2017 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: An Island in the Stars Susan Laine

1) Highly imaginative and entertaining tale of two young lads who fall down a 'rabbit hole' and end up on an alien island, presumably in a galaxy far far away. Marcus and Sam are delightful characters, Sam crushing on Marcus but wary of his 'jock' persona, and Marcus just loving being alone with Sam for whom he harbors secret longings. The adventures these two get up to are mind-boggling - weird creatures, some cute some not so cute and some downright dangerous keep the boys on their toes throughout. Super fun.

An Island in the Stars Susan Laine
Gay - Sci-Fi / Futuristic
Paperback: 210 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (June 12, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1635336325
ISBN-13: 978-1635336320
Amazon: An Island in the Stars Susan Laine

Sam, a geeky college freshman, has bigger problems than lusting after Marcus, sexy jock, college junior, and his big brother’s best friend. Chasing after a beanie caught in the winter wind turns into a tumble down the rabbit hole for them both—science fiction style.

Sam and Marcus find themselves trapped on a tropical island in the middle of a strange ocean on an alien moon. The sole structure is a ruined temple devoted to the art of love. Flustered, confused, and unable to return home, they need to figure out a means of escape from a hostile jungle teeming with dangerous life-forms.

In this tale where opposites attract and secret crushes are revealed, two very dissimilar young men discover they actually have a lot in common after all, but it will take their differences as much as their points of connection to survive on an island in the stars.

2017 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Roslyn Bane The Long Way Home

1) Very interesting read with a different story arc.   Both MC's had to go on an emotional, healing journey.  Author really makes you feel like you were in the story. This one will stay with me.

Roslyn Bane The Long Way Home
Lesbian - Contemporary Romance
Paperback: 366 pages
Publisher: Desert Palm Press; 1 edition (July 28, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1942976518
ISBN-13: 978-1942976516
Amazon: Roslyn Bane The Long Way Home

Major Samantha Davies is a warrior. After being abandoned by her father and raised in a foster home she has made the Marine Corps her life. As a helicopter pilot she has excelled under the demands of her career. Always a fierce competitor she now faces her toughest challenge... Living with a disability that threatens her career and dealing with survivor’s guilt that threatens her emotional stability. Lieutenant Commander Kristine Matthews is a highly skilled, combat experienced Navy Surgeon well accustomed to handling the worse destruction war can do to a person. One fateful afternoon their paths will cross and their lives change forever. In a world where independence and strength are as valued as teamwork, and these two women struggle through rehabilitation, will they heal enough to live again and find happiness? Or will their shared experience destroy them?

2017 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Michelle L. Teichman Rescue Me

1) Pretty good romance thriller mystery!  Kept me guessing. Characters well written.

Michelle L. Teichman Rescue Me
Lesbian - Romantic Suspence
Paperback: 292 pages
Publisher: Ylva Publishing; 1 edition (November 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 3955337626
ISBN-13: 978-3955337629
Amazon: Michelle L. Teichman Rescue Me

Life is exciting if you’re one of the top RCMP officers in the country. With a few good years under her belt and a promotion so close she can almost touch it, Staff Sergeant Kristen Bailey of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has everything figured out. Until she meets Ashleigh Paige. Beautiful, naïve, intelligent, and trusting, Ashleigh is the perfect possible lead for Bailey’s case. All she has to do is get close to her. The only problem is Ashleigh’s a paramedic, and in Toronto, paramedics and cops don’t mix. Undercover and searching for answers as a Toronto police officer, Bailey uses her charm to get Ashleigh to trust her and open up about what she knows surrounding the case of a dead police officer and the paramedics who might have murdered him. The trouble is, the closer she gets to Ashleigh, the more the line between informant and intimate gets blurred.

2017 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: All the Way to Shore CJane Elliott

1) What an amazing story.  This was so refreshing to read.  The plot of the story is very well thought out and kept me peeked throughout.  I loved how the author really allowed us to get to know the characters and didn't just focus on the romance aspect of the story.  The setting was very nicely development and I felt like I was there on the cruise with them.  What I liked a lot is how the setting matched the characters.  I thought those attentions to detail were perfect.  The Characters were nicely drawn out and I actually believed they were real people.  Yes, they were physically perfect, but they were more then just pretty, they all had issues and flaws which made them real to me.  What I really liked was the journey the characters took and how they actually grew durn the course of the story. Overall, the writing was spot on and I had no issues with following along. I personally loved the use of a journal for Marco it fit his personality to tee and I thought the shifts in POV were smooth and easy to follow.

All the Way to Shore CJane Elliott
Bisexual - Contemporary Romance
File Size: 2538 KB
Print Length: 204 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press; 1 edition (November 23, 2016)
Publication Date: November 23, 2016
Amazon: All the Way to Shore CJane Elliott

Jonathan Vallen has never felt good enough. A gentle musician who loves to garden, he’s woefully unsuited to running Vallen Industries, the family business. When his father hires a hotshot executive, Marco Pellegrini, to save the company, Jonathan moves away and leaves his humiliation behind. A year later and forty pounds lighter, Jonathan runs into Marco on an LGBT cruise. Marco doesn’t recognize him, the sparks fly, and Jonathan pretends to be someone else for the week—Jonah Rutledge—someone good enough to be loved.

Marco Pellegrini has always been driven. He rose from poverty to the pinnacle of business success, and he’ll do anything to protect his reputation—including hiding his bisexuality. Having saved Vallen Industries, he’s weary of the rat race and ready for a more meaningful life. When Marco meets his soul mate for that new life—Jonah Rutledge—on an LGBT cruise, he prepares to stop hiding and start living.

Back on land, the romance crashes when Marco discovers his perfect man is not only a lie but the son of his boss, Frederick Vallen. Jonathan resolves to win Marco back, but Frederick takes vengeful action. Jonathan and Marco must battle their own fears as well as Frederick’s challenge to get to the future that awaits them on the horizon.