Stacking The Shelves, hosted gracefully by Tynga’s Reviews, is a weekly feature. It is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
This week I received “only” 4 ARCs and bought/ got 8 books. 🙂
No review copies arrived me. 🙂
*for the better understanding: I’ll call ebook review copies mostly ARCs whereas I call german review copies simply review copies. 😀
ARCs/review copies
A Walk Trough Fire (Through Hell and Back # 1) by Felice Stevens
release date: November 8th
Synopsis:
Years after running away from an abusive foster family, Asher Davis still struggles with the guilt of leaving his foster brothers behind. He’s climbed to unimaginable heights as a ruthless, high-powered attorney, creating a life of power and control and takes whatever and whomever he wants.
Blaming himself for the death of his parents, Dr. Drew Klein retreats into a shell of loneliness, merely going through the motions of life. After a disastrous, short-lived marriage, Drew leaves his lucrative medical practice to set up a clinic for abused young men and women. The decision has more repercussions than Drew could ever imagine when the dark and sensual Ash Davis volunteers to help.
Although Drew isn’t gay, Ash is inexplicably drawn to him. He vows to simply bed him and forget him like he’s done with every other man. However, Drew’s sweet and caring nature and unexpected passion both stun and frighten Ash, who questions his right to any happiness at all. And when Ash befriends an abused young man who unwittingly draws the clinic into danger, threatening Drew’s safety and that of his beloved grandmother, Ash discovers that there is nothing he won’t sacrifice to protect the love he never thought he’d find.
This is a re-edited version of the original book published in 2014. Over 12,000 words have been added
Source: Goodreads
Buy link: amazon
A re-release by Felice, a book I haven’t read yet. :3 Got the ARC. So happy *happy dance*
All in Fear by KJ Charles, Roan Parrish, Avon Gale, Kris Ripper, J.A. Rock and Steve Bergman
release date: December 1st
Synopsis:
All in Fear: A Collection of Six Horror Tales
Horror wears many faces, and its masks can be tantalizing. Some of the top names in queer fiction come together to spin their own versions of horror. Worlds rife with dark beauty and mystery, the familiar becoming terrible, creatures ethereal and alluring—and all bearing the gleam of love. Does hope lie along these grim passages or only doom? It will become clear. All in time—and all in fear.
***
Six of the top names in queer romance join forces with Open Ink Press to bring you a deliciously unsettling horror anthology slated to release December 1st, 2016. All in Fear will feature chilling new and original stories from KJ Charles, Roan Parrish, Avon Gale, Kris Ripper, J.A. Rock, and Steve Berman. Coinciding with the winter holidays, the anthology will focus on the traditional macabre elements of horror coupled with the possibility for romance.
Full details: coming soon!
Source: Open Ink Press
Buy link: amazon, pre-order on the website
I filled out a form when Santino Hassell posted about the publisher. The collection sounds awesome, with 5 unknown authors for me but I’m really curious. Also excited to see the cover. 🙂
Cold Turkey by Hayden Hunt
release date: October 31st
Synopsis:
I thought I could quit him cold-turkey.
All I wanted was to come home and have an enjoyable Thanksgiving with my parents. But I should have known that wasn’t going to happen. We’ve always had a rocky relationship, we’re not close by any means.
I was much closer to my best friend’s family. Ethan lived across the street from me growing up and we were always incredibly close. His house was a second home to me. So when he saw me outside of my parent’s house, he offered to let me spend Thanksgiving with them.
Which would be great, if I wasn’t trying to hide the fact that I’m still madly in love with him.
I never thought I’d see him again.
I was elated when I saw Daniel sitting outside of his parent’s old house. When he went away after High School, I was convinced he’d never come back to this town. I have missed him ever since he left…
So when he agreed to spend Thanksgiving with my family, I couldn’t be happier. And finally, I think I might have the courage to tell him how I really feel. I was a coward when we were younger, when I was still trying to figure myself out, but things are different now. At least, I hope everything will be different now.
Because I still really, really want him.
This standalone novel is currently on sale for .99! It comes complete with HEA ending and bonus material from two of my other books!
Source: Goodreads
Buy link: amazon
Now with a Thanksgiving topic. I’m curious. 🙂
Runaway Heart by Harper Logan
release date: November 8th
Synopsis:
What do you do when your head says no but your heart says hell yes?
Marathon. Just thinking the word is torture to bartender Jesse Greenglass. He only signed up for the sake of a boyfriend who ended up cheating on him. There’s no way Jesse’s going to run it now. Even if a super handsome – and super straight – stranger is leaning over his bar, telling Jesse he’ll run with him.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to go and fall in love with you.”
