Elisa Rolle's Blog, page 373

2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Come To My Window by Mia Kerick

Come To My Window by Mia Kerick
Lesbian Young Adult
Paperback: 214 pages
Publisher: Mia Kerick; 1 edition (January 18, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0986415618
ISBN-13: 978-0986415616
Amazon: Come To My Window
Amazon Kindle: Come To My Window

Justine Laraby and Kemina Lopez are intimate acquaintances yet they have never exchanged so much as a single word. For months, high school senior Justine, and famed model, “Kemina, the Baby Vixen” of Nightingale Lingerie, have been peering at each other across a narrow alley between brownstones in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. This mutual observation soon turns into the exchange of handwritten messages on signs they hold up whenever they come to their bedroom windows. Via this “sign language,” a friendship grows, and Justine learns that Kemina is, like her, a high school senior, but with a controlling mother and a modeling career that requires her to maintain an unnaturally thin physique. And through the window, she also witnesses her new friend exercising fanatically, hoarding food, and being physically and emotionally abused by her ambitious mother. Window messages evolve into clandestine meetings and soon a tentative romance blooms. But Justine must come to terms with her own “mommy issues,” as well as accept her gender identity and sexual orientation, before she can provide Kemina with the support she needs to survive a family life that resembles a ruthless business transaction. Will Justine be strong enough to throw open the window so Kemina can escape society’s suffocating expectations? This Young Adult lesbian romance is comparable to Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters and The Gravity Between Us by Kristen Zimmer

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Inclination by Mia Kerick

Inclination by Mia Kerick
Gay Young Adult
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: CoolDudes Publishing (February 4, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0620645563
ISBN-13: 978-0620645560
Amazon: Inclination
Amazon Kindle: Inclination

Sixteen-year-old Anthony Duck-Young Del Vecchio is a nice Catholic boy with a very big problem. It’s not the challenge of fitting in as the lone adopted South Korean in a close-knit family of Italian-Americans. Nor is it being the one introverted son in a family jam-packed with gregarious daughters. Anthony’s problem is far more serious—he is the only gay kid in Our Way, his church’s youth group. As a high school junior, Anthony has finally come to accept his sexual orientation, but he struggles to determine if a gay man can live as a faithful Christian. And as he faces his dilemma, there are complications. After confiding his gayness to his intolerant adult youth group leader, he’s asked to find a new organization with which to worship. He’s beaten up in the church parking lot by a fanatical teen. His former best pal bullies him in the locker room. His Catholic friends even stage an intervention to lead him back to the “right path.” Meanwhile, Anthony develops romantic feelings for David Gandy, an emo, out and proud junior at his high school, who seems to have all the answers about how someone can be gay and Christian, too. Will Anthony be able to balance his family, friends and new feelings for David with his changing beliefs about his faith so he can live a satisfying life and not risk his soul in the process?

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Love Spell by Mia Kerick

Love Spell by Mia Kerick
Gay Young Adult
Paperback: 124 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (April 21, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1511831855
ISBN-13: 978-1511831857
Amazon: Love Spell
Amazon Kindle: Love Spell

Strutting his stuff on the catwalk in black patent leather pumps and a snug orange tuxedo as this year’s Miss (ter) Harvest Moon feels so very right to Chance César, and yet he knows it should feel so very wrong. As far back as he can remember, Chance has been “caught between genders.” (It’s quite a touchy subject; so don’t ask him about it.) However, he does not question his sexual orientation. Chance has no doubt about his gayness—he is very much out of the closet at his rural New Hampshire high school, where the other students avoid the kid they refer to as “girl-boy.” But at the local Harvest Moon Festival, when Chance, the Pumpkin Pageant Queen, meets Jasper Donahue, the Pumpkin Carving King, sparks fly. So Chance sets out, with the help of his BFF, Emily, to make “Jazz” Donahue his man. An article in an online women’s magazine, Ten Scientifically Proven Ways to Make a Man Fall in Love with You (with a bonus love spell thrown in for good measure), becomes the basis of their strategy to capture Jazz’s heart. Quirky, comical, definitely flamboyant, and with an inner core of poignancy, Love Spell celebrates the diversity of a gender-fluid teen.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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UK Meet: Joanna Chambers

Starting from June 1, 2015, I will daily feature authors attending the three conventions I will join, Euro Pride in Munich (July), UK Meet in Bristol (September) and GRL in San Diego (October).

For the UK Meet in Bristol, September 11-13, 2015, today author is Joanna Chambers: Joanna Chambers always wanted to write. She spent over 20 years staring at blank sheets of paper and despairing of ever writing a single word. In between staring at blank sheets of paper, she studied law, met her husband and had two children. Whilst nursing her first child, she rediscovered her love of romance and found her muse. Joanna lives in Scotland with her family and finds time to write by eschewing sleep and popular culture.

