Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Guest Post Tempeste O'Riley

Author Bio:
Tempeste O’Riley is an out and proud pansexual gender fluid whose best friend growing up had the courage to do what she couldn’t–defy the hate and come out. He has been her hero ever since.
Tempe is a hopeless romantic that loves strong relationships and happily-ever-afters. Though new to writing M/M, she has done many things in her life, though writing has always drawn her back–no matter what else life has thrown her way. She counts her friends, family, and Muse as her greatest blessings in life. She lives in Wisconsin with her children, reading, writing, and enjoying life.
Tempe is also a proud PAN member of Romance Writers of America®, Rainbow Romance Writers, and WisRWA. Learn more about Tempeste and her writing at http://tempesteoriley.com.
Website Goodreads Twitter Facebook Google + DSP Blog
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Series: Desires Entwined #3
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Categories: M/M, Bisexual, Gender fluid, Erotic Romance
Blurb:
Alexander James Noble is a gender fluid gay man who gave up on finding Mister Right a long time ago. He’s not asking for much, though. He just wants a guy who loves all of him and appreciates his feminine form too.
At the local LGBTQ center where Alex regularly volunteers, he meets Dal Sayer, an officer of the Milwaukee PD. Because he’s been rejected one too many times, Alex doesn’t trust the huge cop and the interest he shows in him, but once Dal sets his mind on something, he goes all out. Pushing aside his preconceived notions, Alex opens up just a little and soon caves.
From their first date—while dealing with his father’s failing health and his parents’ demands for him to settle down and have children—Dal never takes his eyes off his goal of making Alex his. But proving to Alex he isn’t like all the men who couldn’t see him for who he truly was and only wanted to hide him away is harder than he thought.
Buy Links:
Dreamspinner Press All Romance Amazon
Add to: Goodreads
Guest Post:
Good morning Dean and readers! (waves)
Today I’d like to take a moment to talk about one of my characters and the real life issues and needs that inspired him. As you see from the blurb, Alex is gender fluid and has not had an easy time finding a partner that can accept Alex whether Alex presents as male or female.
You see, Alex doesn’t fit into a nice simple gender roles that he’s been taught are right. He also doesn’t fit into the dress roles others seem to want to push him into. Instead, Alex’s gender identity is fluid and shifts day to day. All Alex really wants is a lover that can accept Alex as male and as female. Sadly, that’s a hard person to find, at least for Alex.
Gender fluidity is a very real gender identity. They are not trans*. They are not drag queens, cross dressers, or any of the many other things Alex has been called. I say they, but I should really say we here as I identify as gender fluid as well as one of my children is very adamant on expressing through clothes the gender s/he feels that day (he’s in a lovely sparkly yellow top and embroidered jeans today at school and looks great!). In Alex’s case, the issue is both internal and external. Homophobia, gay bashings, and Alex’s own family have taught him that being as s/he is, is not ok. Being dumped by ex lovers for wanting to dress as the gender Alex feels (outside the bedroom) is enough to scar him, but thankfully for our loving Dal, Alex doesn’t completely give up on love.
Finding a lover and partner that is open to you, no matter how you present, no matter how you feel or act, is hard even when you only have one gender, having fluidity of gender makes it infinitely harder for many. When I wrote Alex, I wanted to give Alex not only a happy ever after (I write romance, lol, of course he gets that!) but to share the struggles and fears someone like Alex can suffer due to assumptions, prejudice, confusion, and fear. I also wanted to write a story that I felt connected to. Gender is not about the body parts you’re born with, it’s about who you are inside. In Temptations of Desire, Alex finds his voice, finds a lover that loves him as is and thinks he’s hella hot!
Also, on November 5th, I have a free short that is connected to the Desires Entwined series. It’s about Alex from Temptations of Desire and how he began his journey into what being gender fluid means and on accepting who he is, inside and out. It’s already available for pre-order from Dreamspinner Press.
Other Stories by Tempeste:

   
  
Praise:

“I found it a beautiful tale of unhappiness changed to romance and then love with a happy ending.”
—Rainbow Book Reviews, on “Designs of Desire”
“Tempeste O’Riley clearly has designs on our attention with Designs of Desire, a story as heart breaking as it is heart warming."
—Sensual Reads, on “Designs of Desire”
“The writer did an excellent job with the characters, they are likable and perfect. Not perfect in the way that they have no flaws, but in a way that they grab you and complement each other.”
—Love Bytes Reviews, on “Temptations of Desire”

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Hook, Line, and Sinker by Piper Vaughn





Author Name: Piper Vaughn
Author Bio:
Piper Vaughn wrote her first love story at eleven and never looked back. Since then, she’s known that writing in some form was exactly what she wanted to do. A reader at the core, Piper loves nothing more than getting lost in a great book—fantasy, young adult, romance, she loves them all (and has a two thousand book library to prove it!). She grew up in Chicago, in an ethnically diverse neighborhood, and loves to put faces and characters of every ethnicity in her stories, so her fictional worlds are as colorful as the real one. Above all, she believes that everyone needs a little true love in their life…even if it’s only in a book.

Author Contact:
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Paul Richmond
Blurb:
When they were teens, Castor McCormick was the bane of Blake Kowalski’s existence. Their mutual animosity led to summers filled with rivalry. Now, nearly two decades later, Cas is moving back into the neighborhood to live in his grandmother’s old house. Blake tells himself he isn’t interested in seeing how snarky little Cas grew up, but when his mother dupes him into visiting his former nemesis, he finds out “pretty” can evolve into “sexy as hell” on the right man.

