2013 Rainbow Awards Submission: Beth Burnett - Andy's Song

Andy's Song by Beth Burnett
Paperback: 302 pages
Publisher: Sapphire Books Publishing (April 15, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1939062144
ISBN-13: 978-1939062147
Amazon: Andy's Song
Amazon Kindle: Andy's Song

Is there more to life than sex? Andy Ericksson is trying to find out. She's had a pretty easy life. She's sexy, she's tough, and she has a trust fund that ensures she will never have to work a "normal" job. She has a circle of adoring friends and all of the hot, casual sex she could want. It's a recipe for a great time. However, lately, Andy has started to feel that something is missing. Casual sex isn't cutting through the loneliness. Her best friend falls in love with someone else, her ex-girlfriend makes an appearance, and she meets someone who isn't willing to be a one-night stand. Andy's world is changing and she's not sure that she's changing with it. In the midst of Andy's turmoil, everyone in her life suddenly seems to be spouting new age wisdom and finding inner peace. Through the changing of one relationship and the beginning of another, Andy struggles to open her heart without sacrificing her freedom or alienating those she loves the most.

2013 Rainbow Awards Submission: Kim Pritekel - Connection

Connection by Kim Pritekel
Publisher: Sapphire Books Publishing (August 12, 2013)
Amazon Kindle: Connection

Julie Wilson lives a charmed life as a beloved teacher and aunt in the small town of Woodland. Close to her brother and guardian of two adorable Yorkies, she loves her life, the only negative being ex-boyfriend, Ray who can't seem to understand the phrase, "We're done." Believing that's her only problem, Julie has no idea what hell awaits her during a normal summer afternoon.

Remmy Foster is the quirky, friendly drifter who has never found roots after a difficult childhood, as well as the difficulties her very special gift brings into her life. Though she may call it exploring, the truth is she's running from ghosts that haunt her every step.

After a chance meeting with Julie while hitchhiking, Remmy will be thrown head first into darkness she could never have foreseen, regardless of her abilities. As the clock ticks, life and death is on her shoulders to make the right connection.

2013 Rainbow Awards Submission: Isabella - American Yakuza II

American Yakuza II (The Lies that Bind) by Isabella
Paperback: 362 pages
Publisher: Sapphire Books Publishing (June 15, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1939062209
ISBN-13: 978-1939062208
Amazon: American Yakuza II (The Lies that Bind)
Amazon Kindle: American Yakuza II (The Lies that Bind)

Luce Potter runs her life and her business with an iron fist and complete control until lies and deception unravel her world. The shadow of betrayal consumes Luce, threatening to destroy the most precious thing in her life, Brooke Erickson. Brooke Erickson finds herself on the outside of Luce's life looking in. As events spiral out of control Brooke can only watch as the woman she loves pushes her further away. Suddenly, devastated and alone, Brooke refuses to let go without an explanation. Colby Water, a federal agent investigating the ever-elusive Luce Potter, discovers someone from her past is front and center in her investigation of the Yakuza crime leader. Before she can put the crime boss in prison, she must confront the ultimate deception in her professional life. When worlds collide, betrayal, dishonor and death are inevitable. Can Luce and Brooke survive the explosion?

2013 Rainbow Awards Submission: Isabella - Executive Disclosure

Executive Disclosure by Isabella
Paperback: 278 pages
Publisher: Sapphire Books Publishing (December 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1939062055
ISBN-13: 978-1939062055
Amazon: Executive Disclosure
Amazon Kindle: Executive Disclosure

When a life is threatened, it takes a special breed of person to step in front of a bullet. Chad Morgan's job has put her life on the line more times that she can count. Getting close to the client is expected; getting too close could be deadly for Chad. Reagan Reynolds wants the top job at Reynolds Holdings and knows how to play the game like "the boys". She's not above using her beauty and body as currency to get what she wants. Shocked to find out someone wants her dead, Reagan isn't thrilled at the prospect of needing protection as she tries to convince the board she's the right woman for a man's job. How far will a killer go to get what they want? Secrets and deception twist the rules of the game as a killer closes in. How far will Chad go to protect her beautiful, but challenging client?

2013 Rainbow Awards Submission: Kim Pritekel - After Shadow

After Shadow by Kim Pritekel
Paperback: 598 pages
Publisher: Sapphire Books Publishing (February 15, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1939062101
ISBN-13: 978-1939062109
Amazon: After Shadow
Amazon Kindle: After Shadow

Clara always knew she was different, but just how different she was was to be seen. She will be forced on a journey to places that, though nightmarish to some, make perfect sense to her. While living a life in darkness and shadow, massaging the ghosts we all want to hide from beneath the covers, she will discover her own light of day. But, can she discover her heart?

