More reviews!

Dee Dailey at The Romance Studio gives Fortune's Return 4 hearts

This is a great romance, well done gay eroticism. Many of us will envy the understanding and acceptance of a family like Ryan’s but they’re as real as the all too often penned homophobic families. The story moves well with enough action to keep me reading without wanting to put it down.

Lisa at Joyfully Reviewed reviews Keeping Time

Keeping Time is a smart May-December romance with a lovely twist: the guy is significantly younger than the lady. Clever dialogue and sizzling hot sex with solid secondary characters puts Keeping Time at the top!

Dee Dailey at The Romance Studio gives Unclose Me 5 hearts

The author shares all of their doubts and insecurities with us throughout the tale. Then, in a way only someone who understands relationships can, she shows them how important communication is to a love that will last. Their conversations are excellent, filled with humor and teasing most of the time. The eroticism is very well done with some mild bondage thrown in to show their versatility as lovers who are well suited in every way. I really enjoyed this book and the authors’ gift for keeping realism in fiction.

Dee Dailey at The Romance Studio gives Fortune's Honor 5 hearts

Great dialogue, scenery and interactions make this a powerful story. It’s easy to read, naturally flowing from scene to scene.

Oodles of reviews

There have been a lot of reviews coming in the past few weeks, but we'll share them in pieces in order not to make your eyes blur, lol.

First up, Ley over at Joyfully Reviewed read and reviewed three different Jamie Craig titles...

Ley from Joyfully Reviewed reviews Out of the Storm...

I really enjoyed this book. Out Of The Storm was sweet, hot, sexy, and plain ol’ cute! Poor Nick was so disappointed and heartbroken, Jay was exactly what he needed to perk things up again. These two didn’t get off on the right foot when they first met, but a little bit of wine did the trick to get them to start opening up. Jay couldn’t resist Nick’s charm and Nick was a slave to Jay’s beautiful sexiness. I just loved these guys.

Ley at Joyfully Reviewed reviewed Corazon

As the story progresses, the chemistry and passion between the two become stronger and more desperate. It also becomes clear that Miguel and Mason’s relationship is nothing more than the need of companionship. Corazón fittingly touched my heart mostly because of Anton. He’s the big, strong silent type who only wants acceptance and love and luckily he finds it with Mason.

Ley at Joyfully Reviewed reviews Fortune's Honor...

This story is so great! I loved, loved, loved Clay, he is a beautiful and honorable man inside and out and Paige was made for him. Paige and Clay took time getting to know each other and the love blossomed naturally, of course neither one was looking for it or expecting it but that’s when you know it’s real. Fortune’s Honor is such a sweet and enjoyable story and I know many readers will just love it.

And a couple other Jamie Craig titles...

Pam from My Book Cravings gives Mosaic Moon 4 flowers...

Mosaic Moon is the third book in The Master Chronicles and the first that I have read. I was afraid that in a book containing continuing characters that I would be lost, but the story contains just enough back-story to allow readers unfamiliar with the previous books to follow the complex plotline. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book can easily be read as a stand alone and still be thoroughly enjoyed. It also includes a well thought out and plotted suspense portion revolving around the stealing of magical powers from a mage friend of Jesse’s. So along with love, passion and sex, the reader gets a nice dose of deceit, magic, suspense and grave robbing.

The relationship between Gideon and Jesse is enduring, devoted and happy, with lots of blistering hot sex, and with the addition of lovely Emma it just gets hotter. Through it all the men stay totally committed to each other, and their love. Some readers might be uncomfortable with the stronger sexually explicit scenes that involve BDSM, but within the content of the story and the relationship of the characters it seemed well done, believable and very erotic. Once these three get past their misunderstandings and fear, watch out!

Carmen at The Romance Studio gives Double Down 4 1/2 hearts...

I thought the author did a great job handling a potentially explosive situation. To say that I felt badly for their respective partners is an understatement as I would hate to be in their shoes, but Cass and Patrick had wonderful chemistry. At first, the main goal appeared to be sex, but I saw a progression in their relationship as they truly seemed to care about each other. Even though they were aware of the dangers of getting caught, they couldn't seem to stay away from each other. This was a fast paced and easy read and I was anxious to see where Patrick and Cass were headed. Do they get their happily ever after or do they suffer the consequences of their actions? I highly recommend reading Double Down to find out.

And finally, FAR gave my Ellora's Cave release its highest rating!

Missy at Fallen Angel Reviews gives As It Should Be 5 Angels and a Recommended Read...

