Padme's Library

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Blog Tour: Sneaking Out by Chuck Vance

Title: Sneaking Out #1

Author: Chuck Vance

Series: Chased #1

Genre: Mystery, Young Adult

Release Date: March 6, 2018

Publisher: Dunemere Books

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Summary:
Could you sleep next to a murderer?

Luke Chase—yes, that Luke Chase, a modern hero ripped from the headlines—didn’t mean to get caught up in Mrs. Heckler’s murder. He just wanted to hook up with the hot new British girl at St. Benedict’s, and if that meant sneaking out to the woods after hours, then so be it. But little did he know someone would end up dead right next to their rendezvous spot, and his best friend and roommate Oscar Weymouth would go down for it. With suspects aplenty and a past that’s anything but innocent, Luke Chase reluctantly calls on his famous survival skills to find the true killer.

For fans of “A Study in Charlotte” and boarding school lit, “Sneaking Out” (book one in the “Chased” series) immerses readers in the privileged prep school world, with a mystery that exposes the dark side of life on a residential high school campus.

What is the biggest influence/interest that brought you to this genre?
I love mystery and I love crime. It’s just always been that way since I was a child. My favorite board game as a kid was 221 B Baker Street, which was based on Sherlock Holmes’ stories and you had to solve the mysteries. My favorite children’s picture book was THE MYSTERY AT NUMBER SEVEN RUE PETIT. My favorite class in middle school was Law, where we studied all of the most famous court cases. I’ve always been a fan of puzzles—jigsaw and crosswords—so maybe that’s why I enjoy creating puzzles in my head and then turning them into mystery books. I am intrigued by the who done it, and also the why they done it. I also find it interesting that the most banal people can end up being murderers.

When writing a book, what is your favorite part of the creative process(outline, plot, character names, editing, etc)?
It’s very easy to say what I hate about the writing process: I hate outlining, starting a book and inputting edits! Those are my least favorite parts! I love when I am in the middle of writing a book, and particularly, when I have stopped writing and I know exactly what the next chapter will be so when I sit down, it’s all there. I have a real thing about naming characters, I sort through those in my head first and I can’t be influenced by other people’s ideas. I also enjoy creating peripheral characters, the supporting cast, because they all have to be unique and memorable in their own way and that can be fun. I spend time on the backstories of my characters, it really helps to know what they will do in a situation.

When reading a book, what genre do you find most interesting/intriguing?
Crime/Thriller and mysteries are my favorite. My favorite contemporary writer is Michael Connelly and my favorite book of all time is THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt. I really enjoyed reading John Douglas’ true crime books, and I have devoured almost all of Agatha Christie’s books. I am on X in Sue Grafton’s alphabet series, almost done! (sad there is no Z.)

If you could co-author with any author, past or present, who would you choose?
Nabokov. No one had a better command of language than he did. I also admire that not only was he an amazing writer, but he was an expert lepidopterist (he even classified some butterflies) as well as master chess player, accomplished tennis professional and a teacher. The guy was brilliant and in such a variety of areas. I love his playful prose, his vivid descriptions and his sense of humor. (I did my senior thesis on him.)

Have you always wanted to write or did it come to you "later in life"?
I have always wanted to write. Not only that, but I have always written. I always wrote short stories and poetry as a child. When I was an angst-ridden teen, I holed up in my bedroom and unleashed everything on the page of my blue spiral notebooks. Becoming a writer was inevitable to me.

Author Bio:
Chuck Vance is a pseudonym for a bestselling writer of both adult mysteries and novels for young adults. Vance attended boarding school in Connecticut and graduated from Columbia University. Vance has lived in New York, Moscow, London, Paris and Los Angeles and is frequently on the move.

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Release Day Blitz: Heartbeats by Jenna Kendrick

Title: Heartbeats

Author: Jenna Kendrick

Series: Connections #1

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: March 13, 2018

Cover Design: Dianne at Lyrical Lines

Summary:
When Andrew Palmer and his husband decide to expand their family, they use a surrogate to carry their baby. On the day they get the happy news they're expecting, Andrew is blindsided when Mason asks him for a divorce and moves out, taking their daughter with him. Instead of counting down the days until the twins' birth with his partner, Andrew's fighting for every moment of time with his daughter and readying himself to become a single father.

Orphaned at a young age, Bradley Stern has always wanted a family to call his own. He’s done everything possible in preparation to become a single father including finding a surrogate to carry his child. Knowing he’s going to have two babies to care for means double the love, and he can hardly wait the last few months for his twins to be born.

