read this one, and be receptive to the ideas of eastern philosophy, chakras, tantric sex (where, apparently, you don't ever *physically* come and the sex just goes on... and on...), and lots of meditation. I'll admit, this isn't an area of expertise for me, so I have no idea if Eli Easton got any of the facts right, but it seemed all legit. *shrugs*

More important than the nitty gritty details, I simply found this book to be immensely satisfying. We get a lovely MC who needs healing from his devastation after losing his wife to cancer. We get a sexuality discovery story (!!!), an age-gap, lots of intense, soul-shaking eye contact, and emotions so powerful that it made me cry. I just loved this couple and their journey to one another. Plus, foodie details galore. I need to finally try some kombucha for myself.

Review Tour: All That Remains (Lancaster Falls #3) by RJ Scott

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Length: 82,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Meredith Russell 

Lancaster Falls Series

Book #1 - What Lies Beneath - Amazon US | Amazon UK |Universal Link

Book #2 - Without a Trace - Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Blurb

Federal Agent Lucas Beaumont has an agenda — get himself assigned to the case of the apparent serial murders at Lancaster Falls, find out who the murderer is, and then lay the ghosts that haunt his grandfather to rest. In the midst of a horrific murder investigation, the only peace he gets is from simple moments in a warm kitchen, talking to hotel owner, Josh. Attraction to the easygoing man is something he didn’t expect; in doing so, he opens himself to hurt, but at the same time, he begins to fall in love.

Josh is struggling to keep the Falls Hotel, even with every cent he has invested in its upkeep. The one thing keeping him above water is the not entirely legal work he does on the side—a steady income that not even his son knows about. When the FBI takes over his hotel for the duration of the Hell’s Gate serial killer case, Josh is faced with the real possibility that Lucas will not only discover his secret but also steal his heart.

When tragedy hits Josh and his son, and when it seems all hope is lost, can Lucas rescue them both?

Karen's review:

If you’ve been reading this series as I and some of my friends have or even if you’ve been waiting for the final installment…this is it folks…this is the one we’ve all been waiting for the final installment in RJ Scott’s ‘Lancaster Falls’ trilogy. 

I can’t and don’t presume to speak for anyone else but for me ‘this was it’ this was the ending that I’ve been waiting for. I know the first two books left us sitting on a cliff wondering ‘WTF?’ along with so many other questions but it’s all here.

I did a bit of procrastinating when it came to my rating for this one because honestly, I was somewhere in the 4-4.5 star range and then I asked myself ‘What didn’t you like?’ and I really couldn’t think of anything that didn’t work for me but most of all I remembered my husband chuckling as he sat beside m while I mumbled “Dammed author made me cry. She wasn’t suppose to make me cry.” and that made me realize that this one was without a doubt for me a 5 star read because while it’s not an impossible task if you leave me crying a the end of a story you’ve made a connection to me that not every story makes. 

I loved that it wasn’t until the very end of this one that I knew for sure who did it. Not that I hadn’t suspected them at a couple of different times during the story but the author crafted a story that very deftly led me away from suspects as well as leading me to them thus leaving me with doubts about one suspect as I was being drawn to another…that to me is what a good mystery does. So I loved that part of this series the never knowing and always guessing is exactly how it should be.

I loved all of the characters Sawyer and Chris, Logan and Drew and now Josh and Lucas and the cast of a small town that surrounded them. But what or maybe I should say who made me cry was Lucas’s grandfather Brody. While he wasn’t so much a part of the story as the motive for Lucas to go to Lancaster Falls. 

Audiobook Review Tour: The Problem by Piper Scott

The Problem 

by Piper Scott

Narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo

Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins 

Single Dads Support Group, Book 1 

Laurence’s new lover is half his age. The problem? His relationship is about to make his life a lot more complicated....

Successful, sensible, and settled in his ways, single dad Laurence isn’t looking for love when he runs into the young man who sweeps him off his feet...and onto his knees. With an upcoming raise on the line and a son to care for, he can’t let an unconventional relationship jeopardize the future of his family. He’s a parent first and a lover second, and that’s the way it has to be.

Right?

The only thing Alex loves more than older men is being filthy with them. The problem? Sometimes, it backfires in the worst ways.

