Book 1: Rueberry Orchard by Michele Notaro - October 6th
Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts and reviews here
Book 1: Rueberry Orchard by Michele Notaro - October 6th
Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts and reviews here
How to Make the Perfect Man
Love isn't science. It's alchemy.
Needing a date for the hottest Hallowe’en party in town, scientist Aubrey Waldegrave sets to work creating his perfect man. Unfortunately, the Adonis who emerges from his laboratory is a free spirit who has no time for Aubrey’s brogues and tweeds.
Alchemist Trismegistus Nimlet can turn anything into gold, but when his apocathery's alligator starts talking back and his werewolf allergy leaves him sneezing, it looks like Halloween might be a washout. Worse still, is Tris really about to lose the chap he secretly loves to a manmade surfer dude who’s more flash than Frankenstein?
With werewolves leaving fur in the ornamental fountains and a banshee making enough noise to wake the dead, Aubrey’s Halloween is going from bad to worse. All he wanted was to make his perfect man, but what if he was right there all along?
Release: 27th October 2020
URL: https://www.pride-publishing.com/book/how-to-make-the-perfect-man
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Make-Perfect-Man-Haunted-ebook/dp/B08GKTSCDM
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Make-Perfect-Man-Haunted-ebook/dp/B08GKTSCDM
Author Bios
Catherine Curzon is a royal historian who writes on all matters of 18th century. Her work has been featured on many platforms and Catherine has also spoken at various venues including the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, and Dr Johnson’s House.
Catherine holds a Master’s degree in Film and when not dodging the furies of the guillotine, writes fiction set deep in the underbelly of Georgian London.
She lives in Yorkshire atop a ludicrously steep hill.
Eleanor Harkstead likes to dash about in nineteenth-century costume, in bonnet or cravat as the mood takes her. She can occasionally be found wandering old graveyards. Eleanor is very fond of chocolate, wine, tweed waistcoats and nice pens. Her large collection of vintage hats would rival Hedda Hopper’s.
Originally from the south-east of England, Eleanor now lives somewhere in the Midlands with a large ginger cat who resembles a Viking.
Visit their website at www.curzonharkstead.co.uk
Extract
The experiment was ready and the weather was just right.
Although Aubrey could have wired the tank up to the mains, powering it using the awesome force of a violent electrical storm appealed to his sense of tradition. A long line of Waldegraves had tried to harness nature’s power and dissect its secrets, and now Aubrey stood on the brink of breathing life itself into his creature.
The laboratory took up a wing of Aubrey’s house, a rambling place that had been added to over the years by successive generations of Waldegraves. There were corridors that headed nowhere, stairs that seemed to lead upwards but only went down, and grand doors that had once led into ornate rooms that now only opened onto cupboards. The house’s stone exterior was decorated with a lively collection of gargoyles who, when they were in the right mood, would wink and stretch out their wings as Aubrey passed them.
But it was the laboratory where Aubrey spent most of his time, the house’s other rooms mostly mouldering under dustsheets. In some respects, it was more like a museum of science than anything resembling a modern laboratory. But it suited Aubrey. He happily spent all his hours among his copper pipes and rubber tubes, his pulleys and steam generators, his wooden benches and elegantly-carved test-tube racks. Various biological samples collected or created by his ancestors were suspended in glowing fluids inside jars in a cabinet—a foot here, an eye there, two-headed wonders and five-legged marvels.
The roof was fashioned from glass, inspired by the vast greenhouses at Kew Gardens. An extensive library of leather-bound books covered one wall of the laboratory. The shelves were three-storeys high, with a cast-iron spiral staircase that wound up to the top. Each step bore a curlicued rendering of the initials of Aubrey’s great-great-grandfather, and his family’s crest appeared in stained glass at each leaded window. At least, in the windows that had survived Aubrey’s ill-advised, youthful experiments with compressed gasses.
But Aubrey was a callow youth no longer. He had plumbed nature’s secrets, and now his toil and research would bear fruit.
The figure lay inside a large glass tank in the middle of Aubrey’s laboratory. The water it contained was cloudy and white, luminous from the brightness of the lightning that filled the room at intervals. Aubrey leaned against the side of the tank and peered fondly at his creation.
At him.
Aubrey had put so much work into his creature, and soon—soon—he would have a man, fashioned by his own hands, as beautiful as Aubrey had power to imagine.
As the rain beat ever harder against the glass panes of his laboratory’s roof, Aubrey looked over at a fluttering dial that told him the lightning was at just the right intensity for his man to breathe at last.
He stepped back from the tank, then grabbed the handle of a huge brass switch. Still watching the dial fidget in its glass case, the needle advanced just enough, and Aubrey pulled down the handle.
A great sizzling tore the air, and Aubrey had to squint behind his green-lensed goggles. A bolt of lightning shot down from the inverted conductor that hung from the ceiling and arced into the machinery that stood next to the tank.
