Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Four by Tia Fielding

Four (Love by Numbers Book 2)

"Just as I thought I loved this book as much as I loved the last book. I loved the characters. Both the main ones and the secondary ones. Hell, I loved the township as a whole. This one even had me crying in spots."

A Love by Numbers Story

When unlikely attraction blossoms between a twentysomething genderqueer tattoo artist and an older, small-town veterinarian, both are forced to face their pasts for a chance at a loving future.

Four years ago Padraig Donovan lost his husband, the only man he’d ever been with. Now his life consists of the work he loves, a big empty house, and the possibility of a lonely future.

Kaos’s experiments with makeup landed him in the hospital at the hands of his disapproving ex. With nowhere else to turn, he flees to Acker, Wisconsin… and runs into a sexy widower and the kindest man he’s ever met.

Padraig and Kaos know there’s something worth exploring between them, and as they raise a puppy and deal with the ups and downs of their respective jobs, they fit into each other’s lives in ways they never expected. Being with Kaos—who is so different than the guys he’s always been attracted to—opens up an exciting new world for Padraig. But can he convince Kaos to trust another man with his body… let alone his heart?

Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Good People by E.J. Runyon

Good People

"This was about as close to a perfect story as you can get. The characters were so beautifully drawn, I hated to put the book down, and always looked forward to when I could pick it back up again. The plot was filled with anchors and familiar elements, and yet surprised me at several turns. And, like every excellent story, this one will leave me thinking about it for a long time to come."

Bernie is a battered wife, escaping her husband Carlos for the summer. Meg is a writer and pre-op transgender woman, dealing with father issues, and sharing her place with Baby, another woman on the edge.

Bernie faces her close-knit family’s disapproval that she’s brought her abuse out into the open by this flagrant, trail summer separation. Meg confronts the issues of her own absent father, who is now terminally ill, and her younger sister’s dark history, which weighs heavier on her than the final stages of her upcoming transition. Bernie’s only champion is Carlos’s cousin Gloria, who offers to help and to visit Bernie in Hollywood, in spite of at first calling all Bernie’s new neighbors freaks.

Relations come in all kinds of configurations–what we accept from some, what we must refuse from others, and how we recognize those who earn the right to be called family.

Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Beggar’s Flip by Benny Lawrence

Beggar's Flip

"I chuckled when I realized I'd started reading this story on 'Talk like a Pirate Day'. There was enough exposition on what had happened in the previous book to enable me to catch up easily. The characters, both main and secondary, as well as the plot, were grounded and real, and the occasional hints of melodrama were perfect ... it was a pirate story after all."

A sequel to Shell Game, Darren--socially awkward, exiled noblewoman turned pirate queen--and Lynn sorta kinda Darren's slave girl, sorta kinda Darren's life coach, and altogether the bossiest backseat helmsman that ever set foot on a pirate ship are at it . . . again.

Darren receives a message delivered by her dying brother pleading for her to warn their father about a traitor. Meaning Darren has to return home to Torasan Isle, and to the father who keeps sending assassins after her. Lynn thinks it's crazy, insane, and obviously certain death for Darren, and is not overly happy about the idea. As usual, Lynn is right and chaos ensues.