Category: New Adult

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Outing the Quarterback by Tara Lain

Dreamspinner Presents http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5374

outingBlurb

Will Ashford lives in two closets. He meets his wealthy father’s goals as both the quarterback for the famous SCU football team and a business major, but secretly he attends art school and longs to live as a painter. And he’s gay. But if he can win the coveted Milton Scholarship for art, he’ll be able to break from his father at the end of his senior year.

In a painting master class, Will meets his divergent opposite, Noah Zajack. A scarred orphan who’s slept on park benches and eaten from trash cans, Noah carefully plans his life and multiple jobs so he has money and time to go to art school. Will’s problems seem like nothing compared to Noah’s. Noah wants the scholarship too and may have a way to get it since the teacher of his class has designs on him, a plan Will isn’t happy about.

When a gossipmonger with a popular YouTube channel finds evidence that Will is gay, the quarterback’s closet doors begin to crumble. Hounded by the press and harassed by other players, Will has to choose. Stay in the closet and keep his family’s wealth, or let the doors fall off and walk out with nothing. Nothing but Noah.

Review

Will is in his last year of business school (to satisfy Daddy) playing the straight, star quarterback for SCU. What he really wants is to be a gay painter, but he can’t afford to be honest with either his sexuality or his preferred profession. His goal is to win a scholarship for next year and be honest then.

Noah is an out and proud artist, working 3 jobs to pay tuition, hoping for the same scholarship Will is after because he’s so broke he’s having a hard time paying the bills. In the meantime he’s having an affair with his teacher, who is also a judge for the scholarship.

So… you can guess what happens. Will and Noah meet. They start a relationship. Noah and his professor end their relationship (this isn’t taken well by the prof.). Will gets outed by the media. Noah loses the scholarship (sort of) due to sour grapes. Will and Noah make a go of it and with some razzle dazzle Noah ends up with a scholarship, Will ends up in art school and we get a really lovely HEA.

**
I’m a huge Tara Lain fan and this book just sort of underwhelmed me. It took several starts for me to finish, I just wasn’t swept overboard by any of the elements. The attraction between Will and Noah wasn’t spectacular. The storyline was predictable, which can be fine if there are other things to hook you in, but I just didn’t feel any zing with this story.

I really liked the secondary characters, Jamal and his sister Ev, and am excited to read Jamal’s story in the next installment, however.

I thought the writing was excellent, it was edited well, and of course I loved the happy ending, but overall, I just wasn’t wowed.

3.5 of 5 hearts.

3.5

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Heaven Can’t Wait by Eli Easton

Dreamspinner Presents

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5150

heaven can'tBlurb

When Brian Matheson dies at nineteen, his soul is in limbo. He has one chance to redeem himself before he’s thrown into a nasty pit. All Brian has to do is save the life of Kevin Anderson, a boy he and his friends tormented for being gay.

Kevin thought he’d finally escaped bullying. But his college roommate, Chuck, and his homophobic pals, prove him wrong. Now he can only wait for another room to open up—and try to keep his eyes off sexy, uber-straight Chuck.

Chuck is struggling to keep up the tough-guy façade everyone expects, but being trapped in a dorm room with the prettiest twink he’s ever seen isn’t helping him keep his feelings hidden.

If Brian can untangle this mess, he’ll deserve his wings.

Review

OMG – literally. Such a sweet, fun read. Ok, there were parts that were hard – very hard, to read, but it has such a fantastic ending, you forget the hard parts.

Brian is kind of a jerk – but he realizes this and learns from his mistakes. On the path to redemption he is sent back to earth to help some of his college “friends” find love and though he pretty much screws up all his attempts, he does manage to help them out in the end.

Poor Kevin – the typical “ugly duckling” who needs only a bit of time and perspective to become the “swan” touches any one of us who was less than perfect in high school/ college/ now … I just cringed when he was bullied and felt every single one of my heart strings pluck when he manages to stand tall despite it all.

Chuck, what a sweetheart. Sure, he didn’t do things right the first time, but he’s human, and he learns and … GOL-LY he is so damn sweet at the end you can forgive him anything.

I LOVED Eli’s version of heaven/evolution/explanation of Gay… fantastic.

This was a super fast read, but well worth it. I’m sure it will be re-read many times.

