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New Release Blitz! Baby Steps, by Gemma Johns #LGBTQ #FF #Giveaway

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Title: Baby Steps

Author: Gemma Johns

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 03/07/2023

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Female/Female

Length: 63800

Genre: Contemporary, contemporary, lesbian, sexual discovery, surrogacy, children, Australia, fake romance

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Description

Fiercely independent Belle Andrews can’t quite believe where her life has ended up. Belle and Tash always thought they’d have three children, but after nineteen years and two children together, Tash walked out on her and Belle doesn’t want her heart broken ever again.

Now, two years later, they’ve established a positive co-parenting relationship, and having moved on with their lives, both agree they have no need for the embryos they created together.

Georgia has been trying, unsuccessfully, to get pregnant for many years now. She’s about to give up trying and move on. Her doctor told her that her only hope now is a donor embryo.

Belle expects her embryos are the perfect solution, but she soon learns Australian legislation mandates she can only donate to someone she’s in a relationship with.

Belle might have given up on love, but can she pretend to be in love to give someone their dream? And can Georgia pretend to be in a relationship with a woman to get the end result she’s always dreamt of?

Excerpt

Baby Steps
Gemma Johns © 2023
All Rights Reserved

“I thought Tash had the girls tonight?” Nikki asked quietly so that Cora and Ada wouldn’t hear her.

Belle shook her head. “We did a swap. She had something on tonight, probably with her new girlfriend.” Belle knew she was reinforcing what her best friend Nikki already knew—Belle had well and truly moved on from her nineteen-year relationship.

“She’s really got a new girl?”

Belle rolled her eyes. “Emily, I think she said. I don’t know. It surprised me, because she was so full on with Amanda. I thought they were it. But five minutes after their split, there was a bunch of dates with random women, and now there’s Emily. I really don’t care; it’s none of my business, except for the girls.”

Nikki instinctively looked toward the other room, where Belle’s daughters were going crazy, running and jumping. “What do you mean, except for the girls?”

“You know.” Belle followed Nikki’s gaze. “As long as they’re okay, constantly meeting new women in their other mum’s life. Must be hard.”

“Well, it’s not really constant. Hopefully she’ll stay with this one. She was with Amanda for, what? Two years?”

Belle nodded. “Depends who you listen to, but about that. But that’s half of Ada’s life. It just feels like a lot of change. Anyway, it’s irrelevant to me, and leaves me to date whomever I want.”

Nikki sarcastically stated, “Which you really take advantage of.”

The truth was, Belle had no real desire to date, and although she and Tash had split up over two years ago now, Belle had spent her time focusing on the children. She couldn’t say that Tash didn’t focus on the girls, though. Belle and Tash were fortunate that they managed to co-parent so well together, with very little tension between the two of them. Belle would be lying to say it had always been easy. In the early days, her heart broke every time she dropped the children to Tash. Seeing Tash and Amanda playing happy families just months after her relationship with Tash had ended nearly destroyed her. But, with time and perspective, Belle felt more and more comfortable and sometimes found herself even confiding in Tash at the end of a hard day.

Nikki picked up her plate and empty coffee mug and walked to the sink. “I was going to suggest a movie tonight, because I thought you were footloose and fancy free.”

“Why don’t we watch a movie on Netflix?” Belle asked, and Nikki screwed up her face.

“I suppose. Chances are I’ve seen it.”

Belle knew it was true. Nikki practically lived at the cinema.

Purchase

NineStar Press | Books2Read

Meet the Author

Gemma Johns has always loved writing and wanted to write a novel since she first discovered how much she loved reading them. Her older sister told her she needed to ‘live a little’ before she wrote a novel. Years later, Gemma has now lived a lot, so finally decided to put pen to paper. Writing fiction is a part time gig for her, and she has a full time job in academia. Gemma lives in Australia with her wife and their five children. You can find Gemma on Facebook.

Giveaway

One lucky winner will receive a $50.00 NineStar Press Gift Code!

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Release Blitz ~ Blue Billy’s Rogue Lexicon by David Lawrence #HistoricalRomanticComedy #RomCom @GayBookPromo

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RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Blue Billy’s Rogue Lexicon

Author: David Lawrence

Publisher: Broadbound Publishing

Cover Artist: Jane Dixon-Smith

Release Date: February 21, 2023

Genre: Historical Romantic Comedy

Themes: Coming-of-age

Length: 75,000 words/ 245 pages

Heat Rating: 2 flames

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

A Laugh Out Loud, Bawdy, Historical Romantic Tale

Blurb

William Dempsey was a wonder among wonders.

