As Cold As Thorns by: Isis Sousa w/Creative Post & Giveaway

Title: As Cold As Thorns

Author: Isis Sousa

Series: Duology Book 1 of 2

Genre: Dark Fantasy/Gothic/Paranormal/Dark Fairytale

Publisher: Tragic Books

Release Date: Nov 28 2016

Edition/Formats: eBook & Print

Blurb/Synopsis:

When lust and vanity consume a humble young soul, nothing is left but a faint flame in the darkness of the void.

The solace and contentment of Henrique’s simple life as a small-town tailor’s apprentice vanish when his ambitions turn him overnight into one of the most powerful and influential personalities in early-1800s Europe. His quick ascension to the upper echelons of the leading Iberian Empire reveals a man torn between the pure heart he once was, and the grim shade of what he has now become: a spirit obsessed with expensive material possessions and the urge to acquire the unattainable.

Henrique succumbs to the ever-growing desires and beguiling passions tormenting his mind, causing a rupture between reason and a desolate world of ice and snow where pain is the key to salvation. Will he survive his encounter with the colossal emptiness and find the righteous path to lead him out of his agony?

Come and indulge yourself in this startling tale of coldness and wonder.

Amélia had just finished the last touches in preparing the room when the door knocked three times. She rushed to attend it. When she opened it, a familiar face met her with a warming smile. A man about Tito’s age but more robust and shorter than her friend, he had gray-white hair tied back and wore a pair of glasses. His dress jacket and trousers had a warm brown tone and his socks, reaching to under his knees, were knitted in white. In one hand he had a huge leather bag; in the other he held his hat as he nodded to the servant.

“Me encantas como siempre, Amélia!”

The lady blushed and bowed to Professor Miguel. “And you’re most kind, como siempre, Professor!” She gestured for the man to come in. “Make yourself comfortable. Señor Henrique will be here any moment.” The servant left, heading for the kitchen.

Professor Miguel put his bag near an armchair by the table, which was set with porcelain and finely carved wooden cups, and then he went around the room, admiring the pieces of art Henrique had collected. There were small ornamented items, sculptures and paintings. His eyes lingered on a couple of black-and-white illustrations displayed side by side. One of them was of a couple of naked witches flying on a broomstick, one old and the other young. The other image was of a woman holding a dying man, their faces close and with the same desperate expression.

Henrique’s voice called for the Professor’s attention. “Ah, Professor Miguel! I see you admire my exquisite collection! Those two you’re devouring with your eyes were a gift from that sick painter – one more sick painter, by the way – by the name Francisco Goya. Pretty Teacher and Love and Death are my two favourites from that series.”

“A peculiar taste for dark and imaginative subjects, I must say. I do not believe in witches, or at least not like those, the classics. But I do believe in the power of love and death, the true rulers of our insignificant lives.”

“Professor, do you truly acknowledge your life as insignificant?” Henrique inquired with a peculiar smirk.

The Professor raised an eyebrow and touched his beard. “Hmm, no! In fact, not at all! It is an incontestable truth that we are insignificant compared to the grandeur of the universe, but my life… is a life of significance through the pursuit of knowledge, let that be said.”

“Ah! Now, I agree with you! As for my life, at the moment let’s say chaos is steering the winds. But sim, a life of significance and the pursuit of knowledge, and of making my craft the finest that has ever been. Oh! And let’s not forget the quest for the un-unattainable.” He gestured for his friend to take a seat.

Miguel sat in the armchair, following Henrique with his eyes. “We ought to toast to that!”

“But we will! With hibiscus and spices!” He took the kettle and poured the red, aromatic, steamy liquid into the Professor’s cup and then into his own.

Tragic Books

The Playmaker by: Andrew Grey w/ Creative Post & Giveaway

Title: The Playmaker

Author: Andrew Grey

Series: Currently a Standalone

Genre: M/M Contemporary/Sports Romance/LBGTQ

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Release Date: Nov 2016

Edition/Formats Available In: eBook & Print

Blurb/Synopsis:

Professional football player Hunter Davis is learning that saying he’s gay is very different from actively being in a relationship with another man—especially in the eyes of his teammates and fans. So when Hunter needs a personal assistant to keep him organized, he asks for a woman to prevent tongues from wagging.

Montgomery Willis badly needs to find work before he loses everything. There’s just one position at the agency where he applies, but the problem is, he’s not a woman. And he knows nothing about football. Still, Hunter gives him a chance, but only because Monty’s desperate.

Monty soon proves his worth by saving Hunter’s bacon on an important promotional shoot, and Hunter realizes he might have someone special working for him—in more ways than one. Monty’s feelings come to the surface during an outing in the park when Hunter decides to teach Monty a bit about the game, and pictures surface of them in some questionable positions. Hunter is reminded that knowing he’s gay and seeing evidence in the papers is very different for the other players, and he might have to choose between two loves: football and Monty.

