Rick R. Reed's Blog, page 26

Happy Re-Release Day: BLUE UMBRELLA SKY Is Out Again

Happy to say that my Lambda Literary Award Finalist, BLUE UMBRELLA SKY, is re-released in a brand-new edition from Ninestar Press today. It's got a beautiful new cover courtesy of Natasha Snow and at a much lower price, too. Get yours from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Umbrella-Sky-Rick-Reed-ebook/dp/B0863FX8ZT or Ninestar Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/blue-umbrella-sky/BLURB Milt Grabaur has left his life, home, and teaching career in Ohio to start anew. The Summer Winds trailer park in Palm Springs, butted up against the San Jacinto mountain range, seems the perfect place to forget the pain of nursing his beloved husband through Alzheimer’s and seeing him off on his final passage. Billy Blue is a sexy California surfer type who once dreamed of being a singer but now works at Trader Joe’s and lives in his own trailer at Summer Winds. He’s focused on recovery from the alcoholism that put his dreams on hold. When his new neighbor moves in, Billy falls for the gray-eyed man. His sadness and loneliness awaken something Billy’s never felt before—real love. When a summer storm and flash flood jeopardize Milt’s home, Billy comes to the rescue, hoping the two men might get better acquainted…and maybe begin a new romance. But Milt’s devotion to his late husband is strong, and he worries that acting on his attraction will be a betrayal.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: Blue Umbrella Sky is a Lambda Literary Award Finalist!

[image error] Thrilled to wake up this morning to the news that my novel, BLUE UMBRELLA SKY, is a Finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in the Gay Romance category. Originally published by Dreamspinner Press, it's now being re-released in a new edition from Nine Star Press (available wide on March 23, but you can pre-order now here).

BLURB
Milt Grabaur has left his life, home, and teaching career in Ohio to start anew. The Summer Winds trailer park in Palm Springs, butted up against the San Jacinto mountain range, seems the perfect place to forget the pain of nursing his beloved husband through Alzheimer’s and seeing him off on his final passage.

Billy Blue is a sexy California surfer type who once dreamed of being a singer but now works at Trader Joe’s and lives in his own trailer at Summer Winds. He’s focused on recovery from the alcoholism that put his dreams on hold.

When his new neighbor moves in, Billy falls for the gray-eyed man. His sadness and loneliness awaken something Billy’s never felt before—real love.

When a summer storm and flash flood jeopardize Milt’s home, Billy comes to the rescue, hoping the two men might get better acquainted…and maybe begin a new romance.

But Milt’s devotion to his late husband is strong, and he worries that acting on his attraction will be a betrayal.

View the full list of finalists here (and BIG congrats to all of you--I am honored to be in your company). Below are the finalists in the Gay Romance category. I encourage you to pick up their books!

Saturday Suppers: Rick's Instant Pot Pasta e Fagioli

Starting today, I'm going to share my favorite recipes every Saturday here on this blog. After all, the same creativity that goes into my books goes into my food.

All recipes are vegan friendly, but can be adapted to suit your tastes and needs (as any good recipe should).

This week, enjoy:
RICK'S PASTA E FAGIOLI (In the Instant Pot)  2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
½ onion, diced
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
2-4 tablespoons dried Italian herbs (thyme, oregano, basil…any or all)
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes (adjust up or down according to your ‘kick’ preference)
1 15-oz. can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 15-oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup small pasta (ditalini is good, although use what you like or have on hand)
4 cups vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Add olive oil to your Instant Pot and set to sauté. Allow to heat up for a couple minutes and then sauté the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Hit cancel and then set your Instant Pot to manual pressure cook for HALF the recommended time for cooking your pasta.

At the end of cooking, manually release pressure, open and stir.

Other additions: At the end of cooking, feel free to add a handful of chopped baby spinach or kale.

Serve with chopped basil, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, or some grated nut cheese (I’m vegan, if you’re not, Parmesan is wonderful).

All you need now is a good red wine, some crusty bread, and someone to clean up the dishes.

CHASER Re-releases today from Nine Star Press!

Excited about another re-release of a Dreamspinner Press book...today, a new edition of CHASER is out with a gorgeous new cover (compare and contrast with the old, below) and new lower price.

