Oldies Goldies - T. Lee Garland - Hott 'n Handy

After my epic rant last week (see it here, there also a giveaway, you know?) I resume my backlist party regular program. Here's my homage to the joy of older titles, those books that stayed in our hearts and we don't want to ever ever forget. I will be hosting eight romance authors (every Tuesday and Friday all through August! stay tuned, there may be giveaways!) with their favourite titles from their own backlist. 

Say hello to T. Lee Garland and her irresstibly titled "Hott 'n Handy" a scrumptios, mmf Romance on the Go (short story) published by Evernight.
Seriously, can you resist a book with a title like this?! :)

"Hi, this is T. I wanted to give you a little back story on my book Hott ‘n Handy. The story developed over a slow day at work with a co-worker and me brainstorming.  What woman doesn’t love a sexy, (hot) fireman? And my story has two!

Also, I have always been attracted to men who were good with their hands (wink) and could fix stuff. Call me twisted, but a guy working on a leaky faucet or a broke down car just speeds my heart up every single time. You will find that Adam and Eli are both Hott ‘n Handy.

As for Shelby, you have to admire a woman whose world has come crashing down, yet she doesn’t wimp out? She has come from poverty to fight her way up to be the darling of daytime TV, only to be fired. She still knows what she wants and she’s not sitting around waiting for it to come to her.

I hope you will find Adam, Eli, and Shelby as fun reading about as I did writing them! A special thanks to Lynne, my co-worker who came up with the fun title, Hott ‘n Handy, just says it all.

And lastly a huge thank you to my hostess, Katherine Wyvern."

You are very welcome indeed T!

Shelby Barton was America’s TV darling having grown up in the public eye on a much beloved soap opera. Until the day she was fired. Embarrassed, she flees to the tiny town of Nugget Knob, West Virginia to hide out and decide what to do next. She purchases a rundown house and plots her next career move. 

Adam Hott and his best friend Eli Handy are firemen who also run a home repair business, Hott ‘n Handy repairs. The two take one look at the beautiful starlet and know they want her in their bed and in their lives. 

Shelby has a decision to make. Was home in New York, complete with the backstabbing people and her glamorous career in daytime TV? Or was home in little Nugget Knob, West Virginia, between two hot and handy men who adored her?

"Hott 'n Handy" has some lovely reviews out there:

"Ms. Garland does an excellent job of making not only you, but your e-reader sweat with all the steaminess coming off of this book. I fell in love with Adam and Eli and wish they were real so that I could have a chance at them! Shelby was really well written as well. I thought she was a great character and, although she was a movie star, she was relatable.

"I think that the plot was smooth and there weren’t any awkward moments are times when things didn’t make sense. The opening really drew the reader in and the ending was a perfect happy ending! It was well written and the pace was just right for a Romance On The Go. So it’s not exactly long, but it’s long enough to have a thorough plot and not feel like the reader is missing part of the story. I recommend this book for lovers of ménage romances and if you’ve never read a ménage, do it! This one is a great book to get your toes wet."

Are you curious?

Read an excerpt at Evernight 

Or download a sample from Amazon! 
And don't forget to check out all her other books
On Goodreads!

A Wyvern Rant

I am sorry, but I have to take a break from my backlist party today, to post some more personal considerations.

Ever since Doris O'Connor posted a link to this astonishing article here I have felt a “Wyvern Rant” building up. Those who know me well know that I don’t rant halfway, but no, this time I will be moderate... more or less. We are all authors here and I don’t want to hit anyone on the head (well, I do want, but we can’t always have nice things, can we??)

So why do we write “pornography”?

Unlike some of my colleagues I don’t even object to my books (at least some of them) being called pornography. I didn’t exactly overexert myself coming up with a plot for Black Carnival, for example. Let’s face it, there’s just enough plot to string the sex scenes together. Still, it is considered poor taste to call it Porn. We do strive to write about lovable characters, not just about mating bodies. Still. Nowadays even calling a book Erotica is dicey. So, let’s agree to call it Erotic Romance. Whatever you call it, it’s still sex. 

Why do I write about it? Because I love words, and I love sex. I like flowers, horses, ducks and ships too, and I like to write about all these things too. But I got to admit that writing about sex is more intriguing. 

I don’t think there is anything in life more fabulous that good sex. What can I say.

We all have our little manias. Like, you, Philippa, have this thing for dead kings and queens, and that is fine, fine. I mean, my publisher probably would not touch it because it’s necrophilia, which is considered poor taste in some circles, but it’s ok, I don’t judge you, we all have our little quirks. I have this thing for carpentry. Once had a memorable orgasm, while reading  a very technical book called “The American Built Clipper Ship”. To this day, the words “black-locust trunnel” sends a sinful shiver up my queer wood-working back. As I said, we all get off on something or other, live and let live, right?

