Favorites from 2016

I've been fortunate to read some great books this year. Each of these books had a something special to make it stay on my mind. Thank you, authors.

Guest reviews from Patricia Nelson

Patricia is one of the most avid readers around. She knows the power of a story. And she let me post some of her reviews here. (I don't think I could ever post fast enough to keep up with her!)

So, thank you, Patricia, for sharing your opinions.

Reviewed Books from 2016

In a 2016 which was mostly horrible, I could lose myself in a book. For a few minutes or a few hours I could be somewhere else, maybe being someone else, and know there was an HEA coming. HEA and HFN or even OFN haven't been a big part of my life lately. Reviewing regularly was beyond me there for a while. But reading, always. Every spare moment. For those who worry, please don't. Things are better already. 2017 is going to be a better year.

So for all the authors who told the stories, here's to you. You made the world a better place.

This is part one of three parts of 2016.

A picture is worth...

There has GOT to be some explanation for this. Directions here.  

A 100 word drabble can be a gem, 1000 words a ficlet.

In a Gilded Cage by Mia Kerick, review, giveaway

Title: In a Gilded Cage

Author: Mia Kerick

Release Date: October 21, 2016

Length: 56,000 words

Lucci Grimley is indeed alluring—crowned with a mane of long blond hair, and blessed with an enchanting musical talent that draws a brave rescuer to a high tower hidden in the forest.

However, this modern-day Rapunzel is a young man, sold as a child to the wealthy and childless Damien Gotham for the price of a fast car and a pile of cash. And Lucci’s heroic prince is William “Prin” Prinzing, a handsome college student and star soccer player, hired to care for the grounds of the lavish Tower Estate. Prin climbs an extension ladder rather than a long golden braid to gain access to Lucci’s second floor bedroom window, ultimately penetrating the secrecy surrounding the cloistered young man.

Friendship, and soon romance, blooms. The tower captive eagerly gives his loving innocence to his brave rescuer, which sends the strict and reclusive Gotham into a frenzy of jealous rage. With Prin, Lucci gets a taste of real life, and he wants more. Together, the young men must face Gotham’s ruthlessness and pay the price of liberating Lucci.

Review: I have to confess, this book is a first for me. Well written, and wrenching, it's not for anyone who needs gentle, low stakes stories. There's hurt/comfort in plenty, and because of that I've had to read a little bit at a time over the course of a month. I have yet to reach the happy ending, though I will, because I need to know. But my complete rage at Damien Gotham and every other person who connived at creating this situation means I'm going very slowly.

This books makes me feel very strongly, and therein is its strength. I want Lucci to find his happiness with the daring Prinz. 

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—one in law school, another in dance school, a third at school at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son still in high school. She writes LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing English papers. Her husband of twenty-three years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled young people and their relationships. She has a great affinity for the tortured hero. There is, at a minimum, one in each book. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of said tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Evernight Publishing, Dreamspinner Press, Harmony Ink Press, and CoolDudes Publishing for providing her with alternate places to stash her stories.

A social liberal, Mia cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.

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Blog Calendar

My Fiction Nook	Oct 24
Three Hearts Promotions	Oct 25
BFD Book Blog	Oct 26
Jessie G Books	Oct 27
The Novel Approach	Oct 28
Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents	Oct 31
Cryselle’s Bookshelf	Nov 1
Two Chicks Obsessed	Nov 2
Making It Happen	Nov 9
Velvetpanic	Nov 10
Bayou Book Junkie	Nov 10
Book Lovers 4Ever	Nov 11
All In One Place	Nov 11

Suddenly Yours by Jacob Z. Flores, guest post and giveaway

Suddenly Yours

by Jacob Z. Flores

Blurb: 

"What Happens in Vegas Doesn't Always Stay in Vegas"

Cody Hayes is having one epic morning-after. The hangover following a Vegas bachelor party is nothing new to him, and neither is the naked man in his bed.

His apparent marriage is a different story.

Carefully plotting every detail of his life carried Julian Canales to a senate seat as an openly gay man. A drunken night of Truth or Dare isn’t like him… and neither is marrying a man he just met. He’d get an annulment, but the media has gotten wind of his hasty nuptials. If Julian’s political career is going to survive, he has to stay married to a man who’s his opposite in every way.

Now he must convince Cody that all they need to do is survive a conservative political rival, a heartbroken ex, their painful pasts… and an attraction neither man can fight.

