Sunday, December 31, 2017
⛄🎄🎅💗🎅🎄⛄Holiday Season Hi-Jinx 2017 at a Glance⛄🎄🎅💗🎅🎄⛄
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As the New Year approaches and the holiday season comes to an end, I've posted links to all the holiday themed posts that have been on Padme's library since Thanksgiving. It's never too late nor too early to enjoy the magic of the holidays. As we begin 2018, enjoy and experience tales that will spark the holiday spirit within you any and every day. Hope you had a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season and here's to an amazing 2018. 🍻🍹🍸🍷🍻
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12/4/17: Talk Turkey by Bru Baker
12/25/17: Wreck the Halls by Jessica Payseur
11/24/17: The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
12/22/17: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
12/29/17: The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
11/25/17: Unwrapped Hank by Eli Easton
12/2/17: West End by Teodora Kostova
12/10/17: Back Where He Belongs by Isobel Starling
12/24/17: A Christmas Fling by Heidi Cullinan
12/31/17: Trading Tridents by CM Taylor
11/27/17: Make the Yuletide Gay
1/23/18: After Christmas Holiday Reads 2017
11/29/17: Review Tour: Jingle Spell by Chris Ethan
December Book of the Month: Snow Falling by Davidson King
After running from a past destined to kill him, Snow has been hiding on the streets.
Tell nobody your name.
Tell nobody your secrets.
Trust nobody!
These are the rules of the streets.
His entire life changes when he saves an eight-year-old boy from a violent end.
Christopher Manos is one of the most powerful crime bosses in the country.
Don’t ask anyone to do something you aren’t willing to do yourself.
Secrets can get you killed.
Trust nobody!
These are the rules he lives by.
When his eight-year-old nephew disappears, he never expects the boy’s savior to end up being his own.
A man with a dangerous past and a man with a dangerous future find love amidst murder and mayhem. But with Snow's life being threatened at every turn, will Christopher's best be enough to prevent Snow Falling?
When Snow comes upon a little boy in trouble and comes to his aid, he has no plans for it to lead to a new beginning he was just doing what he felt was right. Christopher may be the head of a family that has some questionable tactics but he is an honorable man so when his nephew is saved by a young man in an alley, he offers the man a job. Will either man let the future take root and grow or will their secrets get in the way?
Snow Falling is a masterpiece! That is the best way to explain what I read, nothing more, nothing less. It is a true masterpiece, a gem to be savored. When you factor in that this is a debut novel by the author, well frankly its hard to believe because its just so great. Now, I would be lying if I said I am unfamiliar with the author because I consider her a friend and kindred spirit and I have been cheering her on for several years. I knew her book would be good but even I was overwhelmed at how stunning and heartwarming Snow Falling is.
The characters, from Snow and Christopher to Roy and Bill to Lisa and Maggie, they all bring something to the story and not a single one is "window dressing" or "filler", they all have a part to play in the journey that is found within the covers of Snow Falling. I mention that because that is a rare thing, in my experience there is usually at least one character that could have been removed from the pages and the reader would not miss them but not here. Every character is intriguing in their own way and makes the story better.
As you know, I don't do spoilers so all I'll say in regards to the plot is WOW because I was hooked and had everyday life not got in the way I would have easily read this in one sitting. Talk about an easy read, and don't think I mean "easy" as in simple and short. No, I mean "easy" as in it grabs you from the first page and before you know it half the book is gone and then suddenly you find yourself at the epilogue. I started this review by saying Snow Falling is a masterpiece and I'll end with saying it has heart, no better way to say it: Snow Falling will break your heart, but it will also warm your heart.
RATING:
“Why do you want to know my real name? It’s a name that no longer matters. The day my feet hit the pavement, I was no longer that guy.” I hated that this subject kept coming up.
“I will find out. I have to.”
This was so frustrating. “Why? Why’s it matter?”
“In my line of work, I need to know everything. The more I know, the easier it is to keep my people, my family, and myself safe.”
“I’m not a threat, but if you feel I am, then let me go. I never asked to be here, you haven’t given me a choice. I’ve been tossed plenty of times and each time, I land on my feet.” It was a challenge. A part of me wanted him to let me go so I could sever ties and have the choice taken from me. Another part wanted him to beg me to stay. That need to feel wanted and needed was quickly becoming a problem.