Why do we write about sex… Jesus, have you ever written poetry? Have you EVER had an orgasm, Philippa? Tell me, as a writer, is there anything more challenging than describing the utterly indescribable, flirting with disaster, always on the edge of the dreaded precipice, that purple prose, always wondering if that one metaphor is one too many, one too far? Always wondering if you can capture at least the ghost of that fantastic moment… Always wondering, are words, ever, enough?

In the bound red obscurity

Of my blind, tied body

My world is only – you

Your silence is my dark night-sky

Your skin is the warm earth upon which I stand

Your fingertips open the path for me

Your tongue is the river that sweeps me away

From the darkness

Into raging phosphorescent seas

Floating in silver waves – foam and salt tears

And your member - deep inside me

Is the life tree of this world

Its roots hold me fast into time and place

But its wind-blown top

Is the sea-voice of the storm

No, I mean, I am a gardener, and I love flowers, but even a million squillions daffodils won’t bring me to such a pitch of poetic fervour. No, it takes a lover and a good oestrogen high to get me in that state of wordy passion. 

I write about sex because it is beautiful and immensely powerful and ineffable. Because it is alive, it is life, and one good shag is worth a thousand dead kings. Have you ever had oral sex so mind-bogglingly good that you had visions? (yes, this literally happened to me, no I don’t do drugs, and yes, my husband is that good, what can I say, suck it up, Philippa). Have you ever longed for somebody so much that every curve of their body became an object of agonizing worship? Have you ever loved someone so painfully that the first touch of their skin brought tears to your eyes? Are you seriously telling me that these things, some of the most elemental things a human being can ever experience, are not worth writing about, are not worth deploying excellent prose for, when so many words are wasted every day on so many trivial objects?

Why do we write about sex?

Because so much we do and are in our life, whether we like to admit or not is dictated by our subconscious, and boy is our subconscious bashed about by our sexual instinct… I think the way people have sex, tells a lot about them. When I was writing Spellbreakers, there was so much world-building in it, that I seriously considered stripping the sex scenes out of it, and submitting it as a fantasy novel. But then I realized, while rewriting it this way, that I had lost a very significant chunk of the characters’ personas and development. I don’t think you HAVE to use sex to explore your characters’ psyche, but it is one hell of a way to do it. We are (sometimes) at our most raw and unguarded during sex. It is something worth exploring.

Am I saying that all romance is excellent literature? Hell no. But then, MOST LITERATURE is not excellent literature. Quality, or lack of it, is not confined to some genres or other, dear Philippa.

Ok, rant over. Do leave a sexy comment below for a chance to win a e-copy of either Black Carnival or Spellbreakers, your choice. Let’s celebrate.

Backlist Party - Kory Steed - From Lightning to Love

Here's my homage to the joy of older titles, those books that stayed in our hearts and we don't want to ever ever forget. I will be hosting eight romance authors (every Tuesday and Friday all through August! stay tuned, there may be giveaways!) with their favourite titles from their own backlist. 

I am truly proud of having as a guest today Kory Steed with his debut novel, From Lightning to love. Once more I find much in this book to relate to. But I will not stand in the way. Here is what Kory himself has to say about the story:

 "From Lightning to Love is the first installment in my Lightning Series, and it’s my first, published, M/M novel. It grew organically, in part, out of my past life experiences. In others, it reflects what it was like to be a gay man during the time period between the 1990 and 2010. Book two, Lightning’s Hidden Menace, will be released by Evernight Publishing soon.

The two main characters are very important to me for a few reasons. They’re personalities reflect how I see gay men in contemporary society; and I have to admit, I’ve put a little bit of myself into each of them, almost as if they were my children. In addition, the societal pressures placed on gay people plays a significant part in what their fears are and how they’ve been forced to live their lives. I also included a few of my passions, nature, the animals people have included as parts of their families, and cooking. Wherever I could, I tried to incorporate these loves into the story.

The story begins with an introduction to Jason, a gay, thirty-seven year old former American army medic who served two tours during Operation Desert Storm between 1991 and 1993. In 1994 he received a medical discharged for PTSD.

After leaving the service, Jason worked in a local hospital’s ER for a few years, but he became more and more disillusioned with his life because he had to live it in secrecy. On a whim, he bought a lottery ticket and won. Once a multi-millionaire, he used his winnings to purchase a secluded tract of land in the Bear River Mountains in southeastern Idaho where at the time that the story begins, he has lived for eleven years.

