2014 Rainbow Awards Submissions

Lesbian Contemporary Romance
In a Heartbeat by RJ Nolan
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Ylva Verlag e.Kfr. (May 17, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 3955331598
ISBN-13: 978-3955331597
Amazon: In a Heartbeat
Amazon Kindle: In a Heartbeat

Veteran police officer Sam McKenna has no trouble facing down criminals on a daily basis but breaks out in a sweat at the mere mention of commitment. A recent failed relationship strengthens her resolve to stick with her trademark no-strings-attached affairs. Dr. Riley Connolly, a successful trauma surgeon, has spent her whole life trying to measure up to her family's expectations. And that includes hiding her sexuality from them. When a routine call sends Sam to the hospital where Riley works, the two women are hurtled into a life-and-death situation. The incident binds them together. But can there be any future for a commitment-phobic cop and a closeted, workaholic doctor?

Gay Contemporary Romance
Hunted by Liz Powell
ebook
Published August 1st 2014 by Manifold Press
ISBN13 9781908312242
edition language English

As a professional footballer it looks like Adam Hunter has it all, but when the secret of his affair with midfielder Louie Jackson begins to leak out he’s plunged into the depths of misery – prompting a desperate series of manoeuvres to conceal the truth. Injured, distrusted by his team-mates and plagued by personal tragedy, Adam goes from hero to zero – and by the time Louie’s transferred to a German side he’s running out of reasons to stay alive. If there’s any way back from the brink of suicide, it isn’t clear to him at the moment …

Gay Historical
Randy by Jane Elliot
ebook, 182 pages
Published August 1st 2014 by Manifold Press
ISBN13 9781908312259
edition language English

Approaching middle age, Garrison Gaines is aware that all his humble hopes for the future have crumbled into dust. He’s travelling through the vast Unorganized Territories of the central United States when his path crosses that of Randy Everett, a young man who dreams of great adventures in exotic far-away locales – and, while no one can accurately predict the future, one thing is quite certain: that neither man will walk away from the encounter completely unaffected.

Lesbian Contemporary General Fiction
The Last Conception by Gabriel Constans
Paperback: 184 pages
Publisher: Melange Books (June 21, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1612358764
ISBN-13: 978-1612358765
Amazon: The Last Conception
Amazon Kindle: The Last Conception

Passionate embryologist, Savarna, is in a complicated relationship, with two different women, when she is told that she Must have a baby. Her conservative East Indian American parents are desperate for her to conceive, in spite of her "not being married". They insist that she is the last in line of a great spiritual lineage. In the process of choosing her lover and having doubts about her ability, or desire to conceive, Savarna begins to question the necessity of biology and lineage within her parents' beliefs and becomes forever fascinated with the process of conception and the definition of family. Threads of Dan Brown (DaVinci Code), Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Sister of My Heart) and The L Word (Tv series) flavor this colorful tale of awakening, romance and mystery.

Lesbian Mystery / Thriller
Chip Off the Ice Block Murder (A Shay O'Hanlon Caper) by Jessie Chandler
Series: A Shay O'Hanlon Caper (Book 4)
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: MIDNIGHT INK; Reprint edition (May 8, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0738739391
ISBN-13: 978-0738739397
Amazon: Chip Off the Ice Block Murder (A Shay O'Hanlon Caper)
Amazon Kindle: Chip Off the Ice Block Murder (A Shay O'Hanlon Caper)

It’s the dead of winter in Minnesota, and Shay O’Hanlon can’t wait to close up her coffee shop and get out of town with her girlfriend, Minneapolis cop JT Bordeaux. But when she receives a call informing her that her dad is missing, Shay’s plans for a romantic getaway are put on ice.

Figuring her dad is on one of his periodic benders, Shay is shocked to learn that his gun has been used in a murder. With the dead man found in a giant ice cube unable to provide any answers, Shay and her quirky friends are bound and deter- mined to find her father—and the real killer—before the trail turns cold.

