Leta Blake's Blog, page 31
February 10, 2015
Why A Clean Break is even BETTER than I expected! #AmishAngst #gay 5/5 stars!
A Clean Break by Keira Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I finished A Forbidden Rumspringa, I had certain ideas about what we’d see in the second book. We’d been told that the guys would go to San Francisco and immediately I was filled up with my own reaction to that city: adoration, freedom, bliss! I anticipated the boys arriving and being absolutely high on unadulterated freedom, joyful at seeing men holding hands or giving a casual smooch on the street, and blooming into the new, happier English world full of opportunities they’d never dreamed of. What Keira delivered was a much more powerful and much more realistic book.
Change is hard. There is a saying that the first year of marriage is the hardest. In my experience that is shockingly true. My husband and I had dated and half-lived together for ten years before we wed and still that first year was a massive challenge to our relationship. We had communication problems, misunderstandings and arguments about big stuff (“Which of these houses do you like better?”) and the most mundane things (what is the price threshold between “sure, you’re and adult who brings home a portion of the bacon, buy whatever you want” and “whoa! dude, you can’t just spend that much without asking me first!”.) We went through a similar round of challenges when our next big change came along: our daughter.
Now Isaac and David aren’t married in A Clean Break, but they may as well be. They’ve run off alone to a completely unfamiliar world where people literally don’t speak their language and they have to make real choices as a couple for the first time…and with still relatively few options. They don’t have birth certificates or social security numbers, so they can’t get jobs right away. They don’t understand how things work in this world, so it’s like navigating an alien planet. They have to make choices about things they didn’t even know to expect (boxers or briefs) and choices they totally never even imagined (do we want to “explore” with other people?). (For the scared few, the answer to that last was a resounding NO from both. No worries.) And everyone who can remember their first time visiting in a country that has entirely different language and culture must recall the extreme, exhausting stress of that. Some people react to that stress with a sense of adventure and others react by closing down, trying to get away from the overstimulation of too much unfamiliarity. I am more the first type while my husband is more the second. Maybe that gives me an even deeper appreciation for the realities this book showed about how different people cope with scary newness.
And that’s where we find these two Amish boys (not even grown men, really). It is realistic and deeply emotional to see David floundering in the deep waters of fear, culture shock, doubt, and insecurity while Isaac is so startled by the bright lights and adventure around him that he doesn’t notice. After growing up in a place where hiding his real feelings (gay attraction, doubt about his place in Zebulon) to protect himself and his family from being social outcasts, it makes sense that David would resort to using the same exact coping mechanism in San Fran. Because despite being “free” from Zebulon, he is still in extreme peril: he is completely and utterly dependent on the goodwill of his boyfriend’s brother (and thus on his boyfriend’s continued affection for him). He needs him for the very basics of life: food, shelter, warmth. And he needs Aaron to help negotiate a completely unfamiliar world that is full of danger: speeding cars, untrustworthy strangers, and, heck, untrustworthy friends, even.
So not-sticking-out, keeping his panic and feelings bottled up is the reaction that makes the most sense for David. And the fact that I, as a reader, had wanted to see him happy and free makes that part of the book a bit difficult but ultimately deeply powerful.
With a little empathy, I think we find this story to be a wonderfully wrought exploration of a fish-out-of-water: gasping, floundering, wide-eyed with terror he cannot express to the landlubbers around him.
Isaac’s story is told only through David’s point of view, but I have a feeling his experience was more like the one many readers were expecting. An ecstatic wallow in all the new shiny of the city. New experiences, new friends, new directions, and new purpose. Can we really blame David for thinking that if he confessed his fears to Isaac that he’d be holding Isaac back from his true self, just the way Zebulon had held them back from each other? Can we blame him for not wanting to be the new shackles on Isaac’s free soul?
Oh David!
I highly recommend this read and suggest going into it with suspended expectations and an open mind. Maybe David isn’t who you imagined him to be when you saw him only through Isaac’s love struck point of view, maybe he doesn’t react to the glory of San Fran the way you might want him to, and maybe that’s okay. Because by reading we discover deeper empathy for characters and each other. I walked away from this book with a sense of David’s struggle that helped me understand how people could go back to familiar situations that might not serve their truest self but where they know their place and how to live.
I’m anxious to see David and Isaac in Book Three, to see how these tensions get resolved. How can David change his stripes to be a man of adventure like Isaac? Or how can Isaac help David understand that his fear and struggle doesn’t have to hold either of them back if they can talk to each other about it? How will they face their families and will they be tempted to stay? How has the world changed them both?
So good! Such a thought-provoking presentation! And hooray for bucking expectations and giving us a slice of unexpected angst pie! Amish angst indeed!
