Rainbow Awards: Current Submissions (461-470)

461) Sue Brown - The Isle of... Where?
Paperback: 250 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (June 29, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613727070
ISBN-13: 978-1613727072
Amazon: The Isle of... Where?
Amazon Kindle: The Isle of... Where?

When Liam Marshall’s best friend, Alex, loses his fight with colon cancer, he leaves Liam one final request: buy a ticket to Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, and scatter Alex’s ashes off the pier. Liam is tired, worn out, and in desperate need of a vacation, but instead of sun, sea, sand, and hot cabana boys, he gets a rickety old train, revolting kids, and no Ewan MacGregor. Liam would have done anything for his friend, but fulfilling Alex’s final wish means letting go off the only family Liam had left. Lost, he freezes on the pier… until Sam Owens comes to his rescue. Sam’s family has vacationed on the Isle of Wight every year for as long as he can remember, but he’s never met anyone like Liam. Determined to make Liam’s vacation one to remember, Sam looks after him—in and out of the bedroom. He even introduces Liam to his entire family. But as Sam helps Liam let go, he’s forced to admit that he wants Liam to hang on—not to his old life, but to Sam and what they have together.

462) Luke Hartwell - Atom Heart John Beloved
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: Antinous Press, USA (October 26, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0615722350
ISBN-13: 978-0615722351
Amazon: Atom Heart John Beloved
Amazon Kindle: Atom Heart John Beloved

Atom Heart John Beloved chronicles the lives of two boys who become friends at age thirteen. The story is told by eighteen-year-old John, who quietly whispers to his best friend one night in bed, "Do me." This novel is a breathtaking love story and an intense coming of age story that resembles no other book. John's narrative voice is one of the most unique in gay literature. Atom Heart John Beloved is literate, intimate, erotic, and delightful, delivering unexpected moments of grace.

463) Leslie Lee Sanders - Before the Darkness
Paperback: 132 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (June 28, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1477648593
ISBN-13: 978-1477648599
Amazon: Before the Darkness: Refuge Inc. Book One (Volume 1)
Amazon Kindle: Before the Darkness: Refuge Inc. Book One (Volume 1)

To survive is a challenge. To survive for each other is more than they expected. After an asteroid strikes Earth, a series of violent earthquakes destroy secluded Phoenix and leave survivor Elliot struggling to stay focused in the bleak aftermath. And then he meets fellow survivor Adam. Together, the two search for reliable shelter and other survivors while distant murky clouds fast approach. Their hunt for shelter leads them down an alternate path when they find spray painted symbols directing them to a mysterious place: Refuge Inc. As ominous clouds slowly shut off all light to their devastated world, they are forced to come to terms with their pasts and their growing attraction for each other. Neither thought their pasts and personal crises would affect their ability to endure the horrors they're forced to live through. Neither thought they would be drawn so close to one another in the aftermath of an unimaginable catastrophe. By working together, can they continue to survive? Or will the mystery of Refuge Inc. cause diverse expectations and lead them to decisions that further threaten their lives?

464) Jane Elliot - Above All
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Manifold Press (1 August 2012)
Language: English

When volatile genius Dr Jasper Swinton accidentally hits a homeless man with his car one night in a seedy part of town, he finds himself taking responsibility for the man’s recovery in a very personal way. Before long, Brian has become such an integral part of his life that Jasper doesn’t know how he’ll ever begin to manage without him – until the day comes when he has to …

465) Julie Bozza - The Butterfly Hunter
Paperback: 242 pages
Publisher: Manifold Press (1 August 2012)
Language: English

It started as a simple assignment for Aussie bush guide Dave Taylor – escort a lone Englishman in quest of an unknown species of butterfly. However Nicholas Goring is no ordinary tourist, his search is far from straightforward, and it’s starting to look as if the butterflies don’t want to be found. As Dave teaches Nicholas everything he needs to survive in the Outback he discovers that he too has quite a bit to learn – and that very often the best way to locate something really important is just not to want to find it…

466) Beth Burnett - Man Enough
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Amazon Kindle: Man Enough

Things are going well for Davey Carter. She loves her job and she has a comfortable bed. Granted, her love life is non-existent, her pot-smoking mother is wreaking havoc in her apartment, and she is starting to suspect that her lesbian best friend might be secretly in love with her. But none of that matters when Davey meets Danny, a kind, loving, intelligent man who just may be the love of Davey's life. Until it turns out that Danny is harboring a secret of his own.

