Hi guys! We have Alex Beecroft popping in today with the tour for her new release Seeing Red, we have a great excerpt so check out the post and enjoy! ❤ ~Pixie~
Seeing Red
(Trowchester 05)
by
Alex Beecroft
Bad boys don’t tame easy.
Victor is a bad man. Is there anything he won’t do for power and money?
Destroy a local business so he can buy it cheap? Kick out its owners and turn it into a cash cow? He relishes the chance.
Idris is a good man in possession of a renowned tea-house. He’s put his heart and soul into the place. It’s everything he has and wants…
Except for Victor.
He wants Victor too.
Can the love of a compassionate man soften a predator’s heart before it’s too late? Or is Idris doomed to lose his life’s work, and his heart with it?
A contemporary mm romance, Seeing Red is a long-awaited new installment of the critically acclaimed Trowchester Series. Each book in the series is a standalone, and can be read in any order. Feel free to start here and work back!
Hiya guys! We have Alex Beecroft popping in today with her new release Contraband Hearts, we have a great exclusive excerpt and a fantastic giveaway, so check out the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! ❤ ~Pixie~
Contraband Hearts
(Porthkennack 10)
by
Alex Beecroft
His future depends on bringing the smuggler to justice. His heart demands to join him.
Customs officer Peregrine Dean is sent by his patron to investigate rumors of corruption in the Porthkennack customs house. There he is tasked by the local magistrate to bring down the villainous Tomas Quick, a smuggler with fingers in every pie in town. Fired with zeal and ambition, and struck to the core by his first glimpse of Tomas, Perry determines to stop at nothing until he has succeeded.
Tomas Quick is an honest thief—a criminal regarded by the town as their local Robin Hood. He’s also an arrogant man who relishes the challenge posed by someone as determined and intelligent as Perry. Both of them come to enjoy their cat-and-mouse rivalry a little too much.
But the eighteenth century is a perilous time for someone like Perry: a black man in England. Two have already disappeared from the wrecks of ships. Tomas and Perry must forsake their competition and learn to trust each other if they are to rescue them, or Perry may become the third victim.
NOTE: All profits from the sales of this book are donated to Black Trans Advocacy.
Hiya guys! We have Alex Beecroft popping in today with her new release Foxglove Copse, we have a great excerpt and a fantastic giveaway, so check out the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! <3 ~Pixie~
Foxglove Copse
(Porthkennack 05)
by
Alex Beecroft
After a massive anxiety attack, Sam Atkins left his high-powered job in the City and committed himself to life on the road in a small van. Six months in, he’s running out of savings and coming to the conclusion that he might have to go home to his emotionally abusive family.
Needing time to think, he takes a walk through a copse by the Cornish roadside, only to stumble upon the body of a ritualistically killed sheep. As he’s trying to work out what the symbols around the animal mean, the sheep’s owner, Jennifer, and her nephew, Ruan Gwynn, come upon him.
Ruan is a kind-hearted young man with a large supportive clan, and since he and Sam feel almost instant attraction, he doesn’t want to believe Sam is a sheep-killing cultist. In fact, the moment he lays eyes on Sam’s miserable solitary life, he wants to rescue the man. But as the killings escalate, he and Sam need to stop whoever is actually to blame before they can concentrate on saving each other.
Blurb: British scholar Frank Carew is in Wallachia to study the magic generator on nobleman Radu Vacarescu’s land. There, his party is attacked by bandits and his friends are killed. Pursued by a vampiric figure, he flees to Radu’s castle for help.
Unfortunately, this is precisely where the vampires came from. If allowed, they would feed unchecked and spread their undeath across the whole Earth, but Radu maintains a shaky control over them and keeps them penned in his tiny corner of the country.
As Frank recovers from his assault, Radu finds himself falling for the young man. But loving Frank and not wanting to lose him leaves Radu vulnerable to his demons’ demands. Can he bear to let them feed on the man he loves? Or must he give in to their blackmail and set them free to feast on his entire country?
Review: This is not going to be an easy review as the story is two parts with separate characters for each. To say it was an easy flowing read would be a lie. While I enjoyed reading about Frank and Radu I felt no connection to them. Nor was their story complete before we are dropped into another half of the book.
