T2B Welcomes Riptide author: RhiAnon Etzweiler and her amazing new title: Blacker than Black

Exclusive Excerpt From “Blacker Than Black”

The following is a T2B exclusive excerpt that picks up where Riptide’s expanded excerpt leaves off. Be sure to go read it, here, if you haven’t already!

Chapter Seven: Moving Up in the World

The chauffeur is a mute presence on the drive to our new accommodations. It’s no different than the other times I’ve been in this limousine. Even Muscle is present, a monolith, no doubt to protect Garthelle’s interests. I suddenly wonder if the vampire has a link with the man that permits him to see and hear everything.

The prospect, though preposterous and illogical, keeps my lips sealed shut. Jhez must have similar suspicions because she’s quiet for the entire trip as well. She throws a few narrow-eyed glares at Muscle, but they seem to bounce off the man.

I don’t need to find something to occupy my thoughts, though; the tension in my chest is persistent. I hope the vampire fights this same annoyingly insane craving for proximity, suffers the same intensity that I do.

As the vehicle slows, I peer through the tinted window and poke at the easing tension in my chest. Still uncomfortable, but not nearly so bad. Perhaps that was his prime instigation in relocating us; a lesser distance from his flat would increase his comfort level. And mine, to some degree. But I doubt our comfort played a role, aside from the leverage it gave in negotiating.

When the chauffeur opens the door, I step out onto the sidewalk and turn to look up at the looming structure. An apartment complex in a very upscale, quiet area of the metro. Nicer than anything Jhez and I have seen since our childhood home. No debris gathered along the leeward side of the alleys. No weeds thrusting up through the grooves in the concrete. No graffiti murals adding a splash of color and life. It feels almost . . . sterile.
Movement from up the walk snags my eye and I discover why the tension I feel has lessened.

Garthelle is here. His gaze holds mine as he halts a few paces away. “Good morning, Jhez.” My sister nudges me with her shoulder and I sidle away from the door.

“Garthelle.” She doesn’t sound happy at all. “I wasn’t expecting you to meet us.”

A faint smile curves his lips but his attention doesn’t waver from mine. I can’t look away and I don’t understand why. Part of me wants to, desperately, in a vain hope of breaking his pull on me.

The vampire’s nostrils flare slightly, and at last, his gaze diverts. “I’m the one with the key. And I thought it would only be appropriate for me to show you around.”

Both excuses, just that. I can feel the frailty of the truth in his words as I stare at him, energy thrumming in my veins.

Jhez grunts and shoves my duffel bag against my chest. I grab it reflexively, blinking at her, and all she does is frown.

I can’t possibly begin to explain to her what my problem is. With a shrug, I follow after Garthelle. Though the security measures are nothing like the ones in the building where his flat is, there’s a manned desk. The uniformed guard nods to Garthelle when he walks past to the lifts.
On the second floor, he navigates the corridor with a fluid stride, trench coat swirling and billowing in his wake, and I ponder what the nature of his job is within the vampire community. Um, lyche community. His lithe grace reminds me of some exotic predator. I can’t think of a single vampire that doesn’t possess a similar quality to some degree. But something feels different with him. More . . . saturated? I tilt my head a fraction, slowing my pace, to watch his movements more closely. Ingrained.

Jhez bumps into my back, mutters something, and shoulders me as she walks past. Her aura tangles with mine along the edges, concerned, confused. But still very, very irritated with this unexpected, and unwanted, turn of events.

Garthelle stops before a door along the outer edge of the edifice; the large panes of glass in the nearby wall are tinted, and the morning sun creates an eerie halo around his silhouette. After unlocking the door, he pushes it open and stands aside, motioning for Jhez to precede him with a stiff, fleeting smile. Jhez scowls in response before stalking into the flat.

Garthelle catches my gaze as I follow and his yellow eyes make my stride falter. There is something toxic in his attitude, a residue I recall too vividly from that first evening. His words start to filter through my head. He thinks us criminals. And yet, I’m almost totally convinced he set out to manipulate us into this situation.

I just can’t figure out why.

The next john will drain you dry.

