Flashback Friday - ED Parr bringing us some night moves...

It's Friday! And you know what that means! We're stepping back in time (not too far) to take a look at ED Parr's THE NIGHT GARDENER. Since it's Pride Month, it seems only right to highlight some LGBT fiction, so let's dive into this m/m romance without further ado!

The Night Gardener

E.D.Parr

#MMromance new release from Evernight Publishing

Architect, Dane Lovell takes an off-season vacation in an old New England mansion, hoping to ease his broken heart, and spark his imagination. Impressed by the pretty gardens, he’s surprised by the sinister atmosphere of the river than winds through the estate. Dane settles down to his vacation and tries to immerse himself in his drawings. One night, the sound of the back door smashing open in the wind and rain shocks Dane from his work.

Spooky, gorgeous, and enigmatic Zachary Yarrow has brought logs for the fire.

He’s the estate gardener and brings with him not just passion and a love affair for Dane, but a strange, spine-tingling mystery.

Who is Zachary, and what will happen when Dane finds out?

From the author

Inspired by some wild countryside, and a rushing river that stormed under a bridge so loudly, I couldn’t hear what a friend said to me, for me this story is as much about nature as love. I’ve always believed there are more things in the elegant stream of life than we know about, and this story is about a young man who loves life so much he finds a way to live it. There are some heartstring tugs in this story, and some hot love scenes, because this is a love story. It’s a journey for both characters, Dane and Zachary to deep, lasting love.

Read an excerpt 

The gardener slotted his logs into the spaces between other logs already in the nook bricked into the side of the fireplace. “Zachary Yarrow.”

Dane folded his arms over his body, wishing he’d thought to close the door as chilling air swept along the hall and into the room. “Dane Lovell.”

Zachary stood, having completed his task. “You’re here off season. I guess you know. I always do the gardens off-season—have done for the last—well, for years. When I’m here, I usually stay in this cottage. I guess I need to find somewhere else this time.”

Cold, Dane accepted the information with a nod. “I need to close the door, Mr. Yarrow.” He returned to the back door and closed it up.

Zachary Yarrow had followed. “You can call me Zachary.”

Dane hung around near the back door. The gardener showed no signs of leaving and Dane didn’t know how to be rude enough just to ask him to go.

“It’s way too dark to garden. You’re wet through.” Dane’s gaze ranged over the sodden sweater Zachary wore, and along the rain-darkened jeans covering Zachary’s muscled thighs.

The guy has to be cold. “Can I offer you a cup of coffee?”

Zachary grinned happily. “A cup of coffee, yeah, that will be great, thanks.”

Dane led the way back into the kitchen. “Sit by one of the radiators and try to dry out a little.” He put water to boil and heaped instant into mugs. “I can lend you a dry sweater…”

Zachary leaned close to the radiator. “It’s okay. I’ll drape my sweater on here. It’ll be dry in no time.” He pulled the soggy item over his head and arranged it on the hot metal flutes.

Dane experienced a shock of attraction as he took in the smooth, muscled chest on display when Zachary turned to him.

“Look, it’s already steaming.”

Dane tore his gaze from Zachary’s body and glanced at the sweater. The kettle boiled and he whipped around to make the coffee, thankful for the diversion.

“Do you take sugar or cream?”

Zachary’s voice came from immediately behind him. “Black, thank you, no sugar.”

Dane closed his eyes to dissipate the surprise Zachary’s silent approach gave him. He edged around to face Zachary, who stood so close Dane’s composure flew clean away as his whole body reacted to the proximity of this complete hunk.

Holy hell, he is completely gorgeous. Dane stepped sideways and picked up a mug. He handed it to Zachary. “Coffee, er, sorry, its instant. I’ve given myself a vacation from grounds and filters.” He smiled apologetically.

Zachary studied him for a few seconds.

Dane had the distinct feeling Zachary knew exactly what he was thinking.