Ms. Dean touched my heart, my soul and my very being with this inspirational story. I must admit that I’ve never read an erotic inspirational love story before but this one fits that bill. To be in Nora’s shoes, knowing that her husband that she loved with everything in her is back and she can tell him good-bye one more time means the world to her. This is something that I think we would all do if given the chance and this author captures that storyline perfectly. The time that the characters spend together is erotic and the love shines through in their behavior. This story is one of the most unforgettable ones that I’ve ever read, and after you read the love story between Nora and Marshall I’m sure that you’ll agree with me that it deserves to be a Recommended Read.

News roundup

Top of the news this week is a contest! The authors involved in the Samhain print anthology, Heat Wave: A Midsummer's Night Steam, are blogging and running a contest all week over at Erotic Muses. Details are here, so head over and take a look!

Next up is the cover art for our July release, Querida!


LT Blue at JERR gives Fortune's Honor 4 1/2 stars!

What a beautiful love story! Ms. Craig created a beautiful world filled with the trials and tribulations of a big ranch family in Fortune’s Honor. Clay’s character is full of hope of family and a will to do what is right by the woman he finds himself in love with and his little brother. Paige is just as committed to stand by her word to Ty ignoring the growing affection she has for his older brother. The chemistry between Clay and Paige is constantly simmering to the breaking point but the restraint they have just makes it hotter. When they finally have sex, it is a sensual coming together that provides that climax that lingers for a day. AWESOME! While the sex isn’t as hot and orgasmic as I normally like, the sensuality is a perfect blend for this story. The secondary characters play an important role in the story and I hope to read more about them in a spin-off. I highly recommend Fortune’s Honor.

Mystical Nymph at Literary Nymph Reviews gives Corazon 4.5 Nymphs...

Corazon is the May release in the ongoing Calendar Boys series by the duo writing under the pen name of Jamie Craig. It’s another well written and plotted story I thoroughly enjoyed. While the plot vehicle of both Mason and Anton cheating on their respective significant others generally would have turned me off immediately, the manner in which the author(s) expressed the unhappiness and uncertainty of both men allowed me to overcome my usual unforgiving reaction. So imagine my surprise when I found myself rooting for the success of their new and growing relationship. What can I say? I’m a sucker for two guys in love.

Ley from Joyfully Reviewed reviews Seduction in Black & White

I was hooked and drawn into Seduction in Black and White from the first page. I really liked Jess and Emma, but Gideon had to grow on me. My initial impression of him was not very likeable. My feelings were solely based on his actions toward Jesse during their sex scenes, but after a while I was able to see the Gideon that Jesse and Emma loved. I was not aware that this story was part of a series and not being familiar with the previous books I was floored by some of the graphic BDSM scenes and the villainess torture scenes. They were harsh, brutal, gory and so well written that I couldn’t stop reading them. I give props to the talent of Jamie Craig, writing such an intensely suspenseful and complicated story that holds a readers interest such as this one has held mine can’t be easy. And for the record, jumping into this series in their 4th installment is not something I would recommend, even though I was able to grasp the storyline, there were names, events and little nuisances of significance that escaped me. I most definitely would have gotten more satisfaction from the story if I read the prequels first. Be warned Seduction in Black and White doesn’t hold back on anything, this is a very graphic story, but also an enjoyable one.

Inspirations - Sexy cowboys

Since this week's release is a cowboy love story, we've decided to dedicate this week's Inspirations post to the cowboys we've written and adored. First up is our inspiration for our steady and strong hero in Fortune's Honor, Clay Putnam.

We had actually named our character first, believe it or not, and we were having a hard time agreeing on what we wanted him to look like. I think I suggested a different country singer, and Pepper came back with Clay Walker. Well, one look, and I was hooked. The only difference is, our Clay has green eyes.

Fortune's Honor was the result of our second plot bunny for the cowboy pax, however. The first one quickly grew out of control. When we reached 11k and realized we hadn't even hit the main drive of the story yet, we knew there was no way it was going to be less than 40k. This needed to be a full-length novel. Unfortunately, it's still one of the WIPs we have languishing on our computers. Not that we're happy about it. Spencer, our bullrider, and Rebecca, our spunky heroine, still make us smile when we think about them, and one of these days, we will finish their story. In the interim, this is the guy we envision when we think of Spence; isn't he yummy?

Our third and final inspiration for our cowboy week is our hunky Teo Mendez from our current WIP. Teo is a single father, solid and dependable. He's a little bit older than this guy, and something tells me he's taller, too. But the body is mostly the same, which makes Ryan, his love interest, very happy.

