It's that time of the month when the Read Around the Rainbow group of queer authors/authors of queer romance get together to discuss the topic of the month.
This month we're looking at favourite queer romances with autumnal coloured covers.
First up I've picked The Rebuilding Year by Kaje Harper. Gorgeous story. Double bisexual awakening. Slow burn. Kids who act and talk like kids.
It took losing nearly everything, to discover what they can’t live without.
A few excruciating minutes pinned under a burning beam cost Ryan Ward his job as a firefighter, the easy camaraderie of his coworkers, his current girlfriend, and damn near cost him his left leg. Giving up, though, wasn’t an option. He fought and won the battle back to health, over a painful year. Now, choosing a new profession, going back to school, and renting a room from the college groundskeeper should be simple.
Until he realizes he’s falling in love with his housemate, and things take a turn for the complicated.
John Barrett knows about loss. After moving twice to stay in touch with his kids, he could only watch as his ex-wife whisked them away to California. Offering Ryan a room seems better than rattling around his empty house alone. But as casual friendship moves to something more, and emotions heat up, the big old house feels like tight quarters.
It’s nothing they can't learn to navigate, until life adds in unhappy teen kids, difficult family members, and mysterious deaths on campus. Rebuilding will be far from easy, even for two guys willing to open their minds, and hearts.
I'm cheating for the next book and picking a whole series, all with autumnal coloured covers.
The Bristol Collection Series by Josephine Myles (Junk/Stuff/Scrap). I miss getting new stories from Jo Myles' so much. But luckily there's a comprehensive backlist that lends itself to rereading. Especially this series of connected stories, set in Bristol and all involving recycling or hoarding in some way. They're very British in tone and humour with themes of opposites attract and coming out.
I loved Mas from Stuff so much I gave him a tiny guest appearance in New Lease of Life (with Jo's permission, of course). So it's his blurb I'll share with you.
When Mr. Glad Rags meets Mr. Riches, the result is flaming fun.
Tobias “Mas” Maslin doesn’t need much. A place of his own, weekends of clubbing, a rich boyfriend for love and support. Too bad his latest sugar daddy candidate turns out to be married with kids. Mas wants to be special, not someone’s dirty little secret.
When he loses his job and his flat on the same day, his worlds starts unraveling…until he stumbles across a vintage clothing shop. Now to convince the reclusive, eccentric owner he’s in dire need of a salesman.
Perry Cavendish-Fiennes set up Cabbages and Kinks solely to annoy his controlling father. Truth be told, he’d rather spend every spare moment on his true passion, art. When Mas comes flaming into his life talking nineteen to the dozen, he finds himself offering him a job and a place to live.
He should have listened to his instincts. The shop is already financially on the brink, and Mas’s flirting makes him feel things he’s never felt for a man. Yet Mas seems convinced they can make a go of it—in the shop, and together.
Warning: Contains an eccentric, bumbling Englishman, a gobby drama queen, fantastic retro clothing, scary fairies, exes springing out of the woodwork, and a well-aimed glass of bubbly. Written in brilliantly British English.
And finally, Tournament of Losers by Megan Derr. A gorgeous story of a noble, a commoner, and a challenge. A perfect fairytale.
All Rath wants is a quiet, peaceful life. Unfortunately, his father brings him too much trouble—and too many debts to pay—for that to ever be possible. When the local crime lord drags Rath out of bed and tells him he has three days to pay his father's latest debt, Rath doesn't know what to do. There's no way to come up with so much money in so little time.
Then a friend poses an idea just ridiculous enough to work: enter the Tournament of Losers, where every seventy-five years, peasants compete for the chance to marry into the noble and royal houses. All competitors are given a stipend to live on for the duration of the tournament—funds enough to cover his father's debt.
All he has to do is win the first few rounds, collect his stipend, and then it's back to trying to live a quiet life…
Incidentally I too have a cover with autumnal colours. Theory Unproven.
* Grumpy bush pilot
* Adorable Elephants
* Ray of Sunshine Zoologist
* The Bushveld
* Hurt/Comfort
* Injury and recovery
* Fiesty best friend
Check out the posts from the rest of the RatR crew.
Fast cars, outlaw country boys, snarky werewolves, vengeful ghosts, menacing monsters, and a love that can’t be denied.
NEW RELEASE - BOOK 2
Book Title: Sins of the Fathers—MM Supernatural Suspense
Author: Morgan Brice
Publisher: Darkwind Press
Cover Artist: Natania Barron
Length: 62 000 words/ 213 pages
Release Date: August 28, 2022
Genres: Urban fantasy, MM paranormal romance
Tropes: Hurt/comfort, friends to lovers, established relationship, evolving relationship, learning to trust, dealing with the past, dealing with family secrets.