26.2 miles is nothing to army veteran Mark Riordan. Struggling with PTSD, Mark moved to bucolic Rosebridge, New Hampshire to clear his head – not to fill it with thoughts of a wise-cracking bartender. But something about Jesse is drawing Mark in, making him wonder if he might not be quite so super straight after all.
“I want this. But only if it’s real. It has to be real, with you.”
A caught-in-the-moment kiss turns just friends into something miles more complicated. Jesse can’t deny that he’s attracted to Mark, but Mark could break his heart instead of healing it. And Mark has to decide if he’s ready to open up about a past he’d rather forget. Will fear keep this pair on the starting line, or will they follow their runaway hearts?
Runaway Heart is a 50,000 word steamy, standalone contemporary m/m romance. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.
Source: Goodreads
Buy link: amazon
Because I’m on the ARC list I receive the copies. 🙂
bought books (also free books)
Rock by Anyta Sunday
release date: October 1st 2014
Synopsys
Igneous.
When Cooper’s parents divorce, he finds himself landed in Week About—one week with his mum and one week with his dad.
Only, it’s not just his dad he has to live with. There’s Lila, too: The other woman, the one who stole the rock-solid foundation of his life.And then …
There’s Jace. Lila’s son. Lila’s smug, regurgitated-fish-scale-blue eyed son.
All Cooper wants is to have his family back the way it once was, but there’s something about this boy that promises things will never be the same again.
Sedimentary.
Resisting the realities of his new life, Cooper and Jace get off to a rocky start. But rocky start or not, after hundreds of shared memories together, they forge something new. A close … friendship.
Because friendship is all they can have. Although it’s not like they are real brothers…
Metamorphic.
But how does that friendship evolve under the pressures of life?
Under pressures of the heart?
Source: Goodreads
Buy link: amazon
This was on my list without noticing it. XD Was free, so yeah, needed to get it. 🙂
Cronin’s Key II (Cronin’s Key #2) + Cronin’s Key III (Cronin’s Key # 3) by N.R. Walker
release date: May 22nd 2015 / September 18th 2015
Synopsys
History isn’t always what it seems.
With the battle of Egypt behind them, Alec and Cronin are enjoying the thrill of new love. Though fate doesn’t wait long before throwing them back into the world of weird.
They know Alec’s blood is special, though its true purpose still eludes them. And given Alec’s inability to be changed into a vampire, Cronin is free to drink from him at will. But the ramifications of drinking such powerful blood starts a ripple effect.
With the help of Jorge, a disturbing vampire-child with the gift of foresight, Alec and Cronin face a new kind of war. This time their investigations lead them to the borders of China and Mongolia—but it’s not what lies in the pits beneath that worries Alec.
It’s the creator behind it all.
In the underground depths of China, amidst a war with the Terracotta Army, they will find out just what the Key is, and what Alec means to the vampire world.
Source: Goodreads
Buy link: amazon
Synopsys
History isn’t always what it seems…
Twelve months after his change, Alec MacAidan is still getting used to his many vampire talents. While most vampires would give anything to have more than one supernatural power, Alec craves nothing more than peace and time alone with Cronin. But when Alec meets entities from outside this realm, he’s left powerless in their presence.
Zoan are half-lycan, half-dragon creatures that have slipped through time and reality, seemingly undetected by man and vampire. Or have they? They bear an uncanny resemblance to gargoyles, leaving Alec’s view on all things weird to get a whole lot weirder.
This new quest leads Alec, Cronin, and their band of friends to Paris, Rome, and Moscow, where they learn that gargoyles aren’t simply statues on walls. In the underground pits beneath churches all over the world, Alec discovers the Key’s true destiny. Facing the Zoan might take every talent he has. And he may need help from the dead to get them all out alive.
Source: Goodreads
Buy link: amazon
All three books were free from November 1st till 2nd and I had to grab the 2nd and 3rd volume. ❤
The First Three Rules (My Brother’s Keeper # 1) by Max Walker
publication date: March 26th 2014
Synopsis:
This is book one of three. All books are full-length novels and must be read in order. All books are available now.
The My Brother’s Keeper TrilogyThe town of Gilford has a Big and Terrible secret hidden in the ground.
Infecting those it touches.
Exploiting their darkness.
Consuming their souls.
It’s hungry. It’s vile. It’s evil.
And it wants out.Book One: The First Three Rules
Marshal Jon Foster lost his purpose and his sanity the day he saw the image of his dead brother. The distraction saved Jon’s life but cost the lives of innocent people including his best friend and partner. It was a price for survival Jon couldn’t live with and was sure he’d never understand.
Driven by grief and guilt he tried to escape his past by fleeing to a small town in the middle of nowhere. Only instead of peace, the memories festered.
