The Saucy Wenches Book Club

He wedged his face between Zane's and the pillow. "This in no way means I don't still hate you," he muttered as he nuzzled his nose and mouth against Zane's temple and closed his eyes.




Cut & Run by Madeline Urban and Abigail Roux

Nick was notoriously twitchy about commitment. He'd probably disappear into a puff of smoke that spelled out "nope" in the air if Kelly told him he'd proposed while drugged.

Cross & Crown by Abigail Roux

The land wavered with heat, even as the sun descended. Summer evenings in Texas were apparently blazing hot right up until the sun went down, when they became merely uncomfortably warm.


Stars & Stripes by Abigail Roux

"Last call." Liam got up to retrieve the final pair of beers. He opened them and handed one to Robert, who grunted a thanks, then returned to his own seat. After a few sips, he said, "Let's live here."
"What, in the park?"
"Why not? It's only five quid a night."
"They close for the winter next week," Robert said.
"Then we'll stay in Luss." Liam nodded to the twinkling village on the loch's far shore. "I'll open a sport pub. A gay sport pub," he added with a chuckle.


Playing With Fire by Avery Cockburn

"Don't be silly; it's only Chicago in winter," Julian scoffed sarcastically as he set the bag down. "Why would you need gloves when you can have frostbite?"

Warrior's Cross by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux

I've been pretty quiet lately, mostly just going along, reading things that don't run away, rereading a lot to keep myself from stressing too much, you know the drill. Well, as I was browsing facebook, I was linked to Playing for Keeps, which was a freebie on Kindle at the time. I downloaded it, like I do about eleventy billion children's non fiction books to use with our science curriculum, and whatever takes my fancy along the way... and then I forgot about it. Skip ahead about a month, and the ebook I was reading was having troubles turning pages, and then I was on a new reader, because my old one wasn't working the way I wanted it, so I had none of my usual 300+ books at hand, and... I dropped into Kindle. Why not.

Kilts on the cover meant pretty much an automatic go-for-it, and sure enough, I loved the book. Enough that the prequel and sequel made it onto my wishlist at Amazon within an hour. I'd put together a mini-review of Playing for Keeps, and it turned ou…

"Taxi's expensive. We should wait for the minibus."
"Which could come in five minutes, or in fifty minutes. Do you feel lucky?" He elbowed Brodie as they descended. "Do ya, punk?"
"Punk?"
"It's a line from an old Clint Eastwood film. Have you not got televisions up north?"
"Just the one in the meeting hall," Brodie deadpanned. "We villagers take turns hiding in the box and making the voices."
"Ooh, maximum interactivity."
"Aye, it's a right 3-D entertainment experience."

Avery Cockburn - Play On

Though the sky was still cloudy, the rain had stopped hours ago, leaving a thin sheen of dampness that made the glade glisten silver in the lantern light.

"It's like something out of a fairy tale," John said. "Or a slasher film." He glanced around nervously. "Are there wolves nearby?"

"If by nearby, you mean Norway, yes."


Playing for Keeps by Avery Cockburn

Care Blackstone O'Flaherty has put together four mini reviews of the latest M/M romance she has been reading. There is football, hot contractors and, ummm, a funeral director? If you are looking for a new romance book to read, one of the below might be just the ticket.

When he spoke again, he lowered his voice even further. “This may seem hypocritical, but there are a few things I just didn’t want you to know about me.” He pulled his scuffed Glock out of his waistband, checked the clip, and held it at the ready.    
“Is this really the right time for this conversation?” Ty asked with a raised eyebrow.    
Zane winced. “I just need you to know . . . I . . . I hate baseball.”    
“You shut your whore mouth!”  

Crash & Burn by Abigail Roux

“I realized the one thing Fell’s Point didn't really have,” Ty said, his voice sincere and hopeful, “was a bookstore.” 

Zane’s stomach flipped. He loved old book stores. Loved the smell of them, loved to walk through them, loved sitting in them and reading in a ratty old chair. Ty had known that from the beginning, from the day in New York City when he’d gamely followed Zane into a bookstore and sat there as Zane browsed.    

Ty’s lips twitched. “And we could sell black market orchids from the back.”  

Zane’s breath left him. He was standing in the middle of the craphole building Ty had bought him, and suddenly he could see what Ty was truly proposing. A life where neither of them carried a gun. A life where Zane could sit in a bookstore all day, could know that Ty would be there when he went home, right upstairs. A life for them, together. A future. Ty wanted them to cut and run. 