I have never been so totally thrown off a book before. I’m honestly dreading reading the next in the series.
I honestly felt confused when I finished and had trouble separating details of the stories in the book. As a result I have a headache. I am sincerely hoping that things go better in the second book and we get some clarity as to where things are headed.
If not I may have to give the series to someone else to review. It was an o.k. read.
Hiya guys, we have Alex Beecroft and her new release Angels of Istanbul, we have a incredible guest post, a great excerpt and a brilliant giveaway, so check out the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! <3 ~Pixie~
Angels of Istanbul
(Arising 02)
by
Alex Beecroft
Wallachian nobleman Radu is recently arrived in Bucharest with his vampire parents. Welcomed as an eligible bachelor, he’s introduced to the enchantress Ecaterina, whose salon is Bucharest’s centre of magical expertise.
But when Ecaterina’s brother dies of a mysterious new plague, it’s clear to Radu that his parents have not been idle. Soon Bucharest is in the grip of an undead epidemic—a less than ideal time for Ottoman Sultan Mahmud, Wallachia’s overlord, to call Bucharest’s nobility to assemble their armies in Istanbul for a holy war against Britain.
The Wallachians have long resented their Ottoman overlords, so Radu seizes the chance to eliminate them while also ridding Bucharest of the undead: he leads an army of vampires to Istanbul and sets them to feed on the Turks.
As Radu’s demons gut the city of Istanbul, their plans become horribly clear. This is only the start. With the Ottoman armies under their control, the undead are poised to suck the life out of the whole world. Radu, his lover Frank, and Ecaterina are appalled at what they’ve unleashed. But they may be too late to stop it.
Hiya peeps, we have Alex Beecroft stopping by today with her new release Sons of Devils, we have a great excerpt and a fantastic giveaway so check out the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! <3 ~Pixie~
Sons of Devils
(Arising 01)
by
Alex Beecroft
British scholar Frank Carew is in Wallachia to study the magic generator on nobleman Radu Vacarescu’s land. There, his party is attacked by bandits and his friends are killed. Pursued by a vampiric figure, he flees to Radu’s castle for help.
Unfortunately, this is precisely where the vampires came from. If allowed, they would feed unchecked and spread their undeath across the whole Earth, but Radu maintains a shaky control over them and keeps them penned in his tiny corner of the country.
As Frank recovers from his assault, Radu finds himself falling for the young man. But loving Frank and not wanting to lose him leaves Radu vulnerable to his demons’ demands. Can he bear to let them feed on the man he loves? Or must he give in to their blackmail and set them free to feast on his entire country?
Hiya guys, we have Alex Beecroft stopping by today with her new release Labyrinth, we have a great excerpt and a fantastic giveaway so check out the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! <3 ~Pixie~
Labyrinth
by
Alex Beecroft
Kikeru, the child of a priestess at the sacred temple of Knossos in ancient Crete, believes that the goddesses are laughing at him. They expect him to choose whether he is a man or a woman, when he’s both. They expect him to choose whether to be a husband to a wife, or a celibate priestess in the temple, when all he wants to do is invent things and be with the person he loves.
Unfortunately, that person is Rusa, the handsome ship owner who is most decidedly a man and therefore off-limits no matter what he chooses. And did he mention that the goddesses also expect him to avert war with the Greeks?
The Greeks have an army. Kikeru has his mother, Maja, who is pressuring him to give her grandchildren; Jadikira, Rusa’s pregnant daughter; and superstitious Rusa, who is terrified of what the goddesses will think of him being in love with one of their chosen ones.
It’s a tall order to save Crete from conquest, win his love, and keep both halves of himself. Luckily, at least the daemons are on his side.
Hiya peeps, we have Riptide Publishing’s Alex Beecroft and her newest release Trowchester Blues, we have a fantastic excerpt that I handpicked from Riptides site 😉 we have a fantastic giveaway and my review for you to check out, so enjoy the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! <3 ~Pixie~
Trowchester Blues
(A Trowchester Blues Novel 01)
by
Alex Beecroft
Michael May is losing it. Long ago, he joined the Metropolitan Police to escape his father’s tyranny and protect people like himself. Now his father is dead, and he’s been fired for punching a suspect. Afraid of his own rage, he returns to Trowchester—and to his childhood home, with all its old fears and memories. When he meets a charming, bohemian bookshop owner who seems to like him, he clings tight.
