Here are snippets of two lovely Slow Burn reviews. Needless to say, I’m thrilled down to my maniacally wiggling toes.

Carole at Rainbow Reviews said…

This hot quick read was my first book by J.R. Patrick, but I was sufficiently impressed with the writing that it won’t be the last. Read the full review.

Kathy K at Ebook Addict Reviews said…

Even at only 38 pages the characters were not only fully developed and brought to life, but their story was extremely satisfyingly complete… well, except for the fact that I’d like to follow them for a few years, just to make sure y’know. Read the full review.

Mari Carr’s Saturday Night Special releases today! What? You’ve been dying for the latest in the Wild Irish series but the  evil day job had you swamped and you somehow missed the news? Glad I could help!

Wild Irish, Book Six

Saturday’s child works hard for a living…

What do you get when you cross a gold-digging stripper, a down-on-her-luck hooker, an estranged husband, his knocked-up wife, a Wayne Newton lookalike taxi driver and one beleaguered Baltimore cop?

A typical night in the life of Riley Collins—Vegas style.

Riley’s always been the wildest of the Collins clan, but even she bites off more than she can chew during an impromptu trip to Sin City. Once again, it’s Aaron Young to the rescue. No surprise; Aaron’s been watching Riley’s ass forever—and he’s wanted to spank it for even longer. Tracking her down, Aaron finally gets his wish—after he drags a drunken Riley to a chapel and makes it legit, of course.

To say she’s shocked is putting it mildly. But Riley warms to Aaron’s seduction quicker than you can say “all-you-can-eat buffet!” Who knew her mild-mannered best friend was so hot in the sack? Of course, thanks to Riley’s penchant for picking up strays, the newlyweds will have to sneak in some honeymoon boom-boom whenever they can. But they’ll manage…

Ebook Addict Reviews is celebrating their two-year anniversary with a scavenger hunt. Big congrats to T and her team!

There will be daily ebook and print book prizes. And one lucky winner will get a Kindle. Woot! Click on the banner to find out how you can win.

I’m taking part in the celebration and a scavenger hunt icon is hidden on this site. It’s like the banner but smaller. Happy hunting!

After I’ve finished a good book, the first thing I do is tell my friends about it so they can read it, and then together we can gush about how awesome said book was.  Sometimes that doesn’t work out so well. Sometimes (very rarely!) they hate it. Oops. lol

Starting today, every week I’ll post the covers (linked to the publisher) of books I read and enjoyed the previous week. Last week, Leni rec’d Andy Eisenberg. I bought Patient Eyes and loved it! Of course, I had to get Unexpected Guest. Loved that too, among others…

Read anything good this past week?

Woohoo. It’s available here.

I’m calmer than I was when Only Yours released. Not sure if that’s good or not. Anyway, I would like to thank Jambrea for being on the other end of the phone line when I managed to get carried away on the train. Twice! lol. That will make a little more sense if you read the story.

Happy new release day to me.

Thanks for all the recommendations dudes and dudettes. This should keep me happily testing my credit card limit for a while. lol

The winner is Marcieo.

Congratulations Marcie! Look out for an email from me.

To celebrate, I’m holding a contest to win an ebook copy, winner’s choice of format.

I read. A lot. Unfortunately, My favorites aren’t pushing out the books fast enough (I know, they’re doing the best they can but still! lol) and I’m running out of new-to me authors *gasp*. This contest should take care of that apocalyptic problem nicely. Updated to add: unless my favorites are your favorites. Darn it. lol

To be entered to win, leave me ONE name of an m/m author whose work you enjoy. To avoid duplicates, have a look at comments before yours.

Contest runs overnight. I’ll announce a winner first thing tomorrow morning.

Love by Design by Jambrea Jo Jones releases today!

A Soldier can be programmed for war, but what about love?

Zeke Andrews and his band of soldiers volunteered to be experimented on by the government to help protect the world from an invading force of aliens.

Is there more to the programs implants than he thought?

An overwhelming urge fills his soul when he meets an intriguing woman.

Could it be science or love? Cassandra Dawson could have the answers. Is Zeke man enough to find them?

Jambrea is holding a contest to win a copy over by her blog. Go see!

Rounding up our Meet the Heat summer is the prolific Mari Carr. Man, that woman has a huge backlist. And in such a short time too! I’ve had the pleasure of critiquing nearly all of Mari’s work and my favorite is Everything Nice.

Everything Nice is a stand-alone follow-up to Sugar and Spice (which was also awesome!!).   Charlie wants Allie. Allie and Alex want each other—and Charlie. But does Charlie want Alex? Plunging headfirst into a ménage is one way to find out…

After Alex confesses to Allie that he wants both her and his best friend Charlie in his bed, Allie skips town like a thief in the night. Now, six years later, Allie is back in their lives, all grown up and more alluring than ever. What starts as a night of three friends catching up turns into intimate explorations in Charlie’s truck…and Alex’s shower…and his king-size bed…

While Alex and Allie are thrilled with the threesome, Charlie struggles with the idea of sharing Allie and with his newfound feelings for his best friend. A hot encounter at the office—with Alex bent over his desk—only confuses Charlie further. It’s up to Alex and Allie to convince him that two plus one can equal love.

And here’s an excerpt…

Copyright © MARI CARR, 2009

All Rights Reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

“So, how long have you been in love with Anderson?” Taylor asked.

Allie turned to look at him briefly before letting her gaze drift back to the man in question. “Forever,” she confessed, the alcohol loosening her tongue. “How long have you been in love with him?”

Her question was nothing more than a taunt, a petty way to strike out against the man and she expected him to ignore her challenge, offer a flat out denial, call her a fool.

