Elisa Rolle's Blog, page 299

2016 Rainbow Awards: Getting Back by Cindy Rizzo (113-05-30-2016)

Getting Back by Cindy Rizzo
Lesbian Contemporary Romance
Paperback: 260 pages
Publisher: Ylva Verlag e.Kfr. (October 1, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 3955333957
ISBN-13: 978-3955333959
Amazon: Getting Back
Amazon Kindle: Getting Back

Elizabeth Morrison has ascended the ranks of her industry and now runs one of the most successful publishing companies in the US. But even after three decades, she has never been able to get past the devastating end of her relationship with the beautiful and brilliant Ruth Abramson. As Elizabeth approaches her 30th college reunion, she must face the woman who long ago acceded to the demands of her father, a famous Russian dissident, and married the young man who'd been chosen for her. It doesn't make it any easier that Ruth, now divorced and living openly as a lesbian, is the class luncheon speaker. As the two women face one another and attempt to reconcile their past, Elizabeth finds she must wrestle with a number of issues she has avoided confronting. And she must carefully decide whether she is more distrustful of Ruth or of herself. Is she headed for another fall with this woman? Or does she want to get close again, so she can be the one to walk away? When it comes to reuniting with the love of your life, it's not always easy to know the difference between getting back together and just getting back.

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html

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2016 Rainbow Awards: Waking Jamal by Amberly Smith (112-05-27-2016)

Waking Jamal by Amberly Smith
Gay Sci-fi / Futuristic
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (March 25, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1634771338
ISBN-13: 978-1634771337
Amazon: Waking Jamal
Amazon Kindle: Waking Jamal

Their physical and mental survival depends on them bonding.

Jamal Zumati joins the military, determined to repay the country that fed and housed him. But during his Hamask activation, his senses go offline and he enters a berserker rage. The United States Hamrammr Program, or USHP, has only one option: put him into hibernation.

Despite his extraordinary ability to read and manipulate situations, Vargr Lt. Rum Walker has stepped on one too many brass toes, and the USHP demoted him back to teaching new candidates. Rum is one paranoid thought away from self-destruction when he is recruited for a covert mission: pull Jamal from hibernation.

The problem is, no one has ever survived a berserker fury at least not officially. If Rum is to challenge the military stereotypes, he ll not only need to wake Jamal he ll need to get him to agree to be bonded as a Hamra Pair, the ultimate supersoldier team.

When Jamal and Rum team up with an FBI Hamra Pair to stop the terrorist group Dios Provee, Rum thinks he ll show Jamal their true potential lies in an equal partnership, but Jamal is convinced Rum should take the lead. Will Rum stop Jamal from going berserk again and destroying both of their futures?"

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html

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2016 Rainbow Awards: The Complete Horse Mistress Collection by R.A. Steffan (111-05-25-2016)

The Complete Horse Mistress Collection by R.A. Steffan
Transgender Fantasy Romance
Publication Date: May 8, 2016
Amazon Kindle: The Complete Horse Mistress Collection

Carivel was born female, but she has been secretly living as a boy for years in her adoptive village of Draebard. The last thing she needs is to fall for not one, but two unattainable men—a dominating warrior and a reluctant wolf-shifter with a horrific past. Now, the Alyrion Empire is poised to invade, and Carivel must choose whether to keep her secret or reveal it—not only to the men she loves, but also to the powerful female ruler whose army could help protect Draebard during the coming war.

Steamy and spellbinding, The Complete Horse Mistress Collection combines detailed world-building and a heartfelt romance between three noble, damaged people who have no one to turn to but each other.

For a limited time, save 50% when you buy this bundle, compared to the cost of buying Books 1, 2, 3, and 4 individually! The Horse Mistress boxset also contains an exclusive series epilogue not available anywhere else—Return of the Wolf.

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html

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2016 Rainbow Awards: Just the Thought of You (Mann of My Dreams #3) by Tinnean (110-05-20-2016)

Just the Thought of You (Mann of My Dreams #3) by Tinnean
Gay Romantic Suspence
Series: Mann of My Dreams
Paperback: 414 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (May 18, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1533349053
ISBN-13: 978-1533349057
Amazon: Just the Thought of You (Mann of My Dreams #3)
Amazon Kindle: Just the Thought of You (Mann of My Dreams #3)

Quinton Mann and Mark Vincent - still as dangerous, intelligent, and perceptive as they were when they started playing mind games with each other, and still in love. With Quinn having inherited the Mann family estate in a state of serious disrepair, he and Mark with the help of their family and friends decided to fix it up and then live there, together. But when a mystery from the Mann family past intersected with the death that led to Quinn inheriting the estate, Mark and Quinn were determined to solve it, and see Quinn's cousin DB and his ladies safely married. But there are always eyes watching two such dangerous men. Would they be able to continue their relationship without nosy, judgmental people trying to put an end to it?