Fintan Hulme is an honest man now. Five years ago, he retired from his work as a high class London fence and opened a bookshop. Then an old client brings him a stolen book too precious to turn away, and suddenly he’s dealing with arson and kidnapping, to say nothing of all the lies he has to tell his friends. Falling in love with an ex-cop with anger management issues is the last thing he should be doing.
Finn thinks Michael is incredibly sexy. Michael knows Finn is the only thing that still makes him smile. But in a relationship where cops and robbers are natural enemies, that might not be enough to save them.
Blurb: Wulfstan, a noble and fearsome Saxon warrior, has spent most of his life hiding the fact that he would love to be cherished by someone stronger than himself. Not some slight, beautiful nobody of a harper who pushes him up against a wall and kisses him.
In the aftermath, Wulfstan isn’t sure what he regrets most—that he only punched the churl in the face, or that he really wanted to give in.
Leofgar is determined to prove he’s as much of a man as any Saxon. But now he’s got a bigger problem than a bloody nose. The lord who’s given him shelter from the killing cold is eyeing him like a wolf eyes a wounded hare.
When Wulfstan accidentally kills a friend who is about to blurt his secret, he flees in panic and meets Leofgar, who is on the run from his lord’s lust. Together, pursued by a mother’s curse, they battle guilt, outlaws, and the powers of the underworld, armed only with music…and love that must overcome murderous shame to survive.
Warning: Contains accurate depictions of Vikings, Dark Ages magic, kickass musicians, trope subversions and men who don’t know their place.
Review: It’s an interesting enough struggle to be dropped back in time to a land of barbarians, a land where Christianity is fighting to overtake Pagan religions, therefore, cleverly incorporating them. The Viking Berserker is a fighter, a warrior, the strongest of the strong, not a man to mess with…so how can he allow himself not only to fall to his attraction of men, but to his submissive desires as well? So many fabulous struggles, and I love that in my reading pleasures.
This is the emotional and political turmoil that Leofgar stumbles into…and easily ignites that Berserker’s rage. Wulfstain takes out all his frustration on the little musician that not only ignites his ire, but his lust. It’s a game of kiss or kill, and luckily, Leofgar escapes.
When the two come together again, both on the run, they pull together and explode apart many times. Each trying to understand themselves and their attraction, each vying for strength and recognition of their abilities and places in the world.
Through harrowing adventure, escape from killers, fighting for the suppressed, and finally fighting for each other, Wulfstain and Leofgar see that weakness and strength mean many different things, in the world, and to each other. That they each have unique strengths and personal weaknesses and that they complement each other making them stronger together.
The Reluctant Berserker is a long read, but there are many small adventures along the way, keeping the pace steady, and keeping my interest throughout. A fun step back in time, in some cases a historical that plays around with facts a bit, but puts me in another time and place nonetheless.
Today we welcome several authors who have come together to produce a historical anthology where the proceeds will be donated to All Out. So check out the Anthology and giveaway and show your support to these amazing authors. <3 ~Pixie~
Another Place in Time
Welcome to another place in time…where one can be swept away into lands and eras long forgotten.
“Office Romance” by Tamara Allen
The post-war economy is at a standstill, much like Foster Wetherly’s life until he’s forced to do battle with irritatingly confident—and competent—fellow ex-doughboy Casey Gladwin for a position in their shrinking department at Manhattan Security Mutual.
“Introducing Mr. Winterbourne” by Joanna Chambers
Lysander Winterbourne appears to lead a charmed life. Handsome, amiable, and a renowned sportsman, he is the darling of London society. As far as Adam Freeman is concerned though, Lysander is just another spoiled aristocrat.
A wealthy mill owner, Adam has no time for the frivolous world of the ton, but when his younger brother becomes engaged to Althea Winterbourne, he reluctantly agrees to be introduced to society–with the Winterbourne clan’s golden boy as his guide.
Resigning himself to a few days of boredom, Adam is surprised to learn that there is much more to Lysander than his perfect surface. But will Adam have the courage to introduce Lysander Winterbourne to his own secret self?