BLURB
Caden DeSarro is what they call a chubby chaser. He likes his guys with a few extra pounds on them. So when he meets Kevin Dodge in a bar bathroom, he can’t help but stare. As far as Caden is concerned, Kevin is physically perfect: a stocky bearded blond. But Caden gets tongue-tied and misses his chance.

When Caden runs into Kevin one night on the el train, he figures it’s fate offering him a second shot. Caden manages to get invited back to Kevin’s place for a one-night stand that turns into the kind of relationship he’s dreamed about.

But the course of true love never runs smoothly—Kevin and Caden’s romance is no exception. When Caden returns from a few weeks away on business, Kevin surprises him with a new and “improved” body—one that fits Caden’s shallow friend Bobby’s ideal, but not Caden’s. Caden doesn’t know what to do, and his hesitation is just the opportunity Bobby was looking for.

#ownvoices #chicago #gayromance

ORIGINAL COVER



















BUY
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084TSZYRW
Nine Star Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/chaser/

CHASER and RAINING MEN Out Soon in Brand New Editions from Nine Star Press!

Look what's available for pre-order! CHASER , my bestselling romance that asks, "Is it really what's on the inside that counts?" is re-releasing from Nine Star Press on February 24, with the sequel, RAINING MEN, following close on its heels (3/602020). Check out the amazing new cover art by Natasha Snow!
Pre-order from Amazon or from Nine Star Press.

BLURBCaden DeSarro is what they call a chubby chaser. He likes his guys with a few extra pounds on them. So when he meets Kevin Dodge in a bar bathroom, he can’t help but stare. As far as Caden is concerned, Kevin is physically perfect: a stocky bearded blond. But Caden gets tongue-tied and misses his chance. When Caden runs into Kevin one night on the el train, he figures it’s fate offering him a second shot. Caden manages to get invited back to Kevin’s place for a one-night stand that turns into the kind of relationship he’s dreamed about. But the course of true love never runs smoothly—Kevin and Caden’s romance is no exception. When Caden returns from a few weeks away on business, Kevin surprises him with a new and “improved” body—one that fits Caden’s shallow friend Bobby’s ideal, but not Caden’s. Caden doesn’t know what to do, and his hesitation is just the opportunity Bobby was looking for.

A Titillating Excerpt from OUT ON THE NET

Out on the Net: A Love Story in Blog Form is all about a small-town young guy’s tentative steps toward self-acceptance and finding true love. Below is one of the saddest—and most hilarious—of those tentative steps.


BLURB
Ray Tolliver has bad timing. Cold feet? It doesn’t get much worse than accepting you’re gay twenty minutes before your wedding to a woman, yet that’s just what happens.

Join Ray as he recounts in his blog the hilarious and touching events that lead him on a journey toward true love. Although he originally starts looking for love in all the wrong places, will he eventually find another man who wants more than just quick sex? A man who appreciates romance, hearts, and flowers? Or will he find that self-acceptance and bliss do not always go hand-in-hand?

And what of Alice, Ray’s lovely, jilted fiancée? Will she find it in her heart to forgive the man who left her at the altar?These questions and more are answered in this unique love story, told in the form of blog entries. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but you’ll come away with a renewed appreciation for the power and difficulties of loving not only others, but yourself…

Get your $1.99 copy at Amazon (or FREE if you're a Kindle Unlimited subscriber)

