Hi! And welcome to the Howl-o-ween blog hop! 

I have a new release coming out October 30th, called Taking Charge of Brandon. If you'd like a copy, read the blurb and excerpt below, and leave me a comment! I'll choose a winner at random and you can be one of the first to receive a copy of this newest release!!  After you check it out, hop on over to the next stop on the hop--http://thebloghopspot.com/event-page/

Good looking Brandon is out for a good time with his friends when he runs afoul of a motorcycle gang and winds up being taken for a wild midnight ride.  He soon discovers that the strong, handsome man who has taken charge of him is exciting, controlling and determined to dominate him and give him boundaries. Brandon wants it, he needs it and he’s desperate for Danny to be the  Dom who can rein him in and make him more than just a pretty face. The question is can Brandon follow his rules or will his rebellion cost him everything?

 

Adult Excerpt:

Right on the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley, Danny pulled his cycle to a stop and switched it off.

“Get off, Pretty,” he said over his shoulder. Brandon scrambled to dismount.

Brandon didn’t know what was going to happen next, but he found Danny staring at him broodingly. He got off his bike, turning his back on Brandon, and walked the few steps over to the lookout, gazing down for few minutes. When Brandon nervously walked up to about five feet behind him, he turned, and Brandon wondered if anyone would find his body after Danny dumped it over the side of the cliff.

Deciding he might have a chance with an abject apology, Brandon spoke quietly, hating the whiney sound of his voice. “I…uh…I’m sorry for hurting your friend. It was all my friends’ idea, really, and I just panicked. I didn’t mean to hurt him. We were just bored and looking for something to do. Then when he came at me, I got scared. I’m really, really sorry.”

“Your friends’ idea, huh? Then how come you had the tire iron?”

“Oh-I-uh, see…”

“Don’t fuckin’ lie to me, boy. What’s your name?”

“M-my name is Brandon.”

He looked him slowly up and down. “How old are you? About sixteen?”

Brandon flushed. “No. I’m twenty-three.”

“Bullshit,” Brandon said softly. “One more lie and I swear to God…”

“I-I’m sorry! Please! I-I’m twenty years old, and that’s the truth, really.”

Danny advanced on Brandon, walking slowly toward him. Brandon backed away as he stalked him. Everything about Danny made him nervous and uneasy and had since the first moment he’d seen him. He was frightened by him and the determined way he moved. He looked big and dangerous and sexy as hell. Brandon couldn’t catch his breath. Danny kept coming until a tree halted Brandon’s retreat. He clenched his fists, scared and shocked—and turned on. He leaned against the tree, trying to remember how to breathe.

Brandon found he couldn’t look away, no matter how hard he tried. Danny glided up to him, all panther-like grace and easy confidence, and snatched up Brandon’s wrist again in his powerful hand, pulling him close. He didn’t say anything. Not that Brandon could have heard him anyway over the blood pounding in his ears. Danny waited for any sign Brandon didn’t want what he was going to do, or that Brandon wasn’t as ready for it as he was.

Brandon couldn’t speak, but he found the presence of mind to hesitantly grind his crotch into Danny’s to let him know, hell yeah, he wanted what he thought Danny was promising—or maybe threatening. He couldn’t imagine where he’d found the courage, but he’d never been so excited by anyone in his life.

Danny’s mouth came down on his, roughly, fiercely. He pulled Brandon tightly up against him. After the first shocked moment, Brandon found he seriously couldn’t breathe. The intensity was too great. Danny's chest was like stone, and he wrapped his arms around Brandon, trapping him until Brandon was barely able to move against the strong embrace. Meanwhile, the assault on his mouth continued. Danny bent Brandon’s head back and thrust his tongue between his lips, teasing and playing with Brandon’s tongue, making him gasp for breath and go weak in his knees.

Brandon stopped struggling and went limp. Danny bit him hard on his bottom lip, drawing blood. Brandon gasped and pulled back, but Danny followed, licking at his lip and making Brandon almost cream his pants. He wanted to protest, but found he couldn’t move, couldn’t even cry out. With a helpless whimper, he kissed Danny back, breathing rapidly, loving the hard feel of his muscles and being overpowered and swept away. Brandon definitely wasn’t in charge of anything, totally controlled, yet at the same time he wasn’t afraid. He almost felt as if he were standing outside himself, looking on.

Danny’s hands caressed Brandon’s cock, rubbing it hard through his pants, and smiled down into his eyes. He unsnapped Brandon’s jeans and put his hand inside, wrapping his warm hand around Brandon’s cock. At the first touch, Brandon thought he might swoon in his arms. His eyes rolled back in his head and he whispered softly, “Oh yes, yes…”

Moving his hand down, still holding Brandon’s gaze, Danny squeezed Brandon’s balls with an iron grip, making Brandon draw in his breath with a hiss. Danny kept smiling as he let go of his balls and pushed him down on his hands and knees, deliberately stepping on his hand.

Brandon cried out at first but then looked up at Danny from under his eyelashes, breathing hard but not even trying to get away.