467) Anders & Phair - The Ripper's Daughter
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (July 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1477653252
ISBN-13: 978-1477653258
Amazon: The Ripper's Daughter
Amazon Kindle: The Ripper's Daughter

A sadistic serial killer the press calls the Ripper's Daughter is stalking the streets of Boston. The victims are seemingly random, but each is horribly mutilated and left to die in the open with their mouths glued shut. Colby Willis, a burnt out police detective haunted by her failure to prevent the murder of her mentor, Marty Walsh, drowns her days in Jack. Suffering from unexplained seizures and black outs, Colby is soon forced to confront Jessie Walsh, the daughter of her mentor and the woman she loved and betrayed. Locked away in a mental asylum and forgotten, Jessie holds the key to the killer's identity. Can Colby figure out what she's forgotten in time to save Jessie and herself or will she become the next victim?

468) Ana Bosch - Art of Death
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (July 2, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613725825
ISBN-13: 978-1613725825
Amazon: Art of Death
Amazon Kindle: Art of Death

Despite the support of his rich older boyfriend, starving artist Riley Burke is determined not to be a trophy--hence his second job as a nude model at the local art school. It's important to him that he pay his own way, so when the artist Coliaro requests a private modeling session with him, he jumps at the chance to earn some real cash. Then he hears the rumors--that Coliaro is undead. That his worshippers perform rituals to fill him with life energy. That every time he paints a male nude, the painting transforms to depict a gruesome murder. And that shortly after, a young man turns up dead. The source of these rumors is a man named Westwood, who claims to be an instructor at the school and warns Riley not to get involved. Riley ignores the advice--but when the rumors pan out and another murder looms, he turns to Westwood for help. Westwood is clearly keeping secrets. He's dangerous, and Riley doesn't know if he can be trusted--which makes him all the more attractive. Riley is in way over his head... and his involvement with the undead may make him the ultimate target.

469) Tinnean - Not My Spook
Paperback: 350 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (July 6, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613725884
ISBN-13: 978-1613725887
Amazon: Not My Spook!/a>
Amazon Kindle: Not My Spook!

Sequel to Houseboat on the Nile. Spy vs. Spook: Book Two. Highly ranked CIA officer Quinton Mann finds himself in a relationship with Mark Vincent—for exactly five days. At that point, Mark uses the excuse of going to Massachusetts for his mother’s funeral to end it. But Quinn’s a spook, and you can’t fake a faker. Mark fears he’s getting in too deep with Quinn, hence the disappearing act. Then Quinn does something unexpected, something nobody has ever done before: he comes after Mark. Maybe being in a relationship with Quinn isn’t such a bad idea. In the meantime, something strange is going on in the intelligence community worldwide. When Quinn disappears while investigating a rogue antiterrorist organization, Mark makes up his mind. Quinn might be a spook, but he’s Mark’s spook, damn it—and once he gets Quinn home, he intends to keep him. He just has to find him first.

470) Aleksandr Voinov - Incursion
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (July 7, 2012)
Amazon Kindle: Incursion

When the local authorities ask Kyle Juenger to hunt a shape-shifting Glyrinny spy, he can’t refuse. After all, he can use the reward to replace his paralyzed legs with cyberware, and maybe even to return to his home planet. Besides, he hates the morphs—those invasive, brain-eating monstrosities whose weapons cost him his legs. Kyle’s best lead is the Scorpion, a mercenary ship armed to the teeth. Grimm, the Scorpion’s pilot and captain, fascinates Kyle. He’s everything Kyle lost with his legs, and he’s from the same home world. He’s also of the warrior caste—half priest, half savior. But Grimm’s been twisted by life as a merc, and Kyle’s stuck undercover as a criminal on the run. That doesn’t stop Grimm from coming on to Kyle, or from insisting he’s more than the sum of his past and his useless legs. But Kyle has other concerns—like tracking a dangerous morph who could be wearing anyone’s face. And as if things weren’t complicated enough, Kyle can’t tell if Grimm is part of the solution . . . or part of the problem.

