Night Ranger’s Moon

by Tara Nina

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

ISBN: 1-60154-800-1

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Synopsis:

Weylin Anthropos is a Lykoian with anger issues and a demon in his past that haunts his soul.  He’s a Night Ranger, one of the elite protector’s of the Lykoian clans. Without the backing of the council, Weylin sets out to find his brother. The trail leads him to Mississippi and a village that many Lykoians would rather forget.
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Ghosts of the past linger on these hallowed grounds but are disturbed by an intruder…an enemy from his ancestry. One he must face and defeat if he is to survive and find his brother.
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Long and lethal, a charcoal gray wolf from an unfamiliar clan interferes in his surveillance. Her presence toys with his mind, body, and soul. Where did she come from? How did she find him?  And most of all, what did she want?

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Night Ranger’s Moon by Tara Nina

Book Review by Pepper

3.6/5 Whips
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Night Rangers Moon gives a different slant on the wolf-shifter genre, bringing together two Lykoians who are both an elite type of wolf cop. One a rogue and the other by the book, they are forced to work together to complete their missions. It’s an interesting premise, and Tara Nina handles the plot well, giving us lots of twists and turns, suspense and excitement, and hot steamy sex.
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I had only one problem with Night Ranger’s Moon. While I enjoyed the sex scenes, after the first one I didn’t really feel they moved the story along like they should have. It was almost as if they were inserted to fill space. That said, the plot was really first class, and the villain more than a match for the hero and heroine. There were enough twists and turns and interesting characters to make Night Ranger’s Moon worth reading.

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Find out more about Tara Nina’s other titles on her website – http://www.taranina.com/

READ AN EXCERPT:

Excerpt:

An unusual, erotic scent filled his nose as he caught the surprised and angry heat in a set of sexy cobalt blue eyes staring back at him. He paused and suddenly knew he couldn’t snap the creature’s life vein even if he wanted. The knowledge of who lived within this wolf’s flesh washed over him. Pure need filtered through his system causing him to harden. Intense animal urges thrashed through his veins yet he refused to bow. Never had he taken a female in wolf form, and he wasn’t about to do so now. To do that mated him for life, and he wanted no mate.

Not now, not ever.

On an angry growl, Weylin released the death grip he held to her throat and backed away. He shook his entire being and returned to human form. Naked, he stood before the female wolf and knew he stared at the woman he followed through the village.

She sat upright on hind haunches, held her chin in a regal tilt, and returned his steady gaze. The dilation of her pupils gave the only indication that his naked form affected her in any way. He read defiance in those hot cobalt blues. Good, he decided. It seemed to him, she battled nature’s demands and wanted no mate either.

Though, according to an antiquated Lykoian law, he’d won the right to take her as his own. He’d beaten her. In the ancient culture, that meant he could mount her and mate her if he chose, and she could not resist. But he didn’t believe in the archaic testaments of the old tribal ways. With a sister of his own to protect, he was a true believer in the freedom of choice when it came to a mate. His lip curled as he stared at the beautiful wolf. Desire roared through him urging him to claim his right.

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Tara Nina’s other titles with The Wild Rose Press

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Blue Moon Rising

by Tara Nina

ISBN 1-60154-058-2

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Missing children, werewolves and a mysterious castle in the swamps of South Carolina test Rae Richardson’s version of reality. Strange things happen around her convincing her that maybe werewolves do exist. The sight of a large black wolf in the swamp only fuels her overactive imagination. Crossing paths with a handsome man ignites a fire in her soul she refuses to acknowledge. Something about this stranger raises her suspicions. Did he have a hand in the children’s disappearance? Or was it the over-powering need in her gut to be near him the reason for her mistrust?

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Nick Anthropos is on a quest, one that does not include saving children or meeting the woman of his dreams, his Lykoian soul mate. Her scent teases his senses and keeps him on edge. It’s obvious to him she doesn’t know her true self. But can he teach her to be the wolf he knows lies within her soul and save her from the very creature he set out to destroy? If he fails she would be lost forever.

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Lykoian’s get one chance in life to bond with their soul mate forever. Failure is not an option.