Is it possible the vampires of the metro are that angry about our wealth of “crimes”? I find that hard to believe. Jhez and I, we’ve been doing this for years now. Close to two decades. And this is the first hint of even so much as a whisper that what we do is theft. Hell, I have some regulars that come find me at least once a month. And I pull the same stunt with them every time.

He fiddles with the key, long fingers flipping it incessantly. Finally he extends the ring to me. “Two copies, one for each of you.”
“Why are you doing this?” I really want to know. Chi-thieves on display for the benefit of his distinguished guests? I can’t buy that, unless he’s that desperate to save face.

His yellow gaze widens, flicks over my features as if trying to read what I’m not saying. Then he relaxes and smiles away the question as he leans in toward me. “I have my reasons.”

When I frown, the vampire reaches out and propels me past him with a hand planted on my back. “A vague question permits a vague answer, wouldn’t you say?” He whispers in my ear from behind, his breath against my skin triggering a shudder.
I move away from him, his hand, and into the apartment. Infuriating vampire, playing with me like that. Never mind that his point is valid.

Don’t forget to leave a comment with your email address to enter the drawings! Look the follow-up excerpt that picks up where this one leaves off, tomorrow on Ren Thompson’s blog (http://renthompsonishere.blogspot.com). Or, if you can’t wait, get your own copy of “Blacker Than Black” over here at Riptide.

For more info on Rhi’s writings:
Email address: RhiAnon.Etzweiler@gmail.com
Website: http://www.RhiAnonEtzweiler.com
Blog: http://.blogspot.com
Twitter: @musefodder
Facebook Profile: here
Goodreads Profile: here
Get “Dark Edge of Honor,” written with Aleksandr Voinov here

The Holy Road by Ginn Hale

Title: The Holy Road
Author: Ginn Hale
Publisher: Blind Eye Books
Pages: Novella Length
Characters: John, Ravishan
POV: 3rd Person
Sub-Genre: Alt U/Fantasy
Kisses: 5+






Blurb:

*There is no official blurb for this installment in the series*

Review:

I am, by turns, frightened and fascinated at this point in the saga, which sums things up pretty concisely and accurately.

The Holy Road is darkness defined. This is the point in the journey where John discovers everything there is to be discovered about who he is and the purpose he will serve in the future of Basawar, and how it connects to Ravishan, who is, indeed, a man John knows as another, not the least of which is lover and savior.

It’s impossible to have made your way to the end of this book without drawing some parallels and contrasts between this great story and the greatest story ever told. John has died the figurative death. He is no longer the man he believed himself to be. Now the Rifter must suffer and die for his sins, but those who will execute his punishment know not what they do or whom they have condemned. John was his own Judas, betrayed by his own confession of a murder that, for all intents and purposes, could be justified as self-preservation, as well as defending the man he loves. John will sacrifice himself, willingly, for the greater good. But in his confession, John also implicates another, which will solidify Fikiri’in ‘Bousim’s hatred and need for vengeance, turning a once terrified boy into a sworn enemy.

The intimacy that has evolved between Ravishan and John has eclipsed the demand for secrecy. Their bond is one that was prophesied and goes well beyond the physical realms of attraction, to something that is spiritual and, I presume, wholly necessary in order to see this adventure through to the end. Ravishan becomes John’s savior on the Holy Road, as he is set to burn for his transgressions, a very unholy method of punishment by those who consider themselves the moral authority.

There is a greater loss in this installment in the series which affects Bill and Laurie, who I’m fairly certain will gain a new identity moving forward and may very well occur as John becomes Jath’ibaye. There’s so much more story left to tell, though, that it’s impossible to predict what events will happen when, or even what will happen next. Ginn Hale continues to surprise and to transcend all my expectations, with every new chapter.

Knowing what has been revealed to this point about the future and the reunion between Jath’ibaye and Kahlil, it seems there will be a rift in their relationship yet to come. That remains to be seen and I’ll be devouring every word to get to the answers.

And the Key. Yes, the Key. It was sent with a note that said a single word, “Don’t.” Who sent it? I have an idea but I’m not sharing. You’ll have to read and find out for yourself.

