SERIES TOUR: “When We Were Young” by Maggie Blackbird

SERIES TOUR

Series Title: When We Were Young by Maggie Blackbird

I thought I saved you, but maybe you saved me too.

Series Blurb

At their Ojibway community, Billy Redsky, a drug-dealing punk, and René Oshawee, the chief’s haughty son, must walk the “red road” to finally confront their biggest fears: conquering the self-imposed obstacles in their path, if they are to have what they long for above anything else—to finally be together.

The stories need to be read in order. None of the books are standalones.

BOOK DETAILS

RECENT RELEASE – BOOK 4

Book Title: Real Warriors

Author: Maggie Blackbird

Publisher: Extasy Books

Length: 77 760 words/273 pages

Release Date: August 13, 2021

Genres: New Adult, multicultural, contemporary, LGBT romance

Tropes: First Time, Embracing Your Culture,

Themes: Coming out, coming of age, forgiveness

Heat Rating: 3 flames

Goodreads

Read an excerpt from Real Warriors here

The courage of a warrior is a must on their new path, or they’ll never grasp their happily ever after.

Blurb

Just when eighteen-year-old Billy Redsky believes he’s holding his happily ever after in the palm of his hand, he must practice what he’s learned in ceremony to face two more tests—share with the world his love for René, and let go of the past.

But that’s not so easy. René is terrified of exposing their secret to anyone but his family. As for Billy’s brother, he has no intention of changing his criminal ways.

Only a miracle can help Billy reach his final destination on the “red road” his Ojibway ancestors once walked. For his dream to come true, he must look deep inside himself and trust the creator he follows.

Buy Links

Extasy Books

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU

Kobo | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Google Play

There’s 40% off Maggie’s Backlist right now,

including Two Princes, Toy Soldiers, and Knight Moves.

BOOK 3

Book Title: Knight Moves

Publisher: Extasy Books

Length: 75,000 words/269 pages

Release Date: April 16, 2021

Genre/s: Young Adult, New Adult, multicultural, contemporary, LGBT romance

Trope/s: Break His Heart to Save Him; Long Distance Love’ Tortured Heroes; Family Disapproval; Friends to lovers

Themes: Coming out, coming of age, forgiveness

Heat Rating: 2 flames

Goodreads

Although they’re torn apart, they still hold a piece of each other’s heart.

Blurb

After receiving his grade twelve diploma and marking his eighteenth birthday, René Oshawee cannot fight the temptation seventeen-year-old high school junior Billy Redsky blatantly offers now that what they share has become taboo.

When their secret romance is blown into the open, Billy’s foster parents send René to Toronto to complete the last of his schooling under the supervision of a family friend, leaving Billy behind at their Ojibway community.

Now Billy and René must make the biggest decision of their lives—fight for the true love they know they’ll never find with anyone else, or go their separate ways.

Buy Links

Extasy Books

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

Kobo | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Google Play

BOOK 2

Book Title: Toy Soldiers

Publisher: Extasy Books

Cover Artist: Martine Jardin

Length: 70,349 words/244 pages

Release Date: October 2, 2020

Genres: Young Adult, multicultural, contemporary, LGBT romance

Tropes: Friends to Lovers; Forbidden Love; First Love; Betrayal

Themes: Coming of age, self-discovery

Heat Rating: 1 flame

Goodreads

Once a thief, always a thief, and if he can’t win the heart of the boy he loves, he’ll steal it.

Blurb

Billy Redsky’s made one of his biggest dreams come true, but there’s a problem. Even though the boy he loves is mere footsteps across the hall from his bedroom, they might as well live a country apart because claiming René Oshawee’s heart is more difficult than Billy anticipates.

Much to Billy’s disgust, René can’t accept his true self, so he’s incapable of loving someone else. And all he cares about is living a life the chief and his wife foresee for their youngest son.

If Billy is to finally have what he truly desires, he must stop René from running away from who he really is and face the man in the mirror, or what they share will never blossom into true love.

Buy Links

Extasy Books

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

| Kobo | B&N | iBooks | Google Play | Smashwords |

BOOK 1

Book Title: Two Princes

Author: Maggie Blackbird

Publisher: Extasy Books

Cover Artist: Martine Jardin

Length: 67 345 words/235 pages

Release Date: Friday, June 12, 2020

Genres: Young Adult, multicultural, contemporary, LGBT romance

Tropes: Rich boy, poor boy; Popular boy, outcast; musician and artist

Heat Rating: 1 flame

Themes: Coming of age, self-discovery

Goodreads

To win over the chief’s haughty son, a drug-dealing punk from a dysfunctional family must risk the only two things he has: his reputation and freedom.

Blurb

Billy Redsky, a rebellious punk who loves art and nature, is saddled with a welfare-leeching, alcoholic mother and criminal older brother who are the joke of their Ojibway community. Sick and tired of being perceived as a loser, Billy deals drugs for his older brother to earn quick money. He hopes if he buys a dirt bike, he’ll finally impress the chief’s popular and aloof son, René Oshawee.

When the two are forced to serve detention together, a friendship blooms, but much to Billy’s frustration, René keeps putting him on ice. To make his biggest dream come true if he finally wants to call René his own, Billy must make a huge decision that could cost him everything.

