I loved it.

Autism Awareness Month

There is also a competition to win a book from her back list...

DON'T FORGET...

Silver is running a month long competition to win a Kindle Fires, vouchers and a whole heap of donated e-books... Click here to see

Silver Publishing have generously supported the autism awareness blog tour!


1st Prize - a Kindle Fire and donated ebooks from your favourite authors


2nd prize - a Kindle Fire


3 x 3rd prizes of $50 vouchers for your choice of seller! (Silver, Amazon, B&N etc...)


To win one of these fabulous prizes click here!

Closing date - 30 April 2012 (Midnight GMT - London)

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I love to cook. Taking a set of ingredients, combining them, adding heat, and coming out with something that tastes different than any one ingredient does on its own feels a bit like magic to me, especially since food can nourish, comfort, and give pleasure to the people I feed. I enjoy reading through recipes, considering lots of possibilities, and then choosing one to try. Sometimes the combination isn't quite what I hoped, but when everything comes together perfectly, I feel a warm sense of accomplishment. If I've tweaked the recipe and made it more my own, I feel even better, and when my culinary creations make people smile as they eat, I'm doubly pleased.

Making food is a creative act. Even if they believe they're following a recipe exactly, two people can make a dish, and it will taste at least a little different. When we cook, we inevitably put something of ourselves into what we're making. The more experienced I become in the kitchen, the more I play around with recipes or make up my own. I know the flavor combinations I like best, so I'll often add some of my favorites to a basic recipe. If I taste something I like in a restaurant, I'll try to make my own version at home. Often it comes out vastly different than the original, but it's more me. I also try new combinations, ones that might sound to others like they wouldn't work, but time and again I've been pleased with off the wall pairings.

My experience with autism

There is also a competition to win her latest book...

DON'T FORGET...

Silver is running a month long competition to win a Kindle Fires, vouchers and a whole heap of donated e-books... Click here to see

Autism Awareness

There is also a competition to win her latest book...

DON'T FORGET...

Silver is running a month long competition to win a Kindle Fires, vouchers and a whole heap of donated e-books... Click here to see

Texas Winter  - rated 4.5/5 and a 'Night Owl Top Pick Review' 

I found myself really enjoying Texas Winter - from the characters to the plot to how they intertwined to bring together a well-rounded read ... Wonderful read.

The Only Easy Day - rated 4/5

I enjoyed reading The Only Easy Day because of the characters, the pacing, and the story.

Broken Memories (written with Diane Adams) rated 4/5

I liked quite a bit about this story - the writing style, the characters, the pace, and the ending. What I enjoyed about the story's characters is how their personalities intertwined.

Guarding Morgan A Sanctuary Story - rated 4.5/5 and a 'Night Owl Top Pick Review' 

I liked the premise of not only the story, but of Sanctuary as well. I found the characters likable and I liked that they were not one-dimensional. Morgan has a cubicle job and doesn't like to cause waves, but is stronger - physically and emotionally - than he appears to be and that comes out as the story progresses. Nik may, to all appearances, be "all about the job" and may not know the meaning of the word "quit", but he has his vulnerable side as well.

Back Home rated 4.5/5

One would have to be living under a rock not to recognize the name RJ Scott. Although she is new to the writing scene, relatively new that is, she has produced a large, yet quality, mass of writing. This is the second of her books I have had the pleasure of reading. The first being Kian: The Fire Trilogy #1. angst-filled plot line. While there is certainly a driving story line behind the main characters which pushes the story forward, the bulk of attentionis spent on our two heroes, Kieran Addison and Jordan Salter.

What I loved about this book was how Ms. Scott took her time to flesh out each character, what made them tick, their internal struggles. With each action and reaction, I felt as if I was there, with the character, feeling their frustrations, nervousness, elation. The way Jordan and Kieran slowly danced around one another, slowly closing in, until finally the ice was broken and they expressed their feelings for each other was equisite pain/pleasure.

Darach

The emotions were also brilliantly drawn out. Darach begins his journey struggling against his feelings for Ceithin, but through artful uncovering of thoughts, feelings, and processing, we can truly believe Darach has transformed by the end of the story.

