Vive La Difference giveaway winner

Thanks for hanging out with us this week, but since it's Saturday, that means it's time to pick the winner for the Vive La Difference pax!

And the winner is...

Jen CW!

If you could please email me at vivien_dean@yahoo.com, we'll get your prize sorted out as soon as possible.

Don't forget to check back with us in May for our next pax, Purrfect Tales, five stories all about cat shifters. See you then!

A Punny Thing Happened on the Way to the Story by Vivien Dean

It started with a pun.

Generally speaking, I'm not usually a pun fan. I mean, let's be frank. Most of them are pretty groan-worthy. But occasionally, one hits my funny bone, and I can't let it go. That's what happened when I started brainstorming for the Vive La Difference pax. I knew I wanted to write something lighter and contemporary since a lot of my recent work has been paranormal and darker in nature. That's when it hit.

Davy Cockett.

Hee, I can't even type it now without giggling. It appeals to the twelve-year-old boy living inside me. But seriously, I have a weakness for sex puns. When I was in college, I worked for a video store that had an adult section. Porn titles are the best for being punny and over the top. That's their appeal.

The name wouldn't let me go, so I decided to run with it. A porn star felt too obvious, so I settled on the next best thing. A stripper. And what could be more different than a self-confident attractive man who relies on his looks as a career asset?

A man insecure about the way he looks who relies on his intelligence and speaking ability.

Thus, my men were born. Actor Fess Kedley, aka Davy Cockett, and DJ Joe Salinas.

In the story, Fess hears Joe on the radio and falls for his voice long before ever meeting him in person. The best analogy is the one Fess's friends make, that Joe sounds like Alan Rickman minus the English accent. Falling for Joe is pretty inevitable at that point, don't you think? I mean, come on. That voice is sex on a stick:

The fact that Joe is funny, smart as hell, and adorably shy is just frosting on the cake for Fess. Differences don't matter then, don't you think?

*_*_*

What the Heart Thinks by Vivien Dean is now available at Amber Allure.

If you'd like the chance to win the entire pax collection, just leave a comment on today's post. On Saturday, a winner will be picked at random from all the comments made this week on the blog. Comment on all, and that's multiple chances to win!

Spot the Difference by Sean Michael

I have a book in the Vive la Difference PAX release this week: Spot the Difference.

When I contemplated the theme, I thought it would be fun to explore two different areas of BDSM, because there is such a wide variety of practices within the BDSM umbrella. Then it occurred to me that I could highlight those differences if the two subs in question were twins. They look alike, they’re both into the BDSM, must be the same, right? No, not at all, in fact. And thus Christopher and Robin were born (their mother obviously loved Winnie the Pooh.)

Having both recently left Doms who just weren’t right for them, twins Christopher and Robin get together at a coffee house to commiserate. They can’t help but wish out loud for the men they’re looking for. These ideal men are as different as the twins are alike, though, and they lament ever finding two Doms to fit the bill. 

When barista Core asks Robin to go to dinner with him after hearing his wishlist, Christopher can’t help but be jealous of his twin. That soon changes, however, when Darren approaches his table with a few wishes of his own. 

Can Christopher and Robin really both find exactly what they’re looking for on the same night? Or is it too big a coincidence to be real? 

It’s available here at Amber Allure.

Excerpt:

“You want another coffee, honey? I could go another round.” And it would be a good distraction from this particular conversation—a way to change it.

His twin nodded. “Yeah. We have a lot to catch up on.”

“Mocha or caramel this time?”

“Oh, caramel.” Christie rubbed his hands together.

Robin nodded and bounced up to the counter with their cups. “Two caramel lattes please.”

“You got it.” It must have been his imagination, but he thought the barista was giving him a once-over.

“Thank you.” He might have wiggled a little bit. “Extra whipped cream, please?”

“Absolutely. In fact, would you like to try the salted caramel? It’s a new recipe and you’d be the first.”

That deep voice did things to Robin’s insides. “Oh, yes. Please. I’m totally into trying new things.”

The barista’s smile was definitely flirty. Well, maybe more hot than flirty. The guy was, after all, quite the stud. “I like that in a man.”

“Thanks. I’m Robin.” He glanced over to Christie, who gave him a discreet thumbs-up.

“Hi, Robin. You can call me Master Core.”

Robin’s mouth went dry. Oh, God, they had been overheard. “Master Core?”

“My full name is Cornelius, but it’s a little bit of a mouthful when you’re turned over on my lap for my spanking.”

Robin dropped the bag of chocolate covered almonds he’d been playing with, his lips parting. Definitely completely, embarrassingly thoroughly overheard.

Master Core went on. “I hope you’ll give me a try before you put that ad in somewhere.”

Robin’s cheeks were on fire. “And are you an axe murderer?” He had to at least ask, right?