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html

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2016 Rainbow Awards: Thrall: Beyond Gold and Glory by Barbara Ann Wright (109-05-14-2016)

Beyond Gold and Glory by Barbara Ann Wright
Lesbian Fantasy Romance
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (September 15, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1626394377
ISBN-13: 978-1626394377
Amazon: Beyond Gold and Glory
Amazon Kindle: Beyond Gold and Glory

Like heroes from an ancient tale, Aesa and Maeve plan to raid foreign shores, claiming gold and glory for their homeland. Young and in love, neither considers what will happen if one is chosen to be a warrior and the other is left behind.

On a mist-shrouded island, Aesa meets Ell, a woman enslaved by an insidious curse. Maeve walks the path of dark magic and finds Laret, a woman well acquainted with pain. Together, they must break the magic surrounding Ell, an act that will force them to choose between their dreams, their homes, and the women they love.

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html

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2016 Rainbow Awards: Behind the Eight Ball by M.A. Church (108-05-13-2016)

Behind the Eight Ball (Fur, Fangs, and Felines #2) by M.A. Church
Gay Paranormal Romance
Paperback: 214 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (October 30, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1634766962
ISBN-13: 978-1634766968
Amazon: Behind the Eight Ball (Fur, Fangs, and Felines #2)
Amazon Kindle: Behind the Eight Ball (Fur, Fangs, and Felines #2)

Fur, Fangs, and Felines: Book Two

A cool morning, a yard full of birds, and a kitty on a mission. What more could a werecat want? Beta Heller Wirth has it all, except a mate―a shifter mate, that is. The last thing he wants is one of those dangerous humans who kill without remorse. Heller knows about that firsthand. So what does the goddess Bast do? She gives Heller exactly what he does not want―a human: business owner Lawson Dupre.

Lawson hasn’t a clue what just happened in his car detail shop. One minute a cute client is about to pass out, and then he perks up and starts flirting. Next thing, he runs out the door like the hounds of hell are after him. Learning that Heller is a werecat doesn’t freak out Lawson. He happens to be one of those rare humans who knows paranormals exists. He even lives with one. Watch the fur fly as Heller and Lawson battle hurt feelings, misguided beliefs, and a power shift in Heller’s clowder.

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html

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Blog Tour: Trainwreck by Michele Micheal Rakes

Trainwreck (Trainwreck #1) by Michele Micheal Rakes
Publisher: Michele Micheal Rakes (January 25, 2016)
Amazon Kindle: Freeing His Mercenary (Mercenary In Love Book 3)

Blurb: Detective Sergeant Vincent Sweetwater hates dead bodies. That’s why he’s an undercover narc and not a homicide dick. So why is he standing on a sandy beach in California staring at a lifeless body—oh yeah, the suicide attempt. Lieutenant Hanson is making a statement. Something about life worth living. Shows what he knows.
As Vince examines the tortured body, he feels an empathy and déjà vu for the victim, her wounds are similar to scars he has only a vague memory receiving. An intense desire to find her killer fills his queasy belly as a dark game of cat and mouse begins.
The young woman’s death forces Vince back into a secret life dominated by sex, perversion, and sadomasochism. Estranged from his wife he still loves and longing for the man who possessed him once, Vince buries his torment deep inside meaningless sex.
*Warning: This book contains adult content and situations. NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH.

( Excerpt )



Meet the author: Michele Micheal Rakes lives in a small town in the shadow of a big mountain and works as a surgical technologist assisting in the removal of tonsils and testicles. Three grown children, a one year old granddaughter named Thrasher, two psychotic Egyptian Mau’s, a husband with hair down to his knees, an Amazon for a wife, two Harley’s, and a ferret named Teeny Tiny Ferret Feet (husband insists her name Little Feet, we all know he’s wrong) life is gets pretty wild.
Note: Wife recently passed away from cancer and this book is dedicated in loving memory of Mary Louise Castleman. Love you babe!