I give it 4.75 of 5 hearts – a teeny tiny deduction because DAMMIT I wanted to see more of the two lovebirds!

Highly recommended!

5

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Aaron audiobook by JP Barnaby

Dreamspinner presents:  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4870

aaronBlurb

Two years after a terrifying night of pain destroyed his normal teenage existence, Aaron Downing still clings to the hope that one day, he will be a fully functional human being. But his life remains a constant string of nightmares, flashbacks, and fear. When, in his very first semester of college, he’s assigned Spencer Thomas as a partner for his programming project, Aaron decides that maybe “normal” is overrated. If he could just learn to control his fear, that could be enough for him to find his footing again.

Review
The Story

WOW.
Just. WOW.

This is an absolutely amazing book. Amazing.
JP Barnaby manages to take an absolutely horrific event and funnel it through the mind of a teenager. Can you imagine? Being a teenager is hard enough as it is. Then add being a gay teenager, just coming into your own sexuality. Then add in a brutal, horrible attack that leaves you physically and emotionally scarred and your best friend, dead. It is incredible that Aaron had the will to live, and JP even explains HOW he manages to avoid suicide.

It is completely believable, and touching, and so, so painful, but sweet and hopeful at the same time. I couldn’t read/listen to it all at once. I had to take breaks, read lighter books in between. But when I got to the end, I said “I MUST read Spencer!” and started it immediately.

One of the things I absolutely found so powerful, was JPs ability to show us (without telling us) the areas where Aaron’s family – despite ALL their best intentions – were NOT helping him. She also showed us where the fact that he was a teenager (and thus prone to illogical thinking and hormone driven decision making) impacted his event even more so than it would have on an adult. Aaron lived through this event at such a pivotal time in his life and JP does an amazing job of showing us just how pivotal it was.

Then you have Spencer. (Sigh) I LOVE Spencer. I wish I KNEW Spencer, I would hug and love him up. Such a fantastic soul and such a huge heart. He takes on Aaron and sees through to the boy he is/could be and simply loves him. He has his own demons, and this makes him empathetic and vulnerable and wonderful It is a testament to the power of love in the act of healing. So very touching. I can’t say enough about how wonderful Spencer is.

JP also paints a detailed, if flawed, picture of Dr Thomas, Aaron’s parents/siblings, and all the other people in Aaron’s life. She is accurate down to her coding and tech-speak, but not didactic or pedantic.

It was a hard book to read/listen to, but so worth it.

I had not read any JP Barnaby books before this, but you can bet I am a fan for life now.

5 out of 5 hearts

Review
The audio
Tyler Stevens can read any book to me any day. He did such an amazing job with the language, the tonal qualities of Spencer’s speech. (Spencer was born deaf, but can and does speak throughout the story.) Tyler subtly changes the voice for all the characters in a way that is helpful to the story and not distracting in its “over acting”.

His reading pace is good, his voice quality clear, his emphasis on the dialog perfection.

I would specifically look for him as a narrator, he is that good. I really hope he reads Spencer when the audible version comes out.

I liked the audible version even better than the book (shocked gasp!). It was that good. Tyler just made me feel the characters in a way that when I went back to read the book, his intonations were what I heard.

I highly recommend this audio version, the book, the series, the author, the narrator.

Ok, I sound a little fan-girl, but really. Go now and buy them.

amazing

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Love Lessons by Heidi Cullinan

Samhain Publishing Presents https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/4770/love-lessons

Blove lessonslurb
Love doesn’t come with a syllabus.

Kelly Davidson has waited what seems like forever to graduate high school and get out of his small-minded, small town. But when he arrives at Hope University, he quickly realizes finding his Prince Charming isn’t so easy. Everyone here is already out. In fact, Kelly could be the only virgin on campus.

Worst of all, he’s landed the charming, handsome, gay campus Casanova as a roommate, whose bed might as well be equipped with a revolving door.

Walter Lucas doesn’t believe in storybook love. Everyone is better off having as much fun as possible with as many people as possible…except his shy, sad little sack of a roommate is seriously screwing up his world view.

As Walter sets out to lure Kelly out of his shell, staying just friends is harder than he anticipated. He discovers love is a crash course in determination. To make the grade, he’ll have to finally show up for class…and overcome his own private fear that love was never meant to last.

