12/20/2014

New Release: Take Time #mmromance #holidaystory #gay

New Release
Take Time
A Holiday M/M Romance
Previously serialized at Lee's Musings, new material added, first time in ebook format
Limited Time Offers
Offers valid until Dec. 31, 2014

50% off With Coupon Code PJ79D at Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/503389


Watson McQuade has big dreams, a spirit of adventure, and a craving for professional success that can't be nurtured in a small town. Fortunately for him, he also has a loving boyfriend who's been his best friend since junior high, who understands his dreams and encourages him to follow them.
Having survived the deaths of his parents and grandmother, Embry Conrad, artist, coffee shop owner, small town boy, knows all about loss. Although a perfect day for Em starts with Wats in his bed, and ends exactly the same way, Em knows Watson's urge to experience life outside their little neck of the woods comes first, and he's willing to indulge Watson's dreams, because Watson always comes home. He learned the hard way that sometimes if you love something, you have to set it free.
Although long distance relationships are hard, the reunions each time Wats returns to Turtle Neck Creek keep Em satisfied, until the day he realizes that a year has passed since Watson's last homecoming. Now it's time to make a choice—take time to fight for what he wants or set his lover free…forever.


Take Time
Chapter One
Harry Connick Jr.'s baritone voice warbled in the background, bemoaning the advent of a "Blue Christmas." The rich scent of coffee and pumpkin spice muffins filled the air, wafting up from the coffee shop below.
If Embry concentrated, underneath Harry's soothing tones, he could distinguish the complex rumble of customers' voices in the spaces between words. If he listened, really, really focused, underneath it all he could hear the sound of his blood pushing through his veins, the beat of his heart and the cracking…shattering of that organ.
But he smiled, and lifted the paint-soaked sponge he used to wash in a background on the canvas he knew wouldn't be worth a nickel when he finished…if he ever did finish it…and dabbed a bit of apple green into the dark night sky.
The large rectangle of canvas comprised all the world he could handle right now. Across the studio, Watson McQuade sat, wearing new dark-rimmed reading glasses and looking like a GQ ad in his dress shirt and sweater vest. At least he isn't wearing a tie. His laptop sat open in front of him, and his briefcase took up the second chair at the little bistro table.
When Em had cleaned out the attic space where his grandmother had stored old things, beautiful things, really, he'd had a hard time parting with some of the items, and a lot of them had found new homes in the bed and breakfast or the coffee shop. The bistro table and its two wrought iron chairs though had found their home in front of one of the huge new windows he'd installed. He liked to sit there in the mornings and drink coffee while the sun rose over the water and the town came to life below him.
Liar. He liked to sit there and fantasize that one day he'd drink coffee and Wats would sit across that table from him, but not this Wats. The one who shared the table with him in his dreams was usually naked, or given the whole picture window thing, maybe partially clothed. Maybe sleep pants, and a lovely bared chest…
He turned his head an inch or so to look at Wats again. The tightening in his gut reminded him that things weren't really okay between them. Wats was so focused on his work, the whole Christmas holiday was passing by, and at times, Em felt that his boyfriend might as well have stayed in Denver.
That's not fair.
Life wasn't fair. Hadn't he known that since he turned eleven? It wasn't fair that his parents died when he was just a kid, and it wasn't fair that his grandmother died while he was in college. Most of all, it wasn't fair that his best friend, the man he loved, could be in the same room with him and yet so far away.
"Fuck." He threw the sponge onto the drop cloth at his feet. It gave a completely unsatisfying splotch and exuded a blotchy puddle of green paint in reproof.
Wats looked up finally, casting him a questioning glance, one hand poised on his computer mouse, the other holding a sheet of paper. "Something wrong?"
Em blew hair out of his eyes and wiped his hands on a rag. What to say? "I'm not feeling this at the moment. What do you say we go downstairs and grab some coffee then head out to the square and take in the displays, maybe do some holiday shopping?"
