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Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Tara Lain's "Cowboys Don't Ride Unicorns" Blog Tour



Country boy and city slicker. Cowboy and decorator. Bull rider and — unicorn!  Opposites powerfully attract in Tara Lain’s new romance, but can they find a way to be together? Check out Cowboys Don’t Ride Unicorns.

Cowboys Don't Ride Unicorns
(Cowboys Don't Series, #2)
By Tara Lain

Blurb

Cowboy Danny Boone—a name he made up one drunken night and has regretted ever since—harbors a big past and yearns for a small future. A short, bright career as a champion bull rider almost ended in his death when his homophobic father discovered Danny was gay. Now Danny longs for a plot of land he can build a ranch house on and enough money to make up for some of the education he missed.

Danny also hides a preference for beautiful femmes who like to top—a combo rarer than a unicorn. Then onto the guest ranch where Danny works drives San Francisco decorator Laurie Belmont, a young man so gorgeous he makes horses gasp, and so ballsy he almost kills Danny’s attacker.

Laurie’s trying to find his way out from under the thumb of a domineering mother, helpless father, and rich, privileged boyfriend. But no matter the attraction, their lives are worlds apart, and cowboys don’t ride unicorns.


Available for purchase at 


Also available in paperback





Excerpts


“I want to see what’s ahead.” He coaxed Tramp into a trot and then a canter, and before Danny could even register it, he was in a full-on gallop.

“Shit!” Danny glanced at Grove, who looked worried. Danny frowned. “Should I go after him? He’s pretty sure in the saddle, but he doesn’t know the area.”

“Yes, please. He’s pissed, and he’s got a wicked temper. Plus he’s fond of biting off more than he can chew.”

Danny scrubbed the accompanying image of Laurie’s biting and chewing from his brain and took off after him at speed. Danny rode Star Gazer, a beautiful black Arabian who had lots of speed on Tramp, but Laurie had a head start.

Danny galloped down the path, looking for signs of Tramp ahead. Finally he saw the flick of her tail rounding a corner, and he turned Star Gazer into the rough and ran catty-corner to intercept Laurie. When Danny came up beside Tramp, Laurie rode easily, grinning and obviously having way too much fun. Danny waved him down. “Stop, damn it.”

Laurie gave him a pouty look but slowed Tramp to a trot. “What’s wrong?”

“Just stop.”

Laurie frowned and pulled up Tramp.

Danny waved a hand to the right. “There’s a little stream over there. Let her get a drink.” He walked Star Gazer through the trees to the trickle of water, so precious in drought-ridden California.

Laurie dismounted and dropped his reins, letting Tramp get her own water.

Danny did the same, and as Star Gazer walked to the stream, Danny turned on Laurie. “First, you don’t know this area. Going that fast, you could have hit barbed wire, or for that matter, the highway that comes up fast in a half mile. Second, Tramp isn’t an Arabian. Yes, she’s got some speed, but she’s older and not bred to gallop for that long.”

“I asked to ride the Palomino.” He crossed his arms.

“And you may get to if it’s okay with Rand, but you’ve got to respect the horses, and making them pay for your temper isn’t the way to do it.”

Laurie’s eyes widened a bit; then he stared at his boots. “Tramp seems more than willing to run.”

Danny stepped closer. “A quality of horses you should be aware of is that they don’t always act in their own best interests. The same can be said for some humans.” Breathe. “You shouldn’t be riding alone. Period.”

Laurie stepped closer and thrust his pretty face toward Danny. “Okay, simple. You can ride with me.”

“I’ve got work to do.”

“News flash.” Laurie took another step. “I am your work.”

One more step and they’d be nose-to-nose—or lips-to-lips. Danny stared at that mouth like it held the secrets of the universe. What would those lips taste like? Big cowboy in the sky, help me.


Two hours later he’d drawn his bull—a huge sucker named Scorpion, and from the looks on Maury’s team’s faces, he must have the sting to go with the name. As they walked to the chutes, Maury clapped a hand on Danny’s shoulders. “Careful. Don’t underestimate Scorpion. He’s meaner than piss.”