Cas didn’t think he wanted to see Blake again. No one has ever pushed his buttons like the arrogant boy he remembers from their youth. Turns out, the adult version of Blake still gets him hot under the collar—and everywhere else. With Blake on leave from work to nurse an injured leg and Cas taking time to move and unpack, they form a tentative friendship that turns into a sexual affair neither man can deny. But when Cas’s job sends him out of state to deal with a difficult client, their new relationship will be tested, and if they fail, Blake’s broken leg might not be the only thing to end up scarred.


Categories: Contemporary, M/M Romance, Romance

Excerpt:
Blake's mother didn’t live on a busy street, but being summer, the kids were out in full force. The occasional shout or burst of laughter broke the monotonous silence. And then there were the comings and goings of a certain new neighbor whom Blake had absolutely no interest in watching, even if he found his gaze frequently straying in that direction. He’d caught glimpses of the moving truck over the weekend, along with a dark blue Prius, which made him snort. No doubt the driver of a hybrid would hate his gas-guzzling Ford F-150. For some reason, it seemed fitting. He could picture the old Cas growing up into the tree-hugging, granola type.
Idly, he let himself wonder what the adult Cas might be like. When they’d first met as teenagers, the kid had reminded Blake of a scrappy little Irish chimney sweep, minus the accent. The pale skin, the freckles, that mop of messy dark hair. Put him in a newsboy cap and some wool trousers, and he could’ve been an extra in Oliver Twist. Blake had constantly ragged on him about it too. That is, until the following year, when postpuberty Cas showed up. Gone was the scrawny, gangly limbed half-pint from the previous summer. In his place stood a boy with the lithe, wiry body of a distance runner and a face like something out of a goddamn Botticelli painting. Only his smartass mouth had stopped Blake from falling to his knees in worship—though it certainly hadn’t prevented a wet dream or three.
Blake couldn’t lie. His mother’s mentions of Castor had made him curious despite himself. But he didn’t intend on giving in to her badgering about going over there. What the hell would he even say? Welcome to the neighborhood? Here’s a fruit basket. Let’s be friends? He could only imagine Cas slamming the door in his face in response. Blake chuckled and shook his head. Not going to happen. Not in a million years. No matter how much his mother pestered him.

Tour Dates: October 22nd, 2014
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Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of Hook, Line, and Sinker upon release and a $10 gift card to Amazon or ARe (winner’s choice)
 

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Most Beautiful Words by Raine O'Tierney





Author Name: Raine O’Tierney
Author Bio:
Called "Queen of the Sweetness" (well, two or three people said it anyway!) Raine O'Tierney loves writing sweet stories about first loves, first times, fidelity, forever-endings and...friskiness?
Raine O'Tierney lives outside of Kansas City with her husband, fellow Dreamspinner Press author, Siôn O'Tierney. When she's not writing, she's either asleep, or fighting the good fight for intellectual freedom at her library day job. Raine believes the best thing we can do in life is be kind to one another, and she enjoys encouraging fellow writers. Writing for 20+ years (with the last 10 spent on M/M) Raine changes sub-genres to suit her mood and believes all good stories end sweetly. Contact her if you're interested in talking about point-and-click adventure games or about which dachshunds are the best kinds of dachshunds!
Author Contact:
Cover Artist: Brooke Albrecht
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Blurb(s):
Twelve-year-old Autumn's world is shattered when her beloved Great-Pop, Tommy Johnson, suffers a stroke that leaves him comatose. With everyone around her resigning themselves to the inevitable, Autumn is the only one not willing to give up. She and Great-Pop have more secret stories to share with each other, after all. More stories about Roy McMillan—the great love of Tommy's life whom he lost fifty years ago.
Autumn struggles to keep Great-Pop on this side of death's door. But how can she compete with the beautiful and mysterious Valley—a place of surreal magic where the sun never fully sets? Especially when there's someone familiar in the Valley who will do everything he can to keep Great-Pop from returning to her.


Excerpt:
But Rook had no interest in waiting for permission. He’d come forward, snaking his arms around Toren’s sheet-covered waist and pulling him hard against his body. “It’s just a kiss,” Rook breathed before he put his lips against Toren’s. Should he protest? Had he protested? Toren couldn’t remember. In that moment there was nothing but Rook’s firm lips, gently teasing his own apart. Toren kissed back, tasting the other man, sucking at his bottom lip. Rook’s mouth was intoxicating, and quite suddenly, Toren forgot why he’d ever resisted. He liked kissing Rook. But after only an appetizer’s worth of his mouth, Rook pulled away. The sensation of their mouths pressed together lingered, and Toren was dumb with the moment. Lost on it. Uncertain what they’d even been talking about.
“Do you remember me now?” Rook asked.
“Mmn,” Toren agreed, warmth lingering on his lips. “Rook.”
Silence was his reply. The arms around his waist fell away, leaving him feeling cold.
Toren slowly opened his eyes to find he was standing alone, clutching his sheet, as Rook walked away from him toward the staircase.

Tour Dates/Stops:
October 14: Jade Crystal, Nephylim
October 20: Parker Williams



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