A Little bit of Country by Christiane France

Title: A Little Bit of Country
Author: Christiane France
Cover Artist: Trace Edward Zaber
Publisher: Amber Allure
Publisher Buy Link: A Little Bit of Country
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 16k

When misfortune ended Max Mayler’s career as a singer, he bought The Showtime Bar, an establishment with a long history of giving aspiring artists an opportunity to showcase their talents. It’s where Max got his chance, and he wants to continue the tradition.

Jay Ferman has the exceptional voice and the sexy good looks to make it big, and although he’s been performing every Saturday night for weeks, no one pays him any attention. It could be canned music for all they seem to know or care.

Max quickly realizes the problem is Jay’s failure to truly connect with his audience. But, as Max tells one of his servers, he operates a bar and not a school for wannabees. He likes Jay, but his performance deficit is none of Max’s business.

But will Max make it his business and give Jay some much-needed advice, especially after the men connect in a very personal way?

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

Max uses his bar as a talent launch, since he got his start here and gives other performers the opportunity. So it’s a little contradictory that he’s so standoffish about actually giving critique to someone who’s got most of what it would take to make it. It’s not explicitly an open mike night, or an open mike place in general, so Max’s refusal to say even “You might want to make some eye contact,” is a little weird. If he’s trying to give folks a start, they wouldn’t be surprised he’s supportive, and since he was fairly successful, he might even know what he’s talking about. Most aspiring musicians would treat this like gold.


Max seems to be trying to blend into the woodwork, and his explanation of why doesn’t ring true. Getting punched in the mouth for an opinion suggests he was pretty overbearing when he gave it, and now he’s willing to let a promising singer fall flat without a word. Big change, and one I wasn’t convinced of.

So I found Max contradictory and hard to warm up to, and since a lot of things were stated two and three times over, in his first person dialog and in the surrounding text, it kept me at a distance.
Jay was easier to connect to. Clueless but willing to learn, he was a warmer character, and was the one to reach out to Max, who’s still pulling away. Jay can take instruction, up to a point, and that point was where it fell apart for me. He misconstrues a helpful comment in a bizarre way, and Max’s rationalizations for it made me grit my teeth. The whole segment was forced, and even though Jay later admits he was wrong, he then proceeds to go overboard in the opposite direction.

And Max goes for it. Instant happy ever after, completely unsupported. This was so out of the blue that I couldn’t buy into it at all, as if the story was missing several thousand words of getting from point A to point B.

The sections of this story I was happiest with were the sex scenes, which didn’t go for too much too fast. Their first time was sweet, for a quicky in the office, and their second was hot and a little fumbly, which made me smile.

The sex wasn’t enough to rescue the story, unfortunately. Between the repetitions in the text and hard to believe plot points, this story didn’t work very well for me. 2 marbles

A Picture is worth...

What's going on here? Any snippets or excerpts that apply? Any ficlets? 100-1000 words is great.  Look here for directions.

Lori Toland's Dangerous Submission, with giveaway!

Welcome, Lori Toland! Lori's here to tell us a little about her new release, Dangerous Submission, now out from Loose Id. I thought the whole setting was very intriguing, and just had to find out more. 

She'll be popping in and out today to answer questions, and Lori's even giving away some fabulous prizes! Be sure to sign up below for your chance to win one $50 gift card of the winner’s choice to Loose Id, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or ARe, and one $25 gift card of the winner’s choice to Loose Id, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or ARe.

Is SOCA a real agency or based on a real agency? How did you decide how to place your agent?

Lori: This is such an awesome question! 

SOCA, which stands for Serious Organised Crime Agency, is a real UK agency that focuses on organized crime in the UK. They cover everything from smuggling, such as animals, people and counterfeit items, to illegal drugs, mainly anything that involves organized crime, such as the business that gangs of criminals run to fund their crimes. They have been in the news several times regarding drug busts in UK waters. 

The true problem lies in researching their organization, which has been like trying to catch a unicorn. Because of their secretive nature and undercover work, they’re not very forthcoming with their ideas and methodology on solving their crimes, much like other government agencies around the world that fight crime.

That also gave me a very open playground to do whatever I want. SOCA has wide sweeping powers inside the UK and probably works with Interpol on solving crimes. In this day of international travel and information traveling faster than a heartbeat, the authorities have their hands full with terrorism and agencies do work together across borders to stop crime.