Up-and-coming painter Alex is broken in ways others can’t see, and he copes with the pain by drowning himself in experience - especially experienced men. But when he crosses paths with Laurence, he finds himself drawn down an avenue of life he’s sworn he’ll never visit again.

Men are meant to be disposable, and Laurence is only supposed to be a hookup...so why does Alex feel so safe whenever he’s around?

When a matter of concealed identity threatens Laurence and Alex’s bond, they have a choice - rise above the forces that seek to divide them and find happiness with each other, or let their problems grow too great to conquer.

The Problem is an 81,000-word contemporary omegaverse mpreg novel featuring a quirky group of single dads, the naughtiest lace panties you’ll ever hear about, and the gradual development of a relationship between a Daddy and his boy.

Universal Link (Audio)

Universal Link (eBook)

Goodreads

Single Dad Support Group Series Link 

Excerpt: 

Delicate words traced Laurence’s neck like cursive over creamy paper. “To return to the topic of our previous conversation, I’d argue that science can be passion, just as art can be procedural. Before you interrupt, allow me to elaborate.” The playful, cunning quality of the whispered words painted a picture in Laurence’s mind. A charming smirk. A glint of mischief in beautiful blue eyes. The sharp, gorgeous features of a face, head quirked to the side. Full lips so close to Laurence’s neck, they were almost touching.

Almost.

But where should was dangerous and unpredictable, almost was a temptation never realized. It went hand in hand with never. And while what remained of Laurence’s logical mind told him that he should side with the concept of never—especially when it came to the young omega who seemed to be doing his very best to seduce him—his heart told him that it had had enough.

No more almost.

No more never.

He’d denied himself long enough.

“Take, for consideration, the art of sex,” the young man murmured. He came closer, his words hot on Laurence’s skin. A shiver shot down Laurence’s spine and stiffened his cock. How could words feel so good? “The process of procreation is science, isn’t it? The swapping of fluid, the introduction of gametes, the evolutionary drive of an omega’s heat, and the alpha’s instinctual reaction to the pheromones it produces…”

Laurence’s lungs were shriveled. He couldn’t fill them if he tried. Breath was a secondary consideration. All he wanted was to feel the young man in front of him.

No.

To claim him. To make him his.

When he spoke, his words were hollow with effort and only carried as far as the young man’s ears. “So, you’d argue that sex is science?”

Blogtour: Big Love by K. M. Scott

Big Love 

Finding the One Book 2 

by K.M. Scott 

Genre: Contemporary Romance 

From New York Times bestselling author K.M. Scott comes the second standalone romance in the Finding The One series! 

Clare Schiffer has always lived in the small town of Hansonville, but she dreams of more than the ordinary life that seems so acceptable to everyone she knows. Especially when it comes to love. 

She’s had mediocre love in the past. Now if she’s going to fall in love, it needs to be big and unforgettable. 

And just as she begins to believe that only exists in movies, a brand new man comes to town. Matt is good looking and charming, and in no time at all, he’s won over everyone in Hansonville. 

Except for Clare. Matt isn’t sure of much in life, but he knows one thing for certain. He’s going to make the beautiful brunette with the standoffish way his, and when he does, the past won’t matter for either of them. 

Look for book one in the Finding The One series, Hard Work, available now! 

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Hard Work 

Finding the One Book 1 

Zane Gilford has lived a blessed life. The only son of the owner of The Gilford House Inn, he's benefitted from his mother's extraordinary success. But Vermont was never where he wanted to be, and the day after graduation, he put the quaint country inn and everything about it behind him and never looked back. 

Until now. 

The death of his mother left Zane a very wealthy man, but in her will she also left him a surprise. For an entire year, he must run that Vermont inn he's hated all his life if he wants to get one red cent of his inheritance. 

Becca Fox has worked her way to the top of the advertising business and has the personal and professional scars to prove it. In her rare time off, she loves visiting her favorite bed and breakfast in the mountains of Vermont. When she finds a new owner running The Gilford House Inn, she wonders if her favorite getaway place has been ruined for her. He's sexy as all hell and incredibly good looking, but he's so cocky and arrogant. 

From the first moment he sees her, Zane knows he wants Becca, but to get a woman like her, he's going to have to learn to be a better man than he's ever been. He's got an inn to run and a woman to win. Neither is going to be easy. And time isn't in his favor. 