"I’m a Pacific Northwest native who loves to ride a Harley. I’ve been writing since I was small. My first novel, Trainwreck and subsequently the sequel, Surviving Adam were written in 2010, but were not my first publications. Saving Kane was the first, followed by Fourth and Long. There are two more to that series in progress. Trainwreck was a large novel. Epic and dark, but I wanted people to really know the man inside Vincent Sweetwater, so I had to make this anti-hero somehow lovable. I think I achieved that goal, but I won’t know until I release the final book in late August, 2016. The first two are out and three is in post-production, as it were, and I’m going for a June release. I’ve been put a bit behind schedule. Actually, all books are written, but I don’t take editing lightly.
Trainwreck is a five part series about a man addicted to sex. A psychological thriller, Trainwreck takes you into the mind of a killer and his survivor, forever tied together in a twisted dance of sex, BDSM, and abuse. There’s a fine line between love and lust and crazy. Trainwreck explores Vince’s hidden desires and his sexuality. He’s a man on a tragic path who must find a killer before the bastard takes one more life, and he must do it while keeping his own suicidal ass in check. Funny, tragic, and poignant. He’s so broken, all there is left for him to do is put the pieces of himself back together, and just when he thinks he can’t get crushed any further, the killer strikes again.
*This is a menage/poly, but if you can imagine the combinations, then you’re in for a treat."

List the first five things you would do if you suddenly had millions of dollars.
The first thing I would do is create the Mary Louise Castleman Fund to raise money to help low income cancer patients and for research toward a cure for cancer. Then I would take care of my family. From there, I’ve always wanted to live a year in the highlands of Scotland. I’m a pretty simple person. I wish I could write full time and perhaps the money would help me do that, but I can honestly say…I’d spend it on everyone else. College funds for the grandchildren. College for my son. I’d love to be able to give my kids and grandkids nice things. Most of all, I’d trade every last penny to have Mary back, to have my wife back, and riding her Harley. Instead, I’ll just have to wait until the next life to see her again.

Where to find the author:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/michelerakes1
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/michelemiche...
Twitter: @MicheleRakes
Blog: www.michelerakes.wordpress.com
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...



( Tour Dates & Stops )

Giveaway:
Rafflecopter Prize: Three separate prizes: $15 GC, A copy of Trainwreck, Saving Kane/Fourth and Long gift pack.
Rafflecopter Code:
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Blog Tour: In The Present Tense by Carrie Pack

In The Present Tense by Carrie Pack
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Interlude Press (May 19, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1941530788
ISBN-13: 978-1941530788
Amazon: In The Present Tense
Amazon Kindle: In The Present Tense

Blurb: Miles Lawson goes to sleep dreaming of a future with his boyfriend Adam, but wakes to find he is married to Ana, an acquaintance from high school. When he learns he has been time traveling, Miles is consumed with finding a cure for his rare condition—and finding his first love. But will he be able to convince Adam he is telling the truth before it’s too late?

( Excerpt )



Meet the author: Carrie Pack is the author of Designs On You and a part-time college professor who recently left her job in marketing to actively pursue her writing career. Carrie lives in Florida, which she fondly calls America’s Wang, with her husband and four cats.

"Thanks for having me. My current book is In the Present Tense. It’s a tale of mental illness, time travel and betrayal. And if that doesn’t get you hooked, there’s also a love story driving the narrative as well as a bit of mystery surrounding my main character Miles and the mysterious condition that causes him to time travel."

1) Do you have any strange writing habits?
I’m a pantser; I write by the seat of my pants with minimal outlining. I write at all hours of the day but especially after dark. I always use a computer to write, but sometimes it’s on my couch, other times in bed, but rarely at my desk. I often have one of my four cats covering one or more hands, so typos are a definite possibility.

2) Just as your books will inspire others, what books have inspired you?
I am such a voracious reader, this kind of question is always tough for me to answer. The easy answer is “all of them.” But the ones that have stuck with me are ones I read as a child, like the entire Oz series. L. Frank Baum created such a lush world full of imagination, and it’s a shame so many people have only seen the movies. But I was later inspired by Chaim Potok, early VC Andrews, Ray Bradbury, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Lewis Carroll, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver. The list goes on. Maybe I should have just said “all of them.”

3) What do you consider to be your best accomplishment (writing or life)?
My biggest accomplishment is always the last book I’ve finished writing. The act of turning in a manuscript always feels so incredibly rewarding.