Further Readings:

Enlightened (Enlightenment Book 3) by Joanna Chambers
Paperback: 226 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (May 5, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1619225263
ISBN-13: 978-1619225268
Amazon: Enlightened (Enlightenment Book 3)
Amazon Kindle: Enlightened (Enlightenment Book 3)

The cruelest duel may not spill a drop of blood...but it could break their hearts. Enlightenment, Book 3 Five months ago, David Lauriston was badly hurt helping his friend Elizabeth escape her violent husband. Since then, David has been living with his lover, Lord Murdo Balfour, while he recuperates. Despite the pain of his injuries, David's time with Murdo has been the happiest of his life. The only things that trouble him are Murdo's occasional bouts of preoccupation, and the fact that one day soon, David will have to return to his legal practice in Edinburgh. That day comes too soon when David's friend and mentor takes to his deathbed, and David finds himself agreeing to take on a private mission in London. Murdo is at his side in the journey, but a shocking revelation by Murdo's ruthless father leaves David questioning everything they've shared. As tensions mount and the stakes grow higher, David and Murdo are forced to ask themselves how far they're prepared to go-and how much they're prepared to give up-to stay together. And whether there's any chance of lasting happiness for men like them. Warning: Men in love, men with secrets, and men armed with dueling pistols.



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Euro Pride Con: L.A. Witt aka Lauren Gallagher

Starting from June 1, 2015, I will daily feature authors attending the three conventions I will join, Euro Pride in Munich (July), UK Meet in Bristol (September) and GRL in San Diego (October).

For the Euro Pride in Munich, July 11-12, 2015, today author is L.A. Witt (L.A. Witt will also attend the UK Meet in Bristol and the GRL in San Diego): L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer who has finally been released from the purgatorial corn maze of Omaha, Nebraska, and now spends her time on the southwestern coast of Spain. In between wondering how she didn't lose her mind in Omaha, she explores the country with her husband, several clairvoyant hamsters, and an ever-growing herd of rabid plot bunnies.

She also has substantially more time on her hands these days, as she has recruited a small army of mercenaries to search South America for her nemesis, romance author Lauren Gallagher, but don't tell Lauren. And definitely don't tell Lori A. Witt or Ann Gallagher. Neither of those twits can keep their mouths shut...

Further Readings:

What He Left Behind by L. A. Witt
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (August 18, 2015)
Amazon Kindle: What He Left Behind

Can you ever have a second first time?

Josh Carver thinks it’s just another lunch with his best friend, Michael—until Michael confesses he just turned down a date with his hot veterinarian crush. It seems Michael’s abusive ex left him more scarred than Josh realized.

Josh and his husband, Ian, have done their best to help Michael leave his horrific past behind, but even Josh is stunned when Ian suggests that Josh help Michael with his fear of physical intimacy. After all, it isn’t like it would be the first time—Josh and Michael were once each other’s firsts.

A hesitant first kiss, and Josh and Michael’s natural attraction eases the way. But with Michael still balking at the prospect of sex with someone new, Ian steps into the breach.

Everything is fine and dandy until emotions become so entangled, their friendship—and a marriage—could be at risk.

& &

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Ariel Gore (born June 25)

Ariel Gore is an award-winning editor, memoirist, journalist, and fiction writer. She teaches online at http://literarykitchen.com.

The End of Eve won a 2014 Rainbow Award as Best Lesbian Book and Best Gay & Lesbian Non Fiction.

Further Readings:

The End of Eve by Ariel Gore
Paperback: 237 pages
Publisher: Hawthorne Books (March 11, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0986000795
ISBN-13: 978-0986000799
Amazon: The End of Eve: A Memoir
Amazon Kindle: The End of Eve: A Memoir

At age 39, Ariel Gore has everything she’s always wanted: a successful writing career, a long-term partnership, a beautiful if tiny home, a daughter in college and a son in preschool. But life’s happy endings don’t always last. If it’s not one thing, after all, it’s your mother. Her name is Eve. Her epic temper tantrums have already gotten her banned from three cab companies in Portland. And she’s here to announce that she’s dying. “Pitifully, Ariel,” she sighs. “You’re all I have.” Ariel doesn’t want to take care of her crazy dying mother, but she knows she will. It’s the right thing to do, isn’t it? And, anyway, how long could it go on? “Don’t worry,” Eve says. “If I’m ever a burden, I’ll just blow my brains out.” Amidst the chaos of clowns and hospice workers, pie and too much whiskey, Ariel’s own ten-year relationship begins to unravel. Darkly humorous and intimately human, The End of Eve redefines the meaning of family and everything we’ve ever been taught to call “love.”

