Padme's Library: 07/24/18

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Release Blitz: Fusion by Posy Roberts

Title: Fusion

Author: Posy Roberts

Series: North Star Trilogy #2

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: July 24, 2018

Cover Design: Olive Us Designs

Summary:
Kevin and Hugo make plans to blend their lives, but bleak news changes everything. Building a future together is still a priority, but only if their relationship can survive.

Love strengthened by adversity.

Everyone in Kevin’s life knows him as straight rather than bisexual. There was no need to come out until now, but loving Hugo is worth any prejudice he’ll encounter. Hugo does his best to be patient while Kevin navigates his way toward openness, but he refuses to be put back in a closet for long.

Kevin wants to tell his kids without screwing up their newfound stability, and he worries about telling his ex because Erin might use the truth against him to renegotiate custody. Kevin wants it all finalized, but time isn’t on his side.

When Erin gets grim news, it shakes everyone to the core and rips Kevin away from the life he planned with Hugo. The news brings Hugo’s past hurts bubbling to the surface. Yet when Erin turns to Hugo for support, their new connection shows him how essential he is to Kevin and his kids.

Despite the chaos, it’s clear Hugo is very much a part of this unconventional family.

Author Bio:
Posy Roberts started reading romance when she was young, sneaking peeks at adult books long before she should’ve. Textbooks eventually replaced the novels, and for years she existed without reading for fun. When she finally picked up a romance two decades later, it was like slipping on a soft hoodie . . . that didn’t quite fit like it used to. She wanted something more.

She wanted to read about men falling in love with each other. She wanted to explore beyond the happily ever after and see characters navigate the unpredictability of life. So Posy sat down at her keyboard to write the books she wanted to read.

Her stories have been USA Today’s Happily Ever After Must-Reads and Rainbow Award finalists. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with her family and friends and doing anything possible to get out of grocery shopping and cooking.

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EMAIL: posywrites@gmail.com

Fusion #2

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Series

(Pre-Order Flare #3: August 28)

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Blog Tour: Ricochet by Reese Knightley

Title: Ricochet

Author: Reese Knightley

Series: Out for Justice #1

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: July 7, 2018

Cover Design: Morningstar Ashley @ Designs by Morningstar

Summary:
WITSEC victim Noah Bradford knows secrets that could get him killed, and staying hidden seems like a good plan. What he didn’t plan on is losing his heart to a man who is sworn to protect him.

Battle scarred US Marshal Robert “Mac” Mackenzie has a job to do, and guaranteeing the safety of Noah Bradford is at the top of that list. Mac will do whatever it takes to keep Noah safe, even if it means walking away.

Mac and Noah, brought together during extreme circumstances, have been separated by evil. It's been six years, give or take, and Noah is coming for vengeance against the men who killed his mother. He's on a collision course with Mac, who has no idea of the man Noah has become. Sparks fly and the heat sizzles when these two powerful men are reunited, but will they survive the passion the past created?

Noah sat watching Mac through the windshield of the SUV. Mac had gotten off the freeway before pulling over next to a roadside stand. The man got out and bought a bunch of flowers and although Noah wondered why, he didn’t ask.

A few miles down the road, Mac pulled into a cemetery.

“I’ll be right back,” the marshal said after parking the SUV. Mac got out and walked across the grass, avoiding headstones until he stopped before one and placed the flowers in the vase in front of it. He looked so totally alone, standing strong against the wind.

Mac’s lips moved as he talked to the grave, and Noah could tell this was someone important to Mac by the way his fingers lingered on the gray headstone. Something about Mac standing alone near the grave caused a tightness in Noah’s chest, and he found himself leaving the warmth of the SUV.

Mac looked up when he shut the vehicle’s door, and their eyes met across the distance. Noah didn’t approach. He just wanted Mac to know he was there if the man needed him. A moment later, Mac approached and they both silently got back into the vehicle.

“Was that a friend?” Noah asked tentatively.

“Family,” Mac said brusquely, and Noah turned to glance out the window, swallowing the lump in his throat, and then looked back at Mac.

His gaze was drawn to the dark-haired man with a sexy five o’clock shadow growing along a chiseled jawline. Although he couldn’t see it from this side, the scar running down the left side of the man’s face gave Mac a dangerous look. In the close confines of the vehicle, Noah was very aware of the power in Mac’s corded arms and shoulders. The muscular chest he’d been held against during the escape drew his eyes time and again.