I want to Welcome Victor J. Banis the author of the Deadly Mystery Series available from MLR Press.  Today he shares a little about himself and a fun little free read from the first book in the series Deadly Nightshade.  Thanks Victor!  – Terry Kate

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MLR Press Author Victor J. Banis

I started out to tell you about myself, but really, you can learn everything you want to know at http://www.vjbanis.com.  And if you still want to know more, pick up The Golden Age of Gay Fiction, edited by Drewey Wayne Gunn, and available from www.mlrpress.com . I’m in there, too.

But, really, a writer is all about the writing, which is to say, the best way to introduce myself to you is to share a few excerpts from some of my books. There are a lot of them, but most recently I’ve done a series of mysteries for MLR – Deadly Nightshade, Deadly Wrong, Deadly Dreams, Deadly Slumber and Deadly Silence. Though they are mysteries, the books really focus on the ongoing relationship between the two leads, Tom Danzel and Stanley Korski – or, as the blurb puts it, – Straight Cop, Gay Cop.  Readers tell me they enjoy the books because they find the characters and their ongoing and difficult (aren’t they all?) relationship intriguing.

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I started writing the first book, Deadly Nightshade, the same way I start writing every book—the same way, really, every writer starts writing a book, to learn what he knows. I wanted to learn what I know about men, about love, about relationships—but the funny thing, if you’re doing it right, at some point, the book goes right past you. It ends up knowing more than you do.
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Here is an excerpt from that first book in the series, Deadly Nightshade by Victor J. Banis, available in print and e-format at www.mlrpress.com. I’m still sorting out what it knows that I don’t.

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Straight cop, gay cop, and a woman who “isn’t real.” Tom and Stanley are on the trail of a drag queen serial killer, and along the way, they find themselves engaged in a more intimate pursuit, trying to resolve another mystery: their unexpected attraction to one another.

Excerpt:

“‘A little silver slipper of a moon,’” Stanley said.

“What?”

“Oh, just a line from a play.”

Tom looked searchingly at him. “You really like all that stuff, don’t you?”

“Stuff?”

“Plays, poetry—I’ll bet you like to hang out at art galleries.”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Stanley’s smile was a little embarrassed. “Too fruity for you, I guess.”

They passed the joint back and forth. Tom considered Stanley’s remark for a moment. “No,” he said finally, actually looking up at the moon. “I don’t know any of that shit.  I’m just a dumb cop. It’s kind of nice, to tell you the truth, knowing someone who does. I guess I could learn stuff from you.”

“You’re not dumb,” Stanley said. Tom only grunted again.

The sun was almost up now, hurrying before the night changed its mind, the gray sky enameled with streaks of bronze and amber, the famous skyline silhouetted against them. The ocean was dark gray and green, like the verdigris one sees on old brass, and the headlands in the distance were smoke purple, flecked here and there with a dusty gold, as if a painter had just
daubed at them with his brush. There were those little flecks of gold everywhere, really—gold gray, gold green, gold purple. A pair of early rising gulls called to one another, celebrating the day to come, or maybe jeering their lay-a-bed cousins.

Stanley had seen all this many times, but never before at this time, at this late night, early morning hour, and not from the bridge. It was a spectacular sight.

“It’s beautiful,” he said.

“I never get tired of it.” Tom flicked the roach over the railing, a wink of red as it disappeared, and did the one-handed thing with a stick of gum. “The bridge, the hills, all of it. I come here when I need to quiet my mind down. I guess it’s my kind of poetry.”

Headlights brushed over them. A lone car, its windows down, went by headed for Marin, leaving little flecks of ‘Pretty Woman’ in its wake

Stanley glanced at Tom then, and he had a sudden, almost frightened realization of Tom’s beauty. Oh, he’d known all along that he was good looking, sexy, hot—he just had not until now thought of the word “beauty” in connection with him.

But he was, though, as beautiful as any museum statue or great painting. Not just handsome, which all at once Stanley found too inadequate a word for that dark nest of curls that was his hair, for those brown eyes that glinted sometimes with gold and could turn as dark as thunderclouds in an instant; for the full-lipped mouth—how he had loved kissing that, more than he would have dared admit—and the high cheekbones as if carved of marble. He felt his knees grow weak, and was unaware that he was staring until Tom glanced back at him, his expression puzzled.

“What?” he said, chewing.

