Friday 30 May 2014

New review of A THREEFOLD CORD

No sooner had we posted this morning than we became aware of another review of Julie Bozza's A THREEFOLD CORD, this time by KindleRomance over on The Romance Reviews:

The conversations between these characters were also perfect in their simplicity. They addressed several issues including how to tell their family and how to address sex when there were only two of them available. Watching them address the issue of jealousy through their thoughts and actions put me on the edge, wondering if this relationship could truly be pulled off.

Once again, Julie's book seems to have reached an appreciative audience; thank you for your comments, KindleRomance, and we're very pleased to know you liked it!

New reviews

As regular readers will be aware, we aren't always informed when new reviews of our books appear; indeed, very often the first we know about them is when there is a sudden surge in sales of a particular title! However we do also from time to time do searches to pick up anything we may have missed, which is how we came to know of the following two reviews!
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NEW REVIEW OF A THREEFOLD CORD


Reviewer Tina at The Novel Approach seems to have thoroughly enjoyed Julie Bozza's most recent offering!

I’m a big fan of Julie Bozza’s previous work. After my initial surprise at a ménage gay romance novel titled after a Bible verse, I found that A Threefold Cord is another great book by a favorite author. I found it to be uplifting and cleverly written. The pace, tone and narrative are all excellent, as if forming their own threefold cord.

What a lovely comment - thank you, Tina, we're very glad you liked it!

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NEW REVIEW OF SOLEMN CONTRACT


Meanwhile, Ilhem over at Boys in Our Books has been reading one of our older titles, Morgan Cheshire's SOLEMN CONTRACT - and, without being completely wowed, still had some extremely positive things to say about it:

I’m surprised that this story remains underrated. Granted, it doesn’t linger on the sex scenes, but the romance is sweet, the feelings take their time to grow from friendship to love, the writing is smooth, and the twists and turns are bad enough to piss you off on Jem’s behalf, but not explored enough to make you feel bad. “Solemn Contract” will not shake your world, but it can provide an easy, enjoyable read and a nice change of scenery

We'd have to agree, Ilhem; those who like a leisured pace of storytelling and books that aren't necessarily sexually explicit will find a lot to enjoy in Morgan's book.

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Thank you again to both reviewers for their time and their comments, and we're only sorry that we were a little late in picking up on them!

Thursday 29 May 2014

New review of OF DREAMS AND CEREMONIES

Over on MM Good Book Reviews, a reviewer named Cat has been taking a look at the paperback edition of Julie Bozza's OF DREAMS AND CEREMONIES.  It's only a short review but a very positive one, and she ends with the words:

If you like sweet, sensual, emotional romances, sexy Australians, hot English dignitaries, butterflies, beautiful scenery, and a little very sensual, loving mansex, same-sex weddings and happy for now endings, this is for you.

Who could possibly argue with that?  And thank you very much, Cat, for your good opinion!

Sunday 18 May 2014

New review of THE EAGLE'S WING

Once again Elisa Rolle, steadfastly working her way through her TBR pile, has done us proud - this time with her highly favourable comments on Cimorene Ross's THE EAGLE'S WING:

It was also good to read how the author grasped the custom of the time: that Lucius bought Keret as a bed slave wasn't strange at all, but that he wanted a relationship with him was basically forbidden

and she closes by saying:

it was for sure an original Gay romance, out of the thousand of titles you can find out there.

We figure if anyone should know about those 'thousands of titles' it's Elisa, and we're very glad that she felt this one stood out from the crowd. Thank you, Elisa, and congratulations to Cimorene for making an impression!

Saturday 10 May 2014

Friday 9 May 2014

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: A Pride of Poppies

We're proud to announce a new anthology now open for submissions. Titled A Pride of Poppies, it will feature short stories set during World War I (1914-18) featuring GLBTQI people as the main characters. We would love to present a real range of settings and characters, so feel free to explore the possibilities! Our only stipulation is that both sex and violence should be kept to a ‘mild R’ rating with an adult mainstream audience in mind.