Buy Links

Extasy Books

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU

Kobo | B&N | Apple | Google Play | BookStrand

About the Author

An Ojibway from Northwestern Ontario, Maggie resides in the country with her husband and their fur babies, two beautiful Alaskan Malamutes. When she’s not writing, she can be found pulling weeds in the flower beds, mowing the huge lawn, walking the Mals deep in the bush, teeing up a ball at the golf course, fishing in the boat for walleye, or sitting on the deck at her sister’s house, making more wonderful memories with the people she loves most.

Author Links

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eXtasy Books Author Page | Newsletter Sign-Up

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RELEASE BLITZ: “The Wingman” by A. Poland.

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: The Wingman

Author: A.
Poland

Publisher: NineStar Press
LLC

Cover Artist: Natasha
Snow

Release Date: July 26,
2021

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance, Romantic comedy, New
Adult

Tropes: Friends to lovers, love triangle, childhood best friends, slow
burn, sharing a bed (tent)

Themes: humor, friendship, family, communication

Heat Rating: 3 flames

Length: 69 762
words

It is a standalone story and
does not end
on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

Buy Links

NineStar Press | Amazon
US
| Amazon UK

Always the wingman,
never the “one”.

Blurb

Nathan, a college student with a thing for funky hats and a
definite not-thing for the great outdoors, has been a wingman extraordinaire for his lifelong
best friend Lorcan for as long as either can remember. With his innate ability to talk
endlessly about how great Lorcan is to anyone who’ll listen, Nathan has always been the
best man for the job—even if he’s secretly waiting for the day when Lorcan will realize that
Nathan is the only guy for him.

But then, Lorcan sets his sights on Miles, the suave,
leather-jacket-wearing musician with a love of mountaineering and a family of six
overprotective sisters, and Nathan must once again put his wingman skills to work.

Trouble is, Nathan is getting tired of the old routine, and
Miles is the only human being on the planet immune to Lorcan’s charm. Not to mention that
Miles’s interest is immediately piqued by the outspoken and completely oblivious
wingman.

Excerpt

Nathan blinked blankly at his best friend.

“My help?” he parroted, not quite getting
what Lorcan was suggesting. It wasn’t as though he could go up to this Miles guy and talk his
ear off about Lorcan to encourage him to make the first move. They’d already met; they’d
spoken. If Miles was interested, he’d make a move.

Hope stirred in Nathan’s chest.

If Miles was interested, why hadn’t he already made a
move?

“Yeah, I need you to do your thing.” Lorcan nodded, looking
at Nathan expectantly, as though that would make Nathan whip out a ready-made action
plan on how to get into Miles’s pants.

“Dude, I do that so you can talk to them without doing the
awkward introductions yourself.” Nathan spoke slowly, as though explaining how to draw a
straight line to a child. “You’ve already covered that.”

“Well, then think of this as a part two,” Lorcan allowed with
a huff, probably because Nathan was making very valid points. “I don’t know if he’s even
into guys.”

Nathan frowned thoughtfully. Normally, it was easy to tell if
someone was into Lorcan. Or at least to Nathan. He liked to think his dad’s perceptiveness
had been inherited—to a lesser extent, of course, because Nathan was good, but he wasn’t
that good—enough that he made a great wingman to other people, not just Lorcan. Hell,
a few of the people in their friend group had asked for his help before.

It wasn’t as easy, sure. But Nathan had a pretty high
success rate. A few of them in happy, long-term relationships to boot.

Maybe he should have business cards made.

Nathan Reed—will get you laid.

Nathan shook off that thought as quickly as it had come
because that made him sound like a matchmaker, and he was decidedly not experienced
enough to consider that as a career path.

“So you…what? Want me to meet him and suss out if he’s
interested?” Nathan tried talking slowly, one brow apprehensively raised.

“Yeah!” Lorcan grinned. “Exactly. Work your
magic.”

Nathan huffed out a laugh, rolling his eyes at Lorcan’s
enthusiasm about Nathan’s apparent “magic.” It wasn’t magic; it was just knowing how to
talk to people. Specifically, talking to people about Lorcan. Who, in Nathan’s opinion, was
the easiest thing in the world to talk about.

Sometimes, on very good nights, Nathan didn’t have to do
as much. Sometimes, the woman would know exactly why he was approaching and just cut
to the chase. He always appreciated those; they made his life a lot easier.

“Okay, I’ll do you this one favor.” Nathan sighed, clearly
teasing. There were no favors between them. No one kept tabs over who owed the other
what. “Now drive me somewhere to get food. I’m starving.”

Lorcan laughed, his mood clearly elevated from earlier.
Even that was enough to settle Nathan a bit more. Sure, his brain might still be working
overtime on limited sleep, but Lorcan’s coming-out experience had been painless for him,
and that was something at least.

“Your wish is my command,” he quipped back, starting up
the car and taking them to their usual haunt.

There was nothing better than getting food with

Lorcan.

Lorcan was a picky eater, while Nathan happily consumed
anything deemed edible. Which meant Nathan tended to get extra of whatever Lorcan
didn’t like, and no food was wasted.

Win-win all around.

But this time, the experience was different.

Nathan hadn’t been worried about any uncomfortable
silences or lapses in conversation after being away for so long, and he’d been right not
to.

But he never thought to be worried about Lorcan
never shutting up.

Which, under normal circumstances, would have been
fine. But these weren’t normal circumstances.