In Dangerous Submission, I do have a representative from Interpol working with Drake and Robbie on their mission in Prague, where they go undercover at a BDSM party to make contact with Stefan Zuliani, one of the big players in a crime ring that stretches across Europe. In this wealthy world, appearances are everything. Drake and Robbie go all out to fit the bill but not everyone is exactly what they seem.

And here's more about this steamy adventure:

British Agent Drake Steele never thought when he was hired on at the Serious Organised Crime Agency that his job would involve spanking a co-worker. But when the colleague is Lord Robbie Covington, the sexy red-headed computer hacker for SOCA and MI-6, Drake can't agree fast enough to pop Robbie's cherry and pull him into the sensual world of BDSM.

Now they are caught up in a web of lies as they pose as members of the jet-setting crowd. Drake and Robbie have to race against the clock to stop a weapons haul that could threaten the safety of all Europe. As their covers begin to fade and danger is closing in, protecting Robbie is Drake’s most important task, but neither man is ready for the moment when their hearts are put on the line.

Of course we need a sample, which I have to park behind the cut, because, well, you know... ;) It's a bit naughty. Go on, read, and then sign up for a chance to win.



His eagerness to get started made me smile. I grabbed his shoulder and stopped. “Maybe you should take your shirt off before you get strapped in.”

He glanced down at it and took off his black thick-framed glasses. The apology he gave was muffled as he pulled his polo shirt off. Pale skin without a freckle anywhere on his slender frame made my mouth water. Unlike me, he had very little hair on his chest, just a tuft in the middle and a few stray hairs circling his flat brown nipples.

Encircling his slender wrist, I noticed how big my fingers appeared next to him. I guided his arms up and snapped the cuffs in place one by one. Once he was secure, I pulled on his bonds to make sure he couldn’t move too much.

Robbie pulled on them as well before he looked over his shoulder at me. “Why do you need to tie me down?”

“Because I’m not going to have you endanger yourself if you decide to move midstrike.”

Satisfied with my answer, he nodded, but as he turned away, he swallowed hard. He needed compassion but also needed to be aware of my competency.

I leaned in, placing my hand on his bare back to bring his attention to me. “Let’s get something straight right now. I won’t be questioned by you. You will do as I say, or I will turn you over my knee and spank you, regardless of where we are or who is in front of us.”

He flushed. “Anywhere, anytime?”

“Yes.” I punctuated the word with a crack of my whip.

He jerked, startled by the sound. “I’ll remember that, Sir,” he said.

As close as I was, the heat coming off him soaked through my clothes and into my body. He shivered, and it reverberated through every inch of my body. “Are you cold?” I asked.

“I’m fine, Sir.” The underlying tremor in his voice belied his calm demeanor, and he stayed tensed in anticipation of my next move. With him bound and waiting for my next touch, a heady thrill of power flowed through me.

If I stepped directly behind him, I was almost tall enough to notch my chin on the top of his head. The cologne he wore wafted up to me, and the dark scent beckoned me to come in closer.

Unable to resist temptation, I bowed my head to press my lips against his shoulder. He tasted salty from the light sheen of sweat, and the smell of his cologne mixing with his musk pushed me past the point of intelligent thought.

Without taking my mouth away from his delectable skin, I whispered, “These chains are also good for keeping you at my mercy. I can do anything I want, and there’s not much you can do to stop me.”

I expected him to stiffen against me in protest, but his eager cry came as a shock. “God, Drake, yes!” He shoved his hips back against me, the cleft of his arse sliding down my rock-hard prick.

******
Whoo! So who is this writer of hot stuff?


CEO by day, erotic romance writer by night, Lori Toland lives in Orlando where the summers are hot but the romance between her characters is even hotter. Writing since the tender age of 13, Lori somehow finds time to play video games and watch movies while taking care of her beloved cats and a husband who will forever be her hero.

Find Lori at her Website, Twitter, or Facebook page.

Dangerous Submission is available at Loose Id, Amazon, and All Romance eBooks.

Click here to enter Lori's drawing for one $50 gift card of the winner’s choice to Loose Id, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or ARe, and one $25 gift card of the winner’s choice to Loose Id, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or ARe.

Cryselle, thank you for having me by!