New Release: Fortune's Honor

Way back in the spring of '07, Amber Quill announced the pax themes for the first half of 2008. I had never done a pax, but I got caught up in the excitement about being new with AQ and convinced Pepper we should do some. After some noises about how insane I was - mostly because of the number I wanted to do - she agreed. The very first one we got a plot bunny for was the Lassoed pax, and lo and behold, Fortune's Honor was born.

The story poured out of us. I was angsting about Clay and Paige while I was at RT last year, driving my roommate crazy when I would race back to the room in order to get online and write with Pepper. We loved them so much that we spent several days after the story was done talking about their futures and planning additional stories with other characters we'd introduced. You really wouldn't believe how elaborate we were getting. Or maybe you would, lol. People who know us probably wouldn't be surprised, and if you read this blog very regularly, it's probably easy to tell how often we fall head over heels in love with our characters. Clay and Paige are definitely evidence of that.

Wanna know what their story is about?

Clay Putnam has always been the responsible one in his family. He runs the family ranch, Good Fortune, by himself and takes care of his ailing mother. He is happy to make sacrifices so his brothers can follow their own dreams, especially his younger brother, Ty, a bull-rider on the professional rodeo circuit. But he leads a very lonely life, and he longs to meet a woman who could love his home, and his family, as much as he does.

Paige Murphy fell for Ty’s boyish charm and exuberance, and she agrees to spend her summer vacation at the Good Fortune Ranch while Ty follows the rodeo all over the western states. She is happy to be engaged to Ty. Until she meets his older brother. Clay is mature, thoughtful, and very attractive. She thinks he might be interested in her as well, but they resist their mutual desire out of love and respect for Ty.

Passion and a surprising tragedy drives Paige into Clay’s arms, but honor, not infatuation, dictates who they are.

And for a taste you can't find anywhere else on the web...
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The field gave way to low hills, and he led her up and over one of the crests to a small indentation, a dimple in the hills. There was a tree at the bottom of the gentle slope, and water from the spring runoff pooled there, creating a small clear pond. He kept a block of salt there for an artificial salt lick, and some dawns he could ride out and watch all manners of creatures scurrying for a morning drink or swim.

When they came to a stop, Paige slid out of the saddle, groaning when her feet hit the ground. "I am so not in shape for this," she said, rubbing a hand over her ass. "It's a good thing I've got a couple weeks to build my stamina before Ty comes. He's going to tip over laughing at me if I can't keep up."

Clay's gaze was drawn to her ass, and he found himself wishing she'd wear jeans every day. They were very kind to her. The skirts she seemed to favor hid rather than accented her attributes, which Clay realized, was probably for the best. Otherwise, he knew he'd be gawking at her constantly.

"You're welcome to go riding any time you like. And if he tips over laughing at you, he'll have to answer to me."

Oblivious to his eyes on her, Paige wandered up the small rise to stare out over the land. "I'm going to get lost if you're not with me. But I'm beginning to realize there are a lot worse places to be lost than here."

Clay joined her. "You're not going to get lost. Just remember the house was built on the southern edge of the property line. If you ever get confused, ride south. I don't know if you can see it, but there's an old fence falling down..." He pointed to the far distance, and she leaned in, trying to follow the line of his finger. The back of her shoulder was against his chest, and a few stray strands of hair tickled his chin. "Keep it on your right."

Without leaning away, she tilted her head to the side in order to look back at him. "Could you go out with me the first time or two? Just until I get my bearings."

His first thought was to kiss her. His second thought was to push her away, put as much space between the two of them as possible, maybe even tell her she couldn't stay at the ranch and send her packing. He didn't have the time for leisurely rides through the ranch. They were going to start preparing for the drive to summer pastures this week, and for the first time in fifteen years, he wouldn't be accompanying the herd. He couldn't leave Mama behind on her own.

"Yeah, we can take a few morning rides," he finally said, standing as if frozen.

A slow, appreciative smile warmed her eyes. "Thanks," she murmured. She wasn't moving, either, and he was slowly becoming aware of the heat seeping from her body. "What time do you get up? I'm guessing early."

"Five. But I don't expect you to get up that early. I usually eat breakfast at seven. Maybe you can meet me in the stables around seven-thirty?"

"Seven-thirty," she repeated, her smile growing more brilliant. "It's a date."

"A date," Clay echoed softly.

An entirely innocent term. He had a standing date with the veterinarian, and Mama's doctor, and the blacksmith. But his fingers itched to touch her shoulder, the curve of her hip, the nape of her neck, and he knew his eagerness to spend time with her was not innocent. Even the reminder that Paige was his baby-brother's fiancée was not enough to quell the desire to be close to her, to know her like he knew the land.