She’d only come to suspect Taylor’s feelings toward his best friend since they’d moved home from college. For some reason, after their return, she’d begun to watch Taylor as much as Anderson. A fact she couldn’t even begin to explain to herself as the man had been a thorn in her side for most of their childhood. To say they butted heads often was an understatement. Ginny had teased her about her volatile relationship with Taylor, once claiming that they were both too much alike.

She was surprised to hear his heavy sigh of resignation.

“How did you know?” he asked.

Allie offered him a light laugh, despite the fact her heart felt far from happy. “I’m not blind.”

Taylor nodded as if her answer were enough. “It would seem that blindness only affects Anderson.”

“He doesn’t know?”

Taylor chuckled, though the sound offered no mirth. “Never came up in conversation.”

“In twelve years?”

“He’s not gay, Allie.”

She raised her eyebrows at his words. “I wouldn’t have said you were either, if your list of female conquests was any indication.”

“You’re right. I’m not gay,” he admitted. He turned away from watching Anderson and moved closer to her. His intent gaze, while making her uneasy, drew her toward him like a moth to a flame.

“Care to explain that statement?” she asked, the alcohol in her system making her say things she’d never have had the nerve to voice otherwise.

“Ever heard the term bisexual?” he replied sarcastically.

She scowled, but before she could chastise him for being such a smartass, he grinned at her and ran his hand down her cheek in a more-than friendly way. “Allie, I love women too. I love being with women, making love to them, tasting and touching them.”

“But you’ve been with men as well?”

“A couple in college,” he confessed.

“Neither of them stole your heart?” she asked, silently wondering why it felt so natural to be having this far-from-normal conversation with a man she’d always suspected detested her.

“My heart’s not available,” he answered simply.

“It belongs to Anderson?”

Taylor glanced back at his friend. “He’s the only man I’ve ever truly found myself attracted to—in a forever kind of way. I can’t help wondering what it would be like to be with him.”

She nodded. “Well, that certainly explains why you hate me. I never realized it before, but I suppose I’m the competition.”

Taylor’s eyebrows lowered, furrowed. “I don’t hate you, Allie. I never have.”

Allie was surprised by his answer. “But I thought—”

“Allie,” Taylor interrupted, moving closer to her. “You aren’t the competition. You’re part of the equation.”

Before she could respond, his lips lowered to hers, taking them in a kiss that was gentle and hard at the same time, tentative and possessive in the same breath.

She tried to understand what was happening but the alcohol left her brain feeling fuzzy, while Taylor’s kisses and roving hands left her body feeling very warm.

When he pulled back, Allie opened her eyes. “I’m drunk. And confused,” she admitted, and Taylor laughed, drawing his finger softly down her cheek again.

“Soon, hellion. Soon it’ll all work out. You’ll see.” And with that enigmatic comment, Taylor got up and walked around the bonfire, joining in the conversation with Travers and Anderson.

Allie took a deep breath and struggled to understand what had just happened. She looked around at the other people at the party. No one seemed to have noticed Taylor kissing her, everyone engrossed in their own conversations.

What the hell am I doing?

Kissing Alex Taylor—a confessed bisexual who happened to be in love with the same man as she—was not smart.

Shit, she was drunk and depressed about her life. Her mind was playing tricks on her. There was no way she could have possibly understood Taylor’s intentions correctly. He couldn’t have meant that he intended to have her and Anderson, could he?

She struggled to take a deep breath and a feeling of claustrophobia closed in on her as she realized she could give in to his desires far too easily. Apparently Ginny had been right. She and Taylor were similar people with similar hopes and needs.

But if she succumbed to Taylor’s invitation, where would that leave her?

Here, she thought sadly. Stuck in this same godforsaken town waiting tables at the fucking diner. The image of her exciting new job offer floated before her eyes.

Stay or leave?

Stay or leave?

She felt someone watching her and her gaze traveled to Anderson. She saw him studying her, his eyebrows lowered. So many emotions seemed to be controlling his face, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking or feeling. Curiosity, anger, jealousy, concern?

So she’d been wrong. One person had seen the kiss. One person had seen it all.

Head on over to International Heat to check out all the fun stuff Mari has planned for this week. She’s holding a contest or two 

Lila is nuts.  Certifiable. Her twitter handle says it all really. Crazybutcute. lol

My favorite Lila work is her Monster series from Samhain Publishing. Here’s the blurb and an excerpt from the first in that series, Lights, Camera…Monsters.

When monsters need a makeover, they head for the one place that can make it happen. Hollywood.

Book 1, Monsters in Hollywood series.

Luke is desperate to save his people. A lifetime of sneaking in to human houses and watching movies has convinced him that if he can make a great movie about monsters, humanity will change its opinion of them. With his friends at his side, all in shiny new human bodies, Luke heads for Tinsel Town.

A rising Hollywood producer, all-business Lena knows a good story when she sees it. Luke? He’s just another amateur who wants to get famous. But Luke’s too gorgeous to pass up. And there’s something vulnerable about him that leads her to throw caution to the wind and invite him to dinner.

One night of incredible sex later, Lena wakes up next to the surprise of her life. She’s sleeping next to a monster. Literally.

Appearances aside, she finds herself wanting to help Luke save his people. But they’ve got more to worry about than just human prejudice.

Some of the monsters would rather stay in the closet—and to make them all stay there, they’re willing to kill.

Warning, this title contains the following: multiple orgasms, spanking, misuse of kitchen utensils and sex with monsters.

Excerpt

Buy from MBaM!

Check out International Heat to see what Lila has planned for this week.