Warning: This story contains lingering glances, milder than usual sexual content for this author, and a steamy dance-floor kiss. Story has no dairy or egg content, but may contain almonds

Review

Kelly is a small town guy with Disney –HEA – visions in his head. He just KNOWS life gets better in college and he won’t let anybody tell him otherwise.
Walter is the jaded, older student and now roommate who, at first, wants to break Kelly of his romantic ideal nonsense, then feels it’s his duty to protect those dreams and finally to make them come true.

This is a long book, so we cover a lot of ground and in a lot of detail.
We get a good, hard look at what makes Walter so cynical and a good look at what makes Kelly so idealistic.

We get to watch the relationship, in its early seedling stage nearly die before finally taking root to grow into a full-fledged, Disney-level-happiness, rock solid, Red-wood of a relationship.

This is a new adult novel. Not quite YA – too much drinking, drugs, and sex for that. But the story is more closely that of a YA than some of the other, far more raunchy, Heidi Cullinan “adult” books. It is very well written and very involved, like the rest of Heidi’s books, and hits all the right buttons for me.

I just love the characters. They are all very well developed, three-dimensional, interesting and unique. There are several secondary characters that add complexity to the story and help to give this book it’s authentic flavors.

Kelly is an amazing guy. Heidi has managed to give us a freshman boy, who loves Disney movies, is a die-hard romantic, a virgin and yet he is still very much a boy. I love him! I love that he idolizes Tangled and has dreams of how his first date, first sex and wedding should all be. I loved the juxtaposition of his money poor, love rich household with Walter’s money rich, love poor life. Walter, the playboy, the cynic, the last guy to imagine Happy Ever After is the PERFECT choice for Kelly.

Their story is told slowly, organically growing and unfolding tenderly in such a way that we can easily see how the switches can be flipped and how our jaded Walter can come around to being Kelly’s Prince by the end of the book.

I could really relate to Kelly’s vision of what love “should and should not” be, I think many of us remember that time in our lives – whether it was high school, college, or later in life – and how hard it was to mesh that vision in our head with what life hands us. What I admired was how Kelly held on to his vision of Disney-Princess-Happiness without shame or wavering even in the face of disillusionment and that, in the end, his enduring faith brought everyone around and actualized his feelings rather than crushing his spirit.

The length of the book is both its strength and weakness. It takes a little dedication – there are times the story drags and it takes a little perseverance. However, the pay out is definitely worth it. Because she doesn’t compromise on length, the story feels very natural and real, and because life is more than just romance, the added side stories Heidi guides us through help us to see how our MCs are growing and changing in a way that feels authentic.
By the end I think everyone will have at least some tears in their eyes if they are not out-right bawling. It is an amazingly tender, sweet and satisfying book on many levels.

You will fall in love with Kelly and Walter and – now that I have read the sequel – I can tell you that you will be excited to know we get to see even more of them real soon and it only makes this book that much more sweet.

I give it 4.75 hearts and I really recommend this book to anyone who ever had a Disney-Princess fantasy or anyone who ever thought true love only existed in fairy tales.

5

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Fever Pitch (Love Lessons #2) by Heidi Cullinan

Samhain Publishing Presents https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/5166/fever-pitch

Blurb

feverpitchBook Two of the Love Lessons Series

Sometimes you have to play love by ear.

Aaron Seavers is a pathetic mess, and he knows it. He lives in terror of incurring his father’s wrath and disappointing his mother, and he can’t stop dithering about where to go to college—with fall term only weeks away. Ditched by a friend at a miserable summer farewell party, all he can do is get drunk in the laundry room and regret he was ever born. Until a geeky-cute classmate lifts his spirits, leaving him confident of two things: his sexual orientation, and where he’s headed to school.
Giles Mulder can’t wait to get the hell out of Oak Grove, Minnesota, and off to college, where he plans to play his violin and figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. But when Aaron appears on campus, memories of hometown hazing threaten what he’d hoped would be his haven. As the semester wears on, their attraction crescendos from double-cautious to a rich, swelling chord. But if more than one set of controlling parents have their way, the music of their love could come to a shattering end.

Warning: Contains showmances, bad parenting, Walter Lucas, and a cappella

Review

Finally!

That’s what I said when I found out Love Lesson’s was to finally have it’s sequel!