In acknowledgement of the centenary of the Great War, all proceeds from sales of this book will be donated to charity. We have already contacted one of the major service charities, and will pursue that further once the book is coming together.

More details are available on our website here: http://www.manifoldpress.co.uk/2014/05/call-for-submissions/

If you have any queries - or indeed any submissions! - please contact editor Julie Bozza via email: julie@manifoldpress.co.uk

New review of A THREEFOLD CORD

Over on Mrs Condit and Friends Read Books, reviewer Feliz seems to have been bowled over by Julie Bozza's new title A THREEFOLD CORD.

All three main characters are lovingly drawn, essentially ordinary people with mundane flaws that make them all the more human. And yet they’re able to go beyond themselves for love’s sake. They disregard conventions and overcome their own misgivings out of love.

It’s beautiful, it’s amazing what people are able to do for love, and the reward makes it all worthwhile. This was the message I took from this story, and it made me close the book with a blissful sigh. Highly, highly recommended.


Thank you, Feliz, we couldn't agree more - and there are plenty of other readers who seem to feel the same way too!

Friday 2 May 2014

New reviews of A THREEFOLD CORD

The reviewers have been very quick off the mark this time, hovering over their keyboards in eager anticipation of publication day. In fact, one even got in ahead of time with a pre-release review!

First to pass an opinion was Jenni at Boys in our Books, who asks a series of very pertinent questions in her review, culminating in the following:

Has Bozza changed my mind about all ménage? Heck no. But if she’s writing about it, I’m reading it…and probably liking it lots.

Dead-heating for second place were Tina at Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews ...

Love is love and it appears in all colours of the rainbow. When it comes your way, you better be ready to grab it with both hands. And once you have grabbed it, hold on to it, it’s a gift that needs to be cherished and to be held dear. And read this book!!!

... and Mandy at Hearts on Fire Reviews:

All I can say is, if you enjoy Julie’s wonderful writing or if you like ménage stories (and oh boy do I ever!) or you just want a beautifully told story with men finding their way together, this is THE book for you.

Thank you very much to all three reviewers for their time and their valuable comments; it would be difficult to imagine giving any book a very much better start in the world than this!

Thursday 1 May 2014

Statistics for April

Just to bring everyone fully up to date, we're pleased to report that our best-seller for the month of April was Adam Fitzroy's THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER WYE. Well done, Adam!

And now we turn our attention to preparations for our two new books for 1 August - one from an old favourite, the other from a writer new to us - and to other exciting future developments which we're longing to tell you about as soon as they've been finalised. Watch this space for details, book-lovers!

Two new titles published today!

We are proud to announce that our two new titles are now on sale - although those of you who hover over your keyboards waiting for our online shop module to update have probably realised that already!

Julie Bozza explores another unconventional relationship in A THREEFOLD CORD; Chris, Ben and Grae are three young actors enmeshed in a web of attractions – the only solution to which seems to be to think the unthinkable. Yet it’s a delicate process of negotiation, not without its difficulties …

Jay Lewis Taylor’s DANCE OF STONE is set in the mediaeval period when religion and superstition were constantly at war – and, for master mason Hugh, being drawn towards his own sex is fraught with the potential for disaster.

These books couldn’t be more different, yet they both explore intriguing facets of our chosen genre and introduce us to fascinating characters and concepts we may not have considered before – all part of our continuing endeavour to bring you the widest possible variety of high-quality gay fiction!

Congratulations to our two authors - publication day is without question the most exciting day of all! - and best wishes for the success of both their titles.

Don't forget that you can take part in a Twitter chat with @juliebozza @jaylewistaylor @ManifoldPressUK and @AdamFitzroy at 7 p.m. this evening (UK time), and our authors will also be available to answer questions on Goodreads from 9 p.m. (UK time) on Saturday 10 May for 24 hours. We hope to see many of you there!