Guest Post and Giveaway: Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back by Joe Cosentino

We’re so pleased to have author Joe Cosentino joining us today on the tour for his newest release, Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back. Enjoy Joe’s guest post and then be sure to click on the Rafflecopter widget below for the chance to win an e-copy of his novella <i>An Infatuation</i>.

Good luck!

Creating a new world in Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back

After a vacation on the New Jersey Shore, I missed the white foamy waves, crystal-blue sky, salty air, thin white sand, melodic seagulls, and rainbow-colored seashells. Upon arriving home, I immediately went on Facebook (of course!) and asked my friends if I should follow my heart and write a new series taking place at the Jersey Shore. Their response was overwhelmingly positive. So I asked what they would like to see in the series. What came back was: hunky guys in Speedos, coconut-scented suntan lotion, cool sunglasses, fluffy beach towels, killer waves, love in the sand under the sun, a sexy merman, good stories, and my usual wacky sense of humor. So I got to work and created a new MM romance series, COZZI COVE. The first book, COZZI COVE: BOUNCING BACK, released March 21 and the second book, COZZI COVE: MOVING FORWARD, releases April 18.

COZZI COVE is a combination of the little beach town where I spent my summers as a kid, input from my Facebook friends, and my unique imagination. The fictional town of Cozzi includes a beach, bay, boardwalk, shops, miniature golf course, trampoline emporium, salt water taffy shop, local bar, and sumptuous seafood restaurant. My hero is thirty-year-old ex-professional football player, Cal Cozzi, whose great-grandfather built Cozzi Cove, a series of eight bungalows on a private cove that Cal, like his father before him, runs as a gay resort. A cove is formed when softer rocks are worn away by the sun and salty water faster than the harder rocks surrounding them. This creates a gorgeous bay of turquoise water shielded by large rocks in the distance and smaller rocks near the water’s edge. (Check out the amazing book cover.)

Joining Cal in each book is his loyal schoolteacher young husband, older sister, and good friends Tommy (local bar owner) and Carla (owner of the seafood restaurant). Cal’s sister, Taylor, is a tough as nails top one-percenter. The world revolves around her, which makes her hysterically funny. Tommy has had a crush on Cal for years, as has Carla on Taylor.

Connor, the college student assisting Cal, is packed with muscles and hormones. He revels in Cozzi Cove, and in checking out each resident for a possible fling on the cove—which definitely happens!

Each book boasts a new set of vacationers with interweaven romantic stories. But beware, nothing is what it seems at Cozzi Cove. Who are the vacationers in book one?

After my two Bittersweet Dreams novellas, An Infatuation (2^nd Place Divine Magazine Readers’ Choice Award of 2015 for Best MM Romance) and A Shooting Star (In My Heart Series) published by Dreamspinner Press, were released countless readers begged me for more time with one of the characters from An Infatuation. So that character and his brother are the first guests at Cozzi Cove.

This summer the vacationers are two brothers/college students who look alike, but couldn’t be more different. Mario is searching for love, and Harold is searching for lust. A wealthy older couple, Josh and Greg, play matchmakers for their gorgeous son Christopher. Opposites attract as multifaceted Tim meets shy Mark, and porn star Chuck Caliber connects with Sean, a virgin romance novelist (I want to play Sean in the movie!). Finally computer game designer Arthur has a midnight sea rendezvous with a merman. Even married Cal faces an emotional upheaval when a gay bashing turns into something quite unexpected for him. Since Cozzi Cove is a magical place, the novel is full of humor, tragedy, mysteries, and passions. Beware, nothing is what it seems in Cozzi Cove. Everyone has a secret at Cozzi Cove that is revealed by book’s end.

Falling in love and lovemaking are definitely a part of life at Cozzi Cove, so there are love scenes in the books.

My Facebook friends were right. I just reread COZZI COVE: BOUNCING BACK and laughed, cried, gasped, felt romantic, and can’t wait to reread the next one.

And don’t miss my MM novellas. An Infatuation and A Shooting Star (In My Heart bittersweet dreams novellas) published by Dreamspinner Press are loosely based on my high school and college years respectively. They were released as e-books, but are so popular that Dreamspinner Press published them together in paperback on March 21. Readers tell me those two stories made them laugh, cry, feel romantic, and changed their lives. I am very proud of them. (An Infatuation won Second Place in Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award for Best Romance Novel.)

A Home for the Holidays is my popular holiday short novella from Dreamspinner Press about an American law student who, as I did, takes a trip to the romantic and gorgeous island of Capri, Italy, where he embarks on a relationship with his captivating third cousin.

