Books · excerpt · gay romance · lgbt

New Release with Author Kasia Bacon

Today I am very excited not only to announce my new free serial Idiot Mage & Sassy Stallion but to introduce you to the wonderful Kasia Bacon! Kasia has a new story coming out Monday, June 11th, in her Order Series. If you haven’t had a chance to read The Mutt and The Highlander I highly recommend them. They are quick reads full of wonderful characters and sizzling romance.

Twenty-One Arrow Salute

Book Cover Opt1 copyAn archer’s heart is a hard target to hit…

Luckily, the Queen’s Guards are good shots!

TWENTY-ONE ARROW SALUTE

by Kasia Bacon

Twenty-One Arrow Salute, book # 2.5 in the fantasy Order Series, is now available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.

Amazon

Amazon UK

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Verhan Tŭrryés of Black Mountain is a handful.

Freshly enlisted in the Highland Regiment, he does all he can to steer clear of responsibility and commitment. Just not his cup of mead, that. Loose of tongue and even looser of morals, he rarely misses an opportunity to get into trouble—and into the other archers’ knickers, too.

In a unit composed almost entirely of Dark Elves, Hernan Seinnés, with his green eyes and auburn hair, is an outsider. When Verhan, up the creek again, is blackmailed into helping Hernan, he never expects to fall for him. But during the long hours spent training Hernan for the Honour Guard, feelings strike the Highlander right in the heart—and with the force of an arrow.

Unversed in relationships, Verhan finally plucks up enough courage to tell Hernan how he feels, only to drive the Asirhwӱnian away instead. If Verhan can swallow his pride, he might get one last chance to show Hernan what he means to him—and maybe this time he can hit the mark.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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A linguist and an avid reader with a particular fondness for fantasy and paranormal genres, KASIA BACON lives in London with her husband. When not tearing her hair out over a translating project, she writes stories about the shenanigans of emotionally constipated assassins and sexy Elves. Otherwise, she can be found shaking her loins at a Zumba class, binging on anime or admiring throwing knives on Pinterest. She has a mild coffee and lemon tart addiction. A lover of MMA and Muay Thai, she also enjoys nature and the great outdoors. She dreams of becoming independently wealthy, leaving the city and moving into her wooden mini-manor—located in the heart of stunning forests resembling those of the Elven Country depicted in her tales.

Find Kasia online:

Website

Amazon

Twitter

Facebook

Pinterest

Instagram

Goodreads

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Sign up for her mailing list to receive freebies and updates and learn about new releases.

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I have loved these stories and I’m sure you will too!

Idiot Mage & Sassy Stallion

 Available today for free!!! An all-new fantasy story set in the same universe as Forbidden Enchantment.

Idiot MageTier’ghan Trolde ran from everything. Responsibilities, jealous would-be lovers, debt collectors but most of all from the knowledge he is a failure as a mage. Where his fellow graduates had secure positions at various holdings and were amassing their fortunes he was a wandering wretch without even a paladin to protect him. He’d started out well enough until word spread about the uncanny nature of his spell casting. The core of the spell would be true but there were always unexpected consequences. But a lone mage is most often a dead mage.

Without a paladin to protect him, every person he meets could be the last.

The last thing Quenoor needs is an idiot mage to look after. He’s got more than enough problems of his own. But when the charming red-head ends up on the wrong end of a knife it is up to Quenoor to save his sorry hide. Maybe having a mage around won’t be so bad, they might even figure out why the horse they stole can talk and seems to think it is actually a 2000-year-old knight of a long-gone empire.

Going live June 10th on Wattpad!

book review

Book Review: Spectered Isle by KJ Charles

Disclaimer: I was given a free advanced readers copy of the novel Spectered Isle in exchange for an honest review.

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The newest Green Men series is set in 1920s England. The Great War is over, the Twenties are roaring in, the Bright Young Things hold ever more extravagant parties. It seems as though the world has changed for good. But some far older forces are still at work, and some wars never end. The Green Men series covers a motley crew of occult experts, jobbing ghost-hunters, and walking military experiments as they fight supernatural and human threats, save the land, and fall in love.

I’ve enjoyed many of Charles’ novels including their Charm of Magpies Series. This novel almost feels a bit grittier in some ways. Saul is such a tortured soul who is determined to keep slogging along. From the first chapter, I developed respect for him and how he faced his struggles. The revelations on his background later in the book aren’t a complete surprise but they make sense.

Randolph Glyde took me a little longer to warm up to, but by the end of the book, I absolutely adored him and his rather sardonic take on everything. The two of them are excellent compliments to each other while maintaining their individuality. I really appreciated how their relationship grew. It never felt rushed, instead, it was very organic and at times heartbreaking as they each worked to overcome their particular insecurities.

At the beginning, the ‘accidental’ meetings become almost amusing though the undercurrent of attraction is always present. I really appreciated how Charles’ developed both the characters and then allowed them to come together without sex/intimacy being an instant cure-all for their self-doubts.

