❤️ Darkness and Romance Equals a Great Story ❤️
Aug 01, 2024 2:10 am
Hello !
Well, Summer blew by us. Not sure what happened there 😂. My kids are starting school in two weeks. Although here in our town, they start earlier than most. Meanwhile, my trip to Toronto will be here before I know it! I have my flight and hotel room booked and ready to go. I just need to order my books and ship them off before the book signing event. Shoot, I guess I should order a banner. I forgot about that.
I hope you keep reading! There are several bookish goodies going on this month. And I actually did an ARC review! My first in a LONG time. I know, as an author I'm supposed to read a lot, but when you write and edit as much as I do, reading can be difficult. Before I could read virtually anything, now I'm a mood reader. I've only read a handful of books in the past year. I miss it, but it's hard for me to focus on it. I think after all the editing of my books, I just want to take a break from books altogether.
What do you do if you're in a reading slump?
But you can read my review below.
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AFTER DARK ANTHOLOGY
My part is called Captive Desires
(This is a combination of MF/MM)
AUGUST 6, 2024
The best things happen… After Dark
Enter a realm of passion and danger, where desire thrives in the shadows. In After Dark, meet heroes who play by their own rules, from mafia enforcers and rebellious bad boys to motorcycle club kings, dominant lovers, ruthless hitmen, and cunning assassins.
Succumb to the magnetic pull of anti-heroes who walk the fine line between darkness and desire.
CAPTIVE DESIRES
He’s been kidnapped by the very man he trusts.
I had always trusted my stepfather’s friend and confidant, Maddox Decker. Not only did I trust him, but I’d pined after him since I was nineteen. But when I woke up in a strange place, bound to a bed, and stripped of my dignity, the sense of betrayal and resentment was all-consuming. How could I escape Maddox’s hold on me?
Liam Benedict had always been mine since the day I met him. He just didn’t know it yet. His stepfather and my employer wanted to see Liam ruined, but I had other plans to bring Liam into my world. In time, he would come to love me, but first, I had to trust him.
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ALL ROADS LEAD TO YOU
My beta readers LOVED it!
A road trip that turned into a journey.
Logan
Nicholas Theodoropoulos had been my stepbrother since I was fourteen. Mom died when I was twelve, and I resented Dad remarrying so soon. Even worse, my stepbrother had grown into a gorgeous man. I hated looking at him, reminding me every day of what I could never have. No one knew I was gay and never would. But when my best friend backed out of our road trip to California, Dad forced me to travel with my stepbrother. It was the only way if I wanted to go on this journey I’d been planning for a year. Nothing good would come out of this.
Nick
Logan Conrad had hated me since the day Mom and I moved into his house after our parents got married. Like I cared. I had an amazing girlfriend, was the star tennis player on the varsity team, and was a recent graduate. Soon, I’d be attending Stanford with an athletic scholarship and my favorite girl by my side. Life was good. But as fate would have it, I found myself suddenly single and forced to travel across the country with the one person who hated my guts. Nothing good would come out of this.
It was 1987 as two young men and stepbrothers were forced to navigate resentments and growing feelings while on a three-week road trip from Virginia to California. Will their journey finally take them to where they belong?
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BOOK SIGNING EVENT!
If you are interested in going to get your books signed by some amazing MM authors, grab your tickets by clicking the button below.
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ARC REVIEW
I went into this book blindly, meaning I didn't read the blurb or the reviews. I generally like to do that for ARCs because I enjoy being surprised and to read things without expectations. It helps me enjoy a book more. So, I didn't know this was, in essence, a billionaire romance, which I'm not always a fan of. BUT, Mason, said billionaire, has newly acquired his wealth, so he's incredibly down-to-earth, honest, and sweet. I found myself rooting for him the entire book.
Bowie... Honestly, I had a hard time liking him at first. He really has to grow on you, but because of what he'd gone through, and Mason's sweetness, it keeps you reading. While I completely empathized with Bowie, he could be cruel at times, not in the dark romance sense, but with that cold indifference to protect his heart, which had been shattered.
Mason is bi-curious and has a bi-awakening with Bowie in the form of exploration and 'friends with benefits,' which I'm always a huge fan of. Of course, feelings emerge, as they're prone to doing. While Bowie resists them, Mason embraces them.
Things I loved:
1. Bi-awakening and Mason completely embracing his new-found sexuality.
2. A growly and possessive Bowie.
3. Grumpy/sunshine, with a hint of golden retriever from Mason.
4. While Bowie was rough around the edges, he was always careful with Mason... in body, but not so much in the heart.
5. Mason's generosity, not only in gift-giving, but with his whole heart, which was exactly what Bowie needed.
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IN A READING SLUMP LIKE ME? 😂
CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LINK
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I am very engaged in my group, and it's not all promoting. I try to create bookish discussions, and my group is the first to learn of upcoming events, cover reveals, etc.
Not only am I an author, but I'm a reader. I also do book reviews.
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SOME MORE EXCITING READS!