By 18, he had risen from a gang of London street rogues to be the personal plaything of the Marquess of Argyll. Maintained in splendour, celebrated at masquerades – with everything he could wish for.

Now all has come crashing down. He is put out in the rain without patronage, his West End apartment, or a place among the ton.

So on a stormy night, he arrives at a house in Southwark. Marathon Moll’s in the Mint – the bawdyhouse he worked in during his ascent and where he earned the name Blue Billy.

But is Marathon Moll’s a place from which to rise again? For there is one in the crowd, who catches his eye. Who takes his hand and promises something better.

Or does Moll’s signify a return to his roots? For one day, a second and very different young man raps on the door. Takes his hand and asks him to return to his past.

To the cat language of vagabonds. The canting dialect of thieves.

To the schemes, and the dreams, of his youth.

Excerpt

The Mint, Southwark, 1771

Chapter 1

Abram Cove

among thieves signifies a naked or poor man; also a lusty strong rogue

“And what have we here?”

“Let us in, Moll. Beast of a storm tonight, ain’t it?”

“Aye,” returned Moll, cinching her silk wrap while maintaining a hand behind the front door she’d opened just an inch. “Stormy for some, by the look of it.”

The wind sent rain barrelling into this secluded yard in the Mint, taking the standing, shiftless dregs of chamber pots for an airy jaunt. Souls Yard, a misshapen cul-de-sac of three freestanding abodes, consisted of a squat, squalid cottage, from which no light entered or emerged. A converted barn with modish ventilation in every wall and door, the slope of its gambrel roof rather like hands praying for intervention. And the jewel of the Yard, Marathon Moll’s: a double-fronted, two-story block tethered at east and west with slender chimneys touched with scoliosis.

“Have you lost your way tonight, Billy?”

With a look of wounded indignation, William Dempsey said, “Ain’t it enough to wish the company of an old, dear friend? ‘Old’ meaning previous-like,” he added, “nothin’ more.”

The door remained unmoved; Billy was left to shiver on the tilted stonework of the front elevation. Wiping the endless stream of August rainwater from his face, he pressed himself against the opening until their faces nearly touched. Moll’s – with its native jaundice, like dirty lemon juice upon features which arrived at too many points. Billy’s – a canvas of creamy white, flushed with health and whose boyish pout Moll herself had often declared a criminal provocation.

“‘Old’ you have defined, Billy, but how do you define ‘dear friend’?” said the bawd, pushing up her aquiline nose. “That term implies paying calls of friendship, or at least of courtesy (which are not calls to steal from my house, mind you), and I’ve not seen your pretty face these two years.”

“That Blue Billy outside?” came a second voice from within. “Let him in out the rain, for God’s sake.”

Recognising the voice of one of the house’s most devoted patrons, Dempsey said, “‘Dear friend’ I define as Dip-Candle Mary there behind you, who I hear’s set to be married next week, so I come to bestow my congratulations.”

All around Souls Yard, eyes were opening within cracks in the ramshackle barn and, one sensed without ever quite knowing, at the darkened front window of the cottage. For though a code of honour kept the inhabitants of each from inquiring into the business of their neighbours, scenes in the Yard were fair game for all.

After a moment, and a great sigh from Moll, the door withdrew just enough to allow into the vestibule Dempsey’s small, slim form. Mary hurried forward to embrace him. He was a tallow chandler from Shoreditch, Dip-Candle Mary being his house name. Such names were customary in these houses, which referenced either one’s profession or physical appearance. Indeed, Billy had never known him by any other, though the man had always been sweet on him. Sweet enough to forgive the trinkets Billy had lifted from his dressing table when staying the night. That silver-handled comb the man really didn’t need seeing as how he kept his hair so short. That errant bit of coin taken from coat pockets…

From the dark vestibule, Billy looked toward the glow of the front parlour. The room was filled with claret wallpapering before which replicas of Roman forms thought or gloried or sported in alabaster relief. Chintz upholstered sofas and settees of various conditions reclined before the fireplace, currently cold, its salt shelf crammed with crucibles of scented oil waiting to ignite on crackling nights. The parlour was lit by two fat beeswax candles stuck into halves of an antiquated urn hung over the mantle. The widely cast light lifted a glow from the gold threading of the furniture and, for a moment, a glow in Billy himself as he recalled the handful of good times he’d enjoyed while living here.