Rainbow Awards: Current Submissions (471-481)

471) Paul Alan Fahey - The View from 16 Podwale Street
Publisher: JMS Books LLC (July 8, 2012)
Amazon Kindle: The View from 16 Podwale Street

April 1939. Warsaw, Poland. To the casual observer, the houses on Podwale Street look very much alike. Yet at 16 Podwale, nothing is as it seems. Within, the walls hold many secrets that could destroy the lives of its inhabitants as they witness the city’s ever-mounting tide of Nazism. Wealthy recluse Elwira Malinowska is more an observer than participant in life. In her seclusion at 16 Podwale, she watches the world pass her by. Then Raz Zielinsky comes to work as a housemaid for her father, and Elwira’s life is suddenly divisible by two -- the time before Raz and the time after. Years pass, and the women become lovers. They depend on each other. Elwira is Raz’s protector, and Raz is Elwira’s conduit to the outside world, where people speak of nothing but the continual threat of war with Germany. Elwira, a steadfast Catholic, believes Pope Pius XII will intervene to save Poland from the rumblings of a maniac and an imminent invasion. But when the Pope fails to mediate peace and the political situation worsens, Elwira and Raz plan their escape to freedom. Will their plan succeed? Or is it already too late?

472) Lisabet Sarai - Quarantine
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (September 10, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1781845271
ISBN-13: 978-1781845271
Amazon: Quarantine
Amazon Kindle: Quarantine

Love is contagious. But when love is forbidden, the whole world's a prison. Dylan Moor will do anything for freedom. Seven years ago, a gay plague spread to heterosexuals, killing millions and sparking brutal anti-gay riots. The guardians rounded up men who tested positive for the Homogene and imprisoned them in remote quarantine centres like desolate Camp Malheur. Since then, Dylan has hacked the camp's security systems and hoarded spare bits of electronics, seeking some way to escape. He has concluded the human guards are the only weakness in the facility's defences. Camp guard Rafe Cowell is H-Negative. He figures the lust he feels watching prisoner 3218 masturbate on the surveillance cameras must be due to his loneliness and isolation. When he finally meets the young queer, he discovers that Dylan is brilliant, brave, sexy as hell - and claims to be in love with Rafe. Despite his qualms, Rafe find he can't resist the other man's charm. By the time Dylan asks for his help in escaping, Rafe cares too much for Dylan to refuse. Dylan's plan goes awry and Rafe comes to his rescue. Soon they're both fugitives, fleeing from militant survivalists, murderous androids, homophobic ideologues and a powerful man who wants Dylan as his sexual toy. Hiding in the plague-ravaged city of Sanfran, Dylan and Rafe learn there's far more that their own safety at stake. Can they help prevent the deaths of millions more people? And can Rafe trust the love of a man who deliberately seduced him in order to escape from quarantine?

473) Nemo Euler - Luck
Paperback: 302 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (July 10, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1477673288
ISBN-13: 978-1477673287
Amazon: Luck
Amazon Kindle: Luck

The Luck Saga. Adventure, action and romance across two galaxies as they collide and merge
On planet Luck Prime a boy is born. He is named Gabriall and it is his fate to change the destiny of two galaxies… but he cannot do it alone! LUCK - volume one of The Luck Saga. Gabriall, now a cadet at The Rider Academy, and his Ridemate, Tontonn, are trained to mind-mesh with self-aware intelligent machines and to fly the mighty Steel Hornets. A near-fatal crash with his Hornet leaves Cadet Gabriall stranded on the beach of a remote deserted island. He is rescued by The Sky Lord, Thozan Vinnavan, and it is love at first sight… The three young men grapple with their emotional bonds until they join forces and take to space in Thozan Vinnavan’s amazing Intergalactic Starship. While exploring the outer reaches of a solar system, they encounter the overwhelmingly potent and mysterious alien powers that will prove to be the challenge of their lives!

