Sunday, June 2, 2019
Sunday's Safe Word Shelf: By Way of Pain by JM Dabney
Title: By Way of Pain
Author: JM Dabney
Series: Criminal Delights: Assassins
Genre: M/M Romance, Dark
Release Date: May 20, 2019
Cover Design: Natasha Snow
Double lives were just the way it was for a man like me. By day I was a man with a reputation above reproach. Even assassins needed backup plans. For fifteen years, life was going without a hitch until I had to take out a witness. When it was time to kill him, beautiful eyes filled with fear urged me to do something else. Yet, in order to do that, I had to break him, and by way of pain, my captive would experience pleasure he'd never dreamed.
Trigger Warnings: Title contains the following possible triggers. Humiliation, Violence, Master/slave elements, Male Chastity, Murder, Imprisonment, Dub-Con, and Brief Torture.
*****
This book is part of CRIMINAL DELIGHTS. Each novel can be read as a standalone and contains a dark M/M romance.
Warning: These books are for adult readers who enjoy stories where lines between right and wrong get blurry. High heat, twisted and tantalizing, these are not for the fainthearted.
I laughed with her through snippets of conversation, my meal, and the dessert I splurged on so I could stay a few minutes longer. I was isolated and wouldn't deny it, yet I also didn't want to admit it to anyone. Feigning happiness was something I'd done for so long that I didn't know whether it was real or a figment of my imagination.
When I would walk inside the house, the lock clicking into place would have it all come back in blaring clarity. At least here or at work, I could pretend I wasn't alone. That someone would miss me if I didn't appear one day. Would they worry? Probably not. I'd be just another regular who disappeared—found another place to go for their meals or a new place to collect a paycheck.
Without an excuse to stay longer, I threw money on the counter to cover my meal and a generous tip. By the time I walked outside, the cool night breeze had blown away the smell of greasy spoon and strong coffee.
On occasion, I thought about testing my theory, just pack up and go away for a while. Only fear kept me from doing so. It wasn't about the unknown or what existed outside of the city, but the fear my disappearance would be nothing more than a momentary blip. A split-second thought of where was he now.
I hated being depressed. Hating knowing that I was that dispensable. A forgettable part of the scenery. I shoved my hands in the deep pant pockets, and my steps were slow as I strode back to my car. Home was only a five-minute ride, and I dreaded it so much. I wanted someone who would miss me, mourn me when I'm gone, and yet I knew I'd just be a vague and fading memory.
When I would walk inside the house, the lock clicking into place would have it all come back in blaring clarity. At least here or at work, I could pretend I wasn't alone. That someone would miss me if I didn't appear one day. Would they worry? Probably not. I'd be just another regular who disappeared—found another place to go for their meals or a new place to collect a paycheck.
On occasion, I thought about testing my theory, just pack up and go away for a while. Only fear kept me from doing so. It wasn't about the unknown or what existed outside of the city, but the fear my disappearance would be nothing more than a momentary blip. A split-second thought of where was he now.
I hated being depressed. Hating knowing that I was that dispensable. A forgettable part of the scenery. I shoved my hands in the deep pant pockets, and my steps were slow as I strode back to my car. Home was only a five-minute ride, and I dreaded it so much. I wanted someone who would miss me, mourn me when I'm gone, and yet I knew I'd just be a vague and fading memory.
What kind of atmosphere do you like for writing(ie: radio, music, silence, etc)?
I see a lot of people who have must-haves for a writing environment, but for me it typically depends on the book. There are stories I had to write without any distraction and on the other hand, I have some that were written while Death Metal played at Ear Bleeding levels. Although, some sort of noise is always in the background on a normal writing day because I live with my earbuds in.
Most of us have themes that fall outside our reading comfort zone, is there a genre, trope, or topic you wouldn't be comfortable exploring when writing your stories?
I get asked this question a lot, and I won’t say that there’s a subject matter that I won’t write about. My stories deal with mental illness, trauma, body issues, sexual assault, but while in my new story I dealt with Dubious Consent and that was a bit out of my comfort zone. When I start each of my books I don’t plan what’s going to happen. The story that appears is the one that fits the characters and their backgrounds. Although, incest stories are a hard No for me. That’s the only one I can definitely say I would never write or read.
How do you celebrate your release day? Do you treat yourself to a special coffee/drink, binge watch your favorite show, alone time enjoying the quiet or do you just jump right in to the next story?
Release day has me in a burn out coma of sorts. Sometimes I catch up on books that have piled up since I started a project or a Video Game. But I always spend a week free writing. Jumping around projects and the one that holds my attention the longest ends up being the next book. I’ve finished complete fun write first drafts in the week break between projects. It depends on my mood, with my current book, By Way of Pain, I definitely searched for something lighter and more fun to work on.