The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland from Dreamspinner Press is my gay take on my favorite beloved fairytales like Cinderella, Goldie Locks and the Three Bears, Pinocchio, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The Snow Queen.

Everybody loves a good mystery. So check out my mystery novels too! My Nicky and Noah mystery series from Lethe Press are farcical, gay, cozy, who-dun-its. In Drama Queen theatre college professors are dropping like stage curtains. With the inept local detective more interested in getting into Nicky’s pants than solving the murders, it is up to well-endowed Directing professor, Nicky Abbondanza to use his theatre skills (including playing other people) to solve the case, while he directs a murder mystery onstage. Complicating matters is Nicky’s intense crush on Assistant Professor of Acting, gorgeous Noah Oliver, the prime suspect in the murder. Drama Queen (Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award for Best Mystery, Best Crime, Best Humorous, Best Contemporary novel of 2015) is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook performed by Michael Gilboe. It is often on Amazon’s bestseller’s list in its category. In Drama Muscle Nicky and Noah have to use their theatre skills to find out why musclemen are dropping like weights in the Physical Education department while Nicky directs the Student Bodybuilding Competition. In Drama Cruise (releasing next year), Nicky and Noah go on a cruise to Alaska, and discover why college theatre professors are going overboard like lifeboats while Nicky directs a murder mystery dinner theatre show onboard ship.

In the Jana Lane mysteries, with straight leading characters and gay supporting characters, Jana Lane was the biggest child star ever until she was attacked on the studio lot at eighteen years old. In Paper Doll (Whiskey Creek Press), Jana at thirty-eight lives with her family in a mansion in picturesque Hudson Valley, New York. Her flashbacks from the past become murder attempts in her future. Jana ventures back to Hollywood, which helps her uncover a web of secrets about everyone she loves. She also embarks on a romance with the devilishly handsome son of her old producer, Rocco Cavoto. In Porcelain Doll (The Wild Rose Press), Jana makes a comeback film and uncovers who is being murdered on the set and why. Her heart is set aflutter by her incredibly gorgeous co-star, Jason Apollo. In Satin Doll (releasing April 29 from The Wild Rose Press), Jana and family head to Washington, DC, where Jana plays a US senator in a new film, and becomes embroiled in a murder and corruption at the senate chamber. She also embarks on a romance with Chris Bruno, the muscular detective. In China Doll (releasing this summer from The Wild Rose Press), Jana heads to New York City to star in a Broadway play, enchanted by her gorgeous co-star Peter Stevens, and faced with murder on stage and off. Since the novels take place in the 1980’s, Jana’s best friends are gay, and Jana is somewhat of a gay activist, the AIDS epidemic is a large part of the novels.

So grab your Speedos, suntan lotion, and shades and head down to Cozzi Cove on the Jersey Shore. I hope to see YOU there!

Blurb: On Cozzi Cove at the New Jersey shore, handsome Cal Cozzi’s seven bungalows are open for summer and love. Mario and Harold are brothers and college students who happen to look alike, but couldn’t be more different: Mario is searching for love, and Harold is searching for lust. Josh and Greg, a wealthy older couple, are matchmakers for their son, Christopher. When it comes to Connor, the maid, packed with muscles and a roving sponge, anything can happen. Opposites attract as wild Tim with the secret past meets shy Mark, and porn star Chuck Caliber connects with Sean, a virgin romance novelist. And what will happen when computer-game designer Arthur has a midnight sea rendezvous with a merman? Even married Cal faces an emotional upheaval when a gay bashing turns into something quite unexpected. What secrets and passions lie in magical Cozzi Cove?

Buy Links: Amazon || ARe || Barnes & Noble

About the Author: Amazon Bestselling author Joe Cosentino wrote Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back (NineStar Press), Drama Queen and Drama Muscle Nicky and Noah mysteries (Lethe Press), An Infatuation, A Shooting Star, A Home for the Holidays, The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland (Dreamspinner Press), Paper Doll (Whiskey Creek Press) and Porcelain Doll (Wild Rose Press) Jana Lane mysteries, and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Eldridge Plays and Musicals). He has appeared in principal acting roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Holland Taylor, and Jason Robards. His one-act plays, Infatuation and Neighbor, were performed in New York City. He wrote The Perils of Pauline educational film (Prentice Hall Publishers). Joe is currently Head of the Department/Professor at a college in upstate New York, and is happily married. His upcoming novels are Cozzi Cove: Moving Forward (Nine Star Press), Drama Cruise Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press), and Satin Doll and China Doll Jana Lane mysteries (Wild Rose Press). Joe was voted 2^nd Place for Best MM Author of the Year in Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards for 2015!

Social Links: Website || Facebook || Twitter || Goodreads || Amazon

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