474) Susan Laine - Mending Fences
Paperback: 154 pages
Publisher: Siren Publishing, Inc. (September 11, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1622415817
ISBN-13: 978-1622415816
Amazon: Mending Fences [Cowboys of Snow Lake 3]
Amazon Kindle: Mending Fences [Cowboys of Snow Lake 3]

Getting his life back together is not an easy task for Clayton Jennings, a rodeo cowboy who was accidentally outed as gay in front of his fiancee. He finds himself alone, drunk, and beaten up on a daily basis. Enter the knight in shining armor. Jesse Brown, the sheriff of Snow Lake, rescues Clayton. Healing the man from the pain of physical wounds is one thing. Healing him from the hurt of self-loathing and sense of worthlessness is another. Jesse has his work cut out for himself if he means to save Clayton from his enemies-and himself. The only way to do that is teach the cowboy who has lost everything to accept that maybe he's not a charity case after all, but the object of a man's desire, adoration, and love.

475) Eric Arvin - SuburbaNights
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (July 11, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613725973
ISBN-13: 978-1613725979
Amazon: SuburbaNights
Amazon Kindle: SuburbaNights

Sequel to Suburbilicious. SubSurdity: Book Three. On Jasper Lane, Cassie Bloom is gearing up for Halloween; Becky is expecting, and her father is overbearing and paranoid; Rick and James are their usual happy selves, though James has developed a porn obsession; Terrence is putting together an all drag cheer squad; and David is helping Cliff transition from adult film star to bodybuilder. Of course, that’s just what’s going on at the surface. This is suburbia, and its underbelly is teeming with secrets. Like what’s up with that rather odd family that moved in down the street—the family with the big cross in the front yard who look nothing alike. Like where Cassie’s son, Jason, has disappeared to and why he hasn’t called. Like what on Earth Nanna Hench is doing with a scooter, a megaphone, and a clown car full of religious zealots. When Cliff suddenly disappears, Jasper Lane goes on high alert. Terrence posts fliers, and Rick and James scour the gym. David is determined to get his husband back, but when he goes missing too—and with Cassie and Melinda on a road trip to find Jason—it’s up to Terrence to solve the mystery and save the day.

476) Andrew Grey - Unconditional Love
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (July 13, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613725434
ISBN-13: 978-1613725436
Amazon: Unconditional Love
Amazon Kindle: Unconditional Love

A Seven Days Story. Can a person’s life change in just one day? How about seven? Donald Pottier and Jason Greene are barely more than boys when they meet on Chincoteague Island, Virginia. A day of crabbing soon turns them from strangers to friends, then to something more, but the boys’ time is limited: at the end of the summer, Jay will leave Don and the island behind. But Fate has more in store for Don and Jay than a summer of might-have-beens. Through eleven years of friendship, pain, love, loss, sickness, and misfortune, seven days stand out. Seven days define and shape the people they are and the relationship they share. Seven days of reunions and separations, accidents and serendipity, rejection and acceptance, disappointment and hope lay the foundation no romance can survive without: unconditional love.

477) Alex Jeffers - You Will Meet a Stranger Far from Home
Paperback: 196 pages
Publisher: Lethe Press (July 14, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590211030
ISBN-13: 978-1590211038
Amazon: You Will Meet a Stranger Far from Home: wonder stories
Amazon Kindle: You Will Meet a Stranger Far from Home: wonder stories

From the author of Safe as Houses and The Abode of Bliss, ten wondrous tales of yesterday, today, and tomorrow--of our familiar world and others. An American teenager meets Adonis on a sailing cruise off the coast of Turkey. A merchant of the Silk Road encounters a dog--and a brother--from another world. An old lady on a distant planet attempts to help her great-grandson grow up in a world that will soon forget women ever existed. A Massachusetts boy refuses to visit fairyland. Another American teenager on vacation encounters three fallen angels and is transformed. Alex Jeffers's first collection of fantastical stories is a treacherous box of delights.