Stanley felt something inside himself stir. He wanted to fling his arms about Tom, but he knew that he did not dare. He was afraid to speak, even, to shatter the spell. He took a tiny step closer, not quite close enough to touch, but close enough that he was sure he could feel the warmth of Tom’s body. It made his breath quicken, and he had to cough into his hand to disguise his arousal. He opened his mouth, fully meaning to say, “I love you.”

What came out instead was, “I saw a flying saucer once. When I was twelve.”

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Again, read about me at http://www.vjbanis.com and check out all the great reading
available at www.mlrpress.com

Hola, I’m James Buchanan and I’m here playing today. If you read my official bio I’ve apparently written over a dozen novels and single author anthologies (I had to stop and count them on the shelf above my desk). I have a guy, we have kids and we often pick them up from school on the Harleys. My evil day job is as an attorney – I’ve been known to wear leather
frock coats and boots to court.

A lot of what I write are Mystery/Thriller type Romances and often they feature BDSM. Recently, I gave a writing BDSM workshop with Joey Hill for Romance Divas and I’ve participated on panels for the Popular Culture Association on both gay romance and BDSM power dynamics in gay romance. My novel, Hard Fall, took the honorable mention in the National Leather Association – International’s novel category this year.

I base my BDSM/Kink books on the theory that this is not just something the characters DO it is who they ARE. Submission, in my view, is about being comforted, swaddled up in this big warm blanket of safety – except the blanket is made of leather or rope or expectation. It is a secure place to be. It is a loving place to be. The submissive is unconditionally accepted for who they are. They are safe, loved and adored in that condition of submission. Submissives need it, they crave it. Domination, on the other hand, is not about getting your way or pushing people around. While they may get off on inflicting pain, discipline or punishment, Dominants are not abusive jerks. It is the thrill of making “it” happen: the turn on, the moment of connection, the second absolute trust is given over, that drives their Dominant leanings.

Because I write the characters that way, I think people connect with my BDSM books – I humanize it, not fetishize it.

~James

Website: www.James-Buchanan.com

Blog: www.James-Buchanan.com/blog

Twitter: http://twitter.com/James_Buchanan

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/James-Buchanan/56144477499?ref=ts

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Hard Fall

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http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=HARDFALL

There ain’t much complicated about Joe Peterson….

He’s a Utah Sheriff’s Deputy.  He’s Mormon.  He heads up the local Search and Rescue…and he’s gay.   So far Joe’s managed to keep that one part hidden down deep.  Then Kabe, and ex-con and adrenaline junkie climber, lands in town on parole.  When a German tourist falls off the mountain, Joe finds he needs Kabe’s help with the case.  Accident or murder?  As Joe weaves the evidence together the strands of his life fray to breaking.  Will Kabe be the guy who tears Joe apart?  Or is it that Joe needs to fall hard before he can start living?

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Personal Demons

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=PDEMONS1

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Hunting a notorious hit man, FBI Agent Chase Nozick and LAPD Det. Enrique Rios Ocha delve into the inner worlds of Santeria, Voodoo and Palo Mayumbe. A missing informant, her murdered brother and a ghost from Chase’s past send them on a hunt through mystics and psychic surgeons to find their witness before it’s too late. Can he rely on leads from a child possessed by Orishas? Do cards hold stronger clues than blood? Chase must conquer his own personal demons to bring the killer of his partner to justice and find the strength to take a chance on Enrique.

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The Good Thief

eBook: http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=GOODTH02

print: http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=GOODTH01

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What if the wrong guy, turns out to be the right guy for you? Caesar Serrano thought he screwed up when he landed in the bed of LAPD Officer Nathan Reilly. But when Caesar breaks into the wrong house and stumbles upon a heinous crime, implicating a high ranking LAPD officer, Nate is the only person he knows to turn to. The resulting investigation throws the Blue Brigade into panic. Now he’s running for his life and Nate is his only hope for survival. Can two men, on opposite sides of the law, come together to bring a monster to justice?