COPYRIGHT E.D.PARR 2017 EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING

WARNING this book contains gay male anal sex, partner masturbation, and oral sex

BUY THE BOOK

http://www.evernightpublishing.com/the-night-gardener-by-e-d-parr/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XH4TFSS

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XH4TFSS

http://www.bookstrand.com/the-night-gardener-mm

Amazon global link http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B06XH4TFSS

Find E.D.Parr

Twitter https://twitter.com/parr_books

Amazon page https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01MUNJ3I8

Blogs

https://parrx.blogspot.com

https://parrx.blogspot.co.uk/

https://edparr.blogspot.com

G+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/109826263935095799032

Manic readers https://manicreaders.com/EDParr/

TRR http://www.theromancereviews.com/EDParr

Wednesday Snippet

I SWEAR THIS BOOK IS NEVER GOING TO END. I'm writing slowly at the moment because I'm in a lot of pain, but even so, I have to keep mentally tacking another 10k onto Imperial Demons' projected word count every time I finish a chapter. I can't let myself rush through the ending and shortchange my characters and you guys, but at the same time, I am eager to finish. This is a big, exhausting story and I love it and I want you to love it, but I have lots more stories to write.

Anyway! I swear the end is getting closer, so this is probably the last snippet I'll share, because from here on, it's all going to be too spoilery. So enjoy some time with Tristesse!

Flashback Friday - Jennifer Denys is getting dark

Happy Friday, true believers! Hope you all had a great week and are ready for an awesome weekend! I know I am...having been off work all last week, I was thrown back in at the deep end this week, and I've truly earned my two days of bumming around in my dressing gown drinking tea. And of course, if you're planning to do the same, you'll need reading material! Today's flashback is really something to sink your teeth into...

Laura has been kidnapped. She is bound, gagged and cannot see, and taken to a strange building. All her other senses, smell, taste, touch and hearing, come into play in determining where she is and who has taken her.

Her captor, Todd, is a Dominant, who relishes his role. And Laura is special. He loves having submissives who challenge him and punishes Laura for trying to escape and cares for her when she stumbles—unable to see where she is going—in equal measures.

As the evening progresses, Todd keeps her off balance giving her out-of-this-world experiences, always making sure she climaxes. On the one hand, he caresses her and the next he slaps her. Being into BDSM, Laura finds it very arousing, but that goes against everything her head is telling her. She shouldn’t enjoy it—should she?


What’s hot?: Sex in a shower tied to the showerhead.

Buy links

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Luminosity Publishing

Read on for an excerpt!

Retro Reading - The Perfume

Clearly from a young age, way before I owned a snake or starting wearing perfume, I was drawn to both, because I remember very clearly being fascinated by this book cover when I first saw it.

Caroline B Cooney wrote a lot of my favourite Point Horror books, so it seemed only fair I give at least one a re-read and see how it stands up. And since I now own a snake and make perfume, THE PERFUME felt like an excellent choice.

When fifteen-year-old Dove Daniel’s friends discover the new perfume called Venom, they become infatuated. They have Obsession and Poison; now they simply must have Venom. When they discover it’s available at Dry Ice, the coolest store in the local mall, they rush over after school. But to Dove, Venom seems inexplicably terrifying, as does the store that carries it. If she breathes in its potent scent, she is sure something terrible will happen. At first whiff, she senses something primitive and dark. Once she’s inhaled the scent, she begins to feel something . . . different . . . and her heart beats in double time. What has Venom’s bite awakened inside her?

I don't really remember how I felt about Dove when I read this book as a teenager, but as an adult I like her a lot. She's introverted, anxious (checks under her bed every night for monsters, and has to carry her address around in her purse because she forgets where she lives), and sweet. She longs for a life full of colour and romance, but is afraid to break out of her orderly, grey existence. But once the mysterious perfume, Venom, comes into her life, everything changes as she's possessed by the spirit of an ancient evil...or her twin who died in the womb. One of the two.