I knew it had been planned for a long time and was super excited to finally read it! Let me tell you that I was NOT disappointed!

This is another long book of the new adult variety, in keeping with the Love Lesson’s theme. Fever Pitch takes place at another university in the mid-west, small and liberal arts oriented – but no gay swans, mores the pity.

Aaron and Giles actually attended high school together their senior year. It is in their last days there that Aaron begins to give in to his cravings for male romance and Giles is happy to help him explore this side of his personality. Unfortunately, both boys are really quite scarred from past experiences and the relationship is over before it really begins, leaving Aaron tentatively in lust/love and Giles really pissed off.

Aaron follow Giles to St Timothy’s University, mostly in stalker fashion, and over the course of many months they eventually forge a friendship through their mutual love for music.

During this bonding process we get to see our friends Walter and Kelly again – woot! Walter ends up helping Aaron deal with his new feelings and helps him to “get his man”.

Once the boys get together the drama doesn’t stop. There are other crazy parents involved and other sad gay boys to be saved. We see parents who can help save lives and those who set out to ruin them. There is lots and lots of music being played, composed and sung. And finally there is a wedding. Sigh. Walter and Kelly get married in what has to be my all time favorite gay wedding to date.

I just loved these two books so much! This second book is even stronger than the first. The side issues are more serious and the tragedies more tragic. If I’m being honest… the sex is hotter too, but don’t tell that to Walter or Kelly.

I loved how the book furthers the lives of people we met in book one, but if you didn’t read the first book, no worries, this stands on its own quite nicely.

Again Heidi has given us a love story interwoven with some serious, coming of age issues and the result is a rich tale, full of well developed characters and satisfying story lines.

I highly recommend this book and give it a 5 out of 5 hearts.

5

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Where Least Expected by DC Williams

MLR Presents http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=DCW_WLEX

where leastBlurb

Blake has absolutely nothing in common with his ex’s annoying hippie roommate. So why are they hanging out together?

Blake is totally not still hung up on Jeff, his hot ex-boyfriend. And he’s so not sleeping with Bob, Jeff’s annoying hippie roommate. Except he is. And even though they have absolutely nothing in common, Bob might just show Blake that there’s more to their relationship than just sex. If Blake can share some of his secrets and let his guard down just a little bit.

Review

Blake just got dumped by his ex – for a straight guy! Bob is Blake’s ex-boyfriend’s roommate. He’s straight, a hippy, and has the worst fashion sense Blake has ever seen, but… he’s there when Blake is feeling horny and lonely and it’s his birthday and since Bob is showing some “curiosity” about being gay… Blake decides to take Bob home and show him just why gay sex is the best sex there is.

Bob is a laid back hippy raised by two moms with dread locks and a penchant for wearing sarongs and t-shirts. He finds Blake fascinating and beautiful and when Blake agrees to fool around with him he finds that he really likes gay sex… in fact… he thinks he might even be gay!

As the semester goes on, Blake and Bob find that their “one night stand” is becoming a regular thing and they are spending more and more time together – even time together not naked. When it looks like they might even be starting something “real”, Blake subconsciously sabotages things between them.

Fortunately Bob is amazing and patient (so are his moms!) and after some time and some real communication it looks like our boys will get their happily ever after.

**

I have to admit the cover threw me – I was kind of expecting Blake to be an emotional, whiny, twink. And he sort of is – but he’s mostly a snarky, sad, funny, sweet, jaded, old soul who has had a rough start and not enough love in his life.

 

I LOVE BOB. I love him! He is such a real character! I can totally imagine a guy like him at a small, liberal arts school in the north-east or even the mid-west. I love his two moms and his house in the country. What I really appreciated about his exploration into being gay was how open he was and yet how appropriately trepidatious he was about committing to the idea of actually being gay.

I found the slow, easy, gentle way the two began their relationship to be fascinating, real, and so touching. It was almost like their love just snuck up on them. I was sad the story ended where it did, because I would have loved to see more of them as an established couple, but that’s how you should feel when you’ve met a great fictional couple.

Blake’s history was so well played out – the subtle hints leading to the reveal about his childhood boyfriend was great.

I also really loved that Blake never asked Bob to cut his hair – they both just accepted one another for who they were – even though they didn’t like it. It felt so real to me.

