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Cascades by Charley Descoteaux

Justice “JB” Bishop tells himself he’s satisfied with life in the small town of Upright, Oregon. He was born and raised there, and has settled into a comfortable, if lonely, routine working at his uncle’s bar. JB doesn’t expect anything to change after he turns fifty, until an old friend drops in. She suggests he get out of town for the holidays, and soon JB finds himself on an Amtrak to Canada. JB expected to feel different in Canada, to see things he couldn’t see at home. He never expected to find the one who got away.

 

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Budget Books: Prolific Works Sweet & Steamy M/M Giveaway!

You might be familiar with Prolific Works (PW), or it’s former name, Instafreebie. In case you have never browsed a PW event, I have one to tempt you with! Click the graphic or the link below and grab some free reads by your favorite authors & some new-to-you gems in just about any sub-genre you can think of!

It’s possible to get every one of these free reads without signing up for any newsletters. Keep in mind, though, that if you enjoy the story a newsletter is the best way to find more by that author and keep up with their new releases, giveaways, & etc.

Two of my shorts are featured–Better Than New, and a sample of the first Buchanan House book. If you’ve never read one or both, now would be a great time to check them out!

Click here to go to Prolific Works! (You might need to be signed in to get to the giveaway.)

 

Thanks for reading & have a great week!

Join my reader group, Rainbow Readers Club and hang out with me & the other member authors. Click here to find the group!

If you’d like to read three of my stories, sign up for my newsletter and get a free ebook! Click here to subscribe.

For more budget book recs, click here.

 

Charley Descoteaux's signature rainbow rose

Budget Book Rec: My top 5 places to find budget books!

This week, I thought I’d share some of the places I find the budget books that feed my reading habit. Some of these may be familiar, but hopefully at least one or two will be new!

Obviously, it’s a good idea to follow your favorite authors on social media, so you know when their books go on sale. Unfortunately, given the ever-changing world of social media, their posts might not always turn up on your timeline. It’s a good idea to have more options at the ready.

And what about new authors? Sure, everyone’s favorites put out a book a month or so, so you could subsist on a diet of those books alone. I’m sure many (many!) readers do just that. If they’re happy, then more power to them! I could never be happy doing that. For me, reading needs to have some surprises—even in Romance, where you know how it will end—I love it when the journey surprises me. Something about the story or the way it’s told, even in M/M Romance where tropes are king, has to be unexpected, or I might as well just re-read the same book over and over. And I do that sometimes—I’m a big re-reader. That strategy has the added bonus of being much cheaper than buying new books—even sale books!

Even with re-reading and following my favorites, I check out the resources below on the regular so I won’t miss out.

 

1.      Facebook Groups

If there’s a sub-genre, there’s a Facebook Group to talk about it & promote it! Find them using hashtags, by following your favorite authors (which will then lead you to new authors also posting in those groups), and letting Facebook recommend them to you. A good place to start is my group Rainbow Snippets. Many authors post from their books and WIPs, and you might get a recommendation to a new-to-you Facebook group when you visit! At the very least you’ll be able to read a few bite-sized snips of queer fiction–or maybe a few dozen, it’s different every week!

2.     Amazon Top 100 Lists

The next time you’re browsing on Amazon, check out the categories of the books you’re interested in. If you click on one of those, you’ll find two lists of Top 100 books—paid and free. I usually find something interesting on the free list, which leads me to new authors and their catalogs.

3.     Twitter hashtags

Search on sub-genre or trope or any part of the book you’re looking for! Someday I’ll put together a list of the hashtags I use. If you have any suggestions please drop them in the comments!

4.     Prolific Works

Check out their Group Giveaways on the landing page and also by genre. I have a ton of books I’ve claimed and it’s fun going through them. You never know what gems you’ll find! 😀

5.     Book Riot

Sign up for their newsletter and get deals in your inbox as often as you’d like! These are sales, usually not free books, but you’ll find any genre & sub-genre under the sun. It’s a great newsletter if you’re in the mood to break out of your comfort zone!

Speaking of newsletters! If you like angsty MM Romance, you might like my work. Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free ebook so you can decide for yourself! Click here to subscribe.

For more budget book recs, click here.