Wats blinked, his mouth rounded in an "oh" of surprise, and he glanced back at his computer. The imminent refusal hovered in the air between them, unspoken.
Em gritted his teeth and forced himself not to leap into the breach, not to say anything. If Wats didn't want to go, then he'd accept that.
"It's just that I have to get this proposal sent off tonight." He smiled, just a rueful tilt of the lips, not a full-on light up your face smile, not the smile that Em wanted. "I promise, after this gets done, I'm all yours and we can do whatever you want."
For the next six days. And wasn’t that the whole problem? But he didn't say any of those negative things, the rants and pleas, aloud. Those were his secret thoughts, the thoughts of the man who cowered inside, the one who hated being alone, and feared a day when Wats wouldn’t come home at all.
Instead he widened his smile, nodded his head, and stepped into his flip-flops. He strolled over to the window and picked up his colorful surfing Santa Hawaiian shirt. Outside, on the village square, a group of carolers had gathered in front of the town's forty foot tall sea shell adorned Christmas tree.
A cup of coffee and a bit of fresh air, that was what he needed to get his Christmas spirit back. "Right," he mumbled, then leaned across the table to drop a kiss on Wat's head. "I'll see you in a bit then. Maybe I'll bring us lunch from the Chinese place."
Wats murmured something that might have been gratitude or approval, but probably wasn't either, as he didn't seem to be paying any attention at all to Em.
Em shrugged, pushing it off to the side, forcing the bitterness down. Wats was here, and he'd damn well enjoy the time they had together.
Six days. Not a lot of time to get all the loving in that he wanted, not a lot of time to shore up the memories he would need to fight the loneliness of January and make it to Valentine's Day. He couldn't waste that time with anger or bitterness.
"I'll have a blue…blue…Christmas…" Harry's voice faded in the distance as he left the studio, climbing down the stairwell. By the time he exited into the coffee shop, the holiday music had changed from melancholy to an upbeat pop tune from the eighties…Hall and Oates rocking around the Christmas tree to a "Jingle Bells" beat. His spirits rose at the sight of his shop, abustle with holiday cheer, full of his friends and the scents and sounds of the season. How could he help but feel that everything would turn out all right?
Wats would finish his project, they'd eat, maybe drink, watch the tree lighting ceremony that night, and tumble into bed together, and not get out until dehydration and starvation forced them to.
"Hey, boss man!" Hilary called. "Can I get you some coffee?"
Em flashed the first genuine smile of the day at his bubbly barista. "I'll take a large gingerbread coffee to go." The rich beverage sweetened with molasses and brown sugar, spiced with ginger and cinnamon was the most popular coffee of the season.
"How goes the painting today?" Hilary chatted as she mixed the beverage.
"Not so good," he admitted. "I might be a trifle distracted."
She poured the steaming drink into a large Styrofoam cup. "And what about Wats? I did see him go up there a while ago, didn't I?"
"He's doing some work he couldn't get done before his flight left." he responded defensively. "I'm getting Chinese and we're going to watch the ceremony tonight."
Hilary smiled, handed him the cup. "Well, you two come on down to our place afterward and say hi. Rick won't go to the ceremony. He says it's all commercial and doesn't want any part of it. But we've got a nice bottle of Scotch and we'd love to catch up with you all."
The idea of adding another activity in between the tree lighting and dragging Wats into his bed for a round of strenuous I-missed-the-fuck out-of-you sex didn't appeal, but they'd gone to school with Hilary, and Rick had been one of the few athletes who hadn't taken delight in shoving them into lockers or taunting them in the showers. "Okay, but it's going to have to be brief." He didn't elaborate, but saw Hilary's comprehension of his intentions in the flirty wiggle of her brows and the faint blush on her cheeks.
He left the coffee shop, waving and nodding at the regular customers, who seemed to be out in larger numbers than usual this Saturday before Christmas, lighter of heart and with a firm plan for the rest of the day.
The Chinese restaurant was right around the corner, between a used bookstore and an antiques mall. He'd enjoy browsing in both before picking up dinner. Maybe he'd find something for Wats for Christmas, maybe a little hostess gift for Hilary and Rick. That should give Wats plenty of time to finish his work.