It's never made clear whether Wing (our villain) really is Dove's unborn twin or something more supernatural, and that annoyed me. Sometimes Wing seems like an impulsive teenage girl, unable to grasp the consequences of her actions when she takes charge of Dove's body, and sometimes both she and Dove think as if Wing is something ancient and genuinely Evil with a capital E. There's no resolution on that, so you're left to draw your own conclusions, but frankly I would have liked to be lead one way or the other by the end of the book.

This is largely because there is another explanation for Dove's sudden "double personality," one that does play a key role in the plot, and that is that Dove is having a breakdown. Makes sense, right? This quiet, good girl suddenly starts swearing at her parents, being cruel to her friends, dressing differently, acting differently, and uh...trying to murder people. She has conversations with herself in different voices, talks about finding victims and insists on being referred to as Wing. Wouldn't you think she was undergoing a psychotic break? And indeed, Dove's parents do think this, and Dove is institutionalized for "a rest" towards the end of the book.

When I was a teenager, I didn't really appreciate that this is the true horror of THE PERFUME. Not that an evil perfume has unlocked an evil being inside Dove, but that you can lose control of your mind to the point where your freedom is taken away from you. That Dove could well be suffering a psychotic break, that Wing could easily be a figment of her imagination, and that Dove doesn't even realise this. The set-up is there - Dove is shown to be anxious and neurotic before the events of the book kick in (bad memory, checking under the bed for monsters, deciding not to eat porridge with raisins because her stomach will be "full of eyes"). And clearly from an outside perspective, Dove's sudden and radical change in behaviour fits a lot of the symptoms of a psychotic break (delusions, violent outbursts, inability to tell reality from fantasy).

So yeah, re-reading this book as an adult, with a greater understanding of mental health, psychosis, depression, and anxiety, I felt there was a missed opportunity with this book. Defining Wing one way or the other could have added a great depth to THE PERFUME. It's still creepy as fuck, don't get me wrong, but I felt there were some "what ifs" left to explore. The ending doesn't help you decide whether Wing is a vanished twin, an evil apparition, or a figment of Dove's imagination, because at the end, Dove simply decides to "cast Wing out," which she does by...dancing in a fountain and yelling "get out!" pretty much.

That said, I still enjoyed revisiting it, and I know not every book should be an Issues Book, nor would I want them to be. The writing is sparse but graceful, and there are some cool touches, like the shop where Dove buys Venom being gone when she tries to go back. "It served its purpose," Wing tells her (I guess this adds weight to the "Wing is an Evil Ancient Spirit" theory). I am reminded that Cooney wrote another Point Horror about evil twins, and now I want to re-read that and do a compare-and-contrast. Maybe we'll get to the bottom of the eternal question: is one twin always destined to be evil?

June Accountability

You may remember that back at the start of May, I thought finishing Imperial Demons by the end of May was a pretty reasonable goal. Well, It's now the 5th of June and the book still isn't finished, so I'm starting to think I should just shut up. I had a really productive writing month last month, allowing for a few periods of down-time due to ye olde shoulder/arm/wrist issues, and Imperial Demons is sitting pretty at nearly 70k. I thought it would end up around 80k, but there is just no way I'll have everything wrapped up in just another 10k, so now I'm thinking 90k-100k seems more likely.

This is turning into a big book by my standards. I haven't written anything this long since my dad passed away in 2012. In 2013 I really lost my passion for writing while I was grieving, and it seemed for a while like the spark and the drive to write anything longer than a short story was never coming back to me. I don't know why I placed so much value on writing "big books," but it made me sad to think I'd lost some vital component in my writer's toolkit. Clearly I worried too much. Thanks, anxiety!

I guess it's a natural part of the series' progression - BLOOD WITCH was around 45k, DARK DAYS was around 63k. LICH QUEEN dropped to 58k, and Imperial Demons could easily end up being double the length of any of them at this rate. Expect to see Book 5 clock in at a million words...