Lorcan wouldn’t stop talking about Miles.

In the last half an hour, Nathan learned more about the guy
than he ever wished to. His gut twisted with each and every new fun fact presented to him,
his shoulders drawn tighter and smile more strained.

So far, Nathan learned the following:

Miles was a musician.

A lot of people were musicians, especially in LA; it wasn’t a
big deal. In fact, Nathan had taken piano lessons for an entire week and could still
successfully play “Twinkle Twinkle.”

Miles was a graduate from Juilliard.

Nathan might have asked Lorcan to repeat himself because
there was no way he’d said
Juilliard.

But he had. And that was fine. Juilliard was a
college just like any other. Saint Andrews was nothing to scoff at either.

Miles was adopted.

It made sense. Probably adopted into a wealthy family with

plenty of connections, considering the Juilliard thing (fucking Juilliard).

Miles’s eyes were this unusual gray
color
.

Lorcan spent a great deal of time talking about the color of
Miles’s eyes. (There were only so many ways to describe stormy gray with flecks of brown,
Nathan groused, please move on.) Anyway, Nathan had been told that he had unique eyes.
Granted, they’d been compared to a swamp before. But still. Swamps had a bad rap—they
had
frogs.

But no, Lorcan clearly had a thing for smoke-colored eyes
now, not gunky-green.

Miles was hugely involved in environmental
activism.

Nathan recycled.

About the Author

Fuelled by a worrying tea
addiction (with a tattoo to prove it), A. Poland is a rom-com writer from Ireland who delights
in telling stories that make you fall in love with the characters and give you that squee
feeling in your chest.

Three words A. would use to
describe her writing are funky, silly, and spicy. Which, coincidentally, is also their dancing
style.

When they’re not
daydreaming of the next meet-cute, A. works as a video producer and a full-time dog mom
to her pride and joy, Gizmo.

Social Media Links

Email (public address)
disasterbiwrites@gmail.com

Website |

Twitter

Facebook | Goodreads

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AUDIOBOOK REVIEW TOUR: “This is not a Horror Movie” by Sara Dobie Bauer.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW
TOUR

Book Title: This is Not a Horror Movie

Author: Sara Dobie
Bauer

Narrator: Blake
Lockheart

Publisher:
Self-published

Cover Artist: Natasha Snow
Designs

Release Date: June 8,
2021

Length: 8 hours and 57 mins

Genres: M/M new adult, gay
paranormal romance, LGBTQ, romantic comedy

Trope: Friends to
lovers

Themes: non-explicit,
humorous, teens, summer vacation, hauntings, evil spirits

Heat Rating: 2
flames

Warnings: Scenes of
graphic violence, death of minor characters, mentions of bullying, alcohol use

It is a standalone
story.

Add on
Goodreads

Buy Links

Audible US | Audible UK

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Emory Jones loves two
things: horror movies and Connor Nichols.

Blurb

Emory Jones loves two things: horror movies and
Connor Nichols.

For the past four years, Emory, Connor, and their families
have vacationed side by side on Longboat Key, Florida. Eighteen-year-old Emory has pined
for his neighbor from behind the covers of Stephen King books, but college boy Connor has
never noticed him. Probably because Emory looks like Jack Skellington with good
hair.

Emory anticipates another predictable summer of sunburn
and disappointment. Instead, he ends up with a mystery on his hands when a beloved beach
bum goes missing, and Connor volunteers to help with the search. Turns out it’s not just
scary movie cops who are worthless, so the boys start an investigation of their own—leading
them straight to an abandoned beach resort.

Despite the danger, Emory and Connor grow closer, but as
Emory’s gay dreams start coming true, so do the horror movie tropes he so loves. Even
though he knows that sex equals death in slasher flicks, Emory can’t keep his hands off the
guy of his teenage dreams.

About the Author

Sara Dobie Bauer is a
bestselling romance author and mental health / LGBTQ advocate with a creative writing
degree from Ohio University. She lives with her hottie husband and precious pup in
Northeast Ohio, although she’d really like to live in a Tim Burton film.

Author Links

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| Facebook | Private Facebook Group

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Continue ReadingAUDIOBOOK REVIEW TOUR: “This is not a Horror Movie” by Sara Dobie Bauer.

RELEASE BLITZ: “This is Not a Horror Movie” by Sara Dobie Bauer

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: This is Not a Horror Movie

Author: Sara Dobie Bauer

Publisher: Self-published

Cover Artist: Natasha Snow Designs

Release Date: May 13, 2021

Genres: m/m new adult, gay paranormal romance, LGBTQ, romantic comedy

Trope: Friends to lovers

Themes: non-explicit, humorous, teens, Florida, summer vacation, hauntings, evil spirits

Heat Rating: 2 flames

Warnings: Scenes of graphic violence, death of minor characters, mentions of bullying, alcohol use

Length: 78 000 words

It is a standalone story.

Add on Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

 

Blurb

Emory Jones loves two things: horror movies and Connor Nichols.

For the past four years, Emory, Connor, and their families have vacationed side by side on Longboat Key, Florida. Eighteen-year-old Emory has pined for his neighbor from behind the covers of Stephen King books, but college boy Connor has never noticed him. Probably because Emory looks like Jack Skellington with good hair.