You're welcome, and here's where else Lori will be soon:

The Risque Redhead Reads
Smardy Pants Book Blog


5/2/13
Italian Brat's Obsessions
Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews


5/3/13
Momma's Books
Blackraven's Erotic Cafe


5/6/13
Harlie Williams, Writer
Cryselle's Bookshelf


5/7/13
Kinky Book Reviews
A Little Fiction of Every Flavour


5/8/13
What's On the Bookshelf
Michelle Graham, Erotic Romance


5/9/13
Guilty Pleasures
Scorching Book Reviews


5/10/13
Seductive Musings
Ramblings From This Chick


5/13/13
Erzabet's Enchantments
Regina May Ross's Blog


5/14/13
Sunset Reader Reviews
Mrs Condit & Friends Read Books


5/15/13
Passionate About Books
Shh Moms Reading

A Sticky Wicket in Bollywood by T.A. Chase and Devon Rhodes

Title: A Sticky Wicket iin Bollywood
Author: T.A. Chase and Devon Rhodes
Cover Artist: Posh Gosh
Publisher: Total E-Bound
Publisher Buy Link A Sticky Wicket in Bollywood
Amazon Buy Link: Sticky Wicket in Bollywood
Genre: Bollywood, contemporary
Length: 155 pages

A handsome Bollywood actor must choose between his career and a rugged cricket player from his past, who he’s fallen in love with…again.

Rajan Malik has the world of Bollywood in the palm of his hand—a beautiful girlfriend, starring roles, adoring fans… He should be happy, but behind the façade lies a man conflicted and exhausted by the pressure placed on him by his terminally ill mother, his agent and society. His life is not his own, and all he wants to do is escape.

Indian Premier League cricketer Ajay Singh can’t believe how bad his university roommate Rajan looks when he spots his picture in the paper. They had parted on bad terms. Still, he’s moved to offer Rajan his support by renewing their friendship.

But friendship was not all they shared back then. Though Ajay is out, Rajan isn’t willing to give up his carefully cultivated Bollywood image to be with him publicly. And with very little privacy, it won’t take long for someone to find out they are more than friends.

Their renewed secret affair is fraught with difficulties as they deal with the death of Rajan’s mother, the secret of Rajan’s till-now absent father, a jealous friend, the intrusive media and threatening notes from someone who seems to know all about their private lives…

It’s a bit of a sticky wicket they find themselves in. Will it be too late when they finally realise that they’ll both need to compromise, or they’ll stand to lose everything?

Review

After that blurb there just isn’t much I can put as a spoiler, so.…

I don’t know much about Bollywood, other than India has a thriving movie industry and that very often where a Western film would insert a love or sex scene, the actors break out into song and dance instead. So guarding the public image of the biggest stars in a way that made Rock Hudson’s marriage to Phyllis Gates look like a weak effort seemed right in character.

The bulk of the story takes place in India and amongst the wealthy who never get into documentaries, and the life looked very comfortable. The big inconvenience was dealing with traffic. I didn’t exactly feel transported into either that part of the world or the lives of the MC’s, but it kept me interested. The third person POV didn’t feel especially deep, which kept my involvement with the characters a little more superficial than engaged.

Rajan seems to have stumbled into stardom as a result of ferocious pushes from behind: his mother was a former Bollywood star who was certainly living vicariously though him. How a man whose heart isn’t in it can be bullied into the top tier of something he doesn’t want was a bit of a mystery, but saying “Yes, Maa” to anything she wanted was easier than saying no. Especially with her health for a guilt card. Rajan’s mother was the driving force behind most of the action, past and present. I wanted desperately for him to grow a set and tell her, or anyone, no. The only one Rajan could say no to for any reason was Ajay, which cost him some likeability. He's tired now, but he's also abdicated living his life to other people a long time ago.

Ajay, the top cricket player, was a national star in his own right, and openly gay, something Rajan’s mother had HUGE issues with, costing them the relationship when they were young. Ajay’s still dealing with how Rajan walked out of his life back in their university days, and now that he’s being offered what he missed so much from before, he’s right to be wary about how much commitment he’s being offered from a man who mostly exists as other people’s fantasies.

The secondary characters had quite a lot of life on page: Rajan’s mother certainly dominated the book, his costar Karishma has some spark to her, as does Ajay’s fellow cricketer Neel, all of whom pretty much overshadow Rajan for the strength of their opinions. A few deathbed secrets raised eyebrows—how could a person feels as they did and them behave as they do kept running through my mind.