MLR Press Publisher Feature with S.J. Frost

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As an author at MLR Press, love, romance, and passion between men are the themes I work in. In the past few months, my muse has kept me writing mainly contemporary erotic romance with my Conquest series, which follow a rock band and those who are connected to them. The first book in the series, Conquest, was what pushed me toward wanting to have my work published. Even though I’d written for years, when the main character of the first two books, Jesse Alexander, came to me, I knew I wanted to share his story with readers.
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Jesse wasn’t the first gay character I’d written, but his story was the first romance, and when I wrote it, I felt as though I was truly writing something I believed in, how love is the inherent right of all individuals. It’s a sad truth in the world today not all people share this belief, so for me, to write a story portraying a relationship between two men as loving, strong, and positive was very important. And it set the tone for how all my works to date have been.
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Now with having three books in the Conquest series published, for my next work I thought I’d try something different; vampires. It’s also m/m erotic romance in a contemporary setting, and while it’s still in the works, I can honestly say I’ve had a blast writing it. Though, how I jumped from writing about rocks stars to vampires, I’m not sure. I just go where my muse leads me, and I do enjoy trying my hand at new genres. Back in the day, I used to write sword and sorcery fantasy (unpublished) and even now, I have an m/m samurai historical on the back burner.
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Yet no matter the genre, there are consistencies with my stories in that threads of love and passion between the characters run throughout. I’m a hopeless romantic at heart, and to be able to bring two characters together, from the first kiss, through struggles and trials as they work to have a happy ending together, is like a dream come true. And what makes it the ultimate dream come true is how my work has found the perfect home at MLR Press.

But now, I’ll share my last things, a little bit about each of my current releases at MLR Press and a huge thank you to Terry and everyone who has taken the time to read about me and my work!

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Conquest: Book 1 in the Conquest series

As the vocally gifted lead singer of his band, Conquest, Jesse Alexander refuses to
let anything hold him back from achieving his dream of becoming one of the greatest
performers to ever hit a stage. Evan Arden was thought of as a musical genius when at
the height of his career, he vanished from the spotlight. Together, their relationship is
just as intense as their music careers, but with the pressures of success and fame pushing
down on them, Jesse must decide what’s more important to him, his life of music, or his
life with Evan.
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No Fear: Book 2 in the Conquest series

After touring for more than a year with his band, Conquest, singer Jesse Alexander is
ready to head home for a long rest with his partner, superstar vocalist, Evan Arden.
When it’s time to hit the studio again, there’s competition from two new bands and
tensions reach a breaking point that threaten not only Conquest’s future, but Jesse’s
relationship with Evan. As he faces challenges unlike any he’s ever known, Jesse must
somehow keep it together to duplicate Conquest’s success and reach his ultimate goal:
showing NO FEAR and announcing his love of Evan publicly.

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Keys to Love: Book 3 in the Conquest series

For two years, Julian Forrester’s been playing keyboards and piano for Conquest.
Having left behind a classical career, he’s reached a level of fame like he’s never
dreamed. But fame and fortune can’t bring him the one thing he wants most; love.
Morgan Chandler spent years teaching students to love music until budget cuts
forced him out of a job. With family debts rising, Morgan accepts a job as a roadie
for Conquest. He thinks he’ll hate it with one exception – he’ll be close to Julian.
Can the two find the right music together that will lead them to the Keys to Love?

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See More about S.J. Frost on Naughty Boys in the Backseat.  Read all her Dark Secrets HERE.

Hello Readers,

I am so excited to welcome the authors of ManLoveRomance to the Backseat and today we are spending time with Rick R. Reed – Take it away Triple R!

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Silly Questions and More with MLR Press Author Rick R. Reed

In their October 2006 issue, Unzipped magazine said: “You could call him the Stephen King of gay horror.” And Dark Scribe magazine said: “Reed is an established brand – perhaps the most reliable contemporary author for thrillers that cross over between the gay fiction market and speculative fiction.” To date, Reed has twelve published novels to his credit, and his short fiction has appeared in more than 20 anthologies. His novel, ORIENTATION, won the EPPIE Award for best LGBT novel of 2008. He lives in Seattle, WA. Visit him on the web at http://www.rickrreed.com

So, I was trying to think of what I could say to the readers of Naughty in the Backseat and decided to fall back on an oddly masturbatory interview I did of myself on my own blog, which can be found here: http://rickrreedreality.blogspot.com/.
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My answers to these 10 silly questions were the capper of a series I did when I asked other authors the questions posed below. I thought it was only fair I sit in the hot seat myself.