“You’re not a prisoner here. But you and I both know you don’t want to leave, so let’s not do this song and dance.” Christopher approached me. “You said your mother was a nurse. Did you realize you told me?”
“I knew.” Being in a daze never made me unaware. Being unaware was deadly. “It was harmless knowledge. There are millions of nurses all over the world.”
“My mother was a model. It’s how my father met her. They were together from the first day they laid eyes on each other. She passed when I was ten but I remember something she told me once.” He shifted his feet, the show of uncertainty making him seem vulnerable. I wondered if many people got to see this side of him. Was I special?
“What did she tell you?”
“It sounds silly now that I think about it, but in your case, it’s true.” His eyes bored into mine. “We are like a glass. You can have a glass for years, decades even. It will serve its purpose, being filled and drained over and over. Then one day, someone will come along and be a little too hard on it and a tiny crack will form. That fissure will weaken the glass. Every bump and bang. Every mouth that touches it or hand that grips it will contribute to its inevitable shatter.” He stepped closer. “But in its time, it will serve its purpose and when it’s a million pieces of glass, someone will come along and pick it up. They will decide if it should be thrown away or if it’s worth saving.” A tiny smile played on his beautiful lips. “You’re cracked a bit. You feel weakened, but Snow, I think even if you had a million cracks or were a pile of shattered pieces on the floor, you’d be worth saving.”
“Or I’d be trash.” I got what Christopher was saying and it was poetic and poignant, but it wasn’t me. “I’ve been called trash plenty of times. No one looked at my imperfections and thought I was a future mosaic. They looked at me and saw a mess.”
“Until now.”
“I will find out. I have to.”
This was so frustrating. “Why? Why’s it matter?”
“In my line of work, I need to know everything. The more I know, the easier it is to keep my people, my family, and myself safe.”
“You’re not a prisoner here. But you and I both know you don’t want to leave, so let’s not do this song and dance.” Christopher approached me. “You said your mother was a nurse. Did you realize you told me?”
“I knew.” Being in a daze never made me unaware. Being unaware was deadly. “It was harmless knowledge. There are millions of nurses all over the world.”
“My mother was a model. It’s how my father met her. They were together from the first day they laid eyes on each other. She passed when I was ten but I remember something she told me once.” He shifted his feet, the show of uncertainty making him seem vulnerable. I wondered if many people got to see this side of him. Was I special?
“What did she tell you?”
“It sounds silly now that I think about it, but in your case, it’s true.” His eyes bored into mine. “We are like a glass. You can have a glass for years, decades even. It will serve its purpose, being filled and drained over and over. Then one day, someone will come along and be a little too hard on it and a tiny crack will form. That fissure will weaken the glass. Every bump and bang. Every mouth that touches it or hand that grips it will contribute to its inevitable shatter.” He stepped closer. “But in its time, it will serve its purpose and when it’s a million pieces of glass, someone will come along and pick it up. They will decide if it should be thrown away or if it’s worth saving.” A tiny smile played on his beautiful lips. “You’re cracked a bit. You feel weakened, but Snow, I think even if you had a million cracks or were a pile of shattered pieces on the floor, you’d be worth saving.”
“Or I’d be trash.” I got what Christopher was saying and it was poetic and poignant, but it wasn’t me. “I’ve been called trash plenty of times. No one looked at my imperfections and thought I was a future mosaic. They looked at me and saw a mess.”
“Until now.”
Davidson King, always had a hope that someday her daydreams would become real-life stories. As a child, you would often find her in her own world, thinking up the most insane situations. It may have taken her awhile, but she made her dream come true with her first published work, Snow Falling.
When she’s not writing you can find her blogging away on Diverse Reader, her review and promotional site. She managed to wrangle herself a husband who matched her crazy and they hatched three wonderful children.
If you were to ask her what gave her the courage to finally publish, she’d tell you it was her amazing family and friends. Support is vital in all things and when you’re afraid of your dreams, it will be your cheering section that will lift you up.
7th Day of Christmas Author Spotlight: Morticia Knight
M/M Erotic Romance author Morticia Knight enjoys hot stories of men loving men forever after. They can be men in uniform, Doms and subs, rock stars or bikers - but they're all searching for the one (or two!) who was meant only for them.
