2014 Rainbow Awards Submission: Rest Home Runaways

Lesbian Contemporary General Fiction
Rest Home Runaways by Clifford Henderson
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (August 19, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1626391696
ISBN-13: 978-1626391697
Amazon: Rest Home Runawayst

Baby boomer Morgan Ronzio’s troubled marriage is the least of her worries when she gets the call that her addled, eighty-six-year-old, half-blind dad, Mac, has stolen a car and escaped the rest home.

Before she can alert her uber-capable wife, Treat, a trio of lady octogenarians appropriates the rest home van to rescue Mac, embarking on an adventure that makes national news. But Morgan knows something they don’t: Mac is taking orders from her mom’s ghost, trying to make good on a promise he made years ago. Worried sick, Morgan sets out on the 126-mile drive from Fresno to Santa Cruz, praying she finds Mac before he hurts himself—or worse. The chase is on, but the mission becomes one of more than miles; Morgan must also undertake a journey of the heart.

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: Rent Me

Gay Erotic Romance
Rent Me by Brina Brady
Publisher: Brina Brady (May 27, 2014)
Amazon Kindle: Rent Me

Brennen Brady is a 21 year-old escort and USC law student who falls in love with Dmitri Dubrovsky, a 36 year-old Russian mafia man who saved him from an abusive home. When Brennen turned 18, he became Dmitri’s lover. Dmitri controlled every inch of his life in and out of bed. Dmitri set up a domestic discipline type of relationship. Brennen wants Dmitri to be his Dom.
The story captures their struggles to define their relationship. When Dmitri marries Nika to protect his name from his friends and family, their relationship shakes their love. Brennen does not understand his lover’s Russian culture not allowing homosexuality. Two different cultures and age difference clash.
Brennen works as an escort for Dmitri’s Forbidden Desires Escort Service. Each use sharp emotional weapons to protect their relationship.
The story begins with Brennen upset over Dmitri’s marriage. Dmitri moved Brennen to his own apartment while he attends USC and works as an escort. Devastated Brennen did not know how to deal with being number two to his lover while they continued their sexual relationship as if nothing changed.
Brennen is coming of age and wondering if he is gay or bisexual. Dmitri torn between his love for Brennen and his Russian pride that demands him to be straight with a wife and family.
Stubborn Brennen refuses to quit being an escort, which upsets Dmitri who loves him. The battling of two stubborn men who want to be together without giving up anything. Brennen wants to remain an escort and Dmitri can’t accept being gay.
Dmitri’s brother Mischa pushes Brennen in the direction of women, which upsets Dmitri. Can their relationship survive Brennen’s clients? Can their relationship survive Dmitri’s marriage? How will they save their relationship?

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: Hoaley Inexplicable

Gay Mystery / Thriller
Hoaley Inexplicable (Hoale Construction Mysteries Book 3) by Declan Sands
Publisher: Electric Prose Publications (December 16, 2013)
Amazon Kindle: Hoaley Inexplicable (Hoale Construction Mysteries Book 3)

The Hoale Construction gang has taken on the task of bringing Bobby’s Gym into the twenty-first century. But the dead guy hanging from the new lat machine is putting a serious crimp in their timeline. When Bobby becomes the number one suspect for the murder, Adam and the gang are forced to try and clear him. But who is the guy? And was Bobby really the last one to see him alive? Questions only seem to multiply the deeper they dig. Until they uncover a connection with a group of thugs who call themselves the Indiana Mobsters. Things just continue to spiral downward from there.

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

Best Gay Sci-Fi / Futuristic: Under the Rushes by Amy Lane

And now for something completely different... but only on the surface: truth, steampunk novels maybe be a novelty for the readers of Amy Lane, but even if the setting is fantasy, and the time is a tale, the troubled heroes are always there, the struggling to achieve an inner happiness when everything outside is crushing is there, the subtle humor that makes you smile even amidst the drama is again always there.

The author recreates a world that is a mix of pre-industrial era, when machines didn't rule the world, and yet, machines are already part of her fantasy world, but they aren't "moving" the world; if anything else, they are making it worse, used in the wrong way but powerful men... the irony of today critique moved in a fantasy world. Technology should help people, not destroy them.

The pain of the post-war heroes like Dorjan and Areau is that of a today soldier having to deal with the reality he killed civilians instead of enemies. How many today boys, just out teenagedhood, join the army with big ideas of doing the right thing and come back with nightmares that will never leave them, it they come back at all. A common theme in Amy Lane's works, so much that I did wonder how much near home she is hitting. Anyway, nothing was fantasy in Dorjan and Areau's pain, and Taern is the only medicine Dorjan's broken soul needs. It's not only about sex, even if that will be part of it, like one of the prescriptions, it was more about closeness, and filling the emptiness.

It wasn't a "comfort" read, and so it's not the ending, if you will arrive to care for all the characters, even the apparently "bad" ones, you will hurt a little in the end; in a romance all the good ones are happily living after, but well, that will not be in this story. Nevertheless, you will know they did the right thing, and that is what make them heroes.

Paperback: 340 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (December 21, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 162380244X
ISBN-13: 978-1623802448
Amazon: Under the Rushes
Amazon Kindle: Under the Rushes



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