“The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh” by KJ Charles
Lord Gabriel Ashleigh is a ruined man. Last night he lost everything at the card tables to his brother’s worst enemy, notorious gambler Francis Webster. Tonight, he’s going back for one more game. Ash thinks he has nothing left to lose. But Francis sets the stakes, and they’re higher than Ash could have imagined…
Two Regency bucks. One game of cards. Everything to play for.
“Unfair in Love and War” by Kaje Harper
Many men lost brothers overseas in the summer of 1944. Warren Burch was one of them. For months he still clung to his big city life in Philadelphia, but finally he’s made the difficult choice to return to his home town. Warren’s polio-stricken leg won’t let him serve, so the least he can do is be there for his mother, when brother Charlie never again will. Arriving home means a whole new life, constrained by the rhythms and prejudices of a small town. Fortunately, it’s made more interesting by the mysterious and attractive young man next door.
“Carousel” by Jordan L. Hawk
When a child goes missing, is it a simple case of a young runaway, or are more sinister forces at work?
“Carousel” is part of the Whyborne & Griffin series and takes place between the events of Stormhaven and Necropolis. It can be read as a standalone.
“Deliverance” by Aleksandr Voinov
This is a re-vamped, re-edited, improved version of “Deliverance”. It’s about William Raven, a templar, who thought he’d escaped his past. (Same character as in The Lion of Kent.)
Along with a foreword written by Alex Beecroft, enjoy these original short stories that make up “Another Place in Time”.
All proceeds from the purchase of this anthology will be donated to AllOut.org in celebration of LGBT History Month, October 2014.
Vali Florescu, heir to a powerful local boyar, flees his father’s cruelty to seek his fortune in the untamed Carpathian forests. There he expects to fight ferocious bandits and woo fair maidens to prove himself worthy of returning to depose his tyrannical father. But when he is ambushed by Mihai Roscat, the fearsome Crimson Outlaw, he discovers that he’s surprisingly happy to be captured and debauched instead.
Mihai, once an honored knight, has long sought revenge against Vali’s father, Wadim, who killed his lord and forced him into a life of banditry. Expecting his hostage to be a resentful, spoiled brat, Mihai is unprepared for the boy to switch loyalties, saving the lives of villagers and of Mihai himself during one of Wadim’s raids. Mihai is equally unprepared for the attraction between them to deepen into love.
Vali soon learns that life outside the castle is not the fairy tale he thought, and happy endings must be earned. To free themselves and their people from Wadim’s oppression, Vali and Mihai must forge their love into the spear-point of a revolution and fight for a better world for all.
Review: Vali might be heir to the local powerful boyar but it doesn’t make him exempt from punishment, when he tries to save his sister from an unwanted marriage Vali begins to learn that his father isn’t a good lord like he thought. Escaping from prison Vali is determined to return when he has proved himself, but he gets caught up in the plight of a local village and succumbs to a bandits seduction. Mihai is a bandit who wants revenge, his lord and many of his friends were killed when Vali’s father, Wadim, wanted their land, now he does what he can to make life easier on all the villages under Wadim’s rule. When he comes across Vali, he expects to take him hostage to force Wadim’s hand but he discovers the son is far different from the father and begins to fall for him. Both men have to fight for what they want but will they be able to get the results they both want without bloodshed?
This is a cute little story of wanted adventure and hard reality, of men from different walks of life meeting and loving and of a tyrant whose son finds it hard to hate him. Vali is a young man who doesn’t realize his actions affect others, he doesn’t think that his father is a bad lord even though he is a harsh father and he still has rose-tinted glasses of what is happening in the world outside his castle. Mihai knows the truth about the tyranny of Wadim, he has lived through it and wants nothing more than to make the man pay, and he does so in a small way when he helps local villagers. When these two men come together they find common ground and an instant attraction that neither one fights.
This is a pretty good story that takes us back to a time when lords were god and everyone else was fodder. Vali is nineteen and sometimes comes across as whimsical in his feelings, he also seems to war with himself about his feelings for his father. He finally sees what his father is really like but still can’t believe it, wanting to give his father the chance to do the right thing. Mihai has plans for Vali when he first discovers him but rapidly changes his mind, and the two together make a great couple as they recover and make plans. Vali doesn’t make, as much progress in the maturity stakes as you would expect with everything that he sees and goes through, it was more superficial stuff he thought of.