Mac took a series of side streets before getting them back to the safe house. Sitting on the couch, he tracked the marshal with his eyes, watching as the man turned on the television and selected a station. Jake and Jenny were on their way back but had stopped for a bite to eat.

He found himself staring at Mac’s trim hips. His eyes darted away before returning after a brief moment to lock on Mac’s ass. Freaking hell, no way would a man like Mac want him. Yet that didn’t stop him from wishing. He would have given anything for Mac to look at him and see someone other than a needy WITSEC victim.

Mac stalked back toward him, and Noah jerked his gaze to the television. Despite feeling displaced and scared, he felt better with Mac nearby. The man hadn’t said a word since they’d returned from the cemetery, and Noah couldn’t figure out what he’d done wrong.

Mac dropped onto the couch next to him. The marshal’s scent reached his nose, and his overactive imagination pictured Mac’s scent on his body and how that would possibly work. His pulse suddenly hummed in his ears. The man’s weight dipped the cushion, and one massive thigh innocently brushed against his leg. Instant arousal hit, and Noah lifted one of the small decorative pillows to clutch in his lap.

Mac scowled at him, and Noah shifted beneath the somewhat angry stare. Again, he wondered if he’d done something wrong. The normally kind man was missing, and in his place was an irritated stranger.

The marshal’s phone rang, and Mac’s eyes narrowed before he answered it.

“Mackenzie,” Mac snapped.

“If you have stuff to do, I’m fine on my-” Noah stopped when Mac shushed him with a stern look.

What is the biggest influence/interest that brought you to this genre?

Many years ago a friend of mine loaned me my first mm romance book. I have been hooked ever since. When I decided to write, I knew before I started my first book that I was going to write an action-packed mm romance. My hope is to bring joy to those who read mm books and also that someone who doesn’t read mm books will become an avid read of the genre.

When writing a book, what is your favorite part of the creative process (outline, plot, character names, editing, etc)?

My story ARC’s come to me first and I write those down and build the outline around it. Once I have enough of an outline I watch it grow as I add more scenes. I’m a scene writer so I write a complete scene in a setting even if it’s not the next part of the book. Lol Oh! And my characters tell me what’s next, so my outlines change a lot. lol

When reading a book, what genre do you find most interesting/intriguing?

I would have to say any MM romantic suspense, action, mystery book. I love the bodyguard MM books, those are my favorites.

If you could co-author with any author, past or present, who would you choose?

There are so many! I’d say if I could have my pick, it would be Mary Calmes and if she was busy, Rhys Ford, and if she was busy A.E. Via.

Have you always wanted to write or did it come to you "later in life"?

I’ve always had characters and stories rattling around in my head. It was sometime during university that I became serious and started writing. Fast forward six years and here I am my first book published!

Author Bio:
A native Californian, Reese spends her time creating stories from the characters rattling around in her head, which has caused her to talk to herself on more than one occasion. Her love for reading mystery, fantasy, action and adventure, and contemporary romance led to her love of writing, which keeps her up day and night. Next to writing comes her love for coffee and wine, in no particular order. When not writing, Reese can be found working a part-time job where she day dreams of writing. She loves to hear from her readers and can be contacted at Reeseknightleyauthor@gmail.com

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Release Blitz: Risk Taker by Lily Morton

Title: Risk Taker

Author: Lily Morton

Series: Mixed Messages #3

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: July 22, 2018

Cover Design: Natasha Snow

Summary:
Being in love with your best friend is hard.

Henry’s the odd man out. All his friends are settling down, and his reputation as the Hook-Up King of London seems more like a curse than a blessing these days. Especially when it keeps photojournalist Ivo, his best friend and the brilliant man he’s loved since they were fifteen, at arm’s length. But that’s where Ivo wants him, right? Putting aside his feelings, Henry decides to give up casual sex and look for the real deal. After all, he has no chance with Ivo - or does he?

Henry is everything to Ivo. Best friend, soul mate, the one person who has never let him down. The one person he is loyal to above everything and everyone. But Henry’s in a box marked best friend and that’s where Ivo’s kept him for nearly twenty years, despite steadily falling in love with the gentle man. And besides, why would Henry want to date Ivo? Burned out and injured, he’s the walking embodiment of damaged.