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Blogtour: The Right to Remain Silent by Anya Summers

The Right to Remain Silent 

Crescent City Kings Book 3 

by Anya Summers 

Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance 

He never expects to find her there… 

Officer Quinten Blackthorne is working undercover to bring the Rudnikov Mob Empire to its knees. He never expects to find his best friend’s baby sister, Becca, in the center of a powder keg situation at the infamous mobster’s home. With her life on the line, he does the only thing he can think of to save her – he pretends that she’s his fiancée, who knows nothing of his clandestine activities with the criminal enterprise, and stands as her stalwart protector. 

Forced into marriage… 

But Quinten never expects the mob boss to force them into marriage at gunpoint as a test of loyalty. Not to mention, the idea of her belonging to him isn’t unappealing, nor is he as averse to the prospect as he lets on. Becca, with her sweet curves and take no prisoners attitude, fascinates him, stirs him, and leaves him craving her submission. Yet his past is fraught with broken dreams and death, so he uses his friendship with her brother as a shield against his yearning to claim her as his own. 

Resistance is futile… 

However, circumstances soon compel Becca and Quinten to become the most unlikely allies in a deadly game of deception. Now they must depend on one another for survival. As they race to unlock the keys to breaking the case, will Quinten be able to maintain his hands-off policy with Becca? Or will he surrender to the earth-shattering passion and turn their marriage of convenience into the real deal? 

Publisher’s Note: This steamy friends to lovers romance contains elements of power exchange. While it’s the third in the Crescent City Kings series, it can be enjoyed independently. 

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Becca said a silent prayer at the echoing clomp of multiple footsteps approaching. Her anxiety ratcheted up to cataclysmic levels.

The double doors swung inward. Becca wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it wasn’t a relatively trim man with salt and pepper hair, dressed in gray tweed slacks and a button up navy cardigan sweater over his ivory dress shirt. He looked much more like a history professor than a criminal mastermind—at least, until you looked into his eyes. They were cold, devoid of any humanity or warmth, and calculating. Rudnikov assessed her from head to toe as she rose. That stare made her feel underdressed in her jeans and Kelly-green chenille sweater. A sense of helplessness invaded her soul. The uncertainty infused by doubt that she would live through the next hour. 

Rudnikov didn’t travel alone. He had four of his paid thugs guarding him. Becca skimmed her gaze over them. They were all similar in manner and form to Konrad, as if they had come off an assembly line. But it was the last man her gaze landed on who brought her up short. She kept her jaw from dropping to the floor, but just barely.

Quinten Blackthorne was a member of Anton Rudnikov’s mob team? What the hell?

Not six weeks ago, she’d danced with the man at her brother’s wedding. Quinten was an officer with the New Orleans Police Department and one of her brother’s best friends. He’d been a groomsman in the wedding party, and had looked downright sinful in his tux, like a dark prince of the underworld. 

Why was he here? What was he doing with Rudnikov? 

Audio Book Review: Rented Heart by Garrett Leigh

From The Blurb:

Listening Time: 5 hrs., 42 min. 

Ex-surfer-turned-businessman Liam Mallaney moved back to Holkham, Norfolk, to mourn the loss of his husband. Grief and loneliness keep him a solitary figure, and he likes it that way. There’s no room in his broken heart for anything else. 

Rentboy Zac Payne left London and most of his demons behind, but he still only knows one way to make a living. When he spots Liam in a club one night, it seems he’s found his mark. But Liam proves nicer—and their connection far deeper—than he’d bargained for. 

Their arrangement quickly becomes too complicated for Zac, who has other things on his mind: namely his BFF and wayward flatmate, Jamie. Zac owes Jamie the world, and even as Jamie’s drug addiction destroys all they have, Zac won’t leave him behind. 

Besides, Liam knows nothing of Zac’s home life, too caught up in his own head to think much beyond the crazy heat he and Zac share. But when trouble comes to Zac’s door, putting his life in danger, Liam must set his grief and anger aside to pick up the pieces of Zac’s shattered heart and his own.

Karen's rating:

When I first read this story back in 2016...

I felt like the story got off to a bit of a slow start and while I very much enjoyed the story back then upon re-reading my review I feel like the me of 4 years ago thought that maybe this slow start wasn't such a good thing. Interestingly enough 4 years later I'm feeling like that slow start was just what this story needed.