Themes: Letting go of the past, moving on after loss, intergenerational trauma, family secrets
Heat Rating: 4 flames
It is book 2 in the series but can be read standalone. It does not end on a cliffhanger.
Reckoning with the past just might destroy Grady and Dawson’s plans for the future
Blurb
Three deadly accidents that might have been magical murder. A dark witch with a grudge against the King family. Federal agents with supernatural abilities. And, as usual, Dawson and Grady are smack dab in the crosshairs of trouble even they can’t outrun.
When Grady King’s brother Knox is targeted by shady characters, old secrets, coverups, and lies come to light. Grady and his boyfriend Dawson begin to question what really happened when Grady’s grandparents and Dawson’s parents died. Then agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Supernatural Investigation show up pursuing a different case, only to discover that the crimes appear to be connected, with a vengeful dark witch at the center of the plot. And since monsters never sleep, Grady and Dawson are still carrying out their duty to hunt dangerous paranormal creatures, restless spirits, nefarious faeries, Civil War ghosts, creepy cryptids, and things that go bump in the night. It’s all part of the centuries-old King family mandate to protect the people of Cunanoon Mountain and Transylvania County, a mission Grady and Dawson are sworn to fulfill.
But when it looks like something is hunting the people Grady loves, it’s time to dig into the family’s painful past, uncovering dangerous details of long-ago hunts against immortal creatures who never forget—or forgive.
Can they solve the mystery and figure out who’s behind the deaths, or will they bear the deadly consequences of their hidden history? Reckoning with the past just might destroy Grady and Dawson’s plans for the future and set loose a tide of malicious magic that could sweep them all away.
Sins of the Fathers is a thrill-packed MM romance adventure full of fast cars, outlaw country boys, snarky werewolves, vengeful ghosts, menacing monsters, and a love that can’t be denied.
My Two Pennies' Worth
I love a Morgan Brice book. The world-building of this inter-connected universe is excellent and so well done. This is Book 2 of the Kings of the Mountain offshoot. The relationship is solid in this one with all the mutual pining and back and forth sucessfully dealt with in the first book. Thank goodness because the action didn't stop in this book and there was little time for the sort of relationship angst that peppered the first book. A roller coaster ride with barely time to catch your breath.
Excerpt from Sins of the Fathers
Dawson’s heart went out to Jason, worried about his long-time partner without news of how he was doing and now afraid of being left alone.
“Lily sent us here to talk.” Grady tag teamed. “She knew you’d be upset. She also knew how much you two loved each other.”
Lily Franklin was the long-time Meals on Wheels volunteer who had delivered to Jason and Everett for many years. She’d become a good friend and was Everett’s emergency contact once Jason passed away.
A door slammed. Grady’s head snapped up, and he shot a questioning look at Dawson. Dawson reached out to take his hand, intertwining their fingers and holding their hands in the air.
“We’re like you and Everett. We understand wanting to stay together.” Dawson picked up the conversation.
The planchette trembled before beginning to move. “D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S,” Dawson said as the pointer moved.
“Dangerous to admit what you and Jason were to each other?” Grady asked.
The planchette moved to “YES.”
“It can be, but plenty of people are ‘out’ these days. Even married,” Dawson answered.
A framed photo rocked back and forth on the mantle. Dawson saw that it showed two men in their thirties decades ago on a sunny day, grinning with arms slung over each other’s shoulders.
“If Everett can’t come home, do you think you could go to him?” Grady asked.
The planchette went wild, circling “YES” over and over.
“Is there something here that means a lot to you that you could ‘travel’ with if we took it to Everett?” Dawson looked around, wondering what objects among the collections of a shared lifetime might be special enough to anchor a ghost.
A crash sounded from the back of the house. They headed toward the noise and found the door to a bedroom open and a painting on the floor in a broken frame. As soon as Dawson entered, he was shoved by invisible hands sending him stumbling toward one side of an unmade king-size bed.
He nearly fell, and when he braced himself against the edge of the mattress, he saw a leather jewelry tray on the nightstand, and in it, two silver military rings.
“These?” Dawson felt a puff of cold air in response.
“What are they?’ Grady stood in the doorway, respecting the privacy of the old man who had lived there.
“Army service rings. Vietnam, if I’m right.” Dawson picked up the rings and looked at them in the light.
“Lily said they met when Everett was a nurse at the VA hospital, and Jason came home wounded from the war,” Grady replied.