The tank’s glass sides cracked apart and the cloudy water burst across the floor. There, twitching on a wooden platform inside what was left of the tank, was Aubrey’s man.
Aubrey yanked off his goggles and stared in awe at the figure.
“It lives!” Aubrey cried. I’ve always wanted to say that. He took a step closer, clutching his hands, unable to tear his gaze away from the man before him. The man Aubrey had created. “He lives! Hurrah, I have a date for the party!”
He had never seen a creature like him. A bronzed god, his muscular frame shuddering as he drew in his first breath. The long-lashed eyelids opened and his creation parted his perfect, full lips. A moment passed before the Adonis said, “Woah… Dude. What a wild freakin’ ride!”
Aubrey tipped his head to one side. Had he really heard that properly? Had the thunder banging overhead dimmed his hearing?
But no. His Adonis had just addressed him as dude. Surely it was only a temporary glitch.
“G-good evening,” Aubrey stammered. “Are you comfortable? Can I get you anything? A cup of tea, perhaps?”
The creature sat up, surprisingly nimble for someone who had just been brought to life by a lightning strike. He looked down at his naked body, his eyes alighting on his own impressive manhood.
“Dude, I’m seriously hench. And hung!” He lifted his hand and waited, offering Aubrey a nod. “Hit me, bro! Yeah!”
Aubrey lifted his hand in response and waved, slowly. The man would have to learn how to greet people properly, but a raised hand was halfway to a wave. And physically, Aubrey had got it just right. The toned figure was perfect.
“Hello, my name’s Aubrey. And I’m calling you Adam.”
“Who’s Adam?” He slapped his palm against Aubrey’s. “I’m Kai, bro, good to know you. Woo! Yeah!”
“Kai? No, no…” Aubrey shuddered. What nonsense was this, interfering with his newfound Godlike powers of creation? “No! I’m your creator, and I’m calling you Adam!”
Kai—Adam—frowned then laughed, showing off his perfect white teeth. He slapped Aubrey’s shoulder as, outside, Aubrey heard the throaty purr of a familiar engine .
“Yeah, right. Adam!”
“But…but…” Aubrey pouted. Oh bloody blast it, it’s gone to pot again. And after I’d told Tris I almost definitely had a date for the party. “I’ve got you something to wear.”
He took a pile of clothes from a box and held them out to Adam. Commodious briefs, a comfortable Aran jumper, a checked shirt, corduroy slacks, Argyle socks and lace-up brogues. All from the same gentlemen’s outfitters Aubrey shopped at himself.
“Dude.” Adam shook his head. He hopped down to stand before Aubrey, his hands on his hips. “Like, it works for you, but you got nothing a bit more…y’know…me?”
Aubrey glanced from the clothes to Adam. How could he convince him to get dressed before his visitor made his presence known?
“And what is more you? I don’t own flip-flops.”
“So, I’ll kick it just like I am, yeah?” He shrugged his sculpted shoulders and tossed his beachy blond locks. “I’m cool with that. Hanging with the boys, letting it all loose. Let’s hit the waves.”
RELEASE BLITZ
Book Title: Rough Contact
Author: Beth Bolden
Publisher: Beth Bolden Books
Cover Artist: Angsty G Book Cover and Media Design
Release Date: October 14, 2020
Genre/s: Gay sports romance, forbidden romance, age gap romance
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 93 000 words
It is a standalone story.
Buy Links - Available on Kindle Unlimited
Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Their romance is forbidden. Their love is a secret.
They’re the Romeo and Juliet of football.
About the Author
Author Links
Blog/Website | Facebook | Twitter | BookBub
Giveaway
Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win
a $25 Amazon gift card
Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts and reviews here
First time shifting
There’s a first time for everything. When these shifters come of age, shifting for their first time into their true form, you never know what will happen. Is that love in the air, or just mating rituals handed down from one generation to another?
Pick up this exciting boxset with new to you authors and some old favorites. It’s sure to please and give you hours of reading pleasure.
Stories in this Limited Edition Collection:
Count Down by JS Bright
The Last Kitsune by Melissa E Costa
By The Moonlight by Megs Pritchard
Prey To The Fox by Jessie G
BlessEd Be The Dead by TL Travis
Finding His Groove by Sara York
First Fire by Lynn Michaels
The Omega Thief by Victoria Sue
Bee Cave Magic by Kelly Fox
Paws In The Snow by Nicole Dennis
Shift to Gray by Kim Katil
Mountain Ail by Kris Jacen
Open Season by Katey Hawthorne
Sunbeams and SunTea by K-lee Klein
Prince of Indigo Island by Jacki James
Leopards Lair by Miski Harris
Release Blitz Excerpt:
Nicole Dennis
Paws in the Snow
Exhausted from the waves of pain, Derick slowly packed up his backpack and tucked the bottle in the outer pocket. Zipping it up, he slung one strap over his shoulder and grabbed his coat. Carefully, he walked down the steps.