         

Jacob's Top 3 favorite 

Sandra Bullock Movies

Hi, everyone! I’m Jacob Z. Flores, and I’m so glad to be here promoting my October 15 release Suddenly Yours, the second book in my One Fine Day series.

Some of you may already know that the books in this series all center on the theme of marriage. In fact, a wedding/marriage is the common thread in all the books in the series. The characters in each book will be different and so will their situations. This will allow readers to pick up the series at any point without feeling as if they have missed out on something covered in the first book.

Now that you know a little about the series itself, I’d like to introduce you to Julian Canales, one of the main characters in Suddenly Yours, the second book in the series.

Julian is a member of the U.S. Senate, where he hopes to affect positive change in the country and for his California constituents. Naturally, he’s ambitious and driven, which are wonderful qualities, but for Julian those positives also lead to a major negative—he’s far too serious all the time. Constantly worried about scandal, Julian lives an extremely controlled life, which makes him sometimes seem cold, aloof, and well, a major party pooper. However, when Julian does need to cut loose, he kicks back on his couch and indulges in one of his guilty pleasures—watching a Sandra Bullock movie.

So what better way is there to get to know Julian than by letting him share the Sandra Bullock movies he loves the most? Without further ado, I’d like all of you to meet Unites States Senator Julian Canales.

Good afternoon, everyone. I’m extremely honored to be here with you today. I must admit conversing with an audience through a blog post is quite a departure from my routine of campaign speeches or speaking on the Senate floor. I’m used to the smiling faces of my supporters or the snarling visages of my opponents across the aisle as I try to get the immigration laws in this country changed. It’s rather bizarre but also a bit freeing to step outside of the box, which is something my campaign manager Adria tries to get me to do all the time.

But enough about that. I’m here today to speak with you about my favorite Sandra Bullock movies, a topic I wasn’t too keen on discussing with anyone if I’m being frank. While I do enjoy a good Sandra Bullock movie, it’s not a subject I really discuss, considering most of my colleagues prefer independent films and documentaries. But now, well, I suppose the cat is out of the bag.

One of the reasons I love Sandra Bullock’s movies is because her characters are often quirky and typically act outside what is expected. Her characters are strong women, who defy whatever conventions are imposed upon them, and I admire Bullock for choosing those types of roles. Her movies give me hope that perhaps one day the women in my own family might follow suit.

So in honor of strong women everywhere and the hope they bring us all, here are the Sandra Bullock movies that made my top 3.

#3—The Proposal 

This movie is one of my all time favorites, and it’s not just because we get to see Ryan Reynolds, well, in almost his birthday suit. Sure, that is a nice draw to this movie as well as Betty White’s performance. Who doesn’t love our favorite Golden Girl? But in this movie Bullock plays tough-as-nails book editor Margaret who runs her office with an iron fist. That’s definitely something I can relate to, but what I find endearing about this film is how Bullock manages to soften Margaret’s hardened exterior as she faces deportation (back to Canada) and the loss of the career she has worked hard to build. In her desperation to remain in the country, Margaret “blackmails” her assistant played by Reynolds to marry her. What follows is a wonderful story about how the tough Margaret changes into the women she was always meant to be without losing any of the character’s fierceness. That’s definitely inspiring to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--ljzIzyrfM 

#2—The Blind Side

This movie is all kinds of wonderful and definitely deserves its second place ranking on my list. In this movie, Bullock plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, a strong southern woman and mother who basically adopts Michael Ohr, a young black man who has lived an extremely tough life. She takes him from the streets into her affluent home and lifestyle and doesn’t bat an eye at the sideways glances her family receives for opening their home to him. Bullock delivers a wonderful performance as her character treats Michael as if he is one of her own and loves him just as unconditionally. It’s a truly inspiring tale of the power of a mother’s love and devotion. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76nhIfp9gr0

#1—Miss Congeniality 

While this movie didn’t win an Academy Award, it still remains my favorite Sandra Bullock movie of all. Bullock plays FBI agent Gracie Hart, who is good at her job and doesn’t give two cents about how she looks. In fact, she goes to extreme measures to be just like one of the boys. Well, at least until a terrorist threatens the Miss Universe pageant, which sends Gracie undercover as one of the contestants. While Bullock’s character gets a major makeover, Bullock makes sure that her character doesn’t lose any of her strength or intelligence to the makeup and form-fitting dresses. This movies is so much fun from beginning to end, and that’s why it takes the number one spot on this list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97JIFQzw8NM

That brings me to the end of my list of Top 3 Favorite Sandra Bullock movies of all time. What did you think about my list? Did your favorite movie make the top 3? If not, let me know which one is your favorite. I’d love to talk about it. 