When not indulging in her passion for books, she loves the outdoors, film and music. Once upon a time she was the singer in an indie rock band that toured the West Coast and charted on U.S. college radio. She is currently working on more installments of Sin City Uniforms and The Hampton Road Club, as well as the follow-up to Bryan and Aubrey's story from Rockin' the Alternative.
B&N / DREAMSPINNER / KOBO
EMAIL: MorticiaKnight@gmail.com
Summary:
Soul Match #1
What is destined cannot be changed.
Chris has had a monumentally bad month. First, an aggressive band of aliens invaded the Earth, conquered the world, and now he’s fighting for survival in the mountains with his family and the neighborhood bigot. Just because he’s barely out of his teens and a bit on the scrawny side doesn’t mean he can’t watch out for his mom, sisters and younger cousin. Chris keeps searching for the brighter side of things, but his humor is wearing thin. Fear can do that to a guy.
Lasar and Nary are a soul matched pair of warriors from Alashar. Lasar is Nary’s Ahna, the one who dominates him, and Nary is the Nasha, or submissive, to Lasar. Every Alasharian, regardless of orientation, needs the balance of the power exchange to exist peacefully within their lifelong soul match bond. When Lasar is awarded a war prize, he sends Nary to look over the recent arrivals.
Chris and his cousin Morgan are captured and sent to the slave cages where they discover from the other imprisoned young men that they are destined to be sex toys for alien pairs. When one of those aliens saves Chris and his cousin from being abused by the slave master, Chris hopes that the seemingly kind alien won’t be too horrible an owner.
Lasar and Nary are finally alone together with their new sex slave, ready to enjoy their reward. However, in the middle of their playtime a shocking event occurs that not only disrupts Chris’ world even more than it already has been, but also challenges everything that Lasar and Nary have always held dear. As Lasar searches for answers, he begins to question the reasons behind the Earth invasion and where his loyalties should really lie. As their Ahna, he must be the one who decides whether they will all be safer together, or apart.
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes involving sounding.
Summary:
The Hampton Road Club #1
Sam is a naïve young man who arrives in Hollywood to escape his brutal father. When the older, sophisticated Aaron rescues him, Sam discovers what it means to fully surrender himself to another.
Eighteen year-old Sam Cunningham is used to living with lots of secrets. He’s had to hide his true nature his entire life or else incur the wrath of his strict and abusive father. When he’s faced with a horrible ultimatum, he flees to Hollywood where he hopes he can escape the fate his father has planned for him.
Aaron Rubenstein is a wealthy and sophisticated man who loses himself in painting portraits of bound men to help stave off his loneliness and despair. Unable to find a lasting connection with anyone, he’s had to resort to paying lovers not only for their affections, but to be allowed to indulge in his darker passions. Aaron’s only respite is his nights at the Hampton Road sadomasochism club where he’s a respected Dominant.
Naïve and inexperienced in the ways men can please one another, Sam takes a job at a bathhouse where he first glimpses a beautiful older man. Aaron notices the sweet towel boy watching him with interest every time he patronizes the Temple of Eros bathhouse. A traumatic incident for the innocent towel boy triggers Aaron’s protective tendencies and he’s compelled to rescue the gentle Sam from the clutches of the Temple’s manager.
They embark on a journey together that teaches them both things about themselves that they never knew. As their bond deepens and Sam is trained for his first night at the Hampton Road Club, an unknown danger lurks. Will Sam’s father find him and destroy both men’s chance for true happiness together? Or will Aaron protect his boy and keep him for always?
Summary:
Sin City Uniforms #1
Officer Shawn Everly patrols the Strip. Fireman Trent Marshall saves him when danger strikes. But it’s uncertain whether Trent can save himself from getting his heart broken by Shawn.
The party never ends on the Las Vegas strip, but neither does the danger. Officer Everly is new to the beat, having recently relocated to Vegas from Los Angeles. Foot patrol on The Strip is a demanding assignment because he’s up close and personal with the public. But what he’d really like to do is get up close and personal with Station 32’s hunky fireman, Trent Marshall.
