Archive for the ‘4 stars’ Category


Just Desserts by Scarlet Blackwell

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 / 93 views

Title: Just Desserts
Author: Scarlet Blackwell
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Length:57pages
Buy the book: Publisher

Blurb:

The pen is mightier than the cleaver…

French chef Luc Tessier is five-star successful. His cookery program on TV is rated as high as his restaurant, and casual flings are his specialty. The only stain on his toque is Daniel Sheridan, an English food critic who has made it his business to ruin Luc’s reputation.

The only way to clarify this particular pat of butter is to invite the critic to dine and bury the hatchet—preferably in Daniel’s back. The moment he lays eyes on Daniel, however, Luc’s thoughts turn from sauces to seduction.

Daniel definitely finds Luc appetizing, but he plays it cool. He never wants to be anyone’s toy, ever again. Yet in the face of Luc’s relentless pursuit, he’s finding it harder to keep the flamboyant chef at arm’s length.

A cooking competition on a remote Scottish island seems the perfect way to put some distance between them. Until Luc shows up to compete, determined to win not only the trophy, but Daniel’s heart…

Warning: Ingredients include two extremely hot men determined to come up with a whole new definition for “sizzling”. Explicit use of food items could incite spontaneous nekkid food fights

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Let Them Try by Reno MacLeod and Jaye Valentine

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 / 139 views

Title: Let Them Try
Authors: Reno MacLeod and Jaye Valentine
Publisher: M&V Tailz
Length: Novella, 57 pages
Buy the book: All Romance eBooks, Amazon Kindle StoreOmniLitRainbow eBooks, Smashwords

Blurb:

The police motto “to serve and protect” takes on all new meaning in Let Them Try.

Twenty-six years of dedicated duty as one of Baltimore’s finest should earn a man some reward. One autumn night in a dark cemetery, Officer Rick Baker is forced to reflect on his lonely, closeted life when he meets a strange young man under peculiar circumstances.

Diego is unlike anyone Rick has ever met, and Rick has to face a new reality he’d never imagined in his wildest dreams. Couple Rick’s deeply rooted need for love and companionship with Diego’s remarkable gifts, and even the threat of hell might be too tempting to resist.

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Last Gasp by Charlie Cochrane, Chris Smith, Erastes, Jordan Taylor

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 / 212 views

Title: Last Gasp
Author: Charlie Cochrane, Chris Smith, Erastes, Jordan Taylor
Publisher: Noble Romance
Length: Anthology / 230 pages
Buy the book: Publisher

Blurb:

Tributary by Erastes

It’s 1936 and a generation of disaffected youth waits in the space between a war that destroyed many of their friends and family, and a war they know is bound to come. Guy Mason wanders through Italy, bored and restless for reasons he can’t even name, and stops at the Hotel Vista, high in the mountains of Lombardy. There, he meets scientist James Calloway and his secretary, Louis Chambers, and it’s there that the meandering stream of Guy’s life changes course forever.

The White Empire by Chris Smith

Edgar Vaughan sincerely believes that six-thousand miles is enough to give him a fresh start. Escaping in 1838 from the drawing rooms of Belgravia and the constraints of his landed family, he takes up missionary work in the trading post of Hong Kong. On arrival, he finds the region on the cusp of war; the Chinese Emperor has outlawed the importation of opium — the key link in the trade of the East India Company. Between Edgar’s sense of isolation, the sight of the puling opium addicts, and one memorable encounter with a man in a peacock waistcoat, Edgar finds himself embroiled in the very marrow of the British Empire’s machinations. He finds himself torn between espousing the expeditious whilst protecting his new acquaintance, and doing what is right and risking the wrath of the British Empire.

Sand by Charlie Cochrane

People come to Syria for many reasons; tourism, archaeology, or because they need to leave Edwardian England to escape potential disgrace. Andrew Parks is one of those, burying past heartache and scandal among the tombs.

Charles Cusiter has travelled here as well, as chaperone to a friend whose fondness for the opposite sex gets him into too much trouble at home. Out in the desert there aren’t any women to turn Bernard’s head – just the ubiquitous sand.

The desert works its magic on Charles, softening his heart and drawing him towards Andrew. Not even a potentially fatal scorpion sting can overcome the power this strange land exerts.

The Ninth Language by Jordan Taylor

Thousands of outsiders descend on Canada’s Yukon Territory during the 1898 gold rush, wreaking havoc on the landscape and the indigenous people who live there. Amid the backdrop of this once pristine land, a man struggling against the destruction of his home and culture finds himself indebted to one of the men causing it. These two strangers discover solace and wholeness where they least expect it: each other.


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Everything Under the Sun by Rachel West

Monday, July 12th, 2010 / 135 views

Title:Everything Under the Sun
Author: Rachel West
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length::170pages
Buy the book: Publisher

Blurb:
What do you do when you have every choice in the world at your fingertips and no idea what you want?

Ever since Chris Bennett graduated high school a year ago, he’s been trying to figure out what’s next. His lifeguarding job has kept him busy, and in southern California, poolside isn’t a bad place to be. But he’s spent most of his time thinking about Seth, the former classmate who became something more for a few brief moments last summer. Now Seth is back, but he seems to be running toward Chris and running away from him at the same time. Meanwhile, Chris is increasingly drawn to Alex, his gorgeous new neighbor who puts up a sexy, confident front but may be harboring a few romantic demons of his own.