-So now, I think you guys might find the questions—and their answers—interesting. Stick around to the end of the interview where you’ll get a taste of two of my latest MLR Press releases.
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Here we go…

1. If you could invite any famous person, dead or alive, for dinner, what would
you eat?
Since I would be aghast if a dead person showed up at my door for dinner, probably nothing. Since I would be aghast if a live celebrity showed up for dinner, probably nothing. Perhaps for the latter, I would run up the street and get some Thai take-out.

2. Who do you think you are?
Little Miss Mary Sunshine, spreading it around wherever I go.

3. What’s your problem?
Gas

- Thanks for sharing and thankfully not sharing it in the same room as me – TK

4. If you could have one wish, would you give it to me?
No. I’m selfish that way. Besides, do you really need a foot long, um, er, ruler?

5. Where you at?
In my sweet spot

6. If you had to choose only one vice, what would it be?
Thumb sucking

7. What’s your favorite brand of cereal?
Cap’n Crunch…morning, noon, or night

8. When you wake up in the morning, what celebrity do you most resemble?
Tori Spelling
- I posted this so we can all see the Rick/Tori resemblance.
9. Do you know your ass from a hole in the ground? And if so, how do you tell the difference?
I do. One is much, much cleaner, but I ain’t sayin’ which one.

10. Do you have anything you’d like to plug?
Gerard Butler? Never mind. Of course, Rick, two of my latest releases from MLR
Press. They are A Demon Inside and Tales from the Sexual Underground. Here are the blurbs for each:

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A Demon Inside

Hunter Beaumont doesn’t understand his grandmother’s deathbed wish: “Destroy
Beaumont House.” He’d never even heard of the place. But after his grandmother
passes and his first love betrays him, the family house in the Wisconsin woods looks
like a tempting refuge. Going against his grandmother’s wishes, Hunter flees to
Beaumont House.

But will the house be the sanctuary he had hoped for? Soon after moving in, Hunter
realizes he may not be alone. And who—or what—he shares the house may plunge
him into a nightmare from which he may never escape. Sparks fly when he meets
his handsome neighbor, a caretaker for the estate next door, but is the man his
salvation…or is he the source of Hunter’s terror?

You can read excerpts and reviews HERE

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Tales from the Sexual Underground

I wanted to write about people who were not just out, but out there, people who lived
their sexual lives in ways most of us could only imagine…and for whom the flavor
vanilla had absolutely no appeal. I interviewed porn stars, prostitutes, self-proclaimed
sex pigs, and delved into bizarre sexual practices. It was eye-opening, arousing, and
a lot of fun (but never, never good clean fun). I also include here my favorite dirty
stories. They all explore a side of life that exists not in the twilight zone, but in my
favorite destination…the sexual underground.

You can read excerpts and reviews HERE:

Lucky me, I had a fabulous publisher, Laura Baumbach step forward to give us a peek into ManLoveRomance (MLR) and its stable of authors. It is a fun term, stable – sounds kinda Naughty…

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Terry Kate: Welcome to Laura Baumbach, Owner/Publisher of MLR Press. You specialize in gay erotic romance and fiction, can you please share a little bit more about your Press and what readers can expect to find?

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Laura Baumbach: ManLoveRomance Press was created to bring m/m erotic romances to print for our readership. I write M/M erotic romance almost exclusively. I started out being published by a small print house in the LA area, and then began submitting and being accepted by multiple ebook publishers. My print house wasn’t paying royalties like they should have been and did nothing to promote the work. This made me frustrated and discontent. I began looking for other print publishers for my work. While one of my ebook publishers did take one of my stories to print in an anthology, they wouldn’t commit to doing more of my novels. Their focus was e-publishing and they had limited interest in doing print. I understood that but because I knew from my readership and fan letters that there was a growing interest in having these books in print, I continued to submit to houses like Alyson and Kensington. Unfortunately for me, they weren’t interested in gay erotic romance at that time. After a number of attempts and rejections of stories I knew where print worthy, I decided to gather together my closest and most talented friends within the industry and fill what I saw as a void in the publishing industry—a press for gay erotic romance and fiction by creating ManLoveRomance Press, LLC aka MLR Press. We publish the ‘feel good, falling in love again’ stories that readers were asking for.

