Thursday, December 7, 2023

Out Now! Love & Limitations by J. Scott Coatsworth #LGBTQ #romance #Collection

Love & Limitations

J. Scott Coatsworth has a new MM romance/LGBTQ short story collection out: Love & Limitations.

Love & Limitations is Scott's fourth short story collection and his first one featuring his contemporary MM and LGBTQ+ stories:

  • I Only Want to Be With You: Derrek likes Ryan. Ryan likes Alex. Alex treats Ryan like trash. So why can't he see who really loves him?
  • The Boy in the Band: It's hard for a trans kid in high school, just like it was for a gay kid two decades before. Can Ryan and Justin find common ground in time?
  • Translation: Dominic has a thing for Italian guys, especially his boss, Dante. His roommate Enrico has a thing for him. No matter how this ends, someone is going to get hurt.
  • Slow Thaw: As the Antarctic warms, so does the chilly relationship between scientist Javier Fernandez and new arrival—and trans man—Col Steele as they contend with a disaster on the ice.
  • Ten: After the death of his husband, Chris faces a gay mid-life crisis—at thirty-five—as he jumps back into the dating scene for ten dates in ten days.

This is the first time these stories have been collected in one place, and the first publication of “The Boy in the Band.”

Warnings: Bullying, suicidal ideation and attempt, past physical abuse, deadnaming

Publisher | Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | QueeRomance Ink | Smashwords | Universal Buy Link | Goodreads


Excerpt

Love & Limitations Meme

From "Ten"

Sundays were the worst.

Those lazy, quiet mornings, sitting in the big bay window seat across from Ari with our legs entwined.

That happy time was long gone.

Instead, I was waiting out on the sidewalk, leaning up against the railing of the MARRS Building boardwalk. The wind blew chill, going right through my windbreaker, and the sky was slate gray. It never snowed in Sacramento, but it sure seemed to be trying.

I stuffed my hands into my jacket pockets, wishing I had a pair of mittens. As an Arizona boy, I wasn’t used to the cold, even Sacramento cold.

I stood at the corner of 20th and K in the heart of gay Sacramento, waiting for a guy named Bryan. Spelled with a “Y”, of course. We gays are nothing if not predictable.

Christmas music played from speakers in the eaves of the building behind me.

My husband Ari had passed away on New Year’s Eve the previous year. He’d been hit by a street-racing Mercedes when we were crossing J Street, and it had been twelve agonizing days in the hospital before he took his last breath.

Three seconds. That’s how far behind him I was, checking something on Facebook. I didn’t even remember what it was.

Three goddamned seconds.

After a year of being alone, of beating myself up for those three seconds, I’d finally decided that it was time to start dating again. Ari was gone, and nothing would bring him back. He would want me to go on.

Still, my heart wasn’t in it.

My mother was sick with worry. Every day I got a call or a text or an email asking if I was okay.

Ari would want me to have someone again.

I was thirty-five, and all alone.

I’d challenged myself to go on ten dates in ten days—maybe I’d find someone new. If not, at least I’d have a reason to be alone.

And so, Bryan.

He was twenty-five, hung, and had no head, at least if his Grindr profile was to be believed.

What was it about gay guys and their abs?

Then again, I’d swiped right when I saw that gorgeous chest, so I guess I’m part of the problem.

Grindr photos never lie, right?

Bryan arrived on time — a point in his favor — and he was young and beautiful. Blond, blue eyed, and yes, all of twenty-five. I laughed under my breath. I had underwear older than he was.

I’m no slouch at 5’11”, but he was taller than me.

Ari had been just my height, with black hair and dark brown eyes. Medium, dark, and handsome.

Bryan and I hugged and headed down to Pizzeria Urbano. We grabbed a couple slices and took them outside to the patio. Lavender Heights was quiet today—the cold weather, most likely—and the people-watching was practically non-existent.

“You look just like your photo,” Bryan said between bites, flashing me a big white perfectly aligned smile. No one had natural teeth that straight, or that white. “What are you, like forty?”

Little shit. “Um, thirty-five,” I replied. “And you have a head.”

“What? Oh yeah, the Grindr thing.” He grinned again, and I had to shield my eyes. “I don’t want my parents finding me on there.”

That surprised me. “You’re in the closet? I thought your generation was past all of that.”

“Nah, I just don’t want them in my business. It’s bad enough I have to follow all the ‘house rules.’ But hey, I like dating older guys.”

Ouch again. And he lived at home.

But damn, he was cute.

I tried to get us back on track. “So what do you do?”

“I’m a personal trainer.” He eyed his pizza. “I hardly ever eat this shit.”