More Rainbow Awards at my website: elisarolle.com , Rainbow Awards/2014


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2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Wrestling With Passion by D.H. Starr

Wrestling With Passion by D.H. Starr
Gay Erotic Romance
Paperback: 318 pages
Publisher: Sedonia's Magic Words, Incorporated (April 17, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1937796876
ISBN-13: 978-1937796877
Amazon: Wrestling With Passion
Amazon Kindle: Wrestling With Passion

Scott and Derek’s epic passion continues into sophomore year with new challenges to face and overcome. There is one problem: How can you fight an adversary you can’t see? Derek has always helped others, often placing himself in risky situations. Scott has lived with instability his entire life, moving from place to place, never able to set roots. Surviving the obstacles set in place by Scott’s unloving father and overcoming the threat of an unstable fellow student their freshman year, they start their second year of college believing they’ve overcome all of the barriers blocking their future happiness. All that changes when a troubled student, Tim, enters their lives. Derek can’t help but reach out to the drug-abusing freshman. Scott can’t suppress the paralyzing fear of losing Derek, the one stable thing in his life. As they compromise their own internal needs in an effort to support each other, resentment builds and guilt festers. Is this new obstacle, the demons that live deep inside each of them, the one that might tear them apart?

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Riding Passion by D. Jackson Leigh

Riding Passion by D. Jackson Leigh
Lesbian Anthology / Collection / Erotic Romance
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (May 12, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1626393494
ISBN-13: 978-1626393493
Amazon: Riding Passion
Amazon Kindle: Riding Passion

Life is best measured by the moments that take our breath away.

An artist and a poet burn bright and hot after a chance meeting in a moonlight horseback ride on the beach. An empty house is still filled with memories of lust and love. Tearing open a birthday gift takes the wrapper off a woman’s deepest fantasy. A breath-stealing ride through a star-studded night sky on a dragon horse ignites a fire never before experienced. A woman is reminded that her long-time partner still sees her through a lover’s eyes. Mount up for a ride through a novella of passion and ten short stories of buried desire, sizzling encounters, and romantic surprises.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Dragon Horse War: The Calling by D. Jackson Leigh

Dragon Horse War: The Calling by D. Jackson Leigh
Lesbian Fantasy Romance
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (February 17, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1626392404
ISBN-13: 978-1626392403
Amazon: Dragon Horse War: The Calling
Amazon Kindle: Dragon Horse War: The Calling

When is war justified to preserve peace?

Society has evolved into one collective belief that celebrates diversity. Luxury credits are earned and spent only after the world population is fed and educated. But when catastrophic weather kills thousands and destroys crops, people begin to look for answers among ancient legends of guilt, retribution, and a vengeful deity.

Jael, seasoned commander of a latent cell of dragon horse warriors, understands what Alyssa, an alluring young priestess, doesn’t—words won’t be enough to quell the violent sect preying on the population’s fear and hunger. As their conflicting ideologies threaten to jeopardize their mission, Alyssa and Jael realize their growing attraction and entwined destiny might be more formidable than the enemy they have been called upon to defeat.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: No Place That Far by L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov

No Place That Far (The Distance Between Us) by L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov
Gay Erotic Romance
Paperback: 210 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (January 27, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 161922786X
ISBN-13: 978-1619227866
Amazon: No Place That Far (The Distance Between Us)
Amazon Kindle: No Place That Far (The Distance Between Us)

Sometimes you only get one chance at a second chance. The Distance Between Us, Book 5 Still finding his footing after a long-overdue divorce, Marcus is looking forward to some mind-numbing drinking while ogling the grooms at Chris and Julien's wedding. He never expected his attention to be diverted by the gorgeous best man. One of Julien's French Foreign Legion buddies, Timur doesn't speak much English, but language is no barrier to Marcus understanding exactly what the huge Tartar wants-a one-night stand. Except that one night turns into two, three, then more, which puts Marcus on edge. After Timur is done house-sitting for the honeymooning couple, he's headed back to the Legion for another five years. Like it or not, once Timur gets on that plane, the fling is over. Unfortunately, Marcus forgot to tell his heart not to fall in love. And this time, if history repeats and he makes another wrong decision, he may never see his tattooed Legionnaire lover again. Warning: Contains a soldier who makes up for his lack of English by using his hands to read his lover's body; a chef-turned-bartender who no longer believes in love; a length of paracord that probably wasn't meant to be used this way; and a couple of newlyweds who are game for some four-way play.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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