Book Giveaway - A Certain Pressure in the Pipes

Author Clancy Nacht was kind enough to offer up her newest release, A Certain Pressure in the Pipes. Sorry for the delay at posting this one!

Also, don't forget that the giveaway for A.B. Gayle's Mardi Gras ends at Midnight EST tonight!

Story Blurb:
Conrad Lloyd's father, Governor of an old west town, wishes his son wasn't so interested in inventing, or men for that matter. It isn't until Conrad meets Ezhno, a Native American inventor, that Conrad thinks he can find sexual and intellectual fulfillment all in one man. Will they find their way together despite the societal and familial divide that threatens to keep them apart? Or will Conrad have to satisfy himself with his steam-powered Pleasuring Machine?

You can find out more about A Certain Pressure in the Pipes and read an excerpt on Noble Romance's website.

Contest Rules (Borrowed and modified from Stumbling Over Chaos <3<3):
* To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes Midnight EST on July 7.
* If you share this contest (on Facebook, Goodreads, you blog, etc.) I'll give you an extra entry for each medium you use, up to three extra entries.
* You must leave a valid email address with your comment. If you don't include an email address in your post or on your Google Profile, Chris's Blog Gnomes will turn your post into kitty litter for the Chaos Cat.
* Winners will be selected by random number.
* If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
* If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
* This contest is open worldwide!

 If you'd like to know more about Ms. Nacht, you can read her interview with The Dancing Dove or listen to her interview with The Daisy Chain podcast.

Monday Mini Reviews - June 28

Hey guys! I'm sorry for the lack of content lately. Real life has gotten in the way once again. I'm going to try and get everything back on track this week, I promise.

Congrats to Harper Bell who won the giveaway for Anne Brooke's Martin and the Wolf! Also congrats to Tracy who won Heidi Cullinan's Miles and the Magic Flute! Keep your eyes open for another giveaway tomorrow!

And finally, on to our mini reviews!


Neighbors by Victor J. Banis - 3.5/5 Doves
A cute story about a woman who wants to get to know her lesbian neighbor. There wasn't very much plot to the story, but it was a good relaxing read. It felt more like a glimpse into a person's life than an actual story. A well written story and great for those times when you just want a quick, simple read.





Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin - 3.5/5 Doves
A literary story about an African American man who tries to understand his younger brother. I enjoyed reading the story of the two brothers and reading about them trying to understand each other. The story really makes you think about things like drug abuse, African American culture and even Jazz music.




Dead Man Rising by Lilith Saintcrow - 4/5 Doves
The second book in Saintcrow's Dante Valentine series. I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first, but I still enjoyed it. The first half of the story was a little boring and I kept setting the book down and taking a break from it. But the second half more than makes up for it. The second half is full of action and keeps you wanting more.




The Devil's Right Hand by Lilith Saintcrow - 3/5 Doves
This is the third book in the Dante Valentine series. I didn't much like this one compared to the others. It felt like Danny was whining the majority of the time - either about how she was going to turn back into a human, how she was lied to, or how she felt used by the Devil. Not much really happened in this book which really bugged me. The first two had clear plots that were finished by the end of the book, but this one had you going "Okay… where's the rest of the story?"

Book Question and Giveaway!

Author and editor A.B. Gayle has offered up a copy of her upcoming release, Mardi Gras, to any of my readers who answer two opinion questions! Mardi Gras will be released on June 28 from Noble Romance.

Blurb:
Fifty year old Damien, an American novellist, journalist and blogger has arrived in Sydney to write a story about the 2010 Mardi Gras.

He is travelling incognito because in a recent blog he criticised the relevance of the parade and bemoaned the fact it had drifted so far from its roots as a commemoration of the Stonewall Riots - the first time the fairies fought back.

He is met at the airport by Simon, a young Australian who has been asked to look after him and give him a real "Taste of Australia."