No question, Moll had come up in the world. When his eyes returned to hers, pride shone in her face as though to say: only observe all I have accomplished since I got rid of you. When Billy took a tentative step forward, she held up a thin finger, forbidding him to take another step, dripping like a rainforest. He began to undress.

 

About the Author

I am the author of two queer historical novels – ‘Hugh: A Hero without a Novel’ and ‘Blue Billy’s Rogue Lexicon’. As a writer, I love taking a deep dive into the social norms and historical events of 18th century England, told with humour and whimsy, while presenting what I hope are compelling and unique coming-of-age tales.

A native of the American Southwest, I have spent much of my life in Great Britain, France, and Finland. I now live in the American Northwest – Helena, Montana – with my Finnish partner.
By day I love hiking under the Big Sky of my beautiful adopted state.
By night, however, I prefer wandering the byways of 18th century London…

 

Social Media Links

Blog/Website and Newsletter Sign-up | Facebook

 

Giveaway

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Book Tour: Rocky Mountain Kid, by Virginia Fox #Giveaway #ContemporaryRomance @RABTBookTours

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(Rocky Mountain Romances, Book 4)

 

Romance

Date Published: February 14, 2023

Publisher:  Dragonbooks Publishing House

 

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

 

Can even the coldest heart be thawed? You bet! And your friends in
Independence Junction prove it’s possible when a new kid comes to
town. Get ready for some horsing around in the fourth book of the Rocky
Mountain Romances series.

 

What happens when nosy reporter Paige catches wind of a kiddo named Leslie
getting adopted by local Rancher Paula—who everyone knows has a heart
dripping with icicles? Paige moves in for the feel-good story of the year,
grabs the exclusive interview, then sets off a chain of events that threaten
to upend the peace and quiet in Independence Junction.

It turns out, Leslie has to go in and testify against her past foster
parents. The question is, will this lead to a better life for this
kid’s uncertain future? And what happens when she brings a furry
friend with her?

Meanwhile, love is in the air. Rancher Paula and the local veterinarian,
Nate, begin to hit it off. The next thing we know, Paige and the fire chief
also start making sparks. On top of that? A cast of four-legged friends help
their humans in unexpected ways—saving the day time and
again—proving that even the coldest hearts can be thawed in a Rocky
Mountain Romance.


 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Goodreads

 

Purchase Link

Amazon

 

 

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RABT Book Tours & PR

Just Released! The Feisty Lawyers Bundle by Seelie Kay @SeelieKay #RomanticSuspense

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Title:  Feisty Lawyers Bundle

Release Date:  February 17, 2023

Content: Three books from the five-book Feisty Lawyers series, including Snatching Dianna, Infamy, and Cult.

Genre:  Romantic Suspense

Heat Level: Three flames

Pages:  377

Price: $7.50

Book trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgVP-BDKgDU

Buy Link:  https://www.extasybooks.com/collections/bundles/Feisty-Lawyers-Bundle

Blurbs

Feisty Lawyers Series

They’re smart. They’re feisty. They play to win!

The lawyers who make up The Agency are committed to bringing justice to situations in which justice is not normally found. At the behest of the President, they intervene in matters that impact Americans around the globe. Human trafficking, terrorism, cults, and the disappeared are just a few of the cases with which they are tasked, and they execute uniquely designed solutions with determination and no small amount of courage. Their journey begins with an American law student kidnapped by a sex slave traffickers. It ends with justice served. Three heart-stopping adventures from a five-book series are combined into one scintillating bundle of romantic suspense, including Snatching Diana, Infamy, and Cult.

Snatching Diana

The hours are counting down as investigators try to prove that Dianna Murphy has been snatched. Unfortunately, without witnesses and solid evidence, all the police really know is that she is missing.

When suburban Milwaukee law student Dianna Murphy fails to connect with her roommate, there is no real evidence that she has been snatched. Until Law Professor Janet MacLachlan, a former covert agent, discovers a single clue, one that points to a taking by a slave trafficking cartel. In a race against time, Janet recruits her husband, secret agent Cade Matthews, small-town Police Chief David Manders and his wife, criminal defense attorney Julianna Constant, and other law students to uncover the truth. Can they prove she has been taken, before Dianna disappears without a trace?