Of course you are. “Yeah? Where?”

“At Lord’s Gym in South Sac.” He poked me in my less than perfectly flat stomach. “Hey, I can get you back in shape—you eat pizza and carbs like this all the time, right? Come in some time and I’ll hook you up.” He finished his slice, licking his fingers.

“Suuuuure.” I mentally added a new Grindr rule—from now on, any swipe-rights had to have a head.

Bryan was totally wrong for me. Too young, too athletic, not too bright, and he had all the manners of an untrained puppy.

“Wanna go back to my place?” he said, panting.

Oh my God, that tongue.

Ari wouldn’t mind.

What the fuck are you waiting for? Ari whispered in my ear. He’s hot.

I laughed. Of course it wasn’t him. But it’s exactly what he would have said, given the current situation, and if Ari wanted me to … “Sure.”

Bryan took my hand and led me back to his place, just a couple blocks away.

The next day, I started an Evernote to keep track and rate my dates. I don’t usually sleep and tell, but I gave Bryan a four and a half for date-ability, and a ten in bed.


Author Bio

J. Scott Coatsworth

Scott lives with his husband Mark in a yellow bungalow in Sacramento. He was indoctrinated into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine. He devoured her library, but as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were.

He decided that if there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.

A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality, and is the committee chair for the Indie Authors Committee at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

Author Website: https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworth

Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/jscottcoatsworthauthor/

Author Mastodon: https://mastodon.otherworldsink.com/@jscottcoatsworth

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jscottcoatsworth/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8392709.J_Scott_Coatsworth

Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/j-scott-coatsworth/

Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/j-scott-coatsworth/

Author Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/J.-Scott-Coatsworth/e/B011AFO4OQ

Other Worlds Ink logo

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Method to Madness by Thomas Grant Bruso #Mystery #LGBT #Giveaway

 


BLURB:

 

Five years ago, Jack Ballinger was a police officer.

He has since moved from the small upstate New York town of Black Falls for greener pastures and a peaceful life alone in the Green Mountain State. Time has changed Jack -- he is no longer the man he used to be. A significant challenge for him has been the heartbreaking loss of his boyfriend, companion, and one true love, Steve.

Now alone, Jack has yet to deal rationally with the immediate changes of his new life. After losing his partner, Jack drank heavily to numb the pain and forget his life-changing loss. Now, he must find a way to move forward without Steve and the life he built for himself. Joining an Alcoholics Anonymous group helps quiet the voices that still keep him awake at night. But something much darker has followed him to his life in the quiet corners of Vermont.

When Jack thinks he has buried the scars of his past, a new nightmare emerges. How far will Jack go to end the imminent evil in his life and kill it for good?

Trigger warning: this story addresses suicide and suicidal ideation.

 


 

EXCERPT 

My work boots clipped across the newly polished floor, squeaking with each determined step toward the security guard’s office in the back of the mall. I didn’t usually get frightened, but after the week’s events of Jacob Adler’s murder and my recurring hallucinations, I was on guard twenty-four-seven. The wall I’d built after Steve died sent me into a tailspin. I lost my self-confidence to “live on -- move on,” as Steve had put it. Getting out of bed was the most challenging part of the day, getting started. But not as difficult as being a suspect in somebody else’s murder.

I locked up in the office, hung my jacket on the wall peg along with my badge, fastened my uniform hat on top of my coat, and secured the building. I walked around the side of the shopping center to get to my truck, which was parked near the auto shop garage in the adjacent lot. My keys clanged against the side of my uniform work belt.

There was a crispness to the air as it gusted across my face.

When I reached my truck, I stopped and glanced at the imposing three-floor structure of the Rushford Shopping Mall. It had been a game-changer, I told myself. When my life was at its lowest, the job as mall security had saved me. Moving from upstate New York to Vermont and being hired at a stone’s throw distance from where everything had bottomed out of my life, life could not be better. I had to keep reminding myself that I was lucky. This was meant to be.

I was living. No – I was surviving the best way I knew how. The sharp gust of wind filled my eyes with a deep sadness.

I slipped my key into the driver’s side door. I jumped inside, cranking the station to a country song I knew Steve would roll his eyes at, but his enthusiastic expression brightened my mood. I sat in the quiet interior of my truck, my head falling against the headrest, my eyes closing to the welcoming solitude. I drummed my hands on the bottom of the steering wheel.

Then screeching tires peeled around the sharp curve of the parking lot where the lot met the edge of the road, and a song about lost love faded from memory. I opened my eyes and raised my head to tires squealing. In the rearview mirror, I glimpsed a vehicle idling behind me. I didn’t notice it at first, but the car blocked me. I adjusted my seat and stared out the rear windshield at the obscure figure behind the wheel. I couldn’t see their face, but the figure looked reedy and reached an arm out the open window, pointing at me.