I haven’t read anything by this author before, but I will definitely be looking into future and past works. I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it.

4.5 of 5 hearts

4.5

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Teaching Professor Grayson by Kade Boehme and Allison Cassatta

Dreamspinner presents  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5715

teaching profBlurb

Christian Grayson is a professor of sociology who comes from a close-knit Southern family steeped in values and tradition. He left Tennessee using education as his excuse for escape, when he truthfully only wanted the freedom to be who he truly was. But at age forty, he’s still in the closet and still adheres to the morals his father, a Southern Baptist minister, raised him with. This includes saving himself for Mr. Right.

CJ Hata has been under Christian’s wing since his freshman year. A genius, pure and simple, he’s a senior now and no longer needs to report to Professor G, but he still seeks his teacher out occasionally for a friendly chat.

When Christian accidentally outs himself to CJ while pouring his heart out about his dying father, CJ feels totally out of his element. He convinces himself to put forth his best effort because the man he’s been crushing on for four years needs a friend. In the meantime, everyone around CJ is stumbling out of the closet, but the one person he really wants to come out has barricaded himself in with the bible and his family’s expectations.

Review

This is a very gritty story about judging and values and how our families shape us and what society expects from us and how we have to overcome all that to be who we are.
CJ is not a very lovable character. He’s acerbic and condescending and sometimes pretty immature. He has moments of immense sweetness and that’s what attracts Christian.

Christian is a confused, closeted man forced into a role that he sort of believes in but also one he finds too constraining. He falls for a student and then falls out of the closet to be with him. In the meantime his super religious father dies and he has to face what that means for him and how he lives his life free from that judgment.

On the one hand this story really speaks to a lot of issues and handles them in a way that is more realistic than a lot of romances tend to be. On the other hand it was so gritty that I didn’t feel as connected to the characters in a way that I felt either bonded to them or invested in their outcome. I never really liked CJ and though I felt bad for Christian I didn’t really connect with him either. I definitely didn’t see them as a couple that would stand the test of time. Not because they couldn’t or wouldn’t, but because the story didn’t spend enough time showing me their compatibility. Instead it was more internal dialogs and moving through Christian’s own lifestyle choices and decisions and CJs growth of his socializing skills.

I really wanted to love this – there was so much promise in the topics and in the potential for very angst-ridden yet hot, 40-year-old-virgin-sex… but I just didn’t feel a strong enough connection with either MC to feel very attached to their love story.

Overall I give it 3 of 5 hearts for having a lot of promise.

3

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As a side – the cover really didn’t match the story in that CJ is not a happy, smiling, shy, young guy but an old cynic of a guy in a young guy’s body and instead the professor is the shy, retiring guy.

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The Healing Power of Eggnog Audiobook by Jamie Fessenden narrated by Robbie Ravena

Dreamspinner Presents http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/The-Healing-Power-of-Eggnog-Audiobook/B00NG10L1S/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1420149062&sr=1-1

eggnogBlurb

Will Sutherland hasn’t been home to see his parents in four years – not since they reacted badly when he came out. This Christmas, he’s finally worked up the courage to go home, where he’s surprised to find they’ve taken in a boarder. Ryan Bennett is just a couple years younger than Will, cute, sweet…and openly gay.

As Will deals with his jealousy of the man who’s been receiving the love and acceptance he was denied, Ryan finds himself falling for Will’s brooding good looks. But Ryan also suspects the Sutherlands may be using him as a pawn in their long-standing conflict with their son. Will this Christmas finally tear the family apart, or is there a chance they can put their hurt and anger behind them.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2013 Advent Calendar package

Review

This is a short holiday story about love and forgiveness. Will hasn’t been home since the Christmas when he came out to his family. There is a “mystery” as to why he’s stayed away, but you can guess why. When Will’s family extends an olive branch, he decides to try again but is mystified by the boarder they are sharing their house with.

Ryan is a young gay man who was kicked out of his home by his religious family and is now being supported by Will’s family.

At first Will is jealous and guarded with the virginal Ryan, but as the eggnog gets drunk and the inhibitions loosened the two find they might have a bit more in common than they think.

**

Since this is a short story, a lot happens in a time line that feels unrealistic to me, but is acceptable given the parameters of a holiday love story.