Charities Donation program progress:
328$ Albert Kennedy Trust: http://www.akt.org.uk/
1165$ Ali Forney Center: www.aliforneycenter.org/
10$ Australian Marriage Equality: www.australianmarriageequality.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/
531$ COLORS: www.colorsyouth.org/
130$ Covenant: www.covenanthouseno.org/
75$ Diversity Role Models: http://www.diversityrolemodels.org/
25$ The Diversity Center: http://diversitycenter.org/
10$ Gay and Lesbian Foundation of Australia: www.galfa.org.au/
367$ Galop: www.galop.org.uk/
150$ GLYS: http://www.glyswny.org/
135$ Human Rights Campaign: http://www.hrc.org/
75$ Huntsville GLBT Advocacy & Youth Services: http://www.glbtays.org/
125$ It Gets Better: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/
100$ Inland Northwest LGBT Center: www.thelgbtcenter.org/
28$ In Other Words: inotherwords.org/
40$ Los Angeles LGBT Center: www.lalgbtcenter.org/
415$ 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/
515$ 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/
50$ Pathfinders: pathfindersmke.org/
235$ PFLAG: community.pflag.org/
175$ Point Foundation: www.pointfoundation.org/
130$ Ruth Ellis Center: http://www.ruthelliscenter.org/
854$ SAGE: giveto.sageusa.org/
25$ Seta: seta.fi/seta-in-english/
25$ Terrence Higgins Trust: www.tht.org.uk/
605$ The Trevor Project: www.thetrevorproject.org/
160$ UCAN: www.ucanchicago.org/
25$ WayGay: http://www.waygay.org/
225$ You Can Play: http://youcanplayproject.org/
75$ YouthCare: www.youthcare.org/
25$ You Will Rise Project: youwillriseproject.blogspot.com/p/our-mission.html
1135$ Other Funds
TOTAL: 8698$*

* 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: Geoffrey Knight

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 Geoffrey Knight: From palace-hopping across the Rajasthan Desert to sleeping in train stations in Bulgaria, from spinning prayer-wheels in Kathmandu to exploring the skull-gated graveyards of the indigenous Balinese tribes, Geoffrey Knight has been a traveller ever since he could scrape together enough money to buy a plane ticket. Born in Melbourne but raised and educated in countless cities and towns across Australia, Geoffrey was a nomadic boy who grew into a nomadic gay writer. When he’s not travelling the world, Geoffrey is travelling the world of his imagination—where the adventures, thrills and romance are limitless. His gay novels, novellas and short stories include: The Cross of Sins, The Riddle of the Sands, The Curse of the Dragon God, To Catch a Fox (co-written with Ethan Day), Scott Sapphire and the Emerald Orchid, The Pearl Trilogy, The Boy from Brighton, Nude Surfing, Hotel Pens, Paperboy, Boy Scout, Harm's Way, Drive Shaft, Drive Shaft 2: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Under the Bridge, The Gentlemen's Parlor: Room of Chains, and the Non-Fiction work Why Straight Women Love Gay Romance edited by Kris Jacen. His work also features in several anthologies including Best Gay Erotica 2013 edited by Richard LaBonte. He currently owns his own advertising and design agency which he runs from his island home on the Great Barrier Reef, and can't wait to buy his next plane ticket—whether it’s real or imaginary.

Geoffrey Knight and Wilde City Press are offering a copy of Be My Valentine, Bobby Bryson 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.

Be My Valentine, Bobby Bryson by Geoffrey Knight
Publisher: Wilde City Press; Second edition (January 23, 2014)
Amazon Kindle: Be My Valentine, Bobby Bryson

Valentine’s Day has long been a difficult day for widow and single mom Kate Madsen. But this Valentine’s Day is going to be more than just difficult… it’s going to be downright awkward. For Kate’s only child, seven-year-old Mikey, just stunned the small town of Elk’s Ridge by writing a Valentine’s Day card to someone name Bobby Bryson.

