2014 Rainbow Awards Submission: A.J. Thomas

Gay Contemporary General Fiction
Sex & Sourdough by A.J. Thomas
Paperback: 266 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (December 13, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1627983074
ISBN-13: 978-1627983075
Amazon: Sex & Sourdough
Amazon Kindle: Sex & Sourdough

Anders Blankenship never intended to hike the Appalachian Trail alone, but when his boyfriend cancels, Anders steels his courage, leaving the abusive relationship to tackle the long-distance hike. Though a hiking virgin, he’s glad he made the decision when he receives threatening messages from his ex. Luckily, Kevin, an experienced backpacker, takes him under his wing.

Kevin Winters isn’t looking for a hiking partner, let alone a fling with a cute man on the rebound. After learning he has the autoimmune disorder that killed his father, Kevin left his family to wander remote trails. Convinced his future holds only pain and death, Kevin refuses to get close to anyone. The family sourdough recipes he recreates over a campfire are his only solace.

In the wilderness, Anders and Kevin discover a lot of common ground. While the future holds uncertainties they may not be ready to deal with, it might also hold the chance for happiness.

Gay Mystery / Thriller
Holding Out for a Fairy Tale (Least Likely Partnership Book 2) by A.J. Thomas
Paperback: 250 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (May 9, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1627987053
ISBN-13: 978-1627987059
Amazon: Holding Out for a Fairy Tale (Least Likely Partnership Book 2)
Amazon Kindle: Holding Out for a Fairy Tale (Least Likely Partnership Book 2)

Least Likely Partnership: Book Two

When his vicious cousin Alejandro makes a violent late-night visit, San Diego homicide detective Ray Delgado gets a brutal reminder of why he left his family behind. Alejandro wants Ray to find his sister, Sophia, who disappeared from the UC San Diego campus, before the FBI digs too deep into his business.

Special Agent Elliot Belkamp spent his entire life jumping from one place to another, but his new assignment assisting a FBI task force offers him a chance to settle down. When Elliot catches a missing person's case as his first assignment, the last person he expects to find poking around the victim’s dorm room is Ray, a one-time hookup he’s more inclined to punch in the face than kiss hello. After discovering Sophia's disappearance is linked to a massive computer-based theft that has two powerful crime families ready to declare war, Elliot focuses on his investigation and tries to ignore Ray. As the search for Sophia turns dangerous, Elliot and Ray discover that tackling organized crime might be easier than resisting the urge to tackle each other.

Charities Donation program progress:
328$ Albert Kennedy Trust: http://www.akt.org.uk/
990$ Ali Forney Center: www.aliforneycenter.org/
50$ Audre Lorde Project: http://alp.org/
25$ BiNet US: http://www.binetusa.org/
125$ CARE: careprogram.org/
125$ The Center Colorado: http://www.glbtcolorado.org/
25$ LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland: http://www.lgbtcleveland.org/
401$ COLORS: www.colorsyouth.org/
80$ Covenant: www.covenanthouseno.org/
75$ Diversity Role Models: http://www.diversityrolemodels.org/
25$ The Diversity Center: http://diversitycenter.org/
317$ Galop: www.galop.org.uk/
150$ GLYS: http://www.glyswny.org/
135$ Human Rights Campaign: http://www.hrc.org/
50$ Huntsville GLBT Advocacy & Youth Services: http://www.glbtays.org/
100$ It Gets Better: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/
100$ Inland Northwest LGBT Center: www.thelgbtcenter.org/
235$ Lambda Legal: www.lambdalegal.org/
50$ Lambert House: www.lamberthouse.org/
50$ Lancaster LGBT Center: http://www.centralpalgbtcenter.org/
50$ LEAP: http://www.glbtleap.org/
512$ Lost-n-Found Youth: www.lost-n-found.org/
50$ MKE LGBT Center: www.mkelgbt.org/
130$ Moveable Feast: http://www.mfeast.org/
25$ Odyssey Youth Center: www.odysseyyouth.org/
25$ Out Youth: outyouth.org/
25$ Pathfinders: pathfindersmke.org/
150$ PFLAG: community.pflag.org/
175$ Point Foundation: www.pointfoundation.org/
100$ Ruth Ellis Center: http://www.ruthelliscenter.org/
650$ SAGE: giveto.sageusa.org/
25$ Terrence Higgins Trust: www.tht.org.uk/
455$ The Trevor Project: www.thetrevorproject.org/
160$ UCAN: www.ucanchicago.org/
25$ WayGay: http://www.waygay.org/
200$ You Can Play: http://youcanplayproject.org/
75$ YouthCare: www.youthcare.org/
997$ Other Funds
TOTAL: 7265$*

* more than 150$ is a direct donation from a supporter of the Rainbow Awards who isn't submitting; while some authors were more than generous, arriving to donate 5 times the suggested amount, being the submission fee a non mandatory and voluntary direct donation, we were struggling to raise the same amount as last year and there is who decided to cover part of it. I thank you for all you are doing, and if you wish to donate to the above links, please drop me a note with your donation and I will update the total.