Reviewed By: Lisa

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Q & A with Ron Radle

Two Sides of the Coin by Ron Radle

When the manuscript for Two Sides of the Coin by Ron Radle crossed my desk, I read  the cover letter and thought, This sounds topical. If you know me, or have followed my tweets, you know that I’m a fairly political person. So for me it was the politics of the story that caught my attention, then I read it.

Oh yes, it was hot, the story was interesting and the characters well drawn. It had all the makings of a good story that people will enjoy, but that wasn’t what made me want to publish it. What really sealed the deal was that Ron had gone out on a limb and wrote about a character who cheats on his wife and congregation and makes the reader understand his motives and the emotional hell that has become his life. For me this was the perfect type of book for Seventh Window Publications.

I recently had a chance to ask Ron Radle some questions so readers can better understand this new and exciting M/M romance author.

How did you come up with the idea for Two Sides of the Coin?

I live in the Bible Belt. It’s the most conservative section of the country. Yet all the time I’m hearing or reading about stories of moral turpitude here involving people of supposedly high moral character. On the other hand, I wanted to write a story about two beautiful, bright men who love each other simply and deeply.

You’ve been writing your entire life; what draws you to write romantic fiction?

I have written in almost every form and genre there is – almost! I’ve been interested in this particular genre for years but never took the plunge until now. A friend, a well known m/m romance writer, had urged me for years to try my hand at romance/suspense fiction, and I finally heeded his advice.

Two Sides of the Coin is the type of book that a lot of readers describe as being difficult to read emotionally but worth the trip. How does that make you feel?

I’m very gratified to hear that. Extremely gratified. That shows the book has some complexity, that it is not just prose soufflé for quick and mindless consumption (not that there is anything wrong with that, for there certainly isn’t.)

Do you think that being from the south has helped you better understand the character of Reverend Farley?

Oh yes. There are a lot of closeted gay men here who have bowed to the pressure of religious strictures and not been true to their natures. They are fixtures in their churches and have married and had children. Time and again I read about them being arrested in bathroom stings in Greenville (where I live) and elsewhere. The religious impulse is perhaps the strongest one at work in the Southern character. It results in good things and bad – like voting for Republicans, instance.

With the political climate being what it is, how important do you think Two Sides of the Coin is for people today?

It’s timely. Of course it isn’t the first and won’t be the last story dealing with this type of situation, but with the religious right and the Republican party using the cudgels on gay people for their electoral benefit, it’s good to have a reminder such as Two Sides that gay people not only have great worth but are capable of great and lasting and meaningful love relationships. Danny and Brad, two of the main characters in the book, prove that.

Do you think about your audience when you write a book or do you write the book for yourself and hope people enjoy it?

It sounds like a cliché, but I do write mainly for myself and perhaps two or three friends. I wrote this book the way I wanted to write it, without a lot of thought to its publication potential. It was a story I wanted to tell, so I jumped right in. I’m pleased with the reaction I’ve gotten to it so far.

What do you hope people take away from reading Two Sides of the Coin?

A good time. A hard-on that needs softening. An appreciation for all types of love relationships. A feeling that being gay has endless possibilities for joy, and that when we as gay people betray our nature, as Rev. Farley does, we are guaranteeing ourselves misery.

What project(s) do you have coming up? What are you working on now?

I have just finished another novel, Degrees of Passion, set during the mid 1980’s and set on a large college campus in South Carolina. So that needs polishing up and revising. And I am constantly working on shorter fiction, some of which actually gets published.

What is the most important tip you can give to a writer?

To persevere. To stick with it no matter what. Good things will happen if you just stick with it and take your writing seriously.

Bobbi and the Beast by Saloni Quinby

Title: Bobbi and the Beast
Author: Saloni Quinby
Publisher: Changeling Press LLC
Pages: 44
Characters: Bobbi and Gideon
POV: 3rd Person
Genre: Paranormal
Kisses: 5

Blurb:
Once upon a time, there was a handsome king who trusted no one. He brought many bedmates to his concrete castle overlooking the city, but allowed none to stay an entire night, for he believed love was beneath him.

Then a vengeful witch placed a curse upon him, turning him into a beast by night. By day people sensed his savageness and turned away from him. Shunned and feared, the king learned the meaning of true loneliness.