Dawson’s gaze went to a photo of a younger version of the two men standing together in uniform. They were circumspect in their pose, but Dawson imagined that he could see a slight lean, a bit less space between them than usual, and broad grins.
That could have been Grady and me if we’d been born then. I’m glad they found each other and were happy.
Fast cars. Outlaw country boys. A love that can’t be denied.
Snarky werewolves, vengeful ghosts and menacing monsters.
Blurb
Fast cars. Outlaw country boys. Snarky werewolves, vengeful ghosts, and menacing monsters.
Dawson King’s family has been hunting things that go bump in the night in Transylvania County, North Carolina, since before the Revolutionary War.
Dawson was never happier than when he was racing his souped-up Mustang along winding mountain roads and hunting monsters with his best friend, Grady. Then Grady fell in love with him, which should have been perfect since Dawson had already fallen hard for Grady.
But Grady was only seventeen, and Dawson feared that sooner or later, Grady would realize his feelings were just a first crush, and then he’d be gone, leaving Dawson devastated. They both needed space to figure things out. So Dawson joined the army, while Grady stayed on the mountain.
Four years later, Dawson is coming home. He’s more sure than ever Grady is his forever love, and they’ve both agreed to begin this new aspect of their relationship as soon as Dawson gets back.
Then Grady’s father is killed in a werewolf hunt gone wrong. Grady is devastated, and he’s throwing mixed signals about moving forward. Dawson knows he needs to hold off on this new thing between them until Grady has time to grieve. But monsters never sleep, and one hunt after another throws Dawson and Grady into constant danger, while tension and unresolved feelings ripple between them.
Making it even harder, Dawson’s got a secret. He’s dreamed of death omens—which point to something stalking Grady. Can Dawson figure out who’s trying to kill Grady, save his life, and win back his heart?
Plenty of mutual pining, hurt/comfort, spooky chills, sexy thrills, and a very happy ending. The Kings of the Mountain is the first novel in the series. It is a MM romance intended for readers 18 years of age and older.
Excerpt from Kings of the Mountain
The longer they spent time on the road and on hunts together, the more Dawson felt a powerful attraction to Grady. He’d always been fond of the younger man, but Dawson found himself admiring the person Grady was growing into. Grady deserved to find the right guy—if that’s what he wanted—who could make him happy. And as much as Dawson wished fervently that could be him, he knew he couldn’t take the chance that Grady might feel pressured or obligated to respond if Dawson made any advances.
Not to mention how Grady’s mother had always carried on about how awful it was to marry a “cousin,” something that she claimed no one in her family had ever done. She’d made her position loud and clear while she was married to Aaron, which had not endeared her to the rest of the community. Such marriages were legal in North Carolina, and not uncommon in the rural areas.
The fact that Grady wasn’t a cousin by blood probably wouldn’t matter to Camille. But what if Grady had accepted his mother’s bias? Maybe Dawson had imagined the flirtation, or worse, projected his own feelings onto the other man. So Dawson took the edge off with hookups and out-of-town one-night stands, very aware that he tended to choose partners with a resemblance to Grady.
Until he couldn’t stand it any longer.
That’s when Dawson enlisted.
Once they were on the main highway, Dawson turned to watch Colt’s profile.
“So…what happened with Uncle Denny and Grady?”
Colt’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, and the tic in his jaw told Dawson that the other man didn’t want to have this conversation. “They’re both alive. But a hunt went wrong a week ago, and Grady isn’t dealing with it very well.”
A week, Dawson thought. That was when he’d stopped getting emails from Grady. He had tried to convince himself the silence was due to any number of impersonal reasons, but Dawson knew in his gut something wasn’t right. His responses from Uncle Denny had gotten short and less frequent around the same time.
Was this what his nightmare had been warning him about?
“Could you be a little clearer?” Dawson knew Colt could read the warning in his tone.
“Grady got hurt. Aaron was killed. Grady’s not dealing well with it. Uncle Denny didn’t want to leave Grady alone. So they sent me.”
Dawson’s head swam. Uncle Aaron, dead? That’s hard to even imagine. He was always so full of life. And Grady—it’s got to be bad if he couldn’t come. Oh, God. I almost lost him. Plus there’s something Colt isn’t saying, something even worse. Because if Uncle Aaron died on a hunt, then Grady had to have been right there when it happened. That’s bad, really bad. No one should see their parent die, especially not like that.