Emory anticipates another predictable summer of sunburn and disappointment. Instead, he ends up with a mystery on his hands when a beloved beach bum goes missing, and Connor volunteers to help with the search. Turns out it’s not just scary movie cops who are worthless, so the boys start an investigation of their own—leading them straight to an abandoned beach resort.

Despite the danger, Emory and Connor grow closer, but as Emory’s gay dreams start coming true, so do the horror movie tropes he so loves. Even though he knows that sex equals death in slasher flicks, Emory can’t keep his hands off the guy of his teenage dreams.

 

Excerpt

I’m about to follow a mysterious rat into the darkness when a hand lands on my shoulder. I suck a panicked gasp in through my lips as Connor says, “Sorry! Sorry.”

I put my hands on my knees and relearn breathing.

He stands there, backlit like some kind of hot angel, and shrugs. “Maybe you should be thanking me.”

“What?”

“You like to be scared,” he says.

He’s right. Haunted house in the neighborhood? I’m first. Spooky cemetery? Coming through. Maybe that’s part of the reason I always let Liz drag me to parties at the Outpost. It feels like being in a scary movie. I’m waiting for Leatherface to show up and murder the morally reprehensible youth. Of course, if horror movie rules are true, I’m totally dead. I lost my virginity at sixteen and more often than not spend “happy hour” sharing malt liquor with Longboat’s famous homeless dude, Leland.

“What are you doing over here?” Connor asks.

“Befriending local wildlife.” I glance over my shoulder into the dark. I shove hair out of my face—a nervous tic I’ve acquired since growing it out. Because I needed another nervous tic. “What are you doing over here?”

“Talking to you.” He grins, but I can feel a disconnect.

Connor and I have always had a mutually agreed upon rhythm. He’s the big, gorgeous straight dude who puts up with me, the skinny, little gay kid.

Well.

No one knows I’m gay down here. Florida is for family, not fu— Anyway.

In summers past, Connor wrestled me and tickled me, and I pretended not to like it. We talked about some things, mostly scary movies, but kept an emotional distance. He accepts me being a drama queen, and I never let him know I would climb Everest for his kiss.

Staring at me with a dumb look on his face is not our rhythm.

I finally lose my shit. “Jesus, am I bleeding from my eyes?”

He coughs out a laugh. “What?”

“You’re looking at me funny.”

He looks away. “Oh.”

I cross my arms. I have, in fact, filled out a lot since last summer—and the lifeguarding helps—but I’m still self-conscious about my small frame and will probably never forget the jocks calling me “Tinker Bell” from seventh to tenth grade. I press my lips together and side-eye the kids dancing to some club beat on Liz’s phone. “Everyone’s looking at me funny, actually.”

Connor clears his throat and plucks at the front of his tight, white T-shirt. He looks like he wants to dive headfirst into the empty pool at his back.

“You don’t have to talk to me, you know.”

His blue eyes flit back my way. Even in the dark, I know they’re blue. He says, “But I like talking to you.”

I hug myself tighter and lift a shoulder. “Seen any good horror movies lately?”

His smile is back. “Tons. I saw this French one called Raw.”

I bounce up on my toes. “Cannibals! Oh my God, that movie was so good! The writing.” I tear at my hair in euphoric bliss.

He nods. “And the scene with the roommate.”

“And the ending!” I poke him in the chest. “Dude, I tried to get Liz to watch it. She’s all vegetarian now because she dated this hippie dude senior year. She said she gave up meat for her health, but I think it’s because he said he tasted death in her mouth.”

Connor does the silent open-mouth laugh thing that happens when my storytelling reaches peak levels of absurd.

“She made it thirty minutes into the movie before she had to leave the room and vomit. Meanwhile, I was sitting there eating, like, spaghetti.”

He puts his hand on my shoulder as he keeps laughing. I smell his deodorant: sporty man stuff. “I can’t believe I almost didn’t come this year.”

That steals the air from my lungs. Sure, I should be avoiding the guy, looking forward to the future, but all of a sudden, I can’t imagine a summer without Connor Nichols making me blush.

 

 

About the Author

Sara Dobie Bauer is a bestselling romance author and mental health / LGBTQ advocate with a creative writing degree from Ohio University. She lives with her hottie husband and precious pup in Northeast Ohio, although she’d really like to live in a Tim Burton film.

 

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Continue ReadingRELEASE BLITZ: “This is Not a Horror Movie” by Sara Dobie Bauer

BLOG TOUR: “All the Way Out” by Ingrid Sterling. Rafflecopter Giveaway Included!

BLOG TOUR

Book Title: All the Way Out

Author: Ingrid Sterling

Publisher: Literary Wanderlust

Release Date: April 1, 2021

Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance, New Adult

Trope/s: One-night stand turned into true love; Forced proximity; Athlete with musician; closeted sports star

Themes: Self-acceptance, coming out publicly

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 79 000/263 pages

It is a standalone book.

Add on Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Literary Wanderlust | Bookshop.org

 

 

Blurb

Even at that young age Zach knew that those two truths – all-star athlete and homosexual male – could not exist concurrently. So, he’d started dating Rebecca, his devoutly Catholic girlfriend who wants to wait to have sex until she’s married, during his junior year of high school and never looked back.