When Andrew and Bradley each get a call about a tragic car accident and premature delivery, they discover their surrogate has promised the twins to both of them. As they wait for paternity results and watch the babies struggle to survive, they turn to each other for comfort. Only one man will walk away with what both want most, but now he'll also take the other man's heart, as well.

“Surely you can tell me something. How are my babies?” Bradley raked his fingers through his hair, barely resisting pulling it out by the handful. No telling what it looked like, but he left it firmly attached to his scalp.

“Mr. Stern, as I’ve already said, someone will be out for you shortly.” The NICU nurse’s voice straddled a fine line between professional courtesy and annoyance. “Now, are you going to wait patiently, or do I have to ask security to escort you out of the hospital?” As he turned away, the glass divider between the info desk and the waiting area rattled with more force than the last time he’d demanded answers. Too bad, because he wasn’t budging until he knew what was happening to his twins and their surrogate.

For all that the hospital had tried to create a welcoming environment, the empty waiting room stank of lost hopes, stale coffee, and the astringent smell that lingered in all hospitals. If he sat, he’d be swallowed up by the despondency that clung to the chairs. Instead, he walked. Fourteen steps up the hall, fourteen steps back, just far enough for it to be considered pacing and not hovering. He’d practically worn a trench into the hardwood floor. It’d been hours already—he glanced at his watch—no, more like twenty minutes. No wonder the staff was losing patience. Time was standing still.

His mouth opened in an overly loud yawn that had him looking right and left with embarrassment, but it was too early for anyone other than hospital staff to be milling about. The inscrutable nurse didn’t even look up from her computer screen.

The adrenaline rush from racing to get here battled with the exhaustion of having been awake for over twenty-four hours. After a long week in New York City filled with frustrating meetings and high-profile events with Uncle Richard and his merry band of blowhards, he’d been unable to stand one more night there. Every car horn and squeal of brakes from the street below set him on edge, and come morning, Richard would have one more piece of business, one more person he needed to meet. Any excuse to keep him nearby and try to wear him down. He’d just wanted to get home to his mountain, treacherous roads in the middle of the night be damned, and he’d called down for his Tesla Roadster before he so much as loosened his tie. Halfway to Egremont, he’d received the call that had him veering east to Springfield.

The same refrain haunted him as it had the rest of the drive. I’m not ready. I’m not ready. Never mind that this was the culmination of a long-held dream. Making lists of baby supplies and everything he needed to decorate the nursery was a far cry from having checked so much as a single item off said lists. But none of that was important right now. He’d deal with the nursery and all the rest once he knew his babies were well.

They’re not ready, either. He’d been reading about fetal development week-by-week throughout the pregnancy, not that he could recall a single useful fact right now. Fingernails and blinking—the parts he’d been so excited about a couple days ago—suddenly took a back seat to lung development. He swallowed the knot in his throat and reached into his pocket. No. Already a hair’s breadth from losing his shit, Googling worst-case scenarios wouldn’t help him avoid being kicked out of the hospital for causing a disturbance.

Stomping feet and labored breaths caught his attention as two men ran down the hall. One pointed at the chairs, then approached the nurse’s station, quietly giving his name. His companion, jacket wide open and sweatshirt clearly inside-out, looked around the area wide-eyed before lurching across the hall to the restroom.

“Did you see where my brother went? A little bit taller, a lot less handsome?”

There was no reply from the nurse. Bradley glanced over to see the man staring back at him quizzically. He pointed at the bathroom just as the door opened.

The brother was indeed taller, by at least a few inches. But his dark blond hair, bright blue eyes, and muscles for days rendered him a hundred times sexier than the first guy.

Judging from the greenish cast to his skin, he was also either hungover or sick. Bradley stepped away in distaste, leaving the other men to melt into the chairs of despair while he resumed pacing. Fourteen steps up the hall. Turn. Five, six, seven—

The door to the unit opened. “Who’s here for the Penn twins?”

—Eight, nine. Wait. Penn.

Bradley hurried over to the man in bright blue scrubs. The surgical mask tucked under his chin pulled his ears forward, giving him a slightly elfin appearance. Or maybe lack of sleep and stress were making Bradley as fanciful as the giraffes and elephants painted on the walls.

The nurse gave Bradley a welcoming smile. “You the new dads?”

Bradley looked to his right, only then noticing the tall guy had also approached.

“Oh, we’re not together,” he said. Being together with someone wasn’t in the cards for him. His heart was taking a big enough risk letting children in, much less a partner.

“We ask that only parents come into the unit for the first visit. Which one of you is the father?” He looked expectantly between the two men.