EXCERPT 
A VISIT TO "Lollipop Park"Oh, I know what you’re going to say when you see the title of this entry. You’ll roll your eyes and probably think that things are going to get juicy and scandalous.Because everyone in Summitville knows what goes on at that little rest stop just north of town, on the way to the highway. There’s a reason people snicker about it and call it “Lollipop Park.”Are you rolling your eyes and hoping in every sense of the phrase that I will not go there?Hang on to your hats, boys and girls, because I did go there. Sordid. Seedy. Shameful. I know. I went there in real life and I’m going there now on paper. Hang on, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!But I didn’t yet tell you why I drove out there just a couple of weeks after the disaster that was to have been my wedding day. And I haven’t yet related what happened there, so just hold your horses on your judgments, Mary. I am trying to learn to talk as I imagine a gay man would and it’s not coming easy. Case in point—calling you “Mary.” So stupid.Anyway, Summitville, PA has no gay bars, no gay clubs, no gay newspaper. To the untrained eye, one might even claim the little riverside town has no gay people, but discerning minds know that in a town of 12,000, that can’t be true. If you take the more or less accepted rule of thumb of one in every ten people is gay (don’t ask me where I got that statistic; I’ve heard it all my life), that would mean there are at least 1200 people here just like me, or at least like me in that they prefer sausage over pie or vice versa.I digress. Why did I stop by the rest stop, when I neither needed to rest, nor to pee? What made me go to that shadowy, stinking-of-excrement, gravel-fronted little rest stop with the obscene graffiti and lone men lingering too long in parked cars? What would possess a nice, clean, upstanding guy like me to wander out to a place known for anonymous sexual encounters?Curiosity. Don’t give me that crap about killing the cat, either. It was curiosity. Because, you see, even though I knew now that I was a gay man, I had no idea what gay men did, where they went, how they met. Maybe if I lived in that big city to the west, Pittsburgh, with its gay bars and clubs, I would have a better idea. But here in Summitville, where when people think of “cornholing,” they think of a summertime game played with beanbags and slotted boards, I just hadn’t had much opportunity to know much about gay life—the ins and outs of it (yes, I hear you snickering…shut up!).Ergo the rest stop, rest area, Lollipop Park, whatever you wanted to call it. It was my only frame of reference for where gay men met up. I had driven by many times, on my way to the mall, and had heard the whisperings and jokes about the place, had even pretended to find the idea of such a locale humorous. But when I was alone, I put the humor aside and toyed with the rumors I’d heard—that men sucked each other off in the woods nearby and sometimes even right there in the stalls; that guys picked each other up and went back to each other’s home for God knew what. Parcheesi? Root beer floats? I don’t think so. These ideas made me feel paradoxically sick and weak and, at the same time, queasy with desire.So I decided that my first act as a gay man should be to meet another one. And my very limited frame of reference left this as my only option. The idea of driving up to Pittsburgh or down to Steubenville and setting foot in one of the gay bars there filled me with terror. I was so not ready to mingle with my more urban, and sophisticated, gay brethren.So I was stuck with this seedy and unseemly choice. I pulled into the gravel parking lot, where several other cars were already sitting, and shrugged. What would be the worst that could happen? Okay, okay, I could be fag bashed or arrested…that would be the worst. But if I was careful, maybe I would come out of this at least knowing someone else like myself and maybe, oh God, just maybe, I would have my first sexual encounter with a man.Whoa there, boy, you’re getting ahead of yourself! I quieted the lustful thoughts and the rising erection that both seemed to arrive of their own accord, with no prompting from me.I sat in my car and looked around the little parking lot. It was around nine o’clock, dusky. A few fireflies danced in the air over the grassy area just ahead of our cars, where the Summitville park district had kindly put out a pair of decrepit looking picnic tables. Who would want to picnic here? And what was on the menu?Shut up with the weenies comment, please!Because of the dying light and the setting sun reflecting off car glass, it was hard to see any of the other occupants of the three other vehicles in the lot. One thing was for sure, though: from the silhouettes, I could tell that a lone male occupied each car. One of them was smoking; I could see the glow of the cherry at the tip of his cigarette as he brought it to his mouth and drew in.What was I supposed to do now? I didn’t know, so I just sat in my car, the butterflies dancing in my stomach, for what seemed like hours, but was, in reality, only about fifteen minutes or so. I drew in a deep breath and gathered up my courage. Someone had to start something.I rolled up my car windows and exited my Kia Soul, closing the door softly behind me. I used the remote over my shoulder to lock the car up as I headed to the little cinder block structure to my