Limited Time Offers
Offers valid until Dec. 31, 2014

50% off With Coupon Code PJ79D  at Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/503389


12/19/2014

Hot Reads for the Trevor Project #m/m #charity #givingback #thereasonfortheseason




Sale is ongoing until Jan. 1

Pick up your package today! 



Get ready to lower your thermostat because your winter is about to get hot! For a limited time only, get SIX great reads by some of the hottest authors in M/M! A guilt-free guilty pleasure at an incredibly low price with all proceeds going to The Trevor Project!

ABOUT THE TREVOR PROJECT:

Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award®-winning short film TREVOR, The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.

THE BOOKS:

- ROAD RUNNER (ENCHANTMENT #1)
By Rain Carrington
In the Land of Enchantment, New Mexico, lives a man who has secrets. Levi Kape watches people at a bar nightly, writing things in his notebook and trying to blend in with the locals. His secrets keep him from getting close to anyone until Bobby Dawes comes off the road after a long haul in his 18-wheeler. After getting to know Bobby, he realizes he’d never been close to anyone. That was about to change.

Levi can’t settle down and not because he doesn’t want to, but because it could endanger his life. Bobby is a gentle, loving and strong man who doesn’t do commitment. He’s also a man that Levi wants more than anything, including his own safety.

Danger causes Levi to leave but he can’t forget the truck driver that drove into his life, changing everything. When Levi leaves, Bobby goes back onto the road, trying to forget the “Golden God” he’d fallen for, but with some help from friends with connections to dark people and places, Bobby finds his man and swears never to let him go again.

Can they save each other not only from the men who want Levi dead but from years of never seeking or finding the love they found in one another? Will the ultimate betrayal cost them the trust they need to make it work between them? Can Bobby save him, or be lost in a dark world alone…

- CAGED: LOVE AND TREACHERY ON THE HIGH SEAS (BAAL'S HEART #1)
By Bey Deckard
Sheltered and lonely, Jon's life changes drastically when a strange ship sails into the harbour of his small port town one day. Trapped between the possessive pirate captain and his murderous first mate, he must learn to adapt or he will lose himself completely. An epic tale of love, treachery and revelation, this first installment of the Baal's Heart trilogy brings you into the lives of three men so bound together by jealousy and lies that they must sail to the very ends of the earth to find forgiveness.

Deckard's first novel is a masterful portrayal of sorrow, hope, and passion, with a narrative that twists the reader through a world set in the Golden Age of Piracy. A thrilling look into the darker side of human nature, Caged effortlessly melds serious historical fantasy with five star erotica.

- DANGEROUSLY HAPPY
By Varian Krylov
Aidan has always played it safe. Instead of pursuing his dream of creating innovative music that makes his soul sing, he settled for a degree in software, a job in a cubicle, and a spot in a generic band with his buddies.

And he's always been straight. But when he's seduced by magnetic local literary luminary Dario, Aidan must decide whether to keep playing it safe, or succumb to a ravenous passion and a nourishing love unlike anything he's experienced before. Will he find the courage to go after real happiness if it means admitting he's in love with a man?

Their journey together isn't easy. Sometimes it isn't safe. Even if Aidan has the courage to admit he's in love with Dario, can he endure the repercussions of the traumatic event in Dario's past?

- LUXURIA: THE OSWALD WITCHES
By Mathew Ortiz
Duncan Blackthorne carried a heavy burden for one so young. One of the most powerful witches of the Earth Clans, his singular ability to control fire was both blessing and curse. The wallflower of his family, they had no idea of what turbulent waters churned under his calm surface. Never expecting to find love, he trudged through life, expecting nothing. Until the man in his dreams became more real and insistent, Duncan realized his dream lover was so much more than expected. Suddenly he had a real world dominant that rocked his body and a dreaming ghost lover who captured his heart. Now what the hell was witch to do?

- GRIF'S TOY (TEASE AND DENIAL #1)
By Joseph Lance Tonlet
Grif believes he’ll live his life as a virgin. After all, who would want him? How could anyone find him, a guy who came with less than man-sized equipment, worthy of their love?

What he hadn’t counted on were the two amazing men who would change his life. After entering college, he meets Tate, his fun-loving roommate. While years later, with Tate now just a memory, Wes, a handsome, rugged ex-marine who runs his own security firm enters his life.