While the sex came fast in this story...lonely, rich man meets rent boy...I don't think one can realistically expect differently. It's the other part...the emotion, the connections and deeper feelings that are slow to follow and in the scheme of things it all works and makes sense to the me of now.

Liam's still reeling from the loss of the man he thought he'd spend his life with. A loss that's affected him in so many ways both personal and professional. When Zac sees him and decides that he's going to hit on him, it's only with a moments hesitation before he agrees and follows Zac to his flat for night of no strings attached sex. It's a win/win all the way around...Liam gets what he needs and Zac...well, Zac's got to eat and pay the rent so Zac gets what Zac needs as well.

Release Blitz: Betting on Sin by Maria Ann Green

Betting on Sin

Maria Ann Green

Publication date: June 26th 2020

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Greta has been here before. Like, literally. She was just in this Las Vegas penthouse a couple months ago. Back then she was meeting Finn, the handsome bachelor looking for love, on The Lock—the most popular reality dating TV show around. But when she was here last time she was dumped, and went home alone instead of engaged. Life sucks sometimes. 

But, other times, that same life has a beautiful way of showing you why it sucked so hard before – so you can appreciate what comes next even more. Because now Greta is the next lucky bachelorette to have thirty or so men worshiping her while she breaks up with them one at a time. It’s weird to be recognized in public, and even weirder to have so many dudes fighting over her. Actually after just a couple days it’s kind of exhausting, especially when she’d rather send all but a couple of them home. Be careful what you wish for, right? 

Throughout the whirlwind Greta spends more time with her personal cameraman, Oliver, than she does on Trysts with the guys she’s supposed to be falling in love with. And the more time she spends with Oliver the less she wants to spend with anyone else. Anyone. Even the guys here for her. It gets worse too. The fact that he’s behind the scenes instead of on the big screen…it’s not the only problem. He also has a girlfriend. And that’s a line Greta won’t cross. But she can’t stop wishing she’d met him before all of this raziness.

Will Greta get her head together long enough to focus on following the rules of the show, or will she screw up this second shot at love too? 

*Content Warning: sex, alcohol use, and language* 

If you like reality dating TV shows, romances with steam and heart, female leads with no time for conflict or bullshit, and redheads, then Betting On Sin might be your next favorite book. It has plenty of awkward moments, friends to lovers, and promises the most dramatic season finale yet. It’ll keep you up way too late, reading just one more chapter all night.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

I watch as his eyes widen, and he bites his bottom lip for a moment. And I watch as he sits still. I watch him…not backing away, not stopping me from what we both know I’m doing.
I close my eyes, too scared of the rejection I know is coming.
Call me a coward, I don’t care anymore.
I close my eyes and hover in front of his face, waiting. I want to go the rest of the way; I want to so badly, I can feel the need of it prickling all over. But I don’t. I cant.
Not yet.

Release Blitz: Redemption by Garrett Leigh

REDEMPTION

by Garrett Leigh

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design

Available now!!

Blurb

Reformed gangster Luis falls hard for his boss. When friendship turns to love, it’s up to Paolo to convince him second chances are worth the pain.

Luis Pope is back on the street after a six year stretch in prison, but life on the outside seems just out of reach, especially when the whole neighbourhood knows his face for all the wrong reasons.

Paolo’s temper makes it hard to keep staff, and he knows Luis’s rep all too well. But his nonno believes in redemption, and Luis isn’t the tough guy Paolo remembers. Prison has left its mark, inside and out, and all the kindness in the world can’t fix the three inch scar on Luis’s skull.

And it can’t keep ghosts locked up. Luis’s the best worker Paolo’s ever had, and Luis’s happier than he’s ever been. But his old life doesn’t want to stay in the past. Trouble comes to call, and when it makes him an offer he can’t refuse, keeping Paolo safe hurts the most.

Redemption is an angsty, standalone MM romance novel, with second chances, found family, friends-to-lovers, and buckets of hurt/comfort themed loveliness.

About the author:

Release Blitz: Hunter by A.M. Salinger

Hunter

A.M. Salinger

Publication date: June 22nd 2020

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance

Can a business rival bring one of Twilight Falls’ most notorious bad boys to his knees? 