In the city below lived a beautiful young man named Bobbi who struggled to support his family. Outlaws abducted him and dragged him to a dark forest, but they didn’t know someone lurked in the shadows.

That night the beast would kill, an exiled king would fall in love and a curse might be broken…

Review:

I enjoyed Saloni Quinby’s Bobbi and the Beast which is a twist on an old favorite fairy tale. Our story starts with Bobbi being kidnapped off the street by evil men who have mistaken him for a woman. While escaping, he is cornered in the forest by his kidnappers; he is rescued by a naked man sporting claws and fangs. Even though Bobbi has been saved from certain death, his hero has left him more than confused. Bobbi knows there are no such things as werewolves. Yet, he cannot explain what he sees or the reason he is so attracted to his savior.

Gideon is a rich self-centered man that is curse by a witch when he shows that he is unable to love. The curse changes Gideon in to a beast and only a willing lover can save him. Gideon moves to the forest so he will not be a danger when the change occurs. This also places him in the right place at the right time to save Bobbi from certain death when he is kidnapped. Gideon is surprised that Bobbi reaches out to him for comfort. Bobbi is the first person that has willing slept with him, even though they did not actually have sex, since the curse began. Hope is now a reality.

While this is a good story it could have used more depth to the characters. I felt as though I was missing details about their lives. Short stories can be like this. I do recommend this story I only wish it had been longer.

Reviewed By: Vonda
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Dreamspinner Press New Releases!!

Masters & Boyd by SJD Peterson
Carrick Masters and Edward Boyd have already found true love—it’s the happy ever after that’s eluding them. Between Carrick’s job as an orthopedic surgeon and Ed’s career as a defense attorney, they have hardly any time to spend together, and what time they do have seems to be poisoned by resentment. Carrick and Ed know they need to refocus to make their marriage work, but they seriously need more than a spicy once-a-week date night to get them back on track.

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Genre: BDSM/Kink
Length: Novella

Hair of the Dog by Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James

It’s nine o’clock the morning after his father’s funeral, and Ezra Jones already knows it’s going to be a bad day. He wakes up hungover, sore, and covered in blood. Then it gets worse: the handsome and compelling Callum Dawson shows up on his doorstep claiming Ezra’s been turned into a werewolf. Ezra wants to be skeptical, but the evidence is hard to ignore.

Ezra doesn’t have a lot of time to get used to the rules Alpha Callum imposes—or the way his body responds to Callum’s dominance—as he’s busily working for the CDC to help uncover the origins of a lycan epidemic. When the sexual tension finally breaks, Ezra barely has time to enjoy it, because a new danger threatens. Someone wants Ezra for their own unscrupulous purposes and will do anything to get him.

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Buy in print
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Novel

Lucky by Tia Fielding

Sloane would’ve given anything to have been born with the right body, but he hadn’t. He’d have given anything to have his family back, but his father insisted that until Sloane was ready to become his heterosexual daughter again, he wanted nothing to do with him. So Sloane dealt with the challenges of living transgendered as best he could. Luckily, his best friend Jace was there with him every step of the way. Jace is the best man Sloane has ever met, but Jace is gay and Sloane still doesn’t have the right parts – until Jace proves that he loves Sloane just the way he is.

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Genre: Transgender
Length: Short story

Chocolate Cupcakes and Mythical Creatures by DeShaun Walker

It’s Charlie Foster’s first time away from home, and he’s a long way from Texas at the all-boys boarding school for mythical creatures in England. Luckily he’s pretty good at making friends, one such as the brooding and closeted Caleb Jacobs—and though they are nearly polar opposites, they become inseparable soon after meeting. Even Charlie’s brief fling with a certain werewolf classmate doesn’t drive a wedge between the pair. But is that just because Caleb sees something that Charlie doesn’t?

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Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal, Humor
Length: Novella

Marlowe’s Ghost by Sarah Black

Former Marine Will Marlowe dreams of being a great classics scholar, but his subversive street art, Bad Toys, is what he does best. When he’s sent to London to retrieve Tommy Jones, what he’s really interested in is a chance to take Bad Toys global. He doesn’t expect cancer survivor Tommy to captivate him or to become the pet project of a real live—dead—author.