Excerpt

Cody Hayes had had some epic hangovers in his life. In college he’d woken up naked in front of his fraternity house after his brothers had decided to draw obscene pictures in Magic Marker all over his skin. It had taken him a week to finally scrub the many penises off his flesh. Then there was his twenty-first birthday, when his best friend, Sam Judd, convinced him he’d look good without eyebrows, or the time he’d sung “I Will Always Love You” to his college crush, the star quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. That had been a fun night of trying not to get his ass kicked.
There had been other moments like that throughout the thirty years of his life, but this one… well, this one took the cake.
He’d never woken up married before.
“We’re what?” his new husband asked before glancing at Cody’s hand. Cody quit fiddling with the wedding band and pointed to his finger.
“Married.”
Julian, his gasping groom, fixed his gaze on his own left hand. “Is this a joke?”
If only this was a prank cooked up by his scheming best friends, but neither of them was that lucky. Although Cody couldn’t quite remember everything at the moment thanks to the alcohol-induced fog that clouded his memories, he distinctly recalled walking into the twenty-four-hour chapel hand in hand with Julian and laughing all the way down the aisle. They certainly weren’t laughing now. “Nope. We’re hitched.”
“This—this can’t be happening,” Julian groaned, a look of panic seizing his dark, handsome features as he glanced at the white sheets wrapped around their bodies. “Am I—? Are we—? Did we—?”
Cody didn’t need Julian to finish his questions to know what he was asking. Clearly they’d been married long enough already for Cody to finish his thoughts. “Yes, yes, and—” He reached under the blankets. The head of his cock was raw, and when he cupped his balls, they ached as if he’d been slamming them hard against something all night. “Yes.”
Julian covered his mouth with his hand, and a second later he was a naked blur heading for the bathroom. Shortly after the door slammed, the magical sounds of violent retching echoed off the tiled walls.
Not exactly a stellar way to start off their lives together.

One Fine Day Series 

Undercover Boyfriend 

(One Fine Day Series #1)

Available in paperback

            

About The Author

Jacob Z. Flores lives a double life. During the day, he is a respected college English professor and mid-level administrator. At night and during his summer vacation, he loosens the tie and tosses aside the trendy sports coat to write man on man fiction, where the hard ass assessor of freshmen level composition turns his attention to the firm posteriors and other rigid appendages of the characters in his fictional world.

 Summers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, provide Jacob with inspiration for his fiction. The abundance of barely clothed man flesh and daily debauchery stimulates his personal muse.

When he isn’t stroking the keyboard, Jacob spends time with his daughter. They both represent a bright blue blip in an otherwise predominantly red swath in south Texas.

You can find Jacob at 

            

 Giveaway



$50 Amazon Gift Card for the grand prize and 5 winners will win free copies from Author’s Dreamspinner back list.

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Presented By

A Thousand Word Thursday story from Devyn Morgan

Oh wow, looks like Devyn Morgan has an excerpt from a story to go with our handsome mountain man!  This comes from Shaft Season, which just shot up to the top of Mount TBR.

**************************
Trevor started slicing vegetables with one eye out the back window. Don, dressed in a jacket light enough to accommodate the exertion and still keep the wind out, was swinging his ax at an upright log. Trevor still wasn’t a reliable shot with the ax, so Don preferred to split the kindling rather than watch potential death and dismemberment in the back yard. Bandit and Sabrina snoozed in the corner, not caring if their humans did the work they did best.

Not that Don hadn’t taught Trevor all sorts of things, including his special elk roast method, but Trevor knew spices and dishes Don did not. If the turmeric had to be special ordered, Don ate it and marveled aloud that Trevor had been to Thailand.

Don came in with an armload of wood, pausing in the kitchen to shed his boots and kiss the cook. “What are we having?”

“Moussaka.” Don ate vegetables more to please Trevor than because he liked them, so the best bet was to slather them with meat. “It’s Greek.”

“Moose-saka? Montana Greek.” He headed into the living room to build the fire.