“This is really working,” Raphael said as he moved around him, giving instructions and taking pictures. “You look great.” He snapped image after image. “Just a few more. That’s it, right there.” He stopped and put the camera down. Hunter put the robe back on, and Raphael moved to the computer on the desk next to him. The images taken were displayed on the screen, and Raphael moved through them quickly until they found an image that leapt off the screen. “That’s it. Right there.”

The assistants came back in, and Monty put Hunter’s coffee in his hand.

“That’s hot,” Monty said when he saw the image on the screen. “Go on and change.” Hunter went back behind the screen. “Okay, I want to see every image,” Monty demanded. “Delete that and that. You will not keep those images in any way. Delete them now!”

“That’s not in the agreement,” Raphael said.

“You’ll do it, or so help me, I’ll destroy the camera and throw the computer out the fucking window. Now get to it.” Once Hunter had dressed, he came out from behind the screen to find Monty with his hands on his hips, glaring at Raphael. “That one too… and that one. Jesus, you’re just a pervert, aren’t you? Get rid of all of those, now.” Raphael was seething, but he did as Monty wanted, and then Monty looked through the pictures that were left and did the same on the camera. “There better not be any backups to any of these.”

“This is all of them,” Raphael said, and Monty stepped back.

“Good. We want copies of all of these. They won’t be published anywhere, but Hunter deserves copies of all of them.”

“They’ll be sent over once the calendar images are finalized,” Raphael told Hunter, ignoring Monty. He handed Hunter a card, and he passed it to Monty.

“Thank you,” Hunter said, and he waited while Monty gathered his things, and then they left the studio. “What was all the yelling about?” Hunter asked once they were on the stairs, heading for street level.

“He’d taken a bunch of pictures of you that included things that were best left unseen by the general public. I don’t know if he’d delete them himself, but they didn’t need to exist.” Monty pulled open his door once Hunter unlocked the car. “Who knows where those pictures could end up in a few years? Look on the Internet—there are pictures of stars’ privates all over the place. I didn’t think you needed to join that club.” Monty opened his computer and began tapping away as Hunter stared at him for a few seconds. He was trying to remember the last time someone other than Garvin had really looked out for him. He was about to say thank you when Monty looked up from what he was doing. “Are we going back to the house?”

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Aligned Vol.3 by:Ella Miles

Title: Aligned

Author: Ella Miles

Series: Aligned (Vol 3)

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Self Published

Release Date: April 30 2016

Edition/Formats: eBook & Print

Blurb/Synopsis:

He's alive.

I don't know how, but he's standing here in the doorway. A torn piece of green silk sticking out of his pocket matching the fabric that I carry with me everywhere to remember him.

My heart has been torn in two.

I don't know who I'm supposed to love. A man that has stolen my heart or my husband who I thought was dead.

-- --

He's fucking alive.

That can't be possible. I found someone I could finally love. Someone I want to spend the rest of my life with.

But I can't love Alex.

Not now. I have to let her go. It's the only way I can save her. I just hope I'm strong enough to save myself.

*** Aligned: Volume 3 is the first Full Length Novel in a four part contemporary romance series. Volume 4 is the second Full Length Novel. Volumes 1 & 2 are novella length books that are already out. ***

****Warning: Four book series + bonus novella. Ends on a cliffhanger. Contains hot sex scenes, strong female, and dark pasts that turn darker as the series continues. Only for those that love dirty romances, edge of your seat suspense, twists, and a little bit of darkness. ****

Aligned: Volume 1 (Novella)

Aligned: Volume 2 (Novella)

Aligned: Volume 3 (Full Length Novel)

Aligned: Volume 4 (Full Length Novel)

Aligned: Ever After (Bonus Free Novella) --Coming September. Link to get bonus free book in back of Aligned: Volume 4

Alex

My heart is torn staring at the man in front of me. The man who is supposed to be buried in the ground along with my rings. My husband. He’s alive. The only fact that I knew for sure about my life was that Ethan, my husband, died in a car accident six months ago. In the same accident that took my leg, along with my memories.

I try to focus my gaze on the shattered man in front of me. Maybe this man isn’t him. After all, my memory isn’t reliable. My eyes run over his ripped and dirty dark black suit. Blood oozes out from large cuts along his arms and legs. I can’t bring myself to meet his eyes or even look at his face. I’m sure it is just as badly beaten as the rest of his body. Instead, my eyes are transfixed on the green piece of torn fabric barely protruding from the jacket. The missing piece of fabric in my pocket would align so perfectly with it. I reach my hand inside and pull out the torn fabric. I bring it to my face breathing in the lingering manly scent as I stare at the man in front of me. Ethan is alive.

