Bayou Book Junkie: Book Blitz ~ Mocha Kisses and Coffee by Rawiya ~ (Review, Guest Post, Excerpt + Giveaway)

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Book Blitz ~ Mocha Kisses and Coffee by Rawiya ~ (Review, Guest Post, Excerpt + Giveaway)

Book Blitz ~ Mocha Kisses and Coffee by Rawiya ~ (Review, Guest Post, Excerpt + Giveaway) Mocha Kisses Banner

Title: Mocha Kisses and Coffee

Author: Rawiya

Publisher: Thirteen Below Press

Release Date: April 1, 2016

Heat Level: 3

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 165 pages

Genre/Tags: Interracial, contemporary, multicultural, mm, gay romance

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Synopsis

Simple delicacies like donuts and coffee can bring two people together no matter what their differences; it can make for a very satisfying experience. But deceit can turn those experiences sour.

In these two stories, Cupid shoots his arrows at four men, drawing them to one another through chance encounters that instantly grow into something more.

Time To Make The Donuts

Christopher Wettlon has inherited his grandfather’s Donuts to Go shop. He’s young, educated, and pretty well off, but still something is missing from his life.

Enter Andre Bentley, who seems to have everything going for him. Little does Christopher know Andre is out for more than his fresh, strawberry creams.

The two men are getting along well until Chris confronts Andre about his job. Can Andre ‘work’ himself back into Chris’s good graces?

Smooth Like Latte

Brendan Walsh is committed to working for his irrational, homophobic dad who has threatened to disown him if he comes out gay to the world. Pretending to be someone he isn’t weighs him down. This puts Brendan on edge and alert at all times, leaving little to no time for him to build a steady relationship with anyone.

Davori “Latte” Jenkins is a happy go lucky barista working in the Walsh building. Born and raised in North Carolina, Latte possesses extremely good looks and charms the pants off anyone in his path using his Southern boy attitude.

When Brendan visits the shop Latte works in, they’re immediately drawn to one another. Latte makes him a caramel latte with something extra.

Because Brendan isn’t out of the closet, they keep their thoughts and flirtations private. Once they start dating, Brendan gets the courage to come out publicly and the relationship goes into overdrive. Still, Latte desires something more to define their relationship.

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Amazon | Amazon UK | All Romance | Thirteen Below Press

Purchase a Print Copy

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Revise, Republish

These are words most authors may not want to hear. Throughout one’s writing career, many authors are faced with the challenge of redoing a story they probably did years ago. Oh the agony!

*laughs*

Looking at old mistakes and wondering, how the hell did I get this book published? Or, if you’re fortunate, not much is wrong when you look at your old manuscript. Perhaps it just needs some tweaks or here’s the best part, you do nothing, you send the new publisher the information they need and it comes back out PERFECT!

Yeah okay, that doesn’t happen that often, but hey one can dream.

Still, I’ve seen many authors talk about re-doing an old book. They say, what the heck was I thinking? I didn’t know how to place commas? Run on sentences, head hopping, all the things wrong with an old manuscript will probably make your head spin, but no worries authors old and new, this is only part of the growth process. Did you know spotting your own errors shows how far you’ve become as an author? You’ve learned how to become more savvy with grammar, you know that head hopping a hundred different times in a story might be a no-no for your new publisher, and you can tell when you’ve told a lot of the story and not shown a damn thing. Yes, this, my fellow authors is part of the process.

That’s what I was told anyway by many an author or editor. I look at my old manuscripts and I cringe. And don’t get me started on how many I have. Unfortunately, I’ve had two publishers close their doors so all my books with those along with several that outgrew their contracts makes for plenty of redos. A lot of these stories I’d really like to revise and either sub them elsewhere or self-publish them myself. I’ve already started on one and let me tell you, I wish I could just wave my magic wand and it changes. *giggles* That thing is a wreck, but hey, I just keep telling myself, it’s part of my growth as an author and hopefully the second time around, the story will be a lot better.

Any authors seeing this post, share your thoughts about revisions. Do you have the hang-ups about them like I do? And readers, how do you feel about re-reading a book again once it’s been revised?

* * * *

Both the stories for Mocha Kisses are redos! They were completely revised, but basically the same things happened to the characters as it did in the first versions. Those who read the first, I hope you enjoy the changes.

*** Book provided to Bayou Book Junkie in exchange for a fair and honest review. ***

With this book you get two stories for the price of one. Overall Rating: 3 Stars.

In the first one, Time to Make the Donuts, Chris inherited a booming Donuts to Go shop. He's doing quite well for himself, but he's lonely. When he meets Andre, it's like fate has put the man he was waiting for in his path, but does Andre have ulterior motives to insert himself into Chris's life?

This story sounded promising at first, but unfortunately, the author sacrificed a couple of chances where she could've injected some substance (angst) into it, and used sex to cover for it. Don't get me wrong, I love a good sex scene as much as the next person, but I felt cheated when the big reveal came along and instead of having Chris and Dre talk it out, they resorted to having sex. I know this is fiction, but I prefer it when that fiction is at least moderately realistic.

The writing didn't flow as well as it did in the second story, and I would've liked to see more of Chris and Dre as a couple, rather than just show how compatible in bed they were.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

Book two, Smooth like Latte was better. Brendan is the President at his father's company, and although his dad is aware that he's gay, he refuses to let him come out, threatening with disowning him. When he meets Latte, though, the attraction is swift and powerful and he needs to decide if hiding behind his father's threats is worth the chance of losing what he could have with the gorgeous barista.

I liked that we had a little more building up between Latte and Brendan, they communicated better (for the most part). Yes, Brendan kind of railroaded Latte into accepting his help at some point, but he seemed to genuinely care for him and Latte was more worried about another issue than the money in the long run. My major complaint was with the way the issue with Brendan's father was dealt with. It was anti-climatic after all was said and done.

The writing was much better in this story, the progression was more natural and the characters were better developed.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Meet the Author

RAWIYA is the more sensual erotica writer in the BLRawiya duo. She loves multiracial characters who overcome obstacles other than race. Sweet, sassy, and spicy would be the best way to describe her work. Happily married mother of two, loves music, computers, and travel.