“Do you like it a little rough, Brandon?”

“I-uh...”

He ground his foot on Brandon’s hand a little harder. “Cause you look to me like you might be a bit of a pain slut. Are you, Pretty?”

 

A Gay Man Inside a Female's Body: Another Backlist Bloghop!

A Gay Man Inside a Female's Body: Another Backlist Bloghop!

Secret Cravings: Guest SCP author Shannon West is on today

Secret Cravings: Guest SCP author Shannon West is on today: What’s Up With These Alpha Males? Alpha Males are  the ten percent of males who engage in ninety percent of the total love-making in roman...

Top Ten Lists

Some people just seem to hate gay people.  No rhyme or reason to it that I can see. Oh, they talk about religion a lot, but never seem to practice what they preach.  I've been wondering why someone would just decide to hate someone else, so I decided to see if I can get in the mindset of these people.  Since I love lists, I decided to come up with a list of why people hate on gays.  What do you think?

 Top Ten Reasons People Should Hate Gays

1.       Being gay is not natural.  That’s why most of us have never dyed our hair, worn glasses, painted our nails, worn makeup, or shaved any portion of our bodies.  We should be natural.

2.      Gay men attract our women.  That’s right.  Our women are lining up to read about gay sex in m/m romance;  our women love to look at gay models and think their bodies are sexy. Even when gay men are having sex with each other.  It’s just not right.

3.      Which brings me to my next point.  Gay men look too damn good.  They keep their bodies in good shape—no manly beer bellies—and they take baths.  Daily.

 

 

4.      Being around gays will make us all gay.  Just like being around straight people has changed so many gays into straights.

5.      The purpose of sex is to have children.  Period.  No one has sex for fun.  Disgusting idea.

6.      Gay people are against my religion.  So what if the First Amendment promises freedom of religion?  It’s all about me and what I believe in.

7.      There have never been any worthwhile gays who have contributed to the world  in any way. Michelangelo, Shakespeare, W H Auden, Julius Caesar, J Edgar Hoover, Alexander the Great, Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, Tennessee Williams, James Baldwin, Truman Capote, Plato, Walt Whitman, Virgil, Horace, D H Lawrence, T S Eliot, Herman Melville—none of these famous gays ever amounted to much.

8.      Well, hell, I can’t think of any more, but you know..

Happy 4th Everybody!!

Old Glory (In free verse) I am the most famous icon on earth,
on display all over the world...
standing guard at majestic official buildings,
in courtrooms, churches,
and even on the moon.
I fly from the houses
of families who revere America,
and snap in the breeze on parade. I stand for freedom, honor, justice,
service, prosperity and power.
My stars and stripes—my red, white and blue,
evoke respect and admiration from the good,
apprehension and fear from the evil. Sometimes soiled and tattered,
even bloodstained,
I survived the grinding toil of wars,
urging my weary warriors to fight on.
I lie precisely folded,
held by mothers of fallen soldiers
as their fingertips caress me
for comfort and strength. I am invincible.
I have been burned, spat upon,
trampled and cursed,
but I overcome all
to unfurl, soar, and inspire again.
I am the Star Spangled Banner;
I am Old Glory;
I am the American Flag,
a symbol of freedom, forever. By Joanna Fuchs

Magic Mike!

A little eye candy for your day

In honor of the movie coming out soon,we thought you guys might like a little eye candy and a synopsis of the story--yes, there really is a story!   Mike (Channing Tatum) is an entrepreneur. A man of many talents and loads of charm, he spends his days pursuing the American Dream from as many angles as he can handle: from roofing houses and detailing cars to designing furniture from his Tampa beach condo.

But at night... he's just magic.

The hot headliner in an all-male revue, Magic Mike has been rocking the stage at Club Xquisite for years with his original style and over-the-top dance moves. The more the ladies love him, the more they spend, and the happier that makes club owner Dallas (Matthew McConaughey).

So load up the cars and bring along your dollar bills!  It's gonna be hot!

So you think if you write a book and make it to number one on Amazon, and hit all the top ten bestseller lists, your life will get better?  Think again!

The Alpha's Pet from Secret Cravings Publishing came out in May and was an almost instant breakout hit for me.  I was thrilled, of course, and watched it climb higher each day until it reached number one.  I was ecstatic, flying high, exhilarated and pumped!  Until the reviews started coming in... Some of them were quite lovely and complimentary. I got a lot of 4's and 5's and some people were very nice.  Even the 3's were understandable--just not their cup of tea.  Fine.  I can deal with that,

Others, the nasty ones, not so much.  An author is always prepared for reviews that are not stellar, and though it's painful to hear sometimes, it can also be instructive.  A trend in reviews tells you when something you thought might be funny and fantastic, is really probably best left on the drawing board.  I don't mind at all when someone doesn't care for this genre, or doesn't like fantasy, or even doesn't care for the elements of BDSM in the novella.  I get that, and it's fine, really. (Though I would have thought the name Alpha's Pet would have been a clue to the fantasy, wolf, BDSM nature, but whatever)

So I was ready, I was prepared--I thought.  Now I write m/m because I love the genre, and have read a lot of it.  I do try not to read too much of any genre I plan to write, because I don't want to be influenced by anybody else and their ideas. So when I decided to delve into the Wolf pack books, I knew I was going to go through some uncharted territory.  Sci Fi and Fantasy people have very specific and distinct ideas about their wolves and vamps, and don't like anybody messing with them.  No sparkly vampires, than you very  much.