About the Author
Morgan Brice is the romance pen name of bestselling author Gail Z. Martin. Morgan writes urban fantasy male/male paranormal romance, with plenty of action, adventure and supernatural thrills to go with the happily ever after. Gail writes epic fantasy and urban fantasy, and together with co-author hubby Larry N. Martin, steampunk and comedic horror, all of which have less romance, more explosions. Characters from her Gail books make frequent appearances in secondary roles in her Morgan books, and vice versa.
On the rare occasions Morgan isn’t writing, she’s either reading, cooking, or spoiling two very pampered dogs.
Series include Witchbane, Badlands, Treasure Trail, Kings of the Mountain and Fox Hollow. Watch for more in these series, plus new series coming soon!
At least that’s what I believed, until I met him. Julian Hill. The most famous rock star on the planet. A music god with untidy hair and the voice of an angel.
I’ll never be anything but out, and he has very good reasons to stay in the closet. After all, every move he makes is dissected, critiqued, and shared on social media, so he just wants a little privacy. I understand that. Truly, I do.
But no one makes me feel the way he does, and I’m pretty sure he has feelings for me as well. Which is inconvenient since his record label just hired me to sue him. Guess I should’ve sorted things out before I kissed him… Oops.
Ambiguous is an addictive MM bisexual romance novel about a fashion-forward rock singer who hates labels of all kinds (except for clothing), a dapper attorney who already has a (fake) boyfriend for a very good reason, and the possibility of love saving the day in a sensually stimulating “opposites-attract” romance story. In addition to the compassionate, big-hearted main characters and engaging, steamy interactions, LGBTQ+ romance readers are raving about the refreshingly honest discussions about homophobia, acceptance, bisexuality, and gay rights, which flow seamlessly into the heart-warming, soul-stirring love story.
About the Author
Leslie McAdam is a California girl who loves romance and well-defined abs. She lives in a drafty old farmhouse on a small orange tree farm in Southern California with her husband and two children. Leslie's first published book, The Sun and the Moon, won a 2015 Watty, which is the world's largest online writing competition. She's gone on to receive additional literary awards and has been featured in multiple publications, including Cosmopolitan.com. Her books have been Top 100 Bestsellers on both Amazon and Apple Books. Leslie is employed by day but spends her nights writing about the men of your fantasies.
He captured a fae prince, but can he capture his heart?
Blurb
Lochlann Wilde walks in the shadow of his father, a legendary summoner who commanded mythical beasts in battle. But Locke isn't legendary. He’s barely a summoner, never passing his academy’s trial of the elements.
And then he accidentally summons a fae prince with a beautiful body and a bad attitude.
Sylvain is fiery and ferocious, stronger than anything Locke has ever encountered. And hotter, too. But time is running out. Locke must tame the prince’s wild heart. If he fails his trial, he’ll lose his inheritance and ruin his family's name.
Without Sylvain, Locke could lose his chance to become a true summoner… along with his shot at true love.
Excerpt
The invisible entity’s breath rushed on the breeze, seductive and strong. The faint beat of its heart sounded like the playing of a distant drum. Above all things else I could taste the overwhelming power on the tip of my tongue, a palpable flavor of strange, alien magic.
I had to have it. I needed to earn my Summoner’s Crest. It was finally my time. I had to make my father proud, wherever he could be. I thrust my hand out, the grimoire levitating at eye level, pages fluttering in an eldritch wind as it turned to the correct section. The binding, the forging of a powerful contract.
“With iron will and stalwart heart I beseech you, great force of the ether. Make yourself known. Manifest. In the name of the summoners that have come before me, hear my words. Heed my call.”
A new wind swirled at my feet, sending leaves tumbling upward, whipping at the branches. Gooseflesh rose all over my skin, my body’s response to the tingle and thrum of gathering power. Something was here. Something was responding.
Time to finish the incantation, the barest minimum for me to qualify for the Summoner’s Crest. Time to complete the Pact of the Unknown.
“I invoke you, thing of the ether, unseen and unnamed. Grant me time and space enough to bargain and barter, to forge a bond that may yet be fruitful for us both.”
The wind howled, ripping at my cloak, shearing through my hair, screaming into my ears. It was coming.
It was here.
Time to bring it all home.
“Nameless of the ether, dweller in the unknown, I call you. I summon you. Come forth. Reveal yourself!”
Grass, leaves, and petals exploded in a burst from the center of the clearing, filling the air with a swirl of green and gold. I shielded my eyes, watching through the gaps in my fingers. Had it worked? It must have. I said all the words correctly, channeled the torrent of great magic through my soul, my flesh. Nothing short of a god could have resisted my summons.
And there he knelt in the center of the glade, his head low, his neck loose, a powerfully built man wearing leather trousers and little else. He propped himself up by one hand, groaning, rubbing at his forehead with the other, like someone recovering from a hangover. A side effect of the invocation, possibly.