I turn to look back at Landon standing behind me in the kitchen. Less than a few seconds must pass between the time I look at Ethan and the time it takes me to meet Landon’s gaze, but it feels like minutes, no hours. I don’t know how to feel. All I feel is disbelief. I meet Landon’s eyes. His gorgeous golden eyes that have seen me come now too many times to count. Eyes that I have told I love you to. Eyes that held promises of more. Of forever just the night before.

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Ella Miles writes sexy romance with strong females that could kick your butt if you piss them off, which they often do to the men that fall for them. She's currently living her own happily ever after near the Rocky Mountains with her high school sweetheart husband. Her heart is also taken by her goofy two year old black lab that is scared of everything, including her own shadow. Ella is the author of the Aligned Series and Maybe Series. Get her free books by visiting her website: EllaMiles.com/freebooks

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Playing with Fire by: Dirk Greyson w/ Creative Post & Giveaway

Title: Playing with Fire  

Author: Dirk Greyson

Series: Standalone

Genre: M/M, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Release Date: Nov 4 2016

Edition/Formats: eBook & Print

Blurb/Synopsis:

Jim Crawford was born wealthy, but he turned his back on it to become a police officer. Add to that his being gay, and he’s definitely the black sheep of the family.

Dr. Barty Halloran grew up with lessons instead of friends and toys, and as a result, became a gifted psychologist… with only an academic understanding of people and emotions.

When Jim’s pursuit of a serial killer goes nowhere, he turns to Dr. Halloran for help, and Barty thinks he can get inside the shooter’s mind. In many ways, they’re two sides of the same coin, which both scares and intrigues him. Together, Jim and Barty make progress on the case—until the stakes shoot higher when the killer turns his attention toward Barty.

To protect Barty, Jim offers to let Barty stay with him, where he discovers the doctor has a heart to go along with his brilliant mind after all. But as they close in on their suspect, the killer becomes desperate, and he’ll do anything to elude capture—even threaten those closest to Jim.

He set up his laptop and spent the rest of the day working through what he’d read and seen to develop a profile of the killer, but there was so much information he was missing that what he came up with was only in general terms, and that frustrated him. He liked his answers to be solid, but what he kept coming back to was nebulous and could apply to millions of people. Jim played the message that had been left for them, and it reinforced Barty’s profile but didn’t fill in any of the blanks.

Jim had pretty much left him to his own devices for the afternoon, and that was precisely how he liked to work. But Barty found himself checking for Jim every half hour or so. He kept wondering about him, and not in an academic way. First thing, Jim had actually answered Barty’s questions honestly, which told him he was a pretty self-aware kind of man. Barty had also divulged things about himself. Academically he knew that could be the start of a friendship, and he liked that notion. He didn’t have many real friends. He’d never been good at making them. Mostly he had acquaintances and contacts.

Something else niggled at the back of Barty’s mind, but he didn’t understand what it was in the least.

“Have you come up with anything?” Jim asked, placing a cup of coffee next to him.

Barty smiled. It was nice that Jim thought of him when he got a coffee for himself. He lifted his gaze from his laptop and caught Jim’s smile. It was nice, warm, and genuine. Barty had made a study of smiles as part of his work. People smiled for different reasons—for example, to cover up embarrassment or discomfort. Sometimes a smile could be menacing and chilling. Jim’s smile was nothing like those. It was like he was happy to see him. A flutter in his belly that had been simmering all day flared into a flight of butterflies, and Barty wondered if he might have eaten something that didn’t agree with him, but there was a pleasant feeling, like an aftertaste.

“I have a basic profile,” Barty said, and Jim leaned closer. “It’s definitely a man, in my opinion, and he’s smart, super smart.” Barty paused before he got into what he wanted to say. “This is all opinion at this point. A theory that we need to prove or change as we get more evidence.”

“Like, you smart?”

Barty colored. His intelligence was a source of pride for him, but he’d learned that it intimidated other people. “You can be as smart as you like, but don’t make others feel dumb,” Nana had told him.

“Maybe. But in a different way. He’s smart, and at the same time, ruthless and without empathy. He doesn’t care what his actions do to others. His entire emphasis is on himself and the effect others have on him.” Barty turned away from his computer screen. “He’s the kind of subject that people in my profession would love to be able to study. He’s aware of his strengths and very good at minimizing his weaknesses. However, the exception is his ego. I think that’s what’s driven him to this extreme.”

“How so?” Jim asked.

“To boil things down, let’s say we have two people, both raised in pretty much the same way. But as adults, one turns into a serial killer and the other one studies people who become serial killers.” Barty might have been getting a little close to himself, but the example seemed to work in this case. “The two people are like two sides of the same coin. One turns evil, and the other goes on to lead a fairly normal life. One of the things that can help decide which way they go is ego. Let’s say that both of them have the potential to climb on rooftops and shoot people. Not everyone is going to do that.”

“So the one most likely is the one with a biggest ego?”