left. Even from here, the word, “MEN” beckoned in white on a blue background.Promising.I went inside and thought of uttering that old Bette Davis line, “What a dump!” and then chastised myself for being such a queen.But the shitter, er, the restroom was not exactly a sight for sore eyes. It was dingy and dark, the only illumination came from a bare, low-watt bulb hanging from the ceiling. The paint-peeling industrial green walls looked like they would be damp to the touch. Flies buzzed around, obviously delighted with the luxurious accommodations. Cigarette butts and toilet paper littered the floor. Twin pieces of reflective metal, trying hard to find their motivation as mirrors, had been affixed to the wall above a pair of old, dripping, and rust-stained sink. On one wall was mounted a dispenser out of which one could get a condom for just a quarter. What was that doinghere? The whole place stank of urine and shit.Isn’t it romantic?If this was gay life, perhaps I should crawl back to Alice on my hands and knees and beg for forgiveness.But, as the saying goes, “in for a penny, in for a pound,” I thought I should at least check out the rest of the place. See what some witty scribes had written on partition walls…I headed over to the two toilet stalls and, after wiping the seat with a piece of single-ply toilet paper, I nervously sat down. Even though I had wiped the seat, I didn’t feel comfortable enough to lower my cargo shorts.The first thing I spied was some graffiti that said, “10-4 good buddy, this is the place, pull down your pants and fuck my face.”Charming!I wondered what poet wannabe had written those lines on the wall and if any burly trucker had ever heeded its siren call. I searched in vain for more rhyming couplets, but none of the other graffiti matched its poetic flair. In fact, the rest of it was downright crude, exhortations to suck and be sucked, to fuck and be fucked, penis sizes, and messages left by people who cared so little about their privacy that they left phone numbers.I could not imagine calling one of those numbers…or what kind of person would be hanging out on the other end of the line.I stiffened—and not in a good way—as I heard footsteps. It was then that I noticed the hole drilled into the partition wall. It was just the right size to fit a hand—or, oh my Sweet Jesus, another part of the anatomy—through and positioned at waist height.Did people really use that hole for what I thought they did?Was there no romance in the gay world?The footsteps neared my stall, and because there was no front door, I locked eyes with my new restroom buddy. He stopped in front of my stall and stared at me. I didn’t know what to do. Even though my shorts were up, I placed my hand over my crotch.He had his hand over his crotch, too, and was rubbing it suggestively. He squeezed and I could see the outline of an erect cock beneath the denim.Suddenly, my mouth felt dry and my heart was beating at double its usual rate. Good Lord, when had it gotten dark outside?I eyed the man and he met my stare almost with a challenge in his eyes. He was about my age, but had long, stringy blond hair. He was too skinny and his bare arms (he was wearing a grimy wife-beater) were tattooed up and down their sinewy lengths. A hoop earring dangled from one ear, peeking in and out from the strings of his platinum locks as he glanced down at his own crotch, as if making sure it was still there.My mouth was dry and I wanted to lick my lips, but was afraid of giving the wrong idea. I was learning fast that the language spoken here was with the eyes and not-so-subtle gestures.Finally, he smiled at me and I saw he had what my mom used to refer to as “summer teeth.” Some are here. Some are there.Suddenly, he reached for my crotch, as if to give it a neighborly squeeze. I swung my legs around to ensure his intended was out of his reach.He sighed impatiently and ducked quickly into the stall next to mine. For a long time, there was silence and I dared not hazard a peek through the hole in the wall to see what my new buddy was up to.But finally, I could stand the suspense no longer. I leaned forward a little, positioning my eye so it was level with the hole.Boy, did I get an eyeful. Mr. Summer Teeth had had no compunction about dropping his drawers and working himself up into a frenzy. A huge cock, what I would estimate to be between eight or nine inches, rose up from between his tanned thighs. He worked it hard and there was a drop of precum poised at the slit in his head.I have to admit it. My mouth wasn’t so dry anymore.I watched. I think I was a little in shock. All kinds of things were running through me, making me feel both nauseous and lustful. I wanted that thing. I needed to get the hell out of here now.He must have noticed me peering through the hole because the next thing I knew that big missile was coming right through it. Hey, buddy, watch it! You could take out someone’s eye with that thing!Suddenly the cock was right in front of my face, dripping precum. With just a slight lean forward, I could have the pleasure of tracing a bulging purple vein with my tongue.Did I touch it? Did I take it in my mouth?Are you crazy? I ran out of there as fast as I could and if it didn’t mean being labeled as a drama queen, I would have said I rushed out screaming into the night.As I drove away, tires sending up a spray of gravel behind me, I wondered if I would ever make a very good gay.