 



AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Thomas Grant Bruso knew he wanted to be a writer at an early age. He has been a voracious reader of genre fiction since childhood.

His literary inspirations are Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Jim Grimsley, Karin Fossum, and Joyce Carol Oates.

Bruso loves animals, reading books, and writing fiction, and prefers Sudoku to crossword puzzles.

In another life, he was a freelance writer and wrote for magazines and newspapers. In college, he won the Hermon H. Doh Sonnet Competition. Now, he writes and publishes fiction and reviews books for his hometown newspaper, The Press-Republican.

He lives in upstate New York.

Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thomgrantbruso?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thomasgrantbrusoauthor/?hl=en

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8591689.Thomas_Grant_Bruso

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thomasgrantbruso/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Method-Madness-Thomas-Grant-Bruso-ebook/dp/B0CLKJD64Y?ref_=ast_author_dp

 

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER:

Thomas Grant Bruso will be awarding $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, December 3, 2023

OUT NOW—Never Plan a Billionaire’s Wedding (Whatever It Takes, Maine, Book 1) by Julia Kent (@jkentauthor)

 


Release Date: November 28, 2023

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Romance

Cover Designer:  Staci Hart

Audiobook Narrators:  COMING SOON

Tropes/Themes:  Billionaire, Forbidden Romance/Breaking Contract, Mistaken Identity, Wedding, Engagement, Reunion Romance, Second Chance Romance, Romantic Comedy,

 


 

Rule #1: Don’t fall in love with the groom

Stalker exes. Momzillas. Drunk uncles. Hurricanes. Jealous siblings. Paparazzi.

You name it, Kari Whitevelt has seen it all.

And that’s why brides and grooms hire her.

Because she makes it all go away.

Wedding Protectors, Inc., is here to make sure that special day stays special.

Whatever it takes.

 No matter what.

But when her newest client turns out to be her own long-lost high school sweetheart, rising tech star billionaire Caleb Mikelmas, suddenly Kari’s not sure whether she’s protecting the wedding couple —

 

Or her own heart.

 

Tech billionaire Caleb never thought he had a chance, much less a second chance with his first love and high school sweetheart, Kari. When a case of mistaken identity turns their reunion into one big misunderstanding, unraveling his feelings about the one who got away while supporting his brother’s nuptials means facing old demons.

And kissing Kari.

He likes kissing Kari far more than that whole demon thing.

But if kisses were enough, Kari would already be his wife.

Maybe it’s time to revisit the past and right some wrongs.

One vow at a time.

Welcome to the Whatever It Takes series:

Every bride needs something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue -

But you know what brides don't need?

Complications.

Welcome to Wedding Protectors, Inc. Have a spritzer or a latte or some lovely Zen tea and sink into a comfortable chair in our sunlit offices as we listen to your wedding problem – and form the perfect solution to every possible contingency.

We plan for everything.

Except our own love lives.

But that's not your problem. ;)



Buy Links: 

Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CKB6KHD3

Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Billionaires-Wedding-Whatever-Takes-ebook/dp/B0CKB6KHD3/

Amazon AU:  https://www.amazon.com.au/Never-Billionaires-Wedding-Whatever-Takes-ebook/dp/B0CKB6KHD3/

Amazon CA:  https://www.amazon.ca/Never-Billionaires-Wedding-Whatever-Takes-ebook/dp/B0CKB6KHD3/

Apple Books:  https://books.apple.com/us/book/never-plan-a-billionaires-wedding/id6468538482

Kobo:  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/never-plan-a-billionaire-s-wedding

Nook:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/never-plan-a-billionaires-wedding-julia-kent/1144157018?ean=2940186153108

Google Play:  https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=Vn7aEAAAQBAJ

Print:  https://www.amazon.com/Never-Billionaires-Wedding-Whatever-Takes/dp/1638801975/

Website:  https://jkentauthor.com/books/whatever-it-takes/never-plan/

BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/books/never-plan-a-billionaire-s-wedding-whatever-it-takes-book-1-by-julia-kent

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199278585-never-plan-a-billionaire-s-wedding

Audible:  COMING SOON

Amazon Audio:  COMING SOON

iTunes:  COMING SOON



 Author Bio:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julia Kent writes romantic comedy with an edge. Since 2013, she has sold more than 2 million books, with 4 New York Times bestsellers and more than 21 appearances on the USA Today bestseller list. Her books have been translated into French, German, and Italian, with more titles releasing in the future.