Then the offer of a stick of gum from a stranger changes Jon’s life and puts him on a road out of the nightmare he’s trapped in.Ellis Harper has lived the past twenty years isolated from the outside world and sole caretaker for his mentally disabled brother, Rudy. While Ellis loves his brother, he longs for a life he’ll never be able to have.
Shut away, his days consist of chores, endless cartoons, and games of Go Fish. A world that seemed to have no end until an innocent misunderstanding turns Ellis and his brother into a target for a town bully.
It’s a fight Ellis can never win on his own but thanks to a chance meeting with a stranger, he doesn’t have to.What begins as a new journey in love for both men quickly unfolds into something neither of them could have ever imagined.
Source: Goodreads
Buy link: amazon
First book in a series, this was free when I got it. Sounds very interesting. 🙂
Lavender in Bloom by Lily Velez
publication date: July 25th
Synopsys
A heartbreaking tale about love and loss…
It’s the year 1802 in Avignon, France.
Noah Capet has spent most of his young life living simple and unvaried days in the hushed countryside of southern France. Quiet, reserved, and diffident, his preference for existing is to do so in solitude, keeping to himself both in town and on his family’s farm—a predilection that’s altogether disrupted when a newcomer to town by the name of Jeremie Perreault begins an unremitting quest to befriend him.
Jeremie is everything Noah is not. Charismatic and gregarious, he leaves a trail of charmed admirers in his wake wherever he goes. Expressive and idealistic, he talks without end about his deep love for old books and his spirited dream to one day travel the world on a literary pilgrimage.
Over the course of a single summer, the two form an unlikely friendship, but just as quickly as it develops, it soon entirely dissolves as they’re forced to face the truth of what has unexpectedly emerged between them.
Lavender in Bloom is a tender and tragic coming-of-age story about first love and self-discovery, and a poignant reminder that time is fleeting and always takes with it the choices we’re too afraid to make.
Source: Goodreads
Buy link: amazon
I had this time on my TBR/ to buy list for a long time. A few days ago it was free. 🙂 Love the cover. ❤
Cool Cats by Harper Logan
publication date: November 1st
Synopsys
“I need to live a life where I can express myself authentically.”
Dylan Marvey’s last hope is to make it big as an artist. After dropping out of the prestigious Beasley University, he’s hung around as a townie, gradually drifting away from the student life he once knew. When he’s roped into helping a PR firm promote the gallery’s show, he comes face to face with the last person he expected to see: his old friend Grant Kennedy.
“I never had the courage to be like you.”
Grant always envied Dylan for his effortless “coolness.” Always following in his best friend’s footsteps, whether it was playing in a band or aspiring to artistic greatness, he never could keep up. When he rekindles his friendship with Dylan, he sees an opportunity to become the person he never thought he could be—if only he can get over his fear of standing out.
“It’s never too late to discover who you really are.”
As the two men navigate their friendship, they rediscover what pushed them apart and what brought them together. When Dylan’s cat breaks his leg, throwing him further into debt, and Grant finds himself straying from the path his parents set out for him, the two men find they need to lean on each other like they used to… And see what more can blossom from their connection.
Cool Cats is a 30,000-word standalone contemporary gay romance, complete with lots of heat and a happily ever after ending.
Source: Goodreads
Buy link: amazon
Harper Logan is a good read. 🙂 The cover is funny. 😀
THIRDS Beyond the Books Volume 2 (THIRDS) by Charlie Cochet
publication date: October 12th
Synopsys
Flash Fiction Stories in the THIRDS Universe
Return to the THIRDS universe with another collection of flash fiction stories inspired by prompts submitted by fans. Reunite with favorite THIRDS characters to explore even more of their hidden adventures and personal moments, and take the opportunity to learn more about them through this series of stories recounting the humor, heartbreak, friendship, hardship, and love these characters’ experience behind the scenes. Complete your THIRDS experience with these tales of stolen moments.
All royalties from this book will be donated to the Big Cat Rescue. http://bigcatrescue.org/
Source: Goodreads
Buy link: amazon
I really like the THIRDS series so I need the second volume with the short stories too. 🙂
books I’m waiting for/ preordered
I like to give an overview of the anticipated books, some of them are preordered (marked with a ++). I put the link to goodreads on the title. In the comming StS issues I will present them. 🙂
- Happily Even After (Student Bodies # 9) by Pandora Pine – release date November 8th++
- Daring Fate (Silver Tip Pack # 1) by Megan Erickson – release date November 14th++
- Country Talk (On the Radio # 3) by Pandora Pine – release date December 6th++
- Off Base (Out of Uniform # 1) by Annabeth Albert – release date January 9th 2017++
- Danced Close (Portland Heat # 6) by Annabeth Albert – release date March 14th 2017++
This is my overview… Feel free to leave a comment if you have similar books on your list. 🙂
Mikku-chan 