I enjoyed the story as a look into another culture, but the romance didn’t jump off the page for me, mostly because of Rajan’s lack of spine, and some places where the exposition takes the place of action. Don’t tell me there were riots over a cricket game back when, show me the fans pushing on the sides of the car. The flatness of such details took away from what could have been a vibrant story, but it’s a pleasant afternoon’s read. The story is deeply discounted both at the publisher and at Amazon for a limited time, to 99 cents, so get a copy and let me know if you agree or disagree.  
3.5 marbles

Stealing the Dragon by Mell Eight

Title: Stealing the Dragon
Author: Mell Eight
Cover Artist: London Burden
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Publisher Buy Link Stealing the Dragon
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Length: 27k words

Stealing from a dragon's hoard is never a bright idea, but stealing from a baby dragon's hoard can lead to tears, sniffles, and smoke in the middle of a busy marketplace.

Jerney, a witch who does work for a well-known thieves' guild, knows exactly who's to blame for the brazen theft. With no other choice in the matter, he quickly becomes entangled in trying to help the baby dragon. What he doesn't expect is that his own heart might get stolen in the process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The promised baby dragon really is a baby—he might look like he’s a seventeen year old human (probably the author’s signal that “yes, I know he’s too young for a sexy story”) but in dragon years that makes him more like a bright four year old. Tori’s adorable, and part of his problem is that even people who know better treat him the way his human form looks, not in an age-appropriate manner.


Uncle Bast, for instance, (that’s Prince Bast to everyone else) thinks Tori’s mature enough to handle an investigation, but if it’s anything more complicated than “who ate the cookies?” he’s really, really wrong. Sending him to the market alone is a lot like sending him to play in traffic.

The traffic in this world is horse-drawn, with a medieval feeling level of technology and a developed magic system. Practitioners absolutely have to be literate and attain levels of skill as they can master them. That’s where we get Jerney, who has to teach himself as he can from others’ magic books. He’s valuable to his wicked uncle/stepfather because he can be sold, and once his mother is out of the way, he will be. Jerney’s an enterprising child and becomes an enterprising young man---he finds a way out of the horrid fate wicked uncle plans for him, his younger brother, and infant half-sister, and comes to prosper. We see enough of his childhood and youth to know his world and circumstances, and he’s in his mid-twenties before he meets the baby dragon. Jerney’s a likeable character, he’s moves in the reality of his world without being hardened by it, and his family feeling is very strong.

When an impetuous thief steals one of Tori’s treasures, we’re set off on a rollicking adventure where the theft must be sorted and wider plots revealed and solved. Both characters’ strengths and weakness contribute to the plot, and the resolution is very satisfactory. Good fun!

Both characters have POV scenes, and the voices are dramatically different, which I thought was good characterization and also part of my unease with this story. Jerney’s voice matures as he goes from a bright six year old to a competent young man, and Tori sounds like the kid he is. So far so good. Then mix the sexual element in here, and it gets a little squicky.

Let me emphasize that there is absolutely no contact between the characters aside from an over-exuberant kiss that Jerney shuts down immediately because it is inappropriate, the action of a child who is learning how to behave and has skipped ahead in his own timeline. Everybody’s clear on this, even Tori, eventually. But the issue has been raised, and the inescapable conclusion is that Jerney’s going to be celibate for the next thirty years, and I don’t even want these ideas floating around in a story where one of the characters comes across as four years old.

There are a couple of secondary relationships in the background. Tori’s much older brother Nyle has a male lover, and their story appears in another book in this series which I plan to read. Jerney’s younger brother is now a young man, and there’s a hint of someone’s interest in him. That was probably meant to be reassuring that the other party wouldn’t do something inappropriate with a child, but it’s actually sort of creepy in an “I’ve been waiting for you to grow up” way.

So where my problems lie with this story is that it’s trying to be everything to everyone. It doesn’t work as a romance, because Tori isn’t a romantic candidate—he’s a child, and not even saying there’s enough lag time to let him grow up will make this work for me. It does work on the adventure/fantasy level, which I enjoyed very much. A version of this story that had all sexual/romantic elements excised (except please leave Nyle and Leon as an established couple) I would put into any eleven year old’s hand. But Tori is just too child-like to make his actual age a consideration. YMMV. 3 marbles

A picture is worth...

Time for another aww.... inducing picture. We haven't had a shifter in a while, so what might these two kings of the jungle be up to? Look here for directions. 100-1000 words is great.

