Forsaken - 2 new chapters

I think our cliffhangers are proving too screamworthy; Bam has posted two new chapters this week, though I don't necessarily think the ending of the second chapter is any less frustrating than the first, lol.

Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 are both up at Bam's blog.

Only 3 more chapters after these...

Inspirations - Western cowboys

This week, Pepper and I have been working on our story for the gay cowboy themed pax due out in September at Amber Quill. It's about a bounty hunter and a stagecoach robber in the old west, and our growing love for these two characters has us thinking about all the men we've fallen for in westerns. So, in celebration of that, a few of our favorites!

Bale and Crowe as Dan Evans and Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma. Pepper and I both love this movie sooooooooooo much. It's got everything we love about westerns in it.


The quintessential western anti-hero. No list would be completely without at least one shot from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.


Bruce Campbell as Brisco County, Jr., One of Pepper's loves. I have to confess to never seeing this show. She's probably going to shoot me when she finds out.


Kilmer and Russell as Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp in Tombstone I'll bet Pepper can't even count how many times she's seen this movie. ;)


Ah, Newman and Redford. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. When I'm not about the gritty, I'm about the funny, and this movie has one of my all-time favorite lines ever in it.

WIP Tuesdays

Title: Stealing Northe
Publisher: Amber Heat's Seasons Pax
Length: 31,000
Words completed: 31,000
Date started: 5/4/08
Date Completed: 5/15/08
Summary: Widow Amy Northe hasn’t known a man’s company in the six years since her husband died. That all changes the night her son comes in from chores with two strangers in tow. Kenneth and Leon are seeking shelter, and though Amy wants to turn them away, she can’t. There’s a blizzard moving through the Utah mountains, and Leon’s busted ankle has him teetering on the edge of consciousness. She does the only thing she can and takes them in, unaware of the secrets these young men hide.

Kenneth doesn’t want to take advantage of the older woman’s hospitality, even though she’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. But Leon needs help and Amy is a nurse. If he has to satisfy his desire for her with covert trysts with Leon, then that’s what he’ll do, especially since he’s too much of a gentleman to ever think of making advances.

Until she makes one herself. Then everything changes. For all of them.
M/F, M/M, M/F/M content.

Title: Stealing West
Publisher: Amber Allure's Gay Cowboy Pax
Length: 35,000 words
Words Completed: 9,100
Date Started: 5/15/2008
Date Due: 5/31/2008
Summary: Leon Stroud accompanies his best friend and partner in crime, Kenneth, to his new life with his new family in California. But when he sees the famous bounty hunter, Thomas Grady, on the same train, he knows he needs to create a diversion. He flees the train, knowing Thomas will give chase, but nothing can prepare Leon for what it means to be caught. M/M Content


Title: 10,000 Kisses
Publisher: Targeting Kensington
Length: Full novel
Words Completed: 2,000
Date Started: 5/3/08
Date Due: No deadline
Summary: Macaulay Jensen and Wendy DeMartino come from two different worlds. He's alt-country and she's a hardcore rocker. Their chemistry and passion is undeniable, but their careers have always come first. If they want a shot together, they've got to learn how to break old habits. M/F, M/F/M content.

I finished the edits for our M/M novella Star Attraction and will finish the galleys for Commencement, the June installment of our Calendar Boys.

News roundup

First of all, we're on Facebook! Head on over and friend us!

We're hoping to have a new cover to show you next week, but in the interim, we've got a whole slew of reviews to share. The Jamie Craig ones first...

Ley from Joyfully Reviewed reviews Chaos & Communion

Chaos & Communion is fascinating. The story opens with a sad, broken and confused Jesse. He’s nothing like the full of life man of the previous installments of this series. Marcus Brooker broke him and left a man who barely ate and was afraid to sleep for fear of reliving the hell he went through. I hurt for him, as well as Emma and even Gideon, who is not one of my favorite people but he loves Jesse and Emma and that is honestly the greatest reason of the short list as to why I care for him. Every time I read one of these books the talent of Jamie Craig amazes me. Chaos & Communion is a rather complicated story of alternate universes and altering lives to change the outcome of future events. Ms. Craig did a fantastic job with this complex story.

Christina from Romance Junkies gives A Hidden Beauty 5 blue ribbons

HIDDEN BEAUTY by Jamie Craig is a fascinating and incredibly moving novel. This is one of the most romantic stories I have ever read. This story is calm and soothing but it is also full of passion and intense emotion. The combination is very powerful. Micah and Jefferson’s relationship develops quietly and slowly so that the reader has ample time to get to know the characters and become invested in them. I read this story slowly savoring the beautiful prose. I can see myself reading this book again and again. I hope that there will be a sequel.

Frost's Fancy at Rainbow Reviews gives Corazon 4 stars

Author Jamie Craig (the writing duo of Pepper Espinoza and Vivien Dean) spin an excitingly romantic and sensual story of four individuals webbed together by tradition, expectations, romance, and lust. Battling their way through a situation that seems destined to hurt somebody no matter what action is taken, the characters evolve each in their own way. Eventually the protagonists come to understand that sometimes the deepest character change comes through the most difficult decisions.

Pepper got a number of reviews from Joyfully Reviewed...