Infamy

Infamy. An evil or wicked act. Terrorists bent on revenge have found a way to make planes disappear from the sky, without a trace. And when one winds up buried in a Wisconsin cornfield, it’s a race against time to rescue the passengers from certain death.

When international law attorney Sheikh Harun Ali is lured to the Amazon and warned of a frightening plot against the United States, he and his wife, Marianne Benson, enlist the assistance of their neighbors, covert agent Cade Matthews and his wife, Constitutional Law Professor Janet MacLachlan. Ultimately, these feisty lawyers are pushed to the wall, desperate to find a plane that has been buried in an unknown cornfield, the passengers still on board. The terrorists’ hatred for the Alis is absolute—the Alis once left their organization bankrupt and broken—but they hate America more. And their fiendish games are just beginning. They are seeking a much bigger prize, one that could destroy a nation and possibly the world. An act that will live in infamy.

Cult (winner of the Editor’s Choice Award)

It’s supposed to be a simple assignment. A quick trip to a South American country for an “in and out” fact-finding mission. Unfortunately, the cult has other ideas.

When college students begin disappearing from American campuses, a notorious cult, God’s Delight, is the primary suspect. God’s Delight has been hosting shows featuring sex, drugs, and rock and roll around the country, and young people are flocking to them.

Among the missing is the President’s goddaughter, and he wants answers. When he asks Agent Cade Matthews, a member of a secret covert organization, to find her, the mission appears fairly straightforward. Find the God’s Delight compound, determine whether a welfare check on American cult members is warranted, and get out. Simple. Clean. Easy.

Cade sends newly-married Agents Dianna Murphy and Anders Mark to the University of Wisconsin to follow the trail to God’s Delight, but when they wind up in Bolivia, things go sideways. Suddenly, what appeared to be nothing more than a simple in-and-out could cost Dianna her life. When an Agency extraction is ordered, chaos erupts, and the question becomes, will anyone survive?

Excerpts

Snatching Dianna

After what seemed like hours in the sweltering van, it lurched to a stop.

Dianna heard a man bark orders. A door to the van opened and someone pulled the rope from her feet, then removed her hood. She took a deep breath.  A man grabbed her by the arm, forced her to her feet, and pulled her from the van. Dianna stumbled when she hit the ground. The stones were hot and her feet were covered by athletic socks, no shoes. Show no weakness.

Dianna immediately surveyed her surroundings. It was still night, but she was in a well-lit courtyard. A large stone mansion stood in front of her. She looked to her right, then her left. The courtyard was enclosed by a large stone fence, at least eight feet high. A fortress. Fortunately, Dianna was a rock-climber. She could rappel over the fence with the right equipment. All she would need was something to serve as a pick, maybe a rope. A knife, a screwdriver, even a fork. Keep your eyes and ears open. Be ready.

A large black man, dressed in a white suit and a maroon turban, walked out of the front door and down the stairs. He stopped and flashed a malevolent smile. He flung his arms wide and in a cultured baritone boomed, “Welcome to paradise, ladies. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

Some of the guards laughed.

“Crikey,” Tillie muttered. “Sounds like a blasted genie.”

Dianna glanced sideways and for the first time, got a look at her new friend. She was tall and thin, her body well defined. She looked strong and aware, almost fierce. Her eyes seemed to be studying the place, taking everything in. She showed no fear. Instead, she seemed interested. Something was off. Tillie did not act like a victim as the others did. She was not cowed. Was she a cop? Or like Dianna, someone who would not permit themselves to be broken?

There was only one thing of which Dianna was certain. She had found a friend. A useful one.

Infamy

Cade grasped his water bottle with both hands. “Before his brother died, he said eight words.”

Harun nodded. “They are going to make American planes disappear.”

Dianna’s eyes grew wide.

Anders rubbed a hand over his face, then through his long dark hair. His deep green eyes stared up at the ceiling of the plane. “Fucking hell. Nine-eleven all over again.”

“That is our fear,” Harun said. “However, so many precautionary measures are in place in this country, simply hijacking planes and flying them into buildings is no longer easy. They must have a different plan.”

Cade emitted a heavy sigh. “And that is what we need to figure out. What exactly do those eight words mean? For example, he did not specify that the planes would disappear in America, which could mean that they will disappear abroad or over oceans.”

Anders sat up straight. “And disappear could mean many things. Crash. Hijack. Pull a Malaysia. How many ways can you make a plane disappear?”