“Sounds like not my luckiest draw.”

“Well, let’s just say he’ll earn a lot of points.”

Danny propped himself on the fence and slid onto the broad back, feeling the heat of the animal under him. He worked with the rope puller Maury had provided to get his bull rope in exactly the tautness and configuration he liked best. Scorpion shifted restlessly but didn’t try to slam Danny against the fence. Danny leaned down toward the twitching ear. “I’m your friend, Scorpion. I’ll make you look good if you return the favor.”

The cowboy closest to Danny chuckled.

The announcer called, “Next up, we got a new rider named Danny Boone. If you’ve been in California lately, you know Danny’s been doing his share of winning. So let’s see if he’s up to the great state of Nevada.”

Danny adjusted his vest, planted his hat, wrapped his hand tight enough to hold but not so tight he couldn’t let go—and nodded.

Fucking hell broke loose. The bull leaped out of the stall in a full breakaway—not a move bulls usually performed. Danny vaguely heard the crowd gasp over his own intake of breath. She-it. Just pretend he’s a bronc. Danny flapped his loose hand toward the sky and adjusted the roll of his hips and movement of his spine to accommodate the bull’s unique style. He spurred for a couple of extra points, but truth was he could barely stay on this sucker. Just try to look good. The hurt didn’t exist—until later.

Scorpion sunfished, throwing his legs to the side, and Danny rode the buck, trying like a son of a bitch to look in control. Wham! All four hooves hit the ground straight-legged, and the impact shot up Danny’s back in a bolt of pain. Much longer and that bell on the bull’s belly would be tolling for Danny. For an instant Laurie’s face flashed in his mind.

After what felt like an hour, the horn sounded.

He waited for old Scorpion to stop spinning, kicked to the side, and landed standing. Scorpion hadn’t taken kindly to Danny’s offer of friendship and took off after him like he’d been given a contract on his life. Danny leaped to the side and let Scorpion sail past. Two bullfighters jumped in front of Scorpion, but the damned bull was hard to distract. He swiped at Danny twice more, getting lots of reaction from the crowd, and finally stampeded after the bullfighters, who lured him into the exit chute.

Danny walked out of the arena too as the announcer said, “Looks like Danny Boone can take on the big dogs with the best of them. Good ride.”

A couple of guys slapped his shoulder, and he nodded. Don’t let ’em see you sweat. 







Cowboys Don't Series






Cowboys Don't Come Out
Bk #1


Available for purchase at 

           





About the Author




Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 32. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Paranormal Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft.  She lives with her soul-mate husband and her soul-mate dog near the sea in California where she sets a lot of her books.  Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!


You can find Tara at Lain

               





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Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Cover Reveal Blitz: Ravenheart by Dannika Dark



THE CROSSBREED SERIES compelling urban fantasy romance series following a private organization of individuals who hunt evildoers. Dark secrets, complex characters, and plenty of action. If you like a slow-building romance with magic and adventure, look no further.

Raven Black will win your heart, and Christian Poe will break it.




Ravenheart
(Crossbreed Series, Bk #2)
By Dannika Dark

Blurb:

Two weeks after joining Keystone, Raven Black is ready to take on the world as a criminal hunter for hire. If only her partner wasn’t a bloodsucking Vampire with a penchant for getting under her skin. Despite her lavish surroundings, Raven misses the freedom of life without rules. And Keystone’s next assignment is about to test her self-control in more ways than one.

Dead bodies are popping up in the human district, and all signs point to a Breed serial killer. In order to catch him, Raven and Christian embark on a mission that takes their partnership into uncharted waters. Lives are at stake. Can Raven trust her instincts, or will she fall into a web spun from lies and deceit?

Time is running out in this pulse-pounding tale of dark secrets, murder, and forbidden desires.


Available for pre-order at 



Release Date:
May 9, 2017





Keystone
(Crossbreed Series Book 1)


Grab your copy at  

               

   




About the Author


Dannika Dark is the USA Today Bestselling Author of Urban Fantasy Romance and Paranormal Romance. Her books have sold more than 1 million copies worldwide, and she is a 2016 Audie Awards finalist. 

