Event: An Evening of Gay Men’s Romance at Giovanni’s Room

Date: Friday, August 12, 2011
Time: 5:30 to 7:00 pm
Place: Giovanni's Room
At 12th & Pine Streets in Philly's "Gayborhood" in Center City
345 South 12th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Join MLR Press at Giovanni’s Room for an up close and personal book signing featuring the award winning authors of some of the best in contemporary gay fiction. The evening will include readings by: Victor Banis, Ally Blue, James Buchanan, Z.A. Maxfield, William Neale, and Rick R. Reed. Selections from their current releases will showcase a variety of heat, from sweet romance to scorching erotica, and genre ranging from horror through mystery, BDSM, humor and more.

Giovanni’s Room, founded in 1973, is the oldest gay bookstore in the US. Housed in historic buildings from the 1800s, Giovanni’s intimate setting and comfortable ambiance allows readers and authors to connect one-on-one, providing a unique experience. Attendees can mingle with their favorite author or discover new books and authors.

Owned by best-selling, award-winning author Laura Baumbach, MLR Press offers the highest quality stories to readers of gay fiction and erotic romance. MLR Press titles include multiple award-winning and Lambda nominated books such as the Donald Strachey Mystery Series by Richard Stevenson and The Golden Age of Gay Fiction edited by Drewey Wayne Gunn, a Benjamin Franklin Award winner. Books from MLR Press take readers on amazing adventures through the creative minds of a small, select group of bright, uniquely talented authors and artists.

Also attending and signing books: Laura Baumbach, Kimberly Gardner, Ethan Day, Jet Mykles, Diana DeRicci, Taylor Donovan, Liz Strange, DH Star, David Juhren, and Karenna Colcroft.

For additional information: http://www.giovannisroom.com/event/evening-gay-mens-romance

###

MLR Press information: http://www.mlrbooks.com/books.php

( Bios and other information for the authors reading at the event can be found on their websites )

Event: An Evening of Gay Men’s Romance at Giovanni’s Room

Date: Friday, August 12, 2011
Time: 5:30 to 7:00 pm
Place: Giovanni's Room
At 12th & Pine Streets in Philly's "Gayborhood" in Center City
345 South 12th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Join MLR Press at Giovanni’s Room for an up close and personal book signing featuring the award winning authors of some of the best in contemporary gay fiction. The evening will include readings by: Victor Banis, Ally Blue, James Buchanan, Z.A. Maxfield, William Neale, and Rick R. Reed. Selections from their current releases will showcase a variety of heat, from sweet romance to scorching erotica, and genre ranging from horror through mystery, BDSM, humor and more.

Giovanni’s Room, founded in 1973, is the oldest gay bookstore in the US. Housed in historic buildings from the 1800s, Giovanni’s intimate setting and comfortable ambiance allows readers and authors to connect one-on-one, providing a unique experience. Attendees can mingle with their favorite author or discover new books and authors.

Owned by best-selling, award-winning author Laura Baumbach, MLR Press offers the highest quality stories to readers of gay fiction and erotic romance. MLR Press titles include multiple award-winning and Lambda nominated books such as the Donald Strachey Mystery Series by Richard Stevenson and The Golden Age of Gay Fiction edited by Drewey Wayne Gunn, a Benjamin Franklin Award winner. Books from MLR Press take readers on amazing adventures through the creative minds of a small, select group of bright, uniquely talented authors and artists.

Also attending and signing books: Laura Baumbach, Kimberly Gardner, Ethan Day, Jet Mykles, Diana DeRicci, Taylor Donovan, Liz Strange, DH Star, David Juhren, and Karenna Colcroft.

For additional information: http://www.giovannisroom.com/event/evening-gay-mens-romance

###

MLR Press information: http://www.mlrbooks.com/books.php

( Bios and other information for the authors reading at the event can be found on their websites )

Event: Mary Griggs Reading and Signing

Date: 08/12/2011
Time: at 7:00 pm
Place: Laurel Book Store
4100 Macarthur Blvd
Oakland , California 94619
http://www.laurelbookstore.com

Mary Griggs returns to Oakland to read from and sign her debut novel Unbroken Circle.

Unbroken Circle by Mary Griggs
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bella Books; NONE edition (June 14, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594932433
ISBN-13: 978-1594932434
Amazon: Unbroken Circle

Sallie Lee Hybart doesn’t see many strangers at her diner counter. Pennington, Alabama, is a town the interstate passed by, so newcomers are rare. But this one looks familiar.

Janet Bouton has nothing and no one. Her life has been stripped down to the clothing on her back. Counting out her meager change to pay for a stick-to-the-ribs meal, she is hoping to escape the diner unrecognized. She shouldn’t have come back...but no place else on earth was familiar.