I’ve kept the focus of MLR Press on gay erotic romance and fiction because that is the genre I know inside and out and can market and promote effectively. The readership for this genre is almost entirely straight women and gay men and I target different media and events for each, keeping in mind that there are a lot more cross over venues each year.

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TK: What makes a story stand out to you as something MLR Press should publish?

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LB: Writing in this genre is, to me, a calling. You have to understand the genre and its components. You can’t take a het romance and change one character’s name to make it two men. The way your characters act, talk and react are different and if you don’t have the understanding of that down pat it shows in the writing. It’s easy to spot someone who is writing M/M to cash in on the popularity of it and one who writes it because they have to because their characters won’t have it any other way.Characters have to be strong and plots intriguing and well-thought out. Sex should flesh out the characters or progress the story not just hang there in the air as filler. We like unique, edgy work.

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TK: What sub-genre is the most popular with readers?

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LB: Mystery. But any of the titles with good action and plot, breath-taking heroes and sizzling intimacy work.

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TK: And why not? We as readers want an experience other then our own, a little mystery or action would certainly spice my life up! On a more personal note, this is your company and being a publisher is a tough job. What is the hardest part of being a publisher?

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Laura Baumbach: Having to say no to an author. Whether is to a submission, a cover request, whatever. I like my people happy. But it isn’t always possible to do it 100% of the time.

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Terry Kate: Laura, thank you so much for your time and I am so excited to be hosting your authors all this week on Naughty Boys in the Backseat! To find out more about MLR join us this week and visit their website -

http://www.mlrpress.com

Spoils of War

by Aleksandr Voinov & Raev Gray

Published by eXcessica in an anthology called “Divine Matches.”

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When Achilleus, the greatest warrior who ever lived, falls before Troy (or Ilion, as it was known), Ares, God of War, stands ready to take his spirit with him to his palace. There, Ares demands that Achilleus yield to him. But can the embrace of a god and the offer of immortality make Achilleus forget his one true love, Patroklos?

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Spoils of War by Aleksandr Voinov & Raev Gray

Book Review by Jasmine

4/5 Story 5/5 Whips in the Backseat for Writing

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Spoils of War is an excellent erotic romp.  A worthy Naughty read and the writing duo Aleksandr Voinov & Raev Gray are undeniably talented writers!  I love their style, the precision and execution of Achilleus’ tale speaks of their talent with words and the amount of care they put into the mythology and research.  Part of the mythology is what stood in my way as a reader.

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The opening lines of the book:

When Achilleus, the greatest warrior who ever lived, falls before Troy (or Ilion, as it was known), Ares, God of War, stands ready to take his spirit with him to his palace. There, Ares demands that Achilleus yield to him. But can the embrace of a god and the offer of immortality make Achilleus forget his one true love, Patroklos?

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Thank you for your research and accuracy to the time and history, but if I had not seen the movie Troy I think I would have been very lost.  It is from that film that I recall that Achilles as I am more familiar with the name being spelled, is the son of a water goddess and makes a prophecy about the two paths in life that he can choose from, a long life, or glory.  Maybe calling Illion – Troy and Achilleus – Achilles the story would have played down the style that those added touches using more accurate names lends the story.

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The story is a fulfilling read and has a clear style that if you enjoy take the time to go out and look for more titles by these authors.  Spoils of War stands out from the pack.  It is a read that you will not forget.

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See more of Aleksandr Voinov’s work at his Official Author Web site