Black hair fell in soft wisps over his brow, across his pale gold eyes. They took their time to focus, then filled with defiance, with wild devilry. He glanced up at me, eyes widening, mouth turning up in anger. But even in fury the man was devastating. That face, those lips, that — oh, gods, that body. He was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.
And then he opened his mouth.
About the Author
Nazri Noor is a California-based author of Filipino and Malaysian descent. While capable of fluently cursing in three languages, he only writes in English, and has been doing so in a professional capacity for over 20 years. His urban fantasy novels feature wise-cracking heroes who save the world with wits, style, and magic: think sass and class, while kicking ass.
Stray is a steamy MM romance featuring a cranky panther shifter, a freshly-made vampire, & lamb-on-a-stick. A grumpy/sunshine, age gap, opposites attract, reluctant-fated-mates pairing that must overcome the odds to win their HEA!
Blurb
Leonas is a cranky panther shifter set in his ways. He handles security for an exclusive brothel and takes the safety of the staff at The Twig and Berries seriously, to the extent of sacrificing his love life for work.
When a young vampire called Jeno shows up with heart eyes and disturbing news, Leonas is taken aback. Who is this curious youth and why is he hitting on Leonas of all people? More importantly, when is he leaving? Because Leonas has no time for romance.
Though Jeno is running from a dark past, he can’t help but to stop in his tracks for Leonas. The grumpy cat shifter might be prickly on the outside, but inside? Well, Leonas is prickly there too. He needs someone like Jeno to escape the lonely trap of his own making.
Can Jeno evade the snare of Hungary’s notorious opium slingers? Will Leonas break the chains of his past? Together, they stand a chance, but suffering alone is all they’ve ever known.
***
Stray is a steamy MM Paranormal Romance featuring lusty incubi, greedy goblins, and mouthwatering lamb-on-a-stick. A grumpy/sunshine, age gap, opposites attract, reluctant fated mates pairing that must overcome the odds to win their forever HEA!
My Two Pennies' Worth
Jeno is the sweetest vampire I've read in a long time. His relentless but so careful romantic pursuit of Leonas was adorable. Leonas is the grumpiest kitty shifter, sorry, panther shifter, and while he is reluctant to succumb to Jeno's advances, his panther is not. In fact his panther treats Jeno like his own personal catnip.
A sweet romance with a mystery which acts as the glue to keep these two in each other's orbit until Leonas comes to his senses.
Loved it.
Excerpt
He takes the stairs two at a time in a bounding, clumsy sort of fashion unlike most vampires I’ve encountered. A wide grin stretches across his youthful face, but you never know with a vampire. He could be older than me, though for some reason I doubt it. He doesn’t just look young, he acts it too, flopping into the small room, into my space without so much as a by your leave, and dropping his pack on the little table next to me. The urge to bat it right off again strikes, but I resist.
“Wow. You must be Leonas. You’re even scarier looking than Ivaz warned. But he also said not to worry. That you would act mean but that you weren’t really mean. ‘Just a kitten,’ he said. That true? I’ve never met a panther before.”
Irritation crawls beneath my skin and settles at the back of my neck and the tip of my tongue. I’ll have a few words for Ivaz when next I see him. “And you are?”
“Jeno!” He says his name like it’s a prize rather than a basic introduction and thrusts his hand toward my center, dopey grin still intact.
I stare at it through lowered lids. No. Will not be touching him. He’s already acting too familiar for my comfort. I don’t plan to encourage it. “What’s your business here?”
His brows crumple as he withdraws his hand. “Letters.” He regains a modicum of his former exuberance. “I’m the new messenger.”
Since when do the vampires allow messengers to be this young? I study him. His tanned skin still retains human pores. His mouth, a rosy shade of pink with slight protrusions where fangs lay hidden beneath, trembles as if he’s finally realizing he stands before a true threat and not the harmless kitten Ivaz so erroneously made me out to be.
My own lips part as I take in his wide eyes, hazel jewels sparkling with questions, staring at mine as if it’s I who hold the answers. They spell me with their beauty. A rush of warmth fills my chest.
I shake myself out of it with an irritated huff. “And so? Hand over the letters, then.”
He squints. It’s cute. I hate him.
About the Author
Lee Colgin has loved vampires since she read Dracula on a hot, sunny beach at 13 years old. She lives in North Carolina with lots of dogs and her husband. No, he's not a vampire, but she loves him anyway. Lee likes to workout so she can eat the maximum amount of cookies with her pizza. Ask her how much she can bench press.