But on the last night of a team trip to Rome, on the cusp of his senior season at Northwestern University, a Heisman, a number 1 draft pick and a National Championship, Zach seeks out one last anonymous encounter. He opens Grindr and slips out into the Italian summer night to meet Liam – Liam who has a face that looks like it was carved from Carrara marble by one of the ancient greats and whose brazen facade becomes sheepish when he’s asked about his past in Paris. The night is intense, better than Zach could have imagined. But like all one-night stands, it comes to an end by morning’s light.

But what happens to Zach’s carefully manicured plans for a professional football career and a life in the closet when Liam shows up, not only on the Northwestern campus the first day of the fall semester, but in Zach’s upper-level Plato seminar, too?

 

 

Excerpt

“What are you doing in my upper level classics seminar?” Liam snapped.

Um, I’m fulfilling my degree requirements,” Zach snapped back. “What are you doing in my upper level classics seminar? You live in Rome.”

“No, I was regrouping in Rome. I’d been going to school in Paris before that but—Wait, degree requirements? You’re a Classics major? Mr. Hotshot-starting-quarterback is a Classics major?” Liam’s voice came out shriller than he would have liked.

Zach set his hips back against the table, crossing his arms with a sudden smugness. “A Classics major focusing in Pax Romana philosophers with a 3.7 GPA, you mean? Yeah. I am. How do you think I recognized that ridiculous Metamorphoses quote on your Grindr profile?”

“I figured you Googled it like everyone else usually did.”

Zach’s face softened at Liam’s unintentional reveal. “Why didn’t you say anything about coming to school in the States that night?” Zach asked.

Liam leveled him with a look. “I don’t remember us doing an awful lot of talking.”

“We talked enough. You could have mentioned it.”

“I’d only decided to come here a week or so before we met,” Liam explained. “I barely knew anything about Northwestern aside from the fact that it has a pretty well-respected music program. Certainly not enough to know it has some big deal football team. And besides, what were the chances?”

“I’m not a betting man, but I definitely wouldn’t have taken these odds.” Doe-eyed panic lingered on Zach’s face even as he shifted to a more conversational tone. “So, the music school, huh? That’s cool. I remember you had music on your desk. What do you play?”

“Piano mostly, but I’m a composition major. I added a Classics minor ‘cause I can, here. My other school didn’t offer liberal arts courses.” Zach nodded, and Liam realized it was probably his turn to attempt conversation. “A jock with a brain, then. Color me impressed.”

Zach gave a bored lift of his shoulder. “It makes for a great human-interest story. I think every bad pun about Greek gods or Roman gladiators has been made about me at least once. The ESPN announcers think they are so fucking clever.”

Liam stared at him. “You keep saying these things thinking I know what they mean.”

“ESPN.” Zach gave him a patient grin. “It’s a cable sports network that shows games. You know, on the TV.”

“Yeah, alright.” Liam’s pursed lips morphed into an unbidden smile.

It was impossible not to note how the tension in the room had slipped away. The looks that passed between them carried a certain playfulness once they were forced to accept the inconceivable fact that they were both here in the same city, at the same school, and even in the same class. And into that ease slipped the feelings of attraction and memories of the intimacy they’d found on Liam’s mattress by the end of their night together. Liam had sought hidden parts of Zach’s body with his fingers. That small, insinuating touch, burned into his memory, had ignited such terrified want in Zach’s bright blue eyes that Liam had known that he would have been allowed to feel Zach from the inside if only they’d had more time. One more night. One more hour, even. And now here Zach was, standing before him. It was as baffling as it was thrilling. Liam certainly wouldn’t mind if they wound up hooking up again.

“Look,” Zach started, “This is crazy that you’re here, and I hope you love your time at Northwestern as much as I have, but it’s probably for the best if we don’t interact.”

Liam was rendered mute.

“I mean, I know we’re in class together,” Zach continued. “We’ll have to interact, discussion grades and everything, but what I mean is, we shouldn’t be friendly.”

“Why not?” Liam asked after another stunned beat.

“It’s nothing personal. In fact, I think you’re—” Zach stopped. He pressed his eyes closed and shook his head sadly. He took another steadying breath before speaking again. “It would make things really difficult for me. Like I told you in Rome, no one knows about me. About me and…” He spoke the next word at a careful volume. “Men. In fact, you’re the only person on this entire campus who does.”

Zach’s sexuality was a secret that should have bound them. But instead, Zach was using it to put a wedge between them, between even the possibility of them. Liam didn’t think the conversation could get any more ridiculous.

 

About the Author

I named myself “Ingrid” after a character in a story I started writing and will never finish.

I named myself “Sterling” after my dad’s boyhood dreams.

I’m a Yankee who has lived south of the Mason Dixon for a decade and I use ‘Y’all’ without irony. I dance in my kitchen. I vote. I love all the cats in the world and a good IPA. I will scream over college sports.

I write about love, with love, because #loveislove.

With two degrees in music performance, I strive to make my words sing. The rhythm and pacing of the prose are as important to me as my complicated, imperfect characters and my guaranteed happily-ever-afters.

 

 

Author Links

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one of three ebook copies of All the Way Out

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Continue ReadingBLOG TOUR: “All the Way Out” by Ingrid Sterling. Rafflecopter Giveaway Included!

RELEASE BLITZ: “The First Boy I Ever Kissed” by Suki Fleet

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: The First Boy I Ever Kissed

Author: Suki Fleet

Publisher: Stars and Ink Press

Cover Artist: Suki Fleet

Release Date: January 11, 2021

Genre: Contemporary New Adult M/M 

Trope/s: . Second Chances, Friends to Lovers, I have always loved you

Themes: Second chances, Bi awakening

Heat Rating: 3-4 flames (not frequent but detailed)

Length: 35 000  words

It is a standalone story.