Aleksandr Voinov’s Blog

Visit Raev Gray at Excessica.com

Writing about Achilleus and Ares was a thing waiting to happen for a long time. When I approached my brilliant co-writer Raev Gray with the idea, the Iliad and Troy had been sitting in my brain for something like 25 years. I grew up on the stuff – a collection of the mythology was one of the best gifts I ever got as a kid. Sex, passions, violence. I inhaled it all.
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Achilleus was one of my favourites – the greatest warrior who ever lived. His rage at the death of his ‘friend’ Patroklos, his bottomless, sacrilegious revenge had to have roots in love, I never doubted that. When I studied Ancient History (yup, got a degree in that), I learnt about the various interpretations of that relationship. “Did they or didn’t they” wasn’t a question that would have interested the Ancient Greeks.
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I have to admit I was pretty excited when they put “Troy” onto the big screen in 2004.   I’ve seen the – admittedly pretty trashy – film a dozen times. I even own it. But it never satisfied me. A million versions of the Iliad, and a million versions that never got the whole point – the point I saw in it.
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The big question that Achilleus faces is this: live long and raise a family, become a well-respected elder and king, or live short and win lots and lots of glory. As we all know from Homer’s story, he chooses the short life, and glory. Then his friend/lover/comrade Patroklos dies.
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And the question is – have you made the right decision, Achilleus? I never doubted that he’d sacrifice his own life for greatness – but would he sacrifice Patroklos? If he could give it all back in return for Patroklos’ life, would he?
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And that’s the core of all romance fiction, isn’t it? How much are we willing to sacrifice? What are we really made of?

-  Aleksandr Voinov

http://www.aleksandrvoinov.com/

http://www.aleksandrvoinov.blogspot.com/

FaceBook – Twitter:  vashtan

Review: Ellora’s Cavemen:

Jewels of the Nile Volume II Anthology

The Debutante by Samantha Kane

Happy Monday Readers!

I want to welcome author Julia Rachel Barret to the Backseat to talk about Mythology.  Books have been playing with this for some time and most of us heave flashbacks to names we remember learning about in school, but we are here to hear about how it ties in with some great naughty reads.

-TK

Persephone, the Greek goddess of spring and rebirth, was the daughter of Demeter, Mother Earth Goddess, and Zeus, king of the gods of Mount Olympus.  The story of Persephone’s abduction by Hades, the God of the Underworld, is traditionally referred to as the rape of Persephone, whose other name is Kore, which means maiden.  The young maiden, out innocently picking flowers, was dragged by Hades into the Underworld to be his wife and become Queen of the Dead.  Without the goddess of spring to bring about the change of seasons and rebirth, the earth was covered by snow and the people went hungry.

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So great was her mother’s grief at Persephone’s disappearance, and such was the suffering of mankind, that Zeus heard their cries.  He sent his messenger, Hermes, to deliver Persephone from the Underworld.  But the Fates had decreed that anyone who ate a single thing while in the Underworld could not be redeemed.  Hades tricked Persephone into eating six pomegranate seeds.  Six months out of the year, Persephone must live in the Underworld. We have winter. When she rises to our world, we have rebirth and new growth, we have spring.

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The myth of Persephone is the basis of my futuristic science fiction series, Daughters of Persephone. Many centuries from now, mankind has exhausted the earth.  Each generation fights over scarce resources.  A secret cadre of scientists from around the globe gathers together, hoping to save mankind through eugenics.  They develop a line of female warriors and leaders who come to be known as Empresses.  Even then, these Empresses fail to save us from ourselves, all but one, the Empress Ya.  She is the first Empress to see her way through time.

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The Empress Ya travels into the future, bringing back the technology needed to build vessels that will carry her followers far from earth, to a new home in another solar system.  The Empress Ya and her followers build a new colony and a new home for the human race on the planet they aptly name, Persephone, for they have come out of the darkness and into the light.  From Persephone, humans spread throughout their new corner of the galaxy, led by a line of Empresses and Women of the Blood, as they come to be known – women who are the remnants of the eugenics program.

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My futuristic science fiction romance, Daughters of Persephone, Book One Exile, Book Two Return, picks up the story three thousand years after the first colony, Persephone, has been established.  It follows the saga of the new Empress, Aja, and her sisters, Ennat and Tem.  Books three and four, Reborn and The Red Demon, chronicle the challenges that face another Empress, Issa, born three thousand years after Aja’s death, and her mentor, Aja’s sister Tem, also known as The Red Demon.

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If you love Greek mythology, romance and science fiction, I think you’ll appreciate these stories.

- Julia Rachel Barrett

http://juliarachelbarrett.net
Buy Julia Rachel Barrett’s Books Here:  http://www.bookstrand.com/node/805937
and: http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/m8_view_item.html?m8:item=232-200-102-460-2
Bio:  Julia Rachel Barrett writes poetry, fiction and nonfiction.  She and her husband live in Northern California with their three children, new puppy, three cats and two noisy birds.
http://juliabarrett.blogspot.com/
http://sevensexyscribes.blogspot.com/