“I am,” they both replied at the same time.

Author Bio:
Jenna Kendrick writes contemporary, new adult, and paranormal romance about smart guys with a propensity for snark. Jenna went to a small college in the woods of Western Massachusetts, where she alternated between bare feet and hiking boots and used dining hall trays as a mode of transportation in the winter. She fell in love with creative writing after writing a satirical essay to get out of yet another literary analysis assignment. Unable to choose a coast or climate zone, she bounced around the country before settling in Upstate New York. She lives with her husband and several furry creatives, some of whom think of her desk as their own.

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Cover Reveal: Blood Bathory - Like the Night by Ari McKay

Title: Blood Bathory - Like the Night

Author: Ari McKay

Series: The Guardians of Gaia #1

Genre: M/M Romance, Paranormal

Expected Release Date: April 9, 2018

Cover Design: Lou Harper @ Cover Affairs

Summary:
You can run…

After losing his younger sister to cancer, fashion photographer Evan St. John tries to outrun his pain, leaving New York for the excitement of Paris. His talent and striking good looks bring him to the attention of Elizabeth Nadasdy, the elegant and powerful owner of House of Nadasdy. Evan is thrilled at the opportunity to work for such a prestigious designer, but he soon discovers Elizabeth wants more than his talent. Beneath the beautiful mask she presents to the world lurks the evil of a vampire whose lust for beauty is surpassed only by her thirst for blood.

Evan’s life is shattered when Elizabeth turns him into one of her “children.” Unable to bear what he has become, he flees to New York to find his best friend, police officer Will Trask. The one person who might be able to help him.

But you can’t hide…

Together, Evan and Will find themselves drawn deeper into a strange world they never knew existed. Standing against the vampires are the theriomorphs, shapeshifters who serve as the guardians of Gaia, the embodiment of all life on earth. Though sworn to eradicate every vampire, Marielle Du Lac, the leader of the theriomorphs, offers them a bargain. If they help bring down Elizabeth, her people will try to find a way to restore Evan to life.

Caught up in an ancient war between two powerful supernatural forces, Evan and Will must choose sides, because if they are to have any chance of a future together, they must destroy Elizabeth Nadasdy before she destroys them.

Author Bio:
Ari McKay is the professional pseudonym for Arionrhod and McKay, who collaborate on original m/m fiction. They began writing together in 2004 and finished their first original full length novel in 2011. Recently, they’ve begun collaborating on designing and creating costumes to wear and compete in at Sci Fi conventions, and they share a love of yarn and cake.

Arionrhod is an avid costumer, knitter, and all-around craft fiend, as well as a professional systems engineer. Mother of two human children and two dachshunds who think they are human, she is a voracious reader with wildly eclectic tastes, devouring romance novels, military science fiction, horror stories and Shakespeare with equal glee. She is currently preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

McKay is an English teacher who has been writing for one reason or another most of her life. She also enjoys knitting, reading, cooking, and playing video games. She has been known to knit in public. Given she has the survival skills of a gnat, she’s relying on Arionrhod to help her survive the zombie apocalypse.

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Monday, March 12, 2018

Monday's Musical Melody: The Ballerino and the Biker by Rebecca James

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I have decided to add another feature to my weekly posts, this one is called Monday's Musical Melody and will highlight tales involving a music/dance element. Now this won't appear every Monday, some weeks I'll post the anthology/box sets in Monday's Montage Mantelpiece, others will see Monday Morning's Menu with stories that have a food factor. Eventually I'll also be adding Monday's Memorial Moment featuring historical settings and Monday's Mythical Magic with a nod to fantasy/paranormal/supernatural elements as well as Monday's Mysterious Mayhem featuring all kinds of suspense/thrillers. After all, as the saying goes: variety is the spice of life😉

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Title: The Ballerino and the Biker

Author: Rebecca James

Series: The Hedonist #1

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: March 10, 2018

Cover Design: Reese Dante

Summary:
Most of his young life, Morgan Wentworth has dreamed of becoming a principal dancer in a prestigious corps de ballet. After years studying the art in Milan, Morgan comes home to New York City to apprentice with the Manhattan Ballet Company only to be hit by the unexpected death of his older brother, Jake. The grieving dancer learns his life is threatened by a dangerous rival motorcycle gang and that pierced, tattooed, HOT biker Zeke Ivers has been assigned by Jake’s MC to guard him. Saddled with the constant presence of the infuriating man, Morgan juggles the demands of an exhausting dance schedule as well as his new responsibilities as CEO of his family’s multi-million-dollar company. He never expects to develop an attraction for the straight, obnoxious biker, but that’s exactly what happens.