 

Charley Descoteaux's signature rainbow rose

Free Book Rec: King Kong vs. The Skinny Pirate by Addison Albright!

Now that NaNoWriMo is over, I have more budget book recs!

I’m reading a great MM Romance novel right now, but it was only free for a few days so it won’t work for this post. I will say, though, be sure to follow your favorite authors on social media (if you don’t already), so you can grab their free and $0.99 books while they’re on sale. My kindle is full of books my faves have kindly offered for free or $0.99. I pull one—or two!—up every week or so. These budget books really stretch my tight reading budget!

(Yes, that was a hint. If you don’t follow me already, you might want to start. It is the season for gifts! 😊)

So, today’s free book! I wanted to read a light MM Romance to balance out the angsty novel. Addison Albright is a regular contributor to Rainbow Snippets so I know she writes light-hearted stories & writes them well. That sounded like the perfect thing for this hectic week. I’m so glad I picked it up! Opposites Attract is one of my favorite tropes and the two men in this short story couldn’t be more different!

 

King Kong grinned. “Feelin’ desperate, are ya?”

 

Opposites Attract is also a trope that can be overdone easily (for me) but Albright uses a light touch with the humor. Neither man seems like a stereotype, they both feel real and multi-faceted. We only spend 17 pages with them in this Romance, but I stand by that assessment. Their flirting is original and fun, and I wanted to see them get together.

 

The beard and mustache tickled Blaine’s face, and the hair covering George’s body was incredibly stimulating.

 

This book is also steamy for such a short story! If you only have a short time to read and want to get a complete story with some smiles and sexy-times, you might like King Kong vs. The Skinny Pirate.

 

Find Addison Albright’s Amazon Author Page here.

 

If you’re a fan of light-hearted MM Romances…well, I don’t really have any of those! But if you like to intersperse your sweet-and-spicy reads with angst, you might like my books. Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free ebook so you can decide for yourself! Click here to subscribe.

For more budget book recs, click here.

 

King Kong vs. The Skinny Pirate by Addison Albright

Blaine is a well-dressed, high priced attorney, and George is a hairy mountain of an auto mechanic. This odd couple meets up one evening on a slow night at a bar. The pickings are slim. Slim enough for these opposites to eyeball each other and ask themselves just how bad they want to get laid.

Pleasantly surprised by the evening’s outcome, Blaine is faced with a dilemma. Should he throw caution to the wind and pursue George, or steer clear of that unexpected distraction to his carefully structured life.

 

Charley Descoteaux's signature rainbow rose

Free Book Rec: LGBT First Chapter!

Hello and Happy Wednesday! My budget book rec today is another Prolific Works giveaway. I’m getting a lot of new words written for NaNo, but that’s leaving me less time for finding, reading, and recommending books!

First Chapter is an LGBT only giveaway, organized by the lovely Elouise East. Read the first chapters of one book or all 29, including Buchanan House, my USA Today Must-Read Romance! If you’ve been wondering about the book it’s a good time to give it a try (hint, hint–it is the time of year for sales!)!

Prolific Works is the only place you can get a copy of my novella Cascades~An MM Holiday Second-Chance Romance without subscribing to my newsletter, but only for a limited time. Sign up for my newsletter if you’d like so we can keep in touch, but it’s not mandatory.

Find the giveaway here.

If you’re a fan of free books but not a fan of Prolific Works, you can subscribe to my newsletter and get your copy! Click here to subscribe.

For more budget book recs, click here.

 

Cascades, An MM Holiday Second-Chance Romance


 

Charley Descoteaux's signature rainbow rose

Free Book Rec: I Need Romance!

Hello and Happy Hump Day! My budget book rec today is another Prolific Works giveaway. I’m getting a lot of new words written for NaNo, but that’s leaving me less time for finding, reading, and recommending books!

I Need Romance! is an LGBT Romance only giveaway, organized by the lovely AJ Sherwood. Choose from 56 stories, or download them all & read for days on a budget! Look for my novella Directing Traffic among the other amazing reads.

 

Prolific Works is the only place you can get a copy of my novella Cascades~An MM Holiday Second-Chance Romance without subscribing to my newsletter. Sign up for my newsletter if you’d like so we can keep in touch, but it’s not mandatory.