Distance has helped Henry and Ivo keep a lid on their attraction, but when they find themselves in the same city for a change—Ivo hurt and needing assistance, and Henry more than willing to provide it—the two best friends grow closer than ever, forcing a realization, and a decision. Risk their friendship for their hearts? Or can they have both?

From the bestselling author of Rule Breaker and Deal Maker comes a tender love story about two best friends who are perfect for each other, and always have been - if only they knew it.

This is the third book in the Mixed Messages series, but it can be read as a standalone.

The bell in the shop rings as the door opens, and I smile as I feel his presence behind me.

“Is there a particular reason, Henry, why I am standing in an art supply shop rather than sitting in a perfectly good restaurant eating lunch?”

I shift the basket over my arm and turn to face one of my best friends. “Gabe, you really should be a bit more highbrow. Otherwise, you’ll never keep that pretty totty you’ve got.”

His perfect-looking face scrunches up in disgust. “Totty. What an utterly disgusting word.”

“I know,” I say cheerfully, turning back to the shelf I was perusing and chucking in another tube of Rose Gold oil paint.

“Makes you sound like your father,” he says snippily, and I nudge him.
“Now that’s petty. Anyway, I’m nothing like him. I have all my own teeth, and my complexion is milky-white perfection, if I do say so myself.”

He snorts. “Apart from those freckles.”

I shake my head and touch a finger to my face and my bête noire, the multitude of freckles that span my nose. “I wish that cream I got off the internet at uni had worked,” I say forlornly, and he laughs loudly, making it echo around the shop.

“I did so enjoy the way your face turned that shade of green. Made you look like Grotbags from The Rod Hull and Emu Show.” He reaches over and grabs a tube of paint. “It was this shade precisely. Hmm, Pistachio Green.” He chucks it into my basket, and I patiently remove it and put it back on the shelf.

I toss a couple of tubes of Prussian Blue into the basket while he leans casually against the shelf looking like the perfect picture of a lawyer in his dark grey, hand-tailored suit.

“Why are we here, Henry? Because if you’re thinking of giving up the law and becoming an artist, I really will have to stage an intervention.”

I laugh. “I think I’d make a very good artist.”

“Piss artist, more likely,” he says, poking my arm with one long finger. “So, if we’re not shopping for what would be the shortest career in art history, who are we shopping for?” His gaze sharpens, and I mentally groan because aside from Ivo there is no one who knows me better. “Hmm. Would we be shopping for a six foot four blond photographer who a certain red-headed lawyer has had the hots for, for years?”

“That’s such a non-Gabe expression,” I sneer. “Has Dylan been influencing you?”

He looks startled and shakes his head. “Those fucking phrases of his and Jude’s. They’re messing up my vocabulary. Yesterday one of the senior partners asked me if I was okay and I said I was cool. He went out and asked his assistant to tell maintenance that the building heating needed to be turned up.”

I laugh helplessly, and he gives me a rueful grin. “Don’t distract me, Henry. Is Ivo back?” I nod slowly and his expression darkens. “Is he okay?”

I shrug, picking up a brush and studying it intently so I don’t have to look at him. “Not really. He’s got a hole from a fucking bullet in his side, and broken ribs and bruises all over him from being near a car bomb when it went off.”

“What?” he says instantly. “Is he okay?” Gabe has always had a complicated relationship with Ivo. He loves being with him, and they can talk for hours, but he hates the effect that he unknowingly has on my life.

“He’s fine. Silas checked him over.”

He checks with his hand out to grab the brush from me. “Henry, isn’t Silas a vet?”

I shrug. “He was very good at biology at school.”

“I was good at it too. You don’t see me turning up at St Bart’s Hospital and performing a few appendectomies during my lunch hour though, do you?”

“The only biology you were any good at was the male anatomy kind,” I say tartly, and chuck the brush in the basket.

He smiles. “That I was. I’m a very learned man in that area.”

I snort. “You’re practically PhD material.”

Author Bio:
Lily writes contemporary romance novels, and specialises in hot love stories with a good dose of humour.

Lily lives in sunny England with her husband and two children, all of whom claim that they haven’t had a proper conversation with her since she bought her first Kindle.

She has spent her life with her head full of daydreams and decided one day to just sit down and start writing about them. In the process she discovered that she actually loved writing, because how else could she get to spend her time with hot, funny men!

She loves chocolate and Baileys and the best of all creations – chocolate Baileys! Her lifetime’s ambition is to have a bath in peace without being shouted by one of her family.