Brandon
My plan was perfect… until it wasn’t. Whenever my heart was shattered, you were always there as my source of comfort. So when it happened yet again, I took the opportunity and put my plan into action: One kiss. One kiss shouldn't ruin us. Couldn’t. What we had was unbreakable. I didn't think I'd become obsessed, or that I'd want it again and again, but that was why I had to pretend it didn't happen. You meant too much to me to put it all on the line. I couldn't lose you if we failed. But it's becoming too unbearable, and I'm haunted by the memory of that one time we gave in. Can we take the biggest risk of our lives?
Andrew
My secret was mine… until it wasn’t. Did you know that I'd always wanted you? You dangled what we could be in front of me, but I couldn't tell if you meant it or not. Then, without a word, everything went back to how it was before, like it hadn’t happened. But it had, and I couldn't let it go. My heart still aches for you, and after watching you give yourself to other men for years, I'm at the end of my rope. We could be amazing if we weren't afraid, and I think it's time we give in again. Will our risk pay off or will it be our fall?
At five years sober, Nik Ward is the picture-perfect recovering addict. With a carefully curated schedule that includes a job, volunteer hours, and hobbies, his routine shields him from the claws of addiction. All good, steady, healthy . . . and boring. Until he meets Micah.
Micah just wants everything to go back to the way it was before his twin sister became an addict. He’d give anything to free her from the depths of her addiction, but if she doesn’t try to get sober by their mother’s vow renewals, he’ll have to cut her out of his life for good—no matter how much it hurts. Micah needs a distraction, and instead of dwelling on his ultimatum, he finds the perfect distraction in Nik.
When the two men meeting turns into a series of hot and heavy hookups, both of their plans go out the window. Unless Nik can find the wisdom within to live off-balance and Micah can learn meet his loved ones where they’re at, their budding romance may thrust them both into the depths of the world they’re desperately trying to escape.
‘Hate at First Sight’ by Michael Robert
On the anniversary of his partner’s unexpected death, and despite the warning of a late spring snowstorm, Blake heads into the forest of the Pacific Northwest. He is ill-prepared to face the elements but doesn’t really care anymore. He prefers to exist in the pain he cannot seem to escape.
Dirk, a firefighter stationed in a lookout cabin hundreds of feet above the forest canopy, has learned to accept long-term isolation. His career and outdoor lifestyle have hindered human connection until the appearance of a stranger who has no business being on the mountain.
‘Bare Naked’ by Garry Michael
Erik has no business auditioning to be on an outdoor reality survival show, especially one that requires teams of two to be naked. But he desperately needs the prize money, and somehow, he is chosen to participate.
Drew, an American sports icon, is drawn to the small stature of the beautiful young man in the television studio, hoping he’ll get the chance to choose him as his partner. Drew has a secret he’s kept hidden as he achieved the pinnacle of athletic success. Can he win the reality show again? Or is the real prize winning the heart of the naked man beside him?
Cinnamon ‘Cinn’ Saunders thought he’d learnt to control his little ghost problem.
That is, until the moment he brings back a malevolent spirit from the shadowrealm, and quickly finds himself unjustly arrested for the murder of four people.
After breaking free of foster care and a stint in juvie, all Cinn wanted to do was keep his head down and work his way up to become a professional chef. Now he’s forced to make a choice: life in jail, or allow a stranger to whisk him away to a mysterious institute in rural Switzerland with the promise of learning how to control his terrifying supernatural abilities.
Julien, the French charismatic charmer who is charged with warding over Cinn, also has a problem: the murder of his sister is still unsolved.
He needs help. Help that only Cinn can provide. He’ll do anything to get it, including making Cinn an offer that he can’t refuse. What Julien doesn't expect out of the bargain is their undeniable connection, which only serves to complicate matters as they navigate uncharted territories together.
Between battling an uprising of deadly creatures that not only threaten the moteblessed community, but the entire planet, and fighting their ever-growing attraction, can this opposites-attract pair overcome their demons to save the world, and each other?
Noah Milner is everything Lane is not: outgoing, confident, and completely secure with who he is. He's also temptation personified - something Lane's sheltered upbringing didn't properly prepare him for.
Lane Blakely’s quiet nature and perfectionism get under Noah’s skin. There’s something about him that makes Noah want to challenge his easily flustered new stepbrother at every turn.
Their conflicting personalities and competitive natures ignite a rivalry that burns almost as hot as their hidden attraction for one another. When they both accept scholarships to play soccer at the same university, they find themselves not only playing for the same team, but living under the same roof. What happens when they are unable to avoid each other or the mounting tension between them and boundaries blur?
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Free Shorts!
Call Me Daddy - Impact Zone - Prequel
In Culmination - Series Epilogue (six shorts in one)
Forever is Family - A Home in You - Epilogue
Cat & Mouse - His Death Bringer Epilogue
All the Ways I Hate You - Stix & Stone Prologue
Bloody Valentine - His Bane Bonus Chapter
In case you missed them or couldn't download them because you are already a subscriber, here you go. Enjoy! (Please note that In Culmination is a combination of MF/MM shorts)
Click on the image to download books.
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