2014 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4162490.html

2014 Rainbow Awards Submission: Heavyweight

Gay Young Adult
Heavyweight by MB Mulhall
Paperback: 230 pages
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press (April 23, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1627987142
ISBN-13: 978-1627987141
Amazon: Heavyweight
Amazon Kindle: Heavyweight

Secrets. Their weight can be crushing, but their release can change everything—and not necessarily for the better. Ian is no stranger to secrets. Being a gay teen in a backwater southern town, Ian must keep his orientation under wraps, especially since he spends a lot of time with his hands all over members of the same sex, pinning their sweaty, hard bodies to the wrestling mat.

When he’s trying not to stare at teammates in the locker room, he’s busy hiding another secret—that he starves himself so he doesn’t get bumped to the next weight class.

Enter Julian Yang, an Adonis with mesmerizing looks and punk rocker style. Befriending the flirtatious artist not only raises suspicion among his classmates, but leaves Ian terrified he’ll give in to the desires he’s fought to ignore.

As secrets come to light, Ian’s world crumbles. Disowned, defriended, and deserted by nearly everyone, Ian’s one-way ticket out of town is revoked, leaving him trapped in a world he hates—and one that hates him back.

Charities Donation program progress:
328$ Albert Kennedy Trust: http://www.akt.org.uk/
990$ Ali Forney Center: www.aliforneycenter.org/
50$ Audre Lorde Project: http://alp.org/
25$ BiNet US: http://www.binetusa.org/
125$ CARE: careprogram.org/
125$ The Center Colorado: http://www.glbtcolorado.org/
25$ LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland: http://www.lgbtcleveland.org/
401$ COLORS: www.colorsyouth.org/
80$ Covenant: www.covenanthouseno.org/
75$ Diversity Role Models: http://www.diversityrolemodels.org/
25$ The Diversity Center: http://diversitycenter.org/
317$ Galop: www.galop.org.uk/
150$ GLYS: http://www.glyswny.org/
135$ Human Rights Campaign: http://www.hrc.org/
50$ Huntsville GLBT Advocacy & Youth Services: http://www.glbtays.org/
100$ It Gets Better: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/
100$ Inland Northwest LGBT Center: www.thelgbtcenter.org/
235$ Lambda Legal: www.lambdalegal.org/
50$ Lambert House: www.lamberthouse.org/
50$ Lancaster LGBT Center: http://www.centralpalgbtcenter.org/
50$ LEAP: http://www.glbtleap.org/
512$ Lost-n-Found Youth: www.lost-n-found.org/
50$ MKE LGBT Center: www.mkelgbt.org/
130$ Moveable Feast: http://www.mfeast.org/
25$ Odyssey Youth Center: www.odysseyyouth.org/
25$ Out Youth: outyouth.org/
25$ Pathfinders: pathfindersmke.org/
150$ PFLAG: community.pflag.org/
175$ Point Foundation: www.pointfoundation.org/
100$ Ruth Ellis Center: http://www.ruthelliscenter.org/
650$ SAGE: giveto.sageusa.org/
25$ Terrence Higgins Trust: www.tht.org.uk/
455$ The Trevor Project: www.thetrevorproject.org/
160$ UCAN: www.ucanchicago.org/
25$ WayGay: http://www.waygay.org/
200$ You Can Play: http://youcanplayproject.org/
75$ YouthCare: www.youthcare.org/
997$ Other Funds
TOTAL: 7265$*

* more than 150$ is a direct donation from a supporter of the Rainbow Awards who isn't submitting; while some authors were more than generous, arriving to donate 5 times the suggested amount, being the submission fee a non mandatory and voluntary direct donation, we were struggling to raise the same amount as last year and there is who decided to cover part of it. I thank you for all you are doing, and if you wish to donate to the above links, please drop me a note with your donation and I will update the total.

2014 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4162490.html

GayRomLit Retreat: Pearl Love

Starting from March up until September I will feature authors attending the GayRomLit Retreat in Chicago (October 16-19, 2014: http://gayromlit.com/grl-authors).