Both men lead Grif through a twisted mesh of pleasure, pain, and denial, as they force him to see his value, despite his size and insecurities.

- SAM AND DEREK: THE WHOLE STORY
By Brad Vance
Sam Bradford is a down-on-his-luck former Special Forces soldier when he meets Derek Constantine, sexually confused billionaire. Together the two men will play a series of games that bring them ever closer together…and which in the end may be the death of them…

Sam’s Reluctant Submission
Sam's down to his last five dollars when he meets Derek, who makes him an offer - come to my estate for a manhunt, evade me for two days, and you'll make ten grand...but if I catch you, you surrender your ass to me! Sam's got SERE training and he's pretty sure his straight ass is safe, but anything can happen when the hunt is on...

Sam’s Reluctant Submission II: Urban Manhunt
In Part I, Sam lost his ass to Derek, but kept something more important – Derek submitted him, but didn’t break him, and that’s what Derek really wanted. Now Derek wants a rematch – fifty grand for an urban manhunt, if Sam evades Derek’s crew…if he doesn’t, it’s four on one and Sam’s ass is toast!

Sam’s Reluctant Submission III: Search and Rescue
In Part 2, Sam lost his ass to Derek again – and loved it! Which left him wondering if he was gay after all. Maybe a three way with Jake and Eddie will help him figure that out… And when Derek calls Sam to get his help with a search and rescue effort, what sexual sparks might be generated if they clash again in a “threematch”?

Sam’s Reluctant Submission IV: Avenging Devils
The epic conclusion to the saga of Sam and Derek! When Derek’s dark past rears its head to jeopardize the couple and their friends Jake and Eddie, Sam will have to call on his old Special Forces buddies to do battle with The Factory, a malevolent cartel bent on revenge. Will Sam and Derek rescue Eddie from his kidnappers? Will seeing Sam explore his top side with Eddie make Derek jealous…or make him want Sam to do that to him? Most frightening and dangerous of all, will Derek finally say the L word!

BONUS STORY - Eddie’s MMA Submission – the story of Sam’s friends Eddie and Jake
Eddie works across the street from Downtown Fight Academy. And he can't stop thinking about Jake, the hot MMA fighter he ran into at the store. When Jake offers to train him, Eddie's ready to throw down in the Octagon. But when Jake has him submitted, and pulls out a weapon you won't see on TV, will Eddie tap out...or take the punishment?


**Author Bios**

- Rain Carrington
When she isn't taking out gay bashers with her mean right hook she is at her desk writing steamy stories of man on man love. Rain also spends time with her beloved family and friends and in her spare time maybe sleeps for a few hours.

Rain is an ally in the gay rights crusade, she also loves animals and tries her best to stop animal abuse.

She is at her desk now getting some of her other stories ready for publication and will let them out as she they are ready so keep an eye out for Cabin Fever next!

- Bey Deckard
Born and raised in a small coastal town in northern Québec, Bey spent his early summers on his uncle’s boat and running wild on the beaches of the surrounding islands, lighting fires and building huts out of driftwood and fishermen’s nets. As an adult, he eventually made his way to university and earned a degree in Art History with a strong focus on Anthropology. Primarily a portrait painter and graphic artist, Bey sat down one day and decided to write about the two things that he felt most passionate about: sex and the sea.

Bey currently lives in the wilds of Montréal with his best buddy, a spotty pit bull named Murphy. Caged: Love and Treachery on the High Seas is his first novel.

- Varian Krylov
Since her girlhood in a sunny coastal town in California, Varian Krylov has nurtured a love of words and a curiosity about the deep, dark forces at work in human nature, especially sexuality, and how they often paradoxically twine with our tenderest impulses. Her stories tend to explore the sometimes fine line between what arouses, and what frightens, what we’re driven to, and what we’re ashamed of.