Meanwhile, Tommy is struggling to write a dissertation about Christopher Marlowe while conveniently ignoring the fact that he knows Marlowe didn’t die in 1593. And Marlowe’s ghost? He has an agenda all his own that seems to involve two parts mystery, one part romance.

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Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Novella

Better by Jaime Samms

After filing charges that put his abusive ex-Dom behind bars, Jesse Turbul relocates halfway across the country, hoping to escape his past—but, of course, it’s never that easy. When Jesse meets third-year law student Aadon at the library where he works, their mutual attraction is instant and obvious.

Despite the sparks, they just can’t seem to make it work. Aadon is mired in guilt over his inability to help his older brother, damaged by events far too similar to Jesse’s past. Jesse is stuck in his own desperate wish to forget the painful shadow that continues to threaten him and any hope of a happy future.

The only way to move forward is for Jesse to acknowledge he’s broken and for Aadon to accept he can’t make him better.

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Genre: BDSM/Kink
Length: Novel

Witches’ Blood by Ginn Hale

Title: Witches’ Blood (Rifter, #4)
Author: Ginn Hale
Publisher: Blind Eye Books
Pages: Novella Length
Characters: John, Ravishan
POV: 3rd Person
Sub-Genre: Alt U/Fantasy
Kisses: 4






Blurb:

*There is no official blurb for this installment in the series, but this is Ginn Hale’s summary of the book from LiveJournal*
Witches’ Blood casts a little light into a dark corner of Kyle’s past, while pushing John closer to a deadly confrontation. Books Four and Five are closely linked in action; much of the conflict that starts roiling up here comes to a climax in five and sets the stage for the final battles soon to come.
Review:
So, if you’ve made it this far in the Rifter series, you know that John, Laurie, and Bill have inadvertently traveled to Basawar, to the year 185, when John intercepted a key meant for Kyle, his scarred, tattooed, and mysterious roommate. The three friends discovered the strange lock in which the key fits, then suddenly found themselves traveling through the shattered gates, to an unknown land. It is a land where suspected witches and revolutionaries are publicly burned, where magic goes hand in hand with danger and lurks in the shadows, where John fights for his and his friends’ survival, where he enters into a bargain that will bring him closer to the key to returning home, but will also bring him face to face with the enemy, revealing the immense power that he wields and bringing him closer to Ravishan, a young man who has become a valuable ally, a source of temptation, and who, I think, has another identity in the future. But I would never presume to believe I have things figured out. Ginn Hale’s imagination is far too sophisticated for me to be that confident.

When Kyle, the Kahlil, attempts to follow John, Laurie, and Bill through the gates to his home world, his journey takes him to a point in time years beyond where John and friends have landed, and where it is slowly becoming evident that their presence in the past has affected a change in the time/space continuum. The trip itself leaves Kyle’s body and memories in tatters, but he is rescued and eventually recovers enough to enter into service in the Bousim household, where he becomes an assassin for Alidas, a man whose life John had saved decades before and who had become the catalyst for John’s service at Rathal’pesha.

Alidas sends Kahlil on one final mission, one he may not survive, one in which he comes face to face with John, now Jath’ibaye, a storyline that is still hanging in the balance, as we spend time in the past in Witches’ Blood, witnessing John’s gradual evolution into the man he will become, with the power to do things he shouldn’t be able to do, things that enflame an enemy and that could very well brand him as a witch.

The more that’s revealed in this series, the more there is to question; the latest and greatest question being who will travel back to Nayeshi, the contemporary world, and who will be left behind. There are bargains struck to hide a potentially deadly secret that cannot be fulfilled if the key is found. There have been some hints as to who remains, but do the others make it out of Basawar alive? That remains to be seen, as a battle looms on the horizon, one that will upset the status quo.

There is as much information as action in this installment in the series, as Ginn Hale continues to artfully weave the past and the future together to create a picture of what is yet to come. This is as much a revelation of what will be as it is an exploration of how it will evolve. Every player seems to be developing into a significant cog in the war machine that is building toward an outstanding climax.

My only regret is that I can’t read fast enough to satisfy my obsession with finding out what’s coming next.

