Blog Tour: Moment of Silence by Karen Stivali

Moment of Silence (Series: Moments In Time 4) by Karen Stivali
Paperback: 230 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (December 18, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1623808979
ISBN-13: 978-1623808976
Amazon: Moment of Silence (Series: Moments In Time 4)
Amazon Kindle: Moment of Silence (Series: Moments In Time 4)

Blurb: Growing up, Jason Stern led a charmed life complete with devoted sisters, a father who was one of Brooklyn’s most respected rabbis, and a mother who made the world's best babka. He headed to NYU ready for anything—except falling for the wrong guy, coming out, and getting disowned by his once-loving family. In spite of that, Jason managed to graduate with honors. He's got friends who treat him like family, and he's proudly running the largest LGBTQ teen shelter in Manhattan. Life is good, but he's still falling for the wrong men.

When charming, sexy Quinn Fitzpatrick begins work at the shelter, Jason falls hard and fast. Quinn is tall, blond, funny—damn near perfect. Only if Quinn’s gay, even he doesn't seem to know it. If he does, he's not telling anyone. And he's about one ceremony away from becoming a Catholic priest.

Long hours of work turn to long nights of talking and laughter, and Jason dares to hope this time he's falling for the right guy. But Quinn's got a past to deal with and major decisions to make about his future. When Quinn leaves for a silent retreat, Jason knows the silence may change everything.

( Excerpt )

About the author: Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies, and fictional British men. She's also the multiple award-winning author of contemporary and erotic romances. She writes novels about love...like real life, only hotter.
Karen's lifelong fascination with people has led her to careers ranging from hand-drawn animator, to party planner, to marriage and family counselor, but writing has always been her passion. Karen enjoys nothing more than following her characters on their journey toward love. Whether the couples are m/f or m/m, it’s guaranteed that Karen's novels are filled with food, friendship, love, and smoking hot sex—all the best things in life.
When Karen isn’t writing (and often when she is), she can be found on Twitter attempting witty banter and detailing the antics of her fruit-loving cat, BadKitteh. She loves to hear from readers (and other writers), so don't hesitate to contact/follow/like her at: [insert contact info here]

1. What is the best gift you ever gave?
Quinn: An engagement ring.
Jason: *grins* That was an awesome gift.
Quinn: You’re an awesome gift.
Jason: I haven’t come up with something equivalent for you yet. I think the best gift I ever gave Campbell was letting him spend Christmas with his family without me around.
Quinn: Campbell loves you. So does his family.
Jason: I know. That’s why I wanted to do something special for them by giving them that family time, just for them.
Quinn: Like I said, you’re a gift. Just having you in someone’s life is all the gift that person needs.

2. What was your favorite subject in school?
Quinn: I actually enjoyed the religious studies. Bible stories are open to so many interpretations. I also liked shop. I love working with my hands.
Jason: You’re awesome with your hands.
Quinn: *flushes* I do my best.
Jason: I liked the psychology classes best. I love learning about how people think and what different things mean. People fascinate me and I want to understand whatever I can.

3. What is the last thing you tell your partner before bed?
Jason: We need to do laundry.
Quinn: *laughs* Which is usually quite true.
Jason: But then usually Quinn will say “Come here” and I’ll scoot closer.
Quinn: Then I’ll wrap my arms around you, even if I’m already half asleep.
Jason: And we’ll both say “I love you.” I’m not even sure I could sleep anymore without saying and hearing that every night.
Quinn: Me neither.

4. What is your motto?
Jason: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Quinn: Never give up.

5. What is your biggest strength?
Quinn: I’m a good listener.
Jason: He is. He’s good at a lot of things though.
Quinn: So are you.
Jason: I don’t know what my biggest strength is. I guess persistence and determination. If I put my mind to something, I do it. No one can stop me once I set my mind to something.

Where to find the author:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenstivali
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karenstivali
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/karenstivali/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5170527.Karen_Stivali
Blog: http://karenstivali.com
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/KarenStivaliAuthor?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5170527.Karen_Stivali



( Tour Dates & Stops )

Giveaway:
Prize: eBook copy of the Moments in Time series
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Queer Places: Strawberry Hill

Address: Strawberry Hill House
268 Waldegrave Rd,
Twickenham TW1 4ST,
UK

Strawberry Hill House — often called simply Strawberry Hill — is the Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London by Horace Walpole from 1749. It is the type example of the "Strawberry Hill Gothic" style of architecture, and it prefigured the nineteenth-century Gothic revival.



Walpole rebuilt the existing house in stages starting in 1749, 1760, 1772 and 1776. These added gothic features such as towers and battlements outside and elaborate decoration inside to create "gloomth" to suit Walpole's collection of antiquarian objects, contrasting with the more cheerful or "riant" garden. The interior included a Robert Adam fireplace; parts of the exterior were designed by James Essex. The garden contained a large seat shaped like a Rococo sea shell; it has been recreated in the 2012 restoration.

After a £9 million, two-year-long restoration, Strawberry Hill House reopened to the public on Saturday 2 October 2010.

In 2013, Strawberry Hill House won the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage in the Europa Nostra Awards. The Walpole Trust re-opened Strawberry Hill to the public on 1 March 2015.



At 10 years old, Horace Walpole was sent to Eton College, where he became part of the “Quadruple Alliance” with Thomas Gray, Richard West and Thomas Ashton. Walpole and Gray remained friends throughout the latter’s life, and Walpole continued to champion his poetry and defend him personally in the many years he survived him. When Walpole decided to go travelling on the “Grand Tour” with Gray, he wrote a will whereby he left Gray all his belongings. In Europe the two had a bitter falling out that took years to put behind them. In later life, Walpole admitted that the fault lay primarily with himself: “to have been inattentive and insensible to the feelings of one I thought below me.”

Walpole left in his will his London villa, Strawberry Hill, to Anne Seymour Damer, Mary Berry and Mary’s sister, Agnes, to live there for all their life. A number of sources have named Damer as being involved in lesbian relationships, particularly relating to her close friendship with Mary Berry, to whom she had been introduced by Horace Walpole in 1789. Mary Berry was the last to survive, and at her death, the 6th earl of Waldegrave, as it was in Horace Walpole’s will, inherited Strawberry Hill, Twickenham (hence the name of Waldegrave Road, which connects Strawberry Hill with Teddington), but his son, George Edward, the 7th earl (1816–1846), was obliged in 1842 to sell the valuable treasures collected there. In 1923 the empty villa was bought by St Mary's University, Twickenham. In 2007, it was leased to the Strawberry Hill Trust for restoration and eventual opening to the public.

( Walpole Genealogy )

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