Anyway, none of that is particularly interesting, really. I just like tracking that kind of thing. The point is, Imperial Demons is still not done, but it should be done in June (allowing for edits for ON A DARK TIDE and LICH QUEEN). Huzzahs! I am in the final act and it's time to start bringing all the foreshadowing and plot threads together for the big climax. Wish me luck!

So that's June's to-do list, really: Finish The Damn Book. I feel pretty inspired to do so, what with being so close to the end, and my tarot card draw for the month is encouraging too:

That's the Magician from the Quantum tarot deck. He indicates power, skill, and concentration, among other things. The Quantum deck tells us that whenever we create something out of nothing, we are inhabiting the Magician archetype. I can't think of a better card to represent where I am right now, focusing on finishing this goddamn book and turning all the ideas that have been tucked away in my head for over a year into actual words.

In the spirit of creating something from nothing, I spent most of yesterday afternoon making perfumes, something I never feel like I have time for anymore.

It felt so good to just chill out and make things smell pretty, and I really need to carve more time out of my schedule for experimenting. So we'll add that to the June to-do list as well. Let's see how it all turned out when I do this again in July...

Author Interview - Lee Piper is here to rock your world!

Happy Saturday, folks! If, like me, you've spent most of the past week ploughing through your TBR pile, you probably fancy a new book. And you probably fancy a new book even if you haven't, because books! Well, I've got one for you. The second in Lee Piper's Mondez series, ROCK MY BODY. Want to get to know Lee and her hot rock star a little better? Read the interview and then check out the saucy excerpt below!

 

Hi, Lee! Let's start by hearing a little bit about your newest release.

Rock My Body is Book #2 in the Mondez series and runs parallel with Book #1, Rock My World. Each novel is based on one of the four men from the band, Mondez, however is written from the perspective of the women who ultimately bring them to their knees.

I’m really passionate about eradicating the stigma surrounding mental health, so I decided to write a novel from the viewpoint of a heroine who has been medically diagnosed with Anxiety. It’s a great way to not only highlight the (many) challenges of this illness but to also celebrate the strength of someone who lives with it, through humour and music.

Fantastic. I'm passionate about championing mental health and the way we approach it here in the UK, so this idea really entices me. Was there any part of this story you found particularly tough to write? If so, why?

The hardest thing about writing Rock My Body was the fact I was pregnant with severe morning sickness (19 weeks, people. 19 looooong weeks) while also trying to work full time and raise a three year old. It was so unbelievably hard. Strangely, I was really happy with the manuscript itself, it was just the extenuating circumstances surrounding its creation which really knocked me around!

Well, at least that must have been a sign the book was on the right track! Do you have a favourite genre to write in?

I love, love, love writing contemporary and erotic romance. I’m not a fan of traditional romance, and can’t stomach the thought of writing, throbbing members or quivering thighs, in any of my manuscripts. Ever. I like my romance honest, real and with a healthy dose of alpha.

To be honest, I'm not even sure what a quivering thigh would really look like, but probably not that sexy, so fair enough! Who are your biggest influences – they don't have to just be literary ones!

In all honesty, my biggest influences are the authors I admire. The fact that there are so many ridiculously talented people out there who can transport readers to another world through the turn of a phrase, is truly mind blowing. And it doesn’t stop there. Every word chosen has been so carefully thought out, edited and then edited again. There’s so much blood, sweat and tears behind every book published and this willingness to share a part of oneself with the world, is beyond brave.

Music also plays a massive role. And I’m talking the heavy rock kind—the louder the better. For every book I write, I have a soundtrack. Cog’s, The New Normal was the album which I listened to religiously while writing Rock My World. Whereas Dead Letter Circus was on repeat while writing Rock My Body, and Twelve Foot Ninja (all awesome Aussie bands btw) is what I’m listening to at the moment while writing the third book in the series, Rock Me.