February 8, 2015
USA Today Must-read romances: ‘True Pretenses,’ ‘Party Lines,’ ‘Smoky Mountain Dreams’ #mmromance #gay
Leta Blake takes her time in letting the readers get to know both Christopher and Jesse. They have messy pasts and messy present-day lives, and she lets everything unfold with care for the reader. Christopher and Jesse have great chemistry together ��� they are both mature and can handle conflict thrown their way without overreacting. I also appreciated the extra-steamy romance scenes in this one. Oh my, my, my. A very solid romance book with a lot of sexy thrown in.
via Must-read romances: ‘True Pretenses,’ ‘Party Lines,’ ‘Smoky Mountain Dreams’.
Sometimes holding on means letting go
Christopher Ryder and Jesse Birch are two men hanging on to the past. While Christopher has let go of his failure as a country singer in Nashville, he’s still trying to please his narrow-minded, non-accepting family. His beloved Gran loves him the way he is, but Christopher feels painfully invisible to everyone else. He���s happy enough performing at the Smoky Mountain Dreams theme park in Tennessee, but even when Christopher is center stage he aches for someone to see the real him.
There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to bisexual Jesse. He’s raising two kids and fighting with family after a tragic accident took his children���s mother. There’s no room in his life for dating, his kids are his priority, and he doesn’t want more than an occasional hook-up. He sure as hell doesn’t want to fall hard for his favorite local singer, but when Christopher walks into his jewelry studio, Jesse hears a new song in his heart.
Smoky Mountain Dreams is available now at:
AMAZON
B&N
SMASHWORDS
iTUNES
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OYSTER
And now at��KOBO.
February 5, 2015
Blog Tour and Giveaway: A Clean Break by Keira Andrews
Check it out!!
Originally posted on The Novel Approach :
The Novel Approach is pleased to have Keira Andrews with us today on the A Clean Break blog tour. Enjoy the guest post and excerpt from the book, then be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win an e-copy of any book from Keira���s backlist(*excl. A Clean Break*).
Comments must be received by Midnight Pacific time on Sunday, February 8, 2015, to qualify. One winner will be drawn at random on Monday, the 9th, and notified by email for prize delivery.
Good luck!
Culture shock is described as ���the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.��� For young Amish men David and Isaac, leaving their insular, isolated community behind and moving to San Francisco isn���t easy.
Have you ever experienced culture shock? After university I backpacked around Australia for���
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February 4, 2015
“Fantastic, fabulous, awesome book!!!” Amy’s review of Training Season #gay #amreading
“I was amazed with this book. Cowboy and a professional figure skater???? Imagine that, and boy were they hot, sexy and funny. Throw in a kid, some angst and decisions that may destroy both of them. I LOVED IT!!!! Fantastic, fabulous, awesome book!!!”
via Amazon.com: Amy’s review of Training Season.
Training Season is available now at:
AMAZON
B&N
SMASHWORDS
iTUNES
SCRIBD
OYSTER
And now at��KOBO.
Look out for Training Season’s sequel coming Spring 2015.
“I loved this sequel!” Boy Meets Boy Reviews: A Clean Break (Gay Amish Romance #2) by Keira Andrews #mmromance
“A Clean Break picks up right where A Forbidden Rumspringa left off. David and Isaac have just arrived in San Fransisco and are settling in with Isaac’s brother.
While trying to fit in with the English is tough, they do the best they can together and in their own way. David sticks to what he knows – carpentry. He continues with the business he built when he lived with his family, and works hard to keep it. Isaac wants a change and goes to school to earn his GED. I really liked that they chose different paths in their new life. Of course, they want different things for themselves, they’re different people. Now that they’re free to make choices, they went ahead and made them. Especially Isaac. He made a hard choice to put himself out there in school and with meeting new people. He made friends like a pro! Of course, we don’t know his internal struggles, since this was told from David’s POV.
David! David.
David.
Oh, I wanted to smack him silly! He took on way too much. He was too hard on himself and never asked for help. And, guess what, he suffered the consequences. His determination to take care of Isaac and his family showed how much pressure he felt to be the man of the family. He’s still just a kid! While I wanted to smack some sense into him, he didn’t know any better. He didn’t know he could or should ask for help. I think he would have felt ashamed if he had asked too soon, before he proved to himself how much he could do on his own. Well, now he knows, but I’m still worried about what will happen in book 3.”
via Boy Meets Boy Reviews: Review: A Clean Break (Gay Amish Romance #2) by Keira Andrews.
BUY NOW AT AMAZON!
February 3, 2015
How To Win Sales And Influence Algorithms
Very interesting thoughts/ideas on author collaboration to help with sales and promotion of books. Thanks to Annie Person (http://anniepearson.com/) for linking me!
Originally posted on David Gaughran:
I���m hosting a discussion today between two authors who are using��creative ways to share audiences, something��which has the happy side-effect of increasing their respective sales.
As I said on Thursday, I think creative forms of collaboration ��� especially in terms of marketing strategies ��� are��going to be big this year.