Estranged from an abusive family, Zeke Ivers has lived at the Sentinel’s club house and worked on cars since he was a teen. When fellow club member Jake Wentworth and a rival club president’s girl are killed on Jake’s bike, the Sentinel’s president delegates the protection of Jake’s little brother, Morgan, to Zeke. Zeke would do anything for the club that pulled him off the streets, but Morgan’s a ballet dancer, for Christ’s sake, as well as annoying as hell. Still, Zeke finds himself inexplicably drawn to the young man. The more attracted Zeke becomes to Morgan, the more the biker is forced to examine his sexuality and decide whether two people from opposite sides of the tracks could possibly have a future together, or if Zeke should do what is fast becoming too painful to consider: let Morgan go.

For another week after the shooting, I continued escorting Morgan to his long-ass rehearsals where he didn’t rehearse, just watched intensely, and his classes where he danced until he was slick with sweat and breathing hard. And I continued studying him, memorizing every expression that crossed his face. His high cheekbones, full lips, and expressive eyes captivated me, and I’d quit asking myself why. Scared I was letting him distract me too much, I renewed my efforts to watch the exits. I’d learned the face of every person who was supposed to be around and kept a watch for those who weren’t.

The list of people wanting me to fix their cars was growing, but I never had any time. Several of the guys offered to take a day or two watching Morgan for me, but I didn’t trust the kid in anyone else's care, and besides, there was my cover to consider. I was supposed to be a reporter doing a story on Morgan. Why would someone else show up in my place? Anyway, I knew the layout of the building, knew the corps de ballet’s schedule, and I knew Morgan. I would take care of him.

Saturday came around, and I once again thanked God the fucking masochist ballet company let the dancers have Sunday off. I planned to spend mine sleeping, unless Morgan got other ideas. The kid looked exhausted, so I doubted it. Halfway through the day, the big guy, chief of the ballet or something, announced some chick named Katie had had to leave and called Morgan in to dance her part during rehearsal. My gut twisted. How was the kid supposed to dance a part he’d only watched a few times, and a female part, at that?

But Morgan did it. He filled in for the girl like he’d been dancing the part himself every day since he got there, and I was in awe. I could tell the chief guy was impressed, too, or at least satisfied. I got the feeling he’d been testing Morgan, otherwise why the fuck hadn’t he asked one of the female apprentices to fill in? At the end of the night, like a proud daddy, I tossed Morgan a candy bar from the machine in the hall.

Morgan looked at the Hershey bar like he didn’t know what to do with it.

“For doing so great at the spur of the moment,” I told him. A smile lit up his tired face that made the embarrassing moment worth it, and he unwrapped the candy bar. He broke it down the middle and handed half to me.

“For putting up with all this,” Morgan said. Our eyes met. The whole thing felt so goddamn cheesy, I grumbled and didn’t speak again until we were pulling out of the Arts Center.

I hated the scared look Morgan had every time we walked outside the building since the shooting. I wanted to rip Spoons’s face off for putting it there, and I would if I got a chance.

“If it makes you feel any better, he ain’t gonna try the same thing twice,” I said to Morgan as he inched closer to me on the walk to the car.

He looked at me. “You mean he’ll devise another way to kill me?”

“Well, yeah.” We climbed in, and I headed for the Midtown Tunnel. I’d been changing up our route, even if it took longer to get home going a different way.

Morgan sank down in the seat and fiddled with the edge of his sweatshirt. “I can’t go on like this. I’m so fucking stressed out.”

“The way I see it, you ain’t got much choice,” I said. “You wanna be a dancer, so you gotta go to school. You wanna stay alive, so you gotta have me with you. Thing is, you gotta trust I’ll take care of you and relax.”

Morgan brought up his knees to his chin. He was like a fucking bendable toy. I bet he could put both feet behind his head. His face was broody.

“It’s gonna be okay, kid,” I said. “I got you. Concentrate on spinning around and looking pretty.”

Morgan groaned. “Shut up.”

I laughed, feeling suddenly light.

Author Bio:
I've always loved to write and have written since I was a child, usually to entertain my family. I enjoy writing m/m romance because there's nothing hotter than two men in a loving relationship. I write contemporary romance but am not limited to that. I enjoy writing alpha/omega and vampire stories, and I wouldn't rule other things out. I'm very prolific, so look for a lot of things to come!

