Fiction Friday

If you hang around here for more than a couple of Fiction Friday posts you'll know that I like a plan for my reading. I don't always stick to it but I do like to have something to guide the way. Generally I set a different plan each month just to shake it up a bit.

My initial plan for January was to have another 'series' month whereby I try to finish a series to the end. I also decided that since I have a Kindle full of free reads I would try and read some of those as well. 

I started the 'series' reads quite well, completing the remainder of the 'With a Kick' series (Books 2 - 5) in the space of a week. I blogged about these here.

Then I started Victor J Banis' Tom and Stanley series, reading Deadly Nightshade and Deadly Wrong. If you're looking for Romance with that capital R I'd move right along, but if you don't mind a lead with issues and baggage and who hasn't got everything sorted by the end of the book then I'm happy to recommend these. Word to the wise Deadly Nightshade doesn't even have a HFN, in fact the ending is very downbeat as far as the relationship goes, so be prepared to buy the second book straight away.

I also read Secrets and Charmed & Secrets and Bow Ties by Lou Harper. (Books 2 & 3 in a 4 book series.) Both four star reads for me all the way. In fact Bow Ties actually gave me that 'scared in the pit of your stomach' feeling. I had intended to start on the next book in Lou Harper's series and then this happened.

Yep, Amber Quill Press announced they'd be shutting their doors for good at the end of March. Panic gripped me. I have many books by Amber Quill Press on my Kindle in that never decreasing TBR pile. What if a book had a sequel that I hadn't bought and it goes out of print never to return?

Change of reading plan.

Now reading nothing but Amber Quill books from my TBR pile... I will report on this change of plan in the coming weeks since it will certainly stretch into February.

Wait, I hear you cry, what about the freebies that you read?

Yes, exactly, what about them. Read: 12. DNF'd: 5 (although one was based on content rather than quality. Too macabre.) Of the 12, I deleted 9 off my Kindle immediately. 4 were MPREG (but only half were deleted). 3 were installment/serial fiction (2 were deleted). 4 actually had a half way decent plot, but of these, 1 was installment, 1 was horror and therefore not my thing (and deleted), and 2 needed massive content edits for plot holes and relationship development.
Sometimes these freebies will throw up a diamond in the rough or hidden treasure, not so this time.

This post has grown longer than I intended.

Next Fiction Friday post will all about Amber!

Something's missing

I don't know if you've noticed, but Lesson Learned has disappeared from the book shelves of all the normal retailers.

Basically I got my rights back from Ellora's Cave in mid December. Getting this book back out on sale is one of my solid plans for 2016. 

So for now Nathan and Drew will be taking a break but I promise they will definitely be returning under my own Finally Love Press imprint. 

Hopefully this time their story will have a cover that actually has a connection to the story!

Rainbow Snippet - 23/24 Jan

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook Group that invites authors to post 6 sentences of their work each weekend. It can be from anything you like, your current WIP, a recent release, the golden oldie that even you had forgotten you had written, or just a scrap of an idea (as long as it has 6 coherent sentences). Nothing of your own work worth mentioning? How about a 6 sentence review of your favourite LGBTQ+ story.

My six lines last week came from my current WIP, Resistance. Today I thought I'd dip into the prequel, Resonance, Rick and Mal meet for the first time.

“Now shh while I find out where that tail goes.”
His mouth ghosted over the small of my back, pausing to tongue at my dimples. I wriggled, rubbing my rock hard cock against the welcome friction of the mattress. It felt as though he’d been teasing me for hours and from the expert way that he played my body, knowing just how to hold me still and when to let me squirm it felt as if I’d known him years.
His tongue reached my coccyx where the dragon’s tail veered off to my right buttock before curling around itself on the swell of my arse cheek. Nothing so crude as an arrow pointing directly to my pucker.

Resonance is currently free at ARe or 99p from Amazon.

Fiction Friday - Festive edition

Christmas, a time of good cheer and plenty of feel good books to read.

I had a long list of books I wanted to get to this year but I didn't manage even half of them. In fact there were some that I was really looking forward to that never got opened and a huge pile from last year (2014) that still never got read. But I did read some excellent stories with the warm and fuzzies galore.


Winter Wonderland (Minnesota Christmas #3) by Heidi Cullinan. One of most eagerly anticipated books of the year. I was sitting on this for weeks but refused to let myself open it until 1st December. 5 stars for the book and 5 for the series. Please say there will be more... Winter Wedding, anyone?