What is a hobby or guilty pleasure you enjoy to relax that would make your readers go "huh, never saw that coming"?
I don’t think I have any. I make covers and graphics. I’m relearning to play acoustic guitar. I find that with my writing schedule I don’t have a lot of time for hobbies. My brain is always ready for another book and writing is the way I relax.
What can we expect to see next from you?
I don’t know, I have several projects in the works. Whatever I write The End on first gets published. I do have some horror, Scifi and Urban Fantasy coming out later this year. I’m taking a step into the Young Adult genre as M. Jameson. Late this summer the debut book under my YA pen name will come out, but that’s all I’m sure about.
I see a lot of people who have must-haves for a writing environment, but for me it typically depends on the book. There are stories I had to write without any distraction and on the other hand, I have some that were written while Death Metal played at Ear Bleeding levels. Although, some sort of noise is always in the background on a normal writing day because I live with my earbuds in.
Most of us have themes that fall outside our reading comfort zone, is there a genre, trope, or topic you wouldn't be comfortable exploring when writing your stories?
I get asked this question a lot, and I won’t say that there’s a subject matter that I won’t write about. My stories deal with mental illness, trauma, body issues, sexual assault, but while in my new story I dealt with Dubious Consent and that was a bit out of my comfort zone. When I start each of my books I don’t plan what’s going to happen. The story that appears is the one that fits the characters and their backgrounds. Although, incest stories are a hard No for me. That’s the only one I can definitely say I would never write or read.
How do you celebrate your release day? Do you treat yourself to a special coffee/drink, binge watch your favorite show, alone time enjoying the quiet or do you just jump right in to the next story?
Release day has me in a burn out coma of sorts. Sometimes I catch up on books that have piled up since I started a project or a Video Game. But I always spend a week free writing. Jumping around projects and the one that holds my attention the longest ends up being the next book. I’ve finished complete fun write first drafts in the week break between projects. It depends on my mood, with my current book, By Way of Pain, I definitely searched for something lighter and more fun to work on.
What is a hobby or guilty pleasure you enjoy to relax that would make your readers go "huh, never saw that coming"?
I don’t think I have any. I make covers and graphics. I’m relearning to play acoustic guitar. I find that with my writing schedule I don’t have a lot of time for hobbies. My brain is always ready for another book and writing is the way I relax.
What can we expect to see next from you?
I don’t know, I have several projects in the works. Whatever I write The End on first gets published. I do have some horror, Scifi and Urban Fantasy coming out later this year. I’m taking a step into the Young Adult genre as M. Jameson. Late this summer the debut book under my YA pen name will come out, but that’s all I’m sure about.
J.M. Dabney is a multi-genre author who writes mainly LGBT romance and fiction. They live with a constant diverse cast of characters in their head. No matter their size, shape, race, etc. J.M. lives for one purpose alone, and that’s to make sure they do them justice and give them the happily ever after they deserve. J.M. is dysfunction at its finest and they makes sure their characters are a beautiful kaleidoscope of crazy. There is nothing more they want from telling their stories than to show that no matter the package the characters come in or the damage their pasts have done, that love is love. That normal is never normal and sometimes the so-called broken can still be amazing.
INSTAGRAM / HOSTILE WHISPERS PRESS
CRIMINAL DELIGHTS WEBSITE
PINTEREST / HOSTILE WHISPERS FB
B&N / HOSTILE WHISPERS TWITTER
CRIMINAL DELIGHTS WEBSITE
PINTEREST / HOSTILE WHISPERS FB
B&N / HOSTILE WHISPERS TWITTER
By Way of Pain
Sale Blitz: First Season by RJ Scott & VL Locey
Title: First Season
Authors: RJ Scott & VL Locey
Series: Harrisburg Railers #2
Genre: M/M Romance
Release Date: September 27, 2017
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
⏳💸⏳ebook currently 99c/99p until 6/8/19 ⏳💸⏳
Layton wants success, Adler wants family, how can love make both these things possible?
Layton Foxx works hard for what he has. The condo, the career, the chance to make his mark, is all down to the sacrifices he has made. With tragedy in his past, he doesn’t want or need love. Then he meets Adler Lockhart, the extroverted, sexy winger for the Harrisburg Railers and abruptly he can’t avoid love even if he wanted to.
Adler Lockhart has had everything handed to him his whole life. Cars, villas, cash, college tuition at the finest Ivy League schools. The only things he doesn’t have are parents who care or the love of a good man. Then Layton walks into his privileged life and shows him what real love can be like.