Dannika was born on a military base in the U.S. and spent her youth traveling abroad. She developed an interest writing poetry and song lyrics early on, eventually gravitating toward a job that involved writing procedural training documentation. In her spare time, she wrote novels before she decided to pursue a career in publishing.

In addition to writing about supernatural worlds, Dannika is passionate about graphic design and creates all her own covers and series art. When not writing, she enjoys indie music, movies, reading, Tex-Mex, strawberry daiquiris, heaps of chocolate, and unleashing her dark side.

All of her published books to date are written in the same universe and contain material suitable for adults only.

"For me, writing is all about blending genres to break out of the confines of predictability, but it's what I love to do." ~ Danni


You can find Dannika at 

              

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Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Cover Reveal Blitz: Brush With Catastrophe by Tara Lain


At night, he paints. In a world where the supernaturals can bring down lightning and manifest wealth, Sammy can paint. What happens when a witch's “prophetic” paintings always come true and his latest painting is of the human he has a crush on? The answer? Magic!

Check out the brand new cover for the 2nd Edition of BRUSH WITH CATASTROPHE!!


Brush With Catastrophe 
(The Aloysius Tales Series, #2) 
By Tara Lain

Blurb:
Sammy Raphael is a crappy witch, and on top of that, he can't seem to get a boyfriend. Where other supernaturals can bring down lightning and manifest wealth, Sammy can paint. Granted, the “prophetic” paintings he creates at night always come true, but they never predict anything important. Sammy feels like a total loser with a worthless ability.

One night he paints a gorgeous guy who turns out to be his secret crush, the human Ryder, but Ryder’s changed so much he's almost unrecognizably beautiful. Then Sammy paints an angel who turns out to be a witch. But is that witch also a devil—a devil who can bring down Sammy’s whole community and everyone he loves? And why the hell does Ryder keep changing? Aloysius, the black cat familiar, always backs a winner. So why is he backing Sammy?



Available for pre-order at

Also available in paperback

Release Date: 
April 14th 2017


Excerpts


“Hey, have you seen any new guys around? Really handsome. Tall with long hair.”


Chen started to laugh. “You have been out of it, haven’t you?”

Sammy stared at his friend. “What do you mean?”

“Speak of the devil.” Chen nodded down the sidewalk.

Sammy turned. Coming toward him, smiling exactly like the painting, was a guy. Mr. Gorgeous. In the painting he’d been tall and lean, but in motion his walk was like music in human form. His baggy jeans tightened over hard thighs as he moved, and they outlined a package that looked better than a birthday present to Sammy. How-dy.

The guy waved. “Hey, Sam. Hi, Chen.”

What?

The painting guy got closer, and the wind caught the nearly shoulder-length hair and tossed it back from his perfect face. Ears! Pointed ears. Only one guy had ’em. “Alvish?” It couldn’t be. But those ears didn’t lie.

Alvish, the BFF who only two months before had been inches shorter than Sammy, now looked down on him by an inch or more. “Hi, guys. How was summer?”

Sammy knew his mouth was hanging open. “Summer, hells! What happened to you?”

Alvish shrugged, flexing his muscular shoulders. “I kind of had a growth spurt.”

That was an understatement. “I didn’t recognize you. I mean, aren’t you twenty? Who grows that much at twenty? You only came up to my chin last semester. And”—Sammy waved at the masterpiece in front of him—“and weren’t your eyes brown?”

Alvish smiled. “I know. Weird, huh?”

No damned fair. Sammy had fought his attraction to his friend every day of their acquaintance, but Alvish used to be a skinny, short guy with big, pointed ears. Hence the nickname. Now Sammy wanted to start at Alvish’s toes and lick his way to the tops of those ears in one huge orgy of oral gratification. This new Alvish was so hot Sammy held his art case in front of his crotch, trying not to spill the beans… or whatever else was inclined to spill. And this transformation was also damned strange.

Sammy started to walk toward class again. He needed to get his brush in his hand and forget everything for an hour. Alvish and Chen fell in beside him. Chen was in his class. The guy loved to paint, even if his life was planned around numbers. Alvish studied history and was Dr. Barth’s fair-haired boy. But the history building was on the way to the art department so he hung with them.