An act of kindness sets a chain of events in motion and pulls Sallie Lee and Janet together, but the past has the power to tear them apart. There are still people in Pennington who remember Janet too well. Small town memories have had a lot of years to simmer, and love may not be the recipe for happiness.

Mary Griggs’ debut romance novel unites a lost soul and a determined survivor to create a passionate story that readers will remember long after the final page.

Event: Mary Griggs Reading and Signing

Date: 08/12/2011
Time: at 7:00 pm
Place: Laurel Book Store
4100 Macarthur Blvd
Oakland , California 94619
http://www.laurelbookstore.com

Mary Griggs returns to Oakland to read from and sign her debut novel Unbroken Circle.

Unbroken Circle by Mary Griggs
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bella Books; NONE edition (June 14, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594932433
ISBN-13: 978-1594932434
Amazon: Unbroken Circle

Sallie Lee Hybart doesn’t see many strangers at her diner counter. Pennington, Alabama, is a town the interstate passed by, so newcomers are rare. But this one looks familiar.

Janet Bouton has nothing and no one. Her life has been stripped down to the clothing on her back. Counting out her meager change to pay for a stick-to-the-ribs meal, she is hoping to escape the diner unrecognized. She shouldn’t have come back...but no place else on earth was familiar.

An act of kindness sets a chain of events in motion and pulls Sallie Lee and Janet together, but the past has the power to tear them apart. There are still people in Pennington who remember Janet too well. Small town memories have had a lot of years to simmer, and love may not be the recipe for happiness.

Mary Griggs’ debut romance novel unites a lost soul and a determined survivor to create a passionate story that readers will remember long after the final page.

Gay Romance Challenge: August 2011

Here is the Bestsellers List on Amazon I'm referring to for the challenge:

Bestsellers in Gay Romance

And here is the actual situation (in bold the books I read with link to the review and marked as New the books entering the Challenge this month):

1) Hunting Henry (Moon Pack) by Amber Kell
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005G84994/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Silver Publishing (August 5, 2011)
2) Signed and Sealed by B.A. Stretke
Link http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FHNJ56/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Dreamspinner Press (July 31, 2011)
3) Hot Head by Damon Suede
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00564ACK8/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1327655.html
4) Again by Mary Calmes
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005CK4CXE/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Dreamspinner Press (July 12, 2011)
5) One Night by RJ Scott
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BYP7IK/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Silver Publishing (July 8, 2011)
6) Mate Test (Dragon Men) by Amber Kell
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DTLE9Y/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Silver Publishing (July 20, 2011)
7) Something Like Summer by Jay Bell
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004I6DKPY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1233202.html
8) Personal Training (Work Out) by Andrew Grey
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FRGAOS/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Dreamspinner Press (August 2, 2011)
9) Where He Ends and I Begin (Home Series) by Cardeno C.
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054RACL6/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Dreamspinner Press (June 6, 2011)
10) Dutch Treat by Andrew Grey
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1613720572/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Dreamspinner Press (July 15, 2011)

( books from 11 to 100 )

Gay Romance Challenge: August 2011

Here is the Bestsellers List on Amazon I'm referring to for the challenge:

Bestsellers in Gay Romance

And here is the actual situation (in bold the books I read with link to the review and marked as New the books entering the Challenge this month):

1) Hunting Henry (Moon Pack) by Amber Kell
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005G84994/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Silver Publishing (August 5, 2011)
2) Signed and Sealed by B.A. Stretke
Link http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FHNJ56/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Dreamspinner Press (July 31, 2011)
3) Hot Head by Damon Suede
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00564ACK8/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1327655.html
4) Again by Mary Calmes
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005CK4CXE/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Dreamspinner Press (July 12, 2011)
5) One Night by RJ Scott
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BYP7IK/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Silver Publishing (July 8, 2011)
6) Mate Test (Dragon Men) by Amber Kell
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DTLE9Y/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Silver Publishing (July 20, 2011)
7) Something Like Summer by Jay Bell
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004I6DKPY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1233202.html
8) Personal Training (Work Out) by Andrew Grey
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FRGAOS/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Dreamspinner Press (August 2, 2011)
9) Where He Ends and I Begin (Home Series) by Cardeno C.
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054RACL6/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Dreamspinner Press (June 6, 2011)
10) Dutch Treat by Andrew Grey
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1613720572/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Dreamspinner Press (July 15, 2011)

( books from 11 to 100 )

Zero Hour by Jordan Castillo Price

Aside for the hot cover, one of the reason that pushed me to buy this book, the other is obviously the author: Jordan Castillo Price is one of those authors that will never disappoint you, she has both story than characters solid and strong, and so plenty satisfying, even when I’m reading a futuristic setting, that is not usually my cup of tea.