4) Where do you see yourself in ten years?
I hope to be still writing books that inspire, entertain and make people think. It wouldn’t hurt to have a best-seller under my belt either.

5) If you had a super power, what would it be?
Time travel. It’s 100% why I wrote In the Present Tense. I wanted to take the stigma placed on mental illness and turn it into a super power.

Where to find the author:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/mscarriepack
Twitter: https://twitter.com/carriepack
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mscarriepack/
Website: www.carriepack.com
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...



( Tour Dates & Stops )

Giveaway:
Rafflecopter Prize: Grand Prize: $25 Interlude Press Gift Card, 5 First Prizes: eCopy of In The Present Tense by Carrie Pack
Rafflecopter Code:
a Rafflecopter giveaway




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2016 Rainbow Awards: Forty Wild Crushes: stories by Jim Provenzano (107-05-12-2016)

Forty Wild Crushes: stories by Jim Provenzano
Gay Humor
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Myrmidude Press; First edition (June 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1530547911
ISBN-13: 978-1530547913
Amazon: Forty Wild Crushes: stories
Amazon Kindle: Forty Wild Crushes: stories

Teenage lust in summer theatre, cheating boyfriends on The Tonight Show, and an escapee from a pumpkin farm; these are just a few of the characters in short stories from Lambda Literary Award winner Jim Provenzano. The five-time novelist shares new and previously published works, and excerpts from forthcoming novels. Varying from terse accounts of an anti-gay assault to a post-9/11 moment of resolution, Provenzano shares a diverse array of contemporary experiences in rural Ohio, New York City, at funerals and wrestling matches, Manhattan cathedrals and Paris museums. A moment in the life of a gay divorced father, a transgender performer on the rise, and a footnoted feast of pop culture crushes are included in this compelling collection.

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html

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Blog Tour: Dead Camp (Dead Camp #1) by Sean Kerr

Dead Camp (Dead Camp #1) by Sean Kerr
Publisher: eXtasy Books (December 22, 2015)
Amazon Kindle: Dead Camp (Dead Camp #1)

Blurb: Eli is an ancient vampire with an ego the size of a planet and a sex drive to match, but his tumultuous past left him broken, so he hides from humanity and cowers from love, left to endure the crushing guilt that haunts his every waking moment. Even his best friend Malachi, a ghost who is hopelessly in love with Eli, remains unaware of all that transpired in London. Malachi can never know the truth.

When the Angel Daniyyel pays an unwelcome visit, Eli must face his secrets, secrets that he has tried so long to hide. To make matters worse, a chance encounter with the most beautiful man he has ever seen shatters his beloved isolation, pushing him into the world of the living once more. Something about this strange man seems so familiar, but Eli can’t even remember who he was before he became a vampire, never mind explain the unwanted emotions the enigmatic stranger ignites in his dead heart. So Eli has a choice—return to the world that ruined him, or continue his self-imposed exile with no hope of salvation.

( Dead camp book one Excerpt )