Traditionally published authors may have to compete with each other ways that may not be relevant/important��to self-publishers ��� like agents, deals, grants, prizes, or co-op. But self-publishers have nothing to fear from cooperating with authors they are nominally competing with, and everything to gain.
The market is so large that no writer��will ever reach all the readers out there, and the��odds of��getting noticed can improve greatly with the right kind of cooperation ��� as many authors with box sets saw last year.
If you are still skeptical, consider this: Amazon���s recommendation engine can drive sales like nothing else.��The Also���
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A Sammy Review: A Clean Break (Gay Amish Romance #2) by Keira Andrews
Originally posted on scatteredthoughtsandroguewords:
Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5
A sense of power flowed through him. Isaac was splayed out���so trusting and vulnerable���and David wanted to keep him safe always. They may be sinners, but Isaac was still a gift from God.
A Clean Break picks up where A Forbidden Rumspringa left off. Isaac and David have fled from Zebulon, left behind the plain ways and entered a world completely new and different. It���s amazing and freeing, but somehow so constraining all at the same time.
They thought they knew what they were getting into, but life outside their small community in Minnesota is far more complicated than either of them imagined. More than that, they still have to deal with the guilt that comes with leaving behind not only your family and the only life you���ve ever known, but also turning your back to God.
San Francisco may be their destination, but���
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February 1, 2015
The Writing Craft with RJ Scott!
Awesome and helpful information for authors! I’m going to check this app out!
Originally posted on Amber Kell's Blog:
I am inspired by so much. Music, art, TV, films, conversation, random thoughts as I drive��� and all I want to do is make a note of the ideas. Sometimes I can���t. How many times do you have an idea that you think is wonderful but have no access to something to write it down!
But, for those occasions when you have access to your PC, or your phone, then you could try taking photos, or making notes. My phone is full of photos of things that inspire me.
So some years back I decided I needed one place to collect all my ideas and I found something called Evernote.
I have the evernote app on my iphone (I know it is available as android as well), my PC, my laptop, and I also have the Evernote Chrome extension to quick-add things to my Evernote account.
Evernote works in���
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January 31, 2015
A List of Things to Look Forward To — Or Please Be Over Winter #wintersux #summercomesoon
Below is a list of things I soothe myself with while getting ready to exit the house in the mornings. The miserable cold is only bearable when I can envision a future without it. So…here we go.
1. No Socks. Ladies and gentlemen, the day I get to just wear sandals again will be an awesome one. Socks are devils tools because:
a) You can never find a matching set even though you only buy the exact same sock design over and over and over. It’s a friggin’ mystery.
I buy the exact same white socks with grey toes and heels every single time, and yet when I go to get a pair of socks, somehow this is what I’m confronted with.
b) They don’t seem to make the right size for me, being either too big or too small. Because half the time I end up wearing my daughters’ socks and the other half my husbands’ (because the ones I buy myself inevitably go missing within 24 hours of purchase) my feet are never comfortable. Too big socks lead to them being cold, too small socks lead to swelling in my ankles.
c) Laundry! They are just another thing to wash! And there are never any clean ones when you really need a pair even though you own literally two hundred pairs of socks.
2. SUMMER DRESSES!!!! This is the thing I can’t wait for. No more constricting, constraining, totally-covering-my-skin-yet-still-failing-to-keep-me-warm and somehow-always-unfashionable winter clothes! Instead I’ll wear my beloved comfortable, (kinda) fashionable, always easy summer dresses. Holy God, I love them so much. Let me show you my absolute favorite. It’s the Nectar dress by Athleta, though they discontinued it (assholes!) and now I have to buy it on Ebay. I own like six in different colors/patterns. Because it is perfection.
You should go to EBay and by five of these dresses. You really should.
I have literally never met a person who didn’t look good in that dress. Any size, shape, whatever. It’s the best dress to ever exist.
I have other summer dresses, too, and I love them all so much. Even my least loved summer dresses is 1000% better than my favorite winter outfit.
That’s it. Really, that’s as far as I get before I’m out the door in the mornings. I admit I spend a long, long, long time on the summer dresses part of the thought process. But, seriously, do we need another reason to want summer to come like whoa? I think not.
January 29, 2015
“This author has got me hook, line and sinker.” 17thSassenach’s review of Training Season #gay #romance
“This author has got me hook, line and sinker. I am in love with this book. I was up half the night last night finishing it and Matty and Rob are still with me this morning. I can’t let go of them. Matty, in particular, has taken up permanent residence in my heart. A fictional character! The light and shadow that the author used to paint Matty was, in my opinion, perfection and made him seem so real. I saw that there will be another book.. I just hope a person can’t die of anticipation because I would be a goner.”
via Amazon.com: 17thSassenach’s review of Training Season.
Training Season is available now at:
AMAZON
B&N
SMASHWORDS
iTUNES
SCRIBD
OYSTER
And now at��KOBO.
Look out for Training Season’s sequel coming Spring 2015.