Reviewed By: Lisa

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The Peripheral Son: A Dick Hardesty Mystery (Vol. 14) by Dorien Grey

Title: The Peripheral Son: A Dick Hardesty Mystery (Vol. 14)
Author: Dorien Grey
Publisher: Zumaya Boundless
Pages: 252
Characters: Dick Hardesty
POV: 1st Person
Sub-Genre: Mystery
Kisses: 3






Blurb:

Freelance investigative reporter Victor Koseva has disappeared. A loner, Koseva has few friends, no co-workers, a dysfunctional family background, and some quirky proclivities that could easily have gotten him in trouble.

But when his concerned sister-in-law hires Dick Hardesty, he discovers Koseva was looking into two very dangerous subjects: corruption in a powerful local labor union and drug use at a local boxing arena—an arena owned by his estranged father and brother. Add a handsome gay middleweight with eyes on the championship and a peculiar kleptomaniacal accountant and a total lack of clues or sources for same, and you have the making of a puzzle that threatens to stump even Dick Hardesty.

Review:

I’m going to begin this review with a disclaimer, in all fairness to the author, because I have not read the other thirteen books in this series, which is rather unfortunate, really, because being unfamiliar with the primary characters and their backstories, I was prevented from forming any sort of connection to them, as I had no idea who they were or how they’d come to be where they were at this point in their lives. The narrative seemed short on both energy and chemistry between the characters, which consequently prevented me from being drawn into the story. The characters felt one dimensional and static, leaving me as more an observer than a participant in the events as they unfolded. I’m not sure whether this is a reflection of the writing or simply that I shouldn’t have begun the series at book fourteen. Either way, I was left wanting.

My enjoyment of this book was also blunted by the fact that I was initially very frustrated by Dick Hardesty’s disuse of available investigative resources, until I discovered that the story takes place in a time before the internet and cell phones. Again, through no fault of the author, this would’ve been clear to me if I’d been familiar with the previous books.

Having said that, I will say that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the mystery in The Peripheral Son. Once I had the timeframe squared away, it was the lack of knowledge and resources we have today that lent some of the anticipation and satisfaction to Dick solving the crime, with little more than his own ingenuity and hard work. The juxtaposition between the murder victim, Victor Koseva, the peripheral son, and Dick’s own family also drew some satisfying connections, contrasting the differences between the egregious treatment Victor suffered at the hands of his family, and Joshua, Dick and his partner Jonathan’s favored son.

If you’re a fan of a straightforward murder mystery, then I would say this book could be read as a standalone, with one caveat: if you prefer to know your characters, inside and out, backwards and forwards, I definitely wouldn’t recommend making this your first Dick Hardesty experience.

Reviewed By: Lisa

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Black Blades- Rifter 3 by Ginn Hale

Title: Black Blades (Rifter, #3)
Author: Ginn Hale
Publisher: Blind Eye Books
Pages: Novella Length
Characters: John (Jath’ibaye) Kyle (Kahlil)
POV: 3rd Person
Sub-Genre: Alt U/Fantasy
Kisses: 5






Blurb:

Kahlil balances his loyalty to the Bousim house against the revelations of his past. Blood will be shed one-way or the other. While in the heights of Rathal’pesha, John adapts to the hardships of a warrior-priest’s life and secretly searches for anything that will return him and his friends back home.

Review:

And the plot thickens.

Prophesies broken, awesome powers revealed, an assassination thwarted, and former allies who apparently have become enemies, these are some of the enticements Ginn Hale offers up in episode three of the Rifter saga.

Told in a non-linear fashion, this installment does a time shift from present to past again, revealing just enough about John, who will become Jath’ibaye, and the one who is called Ji, that the reader is granted an enticing glimpse into a future of power and witchcraft which is only now beginning to take shape, as John and Kyle are reunited and the rules of the game change.

An assassination attempt on Jath’ibaye goes wrong when Kahlil intervenes, and Jath’ibaye offers to bear Kahlil’s wounds to save his life. What will become of the two men, now that they have been reunited? The answer to that question must wait, as the reader is taken back in time to Rathal’pesha, just when the getting was good, to witness John’s evolution to warrior, led by the Payshmura, whose prayers and tenets are based on a particularly interesting foundation.

