Author Name: Julie Lynn Hayes
Book Name: Bad Dogs and Drag Queens
Series: Rose and Thorne
Book: One
Release
Date: May 25, 2016
Blurb:
Vinnie Delarosa and Ethan Thorne are partners—on and off the
clock. Federal undercover detectives, they’re part of a covert task force
designed to promote goodwill between the feds and local authorities. They lend
an unobtrusive helping hand wherever it’s needed. No credit required.
Vinnie and Ethan work primarily in the Southeast region of
the United States and live together in Richmond, Virginia. A mugger problem
brings them to Roanoke, where Vinnie is thrown out as bait to catch the man
who’s been snatching purses in a city park, but they end up with more than they
bargained for. Why is Vinnie always the one who has to wear the dress? Ethan
says it’s because Vinnie looks much prettier in a skirt. How can he argue with
that?
Expecting to return to Richmond afterward, Vinnie and Ethan
find themselves assigned a new case instead. They are to go undercover at The
Stroll, one of the biggest gay nightclubs in Roanoke. Someone is terrorizing
both the customers and the performers. Could they be dealing with a hate crime?
Someone has to protect the drag queens of Roanoke, so it’s Vinnie and Ethan to
the rescue!
The author is donating
10% of the royalties from this book to No Kid Hungry. Visit nokidhungry.org for more information about this
organization.
Pages or Words: 50,000 words
Categories: Crime Fiction, Fiction, Gay
Fiction, Humor, Romance
Excerpt:
“Remind me again whose stupid idea this
lipstick was,” I huffed under my breath. Without thinking, I licked my lips.
They felt greasy, and tasted even worse. I forced myself not to grimace, afraid
it might crack the foundation I’d slathered on my face.
“Mine, you sexy beast,” came the smart-ass
reply in my ear. “I think you got purty lips, mmhmmm.”
“Fuck you,” I growled. “You should be doing
this, not me, and you know it. I did it last time.”
And the time before that. And the time before that. Wait, did I detect a pattern here?
“What I know is you look better in a skirt than
I do. And you look damn good out of it too.”
My cheeks filled with heat at Ethan’s words.
Luckily the darkness hid a multitude of sins, my embarrassment being the least
of them. Hopefully, no one else was listening—I knew I’d never hear the end of
it. Just what I needed—to be the object of ridicule of the Roanoke PD.
REVIEW
REVIEW
| Take this book for what it is, a quirky, silly, romantic, undercover cop story. Both partners in life and on the job, Vinnie and Ethan are federal agents working in a special task force to bridge the gap between local PD and Feds. Their first assignment is to try and find a mugger focusing on woman. Vinnie is the one who has to dress up as the woman, and it isn't his first time, apparently. I thought it was pretty hilarious, listening him complain about his shoes and everything. It was Evan more endearing when Ethan helped him out afterwards, always taking care of him. What more, the not only catch the perp but his "little helper" too. Enter the "bad dog". They both take a liking to this little guy and Ethan goes as far as to naming him. Once that mission is over, their boss immediately has another mission for them at the local gay bar which features a line up of drag Queens. Someone has been targeting the club and the workers. Vinnie and Ethan must go undercover as employees. Ethan as a bartender and Vin as the newest entertainment, Boom-Boom Santiago. A string of things happen, some funny, some not so much. But Vin is always entertaining. I loved the banter between Vin and Ethan. You can tell how much they care for each other, even if Vin seems a little unsure at times. He seems to have a bit of a dramatic flair, regardless of complaining about having to be a Queen. I like the dynamics between them and the newly acquired dog. I felt there was a bit of a loop hole between what was happening at the club and why the perp was doing what they were doing, but all in all it was still n entertaining story.. 3.75 fabulous stars for Vinnie and Ethan |
I am obsessed, I mean OBSESSED, with all things drag queens. So when I was given the opportunity to review this book I may have let out a slight squeal.