Add on Goodreads

 

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Kim was the first boy Tommy ever kissed. The only person he’s been in love with.

But Kim broke Tommy’s heart when he left without a word. Can Tommy give him a second chance?

 

Blurb

It’s been over two years since Tommy’s heart was broken. Two years since Kim vanished from his life without a word. 

Kim was the first boy he’d ever kissed. The only person he’s been in love with. He’d thought they were starting something when he showed his feelings on prom night, and they shared their perfect messy kiss, but he’d been wrong. He never saw Kim again. Until tonight when joy riders crash into the warehouse complex where he works. 

Kim’s life is a mess. For two years he’s been involved with a criminal gang, trying to protect his mum from harm. He knows he has nothing to offer. But seeing Tommy again gives him the strength to try. If only Tommy wasn’t leaving the day after tomorrow to go travelling around the world. If only tonight wasn’t all they had. 

 

Excerpt 

It’s almost Christmas Day—surely, he’s got somewhere else to be, other people to be with? People far more important to him than me. I think again of the girl with the green braids. The sharp-eyed way she watched him as he gave a false name to the police. Wherever his life is at, ramming a four-by-four into a warehouse complex and then being arrested has got to build up some serious tension. Maybe he needs to let off a bit of steam too. Maybe that’s what this is.

I take my time cycling down the rough track to the park. I’ve popped a tyre before on the glass that’s scattered around here, and my fingers are too frozen to be fiddling around with fixing on a spare.  

As soon as we make it into the skatepark’s tiny car park, Kim hops off the bike. I find myself still wanting to feel his arms around me. The ache of it. Like the past has a weight, a texture, and it’s all him. 

God, what am I doing? This is such a bad idea. Spending time with him is just going to hurt, I know it is, and here I am just about offering myself up to it like a masochist.

He scrambles to the top of the little grassy hill surrounding the park. “God, I’ve missed this place.” 

The wistfulness in his voice surprises me. I follow him up with my bike. He turns to me, pulls off my massive gloves, hands them to me in my helmet, then holds his arms out, races down to the centre of the second biggest ramp, and starts spinning. Spinning and spinning, his head flung back, hair flying. He looks seventeen again. Young. Wild. Free.  

For a moment whatever shadows are haunting him are chased far away. And my heart aches and aches.

I remember the first time I saw him, swinging on the metal railing by the coffee shack near the smaller ramps with a couple of girls from school. He was laughing, head thrown back like it is now, pink hair falling away from his narrow face, sharp white teeth flashing, the whole of him vibrating with some wild aliveness I’d never seen in anyone else. Still haven’t. Too involved in watching him, I forgot what I was doing and nearly killed myself, lost control of my bike in the middle of a turn and crashed face first into the ramp. Later, I told myself I’d been so transfixed because I didn’t know whether he was a boy or a girl. But, of course, it wasn’t true. It took a long time for me to realise that though. 

That was the summer I finished my GCSEs. I was fifteen. Kim was new. He’d moved from another school across town. I never asked him why.

Back then the skatepark was full from sunrise till late into the night, and Kim hung around almost as often as I did. He made friends quickly, and though I watched him all the time and caught him watching me, I remained clueless. Maybe if I’d have worked out sooner that I was bi, things would’ve been different. I don’t know. 

Leaving Kim spinning, I clip my helmet in place, toss my gloves next to my backpack on the frozen ground, and take off down the biggest ramp, doing a few sharp turns at the top to warm up. 

“I used to love watching you,” he yells. “You ride like the water flowing in a river.”

It’s ridiculous how buoyed up his words make me feel, and I flush. I’m too old to be showing off at the skatepark, trying to impress some boy I know is watching every jump I make, and still I do it, taking my bike through a few 360 tailwhips. Making it look casual, easy, though it’s not, but that’s the trick. Isn’t that always the trick?

Limbs vibrating with adrenaline, I skid to a stop in front of him. “Get on.”

Kim’s eyes widen. “You’re going to kill us if you jump with me on your bike.” But still he gets on.

I laugh. “Still up for anything, eh?”

“With you, yeah.” His arms fasten around me, and he plasters himself close. “I’ve missed you, you know?”

Has he? I stiffen a little. I can’t let myself believe him, not just like that, because, no, I don’t know. But I don’t say that. I don’t say anything. My feelings are too jumbled to work out how to respond. Instead I focus on the things I do know and take us swooping down the big ramp and up the other side. I’m not about to do any tricks with Kim on my bike. He’s right, it’d probably kill us, plus I only have the one helmet. But it’s just nice riding around with him like this, even though I’m not sure how I feel right now. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers after a while, his arms squeezing me a little tighter like he’s afraid I’m suddenly going to stop and shove him off. “I’m really fucking sorry. I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me.”

“I don’t hate you,” I say quietly. Of course I don’t. How could I ever hate him? I kind of suspect in forty years’ time, if I’m still around, I’ll still get this sharp pain in my chest when I think about him.

 

About the Author 

Suki Fleet is an award-winning author, a prolific reader (though less prolific than they’d like), and a lover of angst, romance and unexpected love stories.