I recommend this if you love historicals with great details, bandits ravishing innocents, taking control of your life and finding happiness against the odds.
Blurb: For Captain Harry Thompson, the command of the prison transport ship HMS Banshee is his opportunity to prove his worth, working-class origins be damned. But his criminal attraction to his upper-crust First Lieutenant Garnet Littleton, threatens to overturn all he’s ever worked for.
Lust quickly proves to be the least of his problems, however. The deadly combination of typhus, rioting convicts, and a monstrous storm destroys his prospects…and shipwrecks him and Garnet on their own private island. After months of solitary paradise, the journey back to civilization – surviving mutineers, exposure, and desertion – is the ultimate test of their feelings for each other.
These two very different men each record their story for an unfathomable future in which the tale of their love – a love punishable by death in their own time – can finally be told. Today, dear reader, it is at last safe for you to hear it all.
Review: I was expecting a bit more romance than historical content to this book. I learned a few interesting things, but I also noticed a couple of small inconsistencies. For instance, while it was punishable by death to be found having a sexual relationship with a person of the same-sex, it was done all the time among military personnel and the royal families. History glosses over it quite a bit, but if you dig deep enough, it is there to be found. Now, if you are caught, yes there is a death sentence, but on the ships for the various military Naval personnel, it was very common and most people always looked the other way and pretended it wasn’t happening, especially considering the short life spans, the time away at sea, the constant threat of war and more. If you were flagrant about it though and flaunted it, it would get you killed.
Captain Harry showed the time-honored tradition of denial and thinking something must be wrong with him, as is still the case today for a lot of people, no matter their age when they are on the cusp of coming out of the closet or admitting to themselves who they are. Through the storms, the mutiny, the prisoners, desertion, shipwrecks, disease, rescue and more, two people managed to find one another, but because of the determination to not be something sinful and criminal, things may never have happened without catastrophic interventions, which happened here in this story, more than once.
I still do not understand the reasoning behind the dramatic act outs of the brother arguments at the end of the book though. Then the sudden, oh this happened, but I will sum it up in one sentence thing? Really? That is when the story could really have taken off! That promised for something great, thrilling and exciting, but instead the book ended on just and dead-end kind of note. However, altogether, the story was a nice read, especially with all of the historical information. But next time, the romance should be fleshed out and put more action into this type of story, rather than just the great details of travel and storm. The rebellion of the prisoners could have been a really exciting extra chapter or two.
Lieutenant Conrad Herriot and Seaman Tom Cotton have been master and servant for over a decade and friends for almost as long. When Tom is injured during a skirmish, Conrad forgets himself and rushes to Tom’s side, arousing suspicion about the true nature of their relationship.
All Tom wants is the chance to consummate their love and embark on a new life together, outside the law that condemns them. Yet he fears Conrad won’t risk his career and his honor to become Tom’s lover.
Conrad believes his lust for Tom will damn his soul. There’s also their difference in class—a gentleman doesn’t socialize with a common tar. As Conrad struggles to refute the gossip on the ship, he must decide whether to commit the crime the crew’s already convicted them of, or part from Tom for good to save both their necks…
Reviewer: Portia
Review: I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that I am not a fan of the historically accurate historical gay romance. Sure, Ms. Beecroft has woven a fabulous action filled plot around two beautifully crafted characters, but my poor heart just can’t take the constant danger of discovery that was the norm for this age.
If I had a lick of sense, I would have deleted this book from my Kindle and moved on. Unfortunately, the need to watch these two men fall in love was too strong a draw. I had to know if Conrad was strong enough to defy everything he’d ever been taught to be with the man he is finally able to admit he loves. Needing to know if Tom had what it took to deal with being the male lover of an Admiral’s son was enough to keep me reading.
This was my first Alex Beecroft read and I’m sure it won’t be my last. Guess I’ll just have to make an appointment with my primary doctor to insure my poor heart can stand anymore stories like this. It was fast-paced, well plotted, and historically accurate and is highly recommended.