“Stick with me, fella, and you’ll eat the world.” He and Don had been around the world, a couple dozen times, and might do some more traveling tonight. Don would still sleep at home, because this town was full of Mrs. Grundies. Once, just once, Don had stayed overnight in town. Trevor had inquiries about it later from neighbors. Yes, Don was fine, no, he hadn’t plowed that long driveway, and yes, he was too tired to do it after a full day so I gave him a bed was true, but an excuse that worked better when synchronized with the winter storms. Not that there was any shortage of snow. But it was none of their business. Yes, he fucked me into the mattress—why do you ask?” in his deadliest polite voice had been on the tip of Trevor’s tongue.

“So, what happened good today?” Don asked once the fire was built, with his chin hooked over Trevor’s shoulder and arms around his waist.


“Got an e-mail from my agent. At least, I think it’s good. Haven’t read it yet.” A grocery run for moose-saka ingredients was much more important at that moment.

They did the kitchen quickstep, Don following along and never once touching a spoon. Trevor loved it, and had yet to wash a pot or pan he’d dirtied cooking for his new—lover? Was this what a proper lover did? Participate, and ask questions, and be interested in the answers? Antony had worked out or watched movies, or demanded to go out whenever Trevor offered to cook. What had he seen in the guy?

Antony hadn’t even managed to get killed off properly. Trevor hadn’t been able to concentrate on staking the bastard—hey, there was an idea, Antony the vampire, done in by— By—

The agent of doom had to be something Antony would loathe. A busty young woman in sparkling clothing? Note to self, work on plot.

No, his last two books had been romances: Lumberjacks in Love demanded to be written and had poured out of his keyboard. Same with Dog Trainers in Denial. Hey, the readers asked for more, and nobody but Trevor had ever yearned to see Antony bleed on the page. Even Don, who’d called Antony an idiot and a jerk, hadn’t asked for literary vengeance.

Shoveling everything into the baking dish, Trevor had to ask, “I want to kill off a character. What’s a good way to dispose of the body?”

“Don’t know where your character is, but around here I’d drop him down an old mine shaft.” Don helped Trevor bend over to shove the dish in the oven. “Killing him first is optional if it’s deep enough.”

Trevor stood up fast enough to clack Don’s teeth. “Good Lord, does this town have a really high murder rate?”

Don rubbed his jaw. “Not really. Everyone knows everyone, they keep track. That’s the upside of your neighbors knowing what’s cooking in your pot. Might need to write the cop as a federal agent and the victim as someone everyone wants gone.”

“I see.” Trevor could write the dedication page now. “Thanks to Don, the kindest man with the most bloodthirsty imagination”. Note to self, remember this: it would sell. “We have forty-five minutes to food. Sex first or e-mail first?”

Don grinned. “You’re dying to read that e-mail.”

Trevor snorted. “Sez you. Off with the clothes, cowboy.”

****************

Dumped by his movie star boyfriend, writer Trevor Cunningham trades the glitz, glamour and pricey house in Hollywood for a quaint turn-of-the-century bungalow in Copper Bluff, Montana. This infuriated author’s going to write a gruesome death for his ex, a big change from his best-selling gay romances. Now, instead of fighting traffic on Melrose Avenue, Trevor's trying to chop firewood with his puggle Sabrina by his side.

Don Harper’s lived his whole life in this faded boom town. Need a house weatherproofed? Need a fence built? Have an old mine shaft open up? Call Don Harper! Don’s never been sure there are other men who want what he wants, but he spies books on Trevor’s shelves, books with men loving men.

The mutual attraction is there from the get-go, but how is a mountain man supposed to fit into a Hollywood kind of life? And how can Trevor realize he’s worth Don’s masculine attentions?

They’ll both find out when winter turns to spring. Because spring is shaft season.

Shaft Season by Devyn Morgan is a standalone novella with a first time relationship, a lovable designer dog, and an HEA.

A picture is worth...

Lunch for pals? Want to tell us about it in 100-1000 words? Directions here. 

Afterburn by E.Davies

Title: Afterburner
Author: E. Davies
Purchase or read on Kindle Unlimited at Amazon
Cover Artist: Resplendent Media
Genre: contemporary
Length: 60k Est
Formats MOBI

“This guy is boyfriend material.”

Santa Barbara firefighter Liam Knight is in hot water for showing up late after chasing yet another pretty guy into bed. It's just an accident—Liam's never let hookups get in the way of work before. He only agrees to therapy to keep the chief happy. When he bumps into a pretty guy working in the craft store below his apartment, Dylan seems like the perfect thing to relieve Liam's stress... until he catches Liam's interest and protective instinct, not just his eye.

“I'm not good enough for him.”

