Where Fiction and Reality Meet
Short stories are hard to write—and review. I love them, personally, but it does take a special type of author to get them correct, in my opinion. I think Stephen King said it best, and I am paraphrasing here, Short stories are like kisses from strangers in the dark. And they are, you never know... Continue Reading →
Titles: Xmas Cake: A Modern Fairy Tale, Coming in from the Cold, and The Bard and His Boyfriend Authors: Raine O’Tierney, Ava Penn, Kathleen Hayes Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing – Boughs of Evergreen Anthology benefitting The Trevor Project Pages/Word Count: 43 Pages/52 Pages/35 Pages Rating: 3.5 Stars Overall Blurbs: Xmas Cake: Once upon a snowy... Continue Reading →
Title: Turkey in the Snow Author: Amy Lane Narrator:: Gomez Pugh Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Run Time: 2 Hours, 32 Minutes Rating: 5 Stars Blurb: Since Hank Calder's four-year-old niece Josie came to live with him, his life has been plenty dramatic, thank you, and the last thing he needs is a swishy, flaming twinkie to... Continue Reading →
Title: It's Christmas Everywhere But Here Author: Liam Grey Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Pages/Word Count: 96 Rating: 3.5 Stars Blurb: Christmas brings dreams of peace, love, and family time for most. Sadly, Russell Moore isn’t so blessed. Since his coming out and marriage prompted a less-than-joyful reaction from his religious parents, Russ has kept his distance... Continue Reading →
Title: It's Christmas Everywhere But Here Author: Liam Grey Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Pages/Word Count: 96 Rating: 3.5 Stars Blurb: Christmas brings dreams of peace, love, and family time for most. Sadly, Russell Moore isn’t so blessed. Since his coming out and marriage prompted a less-than-joyful reaction from his religious parents, Russ has kept his distance... Continue Reading →
Title: Lion’s Hero Author: Alexis Woods Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing Pages/Word Count: 82 Pages Rating: 4.5 Stars Blurb: A story from Boughs of Evergreen: A Holiday Anthology (proceeds go to The Trevor Project). Eight nights to fall in love. Ari has a mission: meet and fall in love with a man chosen for him by... Continue Reading →
Title: Lion’s Hero Author: Alexis Woods Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing Pages/Word Count: 82 Pages Rating: 4.5 Stars Blurb: A story from Boughs of Evergreen: A Holiday Anthology (proceeds go to The Trevor Project). Eight nights to fall in love. Ari has a mission: meet and fall in love with a man chosen for him by... Continue Reading →
Title: One Nightstand (Boughs of Evergreen Anthology) Author: Rick Bettencourt Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing Pages/Word Count: 37 Pages Rating: 4 Stars Blurb: Doug's not good with one-night stands, yet in the early hours of Christmas Eve, he returns home with Kirk - a good-looking guy he met at the club. Nestled together in the kitchen... Continue Reading →
Title: Coming of Age Author: Venona Keyes Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Pages/Word Count: 32 Pages Rating: 3 Stars Blurb: Akiyoshi ‘Aero’ Kurokuma, author of the wildly popular manga, Ecos, lost his assistant when his best friend retired. After Aero collapses from exhaustion four years later, he is forced to run a contest for an assistant. Placing... Continue Reading →
Title: What Father Christmas Left Author: Felicitas Ivey Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Pages/Word Count: 45 Pages Rating: 4 Stars Blurb: Ex-Pat American Jacob Moore is looking forward to hosting his traditional Christmas Eve party with his partner, Errol. They love the quiet night of friends and food at their house in London, and the break before... Continue Reading →
Title: King of Me Author: R.A. Kaitland Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Pages/Word Count: 33 Pages Rating: 3 Stars Blurb: Cast out of his clan of shifters and with no family of his own, Anton Cedwell wants nothing more than to be accepted by his partner Sean’s family when the two of them visit over Christmas. But... Continue Reading →
Title: Saint Martin’s Day Author: Kim Fielding Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Pages/Word Count: 31 Pages Rating: 4 Stars Blurb: Five years ago, Neno Kovač fled California, graduate school, and his lover, Toby Cowan, to return to his native Croatia. Since then, he’s led a quiet life as a librarian—until one November afternoon when Toby, who has... Continue Reading →