This book starts out with two undercover special agents helping the local Roanoke PD look for a purse snatcher. What better way to look for said thief is to be a purse carrying, skirt wearing "woman". When Vinnie, dressed to the nines, goes for a stroll in the park he is tripped and comes face to face with a cute little Pekingese. Of course as luck would have it, out comes the purse snatcher. As Vinnie is wrestling with said snatcher, in comes Ethan, Vinnie's partner (in more ways than one). After the arrest they find themselves taking home sweet little Benny for the night. They soon find out that the sweet little pup belongs to the snatcher and is actually his accomplice. When the snatcher decides he no longer wants the pup, the guys decide to make him part of their family.
After a few days off, Ethan and Vinnie, are assigned to a new case to help the local PD once again. This time its to help find the person responsible for assaulting not only some of the patrons, but also some of the fabulous Queens at a local gay bar. Once again Vinnie must don the dress and wig and pull out his inner Queen.
This is such a cute, funny and kinda hot read. I cant wait to see what else Ms. Hayes has in store for these guys.
****I give this book 4 Fiercely, Fabulous Stars****
Meet the author:
Julie Lynn Hayes
first began publishing short stories and poetry in the 1990’s, when it was a
different ballgame altogether, and Ebooks hadn’t been dreamed of yet. That
changed in 2010 with the acceptance of her first romance novel. She’s come a
long way since that first book appeared, and is finding the journey a very
educational one.
She lives in St.
Louis with her daughter Sarah and her cat Ramesses. She often writes of two men
finding true love and happiness in one another’s arms, and is a great believer
in the happily ever after. She likes to write in different genres, to stretch
herself in order to see what is possible. Her great challenge is to be told
something can’t be done—she feels compelled to do it.
When she isn’t
writing, she enjoys crafts, such as crocheting and cross stitch, needlepoint and knitting, and she loves to
cook, spending time watching the Food Network. Her favorite chef is Geoffrey
Zakarian. Her family thinks she’s a bit off, but she doesn’t mind. Marching to
the beat of one’s own drummer is a good thing, after all. Her published works
can be found at Dreamspinner Press, eXtasy Books, and Wayward Ink Press.
Where to find the author:
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover
Artist: Paul Richmond
Interview
Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Julie
Lynn Hayes, author of Bad Dogs and Drag
Queens. Hi Julie, thank you for agreeing
to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your
current book.
Describe
your book to us.
Bad Dogs and Drag
Queens is about two federal undercover cops who are partners on the job and
off, Vinnie Delarosa and Ethan Thorne. They’re twenty-six years old, and have
been together almost five years. They’ve been living in Richmond, Virginia, for
about two years, but their job takes them to nearby Roanoke to help with a
mugger situation. After that, they’re given another assignment at The Stroll, a
gay nightclub in Roanoke, and Vinnie finds he has to get into drag again.
Basically, it’s a
love story, more than a police story.
Have
you ever read something that made you think differently about your genre? Can
you tell us what it was?
I can’t think of
anything. I’ve read books in the genre that I didn’t care for, but that doesn’t
reflect on the genre, just on the book. One of the first m/m books I read that
made me realize m/m stories could be more than just erotica was Male Model.
Tell
us about your character’s family life?
Vinnie has no
family life, his mother died when he was a young man. He never met his father.
Ethan is his only family now.
Compare
yourself to your main character.
Vinnie and I have
similarities. We both have insecurities, thinking we’re not good enough. We’re
both sarcastic and snarky. He’s prettier than I am J He was slower to fall in love than I was,
I fell too young and too quickly. He’s more of a diva than I am.
Describe
your past week as a type of landscape or a weather forecast.
Does cloudy with a
chance of meatballs work? Lol J/k
This past week was
mostly smooth sailing and clear skies, although occasional clouds darkened the
horizon, and today a squall threatened. But it dissipated, hopefully not to
return, and everything is sunny once more.
Thanks for having
me here today!
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Thank you for having me here today, and glad you enjoyed the book! The next two books are done, and I'm working on the fourth even now!
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