Fab, new bands for me to check out! If you could recommend any book (beside your own) to everyone reading this, what would it be?

Just one? Wow, that’s tough! I would really recommend Stephen King’s, On Writing. Not only is this man a heck of a lot funnier than I ever gave him credit for, but he understands the mechanics behind writing brilliantly. Better yet, he’s able to explain these concepts through examples from his and other writer’s work in a way which is heaps easy to comprehended. This book is super inspiring too because he wrote it after his accident and explains how writing helped him survive his darkest days.

I do love On Writing. I'm probably due a re-read of it. What else are you working on right now? What's up next from you?

Rock My Body is being released on June 3 through Evernight Publishing and I’m currently working on Rock Me, Book #3 in the Mondez series. This book is hil-ar-i-ous, I’m having so much fun writing it. The main character, Katrina, is an absolute crack-up. Her band, Adrift, has recently been signed with a major record label and is on their first tour with the boys from Mondez. Many, many shenanigans ensue. Enough said. 

 Who doesn't love shenanigans? Thanks, Lee! Now, folks - read on for a closer look at ROCK MY BODY!

  
 

Riley Sears promises herself never to fall in love unless it's going to end in an engagement ring and a white picket fence—her medically diagnosed anxiety skyrockets otherwise. 

Enter Dominic Mondez, the hottest guy ever to grace pecs and abs. He propositions Riley with a cocky yet tempting offer of the best sex of her life—his words. However, after learning he’s a manwhore who never sleeps with the same woman twice, Riley's decision becomes remarkably simple.

No. Way. In. Hell.  

He is a commitment phobe; she needs commitment. End of story.

Sadly, traversing the murky waters of friends without benefits isn't simple, especially when he's lead guitarist of local rock band, Mondez. Riley is also cautious of his tempestuous nature, womanising ways and—even worse—inexplicable jealousy. He is bad for her in every possible way.

Bad, bad, bad.

If only her body would listen.

Available now from:

Evernight: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/rock-my-body-by-lee-piper

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/2rHEztR

Amazon CA:  http://amzn.to/2qDQtkg

Amazon UK:  http://amzn.to/2sgTcS3

Amazon AU:  http://amzn.to/2qDlq8s

B&N:  http://bit.ly/2qIO8Ut

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2sh1WaL

iTunes: http://apple.co/2rsvvs2

Keep going for your excerpt!

Flashback Friday - Time to get lost in space!

Happy Friday! How's it going? I'm approaching the end of a week off work, which has been so nice. I've read a ton, written a half-ton, and generally had a very chilled out time. And there's still two and a bit days to go! Huzzahs. I'm in the middle of a very melodramatic gothic novel that's making me really want to write a book worthy of covers like these. In the meantime, we're going far, far away from gothic melodrama for today's flashback, with a trip to deep space!

BONDMATE

by J. J. Lore

Evernight Publishing

ASIN: B00K2MDKDU

Runner-up best Planet Alpha Book for 2014 in Evernight Publishing’s Reader’s Choice Awards

Honorable mention as Best Ménage book of 2014 in Love Romances Café reader’s poll

Decorated Alphan warriors Mateen and Bynton are on a clandestine mission to one of Earth’s refugee camps, in search of the one woman who might complete their bond. Tempering their instincts to capture and hold, both men realize they must court their chosen woman to win her trust.

Avanelle Rein is merely trying to survive in the chaos of a dying society. The last thing she expects is rescue at the hands of golden-skinned alien men. Despite her attraction to them, she fears their warrior ferocity.

Facing danger from Xyran raiders draws the three together as they explore their new relationship and one another. An unexpected challenge during an ancient claiming right forces Avanelle, Bynton, and Mateen to decide if their bond is strong enough to survive.

 Buy Links

Evernight

Amazon US

Kobo

Bookstrand

 Barnes & Noble

Read on for an excerpt!