“Nope. Are you?”

He shook his head, chuckling a little. He was more buff than Christie, but neither one of them were super studs. They were both far too close to twink to be mistaken for anything else, really.

“Then go out for supper with me.” Master Core’s smile was enticing. “There’s a club on Dawson Street. Do you know it?”

“The Dog and Duck?” Robin nodded. It was a discreet little BDSM club where men could meet other men who shared the same interests. “I do. I was a waiter there, back when I was a student.”

“We could have a meal, and if we wanted to test the waters, they have back rooms…” Master Core’s words faded away, but it was clear what he was offering.

“I’d like that. When?” If they did something there and it didn’t work, there were ways out. And it was safer than going home with someone you didn’t know.

“I finish at five tonight.”

He checked his phone. That was an hour. Christie would totally understand. “You want to walk over together or meet there?”

“If you’re going to be here another hour, we can walk together.” Master Core handed over Robin’s cups, fingers lingering against his.

“I’ll be here another hour. Thank you, they look amazing.” He gave Master Core one last smile and took the salted caramel lattes to Christie, his eyes wide. He couldn’t quite believe it.

“Look at you, man. You hooked up in a coffee shop.” Christie was going to give him no end of shit.

Robin supposed he couldn’t really blame his twin. “You’re just jealous. He’s hot.”

Snorting, Christie countered with, “He’s not that hot.”

He was, though, no matter what Christie said. Master Core was tall and broad, blond and blue eyed. Kind of like how you’d draw a Greek god, really.

They were gingers, Christopher and him, with eyes the color of cheap whiskey. Not exactly the coloring of a god, Greek or otherwise.

“Okay, so he’s pretty damn hot.” Christie gave Robin a bright smile as he conceded the point.

“You want me to tell him I can go another day? I totally will…” He wasn’t an asshole or anything, so of course he’d stay with Christie if his twin needed him to. No matter how hot and exciting Master Core seemed.

“No. No, the thingie on the door says this place is open ’til midnight. I’m going to sit and read a book or something.”

God, Christie was good to him. Robin rewarded the gesture by teasing. “You know how to read?”

“Shut up.”

He giggled and glanced over at Master Core to find the man staring at him. His cock jerked, started to fill like whoa. God, Master Core had a presence.

Sean Michael

Smut fixes everything

www.seanmichaelwrites.com

*_*_*

If you'd like the chance to win the entire pax collection, just leave a comment on today's post. On Saturday, a winner will be picked at random from all the comments made this week on the blog. Comment on all, and that's multiple chances to win!

Another excerpt from Roped In by L.A. Witt & Marie Sexton

Enjoy another excerpt from Roped In by L.A. Witt & Marie Sexton!

*_*_*

I stopped brushing Angel and looked over at Jackson. “What if you’re right?”

“Excuse me?” He met my eyes over Petty Cash’s back.

“So what if I took some kid home? Why should it matter to you?”

“Christ, Graham! Are you kidding? He’s a goddamn punk. A protester. One of those animal rights freaks who doesn’t know the first thing about what we do. After all these years in the rodeo, I can’t believe you can look at him without wanting to punch his lights out.”

“So, that’s the issue? Not that I might have gone home with a man, but that he’s not a cowboy? If it’d been you, on the other hand, it’d be okay?”

“Jesus!” Jackson glanced around the barn, as if we were still at the rodeo and he was afraid of who might hear. “Will you listen to yourself? What the hell’s gotten into you?”

“Maybe I’m tired of lying. Aren’t you?”

I was met by a silence so profound, it scared me. Even the horses froze, as if they could sense the force of his anger and were cowed by it. “I am not like you, Graham. Do you hear me? I’m not like you and your goddamn queer boyfriend—”

“Graham?” a voice called from the front of the barn, and Kaz stepped through the door. “You in here?” He was looking down at the floor, being mindful of the mud and manure getting on his nice clean Converse sneakers, but he finally looked up, and when he saw Jackson, he stopped short. His lips—lips I couldn’t stop staring at—made a soft O of surprise.

Talk about timing.

“Christ!” Jackson swore. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I can go—” Kaz started to say, but I cut him short.

“No.” I leveled a glare at Jackson. “Jackson was just leaving.”

“Seriously? You want to be alone with this fagg—”

“Enough.” The force behind the word was enough to make the horse I was brushing sidestep away from me, but I wasn’t about to let Jackson push me around. Not tonight. “He’s a guest here, and you’re in my barn,” I warned. “On my property.”

“Not for long.”

That was fine with me. He led Petty Cash away while Kaz stood against the wall, avoiding my gaze. Jackson came back from the stall and headed for the door. He made a point, as he passed Kaz, of bumping into him.