Slam! by JL Merrow

Title: Slam!
Author: JL Merrow
Cover Artist: Kanaxa
Publisher: Samhain
Buy Links: Publisher, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 275 pdf pages


Limericks, lies, and puppy-dog eyes…

Jude Biggerstaff is all the way out and loving it—mostly. The Anglo-Japanese university graduate is a carnivore working in a vegan café, an amateur poet with only one man in his life. His dog, Bubbles.
Then there’s “Karate Crumpet”, a man who regularly runs past the café with a martial arts class. Jude can only yearn from afar, until the object of his affection rescues him from muggers. And he learns that not only does this calm, competent hunk of muscle have a name—David—but that he’s gay.

Jude should have known the universe wouldn’t simply let love fall into place. First, David has only one foot out of the closet. Then there’s Jude’s mother, who lies about her age to the point Jude could be mistaken for jailbait.

With a maze of stories to keep straight, a potential stepfather in the picture, ex-boyfriends who keep spoiling his dates with David, and a friend with a dangerous secret, Jude is beginning to wonder if his and David’s lives will ever start to rhyme.

Warnings: Contains a tangled web of little white lies, a smorgasbord of cheesy limericks, a violin called Vanessa, some boots that mean business, and the most adorable little dog ever. Poetry, it’s not...

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

After that blurb, the question isn’t what happens, it’s how. And it’s fun.

Stream of consciousness barely contained, that’s Jude. He’s flamboyant, funny, and when he bleeds internally, he bandages it with another joke. He’s head over heels for David, but what doesn’t go strange in one way goes strange in another. JL Merrow has “frequently been accused of humor” and this story earns her the shaky finger again, in the best way.


Opposites—Jude looks like Gok Wan, only prettier and gayer, and David’s so butch Jude’s not sure he’s gay—the man hasn’t seen a musical in years, and likes watching football. David’s got reason—he works construction in the management end of the business, but he’s not out at work and doesn’t plan to be any time soon. We don’t have any scenes from his POV, but that’s okay, Jude can rattle along for three.

Emitting limericks at irregular intervals to express his anxiety or frustration, Jude keeps us smiling, even when we’d like to whap him for withholding pertinent information from David. Granted, it seems rational at the time, but it does create a sequence of Big Misunderstandings. I can’t summarize better than this brief sequence, where Jude and David have gone on their first real date. Rescuing Jude from some gay-bashers isn’t exactly social life after all.

He shrugged. “I’ve never really been into gay bars. I’d rather go to a normal pub. Uh, does that come off as a bit homophobic?”

I swallowed my last mouthful of saltimbocca. “Yeah, but I’ll let you off because (a) you’re gorgeous and (b) I think my mouth just had an orgasm.” Dreamily, I put down my fork. “Although on second thoughts, that’s not a great mental picture when you’ve just eaten. We have got to come here again.”

“If you like. I’m still hoping to persuade you to try the raw fish at TTY.”

Oops. That again. I bit my lip. Should I come clean and tell him it was all to do with Stinky Cheese Guy?

He’d understand, and then we could have a laugh about it…

I grimaced. Yeah, right. Because it’s always so attractive, finding the guy you’re out with is still hung up on his Evil Ex.

David laughed. “Why do I get the impression I just missed a whole conversation taking place in your head?”

That last sentence—really important.

The supporting characters shore everything up nicely: best gal pal Keisha keeps Jude grounded and provides a sharp foil for his wit, and Mom is a hoot. Mom has a younger boyfriend and a couple of secrets, which slop onto Jude and incidentally demonstrate that he comes by his talent for complications honestly.

In fact, everyone seems to have some way to affect everyone else, and it’s to the author’s credit that this crazy quilt of plot points winds up so neatly. Secrets and confessions fall out of the closet like improperly stored skeletons, and it all winds up as a big AW! in several directions, in spite of the epidemic of foot-in-mouth disease.

The title applies to Jude’s participation in slam poetry fests, where poets recite their work as performance art and are graded by how they affect their audiences. It’s not a huge plot aspect unless it’s needed—this story is more character driven than plot driven, aside from the eventual boy-gets-boy. The limericks are spice rather than meal. I’m very partial to external plot, of which this is rather short: the external elements are subservient to the relationship, and the title theme is nearly invisible for most of the book.

All in all, this is a sweet feel-good-eventually of a story. The Brit flavor is undiluted, not impenetrable to American readers, and is a wonderful antidote to stories where the English charm has been genericized away. If you’re in the mood for flamboyant, funny, British characters and situations, this is the story for you.4.25 marbles