Chris doesn’t know which direction to go, either in life or in love. But by the time he figures it out, will the right person still be around to want him back?
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Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 / 175 views

Title: Vast Fields of Ordinary
Author: Nick Burd
Publisher: Penguin Publishing
Length:: Novel/320 pages
Buy the bookAmazon / eBook

Blurb:

It’s Dade’s last summer at home. He has a crappy job at Food World, a “boyfriend” who won’t publicly acknowledge his existence (maybe because Pablo also has a girlfriend), and parents on the verge of a divorce. College is Dade’s shining beacon of possibility, a horizon to keep him from floating away.

Then he meets the mysterious Alex Kincaid. Falling in real love finally lets Dade come out of the closet—and, ironically, ignites a ruthless passion in Pablo. But just when true happiness has set in, tragedy shatters the dreamy curtain of summer, and Dade will use every ounce of strength he’s gained to break from his past and start fresh with the future.

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Normal Miguel by Erik Orrantia

Thursday, July 1st, 2010 / 157 views

Title: Normal Miguel
Author: Erik Orrantia
Publisher: Cheyenne Publishing
Length:: Novel/220 pages ebook
Buy the bookPowell’s ebook

Blurb:

Miguel Hernández is a teacher who has left Mexico City to complete a one year student internship in the rural hills of Puebla. He came to the school intending to focus on his teaching and his students but quickly learns that it is impossible to keep his private and professional lives separate—particularly as his experience turns into a voyage of self-discovery.

His students, the Directora of the school, the baker, and other people from the town all contribute to his growing awareness. But most important is Ruben, the owner of the candy store who progresses from merchant to friend to lover. He will be the man who has the most effect on Miguel — who, in turn, is transformed by the impact of Miguel on his own life.

This is a lyrical story that brings to life the countryside of rural Mexico, with its grinding poverty but care of the people for their native land; expressing prejudice and hate but at the same time affirming the power of love and acceptance in overcoming obstacles. As a slice of life in the year of Miguel, Normal Miguel will certainly capture the hearts and imaginations of those who join him on his journey in the pages of the book.

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The Blue Moon Café by Rick Reed

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 / 303 views

Title: The Blue Moon Café
Author: Rick Reed
Publisher: Amber Allure (Amber Quill Press)
Length: Novel, 182 pages
Buy the book: Publisher, Amazon, Amazon Kindle Edition

Blurb:

Someone – or something – is killing Seattle’s gay men.

A creature moves through the darkest night, lit only by the full moon, taking them, one by one, from the rain city’s gay gathering areas.

Someone – or something – is falling in love with Thad Matthews.

Against a backdrop of horror and fear, young Thad finds his first true love in the most unlikely of places – a new Italian restaurant called The Blue Moon Café. Sam is everything Thad has ever dreamed of in a man: compassionate, giving, handsome, and with brown eyes Thad feels he could sink into. And Sam can cook! But as the pair’s love begins to grow, so do the questions and uncertainties, the main one being, why do Sam’s unexplained disappearances always coincide with the full moon?

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Shining in the Sun by Alex Beecroft

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 / 213 views

Title: Shining in the Sun
Author: Alex Beecroft
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Length:: 157 pages
Buy the book: Publisher

Blurb:

Damn it, a man shouldn’t always have to be afraid…

Alec Goodchilde has everything a man could want—except the freedom to be himself. Once a year, he motors down to an exclusive yacht club on the Cornish coast and takes the summer off from the trap that is his life.

When his car breaks down, leaving him stranded on the beach, he’s transfixed by the sight of a surfer dancing on the waves. The man is summer made flesh. Freedom wrapped up in one lithe package, dripping wet from the sea.

Once a year, Darren Stokes takes a break from his life of grinding overwork and appalling relatives, financing his holiday by picking up the first rich man to show an interest. This year, though, he’s cautious—last summer’s meal ticket turned out to be more pain than pleasure.

Even though Alec is so deep in the closet he doesn’t even admit he’s gay, Darren finds himself falling hard—until their idyllic night together is shattered by the blinding light of reality…

Publisher’s Warning: One explicit m/m sex scene and a great deal of swearing.

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Queerpunk, edited by Cecilia Tan and Kelly Kincaid

Monday, June 21st, 2010 / 460 views

Title: Queerpunk
Editors: Cecilia Tan and Kelly Kincaid
Publisher: Circlet Press
Length: 76 pages
Buy this book: ebook

Blurb:

Queerpunk is an anthology by Circlet Press focusing on Queer sexuality in near-futuristic,cyberpunk environments.The collected stories confront the issues of living in such a technological, anonymous world in which the individual’s identity is constantly in flux.

Characters alter their physicality through the insertion of new technology in their flesh, or through customizable avatars that obscure
their ‘true’ identity. Queerpunk examines the ways in which the human body can be altered, if not transformed, by technology.

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Turnskin by Nicole Kimberling

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 / 210 views

Title: Turnskin
Author: Nicole Kimberling
Publisher: Blind Eye Books
Length:: Novel/250 pages
Buy the bookPublisher / ebook

Blurb:

Raised in a remote farming community, Tom Fletcher knows little of his Shifter heritage and less about the dangerous lives that other Shifters lead in the city of Riverside. For Tom the big city is a daydream of opening nights and bright theatre lights. But when Tom meets Cloud Coldmoon-the infamous and handsome heir to a criminal syndicate-everything changes. Suddenly suspected of murder, Tom must flee to the only city where his kind are common. Filled with shapeshifters, con men and mobsters and ruled by the vengeful Coldmoon Family, Riverside is as perilous as it is alluring. Tom seeks refuge in the Turnskin Theatre, where his shape-changing skills can be put to good use on, and off, the stage. Here he has a chance to fulfill his dreams of stardom and romance, but only if he can stay one step ahead of the police and criminals alike- otherwise the next shape he takes could be his last.

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