In a not so far future, some apocalyptic disaster, destroyed the world how we know it; a central power, the Deacons, govern the society and people are cloned in number pieces and programmed to live 30 years flat: from 0 to 10 years you are trained, from 10 to 30 years less one month you work always the same job, and then you have 1 month of retirement before giving back the AI that has let you survived till that moment and receiving your “prize”, i.e. your soul will leave your mortal body to go… well no one knows exactly where, but it has to go somewhere right?

Ernest has reached 29 years and 11 months and now has a full month to enjoy his retirement; the first place he chooses to go is an old style coffee-book store; true, the coffee is not the same, it’s given through syringes or IVs, and the books are artificial tablets, but at least it’s something Ernest is doing for pleasure, spending all the money he saved before his planned death. But then the owner of the coffee place, Will, start to insinuate the doubt that there is another true, that he is not fated to die in one month, not if he will stop to report each night with the central system.

There is a lot of fight against the system theory, but also a je accuse on how people mistreated the Earth and the gifts they received from Her. Ernest is not at fault, like they are not the other like him, since he has no idea there was something different before, revolutionary knowledge like psychology and history were purged from the available data feed, and they are accessible only from the very wealthy members of the Deacons. Ernest is not gay or straight, he is chemically castrated and so he has no sexual desire at all; not only that he is also deprived of testosterone, and so without sexual desires he has also no stimulus at all.

Will recognizes in Ernest some potential, and with some good placed inputs, insinuates in him the desire to “taste” the life, and it’s not a metaphor, Ernest was fed through a shunt in his arms, no solid or liquid food at all, nothing through his mouth. When he meets Will, there will be a lot of things he will learn to do with his mouth, not only eat: taste, kiss, and many, many other pleasurable activities.

Even if a claustrophobic society, the story is not at all boring or heavy, on the contrary, it’s almost sweet and romantic; there are some sad moments, but they are balanced by other more light events, and in the end, the feeling is very much like I have read a classical romance.

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/zero.html

Amazon: Zero Hour: A Dystopian Adventure
Amazon Kindle: Zero Hour: A Dystopian Adventure
Paperback: 292 pages
Publisher: JCP Books (July 26, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0981875270
ISBN-13: 978-0981875279

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by P.L. Nunn

Zero Hour by Jordan Castillo Price

Aside for the hot cover, one of the reason that pushed me to buy this book, the other is obviously the author: Jordan Castillo Price is one of those authors that will never disappoint you, she has both story than characters solid and strong, and so plenty satisfying, even when I’m reading a futuristic setting, that is not usually my cup of tea.

In a not so far future, some apocalyptic disaster, destroyed the world how we know it; a central power, the Deacons, govern the society and people are cloned in number pieces and programmed to live 30 years flat: from 0 to 10 years you are trained, from 10 to 30 years less one month you work always the same job, and then you have 1 month of retirement before giving back the AI that has let you survived till that moment and receiving your “prize”, i.e. your soul will leave your mortal body to go… well no one knows exactly where, but it has to go somewhere right?

Ernest has reached 29 years and 11 months and now has a full month to enjoy his retirement; the first place he chooses to go is an old style coffee-book store; true, the coffee is not the same, it’s given through syringes or IVs, and the books are artificial tablets, but at least it’s something Ernest is doing for pleasure, spending all the money he saved before his planned death. But then the owner of the coffee place, Will, start to insinuate the doubt that there is another true, that he is not fated to die in one month, not if he will stop to report each night with the central system.

There is a lot of fight against the system theory, but also a je accuse on how people mistreated the Earth and the gifts they received from Her. Ernest is not at fault, like they are not the other like him, since he has no idea there was something different before, revolutionary knowledge like psychology and history were purged from the available data feed, and they are accessible only from the very wealthy members of the Deacons. Ernest is not gay or straight, he is chemically castrated and so he has no sexual desire at all; not only that he is also deprived of testosterone, and so without sexual desires he has also no stimulus at all.

Will recognizes in Ernest some potential, and with some good placed inputs, insinuates in him the desire to “taste” the life, and it’s not a metaphor, Ernest was fed through a shunt in his arms, no solid or liquid food at all, nothing through his mouth. When he meets Will, there will be a lot of things he will learn to do with his mouth, not only eat: taste, kiss, and many, many other pleasurable activities.

Even if a claustrophobic society, the story is not at all boring or heavy, on the contrary, it’s almost sweet and romantic; there are some sad moments, but they are balanced by other more light events, and in the end, the feeling is very much like I have read a classical romance.

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/zero.html

Amazon: Zero Hour: A Dystopian Adventure
Amazon Kindle: Zero Hour: A Dystopian Adventure
Paperback: 292 pages
Publisher: JCP Books (July 26, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0981875270
ISBN-13: 978-0981875279

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by P.L. Nunn