Layton Foxx has worked hard for his career and getting a call from the Railers to manage the coming out of the first professional hockey player is a make or break move for him and despite knowing absolutely nothing about the sport he jumps in anyway. Adler Lockhart may have the money of his family even if he doesn't exactly have their love, he's grown up using humor as his goto coping method even if it often sees him in a "speak now think later" situation. When these two meet, the attraction is on fire but will their opposing ways of handling scenarios smother the flames?
I'll start by repeating myself from book one: "I am NOT a hockey fan. I don't dislike it but if all the hockey arenas in the world were to disappear tomorrow, I would not miss the sport." But as with book one, you don't need to be a hockey fan to appreciate the story or the characters of First Season or the entire Harrisburg Railers series. The sport is obvious a big part of the story but it isn't the whole story and frankly, RJ Scott and VL Locey do a pretty darn good job of setting the scene so the reader understands the ins and outs of professional hockey. But as I said, love, friendship, and family is at the heart of First Season and I can't imagine it being accomplished any better than what these lovely ladies bring us.
Layton and Adler's attraction is palpable from their first meeting but its also obvious they approach life from opposite ends of the spectrum, Layton has to think things through with a plan in place to keep control and Adler is from the "speak now think later" mentality which is his way of taking control of the room. They both have reasons behind why they are the way they are which I won't touch on here but those reasons make this journey all the more heartwrenching and heartwarming once they each open up to the other.
Personally I found First Season to be a bit more angsty than Changing Lanes but still absolutely lovely. When I read a series where each book is focused on a different couple, I rarely enjoy each installment as much as the first which is not to say they are not as good its just I fall so deeply for the first couple that the others just don't usually measure up. As I started Season, I was sure that was going to be the case here because I just loved Ten and Jared from Changing so much but the deeper in I got I found myself falling even harder for Layton and Adler. Truth is, no matter which couple you love more(and that goes for future installments) Harrisburg Railers by RJ Scott and VL Locey is superb storytelling that grabs your interest, sports fan or not doesn't matter because these ladies know how to spin a yarn into a beautiful afghan of love that will keep you warm all winter long.
RATING:
Saturday's Series Spotlight: Harrisburg Railers
RJ’s goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.
RJ is the author of the over one hundred novels and discovered romance in books at a very young age. She realized that if there wasn’t romance on the page, she could create it in her head, and is a lifelong writer.
She lives and works out of her home in the beautiful English countryside, spends her spare time reading, watching films, and enjoying time with her family.
The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit and has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.
She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the following links below.
USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.
V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, two dogs, two cats, a flock of assorted domestic fowl, and three Jersey steers.
When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in hand. She can also be found online on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and GoodReads.
RJ Scott
BOOKBUB / KOBO / SMASHWORDS
EMAIL: rj@rjscott.co.uk
VL Locey
First Season #2
⏳💸⏳ebook currently 99c/99p until 6/8/19 ⏳💸⏳
Harrisburg Railers Series
👀1-6 currently Kindle Unlimited👀
B&N / SMASHWORDS / AUDIBLE
KOBO / iTUNES / GOODREADS TBR
Ryker #1
B&N / KOBO / SMASHWORDS
Scott #2
Benoit #3
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Saturday's Series Spotlight: The ABCs of Spellcraft by Jordan Castillo Price Part 1
Quill Me Now #1
Summary:
What if the words you wrote came true?
Spellcraft isn’t exactly a respectable business, but it does pay the bills. At least, it should. Unfortunately, Dixon Penn failed his Spellcraft initiation. Instead of working in his family’s shop, he’s stuck delivering takeout orders in his uncle’s beat-up Buick.
Winning a Valentine’s Day contest at the largest greeting card company in the tri-state area would be just the thing to get his life back on track—but something at Precious Greetings just doesn’t add up. And despite numerous warnings to quit pestering them about his contest entry, he just can’t stop himself from coming back again and again.
It doesn’t hurt that the head of security is such a hottie. If Dixon had any common sense, he’d be scared of the big, mysterious, tattooed Russian.
To be fair, no one ever accused him of being too smart….
Quill Me Now originally debuted in the Bad Valentine collection, with Love Magic by Jesi Lea Ryan, Hidden Hearts by Clare London, and Temporary Dad by Dev Bentham.
Summary:
Yuri meets Dixon's parents for the first time.
Summary:
Road trip!
When Dixon and Yuri head for Taco Town, they’re hoping to track down Uncle Fonzo. What they find instead is a fiasco. Is it sabotage? A curse? Or is it just a bunch of badly worded Spellcraft?