Twilight Falls’ resident bad boy Hunter Thomson knows he hasn’t quite lived up to his reputation of late and is determined to have some fun while on a rare night out in L.A. But after a torrid encounter with a captivating stranger results in one of the best sexual experiences of his life, Hunter flees to his hometown, scared by his intense feelings and convinced he is about to commit the same mistake he once made in the past. 

Theo Miller can’t get the gorgeous man he hooked up with one night in L.A. out of his mind. When he moves to Twilight Falls for the opening of his new store, he is shocked to discover than his business rival is none other than the stranger who ran away from him and their fiery connection. 

Sparks fly as the two men engage in a game of cat and mouse. But when an accident makes Theo dependent on Hunter, the game becomes something neither men could have anticipated. 

Will Hunter finally overcome his deep-seated fears and succumb to Theo’s passionate attention? And can Theo win the heart of the one man he wants to belong to? 

Join Hunter and Theo in this hot and sweet third installment in Twilight Falls, the new series by the author of the bestselling, contemporary romance series Nights.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

The music thumped in Hunter Thomson’s ears and throbbed pleasantly against his skin. He drummed a hand lightly against his arm as he waited for his order, his fingers matching the beat of the pop song blaring from the club’s speakers. He flashed a smile at the girl who brought him his beer, turned, and leaned his back against the bar.

His gaze roamed the dance floor a few feet from where he stood. It was packed with hot, writhing men. A dry smile curved his lips as he brought the bottle to his mouth and took a sip of the cold beverage.

Well, hot writhing men is what I came here for.

His eyes found the couple on the far left of the sunken stage. Hunter’s smile turned into a full-blown grin.

Irritation danced briefly on Tristan Hart’s face when he met Hunter’s amused stare. The man working up a sweat against Tristan seemed oblivious to their exchange; Dan Flynn was already on his fourth drink and focused on his mission for the night. Which was apparently to get in Tristan’s pants and ride him till the cows came home.

Hunter could tell from the subtle way Tristan was avoiding full body contact with Dan that he wasn’t interested. He knew Tristan would never have accepted Dan’s invitation had he known the guy would start hitting on him the moment they walked through the doors of the hottest new gay club in L.A. The fact that Dan had told him to bring a friend to the opening night had evidently lured Tristan into thinking his client wasn’t interested in him.

Hunter could hardly blame the poor man.

With his quiet brown eyes, rugged good looks, and muscular, tattooed body, Tristan was a picture of understated masculinity. Not only was he hot, his ability to fix any motorbike and sports cars that landed in his garage made him one of the most sought-after mechanics in the state. It also regularly brought a line of men and women to his door who wanted to get his hands on more than just their hoods.

All evidence pointed to the fact that Tristan’s latest client was one such man. Unfortunately for Dan, the sexy mechanic made it a rule never to mix business with pleasure.

Had Hunter not known Tristan since they were practically in diapers, he might have been tempted to have a taste of the guy himself.

Except we’re both tops, so that would definitely not have worked out.

Hunter let his gaze wander over the crowded club. It wasn’t everyday he came to L.A. for a night on the town and he was determined to make the most of it.

Having two of his close friends recently get shacked up had made him antsy. It had also been a few months since he’d hooked up with anyone and he very much wanted to come somewhere other than his own hand tonight.

Besides, I have a reputation to keep up. I can’t be Twilight Falls’ most notorious bad boy when I haven’t seen any action other than my own fingers lately.

A man caught Hunter’s interest a moment later. Blond, blue eyes. A body that showed he liked to work out. The stranger’s mouth curved up as he studied Hunter from where he stood amidst a large group, his expression telling Hunter he liked what he was seeing too. Hunter’s lips tilted in an answering smile.

Someone stepped in his line of sight.

Hunter shifted to try and catch the blond’s attention. The man blocking his view moved too.

Irritation darted through Hunter.

The guy looming over him was wearing neatly pressed cream chinos, a navy shirt with a red-rimmed collar that matched his two tone dress shoes, and a dark blue blazer. The top three buttons of the shirt were open, exposing an expanse of toned, tanned flesh.

“Can I get through?”