We meet the second main character, twenty-three year old Aaron, the morning after a violent autumn storm when Jason began to check his home and property for damage. He discovered Aaron dangling by a shredded parachute in a tree. We later learned that Aaron was the newly signed, star quarterback for a fictitious American professional football team. Because of the remote location, there was no way for Jason to get help, so he had to care for Aaron alone while he recovered from his injuries.

I created this scenario because it forced Jason and Aaron to interact with only each other, without any influence from the outside world. There was no plot or outline when I began the manuscript."

 

When thirty-seven year old army medic and Gulf War veteran, Jason, discovers an unconscious man hanging by a parachute from a tree on his secluded mountain property, little does he realize how his life will change. Isolated and alone, Jason uses his training to save the young man and soon learns he is Aaron, a twenty-three year old professional quarterback.

Having lived in near isolation for many years, Jason is ill-prepared for the physical attraction he develops for Aaron while tending his wounds. While Jason struggles with the emotions that begin to surface, Aaron’s strength returns, and his ravenous sexual appetite is revealed. In the weeks that follow, the two men become entwined in a passionate love affair that soon blossoms into a deep and caring bond.

Dare they hope for a future together? Will their new found love survive the separation of Aaron’s rescue?

 Lightning to Love has some lovely reviews on the web:

"The teasing back and forth as they discover each other is so tantalizing! Jason's struggle to let himself open up is held in masterful tension with Aaron's innocence and vulnerability as he is restricted to bed and discovering his own limitations and needs. Add in a dose of the medical restraints and the skilled tending of a seasoned Army medic and instead of the same, old seduction scene, Jason can't help himself but tend to all of the young jock's needs. This really opens up to some super-steamy scenes that are described in sweat-throbbing detail. It's as sultry as it is romantic when a love so unthinkable turns into something so epic."

"I think what I liked most besides the story itself was the way the writer handled the backstory. A lot of the time it's hard to tell it without it being very slow. Yes this was a slow burn but this enabled you to focus more on what led to them being there. I am looking forward to reading more from this author. No spoilers but for a first time author this really blew me away."

Would you like to know more?

Read an excerpt at Evernight 

Or get a sample on Amazon 

Or connect with Kory

On Twitter

On Facebook

On Goodreads

Or learn more about him

On his Evernight bio page

or on his Amazon author page

The second book in the series is already underway (I know that Kory is working on the edits right now! ;)  ) so stay tuned for it: Lightning’s Hidden Menace, coming soon from Evernight Publishing.

Backlist Party - Katerina Ross - Tenderly Wicked - GIVEAWAY

Here's my homage to the joy of older titles, those books that stayed in our hearts and we don't want to ever ever forget. I will be hosting eight romance authors and/or books (every Tuesday and Friday all through August! stay tuned, there may be giveaways!) with their favourite titles from their own backlist. 

Today I have smeone absolutely special as a guest, Katerina Ross from Moscow, with her beautiful debut novel "Tenderly Wicked".

"This M/M story is set in my home city, Moscow. There are no M/M publishers in my country at all, so I had to write it in English :)" she told me.

As an Italian who also chose to write in English, I can relate to that particular challenge!

Look at what reviewers have to say about Katerina's debut novel: 

"... this book was an extraordinary good read. We meet Max living in Moscow who wants to explore his kinky side as a Dom, something he has never done before. He goes out intending to visit a BDSM club but before he enters he spots Vadim and after talking they return to Max's flat instead. It turns out Vadim is a natural submissive who has been very cruelly treated in the past. Will Max be able to be everything that he should be to his new sub and can this be more than a one off assignation?

I really enjoyed the way Max treated Vadim. He cared enough to find out what made Vadim skittish and perhaps ashamed about what they were doing and encouraged Vadim to relate how he had come by his bruises and scars. There was such feeling and emotion in the writing and the book had obviously been well researched. I would give it 10 stars if I could."

Wow!! Well done! :)

 

Max, an American expat in Russia, has always been interested in the wicked ways of BDSM, but his unusual tastes haven't always been well received. Now he has Vadim, an eager Russian sub willing to fulfill his most daring fantasies. But there’s one problem—Max isn’t quite ready to accept what's right in front of him. His deep-seated insecurities threaten to spoil what's growing into more than just a kinky pastime.

Would you like to read more?

Read an excerpt at Evernight 

Read a sample on Amazon 

 If you are sufficiently teased (I know I am!) leave a comment below for a chance to win a delicious digital copy of Tenderly Wicked! Winners will be announced next Friday!

Other books from the same author you might want to look up:

Soul Infection