Trent has been a fireman for over ten years and is dedicated to his job. He’s built tough and is a no-nonsense man of few words. At a local blood drive, Trent meets the handsome new officer on foot patrol, but won’t let himself get too close. He’s lost love before when his policeman lover was killed in the line of fire.
During an emergency, Trent’s over-protective instincts kick in when he believes Shawn is in harm’s way. He ends up embarrassing and angering Shawn in front of their fellow officers, which seems as though it will end any hope of Trent having a chance with the young man he can’t push from his mind.
Shawn can’t decide whether he wants to punch or kiss Trent. Kissing wins. Once they spend some time together away from the stresses of their jobs, they find that they’re not just compatible—they’re combustible.
But Trent can’t seem to accept that there are hazards that come with working in law enforcement. Right as they’re discovering how much they mean to one another, the danger escalates on The Strip. The underground vigilante group, The Citizens Against Immorality, have raised the stakes. Will Shawn and Trent be their next targets?
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of violence and the use of sex toys. It is best read in sequence as part of a series but can be read as a standalone.
Summary:
Gin & Jazz #1
Jack and Nick seek fortune and adventure in the silent film era of Hollywood. But their newly-expressed love is threatened by the heady allure of fame, gin and easy money.
Sweet and innocent nineteen year-old Jack has loved the older and more street wise Nick from almost the first time he met him. Nick has taken care of him ever since Jack arrived in New York after he was beaten and thrown out of the boy’s orphanage for messing around with one of the guys there. They share a passion for silent films and have dreams of heading west to make their fortunes building sets for the studios. If only Nick felt the same passion for Jack, and wasn’t already engaged to a gal back in Philly.
Nick’s temper sometimes gets the best of him, but that’s only because he worries about Jack – Nick is all the poor kid has. But he’s also terrified about the way he’s been feeling towards Jack lately. They’re the kinds of feelings he should be having for his fiancé—Penelope—and never for a man. His only goal is to get them both to Hollywood, where he’s sure they’ll be rolling in the dough in no time, and where everything will all work out the way it should.
Hollywood isn’t exactly what they’d thought it would be. There are plenty of gin joints, jazz, money, parties and sex—but everything comes with a hefty price. Everyone they meet—from Trixie Fox, the ditzy up and coming starlet, to Bernie, the foreman who gets them their first studio job—seems to have a hidden agenda. Can the newfound love between Jack and Nick survive the tawdry mess that makes up the glitz and glamour of the celluloid kingdom, or will their own secrets tear them apart forever?
Reader Advisory: This book contains mild BDSM elements, drug use, and sex-for-hire scenes.
Very hard for me to write a review for Hollywood Bound without any spoiler reveals so I'll just say that I can't help but love Jack, I just want to bundle him up and transport him to the present day real world so I can smother him with hugs. And despite how certain circumstances play out, my heart goes out to Nick, I may not agree with all his decisions but I could definitely sympathize with his motives.
RATING:
Honeymoon Their Way
Summary:
Chad has pined for Raudel since high school, but he’s been avoiding him ever since Raudel caught him in an excruciatingly embarrassing moment. So when Chad’s sister invites Raudel to join them for her weeklong prewedding celebration at Lake Tahoe, Chad is horrified. He brainstorms his escape, until reality crashes down and he discovers he’s bunking with Raudel in the last available bedroom at the lakeside retreat.
Thrown together by the bridal party from hell, Chad and Raudel unite and attempt to survive Chad’s bridezilla sister, a crazy grandmother, an overbearing mother, and the search for the perfect chocolate fountain. Despite the little time they have together, they reconnect when unexpected discoveries come to light. Love may find a way amid the nuptial chaos, but it’s unlikely to be exactly the way they expect.
Rockin’ it Forever
Summary:
Can the touch of a rock god last forever?
Music journalist Bryan Gallagher’s life has completely changed in an unexpected way. Not only has he snagged a dream assignment as the memoirist to alternative music’s rock superstar Aubrey King, but he’s also promised to give the beautiful and enigmatic musician a chance for them to forge a relationship. It’s all very overwhelming for Bryan since, up until he spent a sexually charged day and night with Aubrey, Bryan has never even dreamed of being with a man.
Aubrey is completely smitten with the boyishly handsome, young rock writer, Bryan. After their instant spark grows into something more, Aubrey is desperate to keep Bryan by his side for always. He’s promised Bryan that their love is for real, that Bryan isn’t simply one of his rock star conquests.