So when I got an idea for my wolves and their penises, I thought I'd come up with something a little new.  Why not have a wolf who has a gland on his penis, like any canine, that makes him "tie-up" with his lover for hours?  I thought it sounded like fun and was maybe a little sexy. I wasn't prepared for one reader to say I copied the idea from Kari Gregg!

Now, she is a fine writer, I'm sure, but I just happened not to have read any of her books before writing mine.  I since bought the book in question to see just how similar the stories were, and found to my great relief that I had not channeled Miss Gregg in my sleep and the books, despite what the misinformed reader said, were just not all that similar.

I just recovered from that nasty little episode when a reader on ARe said  "I hate this book so much I want to punch the author in the face."  Really? Punch me in the face?  Bring it, bitch! LOL...I wish I was a nicer person who would turn the other cheek and say well, consider the source.  The poor thing probably doesn't get out much and doesn't know how to act civilized and so says stupid, outrageous things for attention.  But I'm not.  So--you want to punch me in the face for writing a book you don't care for?  I'll be ready for you!

Don't get me wrong!  I love my fans, and I respect pretty much everybody, and believe they have a right to an opinion.  But that doesn't include the right to threaten me for writing something you don't approve of, or accuse me of plagiarism. My daddy taught me to stand up for myself, so if it comes to defending myself against bigots, then again, bring it on.
I have a good friend who is a blogger and happens to be a gay man.  He said he never received hate mail until the blog got really popular, and then it poured in.  I have to wonder if some of these more outrageous comments are from the fringe crazies who hate gays and everyone who supports them?

Gay Marriage Protests--Not for the Straightfaced!

Political protests are always a little more fun when the protesters are a little more fabulous. Equal marriage rights are coming, and in a way it'll be a little bittersweet when we don't see these awesome signs anymore.  Read these and enjoy!

Gotta be the best of the bunch!!!  Love to all of you!!  We shall overcome!

Pickup Lines Not for the Faint of Heart

Need some new pickup lines?  These could get you in the door, or they could get you slammed in the floor--Have any good lines we could use?  Please comment and let us hear 'em!

I wish you were a door so I could slam you all day long.

Nice butt...what time does it open?

You've got 206 bones in your body, want one more?

Those clothes would look great in a crumpled heap on my
bedroom floor.

My name is (name)...remember that, you'll be screaming it
later.

Do you work for UPS? I could have sworn I saw you checking
out my package.
  

Men Keeping it on the DL

     Welcome to the blog of Shannon West and Hanna Hart, two authors of male/male romance and erotica. We love to talk about our books, and important issues to gay men!

     Hi, I'm Shannon, and today's issue has to do with those men who keep it on the downlow. These are men who for whatever reason are leading two separate lives.  In  one life, they are straight men--or allow others to think of them as such)  In their other life, they are who they were born to be.  Why do they do it?  Often it's because of their jobs.  Those with careers like the Armed Forces, the Police Department, Fire Department etc. think they can't reveal who they really are.  Their colleagues wouldn't accept or understand them. In the Bible Belt South, it mostly doesn't matter what kind of job a gay man holds down--he wouldn't be accepted no matter what he does.

     Others say they keep things secret because their families wouldn't understand.  Sometimes this extends to a wife.  The general angst surrounding that scenario is that it is unfair to the wife they sneak around on, and that they never should have married a woman in the first place since they knew they were gay. Recently, in one of my books, Georgia Heat, a married gay policeman renews his acquaintance with a boy with whom he's had a passionate one night stand.  After a great deal of soul searching, he decides to ask his wife for a divorce and be true to himself for once in his life.  I received a negative review from a reader, saying she never would have picked the book up had she known that one of the main characters was a "low life scumbag who cheated on his wife." This seemed to be her only issue with the book.

     Obviously, the main character had a hard time making this decision and admitted he never should have married a woman in the first place.  But like so many others, including those in my family, he felt pushed into marrying a woman. It was only after the attempt at "normalcy" didn't work that he realized he'd trapped both of them in a loveless marriage. What should he then do?  Stay and be miserable, or leave and allow them both a chance at happiness? There are no easy answers, and what better place to explore the issues than in a romance novel, where no human beings are actually hurt?  If nothing else, it might evoke a discussion, and get the issue out in the open.

     So where do you stand on the issue?  Should a gay man involved in a heterosexual marriage "man  up" and stay true to his commitment? Or should he bail and try to find happiness?  Is it an either/or situation?  We'd love to know what you think!  Leave us a comment, or tell us your story.