The only thing Dylan Waters needs less than the distraction of love is the alternative medicine his mother wants to foist him into. He's juggling part-time jobs at a therapy office and craft store while attending college to become an art therapist. Worse, he's about to transfer to a huge campus, but his childhood left him afraid of crowds. When hunky firefighter Liam blusters into his PTSD knitting support group, Dylan spots the familiar signs of a man hiding from his past, but he can't stop thinking about him.

“It was nothing. I thought I was over it.”

It's more than fleeting attraction between them, but Dylan's stubborn fear of help and Liam's low self-esteem are a deadly combination. When it all goes up in smoke, they only have themselves to blame. Can Liam get to Dylan in time to save him and the one relationship that could make him believe in love?

I enjoyed this opposites attract story—cute little twink Dylan who knits and freezes up in stressful situations with hunky fireman Liam, who sometimes thinks too much with his small head and not enough with his large one.

Except—are they so opposite? They’ve both got some issues going related to awful incidents in the past, and perhaps the biggest difference is how self-aware they are about how they’re coping. Because Liam’s trying hard not to think about some things that still bubble up to create havoc in his life. Dylan understands where his troubles originated, and is more than a little unhappy that understanding it doesn’t mean it all goes away.

The burn is slow, which is sweet—Liam isn’t one for a lot of small talk first, so getting to really know Dylan before dragging him off to bed is new for him, and hard to do well. He’s putting some effort into it, too. Overlap with the therapy his captain insists he have is a nice bonus, and it’s cute to watch him fight with the knitting needles which Dylan wields expertly.

They have a lot more to work through together and separately that it seems like at first blush, and when Liam pushes too hard on one of the sore spots, it’s enough to make Dylan run.

I liked the author’s style, but kept getting tripped up by assumptions that things work a certain way when it’s either unfamiliar and I just don’t know the details, or when it is familiar and it’s just a little off. Also, why is Dylan surprised by Liam being from Boston? Boston has an accent to give it away. So through the story there are little sprinkles of low level whut? that make it hard to stay immersed.

What started as a flirtation ends up going some really heavy places, and the guys really have to work for their HEA. The frequent thoughts of oh how cute disappear entirely at around the ¾ mark to go really serious, and the tone change was a little disconcerting. But I’m glad they got to their happiness. 4 marbles.

An interview with Roan --Release Day for Sunchaser (Smilodon Pride Book 2)

Release Day
Sunchaser by Beryll & Osiris Brackhaus
Smilodon Pride, Book Two
Genre: Paranormal, Adventure
Length: Novel


Roan has pretended to be a human for long enough. He needs to get out of town and roam the land, as any proper werecat should.

The last thing he wants is his conscience insisting he should save an abused werewolf from a traveling circus first. The very last thing he expects is the local sheriff’s daughter having the exact same idea - and beating him to the punch.

Their rescue goes spectacularly wrong, and suddenly Roan, Betsy and their crippled wolf find themselves fleeing across the US for the Mexican border, chased by the police and vengeful circus fey alike.

Sunchaser is a non-romance, road-movie-ish urban fantasy adventure novel about a werecat drifter, a wide-eyed human girl and a defective werewolf learning that sometimes, family really is the ones you didn’t pick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome, Roan, aka Sunchaser, the sabre-toothed werepanther star of Sunchaser, Smilodon Pride Book 2. His story is available now, and he's here to tell us a little about himself.

Hi, Roan! So glad you could join us today! You’ve been having all sorts of adventures lately, and we’d love to hear more about you.  Please, tell us how you’d like us to say your name.

Hi, and thanks for having me here today. It’s pronounced ‘Rown’, somewhat like ‘rowing’. Though I don’t care much – if I listen up when you call my name, you said it right.

Tell us a little about growing up with three werepanther siblings. Did you pounce on each other a lot? What were your favorite games?

We were quite the handful. We did pretty much everything normal cat kittens would do, only that we were big enough to bowl over an adult human quite early on. Me, Deidre and Connor loved chasing each other all over the place. Connor was always a really good climber, so he'd be up in a tree with me and Deidre trying to reach him. Deidre used to be a real brawler, before she grew up to be as pretty as she is now. Angus, well, he was always different. He loved just sitting somewhere and watching the world go by. Especially birds. He's a veggie, sort of - he doesn't eat birds. Loves them to pieces. That's why we call him Birdfeeder, obviously. One time Deidre ate one of his favorite birds and he STILL doesn't shut up about it today.