The small Minnesota berg is a tourist destination featuring a memorable roadside attraction: The Big Taco. It’s not actually edible, but there’s a flock of birds passing through that never got the memo.
One thing’s for sure, Fonzo has been there. Not only do plenty of folks recognize his photo, but they paid him to solve certain problems…all of which are now exponentially worse. Dixon wants to chalk it up to a run of bad luck. Yuri knows a con man when he sees one, and while he doesn’t relish the thought of destroying Dixon’s hero, he wouldn’t mind knocking the guy down a few pegs.
But there’s definitely something screwy about the Spellcraft they uncover. And they’d better figure out how to repair it before the Big Taco is reduced to crumbs—and with it, the livelihood of all their new friends.
The ABCs of Spellcraft is a series filled with bad jokes and good magic, where MM Romance meets Paranormal Cozy. A perky hero, a brooding love interest, and delightfully twisty-turny stories that never end up quite where you’d expect. The books are best read in order, so be sure to start at the beginning with Quill Me Now.
Original Review February 2019:
We all know what happens when it comes to wishes, it is all in the wording well in Quill Me Now, magic and spells is all about the wording too. Who knew the extent of the headache it would be when no one ever wants to leave a restaurant because of the slogan? Dixon knows but unfortunately for him, spellcrafting that runs in his family doesn't seem to run in his veins but he can spot a poorly thought out one a mile away. Having been summoned after sending in an entry to a greeting card contest, Dixon meets Yuri when he warns him to stay away but needing the money a winning entry would bring him Dixon is not easily kept away. That's it about the plot you'll get but let me tell you, Quill Me Now is a lovely holiday gem that I would love to see more of but if this is all we get then it is absolutely delightful. Magic, love, humor, good guys, bad guys all brought together by the writing style of Jordan Castillo Price, what more can a person ask for?
All that Glitters #1.5
This free short story is an absolute delight! Yuri's fears about meeting the 'rents and Dixon's hope of everyone liking each other is rom-com 101 with Jordan Castillo Price's flair that makes All that Glitters anything but cliche. A real treat for this series and an awesome look into the growing connection between Dixon and Yuri.
Trouble in Taco Town #2
I was hoping that the author would continue Dixon and Yuri's story when I finished Quill Me Now back in February so when Trouble in Taco Town popped up in the "recommended for you" section on Amazon I one-clicked and read it immediately. Well, I was not disappointed or wrong in my hoping. The ABCs of Spellcraft is already a fun and delightful series that I can't wait to read further. Between Dixon's eager and unending "up-ness" and Yuri's quiet "don't-jump-in-ness", they really don't seem like they could be any more opposite if they tried but as the saying goes: opposites attract. They may not appear as they match on paper but the minute you see them together you just know that their opposite-ness not only balances each other but it helps bring out their strengths. Don't get me wrong, how Yuri doesn't throttle Dixon a dozen times a day is beyond me, I think I'm a pretty positive person but HOLY HANNAH BATMAN! Dixon's peppiness would really make me pull my hair out😉😉. So Yuri may not seem like he's a patient person but Dixon is living proof that he is and you can't help but love them for their balance.
You'll notice I haven't mentioned the plot or their quest to find Uncle Fonzo. I don't do spoilers as those of you who follow my reviews will already know but I don't think I've ever read a book(short, novella, or full length) that truly embodies the theory "you have to read to believe". What the boys find in Taco Town really needs to be experienced to appreciate the full magnitude of how important wording is to spellcrafting.
Trouble in Taco Town, the whole ABCs of Spellcraft series, is a delightful gem that may be short in quantity but it's overflowing in quality. This is a series that is best read in order and trust me you want to read this series. Humor doesn't often play a part in the paranormal genres but it is a perfect fit for Dixon and Yuri's journey.
RATING:
Author Bio:Author and artist Jordan Castillo Price is the owner of JCP Books LLC. Her paranormal thrillers are colored by her time in the midwest, from inner city Chicago, to small town Wisconsin, to liberal Madison.
Jordan is best known as the author of the PsyCop series, an unfolding tale of paranormal mystery and suspense starring Victor Bayne, a gay medium who's plagued by ghostly visitations. Also check out her new series, Mnevermind, where memories are made...one client at a time.
With her education in fine arts and practical experience as a graphic designer, Jordan set out to create high quality ebooks with lavish cover art, quality editing and gripping content. The result is JCP Books, offering stories you'll want to read again and again.
EMAILS: jordan@psycop.com
jcp.heat@gmail.com
Quill Me Now #1
KOBO / iTUNES / BOOKS2READ
All that Glitters #1.5
Trouble in Taco Town #2
KOBO / iTUNES / BOOKS2READ
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