Get your $1.99 copy at Amazon (or FREE if you're a Kindle Unlimited subscriber)

Guest Post: Grace R. Duncan and DEVOTION

Official Tour Page: http://www.grace-duncan.com/fm-tour

Join us in celebrating the rerelease of the Forbes Mates books! The celebration tour has a $25 Amazon Gift Card giveaway and lots of fun excerpts from the books. You can follow the tour here (http://www.grace-duncan.com/fm-tour) – hope you have fun!

Join us in celebrating the rerelease of the Forbes Mates books! The celebration tour has a $25 Amazon Gift Card giveaway and lots of fun excerpts from the books. You can follow the tour here. Hope you have fun!

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Devotion

Will Tanner realize he’s wrong and claim his mate before Finley’s devotion is gone? Finley Cooper is tired of waiting for his destined mate to be ready to claim him. In deference to human laws, he’s already agreed to wait until he’s eighteen. But now his birthday has come and gone—and his mate has a new set of excuses.

Finley doesn’t understand it any more than his wolf does, and he’s beginning to wonder if fate made a mistake. Tanner Pearce wants nothing more than to claim his mate, but he worries that Finley is too young. Tanner will never forget what happened when his best friend mated at Finley’s age, only to have that mate end up feeling trapped and breaking their bond.

While rare, it can happen, and the fallout Tanner witnessed as his best friend tried to deal with the break has haunted him for years. When Finley finally has enough, he threatens to find someone who will claim him if Tanner doesn’t, and Tanner realizes he needs to come to terms with his fears or risk losing his mate forever.

EXCERPT

He was gone. Finley was gone. Tanner couldn’t wrap his head around it. His mate had packed a suitcase overnight and gotten on a train.

Sure, the Coopers had promised Finley would be back. But Tanner didn’t understand why Finley hadn’t told him directly. When he’d shown up, they wouldn’t even tell him where Finley had gone, only that he’d taken a train. Finley’s two younger sisters, Anna and Beth, had both looked like they were ready to shift and claw his face off. The entire family was pissed at him, though he couldn’t fathom why. What had he done?

Tanner was, in fact, pretty sure the trip was a spur-of-the-moment decision. He just didn’t know what he could do about it. Especially since Finley refused to answer his cell phone. Any of the six times he’d tried, so far. Tanner stared down at his own again for a full minute, trying to decide what to do. It hurt—there were no two ways about it. He just couldn’t understand what was going on, what was happening with his mate.

He dialed Finley’s number once more and listened to the rings.

“What?” Finley’s annoyed voice answered after five. “You left.”

“Your powers of deduction are astounding.” Tanner frowned. That didn’t sound like Finley. Sure, Finley could be sarcastic at times, but snark—biting snark especially—wasn’t usually part of his repertoire. “Why?”

“I need some space. I can’t… I can’t keep doing this, Tan.” He paused and let the silence sit. “You know, mating at my age isn’t that far out of the question. It’s not even unusual.” Tanner pinched the bridge of his nose. He’d known Finley was frustrated, but he didn’t see why it was that big of a deal.

“Not for—” “Don’t you dare say ‘not for some.’ There’s nothing any different about me than there is them. We are destined mates. We’re supposed to be together. But we’re not. You won’t claim me. Since you won’t, maybe it’s time I find someone who will.”

Despite the panic rising in his chest—with the added bonus of his wolf’s panic—he heard how shaky those last words were.

“Baby, please don’t.”

“No.” Tanner was having real trouble breathing and wondered if the lack of oxygen was affecting his thought processes.

“No?”


“No. You don’t get to call me ‘baby’ anymore, Tanner. You don’t get to call me ‘mate.’ You don’t get to do anything anymore. Not unless you’re willing to claim me.” The silence sat heavy between them. Tanner struggled to keep the panic back, to find the words to speak.

“Are you… breaking up with me?” Finley didn’t answer for a few long moments, and Tanner’s already underperforming lungs struggled further. Finally: “I guess I am. Unless you claim me. Unless you’re ready to mate.”

Shit. “Finley, I—”

“No. Here’s the deal. I’m spending the summer… away. If I meet someone while I’m there, I’m not going to turn down the chance to date him. If I date him and like him, and he’s willing to mate and bond, then I’ll accept him. If you don’t want that, then you’re going to have to claim me. Use those amazing deductive powers you’ve got to figure out where I am.”

It took Tanner a full minute to realize Finley had hung up. He stared at his phone for quite a bit longer before setting it on the seat next to him. He considered trying to call back, but knew it would be futile. If Finley hadn’t turned the phone off, he at least wouldn’t answer. Tanner looked up, realizing he was still sitting in the Coopers’ driveway. Finley’s mom was looking out the window at him, her arms crossed and face set in angry lines. Tanner couldn’t begin to figure that out. He couldn’t believe they’d be that angry over him not claiming Finley yet. But he was too freaked out to try to understand that.