Their road isn’t an easy one, though. Despite their deepening bond and growing need for each other, other factors intrude. Neither Aubrey nor Bryan is ready to come out, and their relationship needs to remain a carefully guarded secret. In addition, Aubrey has to answer to the demands of his profession and Bryan has to traverse the shifting waters between his personal and business relationship with his famous lover.
Then a secret is revealed and everything in their joint world implodes. When a love is so strong that two men can barely take a breath without thinking of the other, will that be enough to bridge the loss of trust? The only way they can rock their love forever is if Aubrey can reach Bryan before it’s too late.
Slave for Two
Hesitant Heart
KOBO / iTUNES / GOOGLE PLAY
All Fired Up
B&N / KOBO / PRIDE PUBLISHING
Hollywood Bound
KOBO / iTUNES / GOOGLE PLAY
Honeymoon Their Way
Rockin' it Forever
B&N / KOBO / PRIDE PUBLISHING
Sunday's Safe Word Shelf: Trading Tridents by CM Taylor
DecemberCon 2017. John Perlan, aka YouTuber “SmileyNibor,” has come to the con for one reason and one reason only: to see his idol, actor Derek Kitow. And since Derek has announced he’ll be dressed as the original Aquaman, Perlan decides to come as the Aquaman reboot. It helps that he already has the beard and the bod to make a convincing Momoaman.
But when Derek Kitow makes his entrance, he recognizes Perlan from his tiny YouTube channel and wants him onstage! Has Kitow been following him online? Could SmileyNibor’s hero also be a fan? And what exactly does Kitow have in mind by inviting Perlan to meet him after the panel?
A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2017 Advent Calendar collection Stocking Stuffers.
“It’s a great look for me,” I replied. “I knew I had to try it as soon as I saw it back in Batman v Superman.”
It wasn’t really a great look for me. I don’t have the eyes to pull it off. Mine are brown, not the gray that makes the half-crazed persona of New Aquaman work. But the Chinese website where I’d ordered my Wildly Water Grey contacts let me down. They would probably get here in time for New Year’s, but not in time for DecemberCon.
“No kidding. You’ve been working on that spear-thingy of yours since August. That’s just bad luck, if you ask me. There is no surer way to guarantee that an upcoming movie will completely suck than to cosplay it before it comes out,” said Larry, tightening my plastic pauldron.
Harry and Larry had been my best friends growing up. Still were, mostly. But they had come out together a year and a half ago (that is, together together) and now they were unbearable. Drippy, goofy, finish-each-other’s-sentences, have-no-respect-for-our-woefully-single-bestie unbearable.
“Or that the character that you adored in the preview will be exactly that—Preview Bait. He’ll have four lines that weren’t covered in the preview, and the whole rest of the movie, you’ll spend twiddling your thumbs, waiting for the hotness that you thought was coming to show up on screen. I think you jinxed it,” said Harry.
“There’s no way that a movie that is giving me Jason Momoa dressed like this could possibly suck monkey balls.” I held up the Justice League Aquaman movie poster as evidence.
“Fine. Suck dolphin balls, then,” Larry replied.
“Don’t tell me they screwed up some iconic Aquaman moments. Like that time when he taught an octopus that stealing is wrong,” said Harry.
That was the problem with getting into a comic-related argument with the Arrys. It was like trying to out-geek a Reddit thread.
I had no chance to survive.
Author Bio:
C. M. Taylor was born in California and raised in Houston, Texas. She was raised evangelical and attended a private Baptist school where she was taught the dangers of demons, depravity, Darwin, and Democrats. In that order. She currently lives in Oregon where she has three children who require constant adoration and a house that is largely left to fend for itself. Her domestic skills are poor. Her husband handles the tasks of making money, cooking, and yard work.
She loves all things Final Fantasy (especially VII) and Star Trek (especially Deep Space Nine). Taylor began writing regularly when she discovered fanfiction and realized she had been writing fanfics since grade school. As the fanfiction world is filled with yaoi and crack pairings, the transition to writing LGBTQ+ romance was a logical one. She identifies as pansexual.
KOBO / iTUNES / GOOGLE PLAY
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