Thorns got nominated in the GR m/m romance group!

I feel deeply honored to share that my novel Thorns was nominated in three categories: 

Thanks to the readers in the GR m/m romance group who made this possible!!

Rainbow awards!!

Woo-Hoo!

Thorns won a Honorable Mention at the Rainbow Awards!

Here's the link: http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/3889604.html

Some beautiful reviews for Thorns

Thorns received some beautiful reviews that I couldn't help but boast about *cough* share 

Reviewer Amos Lassen called Thorns "an excellent read"

He said: "I really liked really reading about the two different relationships here—one that has just begun and the other that has continued, through thick and thin, for twenty years. Add to this a mystery and you get a terrific read that keeps you turning pages."

Read the full review here



Reviewer booksmitten from Live your life, buy the book  gave Thorns 4 1/2 stars and said:



"I loved this book. With a well crafted plot, fluid writing and descriptions that made you feel like you were there it was the perfect balance of mystery, intrigue and sex, along with two love stories – one established and one just beginning."

Read the full review here 


And just now (and what nice news to come home to!) Jessewave from Reviews by Jessewave rated Thorns 4.75 stars. You can find the full review here

That's what she said:

"I highly recommend this book and I think you will enjoy it because of the depth of all characters, the unusual plot, the genuine French atmosphere which permeated La Thillaye, and the wonderful writing..."

Thank you all for taking the time to put your thoughts into words!

Blue eyes

 I first met Louis about fifteen years ago on a train station platform in Westerland, Sylt. (for those who don't know, that's an island in the very north of Germany) I worked there at that time, and on that rainy August evening I was about to begin one of my rare long weekends that was actually worth it to make the thirteen-hour trip home. As usual, I'd packed far too many things, and as usual, I wore the wrong shoes since I'd come to the station right from work. Anyway, there I was, teetering on too high heels on the steps (it was an old-fashioned train, and the steps were grilles) and stuck in the train entrance with my two bags, and all around me people were grumbling since I of course blocked the entrance. Embarrassing.

However, suddenly a hand reached out for one of my bag's handles and pulled, giving me the one little smidgen of momentum I'd needed, and I almost fell ino the train. Of course I protested in alarm, but my unknown helper grinned at me so cheerfully that I immediately forgave him for the intrusion, realizing he'd really only meant to be helpful. Moreover, he didn't look threatening at all. He was small--shorter than me by at least a head, and I'm a bit of a runt myself-- and well, he had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. He immediately let go of my stuff and said, "Sorry, but I'm in a hurry", and brushed past me, throwing me a parting smile over his shoulder as he squeezed out of the train and jumped on the platform.

I gazed after him as I stood there, pressed against the back wall to keep out of people's way, a bit dumbstruck both by what had happened and by that smile, but I immediately lost sight of him. Only when the train started to move a few moments later, I found him again on the now almost empty platform. He was hugging another guy, and the sight went straight to me heart and almost had me in tears on the spot.

For, you see, my boyfriend was 800 km away from me at that time, I hadn't seen him in over a month, and I longed for him so much it hurt. Those two guys hugging made me realize I'd hold my own guy in my arms tomorrow morning, cause they couldn't be anything but reunited lovers the way they clung to each other, or so it seemed to me. Mind, I got but a glimpse at them, but in that moment, I felt a bout of sympathy with them and with all separated couples anywhere. (What? I'm sappy? Why do you think I write romance?)

Well. I had thirteen hours to kill on that trip, I was overtired and hyper with anticipation at once, and I couldn't get that smile out of my mind. And I had a pad and pen.
Over time, the whys and hows of Louis's reunion with his lover changed, of course.

But Louis became my muse, and his blue eyes haven't let go of me since.

 


He's still nagging at me to write down his story.

A taste of "Thorns"

As promised, and without further ado, here's the blurb:

How can love between two men possibly be responsible for a horse’s death during the Kentucky Derby? Reporter Will Yeats wants to know the truth.