The Winter Spirit by Indra Vaughn. A warning to all. Read the Blurb, or at least glance at the cover. Either would have given me the inkling that the love story was with the ghost *facepalm* No wonder I wasn't feeling the relationship in the first part of the story, I had the wrong MC. Once I got back on track I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

One Holiday Ever After by Tere Michaels (Goodreads Author), Elle Brownlee (Goodreads Author), Elizah J. Davis. Three stories in one book here. Holiday Roommates - 4.5* Delightful./Holiday Sanctuary - 4* Very cute./Holiday Homecoming - 4.5* Gorgeous. Honestly I know the average of the 3 stories is closer to 4 than 5 but the stories are such an amazing collection of sweet, Christmasy goodness that I couldn't give them anything less.

The Working Elf Blues by Piper Vaughn. Throughly charming. And apparently I have a soft spot for stories set in the North Pole!

If Only in My Dreams by Keira Andrews. Road Trip. Former friends to enemies to lovers. What's not to love.

What Happens At Christmas by Jay Northcote. A veritable pile of tropes, brilliantly executed.

An Angel in Eyeliner by Hunter Frost. This was a pleasant surprise. A new to me author. And a sweet story.

Talk Turkey (Sleigh Ride - 2015 Advent Calendar) by Bru Baker. I didn't buy all of the Advent this year. But I did pick a few that were either by favourite authors or got decent reviews from the first few readers. And I think I was hungry when I wrote my review on Goodreads!

Personal Shopper by Tere Michaels. Cute with a twist.

Christmas Miracles of a Recently Fallen Spruce (Sleigh Ride - 2015 Advent Calendar) by Brandon Witt. The last line is perfect.

Grateful (Sleigh Ride - 2015 Advent Calendar) by Kim Fielding. If there is ever a time of the year to believe in love at first sight it's Christmas.

Midwinter Night's Dream (Unwrapping Hank #2) by Eli Easton. I had my issues with this book, more so than any other on the list, but I still enjoyed reading (most) of it. More details of my issues in the Goodreads link.

Humbug by Joanna Chambers. At 48% I was firmly in the 'I hate this MC' camp. And then a miracle happened...

Loving Blitz (North Pole City Tales #4) by Charlie Cochet. An obsession with the North Pole, I tell you. It's the only explanation.

Magic & Mistletoe by Annabelle Jacobs. No angst. Not a jot.

A Fortunate Blizzard by L.C. Chase. I started the month on a 5 star read and ended on one too. I sobbed my way through a lot of this book. Highly recommended but tissues may be required.

I read more, a total of 32 books over the month. I dnf'd none (in the spirit of the season I skimmed rather than dnf'd), although two were deleted from my Kindle immediately after finishing (can you guess which ones I skimmed, then). The remainder were satisfactory to good reads, with a coupe that would have made it to this list with a bit more backstory and a couple more chapters.

All in all a successful month of reading.

With a Kick Wednesday - A Fiction Friday post for the hump day

With a Kick is a series of novellas/novels set in London and alternately written by Clare London and Sue Brown.

I read the first of these stories, A Twist and Two Balls by Clare London, at the end of November and promptly fell in love. With the idea, with the ice cream shop, with the secondary characters, and most importantly with the MCs, especially Nuri.

I moved on to read Nice and Snow in December. That meant jumping out of order but the story dealt with the same two MCs as in ATTB and if anything they were even more engaging the second time around.

Then in early January I finished off this series.

Hissed as a Newt by Sue Brown starts with a drunken clown rolling around in the gutter. Normally I hate clowns but Stan was a darling.

Slap and Tickle by Clare London is, as the name suggests, a kinky little offering and I loved Phiz and the way he lets his mouth run away with him.

Bells and Balls by Sue Brown. Not one but two rugby players. Anyone who has read my own books will know I have a soft spot for a man who can play rugby, so this one had my name written all over it :) Sweet, and we get to catch up with several of the other couples, plus it's Christmas to boot.

Pluck and Play by Clare London. A busking cowboy! Plus a real sense of a threat in this book made this one of my favourites in this series.

This is a great little series, full of a well-rounded cast of reoccurring characters, and plenty of British humour.

And there is another book coming in February *snoopy dance*

Plus if you pick these books up in January they are half price at ARe and Amazon

Happy Birthday Clare London

Today I'm over at Clare London's taking part in her birthday blog party.

I'm talking about 'The End'. Sound dramatic, eh?

Check it out and see if I'm making any sense at all.

But it's not just me, there are some amazing posts by all your favourite authors. Clare has complied a handy round-up guide here with links to the individual posts for ease of use.

Rainbow Snippet - 16/17 Jan

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook Group that invites authors to post 6 sentences of their work each weekend. It can be from anything you like, your current WIP, a recent release, the golden oldie that even you had forgotten you had written, or just a scrap of an idea (as long as it has 6 coherent sentences). Nothing of your own work worth mentioning? How about a 6 sentence review of your favourite LGBTQ+ story.

My six lines today come from my current (and unbetaed) WIP, Resistance.