He started the car and pulled out of the driveway, only halfway paying attention to where he was going.

Maybe giving Finley space wasn’t a bad idea. As much as he didn’t want his mate so far away—and anywhere he had to take a train to get to was far—it might be good for him. Maybe he could get some of those experiences, though Tanner prayed to anyone who’d listen that they were still nonsexual. He didn’t really think Finley would date someone else. He didn’t doubt Fin was going to stay with another wolf pack, and there were very few gay wolves. So, hopefully, the threat was an empty one.

GRACE R. DUNCAN
Grace Duncan grew up with a wild imagination. She told stories from an early age – many of which got her into trouble. Eventually, she learned to channel that imagination into less troublesome areas, including fanfiction, which is what has led her to writing male/male erotica. As someone who loves to travel and see new places, Grace has lived all over the United States. She has currently set up camp in East Texas with her husband and children - both the human and furry kind.

As one of those rare creatures who loves research, Grace can get lost for hours on the internet, reading up on any number of strange and different topics. She can also be found writing fanfiction, reading fantasy, crime, suspense, romance and other erotica or even dabbling in art.
Find Grace here:Website  ◊ Facebook ◊ Twitter ◊ Youtube ◊ Goodreads

Instant Message or Instant Murder? IM is Out Today in a Brand-new Edition from Nine Star Press

What Drove Me to Write my Serial Killer Thriller,  IM
If you get an instant message from me, would you wonder why? Probably not, unless you knew that one of my most infamous thrillers was called  IM , and that  IM  in the title stands for instant message, but that it could also stand for instant murder. And maybe you’d pause if you knew that  IM  is a book about a serial killer who uses the Internet to lure his victims.

But then again, maybe you wouldn’t. After all, what are the odds that someone who writes a book about a murderer who uses instant messages to charm his way into the homes of his victims, where he will ruthlessly stab them and perpetrate all sorts of horrors on their bodies would actually do something so heinous?

IM  comes from that comfort zone we probably all have: that place that tells us, “It couldn’t happen to me.” People, in general, don’t expect to be murdered. That’s why scores of young men on gay internet hook up sites often brazenly invite strangers into their homes. They believe it “couldn’t happen to them.”

This belief is the impetus for  IM . The internet has made it so easy for us to meet other people, especially for sex. Who needs a bar, a social club, or even a bathhouse to meet a sex partner? Today, we can order up a roll in the hay almost as easily as we can order a pizza. And have it delivered fast, hot, and fresh… The temptation is so great that many of us cast caution to the wind and never do the things common sense might tell us when contemplating an online hook-up, things like meeting in public first, getting the details on your potential suitor like name, address, phone number and conveying those details to a good friend, just in case.

Instead, many men, every day, open their homes up to complete strangers. Strangers who have no connection to them. Who, if they’re careful, would leave no pesky traces like motivation or other associations investigators might look for. The internet has made it easy to perpetrate the perfect crime.

Enter my killer, Timothy Bright, who looks mild mannered but who’s twisted and broken on the inside. He knows how easy it is to chat someone up online and gain admittance to their homes. It almost never fails.

And that’s just how it works in real life. I thought that was scary…and so I began writing.

BLURB

The Internet is the new meat market for gay men. Now a killer is turning the meat market into a meat wagon. 

One by one, he’s killing them. Lurking in the digital underworld of Men4HookUpNow.com, he lures, seduces, and charms, reaching out through instant messages to the unwary. When the first body surfaces, openly gay Chicago Police Department detective Ed Comparetto is called in to investigate. At the scene, the young man who discovered the body tells him the story of how he found his friend. But did this witness play a bigger role in the murder than he’s letting on?

For Comparetto, this encounter is the beginning of a nightmare—because this witness did more than just show up at the scene of the crime; he set the scene. Comparetto is on a journey to discover the truth—before he loses his career, his boyfriend, his sanity… his life. Because in this killer's world, IM doesn't stand for instant message… it stands for instant murder.