Cult

“But everyone can leave when they want, right?”

Tillie cocked her eyebrow, clearly amused. “Of course. But why would they? This is paradise.”

“It is indeed, darling Miranda,” drawled a deep sultry voice. A tall, well-built man dressed in a white cossack, a thick wooden cross draped around his neck, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. His loose, long blonde hair framed a tan, handsome face with a strong nose and a wicked, full-lipped grin. He turned his piercing blue eyes toward Dianna and smiled. “Hello.”

The man studied her, his expression predatory.

Dianna shifted uncomfortably. So, Tillie is using another name. Meaning she’s undercover. Noted. Dianna stuck out her hand and said. “Hi, I’m Bennie. I’m one of the students from Wisconsin working over at the orphanage. You were kind enough to allow us to stay here.”

The man took her hand and stroked it, his expression suddenly thoughtful. “Tell me, Bennie from Wisconsin, what do you think of my paradise?” His hand moved to her lower arm.

Dianna flushed. My paradise? Is this Reverend John? “It’s beautiful. Peaceful. But hot. And humid. Really humid.” She gazed up into the man’s eyes, somewhat stunned at the lust she found there. My God, he looks like he wants to devour me. Dianna quickly looked away.

The man chuckled. “You get used to it. But we keep the air-conditioning on in the dormitories for the newbies and limit their time in the sun. And of course, we all take a siesta during the hottest part of the day if we need one.” He released her arm. “We worship at day’s end when the air begins to cool. Otherwise, things get a little…sweaty.” He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, gently tugging her hair. Then he walked away. Dianna’s gaze did not leave him as children followed him, playfully competing for his attention. Just like Jesus.

Reviews

“To me this is one of those series that I will be reading over and over again. From the very beginning I was drawn in, it’s got action, danger, suspense, and even, romance. I can’t recommend this series and Author enough…I highly recommend reading this whole series. I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going to happen next.” (Goodreads review)

“Seelie Kay has an unforgettable imagination, and will keep you wanting more. You can tell she brings her all, while reading this story. I love her characters, especially the strong-willed, independent women. This is a must read! Along with the rest of her Feisty Lawyers Series. Well Done Seelie Kay, Well Done.” (Goodreads review)

“This author really knows how to deliver an edgy, and dramatic story. It was heart in throat entertainment. A complicated and colourful cast filled with many events that left me gasping and wondering if I read it correctly. I was captivated and intrigued. These kinds of stories are what keep me in my happy place. They keep me entertained and out of my head. I have travelled the world and experienced every feeling and moment with theses characters. Seelie Kay has a knack for enrapturing an audience and it is a dangerously decadent state to be in, and totally addictive.” (Goodreads review)

About Seelie Kay

Award-winning author Seelie Kay writes scintillating tales of lawyers in love, sometimes with a dash of kink.

Writing under a nom de plume, the former lawyer and journalist draws her stories from more than 30 years in the legal world. Seelie’s wicked pen has resulted in twenty-two works of fiction, including the new paranormal romance series Donovan Trait, as well the erotic romance Kinky Briefs series and The Feisty Lawyers romantic suspense series. She also authored The Last Christmas, The Garage Dweller, A Touchdown to Remember, The President’s Wife, The President’s Daughter, Seizing Hope, The White House Wedding, and participated in the romance anthology Pieces of Us.

When not spinning romantic tales, Seelie ghostwrites nonfiction for lawyers and other professionals. Currently, she resides in a bucolic exurb outside Milwaukee, WI, where she enjoys opera, the Green Bay Packers, gourmet cooking, organic gardening, and an occasional bottle of red wine.

Seelie is an MS warrior and ruthlessly battles the disease on a daily basis. Her message to those diagnosed with MS: Never give up. You define MS, it does not define you!

Seelie can be reached at www.seeliekay.com, www.seeliekay.blogspot.com, or on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok.