Anger flared up in my chest. I took a step forward, but he was already halfway out the door, and Kaz put a hand out to block me. “Let it go,” he said quietly. “It doesn’t mean a damn thing to me.”

“He’s such a narrow-minded asshole—”

“And starting a fight will only validate it. In his mind, at least.”

The wind went out of my sails and I slumped. I heard Jackson’s truck start, and his wheels spinning on the gravel of my drive. I looked down at my boots. “I’m sorry.”

Kaz stepped closer, ducking his head a bit to interrupt my gaze. “For what?”

“For not standing up for you. This time, and the first time, at the rodeo.”

“It’s not me you need to stand up for, Graham. I can take care of myself just fine. It’s you who has to face this. You’re the one who apparently has to explain something to him. Not me.”

The truth of those words made me hang my head.

“Hey.” He moved closer and put his arms around my waist, settling his slim, lean body against mine. “Forget about him, all right?” He kissed my jaw, and my neck. He stood on his toes, and his lips teased gently against my ear. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

Such simple words, but they lightened my mood considerably. A slow warmth began to build in my groin, spreading up and out to my limbs. All thoughts of Jackson faded away. “Really?”

He nodded, moving to brush his lips over mine. “Yep. Thinking about exactly how to tie you up…”

The thought caused my mouth to go dry. I had to swallow hard to respond, and even then, all I managed was, “Oh.”

“And all the things I’ll do to you once I get you that way.”

*_*_*

Roped In by L.A. Witt & Marie Sexton is now available at Amber Allure.

If you'd like the chance to win the entire pax collection, just leave a comment on today's post. On Saturday, a winner will be picked at random from all the comments made this week on the blog. Comment on all, and that's multiple chances to win!

Night School Vampire by A.J. Llewellyn & D.J. Manly

D.J Manly writes...

Ah night school. It attracts well…let’s say…a unique kind of crowd. The people who work at dead end jobs during the day and really want to move up…they’re at night school…as well as a mix of drop outs, and dreamers, and one or two students you really can’t pigeon hole.

I’ve taught night courses at a couple of colleges in my life.  I’ve seen all kinds of people, and I’ve also seen students I had to wonder about. They were the ones that didn’t fit. You just can’t figure them out no matter how hard you try. They’re usually very bright, and they stick to themselves, don’t socialize with others on the break and they have a particular way of looking at you. These are the ones on the first night who introduce themselves with no more than their name, who don’t go on and on about why they took the course, or how they love their pets.

When I came up with the idea of Night School Vampire, I had only to dip into my past memories of the various students I’d encountered in the courses I’d taught in the Colleges. I could see night school as being the perfect place for someone like Socrates, someone who lived only at night, someone with nothing, but time on their hands. Wow, night school is the perfect place for a… vampire. Got me thinking, I might have even unconsciously ran a hand over my throat as I did…were any of my students back then….ah….naw. 

Everyone knows vampires don’t exist, right?

A.J. Llewellyn writes...

When D.J. first suggested the idea for this story as well as the amazing title, I decided then and there that my character, Devin Gold, who teaches Socrates at night school, that he would have no idea the man he's so attracted to is a vampire.

Not only that, but I decided that Devin doesn't believe vampires exist. In fact, he comes from a long line of people who do believe in them and have spent his entire life from the time he was a toddler, dragging him around in his pajamas when he should have been sleeping, in search of vampires.

This idea came to me after attending a sci-fi convention, and meeting author Whitley Strieber, the man who penned Communion, his non-fiction account of being abducted by aliens.

I witnessed firsthand how so many people remain touched by this book. I thought it was funny that so many wanted to share their own abduction encounters…and that so many more wanted to know how they could be abducted.

Welcome to America, folks, where truth is stranger than fiction. We jostle for space with vampires, werewolves, aliens intent on anal probes (just why are they so fond of those, anyway?) and of course, night school.

I've attended evening college courses myself and it always struck me that the people who attend them want so badly to learn. So many miss out earlier in life and return as adults, though most of them are probably not as old as Socrates, who admits to being four hundred years old.

Or…are they?

Is there a vampire yearning to learn in your night school?

Night School Vampire is available at Amber Quill Press. 

*_*_*

It’s tough being a vampire. For one thing, there’s so much time on your hands. And for another, being undead for centuries means that you meet way too many stupid people...

Socrates Delis, since he has to be awake at night, wonders why he shouldn’t make better use of his time. So to ease his loneliness and hopefully meet a more educated group of people, he enrolls in night school at UCLA’s extension courses and quickly finds that poetry isn’t the only thing on the agenda. Somebody is killing off young gay men around town, and students are nervous. And by the way, didn’t Socrates swear off love? So why’s he finding himself attracted to his hot, human teacher?