As witty and seductive as I am sarcastic and self-deprecating, I spend as much time as possible thinking and writing about sex. No, not dense, inscrutable post-feminist texts on media representations of gender and the body--that was grad school. I write stories--short stories, novels, and starting a few weeks ago, screenplays--most of which poke and prod and the dark little corners of human sexuality. In a sense, nothing's taboo, anymore. There's no act, no fetish that hasn't been made utterly banal in the proliferation of porn. What intrigues and excites me is the exploration of the conflicting impulses, the twisted psychology and turbulent emotions of people who find themselves unable to resist desires that lie beyond their own moral boundaries.

- Mathew Ortiz
Mathew Ortiz was born in Nuremberg Germany in 197O, the son of a Army man and his Hungarian wife. Spending only two years in Germany, his family relocated to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Here is where he attended primary school and college, obtaining a degree in Nursing. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona meeting his partner Tim there. Matt and Tim relocated to Orlando, Florida in the early 2000s. Mathew had been published in a collective arts magazine in college. Coupled with his love of reading, he wrote his first novella in early 2012. He continues to write, honing his 'voice' and enjoying the responses, both postive and negative, to his work.

- Joseph Lance Tonlet
Joseph is a born and raised Southern Californian--with a twenty-year stint of living in the Midwest. He loves the laid-back lifestyle of San Diego and considers himself lucky to live where people dream of vacationing.

A lifelong reader of m/m fiction, he began his writing career one night sitting at his MacBook and has never looked back. He writes to bring the characters he dreams about to life.

- Brad Vance
Brad Vance writes gay romance, erotica and paranormal stories and novels, including the breakout hits "A Little Too Broken" and "Given the Circumstances." Keep up with Brad at BradVanceErotica.wordpress.com, email him at BradVanceErotica@gmail.com, and friend him on Facebook at facebook.com/brad.vance.10


12/17/2014

Pride Promotions Presents: Ilya and the Wolf #mm #giveaway

Book Name: Ilya and the Wolf
Author Name: Rory Ni Coileain

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Paul Richmond
Blurb(s):

Ilya is so deep in the closet he’d find Narnia if that weren’t a decadent Western story. Volyk, a wolf who carries the blood of the ancient oboroten’, shapeshifters, longs to show him the way out, but if Ilya follows the wolf, two lives will change forever. 


Excerpt:
And the angel said unto them, be not afraid...

Ilya was not afraid. Enraptured, yes. Entranced. But not afraid. He had been ready for death when he closed his eyes in the wolf’s embrace. Instead, he was whole, and awake, and in the arms of a man more handsome than any angel. Volyk’s long thick hair was the brown and gray of the wolf’s pelt, his cheekbones angular, his lips full. And his eyes were the same beautiful fiery amber as the wolf’s.


Maybe he had only dreamed the wolf. Or maybe he was still dreaming. Surely he had done nothing in his life to earn the gift this moment would be if it were real.

Sales Links:




Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of Ilya and the Wolf


Tour Dates: December 15th, 2014

Tour Stops:



Author Bio:
Rory Ni Coileain majored in creative writing, back when Respectable Colleges didn't offer such a major, so she designed it herself - being careful to ensure that she never had to take a class before nine in the morning or take a Hemingway survey course. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa at the age of nineteen, sent off her first short story to an anthology being assembled by an author she idolized, got shot down in flames, and found other things to do, such as nightclub singing, for the next thirty years or so, until her stories started whispering to her. Now she's a lawyer, a legal editor, an Irish dance teacher, the mother of a teenaged son, and amanuensis to a host of fantastic creatures who are all anxious to tell their stories.
Where can you find the author?

12/16/2014

FREE READS! Nothing to Forgive #mmromance #breathlesspress #FREE

FREE READS!

Have a few minutes to fill?
Looking for something to read?
You can pick up my super short & sweet story, Nothing to Forgive for free!



Vic returns from a business trip and is shocked to find a hot young thing hanging on to his lover. Sure, he and Marc had a fight, but Vic figured they'd work things out. And how could Marc's new someone special be so young, when they fought about their age difference...?

 Available in: Adobe Acrobat, Palm DOC/iSolo, Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket (.prc), Mobipocket (.mobi), Rocket, Epub

Why not pick up a copy today at 


or



Be Yourself

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. ~e.e. cummings, 1955
The Romance Reviews