Author links

Website:  https://www.seeliekay.com

Blog:  https://www.seeliekay.blogspot.com

Twitter: @SeelieKay https://twitter.com/SeelieKay

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/seelie.kay.77

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/seeliekay51/

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Seelie-Kay/e/B074RDRWNZ/

BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/seelie-kay

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16492565.Seelie_Kay

TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@authorseeliekay

Newsletter sign-up:  https://rb.gy/w69pim

Prior Books

Kinky Briefs:  https://www.extasybooks.com/kinky-briefs-1

Kinky Briefs, Too:  https://www.extasybooks.com/kinky-briefs,-too

Kinky Briefs, Thrice: https://www.extasybooks.com/kinky-briefs,-thrice

Kinky Briefs, Quatro: https://www.extasybooks.com/kinky-briefs,-quatro

Kinky Briefs, Cinque:  https://www.extasybooks.com/kinky-briefs,-cinque

Snatching Dianna:  https://www.extasybooks.com/snatching-dianna

Infamy:  https://www.extasybooks.com/infamy

Cult:  https://www.extasybooks.com/cult

Hope:  https://www.extasybooks.com/hope

Martimus:  https://www.extasybooks.com/martimus

The Garage Dweller:  https://www.extasybooks.com/the-garage-dweller

The President’s Wife:  https://www.extasybooks.com/the-presidents-wife

Seizing Hope:  https://www.extasybooks.com/seizing-hope

The White House Wedding:  https://www.extasybooks.com/the-white-house-wedding

The Last Christmas: https://www.extasybooks.com/the-last-christmas

The President’s Daughter:  https://www.extasybooks.com/the-presidents-daughter

A Touchdown to Remember:  https://www.extasybooks.com/a-touchdown-to-remember

First, We Kill All the Lawyers:  https://www.extasybooks.com/first,-we-kill-all-the-lawyers

Ye Gods! The Law is an Ass!:  https://www.extasybooks.com/ye-god-the-law-is-an-ass

Vive la Resistance: https://www.extasybooks.com/Vive-la-Resistance

 

Just Released! Farewell My Boy, by Garrick Jones @Gazrj01 #Adventure #SpyThriller #WWII #LGBTQ

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RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Farewell, My Boy

Author: Garrick Jones

Publisher: Moshpit Publications

Cover Artist: Garrick Jones

Release Date: March 1, 2023

Genres: Adventure Spy Thriller

Themes: Strengthening bonds, the love of a child, men at war

Heat Rating: 1 flame

Length: 120 000  words/ 372  pages

It can be read as a standalone. It is Book #3 in the Seventh of December series and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads Series Link

Buy Links

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

Blurb 

From the deserts of North Africa to the dark forests in the Third Reich, Tommy Haupner, together with his American lover, Henry “Shorty” Reiter, lead their team in a daring mission to rescue a gifted young savant from Nazi Germany’s T4 euthanasia program.

They are forced to flee in a stolen bus in the dead of night across enemy territory with a precious cargo of 24 handicapped children destined for extermination. In a supreme effort to save their charges and to avoid capture and execution themselves, they mount the most daring and dangerous rescue mission possible, the results of which almost end in disaster.

This third book in The Seventh of December series is an action packed wartime adventure set in the early months of 1942. Stolen aircraft, kidnapped senior Nazi officials, doctors of death and bloody revenge massacres, all of which are intertwined with the love of a helpless, rescued child. “Farewell, My Boy,” deals with not only the frailty of men’s hearts, but the truth that even the bravest are not exempt from the pain of loss, even when it is for a greater good.

Excerpt

Not more than two or three minutes after I’d finished reading what Andrew had sent to me, a voice from behind whispered my name.

“Coco?” I said, turning to see Luc’s anguished face.

“Mon capitain.”

Then he was in my arms, his head on my shoulder, weeping as hard as he had on the night he’d killed his first man in Édouard’s garden, not long after we’d first met him.

“Steve told me,” I whispered against his ear, drawing him into the corner of the hotel foyer and behind a very large jardinière. He wasn’t old enough yet to have any instilled sense of appropriate behaviour when it came to showing emotions in public. Even though he’d been fighting alongside the Resistance since the age of fifteen, it seemed as if there was still a lot of the needy, lonely boy lurking underneath his tough-guy exterior. We’d become close during my time in occupied France last year and he’d “adopted” me. I’d long ago stopped trying to fight it.

“I’m all alone now,” he said eventually, wiping his nose with his forearm.

“Shorty and I are still here …”

“Until you fuck off again and leave me by myself.” He managed a grin as he said it.

“It’s the war—”

“Putain! I know it’s the war, but can’t we just pretend that it’s not happening for five minutes? I just need someone I care about to hold me and to let me behave like a kid again.”

“Come,” I said. “Upstairs. You can tell me all about it.”

“But you’re busy, aren’t you? Gavin told me you were interrogating the German. It doesn’t look like any sort of interrogation I’ve ever been part of.”