From billionaires to BBWs to new adult rock stars, Julia finds a sensual, goofy joy in every contemporary romance she writes. Unlike Shannon from Shopping for a Billionaire, she did not meet her husband after dropping her phone in a men's room toilet (and he isn't a billionaire she met in a romantic comedy).

She lives in New England with her husband and three children where she is the only person in the household with the gene required to change empty toilet paper rolls.

She loves to hear from her readers by email at julia@jkentauthor.com, on Twitter @jkentauthor, on Facebook at @jkentauthor, and on Instagram @jkentauthor. Visit her at http://jkentauthor.com

 

Social Media Links:

Website:  http://jkentauthor.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/jkentauthor/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/jkentauthor

Newsletter:  http://bit.ly/2PIBi9n

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/jkentauthor/

BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/julia-kent

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3238619.Julia_Kent

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Julia-Kent/e/B00A99V268/

 

Excerpt 

 

Carolina was introducing him to his former fiancée.

Fine. Near fiancée. It had been a promise ring, not an engagement diamond, but still.

The run he'd just finished was apparently unnecessary from a cardio standpoint, since his heart was now racing, crashing into his ribs as if it were fleeing a crime scene. Not that he was the bad guy. But still.

Kari. No way.

It was his Kari. And okay, maybe she was never formally his fiancée, but until college and distance broke them up, they always planned on it. He’d given her a promise ring in high school, so that was close enough.

When Carolina had mentioned she was meeting two wedding professionals named Katie and Carrie, he'd heard it as the more familiar spelling. She'd never spelled it out, and she hadn't bothered to tell him Kari's last name.

“Caleb, have you swallowed your tongue along with your manners? Shake the poor woman's hand, for goodness sake!” Carolina crooned, giving him side-eye while managing a puzzled smile at Kari as the two stood awkwardly in front of each other, gaping.

Kari had changed in some ways, for sure, but it was her, alright. Her brown hair was a darker shade but still thick and shiny, framed in soft layers around her face, brushing the edges of straight, strong shoulders. He recognized those whiskey brown eyes, deceptively sleepy unless you knew her, knew that behind them, her brain was working constantly at warp speed.

She was taller now–or anyway, she didn’t wear four-inch heels back then–so instead of having to bend to kiss her lips, he could just dip his head.

If he wanted to kiss her.

If wanting to kiss her wasn’t the only thing he could think about.

Release blitz organized by Writer Marketing Services.



Friday, December 1, 2023

Release Day! 'Tis the Season by @GaleStanley #Gay #Holiday Romance



Passages, Book 1


Holiday, Gay, Romance, New Adult

Date Published: December 01, 2023

Publisher: Changeling Press


 

Is it possible to be both a good Jew and a gay man? Jonah Dillon doesn’t think so. He can’t reconcile his faith with his attraction to men so he turns his back on Judaism. Away at college for the holidays, he plans to lose his virginity to Christian, the blue-eyed, blond, goy of his dreams.

But fate intervenes when Jonah meets Aaron Beck, an observant Jew, and they end up celebrating Hanukkah together. Aaron tells Jonah they're beschert—meant to be. Jonah’s not sure he believes it, but he's lonely and welcomes Aaron's company even if he has to celebrate Hanukkah to get it.

Can Aaron bridge the gap and convince Jonah to take a leap of faith? Or will they have to give up their desire for a future together?

 

About the Author

Gale Stanley grew up in Philadelphia PA. She was the kid who always had her nose in a book, her head in the clouds, and her hands on a pad and pencil.

Some things never change.

 

Contact Links

Blog

Facebook

X (Twitter): @GaleStanley

Goodreads

Pinterest

Instagram

 

Purchase Link

 Amazon

Publisher


RABT Book Tours & PR

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Holy Smoke by Gin Griffith #Paranormal #Romance

 


Paranormal Romance/Romantasy

Date Published: 02/06/2024


DEMONS DON'T DO LOVE...

Lust and lies? Now those, Jovi can handle.

But falling for a demon hunter like Nash Rogan?

Really dumb move for a succubus on the run.

 

ROGAN'S NO FOOL...

But he's acting like one. Breaking rules, spilling secrets—touching her.

He lives in the shadows. But the more Jovi lights him up, the less he wants to go back to the dark.

 

Sparks fly when Jovi and Rogan are forced to flee—and fight—as an unwilling duo in HOLY SMOKE, the first in the HELLBOUND series by Gin Griffith.

 


About the Author

Social Media Links


Author on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook -  @gingriffithofficial

         

Publisher on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook - @harborlanebooks


RABT Book Tours & PR