Though other students called out to him, he ignored them. Just not feeling strong enough to answer.
He leaned against the front row desks. Dropping his coat on one desk, he rubbed his fingers over his head and rubbed his neck.
Dark speckles filled his vision. Then the strange burning sensation returned to his eyes.
“Do you know what is happening to you, mon chaton?” Chevalier asked in his soft French-Canadian accent.
Lifting his head, Derick tried to blink through the speckle spots and burning. “Happening? Flu. Got flu.”
Chevalier shook his head. “Not the flu. Something special. Something that I don’t think you ever learned about, but now I can see it inside you. I can help you, but you must trust me. You will need to listen to me, follow me, and I’ll get you through what is happening.” He touched his fingers against Derick’s cheek. “Can you do that for me, mon chaton?”
“Will I feel better?”
“Oh, oui, better and stronger. That I can promise.”
His knees buckled when another wave of pain and cramps roared through his body. He groaned and collapsed.
“Oh, mon chaton, we’re running out of time,” Chevalier said when he caught him. He held Derick tight against his frame.
“Feel horrible… Help me, Professor—”
“Ben. Call me Ben.”
“Scared. Feel horrible.” Derick rested his head on Chevalier—Ben’s shoulder. He breathed in the soft fragrance of Ben’s cologne. Just the touch and smell of him comforted whatever happened deep inside him. “Don’t leave me.”
“Never, mon chaton.”
To celebrate the limited edition release of Virgin Shifters, we are giving readers a chance to win a $25 Amazon Voucher!
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!
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Connect with the Authors:
Just in time for Halloween! Immerse yourself in four tales of love and gothic horror in this anthology by Eli Easton. Each story is novella length.
“The Bird”
Colin Hastings is sent to Jamaica in 1870 to save his father’s sugar cane plantation. If he succeeds, he can marry his fiancée back in London and take his place in proper English society. But Colin finds more than he bargained for on the island. His curiosity about Obeah, the native folk magic, leads him to agree to a dangerous ritual where he is offered his heart’s most secret desire—one he’s kept deeply buried all his life. What happens when a proper English gentleman has his true sensual nature revealed and freed by the Obeah spirits?
"Reparation"
On the harsh planet of Kalan, weakness is not tolerated. When young spore farmer Edward suffers a carriage accident that kills his mail-order bride and his factory manager, Edward has little chance of survival, until Knox—an enormous “reconstitute” slave—plucks him from disaster.
Recons are part machine, part human remains from executed Federation prisoners. But Knox is different from other recons. He can read and has flashes of brilliance. With no one else to rely on over the bleak winter, Edward forms an alliance with Knox, and against social taboos, they become friends. Edward struggles against his growing lust for the large humanoid, and while Knox thrives in his new life, memories of his past torment him.
A twist of fate brought Knox and Edward together, but there will be a price to pay in blood when they learn how deeply their lives truly intersect
“Among the Dead”
Ever since his accident, Neil Gaven sees dead people. He’s isolated himself, unable to bear the constant barrage of sadness and grief. But a gentle ghost grabs his attention on the bus one day. He seems to understand, to have some secret to impart. Neil works to interpret the ghost’s clues. Then they lead him to Trist, a homeless young man who is also tormented by spirits. Are they two of a kind? Maybe together they can find a way to live among the dead.
"The Black Dog"
Constable Hayden MacLairty is used to life being dull around the tiny hamlet of Laide on the north Scottish coast. They get occasional tourists, “monster hunters” interested in the local legend of the Black Dog, but Hayden thinks that’s only a myth. A rash of sheep killings, a murdered hiker, huge footprints, and sightings of the Black Dog force Hayden to rethink the matter. With the help of Simon Corto, a writer from New York doing research for a book about the Black Dog, Hayden tries to figure out why the enormous hound is reappearing. Hayden finds himself strongly attracted to another person for the first time in his life. But between the danger stalking the hills, Simon’s inevitable return to New York, and Hayden’s mother’s illness, true love may be more of a phantom than the Black Dog.
To celebrate Eli's new release, we are giving you a chance to win 1 of 3 e-copies of Gothika! Enter through the rafflecopter below!
Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/cc0f2a5781/?
About the Author:
Coming from a background in computer game design, Eli has written over 35 books in m/m romance since 2013. The Mating of Michael (2014) and A Second Harvest (2016) both won The William Neale Award for Best Gay Contemporary Romance, and Eli’s books have won many awards from the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s Reader’s Choice Awards. She is best known for her Christmas romances, the Howl at the Moon series of rom coms featuring dog shifters, and her Sex in Seattle series, which revolves around a sex clinic in Seattle.
Connect with Eli:
www.elieaston.com
Facebook: Eli Easton
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/164054884188096
Twitter: @elieaston