Sabella reviewed My Only Home

...the romance between Noah and Lucas is sweet and the passion steamy when they finally come together. My Only Home is an entertaining read for a careless afternoon.

Nannette reviewed Fumble Recovery

I needed a minute to recover while reading Fumble Recovery, the story is sizzling hot! Derek and Melanie are explosive together. The romantic in me wanted more romance afterwards, but as far as sexy short stories go, Fumble Recovery is as hot as it gets!

And Barb reviewed Surrender's Edge

Surrender’s Edge was an interesting story. The characters were all looking out for each other and their futures. The feelings between everyone was of a natural and good feel.

And I got two new reviews this week...

Tanya from Joyfully Reviewed reviewed A Sentry's Touch

Iris and Avi are well-matched as a pair, though Iris doesn’t believe it at first, but the author does a wonderful job of showing not only their destiny but why they are meant for each other. A Sentry’s Touch takes place in an alternate universe, in the same timeframe as today. The author did a fantastic job in creating this realm and I hope the author will be continuing the stories in this realm. There is a wonderful plot line, as well as sensual loving scenes and fast-paced plot in A Sentry’s Touch that many will enjoy.

Stephanie from Simply Romance Reviews gives As It Should Be an A and an Outstanding Read

As It Should Be ask the age old question if you could go back and change one thing in your past, would you? It also delivers a hot and sentimental read that leaves the reader satisfied and hopeful. Nora is conviction that she is dreaming yet she is still determined to change the events of the day leave the reader hoping that she is successful. If you’re looking for a feel good sexy romance As It Should Be is the book you’re looking for.

Internet Highlights

California Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

Find out what heroes your favorite authors would like on the desert island.

I often find ways to waste time when I should be working. Here are a few of my favorite places to read.

The Pioneer Woman's "Black Heels and Tractor Wheels". It's the multi-part saga of how the Pioneer Woman married the Marlboro Man. Trust me, it's one of the best romances you'll ever read.

The Comics Curmudgeon. Thanks to this blog, I'm all wrapped up in the drama of Apartment 3-G and More zippers, mule! is my favorite line ever. Lots of other fun stuff, too.

Judge a Book By It's Cover. Who doesn't love cover snark?

A Perfect World cartoons. You need to start on #16 and read straight through. It's the last line of each chapter of James Patterson's You Were Warned. A few literally made me laugh-out-loud.

My favorite webisode posted its final episode of its first season the week. If you've ever been involved in online game at all, you'll think The Guild is hysterically funny.

Film Friday: I Was a Male War Bride

The Cary Grant parade continues. I recently bought about ten Cary Grant movies, so this isn't going to end any time soon. Meanwhile, I got two more through Netflix I had never seen. Today's offering is I Was a Male War Bride, directed by Howard Hawks and released in 1949, starring Cary Grant and and Ann Sheridan.

Now, three of my favorite words in the English language are Cary + Grant + Drag. As a result, it's a surprise I haven't seen this movie sooner. Grant's Henry is a French officer in Germany (I appreciate the fact that they didn't do anything to make Cary Grant French) and he's got a very flinty relationship with Sheridan's Catherine Gates, a lieutenant in the US Army. After they go on a mission together, they decide they're in love and they get married. The zaniness is amped up a few notches when it feels like the whole world is conspiring to keep the newlyweds apart--permanently, it seems, when Catherine is sent back Stateside.

The movie starts out very strong with Grant and Sheridan playing off each other. I can't tell if he's her worthy adversary, or if she's his. But it seems like she knows just how to play him, and of course, in typical Cary Grant fashion, he knows just how to handle somebody as smart and capable as Catherine. Here's the thing I really appreciate about the screwball comedies--the women are genuinely "sassy" and "spunky" and "intelligent." They don't do stupid shit that a smart woman would never do. Yes, they are reduced to tears occasionally, but women cry for lots of reasons, including anger and frustration. So I don't hold that against them.

Anyway, after all the fun of the first part, they decide to get married. Henry in love isn't too different from Henry out of love, and there's even the occasional threat of violence against her. At one point, he reaches for his hat, and she ducks! Still, I got the sense that if he had crossed that line and hit her, she would have hit him back. Probably would have popped him in the nose. There's minor conflict over getting married, but it gets worked out quickly.

The third act--the one that the title really refers to--is when things start getting uncomfortable for me. It is an endless period of trials and jerks. Their honeymoon is interrupted, she's transferred, she can't sleep in his quarters, they can't sleep in hers. They can't get him a visa to America. They have to declare him a male war bride. But that just makes things more complicated. Ultimately, it began to feel like some sort of existential nightmare. I think it went beyond comedy to some sort of commentary on the futility of...well, existence. Seriously, it may seem like I'm overstating this, but by the time I reached the end of the movie, I was extremely relieved. I wonder of Hawks was trying to convey the increasing sexual frustration, so the end is a climax for the viewer and the characters?

Ultimately, though, I love the movie. It made me laugh out loud more than once, and I think Ann Sheridan is my new hero. Cary Grant was hot as always--and oh yeah, there's all kinds of gay subtext! The only thing I love more than Cary Grant in drag is Cary Grant in drag with the appropriate amount of gay subtext.

Forsaken - new chapter

Bam has posted chapter three of our m/m cop serial, Forsaken, over at her blog. Head on over and take a look!