Today author is Pearl Love: Pearl Love has been writing since she was a kid, but it was the pretty boys who frolic around in her head who finally convinced her to pursue it seriously. She’s a mid-west transplant who current thrives in the hustle and bustle of the nation’s capital. A jack of many genres, she enjoys just about any type of story, so long as in the end, the boy gets the boy. She especially prefers romances with a little sci-fi or fantasy thrown in for flavor. Pearl is thrilled to be published with Dreamspinner Press. Her titles include: "Til Darkness Falls" - 2010 "Burnt Offerings" - 2011 "That Which Doesn't Kill You" - 2012
Website: http://pearllovebooks.com/

Pearl Love is offering a copy of The Uncertain Customer to one commenter on this blog. You can comment on LJ or DW if you have an account (I will send a PM to the winner), if you don't have an account, please leave a comment on DW with a contact email.

The Uncertain Customer by Pearl Love
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press; 1 edition (April 22, 2014)
Amazon Kindle: The Uncertain Customer

Devon Wilcox, the privileged fifth son of a viscount, has everything a man could want ... except being gay in a time when such deviant behavior could land him in prison. He tries to console himself with the denizens of society's underbelly, but frequently ends up the victim of those who'd rather take advantage of his desperation. Fortunately, his best friend and secret object of infatuation, Sir Wallace Church, comes to his rescue. Wallace tempts him with the promise of high-class entertainment at a mysterious boy brothel called "The Garden." Situated in the heart of mid-Victorian London, The Garden offers an array of choice morsels, beautiful young men named after flowers. There, Wilcox finds not only the perfect bed partner for the evening, but the chance to gain his most ardent heart's desire.

Waiting for Ty (Lovers and Friends) by Samantha Ann King

Starting from the assumption that I liked this romance, and that I'd recommend it to my friends, I want to let it out from the beginning the only nagging feeling I had while reading it: the two men in the story are bisexual, and they really wanted to let the reader know it, cause they more than once said it, highlighting how people don't understand the concept of bisexuality, how everyone believes that or you are homosexual or you are heterosexual; now maybe I'm familiar with the Kinsey scale and I didn't feel necessary to affirming it so many time, but truth be told, I also understand the author that probably faced more than once this sort of ghetto for bisexuals, like they are in a limbo people don't recognize.

Anyway, the concept of the story is that Ty and Landon fell in love probably at first sight, but to avoid problematic confrontations with family and friends, they decided it was only a best friendship; they visit each other (one living in Austin, the other in Houston), they watch sport, they crash at each other place when necessary. And meeting after meeting the tension build like a mountain until the night it crashes down, overwhelming both men.

The author hasn't the pink glasses on, and she well know it is not easy for both of them, especially for Ty whose uber-conservative deep bible-belt family will not understand his love for Landon. So after sex, there will be the moment to let the heat cool down and the brain taking some decisions. It will hurt some, it will make happy some other. The eroticism is well balanced with the emotional involvement, tipping the story more towards erotic romance than erotica, even if the sex side of the story is an important and catalyst event.

Publisher: Carina Press (July 29, 2013)
Amazon Kindle: Waiting for Ty (Lovers and Friends Book 2)

Series: Lovers and Friends
1) Sharing Hailey
2) Waiting for Ty

More Reviews by Author at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Reviews

Best Gay Erotica 2014 edited by Larry Duplechan

Reading one of these anthologies is like going to a party, some people you know, some you don't, and maybe you will make some friends you will gain for the future. Of course you pick the book cause you know you will like the stories of the authors you know (Shane Allison, J.M. Snyder, Eric Del Carlo, Gregory L. Norris, Jay Starre, Dale Lazarov, Max Vos) but then it will be nice to be surprise to like very much some of the new ones (Lee Hitt, Tony Haynes, Landon Dixon, Boot LS, K. Lynn, Calvin Gimpelevich, Huck Pilgrim, David Holly, Dilo Keith, Dominic Santi, Thomas Fuchs, Dan Cavanagh).

The whole spectrum covers the "classical" themes of an erotica anthology: the blue collar worker, the college boy, the best friend's dad, the new neighboor, ... and all the stories are quick like a trick, that, indeed, is the right purpose of an erotica anthology, you can read these stories all at once, or just one, like a quick fix or a cigarette after sex. True, if you talk to my romantic side, I will say that my favorites are My Best Friend's Dad (that believe me, isn't as "usual" as you can think) and A Walk in the Park, cause there was romance other than erotica, but that was like finding a chocolate chip in a plain muffin, unexpected and nice, even if it wasn't in the menu.

Said that, the sex was good in all stories, and that is from a reader that usually don't care of sex if it is not good.

Series: Best Gay Erotica
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: Cleis Press (January 7, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1627780017
ISBN-13: 978-1627780018
Amazon: Best Gay Erotica 2014
Amazon Kindle: Best Gay Erotica 2014

More Reviews by Author at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Reviews