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Am so excited about my first book with new author Meredith Russell... it is out from Silver Publishing on Saturday 14th April... only 5 days to go!

After years of following his activist parents, artist Blu Taylor finally found somewhere to call home.

He sees art in the world around him yet is never truly part of it. There's a line that keeps him just on the outside of everything and everyone else except his best friend.

Thomas Harrington has everything—the money, the car, and the designer suits. But something is missing from a seemingly perfect life, lost when his mother was taken ill.

After attending a local art show, Blu is contacted by Tom and offered his dream—a chance to show at a gallery. Though there is a growing attraction between the men, their worlds couldn't be more apart. Blu speaks through paint and brushes, and Tom's life is filled with words and paperwork.

Though opposites attract, these differences might push them apart.

Excerpt
Blu wasn't sure what he was expecting the morning after. The sex had been okay. It was just two guys using each other to get off. Harry was just a little on the arrogant "fuck the poor guy" side. Being topped by someone who seemed to find it delicious to be banging the guy off the street was evidenced by the labels he'd thrown at Blu while he was being fucked. Apparently he should like it rough, want it now, and various other bad porn-talk throwaway lines.

Blu was so out of there, and as soon as Harry was snoring contentedly, he gathered his stuff as quietly as he could and let himself out of the seventeenth floor apartment. Feeling like a reject from some Pretty Woman storyline, he managed to avoid most human contact and found himself out on the street at ass o'clock in the morning.

Gathering his bearings, he realized his options were limited. Five dollars in coins was not going to get him a taxi back to the loft, and it wasn't fair to phone Jackson to come get him when it was—he peered at his cell phone screen in the dark—three o'clock. Okay. A walk back home was his only real option, and peace stole over him as his feet hit the sidewalk.

The streets were his. Every corner he turned held the promise of a new view of this beautiful city. Every step could hold inspiration for his next piece of art. He stopped and examined graffiti on walls and doors in the early morning light then crouched down and looked at the curious tracings of mud and water at the back of a grocery shop. The chance for art was evident in every single thing he saw.

He dodged the people sleeping in doorways snuggled deep in blankets and paper, and he whistled as he crossed the bridge. No one spoke to him; no one told him he shouldn't be walking. The city was his until it began to wake. The first things to break the peace were the dump trucks collecting garbage and the early morning cops clearing the doorways, followed by the guys in suits clutching coffee and talking into cell phones.

BUY LINK

As you all know by now I only post reviews of books that really blow me away. The reasoning behind this is, let's face it, who am I to comment on someone else's writing! I want to tell people about books that make me aspire to be a better writer, or books that wont let me loose once I have finished them.

This book is one of them. It contained some of the most beautiful prose I have read in an MM book. There was a true romance between Nichol and Cameron but also pure love in every word that describes Arran.

I could not put this book down. Seriously. There is a certain inevitability about the story but it is far from a book of clichés. A few shocks pop up but this isn't a story that makes you think because it offers you cheap surprises, it makes you think because you are so inside Nichol's head. You see how every action has far reaching consequences and how even the smallest decision can change everyone's idea of forever.

I must admit one scene when Nichol finds out something about his Granda made me put the kindle down so I could breathe. That doesn't happen to me often.

If you want slow burning lust and love, beautiful descriptive context and a love story that is strangely both wild and steady at the same time then this book is perfect.

Highly recommended.

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Welcome to the Master Post for The National Autism Awareness Day blog walk...

2nd April is World Autism Awareness Day and I have been very lucky to have some of my fellow authors donate time on their websites for a post they write about the autistic spectrum and what it means to them.

Each of these awesome authors is also giving you a chance to win something simply by commenting on their post... 


Lots of different competitions... Lots chances to win!

April 2nd - Me!
April 5th - Amber Kell
April 8th - Chris Quinton
April 9th - Freddie MacKay
April 11th - Sue Brown
April 14th - Doug Starr
April 16th - Lori Toland
April 17th - Diane Adams
April 18th - SA Meade
April 20th - Meredith Russell
April 23rd - Toni Griffin
April 26th - AKM Miles
April 29th - Stephani Hecht

ALSO! Silver Publishing are hosting a month long competition on their Forum in support of this initiative... GO SEE!