478) Charlie Cochrane - Lessons for Survivors
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Cheyenne Publishing (July 15, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1937692140
ISBN-13: 978-1937692148
Amazon: Lessons for Survivors
Amazon Kindle: Lessons for Survivors

Cambridge, September 1919 Orlando Coppersmith should be happy. WWI is almost a year in the past, he's back at St. Bride's College in Cambridge, he has his lover and best friend Jonty Stewart back at his side and-to top it all-he's about to be made Forsterian Professor of Applied Mathematics. With his inaugural lecture to give and a plagiarism case to adjudicate on, Orlando's hands are full, so can he and Jonty afford to take on an investigative commission surrounding a suspected murder? Especially one which must be solved within a month so that a clergyman can claim what he says is his rightful inheritance? The answer looks like being a resounding "no" when the lecture proves almost impossible to write, the plagiarism case gets turned back on him and Jonty (spiced with a hint of blackmail), and the case surrounding Peter Biggar's death proves to have too many leads and too little evidence. Orlando begins to doubt their ability to solve cases any more, and his mood isn't improved when there seems to be no way of outsmarting the blackmailer. Will this be the first failure for Coppersmith and Stewart? And how will they maintain their reputations-professional, private and as amateur detectives?

479) Jeffrey Luscombe - Shirts and Skins
Paperback: 228 pages
Publisher: Chelsea Station Editions (July 16, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1937627004
ISBN-13: 978-1937627003
Amazon: Shirts and Skins
Amazon Kindle: Shirts and Skins

A remarkable debut novel from Jeffrey Luscombe-a compelling series of linked stories of a young man's coming-out, coming-of-age, and coming-to-terms with his family and fate. Josh Moore lives with his family on the 'wrong side' of Hamilton, a gritty industrial city in southwestern Ontario. As a young boy, Josh plots an escape for a better life far from the steel mills that lined the bay. But fate has other plans and Josh discovers his adult life in Toronto is just as fraught with as many insecurities and missteps as his youth and he soon learns that no matter how far away he might run, he will never be able to leave his hometown behind.

480) L.A. Witt - The Healing & The Dying
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (June 4, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 161921248X
ISBN-13: 978-1619212480
Amazon: The Healing & the Dying (Tooth and Claw)
Amazon Kindle: The Healing & the Dying (Tooth and Claw)

Doing the right thing could destroy everything… Tooth & Claw, Book 2. Levi, Ian, and Darius escaped death-by-wolf-pack by the skin of their teeth, but they’re not out of the woods. The wolves are relentless. Help from humans? Not likely. Their only hope is a vampire commune in remote western Canada—if they make it in one piece. Even then, there’s no guarantee they’ll be offered sanctuary. First challenge is to get there. Sunlight is deadly. Money is dwindling. Police and wolves alike are on the hunt. Worse, Levi hasn't recovered physically or emotionally from the accident that broke several of his bones and killed his best friend. He desperately wants Ian or Darius to turn him, which would heal his wounds, speed their escape, and sever his last tie to the wolves that made his life hell. Yet Darius hesitates, caught between his desire to help his lover, and fear that once this is all over, Levi and Ian will have no use—or desire—to keep him in the picture. And that’s assuming they all make it to the end of this alive…

481) Bebe Balocca - Carved Into Her Heart
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (September 16, 2012)
Amazon Kindle: Carved into Her Heart

The gargoyles of Invercreutch Castle fascinate Jasmine with their grotesque beauty. When night falls, she learns that there’s more to them than meets the eye... Jasmine has always been drawn to medieval castles, even though she was raised in the American Midwest. She’s thrilled when she comes upon Scotland’s fabled Invercreutch Castle, hidden deep in Argyll Forest. Three stone gargoyles atop the castle, in the shapes of a dog, a snake, and an eagle, are eerily lifelike. When darkness falls, the statues shift from their gargoyle forms into their human shapes. Jasmine is terrified at first, but quickly sees that only passionate pleasure awaits her at Invercreutch. Through the long night that follows, Jasmine learns that her arrival is no accident. She also discovers that creatures of stone can be hot-blooded, hungry, and full of life. Persuaded by the seductive embraces of Feargus, Niall, and Maeve, Jasmine begins to sense her true place in the world. She remembers that she is an intergral part of the magickal history of Invercreutch. Jasmine now has a choice to make—does her heart belong in the bright daylight world of today or in the timeless moonlight magick of Argyll Forest?