2013 Rainbow Awards Submission: Riley LaShea - Black Forest, Kingdoms Fall

Black Forest: Kingdoms Fall (Black Forest Trilogy) by Riley LaShea
Series: Black Forest Trilogy
Paperback: 466 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (July 18, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1490992596
ISBN-13: 978-1490992594
Amazon: Black Forest: Kingdoms Fall (Black Forest Trilogy)
Amazon Kindle: Black Forest: Kingdoms Fall (Black Forest Trilogy)

In the Black Forest, Cinderella lives in slavery, Rapunzel in captivity, and Snow White in exile. Stories only half told, each maiden waits. For better. For rescue. Or for death. Whichever comes for her first. When Cinderella comes face to face with her so-called happy ending in the form of Prince Friedrich "Charming" of Troyale, she does not see her future with the prince as rescue, but as just another life of compromise. In her attempt to flee his amorous intentions, Cinderella inadvertently slips between stories, emerging in a kingdom far from her own and finding true happiness with a beautiful maiden trapped high in a tower. Only one snag to their happily ever after. The storyteller is not finished with Cinderella, and he is none too pleased with her defiance of his design. Determined to put his stubborn heroine back into her own story, he sends captors, conflicts, enemies and grief. Beyond her fairy tale, though, Cinderella is no longer alone. She has everything worth fighting for, and nothing to which she wants to return. In order to hold onto the freedom and happiness she has found in the world beyond her own pages, Cinderella must take on an unexpected role - reluctant leader of a forest-wide revolution. Black Forest: Kingdoms Fall is a tale of strong maidens, noble peasants, arrogant princes, blood magic, redemption, and seven bodacious dwarves.

2013 Rainbow Awards Submission: Angelia Sparrow & Naomi Brooks - Barbarossa's Bitch

Barbarossa's Bitch by Naomi Brooks and Angelia Sparrow
Publisher: Storm Moon Press LLC (February 23, 2013)
Amazon Kindle: Barbarossa's Bitch

Dylan Taggert was one of the few people lucky enough to wake up the morning after the world ended. But as humanity picks up the pieces, he quickly learns that there is no place for a gay computer programmer in a subsistence farming community. Hounded out of one settlement and harried out of another, Dylan keeps his wagon packed and his walking boots ready.

All that changes when he is captured on the road by a wildpack. The ferociously masked leader, Lord Barbarossa, sees something in Dylan that he wants and he keeps the programmer as the pack makes its round of the settlements. The wildpack serves as defenders, trade caravan, circuit riding judge and priest, and mail carrier for the settlements. And Dylan, now called Kane, serves Lord Barbarossa.

But Kane wants to be more than just a warlord's toy and sets about making himself a useful part of the pack. Over the years, he earns himself a place, clothing and his membership marks. But the wheel keeps turning and once again things are changing for the wildpack. The settlements are stronger. The trade routes are secure again. And they are growing older with every winter. They have lived through the end of the old world. Now, they face living through the end of their new world as well.

2013 Rainbow Awards Submission: Erica Pike - Black Hurricane

Black Hurricane (Boston Boys #3) by Erica Pike
ebook, 259 pages
Expected publication: August 23rd 2013 by MLR Press

Twenty-three year old Jasper Jones fell in love with Dean McQueen at fourteen, but after a disastrous relationship, Jazz would like nothing better than to see the rock star choke on his own vomit.

After a catastrophic reunion, Dean seems bent on destroying Jazz’s life. It all started when an impromptu bar performance ended up on YouTube and Jazz became an internet sensation overnight. The name “Jazdean” keeps popping up in headlines and the paparazzi stalk his every move. To make matters worse, Jazz is about to end up on the streets for the second time in his life.

In a desperate attempt to keep his home, Jazz signs a deal with Dean’s band, Black Hurricane, to perform at a couple of concerts. It feels like one of Dean’s feeble attempts to get Jazz back, but painted into a corner like he is, Jazz has no choice.

Colton Thorn & Josh Flagg

Joshua Daniel "Josh" Flagg (born August 20, 1985) is an American real estate agent and media personality who co-stars alongside Madison Hildebrand and Josh Altman on the show Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles on the Bravo television network. Flagg is openly gay, having come out in March 2011, his partner since 2008 is Colton Thorn.

The show, now in its fifth season, follows three young real estate agents in Los Angeles as they sell high-end homes.

Josh Flagg was born on August 20, 1985 in Los Angeles, CA. He is the son of Michael and Cindy (Platt) Flagg of Los Angeles. Flagg is the grandson of philanthropist and Jewish leader Herman Platt and great grandson of Benjamin Platt, founder of the nationwide Platt Music Corporation chain of stores. His great-grandparents on his mother's side were residents of California since the late 1800s and are known for their contributions to Jewry. On his father's side, Flagg is the grandson of former fashion industry executive and designer, Edith Flagg from Romania, and her husband and Los Angeles Jewish leader Eric Flagg.

Flagg grew up in Los Angeles, California. He attended Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School until 1998. In 1998, Flagg attended the Brentwood School, a private school in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. In 2003, Flagg left Brentwood, and attended Beverly Hills High School.

Upon graduation in 2004, Flagg started working as a real estate agent in Beverly Hills. Beginning in 2004, Flagg started making residential sales in high end neighborhoods such as Beverly Hills and the Sunset Strip. Flagg started his career under the arm of real estate broker Bruce Nelson with the John Bruce Nelson firm in Bel Air, followed by a brief stint at the Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills East office in 2007. In 2007, Flagg, along with two other agents, Madison Hildebrand and Chad Rogers, were picked and started filming for a reality TV series. The show aired on Bravo in August 2008. Million Dollar Listing returned for its third season on October 12, 2009.In 2009, Flagg started working at Keller Williams Westside, in Los Angeles, California, where he started "Josh Flagg Estates".