Set against the backdrop of Sydney and its world-famous and colorful Mardi Gras, the two men find they have a lot more in common than either at first realize.

What are the questions you ask?

1) What do you think of stories done in First Person (I, me, we, us, etc.)? If you don't like them, why don't you like them? Is it because you can't identify with a narrator who is of a different sex, age, ethnicity, etc?

2) What do you think of stories done in Present Tense? If you don't like them, why don't you like them?

Contest Rules (Borrowed and modified from Stumbling Over Chaos <3<3):
* To enter, leave a comment with your answers to the two questions. Contest closes Midnight EST on June 30.
* If you share this contest (on Facebook, Goodreads, you blog, etc.) I'll give you an extra entry for each medium you use, up to three extra entries. Please include a link to where you've shared the contest.
* You must leave a valid email address with your comment. If you don't include an email address in your post or on your Google Profile, Chris's Blog Gnomes will turn your post into kitty litter for the Chaos Cat.
* Winners will be selected by random number.
* If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
* If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
* This contest is open worldwide!

Interview with Barbara Sheridan

Author Barbara Sheridan was kind enough to do an interview with The Dancing Dove this week!

The Dancing Dove: Do you have a favorite book? (Of those you’ve written.) If so, why is it your favorite?
Barbara Sheridan: I think it would have to be Silk & Poison which I co-wrote with Anne Cain. The characters Shu & Toshiro are two of my favorite and their fictional universe spawned many other books and characters.

TDD: I noticed you’ve co-written a lot of books. Do you prefer to co-write or write solo?
BS: Co-writing is a lot of fun in the same way that reading is fun because you’re not quite sure what will happen next and where the other writee will take certain scenes or characters.

TDD: What made you start writing M/M fiction?
BS: I think I have to “blame it” on Anne Rice. I so loved Louis and Lestat back when I read Interview With the Vampire when it first came out and I hated that she let them drift apart.

TDD: How often do you write?
BS: I try to daily, but for the past few weeks I haven’t written a word. Just not been feeling the fictional love.

TDD: Is writing your full time job or do you have another occupation?
BS: Writing is it for the present. My last regular paycheck job was in retail. I was downsized.

TDD: Is there a certain place you like to write? The beach, the library, a comfy spot on the couch?
BS: My “office” also known as a corner of the diningroom.

TDD: What's your least favorite part of the writing process?
BS: Knowing that something in a book is “off” but not quite knowing how to fix it.

TDD: Do you have any works-in-progress you'd like to tell the readers about?
BS: Aleksandr Voinov and I have started a third book in our espionage series with Dreamspinner Press. I’m trying to work out a few research things for a book that ties in to the Beautiful C*cksucker books with Noble Romance.

TDD: Do you have anything else you'd like to tell the readers? (Contact info, upcoming books, exclusive website content, etc.)
BS: On the solo front I have an historical western novella coming From Dreamspinner on June 30th It’s called MOST WANTED and Aleks and I have two things upcoming RISKY MANEUVERS from Loose Id on July 6 and we should soon be editing FIRST BLOOD book two in our spy series with Dreamspinner.

Readers can find out more on the above at my website. There's also some exclusive web content tied into the books I co-wrote with Anne Cain at our Dragon’s Disciple site.


Thank you for joining me, Barbara! I wish you the best of luck with your books.

You can purchase Beautiful C*cksucker II - Such a Good Boy, Blood Brothers, and Clean Slate at Amazon.com

Interview with Clancy Nacht

Today, I’d like to welcome author Clancy Nacht to The Dancing Dove!

The Dancing Dove: Where/When was your first book published?
Clancy Nacht: My first book, "The Night Caller" was published April of 2009. Before that I was writing fanfiction like a fiend and sort of used to the slings and arrows of criticism. Or so I thought. Like an impatient dork, I self-published and not in the cool Smashwords way, but in the "paying someone more than is reasonable" way. I did buy some editing and con friends into helping me, but I also found out the hard way that people love taking pot shots at self-published titles. Since then I've been published with Ravenous Romance, Noble Romance, Clies Press, and Dreamspinner Press.