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Sunday, March 11, 2018

Week at a Glance: 3/5/18 - 3/11/18

Monday Morning's Menu: You Can See Me by AE Via

Promo Tour: Catch of the Day by Petie McCarty

Blog Tour: Hard to Let Go by Jaclyn Quinn

Release Tour: Touch Me When We're Dancing by Suzanne Jenkins

Release Day Blitz: Livingston by JM Dabney

Blogger Review: Finding Michael by Megan Slayer

Release Tour: For You, I Will by Georgia Lyn Hunter

Blog Tour: The Time of My Life by Nora Phoenix

Blogger Review: Fire and Flint by Andrew Grey

Release Blitz: Fox and Birch by Sam Burns

Release Blitz: Law & Beard by Lani Lynn Vale

📘🎥Friday's Film Adaptation🎥📘: Death of a Hollow Man by Caroline Graham

Review Tour: Pretty in Pink by Jay Northcote

Release Tour: Broken Trust by CB Clark

Saturday's Series Spotlight: Puddledown Mysteries by Kate Aaron

Sunday's Safe Word Shelf: Her Debt by Rebel Rose

Sunday's Safe Word Shelf: Her Debt by Rebel Rose

Title: Her Debt

Author: Rebel Rose

Series: Lock and Key #1

Genre: Contemporary/Erotic Romance

Release Date: March 6, 2018

Summary:
My entire world changed the second that I saw her in my casino.

She’s a professional gambler. And a cheat. A damn good one… but not good enough. And now she owes a debt to me. A debt that only her body can repay.

I’m restless with lust and need and desire for this thing of beauty not in my possession. My mind and cock are obsessed with her.

When I spank her for the first time, I know that I’m right.

She is the one.

The woman that I’m going to break. The woman that I’m going to train for only my particular tastes. I’m going to shatter her into a million pieces and then rebuild her into everything that I want and need and desire in…

My next submissive.

Tristan Broussard’s POV(Unedited and subject to change.)
“She’s back, sir.” There’s no need for Garrett to say her name. I know exactly who the pit boss managing the black jack tables is talking about. And knowing that the brunette beauty is back under the roof of my casino makes my dick harder than steel.

“Is she scoring yet?” I’m not sure why I’m asking. She always wins big money.

“Yes. And already pressing, sir.” Betting large sums of money. She intends on winning big tonight.

And so do I.

She is Emma Lia Grant. Daughter of Conrad Grant, once regarded as one of the biggest cheats on the casino scene. His kid has been visiting my casino. A lot. And she’s up to her old man’s tricks: card counting, roulette past posting, dice slides. You name it and she has done it in my house right under my nose.

And I’ve let her.

My first interaction with Miss Grant happened by coincidence. One of my pit bosses suspected that a new dealer was false shuffling but couldn’t catch him in the act. No one could. Not even my best trained eyes.

I was called down to the floor to see for myself but my eyes weren’t on the dealer or his shuffling. They were on the brunette beauty at his table who happened to be winning huge sums of money.

A fucking knockout. Long chestnut locks with caramel highlights, the ends kissed with loose curls. Forget-me-not blue eyes surrounded by lush, wispy dark lashes. A full rack with cleavage on display and an ass with plenty of meat. The kind of ass that I could dig my fingers into and use as a grip to push and pull her off and on my cock when I fuck her from behind.

That image has played out in my head more than one time, and it always ends the same: her collapsing onto the bed with my cum dripping out of her pussy.

The second that I laid eyes on her, my entire world changed. I became restless, desiring something not in my possession, and I had to have her. Make her mine.

My mind and cock became obsessed with Emma Lia Grant. From that night on, she’s been the only one that I’ve thought about. Fantasized about. Dreamed about.

Miss Grant’s winnings, or debts as I prefer to call them, are close to hitting the magic number. Only sixteen thousand dollars prevents me from carrying out my plan. Tonight’s the night, and that has my dick twitching.

I’ve been camping out in the private penthouse in my hotel for a week waiting for this moment. On call for the moment Emma Lia’s debt hits the hundred-thousand-dollar mark.

Ching… ching… ching. It’s like my own personal sexual jackpot clinking in my ears.

What Others Are Saying:
“Looking for a good BDSM story? Look no further! This takes it on a whole other level than some other books in the genre.” -Read..Review..Repeat

“The story was a deeply erotic and sensual BDSM tale.” -Olga therebelreader

“It's beautifully erotic, without the least of any displeasure when reading.” -Farah

Author Bio:
Rebel Rose is a decadently dark romance author living in the beautiful city of New Orleans. She prefers anti-heroes over Prince Charmings and often uses her own sexual experiences in her novels. She can typically be found somewhere in the French Quarter enjoying a cup of coffee while people watching.