Zane thought he had experienced love before. Thought he had known what it felt like to be the center …

Well Minions, this is it. We've reach the end (almost) of Ty & Zane's journey. Book #9's release is upon us. Wench Care and I are both desperate for and dreading this day. We've been theorizing and speculating for over a year now. At this point, I'm sure we've over-analyzed every insignificant detail in every single book in the series trying to extract any even remotely plausible scenario for Book #9.
Let me backtrack for a second here, for those of you who don't know, Riptide in their infinite desire to torture us marketing wizardry have declared that this will be a blind release. Meaning, we don't have an excerpt, a rating, a back cover blurb, nothing. We don't even have a title! This, of course, just adds to our distress speculation. 
So, Care and I are here today to share with you some of our favorite theories about what might happen. We will also touch on our hopes and fears for the conclusion of the much loved Cut & Run series. And, beca…

Ty reached impulsively and smoothed Zane’s hair back from his forehead. He stood, bending over him to press a kiss to his forehead. “We can still cut and run,” he whispered against the warm skin.

Swallowing hard, Zane shivered as hope shot through him. Hope for something other than the occasional flyby as they passed each other by while working. He had to try to ignore the twang he felt at the thought of leaving his hard-earned and well-loved job behind. 

“Just say the word,” he said thickly. 

Ty closed his eyes, his fingers tightening in Zane’s hair. He was proposing they both give up a job they loved, give up everything either of them knew. “We can open up a flower shop and sell black-market orchids from the back,” he offered with a slight hitch in his voice.

Cut & Run by Abigail Roux and Madeline Urban

"You know he didn't mean to hit me," I said, muffled around a fistful of tissue. They never put this scenario in their commercials with the cute little Labrador puppies, that's for sure.

Tigerland by Sean Kennedy

Burns hummed, meeting Ty's eyes and trying not to smile. "You want the CIA to believe that you mistook your partner for your prisoner, handcuffed him, and delivered him to Langley?"
Ty shrugged. "I mean...he grew a beard. It was an honest mistake."
Burns nodded. "Fair enough.” 

Armed & Dangerous by Abigail Roux

To fill the void left by no new Sidewinder or Cut & Run books, I decided to read Abigail Roux' newest short story, The Bone Orchard. It is available on it's own or as part of a set, called My Haunted Blender's Gay Love Affair, and Other Twisted Tales. I didn't know the other authors, so I purchased Abi's story on it's own. And, I am so, so glad I did! Now, like I said, it's a short story, so this will be a quick little review. But, read on if you want to find out more about what I thought about Abi's The Bone Orchard.

Review by Wench Veronica Vishous 

Jordan Castillo Price’s latest novel, Meatworks, releases this Thursday, July 3rd. Having been hooked on several of her series (Channeling Morpheus, PsyCop, Mnevermind) and biding my time for the third and final Mnevermind book, I was a little surprised and very happy when I learned she had a new book coming out in July. When I read the description, I was flat out intrigued and couldn’t wait to read it. Heavy on the technological sci-fi, it wasn’t my usual thing. But the main character is described as having a “crusty punk rock charm” and he’s forced to attend an amputee support group. Really, how could I resist?

The author provided an Advanced Reader Copy for this review. Find out if the book lived up to my expectations after the jump. 

"And this is your document scanner," Knight said as he cradled a long device in both palms. It was roughly the size of a ruler, just slightly thicker. "You know how to use one of these, right?" Knight asked Ty dubiously.
"Push the button, scan the document," Ty answered obediently.
"And no using it as a club. It's not built for violence," Knight admonished.
"I only did that one time!" Ty argued. "And to be fair I'm pretty sure it was already--"
"Can it, Grady. No more using sensitive tech gear to maim, understood?" McCoy interrupted.
"Yes, sir," Ty said in a disgruntled voice.



Fish & ChipsbyAbigail Roux&Madeleine Urban

Hello hello! I’m Heidi Belleau, and welcome to the Riptide Books “Straight Shooter” blog tour! Straight Shooter is the third (and final?) novel in my Rear Entrance Video series, and is the story of roommate Austin, a homophobic hockey player with a kinky secret . . . and the Dominant porn star who helps him get his act together. For the next two weeks, I’ll be hopping blog to blog giving you an inside look at the novel . . . and also giving away a prize! Read on for details! Thanks to The Saucy Wenches Book Club and to all of you for tuning in!

(Follow us through the jump for an interview with Ms Belleau, a giveaway, and a review of Straight Shooter!)

"Hey," Nick grunted. "Marriage is just a word for some people, but for others it's a fucking sentence, okay?"
Zane was holding his side. "Oh my God, marriage puns! Oh my God...."



Ball & Chain by Abigail Roux