TDD: What was it like when your first book was published?
CN: Scary, exciting, but also a little like a drop in an ocean (pre-oil spill.) As exciting and big of a deal as it was to me, the literary world doesn't fall at your feet. But that said, the first commenter I got from someone who understood it? Magic. And even bigger rush than seeing my words in print.

TDD: Do you have a favorite book? (Of yours) If so, why is it your favorite?
CN: Such a "Sophie's Choice" question. I love them all for different reasons. Even that first, black sheep novel because it was something I really believed needed to be published. I really loved "Tricky" published by Noble Romance because those characters were so difficult, so bitter and hurt and angry over a past they each had their own flawed interpretation of. Plus the voice of the main character, a male prostitute, was so strong. But I also have a huge soft spot for a short story I wrote in "Bedknobs and Beanstalks" called "Jack and the Giant Peenstalk." Obviously, that story is much less serious.

TDD: What made you start writing fiction?
CN: It sort of spawned out of role playing, following through on plots that I thought would've been much more interesting had they gone a different way. I was working from home at the time and killing time while waiting for clients to get back to me. After my father died, it turned into a form of therapy. I could work through feelings of regret, loss, anger, poke fun at myself, my situation, the world in general, it just sort of crept up on me. Anymore these stories get in my head and won't go away. Writing's become an exorcism.

TDD: How often do you write?
CN: I try to write at least an hour every day. Usually I write for a couple. Now that I have a regular day job (speaking of therapy, "Dead End Job" sort of covers my feelings on my day job) I have to steal time over lunch or in the evenings.

TDD: Is writing your full time job or do you have another occupation?
CN: Hah! Speaking of.... Yeah, I have a sort of bureaucratic nightmare day job. I'd love to write full time. If there are any virgins to sacrifice, please point me in their direction. They're pretty scarce here in Austin.

Is there a certain place you like to write? The beach, the library, a comfy spot on the couch?
I have several desks in the house and I also write at my work desk or in the park, or on my couch, really anywhere. It changes a lot. Makes the netbook my most important asset.

What's your least favorite part of the writing process?
I have a love/hate relationship with editing. We're on an up cycle right now, but I'm sure he'll find some way to do me wrong. I love it when I'm bereft of ideas and I just want to make the ideas I have shine. I hate editing when I have other stories chomping my brain stem.

TDD: Do you have any works-in-progress you'd like to tell the readers about?
CN: Oh well I have a cyberpunk scifi story that's almost finished. The last one of those I wrote didn't go far, but I put it on Smashwords as "Stay." Someone called it innovative, which I'm so proud of. This one has more romance involved but there's a lot going on, a lot of issues involving an alternate reality where the ozone layer went away and an alien race came in that saved us, but there's more subtle politics going on there with technology and tracking and people who are Subversives, people who want to live their lives as they see fit.

The other is of a similar vein, in that it's post-apocolyptic with zombies, but this time it's magic that's the culprit. It's very cracky and fun, but it has some real human moments and some real human issues with gay rights.

Then I have a co-written May-December DILF story that I'm pretty proud of because I feel like you see a wider range of homosexual behavior that doesn't completely center around penetration. It has a lot of themes of regret, on doing what you're told to do rather than what you want to do and then experiencing life as it's meant to be. I really love it. It says a lot of things I want to say, I hope it broadens readers minds a little beyond the traditional romance trope. The December gentleman is dealing with coming to the close of his life having done everything he was supposed to do, his regret. The May man is dealing with the loss of his best friend and with how life goes on, how he finds love and finds his own way. I love how they fit together though they're opposites in some ways. But they turn out to be just what they need.