Seventeen years ago, a love affair between a jockey and a horse trainer and a tragic accident on the racetrack scandalized the horseracing world. But Nic Pithiviers and Louis Meerow seem to have no desire to set the record straight: they refuse the interview and send attorney Francis LeBon to question Will’s motives.  

Francis has a special place in his heart for Nic and Louis, who taught him to take pride in himself as a gay man, and he’ll stop at nothing to protect them from a gossipmongering reporter. However, Francis doesn’t expect the reporter’s honesty and genuine determination to exonerate two men falsely accused… or the growing attraction to Will he feels.

While visiting with Nic and Louis at their horse training center in France, Will uncovers a web of intrigue, secrets, and old lies, and he unwittingly sets a series of  perilous events into motion that not only threaten to destroy his budding relationship with Francis, but Nic and Louis’s decades-long commitment as well.

Coming out from Dreamspinner on July 26, 2013

Buy it here:  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4034

Thorns Cover Art

Big news: My forthcoming novel, Thorns, has a cover!

Once again, the incredible Reese Dante outdid herself. Without further ado, here it is:

Want to know more? Look here for pictures: inspiration for Thorns

Still curious? Check back here soon for more news, the blurb and excerpts.

Review: The Apothecary's Garden

The Apothecary's Garden by Julie Bozza

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This was another Julie Bozza book I gradually, slowly, but inescapably fell in love with while reading. The beginning was a bit bumpy with its fairy-taleish "once upon a time, there was a man..." convoluted wordiness, but I got quickly drawn into the story AND into the beautiful, at times slightly old-fashioned-sounding and yet so very fitting prose. This author has a way to paint pictures with words, I couldn't help being awed.

In a word, I loved this book. It can’t hold a candle to my all-time favourite Julie Bozza book, Butterfly Hunter, but it comes close. Everything about it was just so up my alley– the garden, the slow pace, the sheer British-ness of both Hilary and Tom. And yes, even the much-belabored age difference...ok, 40+ years is huge, but considering who these two are, it became almost negligible.

Hilary is a man from a different generation; used to never being able to be open about his sexuality, he got accustomed to the thought of living and dying a loner. Being with someone at all was so novel to him he went about it with almost child-like joy, while at the same time, his maturity kept him from seizing the opportunity –read: Tom, and sex with Tom– by the collar first chance he got. Sweet, selfless, mature, thoughtful, that is Hilary, made shy and wary by life experience, but no coward. I don't think he would've reacted all that different if Tom had been closer to his age, though his age-gap induced self-doubts and misgivings–and how he deals with them– added greatly to this book’s charm for me.

Now Tom? A breath of fresh air, youth, beauty and strength and a supplement of muscle to Hilary’s comparable frailty; you’d think it’s Hilary who gets the most out of them being together. But for one, Tom is a nurturer at heart, he loves to care for things and people, he’s just as selfless and sweet as Hilary but of a youthful exuberance that he loves to channel into doing something useful, not waste in mindless pastimes. I don’t think he feels shut away with Hilary, especially given his ability to live in the now and seize the moment, however long it may last. For another, in his own way Tom is as much a man of Hilary’s generation as Hilary is himself. Tom is honorable, scholarly, a somewhat old-style gentleman, and in many ways, a shy person too, despite his laptop and ipad and his much more unrestricted approach at his own sexuality.

They just fit, their personalities match, why should the age difference be an insurmontable obstacle between them?

The writing, the way the story was told convinced me it wasn’t.

I had only two small niggles whith the book; one was a "huh?" moment within the story when Tom reacted totally without rhyme and reason, and completely out of the blue, with no viable explanation, and the other was Hilary’s relative sexual prowess. (but then again, people are different and Charlie Chaplin fathered a child at over eighty, so why shouldn’t Hilary be more steadfast in bed than other sexagenarians?)

What it comes down to it is, it’s a lovely, beautiful love story; I enjoyed it, and I hope many others will too, whether they can get over the age difference or not.



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