They write lyrical stories about memorable characters and believe everyone should have a chance at a happy ending.

Their first novel This is Not a Love Story won Best Gay Debut in the 2014 Rainbow Awards, and was a finalist in the 2015 Lambda Awards. Their novel Foxes won Best Gay Young Adult in the 2016 Rainbow Awards.

 

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Blog/Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter @SukiFleet

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Continue ReadingRELEASE BLITZ: “The First Boy I Ever Kissed” by Suki Fleet

RELEASE BLITZ: “The Life Mage Trilogy, Book 1: Twin Mages” by G.E. Mayberry

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: The Life Mage Trilogy, Book 1: Twin Mages

Author: G. E. Mayberry

Cover Artist: TrillPockets

Release Date: February 8, 2020

Genre/s: New Adult Fantasy Adventure

Trope/s: Action Girl, After-Action Healing Drama, Carnival of Killers, Mission Briefing,

Sole Survivor, Taking Over the Town, Everybody’s Dead Dave

Themes: Balance, Sword and Sorcery, War – Pain and Tragedy

Heat Rating: 1 flame

Add on Goodreads

Buy Links

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Power destroys without regard

Blurb

When Hyam traveled to Lisedan he was lost and in search of a destiny. Alyson and Lettie thought their lives were over when Mana Hunters enslaved their village. Together, the three of them set forth on a path none of them had ever imagined. War, and a fight for the fate of magic, would lead them across a continent and reveal secrets long hidden.

Set forth on a fantasy adventure in the Noble Mages verse, where magic runs through everything. This exciting introduction to the Life Mage Trilogy will have you on the edge of your seat with each exciting twist. Get to know the diverse cast of characters that make the verse the extraordinary place that it is.

Excerpt

The girls started crying and curling into each other. Elliot stood up, his banana abandoned on the ground at his feet. He had a look of defiance on his face.

“No! I won’t let you hurt them!” he cried out. “Earth Geo Form Spear,” he incanted, drawing the earth into a weapon and snatching it from the air. He swung the spear around him, striking the air.

“No! Don’t hurt them!” Lettie cried and I had to stop them.

“What’s going on here?!” I cried. I took Alyson in my hands and shook her. “There’s nothing there Aly, snap out of it!”

The girls didn’t seem to hear anything I said. I turned to Elliot who was swinging his earthen spear at invisible enemies. “Elliot you have to have to stop before you hurt someone!” I called out. I grabbed at his arm to stop him swinging that spear. Just like the girls, he couldn’t hear a word I was saying. He struggled against me.

“You were always intelligent, so of course you would be the one to recognize the threat before it consumed you,” said a dark voice from behind me. “These others though? They ingested too much of the poison, they can barely hear you let alone understand your words.”

I turned around to look at the source of the familiar voice. Seated on the ground, eating my own abandoned apple, was a man I had not seen in five years. His head of black hair, once kept short and clean, had now grown longer than I had ever seen it, the tips curling back on themselves. His eyes were now gray like cold steel, but it was him alright.

“No,” I said. “You can’t be here.”

“Yes, tell yourself that if it makes you happy,” the man responded. “But I have missed you son.”

I shook my head and slapped myself to get rid of the hallucination, but when I looked again he was still there, munching on my apple, cool as can be.

“Why are you here? You must be a hallucination, it’s the only explanation,” I say. “If I ignore you, will you go away?”

“My poison forces you to relive all the most horrible things in your mind,” came the reply.

“You did this?!” I exclaimed. “But how?! I would have known if you were anywhere near me. I would have known!”

“I would love to explain, but I really do have a job to do,” he said, rising to his feet and brushing himself off. “It’s a shame you didn’t drink more of that wine, it would have made this a lot easier. Oh well, there’s nothing more I can do for it. If I want that bounty, I have to kill you here and now.”

With that declaration, he dashed forward and slashed at me with a dagger. I jumped backward but too late, the dagger sliced at the back of my arm. I steadied myself with some difficulty.

Now that I knew what was happening, I knew there was only one way to break completely free of the poison.

Drawing up my mana, I began the incantation, “Earth Geo Control Earth Geo Form Soul Container Spirit Soul Reinforce.” A bit of earth rose up in front of me and took the shape of my soul container, small and rounded with an air tight lid. I lifted the lid and continued my incantation, “Spirit Soul Move Self Spirit Soul Connect to Body.” In the next breath, my soul was released from my body and stored inside the container. The effects of the poison slowed my body but with my soul removed, I now had perfect control of my thoughts and actions.

About the Author

Guinevere E. Mayberry is a fantasy novelist and the author of the new book, Twin Mages, the first book in the Life Mage Trilogy, and the exciting new storyverse, Noble Mages. The Noble Mages verse started with a simple question: What would the world be like if everybody could use magic? From there it took off, and Guinevere had no idea how tightly this idea would grip her imagination. From what was intended to be a single romance novel, her writing evolved into two fantasy adventure trilogies and 3 supplementary novels.

When growing up, books were a constant companion to Guinevere. From the romance stylings of Nicholas Sparks, to the fantasy that is the Harry Potter series, Guinevere would read anything she could get her hands on. Her classmates were known to comment on how she could always been seen, walking down the hallways with her nose in a book. And even back then, she knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to be the next author that a new generation would look back on and say “Her books helped me through a dark time.”