TDD: Do you have anything else you'd like to tell the readers? (Contact info, upcoming books, exclusive website content, etc.)
CN: Upcoming is "A Certain Pressure in the Pipes" on Noble Romance, which is a m/m Steampunk story set in the US in the Gilded Age. It centers around an unusual Indian and a bratty Governor's son who are both inventors and both a little different. It's pretty hot and funny. I think it's a perfect summer read. I would call this very low angst and a whole lot of fun and silly and lusting over the hot alpha Indian. It's out June 28 from Noble Romance. I love the story and the publisher, so I hope everyone else loves it as much as I do.

Please feel free to see what I'm babbling about on my website, Twitter, or Facebook.

Thank you so much for joining us, Clancy! I wish you the best of luck with your writing. =)

You can purchase The Night Caller and Bedknobs and Beanstalks on Amazon.com.

Book Giveaway - Martin and the Wolf

Author Anne Brooke was kind enough to donate a copy of her new release, Martin and the Wolf for me to giveaway!

Story Blurb:
When thirty-six-year-old lecturer Martin meets the mysterious Lucas at a neighbor’s midsummer party, the attraction is instant and hot. The two men soon start a relationship, but Martin is puzzled by Lucas’ behavior. He’s not like any man Martin has ever known—indeed, sometimes Lucas hardly seems human at all—and Martin wants to find out why.

But on one August night, when Martin tracks Lucas to the depths of the local park, he discovers eye-opening, fantastical realities about his new lover and the pack of strange wolves Lucas runs with than he had ever thought possible. Can Martin handle the truth?

You can find out more about Martin and the Wolf and read an excerpt on Amber Allure's website.

Contest Rules (Borrowed and modified from Stumbling Over Chaos <3<3):
* To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes Midnight EST on June 25.
* If you share this contest (on Facebook, Goodreads, you blog, etc.) I'll give you an extra entry for each medium you use, up to three extra entries.
* You must leave a valid email address with your comment. If you don't include an email address in your post or on your Google Profile, Chris's Blog Gnomes will turn your post into kitty litter for the Chaos Cat.
* Winners will be selected by random number.
* If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
* If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
* This contest is open worldwide!

Idaho Pride - Review

Title: Idaho Pride
Author: Sarah Black
Series: N/A
Rating:5/5 Doves
Review:

After an attempt to diffuse an explosive situation, Lee Hunter and Jeremy Sheridan end up taking the heat for the conflict and become friends. While researching a tragic local story for Jeremy’s magazine, Idaho Pride, Lee agrees to mentor Luis, a troubled young intern. But Jeremy has a problem of his own: a jealous ex-lover who threatens not only Jeremy and Lee's new romance, but also the fledgling family they're trying to create.

I loved the characters in this novel. Black was able to create two very different characters who both seemed real. They each had their own quirks and personalities and you could easily tell them apart. Even the side characters she created had a pretty good amount of depth to them.

I really enjoyed the plot of this book. It had mixings of a few different genres - romance (duh), suspense, and a little bit of mystery. For the most part, all of her plot ideas were fleshed out and meshed together well. Usually when I read a novel like this with multiple plots mingling, some of them aren't fleshed out, but Black managed to make all of her plots work and seem like they were straight out of real life.

The only real problem I had with this book was it wasn't long enough! There were so many things I wish she would've gone into detail about. I would've liked to have seen more about Captain McClain and his son, and the article for Idaho Pride. I also would've liked to see more about Julius - did he still try and convert BLANK or did he finally come to understand homosexuality?

Also, the blurb is very misleading. Jeremy's ex-lover wasn't that much of a threat to the relationship. In fact, there wasn't even much focus placed on him. The ex-lover is merely one of many plots instead of the main plot point like the blurb makes it out to be

The book was very well written and very much enjoyed. I would highly recommend this book for any fans of contemporary M/M romance. If you like your romance to have a good amount of plot in it, this is the book for you.

** Warning ** This novel contains sex scenes and may not be appropriate for readers under than age of 18.

You can purchase Idaho Pride at Amazon.com