Title: Saint Martin’s Day Author: Kim Fielding Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Pages/Word Count: 31 Pages Rating: 4 Stars Blurb: Five years ago, Neno Kovač fled California, graduate school, and his lover, Toby Cowan, to return to his native Croatia. Since then, he’s led a quiet life as a librarian—until one November afternoon when Toby, who has... Continue Reading →
Title: Angel in a Book Shop Author: RJ Scott Publisher: Love Lane Books Pages/Word Count: 108 Pages Rating: 4.5 Stars Blurb: What happens when a broken man has to trust in the impossible? Chapter One is an antique book shop and is the last tangible thing Josh and his mom have left of his dad.... Continue Reading →
Title: The Magic of Weihnachten Author: Bru Baker Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Pages/Word Count: 51 Pages Rating: 3 Stars Blurb: American Walsh Brandt is happy when a promotion lands him his dream job and a quiet new life in Germany. Until December rolls around, when he realizes it’s almost impossible to hide from the holiday season... Continue Reading →
Title: Bowl Full of Cherries Author: Raine O’Tierney Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Pages/Word Count: 214 Pages Rating: 4.5 Stars Blurb: Porker, Fatty, Tons-of-Fun: Crowley Fredericks has heard it all. He’s dropped a lot of weight since his high school days, but he’s still a big guy, and the painful words and bullying follow him. Rejected—again—because of... Continue Reading →
Title: Bowl Full of Cherries Author: Raine O’Tierney Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Pages/Word Count: 214 Pages Rating: 4.5 Stars Blurb: Porker, Fatty, Tons-of-Fun: Crowley Fredericks has heard it all. He’s dropped a lot of weight since his high school days, but he’s still a big guy, and the painful words and bullying follow him. Rejected—again—because of... Continue Reading →
Hi, we’re Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock, and we’re riding our magical smut sleigh around the Internet to pimp our holiday release. It’s a kinky m/m/m ménage novella called FALL ON YOUR KNEES, and it’s part of Loose Id’s RATED: XXXMAS ANTHOLOGY, which also features SHEPHERD, WISE MAN, AND THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY by E.F.... Continue Reading →
Thanks to Lisa for letting me drop by to talk about the re-release of my short story Rivals. I’m excited to be here discussing a story that’s set in the holiday season, starting at Thanksgiving and ending for Christmas. In the spirit of the season I’d like to give away a free copy of the... Continue Reading →
Title: The Working Elf Blues Author: Piper Vaughn Publisher: Less Than Three Press Pages/Word Count: 53 Pages Rating: 4.5 Stars Blurb: Garnet Evergreen has never heard of an elf abandoning the North Pole for a human, but he yearns to be the first. Ever since he saw Wes, the boy with sorrowful eyes, Garnet felt... Continue Reading →
Title: The Bells of Times Square Author: Amy Lane Publisher: Riptide Publishing Pages/Word Count: 236 Pages Rating: 5 Stars Blurb: Every New Year’s Eve since 1946, Nate Meyer has ventured alone to Times Square to listen for the ghostly church bells he and his long-lost wartime lover vowed to hear together. This year, however, his... Continue Reading →
Hi, and welcome to the blog tour for The Bells of Times Square! This book is close to my heart -- if you read the extra front and back matter in the story, you will see that I drew inspiration from my grandparents and their roles in WWII. There was a lot of research involved here... Continue Reading →
Title: Waiting for Winter Author: L.B. Gregg Publisher: Self-Published Pages/Word Count: 47 Pages Rating: A Small Gem Blurb: Some mistakes are worth repeating. Luke always thought he and Winter were the perfect couple—until the day Winter announced he was taking a new job and they were uprooting and headed for Germany. No discussion. No debate.... Continue Reading →
Title: Shiny Things Author: Amy Spector Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing Pages/Word Count: 67 Pages Rating: 4.5 Stars Blurb: A story from Boughs of Evergreen: A Holiday Anthology (proceeds go to The Trevor Project). At sixteen, Nathaniel Avery was shipped off to live with an aunt in hopes of quelling a budding relationship between him and... Continue Reading →
The Novel Approach Reviews 