Find the giveaway here.

If you’re a fan of free books but not a fan of Prolific Works, you can subscribe to my newsletter and get a free ebook! Click here to subscribe.

For more budget book recs, click here.

 

Cascades, An MM Holiday Second-Chance Romance


 

 

Charley Descoteaux's signature rainbow rose

Free Book Rec: Every Day is Black Friday Sale!

I’m a little late getting a budget book rec up today because I’m doing NaNoWriMo! I’m so excited to be writing again! It’s been two and a half years since my car accident and I can finally write without every word being a literal pain in the head! That means I should have some new stories for you in 2020, along with the last couple of re-releases of previously published titles! I can’t wait to share them with you!

Today, though, I want to share a Prolific Works giveaway I’m hosting through the month of November: Every Day is Black Friday! I know, Black Friday isn’t cool anymore, but choosing from 41 free LGBTQIA+ books–or reading them all!–could never go out of style.

Prolific Works is also the only place you can get a copy of my novella Cascades~A MM Holiday Second-Chance Romance without subscribing to my newsletter. Sign up for my newsletter if you’d like so we can keep in touch, but it’s not mandatory.

Find the giveaway here.

If you’re a fan of free books but not a fan of Prolific Works, you can subscribe to my newsletter and get a free ebook! Click here to subscribe.

For more budget book recs, click here.

 

Cascades, A MM Holiday Second-Chance Romance


 

 

Charley Descoteaux's signature rainbow rose

Free Book Rec: A Reluctant Santa by Roan Parrish!

This week my budget book rec is “A Reluctant Santa” by Roan Parrish. It’s a free short that you can grab on a (new-to-me) site called StoryOrigin. I chose it because I’ve read Roan Parrish before so I knew to expect a good portion of angst, or at least that the story wouldn’t be 100% sweet and fluffy. It’s just sweet enough for a Scrooge like me to enjoy. Before I finished the first sentence I knew I would be recommending this one!

 

Charlie Parkingham trudged down the hallway, his apartment door offering sanctuary after a day filled with the tortures of the damned that accompanied customer service before the holidays.

 

I love that the main character is a cranky retail worker and the love interest is collecting toys for kids. They seem like opposites, but this deftly crafted story shows that they have more in common than meets the eye. I don’t want to give too much away because this short has so many layers and I want you to enjoy peeling them back as you read just like I did.

 

The door was thrown open and Charlie only had a moment to register the wide eyes and gasp of the man in the doorway before he was hit full-force with a tumbleweed of brown fur.

 

Christmas stories are another sub-genre of MM Romance that I only read occasionally. Mainly because the holidays are a difficult time for me. Sometimes reading holiday stories gives me a jolt of the holiday spirit, and sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve written a couple of winter holiday stories and they are all fairly dark and angsty (even the one I tried to make as heartwarming as possible has a loaded backstory for both of the heroes 😊). Writing them is usually much easier than reading them because I do that in July. However, reading “A Reluctant Santa” was more than easy, it was a real pleasure.  If you haven’t yet, you should definitely grab your copy—read it now or save it for a day when you need some holiday cheer.

Find Roan Parrish’s Amazon Author page here.

If you’re a fan of angsty MM Romances, you might also like my books. Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free ebook so you can decide for yourself! Click here to subscribe.

For more budget book recs, click here.

 

Sometimes we fall in love by accident …

Charlie Parkingham hates the holidays. Working as a security guard for Macy’s, he sees the worst holiday shopping has to offer, so he’s glad he doesn’t have to worry about making Christmas for himself … or for anyone else. Until the day a mysterious package arrives on his doorstep.

Thomas Blake won’t stop until he’s made the holidays wonderful for every kid in Philadelphia. But when a grouchy neighbor returns a wrongly delivered package, Thomas knows there’s someone else who needs some holiday cheer.

Two men, one dog, and more presents than you can handle!

 

Charley Descoteaux's signature rainbow rose

Free Book Rec: Scrum by P.D. Singer!

If you’ve been following my budget book recs you know I hadn’t read Sports Romances before. Well, I enjoyed Synchronicity by Keira Andrews so much I went looking for another!