Chen looked past Sammy toward Alvish. “So, Alvish, what did it feel like growing so fast? Even your hair grew, man.”

“It was interesting. Hey, could I ask you guys a favor? I guess I never told you. I don’t much like the name Alvin. And since I kind of grew into my ears, I thought I might change to my middle name. Would that be okay?”

Chen shrugged. “Sure. It’ll be tough to get used to, but I can try. What’s the name?”

“Ryder.”

Sammy stopped. Bloody fucking hells. Pictures of the new, improved Alvish riding his ass with what was likely his new and improved cock almost sent Sammy into an orgasm.

Alvish call-me-Ryder looked at him. “You all right?”

Sammy started to walk again. “Sure. I thought of something I need to do later.” That would be to get away from this dream walking, can’t-ever-have-him friend before he blew in his jeans.


Ryder cocked his head. “You’re so talented.”

Gods, Sammy’s heart had to slow down, or he’d pass out. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

Ryder looked up with a soft expression. “You mean coming from a dumb historian who doesn’t know a palette knife from a fork?”

“No, I mean coming from you. My friend.”

“Don’t go out with Lucien, Sammy.”

What the fuck? “Why? Come on, Ryder. Sure, I don’t have a background check on him, but I probably know as much about him as I do you.”

Ryder looked at his feet. “Point taken.” The green eyes flashed up. “But I think he’s cheating on you.”

“What?”

Ryder walked over to the kitchen counter, picked up a glass, filled it from the faucet, and drank.

Sammy wanted to beat him over the head. “Come on. Tell me what you mean. Stop stalling.”

“I can’t prove it, but I’ve talked to a couple of people who seem to have a relationship with him and seem to think they are somehow special to him.”

Sammy couldn’t catch his breath. “Well, we’re not exclusive or anything. I don’t have any claims on him.”

Ryder scratched Al, who was purring so loudly that Sammy could hear it clearly. “Is that true? Or has he implied that you’re his boyfriend?”

“Not exactly.”

“I think you deserve better, Sams. I think you can do better.”

Well, shit! Sammy threw up his hands. “That’s real easy to say when you have an unlimited supply of tits to drool over.” Sammy crossed his arms. Maybe they’d protect his heart. “I haven’t had a real boyfriend in over a year, and even that one wasn’t serious. I’m lonely, damn it. I want to be with someone, and Lucien is smart and funny and charming, and he seems to like me a lot.” He spread his arms wide. “Is that so unbelievable? That a gorgeous guy like that could actually go for a skinny scarecrow like me?” He could feel his ears getting hot, and hurt stored over years poured out of him. “Maybe that’s why you think he’s cheating. You can’t believe he could want me!”

Ryder stared at him, his eyes shiny. “That’s not true. I’d never feel that way. I think anyone with a brain would want you.”

“Then there must be a lot of dumb people!” Sammy’s breath came hard. Shit, he was attacking his best friend. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I know you don’t think that.” He ran a hand through his hair. He probably really looked like that scarecrow now. “Look, he’s going to be here soon. I promise I’ll ask him. I will. Okay?”

Ryder frowned. “I’m worried about you.”

“I know. I don’t understand why, but I know you are. I’ll talk to him.”

“Okay.”

“You better go unless you want to ask him yourself.”

“No, I’ll go.” Ryder walked to the door and turned. He extricated Al from his neck and handed him to Sammy. “I care what happens to you. I care…. I wish…. Hell, be careful.” He opened the door and walked out, then closed the door behind him.

Sammy collapsed onto the couch, still holding Al against his chest, and threw his head back. “Why the fuck does this have to be so hard? Why can’t I just have a boyfriend?” 

The Aloysius Tales Series



Book #1
Spell Cat



Available for purchase at 

            


Also available in paperback




About the Author




Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 32. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Paranormal Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft.  She lives with her soul-mate husband and her soul-mate dog near the sea in California where she sets a lot of her books.  Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!


You can find Tara at Lain

               



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