“Possibly,” Barty said and turned to Jim. “You be the bad guy. You’re our serial shooter. You’re smart and think you’re smarter than everyone else. Therefore, you’re the best at everything. So something triggers your superiority. You get passed over for promotion, or flunk a class that you think you should be teaching because the instructor is a complete idiot. Or your girlfriend leaves you for someone else, but of course you’re the best lover and best boyfriend in the world, so she should definitely want to be with you. Therefore, something is wrong with the world and you need to change that.” When he looked into Jim’s eyes, heat built up inside him, and he wondered why the room had suddenly gotten warm. “So you need to change the world and set it back to right where you are better than everyone else. Our shooter is doing just that. There’s an event that triggered these episodes, but we don’t know where to look for that yet. There is also some escalating event.”

“I don’t understand.”

Barty ran his finger under his collar because it felt a little tight. He lost his train of thought as he momentarily fell into Jim’s brown eyes. Barty blinked and got back on track.

“Okay, so we have you as our potential serial shooter. You believe you’re better than everyone else, therefore other people matter less than you do. They’re expendable because you’re the very best. Something happens that triggers your righteous indignation because things aren’t right. Your ego is bruised, but you grind your teeth and continue on, because after all, you are smarter than everyone else and know what’s best. But the world doesn’t return to where it should be. You are slighted over and over again, and each time the anger and resentment builds and builds. Other inferior people are being promoted over you… whatever it is. Then something happens that sends you over the edge, and you have to take action because the world isn’t righting itself, and you feel it isn’t going to.”

“Jesus,” Jim said softly.

“The problem is that it often isn’t until after the fact that we’re able to piece these incidents together and come up with a real cause or answers. Sometimes we never can at all. There are people who would be fantastic research subjects, but they won’t talk. Others do nothing but talk, but their information is so skewed and facts hard to corroborate that we get no usable data.” Barty sipped his coffee, then set it aside. He was still too warm. “Is there something cold to drink?”

“Sure. Give me a minute.” Jim left, and Barty breathed as normally as possible, trying to determine the cause of this reaction. Jim returned with a bottle of water that had condensation on the outside, and Barty opened it and drank half. “How do we use this to try to find him?”

“I’m still working on some things. There are a number of possibilities. A lot of super intelligent people work in academia because many of us don’t have superior social skills. Though I’m not saying that’s a given, but it might be a place to start. You could try MENSA, but I don’t think that’s the kind of group our shooter would join. He’d surround himself with smart people, but no one potentially smarter than he is. That way he’s always the biggest and best in the room.” Barty stopped. “Chess clubs,” he added.

“You said that this is a game a couple of times.”

“Yes. He thinks many moves ahead, and that’s something chess players do. So try looking at the various chess clubs, but only at the very top players. He’d definitely be one of the best….”

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(COVER REVEAL) Amber Sky by: Claire Warner

"You thought I did this out of the goodness of my heart?" He gave a short mirthless laugh. "Not a bit of it, this is going to be dangerous for me. What are you offering for my help?"

a dark Journey by:Josef (BLITZ)

Title: a dark Journey into the Light

Author: Josef

Series: Stand Alone

Genre: Autobiography

Publisher: Self – Published

Release Date: Sept 17 2016

Edition/Formats: eBook

Blurb/Synopsis:

A dark Journey into the light is the true story of a man who, for sixty years, led a double life.

Josef is lost in a secret world of sexual gratification, a true-life Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, unable to halt the “roller coaster of conflicting emotional extremes that never stopped long enough for me to get off.”

“I gave myself to that sexual playground completely, and loved every minute of it when it was happening. It was only afterwards that spikes of shame, guilt, and self-¬loathing would be driven deep into my heart.”

He traces the beginnings of his obsession to his childhood, where his natural innocent curiosity and need for exploration were at odds with his Catholic upbringing and the view of his extremely repressed mother, both of whom regarded the human body as ‘dirty’ and ‘shameful’.

For sixty years, Josef lived a secret double life. The only people who knew about this other life were the professional mistresses, trannies, and prostitutes with whom he indulged every conceivable sexual fantasy. No one in his ‘other’ life had any idea of who he really was or the things he did.

Yet his secret life claimed a terrible toll. The failure of his first marriage. The loss of his son. The loss of his beloved second wife.

Only after extensive therapy was he finally able to see and feel the light of compassion, and allow the healing energy of forgiveness to begin taking away the pain.

In his journey, Josef explores an astonishing variety of topics. In addition to sexual addiction and the hidden world of BDSM, he delves into the burden of guilt of the Catholic Church, fear, political correctness, non-¬judgment, love and loss, philosophy, the soul, spiritual awakening, and healing.

This is the journey of an ordinary man lost in an extraordinary secret, dark world, who ultimately finds his way out of the tangled mess through the power of love and forgiveness.