How old were you when you first shifted? Was it human to panther or panther to human? What was the strangest thing about your new shape?

We were born in our panther shape. I think I was about two years old when I first shifted? Something like that. I don't really remember what it was like, but my father loves to tell the story about it, when he suddenly had a naked boy crawling out of the house, entirely unconcerned that his human shape was not as sturdy. According to him, it didn't take me long to figure out that hands and fingers do have some advantages and after that, I was even harder to keep an eye on. Connor was actually the last of us to shift. Funny, since he now seems to enjoy his human form most. But he's always been really cuddly with humans. Little Softpaw.

Do other animals recognize the feline part of you when you’re in human shape? How do they react?

That depends very much on how smart they are. Other cats always know. Most prey animals, too. Horses are funny. The smart ones get it and get nervous, while the dumb ones just stand there and ignore you. Dogs barely ever notice. Dumb mutts. Birds too. Really stupid.
 

This handsome fellow is Roan’s brother Connor.  Those are some fearsome fangs! Are yours that long? How are they for hunting?

Connor is actually the smallest of our litter. In panther-form, that is. Deidre is the biggest, ‘cause females are generally bigger than males in our family. We don't talk about her teeth, though, for... reasons... I'm a little smaller than Deidre, and Angus is somewhere between me and Connor. And yes, those sabreteeth are awesome for hunting. Well, for the killing bite. To bring prey down, we use our claws. Occasionally, those teeth do get in the way when you sit down and eat what you killed, but that’s really minor.  Mostly, those teeth are just super-impressive, getting you the respect and admiration you deserve. *adds a toothy grin*

Your book cover has a picture of you and your buddies Betsy and Martin. Do you ever groom them when you’re shifted? How do they feel about that?

I only groom Martin and only when I'm feeling very generous. And he better be very grateful when I do. Betsy's skin is too soft for a proper grooming. I tried grooming her hair once, though that was just a mess. Not doing that ever again. She gives great belly rubs, and that’s about all she does when we’re lying in a pile. And she washes Martin, cause Wolves apparently don't groom much? Or at least he doesn't.  
 
 ***************************
I'll be reviewing Sunchaser here in the enxt couple of days, but it's not a spoiler to say it was a great read. It's not m/m romance, but it's a super read for urban fantasy, so set your expectations on danger and adventure, and get a copy here.

Buy Links
Amazon US: 
Amazon UK:
Amazon DE:
Amazon AU:

Giveaway
Prizes: 2 ecopies of Softpaw, Smilodon Pride, Book One
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Start your journey with Book One in the Smilodon Pride series:
Softpaw: Reviewed here with 5 marbles

Connor’s life used to be the dream of any cultured werecat. He spent his days in Paris’ gay quarter with comfortably little real work, playing the piano, surrounded by art, fine food and good friends. Now, a feral vampire preys on the prostitutes of ‘his’ quarter, killing the boys of the Marais one by one.

When Connor invites a newly arrived hooker to stay on his houseboat, the last thing he expects is Michel to be a member of the Brigade Criminelle - a troubled, hunky rookie cop sent undercover to explore Connor’s connection to the murders, picked mostly because he had been a boy of the Marais himself, not so long ago.

Hiding their true natures becomes a problem for both when their initial attraction becomes much more than they ever thought possible. But in order to bring down the serial killer and maybe have a chance at making their relationship work out, one of them will have to take the first, critical leap...
Amazon US:
Amazon UK
ARe: 
Smashwords:
B & N: 
Kobo: 
iTunes: 

About the authors

Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus are a couple currently living their happily ever after in the very heart of Germany, under the stern but loving surveillance of their cat.

Both of them are voracious but picky readers, they love telling stories and drinking tea, good food and the occasional violent movie. Together, they write novels of adventure and romance, hoping to share a little of their happiness with their readers.

Beryll
An artist by heart, Beryll wrote stories even before she knew what letters were. As easily inspired as she is frustrated, her own work is never good enough (in her eyes). A perfectionist in the best and worst sense of the word and the driving creative force of the duo.

Osiris
An entertainer and craftsman in his approach to writing, Osiris is the down-to-earth, practical part of the team. Broadly interested in almost every subject and skill, with a sunny mood and caring personality, he strives to bring the human nature into focus of each of his stories.

Website: http://www.brackhaus.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Osiris-Brackhaus/100011014541510
Twitter: https://twitter.com/brackhaus