Josh Flagg (born August 20, 1985) is an American real estate agent and media personality who co-stars alongside Madison Hildebrand and Josh Altman on the show Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles on the Bravo television network. His partner since 2008 is Colton Thorn. Flagg is the grandson of: philanthropist and Jewish leader Herman Platt; of Benjamin Platt, founder of the Platt Music Corporation; of former fashion industry executive and designer, Edith Flagg, and of Jewish leader Eric Flagg.



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Flagg

( Further Readings )

More LGBT Couples at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

Daryl Hine (February 24, 1936 – August 20, 2012)

William Daryl Hine (February 24, 1936 – August 20, 2012) was a Canadian poet and translator.

Hine was born in Burnaby in 1936 and grew up in New Westminster B.C. He attended McGill University in Montreal 1954-58. His first chapbook, The Carnal and the Crane, was published as part of Louis Dudek's McGill Poetry Series in 1957.

Hine then voyaged to Europe on a Canada Council scholarship, where he lived for the next three years. He moved to New York in 1962 and to Chicago in 1963, taking a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago[2] in 1967. He taught there and at at Northwestern University and at Illinois University (Chicago Campus) during the following decade while he served as editor of Poetry magazine. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1986. Following the death of his partner of more than 30 years, the philosopher Samuel Todes, Hine lived in semi-retirement in Evanston, Illinois.

He was the son of the late Robert Fraser and Elsie James Hine.

He was an editor of Poetry magazine, from 1968 to 1978. The correspondence is held at Indiana University.

Hine's work appeared in the New York Review of Books, Harper's, The New Yorker, The Tamarack Review, The Paris Review.

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daryl_Hine

( Daryl Hine, 1993, by Robert Giard  )

( Further Readings )

More Particular Voices at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Particular Voices

GayRomLit Ebook Giveaway: Z. Allora - Made in China 1, The Great Wall

I asked to all the authors joining the GayRomLit convention in Atlanta in October (http://gayromlit.com/grl-authors) a personal favor, a special Ebook Giveaway: everyday I will post 1 book from each author, and among those who will leave a comment, I will draw a winner. Very easy and very fast ;-) I will send a PM to the winner, so remember to not leave anonymous comments!

And the ebook giveaway goes to spike7451

Today author is Z. Allora: Z. Allora recently repatriated to the South of the USA after a six year stint in China. (Talk about culture shock!) She feels it is her duty to help educate against intolerance, that is, when she's not too busy hiding under her blankets typing out stories about wicked, beautiful boys doing wicked, beautiful things to each other. She will never grow old because she refuses to grow up, perhaps the most valuable lesson she learned in her years of globetrotting with her one true love.
Website: http://www.zallorabooks.com
Most recent title : Club Zombie: Zombies Ahead
Publishers: MLR Press, Stiff Rain Press

The Great Wall (Made in China) by Z. Allora
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: MLR Press (August 2, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1608208826
ISBN-13: 978-1608208821
Amazon: The Great Wall (Made in China)
Amazon Kindle: The Great Wall (Made in China)

There's no gay in China so what's the drummer of Made in China supposed to do about loving his male best friend when his family thinks he's engaged to the girl next door? Jun "Styx" Wong's heart and mind battle to determine his destiny. His mind tells him to be a good Chinese son and marry the girl his parents chose, but his heart longs for his best friend, Jin, and life with their new band. "Jun" means honesty, but he's not even honest with himself. A quest to eradicate his feelings for Jin nearly ends his life. Styx's near death serves as a wake-up call for Jin, whose blond hair--legacy of his German father--marks him as different. Jin harbors secrets of his own. His experiences prepare him to take the drastic measures needed to help Jun overcome the walls surrounding them. Because there is no gay in China...

2013 Rainbow Awards Submission: B.G. Thomas - The Boy Who Came In From The Cold

The Boy Who Came in from the Cold by B. G. Thomas
Paperback: 284 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (May 29, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1623807131
ISBN-13: 978-1623807139
Amazon: The Boy Who Came in from the Cold
Amazon Kindle: The Boy Who Came in from the Cold

Todd Burton has had enough of small-town Buckman. His abusive stepfather calls him a fag; his friend Austin makes him realize he may be gay, but Todd doesn't want to admit his stepfather is right; and he dreams of being a chef. Three good reasons to flee his hometown and pursue greener pastures. But when Todd reaches the big city, his luck runs dry. Soon he can't pay his rent and gets evicted. In the middle of a snowstorm.

Gabe Richards is a wealthy businessman with enough wounds of his own to make him afraid of ever being intimate again. But when he sees Todd outside his building, freezing to death, he takes pity on him and takes him in from the cold.

To their mutual surprise, Todd and Gabe find themselves drawn to each other. "One night" turns into a week. Maybe letting a man in from the cold can melt the ice around Gabe's heart-and maybe getting evicted will turn Todd's luck around.