Who survives? Who doesn’t? Who knows? That remains to be seen, as Ginn Hale continues to entice, seduce, provoke, and weave her wonderful spell.

Reviewed By: Lisa

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Loosen Up by J.M. Snyder

Title: Loosen Up
Author: J.M. Snyder
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Pages: 29
Characters: Liam Martin, Cooper Dawson
POV: 3rd Person
Sub-Genre: Contemporary
Kisses: 4






Blurb:

Between course work, an internship, clinicals, and a part-time job, med student Liam Martin is worn out. When his lab is cancelled, freeing up his Friday night, all he wants to do is crash.

Liam’s roommates have other plans. They think Liam is too stressed and needs to loosen up … as in going out to party, not staying home to rest. Adam scores coveted tickets to a concert by local alt band Ebola Rain and uses his connections to get backstage.

But Liam doesn’t want to go, and manages to lose his roommates backstage by hiding out in one of the dressing rooms, where he promptly falls asleep. Little does Liam know the room belongs to Cooper Dawson, sexy frontman for the band, who also thinks Liam needs to loosen up.

Then Cooper asks Liam to hang out with him, and suddenly Liam isn’t so tired anymore.

Review:

Liam Cooper spends his days dissecting cadavers in med school. He’s burning the proverbial candle at both ends and has just about come to the point where he will be snuffed out by the sheer burden of his schedule if he doesn’t find a way to unwind.

His roommates seem to be the only two who can see this, though, as Liam draws further into his need for sleep and downtime by burrowing into his bed and hoping the world—or at least his roommates—will just go away and leave him alone for a while. They can see better than Liam that he needs to get out and do something that doesn’t include working or studying or sleeping, so they invite him out for a night of mindless fun, anything that will get him out of bed.

Liam can think of a million reasons why he should say no but just one, albeit a very compelling reason, to say yes—to remind himself that he’s still alive. But that doesn’t mean he acquiesces without a fight, both with himself and with his roomies, when they take him to a concert by a band he’s never heard of, and decides pretty quickly he doesn’t care to hear of. He only wants to ditch his friends, the venue, and catch up on some much needed sleep—and he does, just not at home in his own bed.

Cooper Dawson is the sexy front man of the band Ebola Rain, who finds Liam in the one place Liam shouldn’t be. Cooper doesn’t know whether to be mad at Liam or to be curious about him; maybe he’s a little of both, but eventually the curiosity wins out and he becomes as determined as the others to make sure Liam loosens up and lets go for just a bit.

This was a quick and sexy read from J.M. Snyder, delivered in a way that made me wish we’d learned a lot more about Cooper and a little bit more about Liam. This is one of those short stories that felt like it could’ve been a novella, at the very least, because what is there is so darn tasty and it only whetted my appetite for more.

Reviewed By: Lisa

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The Prize by Bebe Burnside

Title: The Prize
Author: Bebe Burnside
Publisher: Seventh Window
Pages: 99
Characters: Bruce and Martin
POV: 3rd
Sub-Genre: Contemporary
Kisses: 3

Blurb:

High school English teacher, Bruce Michaels, has his life right where he wants it, or so he thinks. When his nose isn’t buried in a book, he’s teaching or taking a class for fun. When he learns that his favorite author is coming to the small Vermont town where he lives to teach a class in English literature, Bruce jumps at the opportunity to audit the class and get a chance to talk to Nobel Prize winning author, Martin Welder. But expectations rise when he finally meets the award winning author, and becomes interested in more than his mind.

Review:

First time author, Bebe has written a contemporary story about two men, Bruce, who teaches English, and an award winning author, Martin Welder. As it happens Martin is Bruce’s favorite author and he is headed to Vermont to teach a class in English Literature as a favor to a friend and Bruce jumps at the chance to audit the class. Well, one thing leads to another, the men meet, they go on a shopping date, they end up at Martin’s place and the rest is as they say is history.

This is a typical guy meets guy, they fall into bed, fall in love and they do live happily ever after. It’s a cute story. It is told very as a matter of fact, the characters needed a bit more fleshing out, the story line could have used more of a kick, but for the writers first story, not a bad one.

Reviewed By: Michele

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