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Amazon
Nine Star Press

  

RE-RELEASE: The Perils of Intimacy

BLURBJimmy and Mark make an adorable couple. Jimmy’s kindness (and clean-cut cuteness) radiates out of him like light. Mark, although a bit older, complements Jimmy with his humor and his openness to love.But between them, a dark secret lurks, one that has the power to destroy.See, when Mark believes he’s meeting Jimmy for the first time in the diner where he works, he’s wrong.Mark has no recollection of their original encounter because the wholesome Jimmy of today couldn’t be more different than he was two years ago. Back then, Jimmy sported multiple piercings, had long bleached dreadlocks, facial hair, and was painfully skinny. And he was a meth addict. The drug transformed him into a different person—a lying, conniving thief who robbed Mark blind during their one-night stand.Mark doesn’t associate the memory of a hookup gone horribly wrong with this fresh-faced, smiling twenty-something… but Jimmy knows. As they begin a dance of love and attraction, will Jimmy be brave enough to reveal the truth? And if he does, will Mark be able to forgive him? Can he see Jimmy for the man he is now and not the addict he was? The answers will depend on whether true love holds enough light to shine through the darkness of past mistakes.BUYNine Star Press eBookAmazon eBookAmazon Paperback
EXCERPT
I watch from the corner of my eye as Cinnamon Roll, as I’ve dubbed him, downs his low-carb breakfast. How someone can eat poached eggs without any toast is beyond me, but it takes all kinds.“You got a thing for him or what?” Matilda Blake, the other server on duty, whispers to me. She pauses just behind me with three plates balanced on two arms. I smell pancakes, bacon, and the sage aroma of sausage.I turn a little to grin. “What?”“Ah, don’t play innocent with me, Mister. I could see the lust in your eyes from fifty paces.”I shrug. “Guilty. Maybe. A little.”She laughs, and it’s a sound like a bell tinkling. Matilda doesn’t even reach five feet and probably doesn’t top ninety pounds, but she’s a workhorse like you wouldn’t believe. She has short, spiked blonde hair and numerous tattoos. On the weekends, she plays in an all-girl metal band called Two Spirit. And in my head, I call her Tinker Bell, because that’s who she looks like to me. She takes off to serve her customers, but not without prompting me to “Go over and talk to him.”I busy myself filling ketchup bottles and the salt and pepper shakers I’ve removed from empty tables, but I keep an eye on Cinnamon Roll. His food is gone and the newspaper’s been abandoned and he’s staring off into space. I shudder because I wonder if he’s recognized me and is thinking about our last encounter, a little over two years ago, at his place on Dexter Avenue.But no, that couldn’t be possible, could it? I’m a different person now, inside and out. Back then I was twenty, twenty-five pounds lighter than my current one hundred and sixty-five. I had a septum piercing like Ferdinand the Bull. My hair, which is now cut high and tight and is reddish brown, was long back then, bleached blond, dirty, and tangled up in dreadlocks that reached down almost to my waist. My skin had, I’m sure, a pasty and unhealthy pallor.That person doesn’t even exist anymore, and even though it’s only been two years, I look completely different today. He’s probably just thinking about his day or something.Right?I walk over to his table, a little nervous that he’d come to and look at me with an accusing glare. There’d be a scene. And maybe I’d end up getting fired or something. Thinking back to what I did to him, I deserve it.But when I approach his table, all he does is smile. And that smile melts my heart. It did back then too. Just not enough to keep me from my desperate and dark ways.“You need anything else?”He looks down at his paper and back up at me. A blush rises to his cheeks, and I gotta say it—there’s nothing more adorable than this face staring up at me right now.BUYNine Star Press eBookAmazon eBookAmazon Paperback

New Edition: SKY FULL OF MYSTERIES

Today, I'm grateful for Nine Star Press's re-release of my novel, SKY FULL OF MYSTERIES , about the otherworldly choices we make in the name of love.

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What if your first love was abducted and presumed dead—but returned twenty years later?

That’s the dilemma Cole Weston faces. Now happily married to Tommy D’Amico, he’s suddenly thrown into a surreal world when his first love, Rory Schneidmiller, unexpectedly reappears.

Where has Rory been all this time? What happened to him two decades ago, when a strange mass appeared in the night sky and lifted him into the heavens? Rory has no memory of those years. For him, it’s as though only a day or two has passed.

Rory still loves Cole with the passion unique to young first love. Cole has never forgotten Rory, yet Tommy has been his rock, by his side since Rory disappeared.

Cole is forced to choose between an idealized and passionate first love and the comfort of a long-term marriage. How can he decide? Who faces this kind of quandary, anyway? The answers might lie among the stars….

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