I didn’t really feel Will ever had a reason to “love” Ryan or vice versa, though I was certainly rooting for the relationship.

I thought the sex and the “I love yous” were rushed but sweet nonetheless.

Audiobook:

I thought Robbie did a nice job with the narration, this was his first narration I’d heard and I would definitely look for him in the future. He didn’t do a lot with the voices but he certainly seemed to understand and translate the story well.

Overall I give the book a 3 of 5 hearts and the Audiobook a 4 of 5 hearts for a total of 3.5 hearts.

3.5

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New M/M Publishing House Launches, Sends Out Calls for Submissions

COOLDUDES PUBLISHING LOGO (Main)

 

 

From the Press release:

Our Publishing Program
We want to tap into the M/M market and expand it using our affiliate editors, beta readers, reviewers and promotional staff. We don’t ask for a penny upfront, however, we do offer contracts and deduct a small percentage of 40% from royalties for the services we offer.

We aim to publish e-books with a strong M/M element but are NOT genre romance and not specific to Happy Ever After (HEA). The work may be darker in nature and reflective of the world gay men face. These are more along the lines of how things really happen with all of the horrors gay men and women have to face through their lives.

But, the romances will be heartfelt and not a guaranteed HEA although we would prefer HEA.

Literary works are welcome.

These are novels that minimize on dialogue and maximize on narrative, but the language must be of a high standard. There are many authors writing literary books as opposed to light romance.

We also publish YA and NA, and we will attempt to control who sees what age wise. We want to open people’s eyes to the fact there is a whole culture of extremes out there in writing Gay Fiction.

We include all types of works about gay men, whether it be relationships written by gay men/women or straight, it doesn’t matter.

Above all, we strive to have this kind of reaction: ‘Oh my God! That’s such a great thriller, and you know what, it’s got two guys in it, but wow! it’s a fab book!’ That way we get the best of both – the hard-core readers who only buy gay romance and perhaps some others who buy it despite the fact it has two gay guys.
Our Submission Guidelines
We accept works that are a minimum of 30,000 words unless it is a solicited short for an anthology.

Maximum word count: 120 000 words.

Please only send a submission query through our website at http://www.cooldudespublishing.com for completed works that are ready to begin the editing process.

Use “Submission  query” as your email subject and in the body please give the title of the work, your name, completed word count, and a synopsis which should include details regarding character development, plot, and conflict/story resolution.
Please use Arial or Times New Roman font, 12 point size for queries.

Also tell us the genre(s) and if it is for our adult or YA range.

You should include three sample chapters in Word format and address them to the following address: [email protected].

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Your books. Our Books. Their Books. Publishing for our community
Cooldudes started out as a website to showcase wonderful books. And now we’ve diversified into something we think will appeal to all the LGBT writers out there.
PUBLISHING. More specifically, publishing in the LGBT genre.
Yep, there is a reason we only publish gay titles; the market is saturated with mainstream straight titles. We want to widen the market and offer more titles in this rich and ever growing genre.
We include all types of works about gay men. Whether it is about relationships written by gay men/women or straight; it doesn’t matter. The focus is romance, crime, mystery, paranormal with a gay theme (because after all, it’s perfectly normal right? It shouldn’t be set apart because it’s about two men together) rather than gay romance, gay mystery or gay thriller. It means someone buys it for the story it offers.
We strive to have this kind of reaction: ‘Oh my God! That’s such a great thriller, and you know what, it’s got two guys in it, but wow! it’s a fab book!’ That way, in presenting a story, we get the best of both – attraction for the hard-core readers who only buy gay romance and perhaps some others who buy it despite the fact it has two, or maybe more, gay guys.
Submission Calls are now open and we welcome you to submit.
Please read our guidelines and carefully when submitting to us.
OUR SUBMISSION CALL
General Call
We want plot driven stories featuring at least one gay male main character. While we do wish to see a romance element within the stories, we do not require the story to have romance as its primary focus. We prefer a happily ever after, but realize that love is often bittersweet, so a happy for now ending is also welcome. We prefer submissions to be at least 30,000 words and will happily consider longer works upwards of 150,000. Stand alone titles are welcome as are series and we welcome both first time and established authors. If a title has previously been self published, it must be removed from distribution before we will consider it.
You, Me, and the Stars
Space ships, alien worlds, galactic conquests… CoolDudes is looking for quality science fiction with well realized worlds, exciting plots, good character development, and while there should be some romance, it doesn’t have to be the primary focus. Submissions should be at least 30,000 words in length and we are happy to accept longer works. Have an epic over 150,000 words? We’re happy to take a look and see if its a good fit.
Down in the City
Skyscrapers. Wharf fronts. Shopping malls. We’re looking for some gritty urban fantasy worth sinking teeth into. Vampires, dragon shifters, wizards, fae, and more are all welcome. Submissions should be a minimum of 30,000 words and we are happy to consider works over 100,000 words. Whatever the story, it should contain an element of a romance, though it doesn’t have to be the primary focus.
Contemporary Romance
Any setting, as long as the world is our own and it’s set in this era. We are looking for tales featuring two men in love. New couples, established couples, friends to lovers, Love comes in all shapes and sizes and we want their stories! HEA or HFN stories preferred and the stories may contain dark themes or be as sweet as candy as no two love stories are alike. Submissions should be at least 30,000 words.
Young Adult
Here at CoolDudes we firmly believe that youth are our future. We’re looking for positive stories featuring LGBT youth main characters, aimed at readers 12 and up and 16 and up. Please include an  intended age range with your submission. Stories can be set within any genre, and romance can be secondary. So whether it’s a young person running for his junior high student council while realizing his first real crush is another boy, or a college student finding the love of his life, we want to hear about it. Stories should be a minimum of 25,000 words.