Devin Gold loves his work. The great poets are his favorites to share with his English lit students, and while teaching, his life often seems just about perfect. But holy heck, his crazy Uncle Vince just blew into town and has even invaded Devin’s night classes, disrupting his life. Uncle Vince and Devin’s mom think they’re vampire hunters. Devin knows there’s no such thing, and has lived with the shame of their insanity all his life. Now his uncle swears that LA, even night school, is swarming with fangers.

How can Devin keep his sudden attraction to his handsome new student, Socrates, a secret? He’s not sure, but he has to try, especially since his obsessive uncle will undoubtedly insist that Socrates is a vampire. It’s tough being a sane human in La La Land...

Genres: Gay/Dark Fantasy/Vampire/Ménage (M/M/M)/Group Sex/Voyeurism
Heat Level: 3
Length: Novella (25k words)

*_*_*

If you'd like the chance to win the entire pax collection, just leave a comment on today's post. On Saturday, a winner will be picked at random from all the comments made this week on the blog. Comment on all, and that's multiple chances to win!

A Writer Writes by Pepper Espinoza

I’ve always been a storyteller, and I always will be, but for a certain dark period, I no longer thought of myself as a writer. My sister and my friends insisted I was still a writer when I expressed my fears that the dream was over, but I never felt reassured. A writer writes, always. If you’re not writing, you’re not a writer, and I haven’t been writing for three years. Oh, I would finish the occasional story, but overall, my motivation, my imagination, and my energy all disappeared. And the longer I went without writing, the more sure I was that I would never start writing again. My time of creativity had come and gone, and though I felt like I lost something precious, I didn’t know how to retrieve it. 

Then Vivien Dean asked me if I could contribute a story of the Vive La Difference Pax. They were one short, and I had a few months before the deadline. 

After I hit my writer’s block (more like a giant brick wall) I fell away from the writing and publishing world, and I regret to say that part of what I lost was my best friend and collaborator. But we started chatting last fall and were in the process of relearning each other’s lives when she invited me to contribute. And I realized she didn’t know the terrible truth that I had come to accept--how could I contribute a story to the collection if I wasn’t a writer anymore? 

But then I thought, she’s always known me better than I know myself, and maybe once again she knows something I don’t know. 

So I said, “Yes, I can do that.” 

The story wasn’t easy. Stephen King once described writing as falling through a hole in the center of the page, and it’s hard to get that portal to open, harder still to have the faith to plunge into the unknown world. But I persisted, and before long, I found a tiny black dot in the center of the page. Soon, that hole widened until I could see some light. Then the shadowy shapes of characters and a world I hadn’t traveled to before. 

I can’t say the process was perfect. I turned the story in late and even lost the contract for a few weeks so I mailed that in late, too! I forgot the art of writing a blurb--a skill that I had honed for years, but had since turned rusty, like any tool too long abandoned. Still, I fell in love with my characters and I wanted, no needed, to see the story through. And I did. To what end? I don’t know. I hope that you, dear reader, fall in love with my boys, too. I hope that you enjoy the story I tried to tell, and I hope you’ll be forgiving of any blemishes--it wasn’t the story’s fault just the fault of its imperfect creator. 

Alfred is an educated, wealthy young man with a world of prospects and opportunities waiting for him. He chooses the path that takes him away from Harvard and across the country of the newly opened University of California in Berkeley. His journey takes an abrupt turn when he’s kidnapped from the wagon train carrying west through Utah and brought to the mountain hideout of the Lyons brothers. They have a task for him, one that he is uniquely suited for, but he also finds something else in the snowy peaks of the Uintah Mountains--a friend. 

*_*_*

Hold the World Together by Pepper Espinoza is now available at Amber Allure.

If you'd like the chance to win the entire pax collection, just leave a comment on today's post. On Saturday, a winner will be picked at random from all the comments made this week on the blog. Comment on all, and that's multiple chances to win!

LATEST PAX RELEASE - Vive La Difference

Genres: Gay (M/M) Erotic Romance

The titles listed below comprise the Vive La Difference AmberPax™ Collection. Buy all five together and receive a 35% discount! To purchase any of the titles individually, click on the covers below to go to the books' separate pages. 

Hold the World Together by Pepper Espinoza Extended Novella (Gay)

Night School Vampire by A.J. Llewellyn & D.J. Manly Novella (Gay)

Roped In by L.A.Witt & Marie Sexton Extended Novella (Gay)

Spot the Difference by Sean Michael Extended Amber Kiss (Gay)

What the Heart Thinks by Vivien Dean Novella (Gay)

 

In conjunction with our newest release, we will be having a giveaway! Any comment made from today throughout the week (4/20-4/26) will be eligible to win the entire pax collection. A winner will be picked at random on Saturday from all comments received.