“Scrum” by P.D. Singer is the story of a runner who meets a rugby player…eventually. 😉 I really enjoyed the crash course in rubgy, and the action scenes (both on the field and off!) pulled me in.

“Not rugby league, none of that hoity-toity, stay-halfway-clean play, but scrums, mauls, and rucks!”

We only get to know three characters in this story—it is a shortie at 37 pages—but none of their interaction reads as rushed, flat, or stereotypical. I’m not familiar with rugby players, though, so my thoughts on Yves are based on the overall skill in the writing. By the end of Chapter One I had complete trust the story would take me somewhere I wanted to go. “Scrum” is another little gem that I missed when it first came out (2014), when I was just getting started in the M/M Romance genre, so I can only imagine how amazing Singer’s latest books are. I think she even has another Sports Romance…

Sebastian spoke with fond memory in his voice. “Nothing like responding to a war chant with big swinging dicks.”

I miss watching American football, a lot, (but refuse to support their racism, even if they’ll never know the difference) and have just made a plan to spend this fall and winter searching for a few more short Sports Romances. Heck, I might even go crazy and read an entire Sports Romance novel!

I’d love some recs—any sport, any length of work, as long as it’s free or $0.99. But mainly free because I don’t make enough to support my fiction habit and I’m sure I’m not alone on that score. So drop those recs in the comments here or on Facebook, or Tweet me a rec—they’re all good! TIA, folx!

Find P.D. Singer’s Amazon Author page here.

If you’re a fan of character driven MM Romances, you might also like my books. Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free ebook so you can decide for yourself! Click here to subscribe.

For more of my budget book recs click here.

Scrum

One look at the Canadian rugby star now playing on his local team turns Robin Isley into a super-fan. He’ll attend practices, cheer every game, and bleed with every tackle, but he won’t come close enough to get an autograph or say a few words.

Yves Dubois’ team runs faster, passes better, and scrums harder when Robin watches: they’ve been winning steadily. Yves has a blinding smile for Robin after practices, but never stops to talk.

Robin needs to know if Yves’ grin is only joy in the game. Finding out will be Robin’s birthday milestone, but first he needs to give himself the gift of courage.

This short story also appears in the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s “Love Has No Boundaries” anthology volume 10.

 

Charley Descoteaux's signature rainbow rose

Free Book Rec: New In Town by Annabeth Albert!

With these Wednesday budget fiction features I’ve had two goals: to highlight some great free fiction and to read outside of my comfort zone. So far, so good on both counts!

I don’t usually read military Romances, or stories that feature kids, but couldn’t pass up the chance to read New In Town by Annabeth Albert. I’ve read some of her work so I knew the writing would be excellent, and I wasn’t disappointed. As an added bonus, we get some kids at Halloween!

“I love princesses,” Ethan volunteered. “They’re not just for girls.”

 

I loved New In Town, the writing was tight, the characters very real, and the story pulled me in so that I almost felt like I was getting a warm welcome to a new home and town along with Alex & Marco & the kids. The blurb warns that the side characters are from her Out of Uniform series, so they weren’t as fleshed out as the main couple. I didn’t mind not knowing their backstory but I’m sure it would make this sweet story even more enjoyable if you have.

 

“Mattress on the floor. No sheets. I’m flashing back to college right now.” Alex laughed, but Marco growled.

 

New In Town isn’t Albert’s only Prolific Works Exclusive story, but it was the farthest from my comfort zone so I chose it. I’m glad I did. If you’ve read it & liked it too, let me know in the comments (please remember this is a rec blog, not a review blog 😊).

Annabeth Albert has more books on Prolific Works, including series tie-ins and holiday shorts & you can find them all here.

 

If you’re a fan of MM Romances that are part of a larger story world, you might also like my books. Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free ebook so you can decide for yourself! Click here to subscribe.

For more of my budget book recs click here.

New In Town

A sexy stand-alone short featuring married couple Alex and Marco, who are facing a cross-country move and all the challenges that poses for their little family. But with a little help from some fan-favorite Out of Uniform heroes, the couple will learn that good things can sprout from fresh starts. (New in Town is a steamy addition to the Out of Uniform universe, but stands-alone with a new couple for fans to meet and cameos from some existing favorites too! 10k words!)

 

Charley Descoteaux's signature rainbow rose