Meet the author: I think that as I approach that milestone that is fifty, I must be one of the oldest gamers on the face of this earth. Many a day you will find me lashed to my PS4 enjoying a good session of Skyrim. Who doesn’t love a good session of Skyrim?
I love writing—I have done it since I was a child when I would happily write about the latest episode of Doctor Who (Tom Baker in those days) in my schoolbooks. Growing up and becoming a business owner with my friend Jayne left little time to pursue my dream of publication, but of late the desire and the compulsion to put words onto paper have once again dominated my life so that now, my laptop has become surgically fused to my fingertips.
There is something desperately satisfying about telling a story. My fascination with History, Religion and Conspiracy theories have, in this instance, gone hand-in-hand with my love of all things vampire, fantasy, sci-fi and horror. I drove my parents nuts when I was young because that was all I would read about in books, all I would watch on television, but they have held me in good stead, and long may my obsession with the subjects continue, at least, that is, until the day they put me in my own wooden box. And imagination is such a wonderful thing. I once had a rather vivid dream about David Tennant and the Tardis console, but I could not possibly go into details about that here. Let’s just say that my polarity was well and truly reversed.
Dead Camp is just the beginning. I have to check my knickers every day at the thought that this book is now in the public domain. My first book, and I hope the first of many. And to those out there who love to write, who love to transport us to new worlds, or old worlds with a twisted perspective, I say to you keep going. I never thought I would ever see my work available to download, and thanks to eXtasy Books, the dream that I always thought unobtainable has finally come true. So thank you all at eXtasy, I am one happy homosexual thanks to you, and thank you the reader for taking the time to read this strange tale and allowing Eli and the incomparable Malachi into your lives.
And now I really need Skyrim.
.
1) Was there a basis for you story? A previous experience or something else?
The sexual aspect of the story, the desire to be needed, to feel attractive, the never-ending appetite, that came from me to an extent. As a gay man in my late 40’s, I feel rather unattractive, and non-sexual, so a lot of my feelings on that subject fueled my writing. But the idea itself was born from my love of film, television, and documentaries, which continue to be a great source of inspiration. I love the Discovery channel. I once watched a documentary about Hitler and his obsession with the occult. That made something in my head explode, and before I knew it, I had the outline of Dead Camp plotted. Also, as I work through an idea, other ones present themselves. Sometimes they fit, sometimes they have to be put away for another book. When an idea hits me, I write it down, and then I start to write around it, play with it, and see where it leads me. Dead Camp presented a series of strong ideas, and once I realised that they could all be linked, that there was an entire series of possibilities, I was at my computer writing furiously.
I recently finished reading a book, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, and I consider that book to be the true successor to Stoker’s Dracula. However, as I was reading it, another idea hit me, albeit one that does not involve Vampires. Her style of writing, and the way she tells her story, got me to thinking about how I could tell a story in a slightly different way, and then I realised that I had the outline for a completely new book. So I wrote it down, put it in my file, and that will be my project once Dead Camp is finished.

2) What skills do you think a writer needs?
I don’t know if I have any skills, that is not for me to judge. I think that as a writer, you need to try to create believable characters, be they Vampires, Demons, or Ghosts. If you cannot empathize with your characters, then the work will not engage the reader and the work will lack any kind of emotional charge. As a reader, I like to feel emotionally attached to the characters I read about, and then I feel involved in the story, and I care about them and their journey. For a writer, that is a really hard thing to do, but also the most important.

3) What for you is the perfect book hero?
Someone who learns about themselves as they progress through the story, and that in turn helps the reader to engage. It’s all very well being gorgeous, strong, to have supernatural powers, or leap tall buildings in a stride, but I want to engage with my hero on an emotional level, I want to identify with them, feel the things they feel, see their vulnerabilities and follow their journey to beat those fears. I want to see a hero that has a little bit of me inside them, because if they can achieve their goals, then so can I.

4) Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
That initial finding of the voice, that initial characterization that will fuel the novel. I need to find a way into my characters, how do they speak, how do they react to a given situation, what do they feel, what do they need, what drives them. I have to answer these questions before I can write, and sometimes that is a challenge.
Book 1 and 2 were not so bad. I had Eli well and truly mapped out, and Malachi was just a joy to write. Book 3 is proving very difficult, because I thought I knew the character, and I thought I knew how he would be, but I was wrong. He is different to how I imagined and I have had to go back and re-examine him, and that is not a bad thing because I hope he will be all the more rounded for it. But it has taken a while to get into his head, even though I have written over half of the first draft. The second half of the book will go quicker now that I know him, and the second draft will be much better once I adjust a few things. Characters can really screw you over sometimes, I may just have to kill someone.

5) Tell us about your favorite childhood book.
When I was a very young child, my aunt took me to a jumble sale. I was about 8, and it was during the school summer break. In that jumble sale I found a very old, very worn copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It was 50p, so my aunt bought it for me. I read that book in a couple of days. I read that book about three times over that 6-week summer break. I have read that book so very, very many times over the years. Bram Stoker gave us one of the very best literary monsters in history. That book is genius, on every level. His imagination, his research, his approach to telling a story, his characterization, wow. I have read that book so many times, and I will read it again, and again. He inspired me to write, he inspired Dead Camp, and there is a story I want to tell in the future, and even though it will not involve Vampires, the style of it is directly inspired by the style of Bram Stoker and Dracula.

Where to find the author:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sean.kerr.146
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/Dead-Camp-bl...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sgk69
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Dead Camp site:: http://seankerr5.wix.com/deadcamp
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...



( Tour Dates & Stops: )

Giveaway:
Rafflecopter Prize: eCopy of ‘Dead Camp’ book one
Rafflecopter Code:
a Rafflecopter giveaway



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