“I can’t pick you up any more,” I said, his arms still around my waist.

“I could probably pick you up now.”

“Most likely. Luc, I’m so sorry—”

“I killed him.”

“Killed who?”

“Corporal Löwe.”

“The German with the bladder problem?”

He nodded. “Papa’s body was never recovered, but the town put up a wooden cross in the graveyard for him—I had to go there to say goodbye, despite how dangerous it was. I was about to head back towards La Roche and had got as far as our house, thinking I’d see if there was anything of Papa’s I could take with me as a memory when I saw Löwe throwing all the furniture onto a bonfire. I crept up behind him in the dark and slit his throat, then pushed him into the fire. He couldn’t scream but he thrashed about for a bit.”

He said it just as any man in wartime would speak about the way the men they’d killed had died. Factual, unemotional, as if it was an everyday event. Part of me hated the fact that someone so young could already be so hardened.

“I’ve done worse,” he added.

“You and me both,” I replied then, after a moment or two when we just stood quietly, his head resting on my shoulder, I said, “You’ve got hairs on your chest now.”

He chuckled. “You should see the bushes below.”

“No, thank you.” I tousled his hair, as I’d always done.

“Given it a trial run yet?” Shorty said, coming up behind us.

“Are you serious, mon américain? For French men, it’s a rite of passage. My father couldn’t take me to a brothel on my sixteenth birthday, so Talley accompanied me and sat in the waiting room playing cards with the ladies for an hour.”

“An hour? Was that your first time?”

Luc nodded. “And second, and third, and I nearly managed a fourth.”

Although Shorty and I laughed, it wasn’t hard to see that Luc was putting on a brave face. We’d find time, as we had done on the night I’d said goodbye to him in Bayonne, wondering when and if we’d ever meet again. Damn me if Luc hadn’t crept his way into my heart, in the same way Gladys and Steve had done. Maybe it was fate: we were meant to be lifelong friends … as long as we all somehow managed to survive until the end of the war.

About the Author 

From the outback to the opera.

After a thirty-year career as a professional opera singer, performing as a soloist in opera houses and in concert halls all over the world, I took up a position as lecturer in music in Australia in 1999, at the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music, which is now part of CQUniversity.

Brought up in Australia, between the bush and the beaches of the Eastern suburbs, I retired in 2015 and now live in the tropics, writing, gardening, and finally finding time to enjoy life and to re-establish a connection with who I am after a very busy career on the stage and as an academic.

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Book Blitz: Vices/Virtues, by Beatrice de Soprantu @desoprontu #WomensFiction

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Women’s Fiction

Date Published: July 14, 2019

 

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“Simultaneously compelling, intriguing, and effortlessly entertaining read. De Soprontu imparts views on themes of poverty, race, identity, strength, and deliverance, all tightly bound within this intricate psychological opera.” KIRKUS REVIEWS

“VICES/VIRTUES is a beautifully written, strikingly moving, look at the interacting lives and diverse backgrounds of women in an unconventional profession” Indie Reader

 

Cristela had a childhood shrouded in secrets. Ashamed of their circumstances, her mother told lies and encouraged her daughter to do the same. As Cristela grew, she unraveled the lies, but found that deception is a hard habit to break.


Now, as an adult, Cristela creates a secret alter ego as the dominatrix Mistress Clara.

By day, Cristela is a good-girl poster child. By night, Mistress Clara masters the hidden erotic realm of an S&M dungeon. With her knack for duplicity things should work smoothly except for one complication – friendship. The quirky array of fellow dominatrices at the dungeon are nothing like the stereotypes she expected. Divided between her affection for the girls at the dungeon and her desire to keep her fetish activities secret, Cristela fears her two worlds are colliding. Can Cristela break her history of deceit? In a world of vices and virtues, salvation isn’t something you find, it’s a path you make.

 

About the Author

Beatrice De Soprontu began writing at the age of four, when she scribbled on the walls with a crayon. Now an adult, she mostly scribbles on her home computer surrounded by her noisy children and their less noisy father. Born and raised in New York City, (which includes: Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, maybe even Staten Island – a.k.a. the real New York and not the tourist trap that is Manhattan), she enthusiastically travels the world on a budget whenever she gets the chance.

 

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Amazon kindle version of  Vices/Virtues

Amazon paperback version of Vices/Virtues

Barnes & Noble epub version of Vices/Virtues

 

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