Right about now he had the urge to place a hand between Rick’s shoulder blades, press his face to the dirt, tug that shirt up, trousers down, and rut against him like they had that first time. His come streaked across the vivid orange and reds of Rick’s dragon.
In the grounds of a church! Certainly Allah would have a special Hell for him then. In fact Allah and God would probably gang up on him and find a perfect spot to punish him for all eternity. Probably watching this very scene and unable to do anything about it.

Pop over to the group on the link above and show the other authors some love.

Fiction Friday

Yep, this is going to take some doing, I've just looked back and my last Fiction Friday was put up on 6th November. Two months worth of reading!

So, first up, I kinda stalled on 'Loving Luki Vasquez'. When I put this down at the end of November I left it with this status update: "I'm reading this a scene or so at a time. It's a beautifully written story but I'm struggling with how much time and reference Luki gives to smoking and how he almost implies Sonny makes him smoke more! But that aside it is a gorgeous read." I have picked it up again in the last view days but I'm still finding it easier to dip in and out of rather than reading in one go.

What else did I read in November that I might have actually finished?

Played!  by J.L. Merrow. This is Book 2 in The Shamwell Tales. I found this adorable. And yes, Book 3 is due out next week. Yes! *scurries off to pre-order*
I'm back...

Double Up (Lake Lovelace #1) by Vanessa North. This was my first Vanessa North book but it definitely won't be my last. The first half was full of well written sex and certain I knew what I was getting I strapped myself in for the ride. Then, bam, she hit me with the feels.

Boys Who Go Bump in the Night (Mad About the Brit Boys #2) by J.L. Merrow & Josephine Myles. A collection of shorts with a paranormal theme. They have all been published before but I have only read one of them. A varied collection and, if you love these authors, you'll enjoy dipping into this book. You may need tissues for one story in particular.

Then it was back to Bluewater Bay for book 3 of the series, Hell on Wheels by Z.A. Maxfield. Nash is an adorable character, what more can I say.

Rough Road (Lake Lovelace, #2) by Vanessa North. Back to Lake Lovelace for Eddie turn to get what's coming to him (and doesn't he love it). Great to catch up with the boys from Double up, as well.

I did read one more book that I loved in November but I just finished reading the entire series so I think I'll save that for a post of its own.

So that is November finished. And as a 'series' based month I did pretty well. I caught up with a couple of series, and moved on in a few more. On next to December which were all holiday/Christmas based stories.

Another 4.5 star review for New Lease of Life

this time from Divine Magazine.

"New Lease of Life is a story about a young man losing his way when something unexpected happens to change his self-perception. ... Lillian Francis has dealt with this issue compassionately in New Lease of Life, as we watch the journey one man takes to learn to like, and then love himself, again, with the help of his special someone."

"I absolutely loved New Lease of Life. It's a feel good story that will touch your heart and keep you riveted to the very end."

Check out the full review here.

4.5 star review for New Lease of Life

An excellent review from MelanieM over at scattered thoughts and rogue words. 

"Once again, Lillian Francis has written a story and characters guaranteed to capture your heart."

"This is a story to treasure and Lillian Francis an author to put on autobuy.  This is just so well written, its entertaining and just such a lovely romance. I so highly recommend them both.   Make it your New Year’s resolution to seek them both out and find out why!"

Read the whole review here.


Available to buy in all the usual places.
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon US
Amazon UK
AllRomance ebooks
Kobo

Also available in paperback.

Bip, Bip, Bip... Oops, I appear to have dropped off the radar

By micadew from US (Happy New Year 2016) [CC BY-SA 2.0 
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Firstly, a very belated Happy New Year to you all.

Sorry I've not been around much for the first couple of weeks of the year. Hopefully I can make up for that over the next few weeks.

What had me distracted from blogging?

Well, to be honest, I think I was all blogged out from my A- Z of Christmas. That was an exhausting feat for me, researching and writing 25 blog posts over 25 days. During that time I didn't write a word that wasn't connected to a post, and my manuscript languished in that almost but not quite completed stage because of it.

Consequently, I took the time between Christmas and New Year to finish off the first draft of my WIP. This is the follow up story to Resonance and catches up with Rick and Mal several weeks after the weekend they first met. The manuscript is now with several beta readers brandishing red pens and I would normally spend the next few weeks taking a break from writing. However, one (or more) of the side characters wanted a story, and wanted it now, so I have already made a start on Book 2 (assuming Resonance is Book 0.5).

Anyway, enough with the excuses, I plan to make several posts over the next couple of weeks. Subjects may or may not included: wrapping up last years' reading recs, promo and reviews for New Lease of Life, reading plan for 2016, writing/publishing plans for 2016, I might even remember to take part in Rainbow Snippets one of these weekends.

See you all in a couple of days. I hope!