I also appreciate that the sex is never gratuitous or superfluous. Emotions are just as involved in the scene. The scenes themselves never stretch on too long but are very satisfying. The focus is not on the sex but on the characters, where it should be.

I also appreciated that these two men talked to each other. At one point Randolph takes Saul out to dinner and while the conversation isn’t written out you get the sense that they talked about a great many things. And this isn’t the only time this happens. They talk frankly and openly a number of times. It was so very refreshing to see two men—lonely, emotionally damaged men—actually talk about and admit how they felt. Even going so far as to admit being afraid (gasp).

In short, this novel was everything I’ve come to expect from Charles. Fascinating characters driving along an intriguing plot that is never short of surprises and emotional revelations. I thoroughly recommend this novel and all her others.

You can find KJ Charles here.

You can pre-order Spectered Isle here:

Amazon

Kobo

All preorder links will be here

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asexual · gay romance · Going Over the Rainbow · lgbt · mogai · writing

Going Over the Rainbow: Hot for You

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This past week there has been a lot going on in both the LGBT community and the gay romance writers community. If you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw some of my reactions to the ongoing discussion. It revolved around one topic in particular: the ‘gay for you’ trope.

An incredibly popular trope in the m/m romance/erotica genre, it has been staunchly defended by those who enjoy writing and reading it while at the same time much of the queer community has expressed concern over it as being multi-queerphobic.

It’s been debated far and wide on the internet and I’m not going to get into it here. I will say that I personally loathe the trope for a long list of reasons, but instead of getting into that I am going to show you how to make the trope work.

That’s right. It can work. I promise you. Though the ‘gay’ part might need rewording.

First let’s take a look at the trope itself. What does ‘gay for you’ mean? Straight cis male falls in love/lust with another gay/straight cis male.

Hmm, okay. Well if you are straight and then suddenly find this one specific person who is your same gender attractive *surprise* you aren’t straight and you never were! Welcome to queerdom!

But-but, yes they are! You exclaim pointing to all the straightness of your character.

Shh, it’s okay. There are many people out there who thought they were straight and ended up being queer. Sexual exploration can be on ongoing and fluid thing. Shoot, I thought for years I was a lesbian (mostly because people said I was), then ace, then learned about demisexuality.  However, most gay men I’ve met, talk to, read about, knew they were gay since they were young. I’m talking like from their teens and sometimes even younger. You learn pretty early on who you find sexually attractive. Well, most of us.

What do I mean by that? Well, not everyone who is queer is gay or lesbian. Some of us don’t find anyone sexually attractive. (gasp)

Let me use myself as an example. I am 37, soon to be 38 years old. My entire life I have found only two people sexually attractive who happened to be different genders. And no—I am not bisexual. I am demisexual. I cannot and do not feel sexual attraction unless I have a deep emotional bond with a person and this doesn’t mean I’m hot for all my friends. Doesn’t work that way.

But that’s just me. There are some bisexual people who have only found one or two people of their same gender sexually attractive. They are still bisexual.

So what does this have to do with the trope.

Everything. There is a big issue in the entertainment industry with never looking beyond the G & L and basically erasing every other orientation out there, not to mention trans persons. Which is incredibly frustrating and very sad because the variety brings you so, so many opportunities for incredible stories.

This trope wouldn’t even be an issue if the character came out as bisexual, demisexual, pansexual or gray-asexual. All of these orientations would neatly explain why a character is attracted to someone of their same gender when they never have been before. One or two sentences is all it takes. Please allow me to demonstrate:

Reilly sat down next to Timothy in the booth. His best friend wriggled over to give him more room.

“What’s up Rei? You look a bit worried.”

Reilly shrugged and slid down in the seat. “You remember Quintin?”

“Yeah, he works at the cafe on the square. I almost asked him out. Why?”

“I don’t think I’m as straight as I thought.”

Timothy chuckled but quickly sobered. “Wait … really?”

“I don’t get it Tim … I’ve never … I’ve always thought I liked girls. I know I’m not gay.”

Timothy leaned over and bumped Reilly’s shoulder, “So maybe you’re not, maybe you are bi.”

It really is seriously that easy. In fact there really are no excuses beyond ignorance and laziness. And I know you are not like that.

So instead of ‘gay for you’ maybe ‘hot for you’ or another choice of wording might help us to be more inclusive. Just in case you need help here is a link to my worksheet and so helpful links.

Character Sexuality Worksheet

Going Over the Rainbow: The Trope Trap

Going Over the Rainbow: Moving Beyond the LG in LGBT.

Going Over the Rainbow: Show and Tell

For You

The Mythical Unicorn of LGBTQIA Novels (Or, the A doesn’t stand for Ally.)

Why Labels Matter

 

Do you have any questions for me regarding asexuality/demisexuality or the ‘gay for you’ trope? Which orientation would you like me to feature next month?

 

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