Audio Book Review: Police Brutality by Gregory Ashe

From The Blurb:

For the first time in a long while, Emery Hazard’s life is good. His new business as a private detective is taking off. Things are good at home. He loves his boyfriend, John-Henry Somerset; he loves their daughter. He might even love the new friends they’ve found. There’s only one problem: Somers has been talking about marriage. 

When a former colleague, Walter Hoffmeister, comes to Hazard and hires him to look into a series of anonymous death threats, Hazard eagerly jumps on the distraction. Hoffmeister might be a jerk, but he’s a paying jerk, and Hazard isn’t convinced the threats are serious. 

Until, that is, Hoffmeister is almost gunned down on Hazard’s doorstep. As Hazard investigates more deeply, he learns that more than one person in Wahredua has a reason to wish Hoffmeister dead. His search takes him to the Ozark Volunteers, reincarnated as the Bright Lights movement, but it also leads him into a sanctuary of radical Christianity. Meanwhile, an antifa activist has arrived in town, calling for Hoffmeister’s death and threatening total war with the Bright Lights. 

As Hazard continues to look for answers, he becomes a target too—and not just because he’s helping Hoffmeister. The Keeper of Bees is still at large, and the killer hasn’t lost interest in Emery Hazard. Not yet. Not, Hazard begins to suspect, until the Keeper has taken everything Hazard holds dear.

Listening Time:  11 hrs., 57 min.

Karen's rating:

The first time I listened to an audio book written by Gregory Ashe...

was back in December of 2018...so not really that long ago, and I admit I did it for two reasons...#1 some of my friends were reading or listening to his stories and saying some good things and #2 I discovered that Tristan James was the narrator. I've been a fan of his from the first audio book narrated by him that I ever listened to. I've enjoyed around 50 audio books narrated by Tristan James...that is if you only count each title once and not how many times I've listened to a particular audio book...which would mean that I've listened to a whole lot more.

But the subject here is Gregory Ashe's 'Hazard and Somerset: A Union of Swords' series or to be more precise 'A Union of Swords' book #2 'Police Brutality'. Fans of this pairing will know that while this is only the second book in this series this is in fact the eighth novel featuring this couple...give or take a novella and/or story here and there.

The important thing to take away here is that if you want to enjoy the full Hazard and Somerset experience you need to go back to the beginning...back to the original series and yes, it might seem daunting but it's so worth it. I was actually late to the party in discovering what a hidden gem these stories are but once I found out, I was all in. I gathered up the audio books and I marathoned my way through book after book loving every minute of them to the exclusion of all else.

ARC Review: The Thief by Bonnie Dee

From the blurb:

Street hustler Jody plays any role that will win the confidence of a mark. His sights are set on Lord Cyril Belmont, a potential ticket to financial freedom that could change Jody’s life. With a fake investment scheme in mind and larceny in his heart, he sets a snare for the wealthy gentleman.

Cyril Belmont may have a title but he’s as broke as a china plate and on the verge of selling his dilapidated country estate to start a new life in America. When his quiet, solitary life is invaded by a bright, passionate man who sets his head spinning, Cyril is ready to share whatever he has with the electrifying stranger—including the deepest recesses of his heart.

As Jody begins to cultivate inexplicable feelings for the sweet, gentle man who raises rare orchids, he intends to end his seduction and slink back to the ghetto. But then his cover is blown and the budding romance is crushed.

It takes an ocean voyage and several unexpected twists of fate to bring two strangers to a true understanding of each other and the very real bond they share.

Heather's rating:






I'm a big fan of Bonnie Dee, and she does another fantastic job with The Thief. If you like Bonnie Dee's historical romances, you'll like this one, I promise.

I've read a number of these type of "con-artist falls in love with his upper-class mark" types of romances, yet The Thief still felt special. I'm not sure if it was the pacing or the way the plot unfolded, but I was hooked. It was difficult for me to put down.

I liked the story being told from a duel POV, and I really liked how we got to see Jody make lots of mistakes. Too often authors have their characters make "mistakes" that are really like good deeds in order to not tarnish the characters in our eyes. Jody screws up and does things that are cringy, yet I liked how he kept redeeming himself and winning Cyril over again.

Blogtour: JUST LIKE THAT by Cole McCade

Please welcome Cole McCade with 

Just Like That

Albin Academy #1

Summer Hemlock never meant to come back to Omen, Massachusetts.