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BAMF Audiobook by SJD Peterson Narrated by Adam Dort

Dreamspinner presents http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5915

BAMFAUDMEDBlurb

With his fauxhawk, sleeve tattoos, and visible piercings, Ridley Corbin has the whole bad ass vibe going on in spades. The image serves him well as the self-proclaimed protector of the underdog, and he wants nothing more than to be Alex Firestone’s hero.

Alex, a mild-mannered library assistant, has moved to Slater, a quiet college town, hoping to hide from his past. He keeps to himself, but that doesn’t save him from catching the unwanted attention of the campus bully. But not all is as it seems. Alex’s past comes calling, and it’s time he becomes top dog.

Review

GAWD is that cover hot or what?

I love the cover and the title and the names of the MCs Ridley – stupid hot, right? And Alex – gorgeous!

I love the premise – underdog Alex needs “protection” by the uber-hot yet geeky Ridley only to turn around and be even more bad-ass than Iron Man!

I like the age – end of college, young but old enough not to feel YA.

All in all – practically perfect!

So how did the actual story hold up in the face of these expectations? Pretty well.

I thought it would be AMAZING.

It wasn’t.

But it was real damn good.

It started with a bang – Ridley acting cute-as-hell crushing on Alex, finally getting up the nerve to ask him out and then the two share a first date full of flirting and sexual innuendo over a game of pool.

Then they have sex.

WOW.

Not what you were expecting.

It is hot. Very hot.

Ridley ends up needing protection from Alex about midway through the book and the two end up spending some one on one time together which helps to cement their relationship. We see them go from super hot f*ck buddies to something more, and it gets a little sweet.

The action in between all this is fast-paced and holds your interest, but the bulk of the story is them and – well – them having sex.

I give this book high marks for hitting a lot of my buttons: geeks, deceiving appearances, college, intrigue, hot sex.

I can’t give it perfect marks because the relationship between Alex and Ridley is not all that believable. I mean, I could see them together, but we really don’t get to see much of them actually communicating or sharing themselves in more than a physical way, so I can’t really say “I know they’ll make it:”. In fact, I don’t really “know” Alex much at all. He seems to be a weird juxtaposition between his persona and his job, and I’m not sure I fully understand either character well.

Anyhow, it’s absolutely worth reading and I can definitely recommend it!

4 of 5 hearts

4

Audio:

Adam Dort is new to me, but he did a good job with the narration. He didn’t do a lot with Alex and Ridley’s voices, but he did add in some variation for some of the secondary characters and his female voices were not screechy like some men translate them. I thought he did the “emotional” and smexy scenes well and would look for him in the future as a narrator.

4.5 of 5 hearts

Overall, I’d rank the narration and book together as more a 4.5 of 5 hearts and would say the listening was as good or better than the reading.

4.5

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