Social Media Links

Blog/Website| Facebook| Tumblr | Instagram

Newsletter Sign-Up| Other

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts and reviews here

Continue ReadingRELEASE BLITZ: “The Life Mage Trilogy, Book 1: Twin Mages” by G.E. Mayberry

COVER REVEAL: “Twin Mages” by G.E. Mayberry

COVER REVEAL

Book Title: The Life Mage Trilogy, Book 1: Twin Mages

Author: G. E. Mayberry

Cover Artist: TrillPockets

Release Date: February 8, 2020

Genre/s: New Adult Fantasy Adventure

Trope/s: Action Girl, After-Action Healing Drama, Carnival of Killers, Mission Briefing,

Sole Survivor, Taking Over the Town, Everybody’s Dead Dave

Themes: Balance, Sword and Sorcery, War – Pain and Tragedy

Heat Rating: 1 flame

Add on Goodreads

 

Pre-Order on Amazon

Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

Power destroys without regard

Blurb

When Hyam traveled to Lisedan he was lost and in search of a destiny. Alyson and Lettie thought their lives were over when Mana Hunters enslaved their village. Together, the three of them set forth on a path none of them had ever imagined. War, and a fight for the fate of magic, would lead them across a continent and reveal secrets long hidden.

Set forth on a fantasy adventure in the Noble Mages verse, where magic runs through everything. This exciting introduction to the Life Mage Trilogy will have you on the edge of your seat with each exciting twist. Get to know the diverse cast of characters that make the verse the extraordinary place that it is.

 

Excerpt

“On three, we begin the assault. One… two… three,” I said. The illusion on the alley dropped as I dived out into the street. I spotted two guards standing not twenty feet from where I exited the alley and began my assault by casting a confusion spell. “Spirit Mind Confuse,” I incanted, directing my mana at the two guards. The first fell into the confusion easily, but the second had protected his mind behind a layer of spells. Before I could break into his mind, he cast a counterspell and attempted to push back into my mind. I focused my attention on him.

“Attack the guard on the right,” I ordered my squad. “I’ve got the one on the left.”

With my orders issued, I left the other guard to my allies and focused on the mind mage. His attacks were weak but unpredictable, so I decided not to counter-attack. Instead, I layered protections on my mind and, hidden beneath the protections, a break spell that grows stronger the more it’s attack. “Spirit Mind Strengthen and Break, Spirit Mind Strengthen and close, Spirit Mind Strengthen and Grow, Spirit Mind Close and Renew,” I incanted. Several layers of protection went up around my mind.

I walked calmly towards him, letting him know I was not afraid. He broke through fire one layer of protection, then another, and another. I was less than five feet from him now. I could see the moment in his eyes when the final layer of protection broke, and his mind broke with it. the sheer terror as the world around him morphed into something from his worst nightmare. I did not let him suffer for long. I pulled a dagger from my belt and slit his throat in one quick slash.

I took a quick look around. The other guard was dispatched quite easily. A third guard had come up from behind us. He was quickly dispatched as well.

First guards eliminated, moving on* I said telepathically to Alyson and Anisha.

“Keep moving forward,” I ordered out loud, leading the charge past Alyson’s group, who had already eliminated three guards and only had two left standing. Anisha’s group was just engaging and were locking into a battle of five on five, though I could see three more down a side street.

Alyson, once you’ve dispatched your guards, back up Anisha’s squad, I ordered and lead my squad farther onward still.

Confirmed, came Alyson’s reply.

“We didn’t have far to go before we reached the barricade of soldiers, at least ten, with more on the way. Things were starting to get dangerous, and we were still six blocks away from the tower. a wall of flame burst up between us and the enemy soldiers as they began sending spears made of earth and ice raining down on us.

Earth Geo Control and Protect,” I incanted. I brought up small bits of earth all around us that redirected the spears enough that they hit the ground around us instead of hitting us. Even still, I saw one of my squad fall as an ice spear went through his ankle.

The hail of ice and earth kept coming, as more Enualians joined the barricade. This fight delayed us, and the other two squads caught up. they started throwing their own earth and fire spears back at the Enualians while the water mages attempted to douse the flame barrier. I watched as we gained the advantage. I continued deflecting the enemy’s projectiles and, just when it looked like we were going to win and push through, the unimaginable happened.

 

About the Author

Guinevere E. Mayberry is a fantasy novelist and the author of the new book, Twin Mages, the first book in the Life Mage Trilogy, and the exciting new storyverse, Noble Mages. The Noble Mages verse started with a simple question: What would the world be like if everybody could use magic? From there it took off, and Guinevere had no idea how tightly this idea would grip her imagination. From what was intended to be a single romance novel, her writing evolved into two fantasy adventure trilogies and 3 supplementary novels.

When growing up, books were a constant companion to Guinevere. From the romance stylings of Nicholas Sparks, to the fantasy that is the Harry Potter series, Guinevere would read anything she could get her hands on. Her classmates were known to comment on how she could always been seen, walking down the hallways with her nose in a book. And even back then, she knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to be the next author that a new generation would look back on and say “Her books helped me through a dark time.”

 

Social Media Links

Blog/Website| Facebook| Tumblr

Newsletter Sign-Up| Other

 

 

 

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

 

Continue ReadingCOVER REVEAL: “Twin Mages” by G.E. Mayberry