But with his mother in need of help, Summer has no choice but to return to his hometown, take up a teaching residency at the Albin Academy boarding school—and work directly under the man who made his teenage years miserable.

Professor Fox Iseya.

Forbidding, aloof, commanding: psychology instructor Iseya is a cipher who’s always fascinated and intimidated shy, anxious Summer. But that fascination turns into something more when the older man challenges Summer to be brave. What starts as a daily game to reward Summer with a kiss for every obstacle overcome turns passionate, and a professional relationship turns quickly personal.

Yet Iseya’s walls of grief may be too high for someone like Summer to climb…until Summer’s infectious warmth shows Fox everything he’s been missing in life.

Now both men must be brave enough to trust each other, to take that leap.

To find the love they’ve always needed…

Just like that.

Get the book:

  

Excerpt:

“Extinguisher first, then sand,” the voice ordered. “Dr. Liu, if you insist on getting in the way, at least make yourself useful and remove anything else flammable from the vicinity of the blaze. Quickly, now. Keep your mouths covered.”

Summer’s entire body tingled, prickled, as if his skin had drawn too tight. That voice—that voice brought back too many memories. Afternoons in his psychology elective class, staring down at his textbook and doodling in his notebook and refusing to look up, to look at anyone, while that voice washed over him for an hour. Summer knew that voice almost better than the face attached to it, every inflection and cadence, the way it could command silence with a quiet word more effectively than any shout.

And how sometimes it seemed more expressive than the cold, withdrawn expression of the man he remembered, standing tall and stern in front of a class of boys who were all just a little bit afraid of him.

Summer had never been afraid, not really.

But he hadn’t had the courage to whisper to himself what he’d really felt, when he’d been a hopeless boy who’d done everything he could to be invisible.

Heart beating harder, he followed the sound of that voice to the open doorway of a smoke-filled room, the entire chemistry lab a haze of gray and black and crackling orange; from what he could tell a table was…on fire? Or at least the substance inside a blackened beaker was on fire, belching out a seemingly never-ending, impossible billow of smoke and flame.

Several smaller fires burned throughout the room; it looked as though sparks had jumped to catch on notebooks, papers, books. Several indistinct shapes alternately sprayed the conflagration with fire extinguishers and doused it with little hand buckets of sand from the emergency kit in the corner of the room, everyone working clumsily one-handed while they held wet paper towels over their noses and mouths with the other.

And standing tall over them all—several teachers and older students, it looked like—was the one man Summer had returned to Omen to see.

Professor Iseya.

ARC Review: Tools of Engagement by Tessa Bailey

From the blurb:

Hair, makeup, clothing, decor... everything in Bethany Castle's world is organized, planned, and styled to perfection. Which is why the homes she designs for her family's real estate business are the most coveted in town. The only thing not perfect? Her track record with men. She's on a dating hiatus and after helping her friends achieve their dreams, Bethany finally has time to focus on her own: flip a house, from framework to furnishings, all by herself. Except her older brother runs the company and refuses to take her seriously.

When a television producer gets wind of the Castle sibling rivalry, they’re invited on Flip Off, a competition to see who can do the best renovation. Bethany wants bragging rights, but she needs a crew and the only member of her brother's construction team willing to jump ship is Wes Daniels, the new guy in town. His Texas drawl and handsome face got under Bethany's skin on day one, but the last thing she needs is some cocky young cowboy in her way.

As the race to renovate heats up, Wes and Bethany are forced into close quarters, trading barbs and biting banter as they remodel the ugliest house on the block. It's a labor of love, hate, and everything in between, and soon sparks are flying. But Bethany's perfectly structured life is one kiss away from going up in smoke and she knows falling for a guy like Wes would be a flipping disaster.

Heather's rating:





I'm a big Tessa Bailey fan and I've liked the entire Hot & Hammered series, so I'm happy to report that Tools of Engagement was no different. Though, if I'm being honest, I wanted a bit more from the story.

Tessa Bailey writes sexy, fun contemporary romance, and I enjoyed the banter-y dynamic between Wes and Bethany. I like an opposites attract romance, and you throw in an age gap and I'm pretty much sold. I thought the relationship was a bit too "tease-y" for a bit too long, but I liked how it evolved over time.