While the card sends teachers into a tizz and turns Mikey’s grandfather into a grumpy old man, Kate discovers over the course of one afternoon that she and her young son are about to begin a journey of questions, confrontations and hopefully one day… happiness.

In the meantime, will Mikey and his Mom make it through this Valentine’s Day? Will the innocent intentions of one young boy change the narrow minds of a stubborn, small town? And just who exactly is the object of Mikey’s affections—Bobby Bryson?

Cover Reveal: Lissa Kasey's 'Hidden Gem'

Hidden Gem by Lissa Kasey
ISBN-13 978-1-63216-199-4
Pages 246
Cover Artist Shobana Appavu
Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5376



Misaki “Aki” Itou is a psi—a person with mutated DNA granting him psychic abilities. He’s also a contracted companion—a whore. It may not be the perfect profession, but having a roof over his head, food to eat, and not being subjected to torture is a dream come true. He is the top companion at the Hidden Gem, and it makes him enough money to buy the prettiest, most sparkly shoes he can find.
Shane McNaughton is an Irishman who survived the Third World War and works as a cop. Head of Missing Persons, he’s good at finding people, but after the plague of the Third mutated his DNA, he has a hard time letting anyone see the monster inside. He’s been paying for Aki’s services for two years, both the psi and the sexual kind, but he wants more from the companion.
Shane needs Aki’s ability to see into another person’s past to track down a serial killer murdering the children of rich and powerful men, but the more they work together, the clearer it becomes that they are linked through a darker past than either of them realizes.



( Excerpt )

Author Bio: Lissa Kasey lives in St. Paul, MN, has a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing, and collects Asian Ball Joint Dolls who look like her characters. She has three cats who enjoy waking her up an hour before her alarm every morning and sitting on her lap to help her write. She can often be found at Anime Conventions masquerading as random characters when she's not writing about boy romance.
Author Contact:
Twitter: @parisbvamp
Website: www.lissakasey.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lissa.kasey



Tour Dates: 8/26/14
Tour Stops: Parker Williams, Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Redz World, Amanda C. Stone, Hearts on Fire, My Fiction Nook, Love Bytes, Velvet Panic, Kimber Vale, Havan Fellows, MM Good Book Reviews, Because Two Men Are Better Than One, Elisa - My Reviews and Ramblings, Prism Book Alliance, Cate Ashwood, 3 Chicks After Dark, Iyana Jenna, Fallen Angel Reviews, Rainbow God Reviews

Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Rafflecopter Prize: $20 Amazon Gift Card

Butterfly Hunter by Julie Bozza

This was a really sweet romance, with just that touch of kinky to make it sexy: Nicholas Goring, the butterfly hunter earling, may have, most of the time, his head on a cloud, but when he manage to tack down Dave, then he becomes like a little tiger, tenacious and hungry, overwhelming Dave with his desire.

There was an hint of bittersweet in the story, something related to Nicholas's "condition", the son of an earl, when his family butler agrees with Dave the contract terms, he also asks him to take care of Nicholas, like he is a precious thing. And indeed he is, Nicholas, precious, and fragile, but as I said, he unveals hidden strengths, that maybe aren't useful in real life, but that make him intriguing, also to the eyes of otherwise straight Dave.

Truth be told, I don't believe Dave is straight; he fell in love with Denise when he was 5 years old, and just by chance, Denise is a strong woman, way stronger than Dave. I have the feeling that, if Dave was approached by a boy and not a girl, he would have fell in love with the boy too. Dave needs a leading hand, not in real life, but for his emotional path: what a strange combination, a guide who needs to be driven.

Julie Bozza puts together an unlikely pair, but right for that, it was endearing to read how they fell in love, and the ending was almost fairy tale.

Paperback: 172 pages
Publisher: Manifold Press (November 12, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1908312963
ISBN-13: 978-1908312969
Amazon: Butterfly Hunter
Amazon Kindle: Butterfly Hunter

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