Month: May 2021

Finding Old Love at THE HIDEAWAY INN–A TBT Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a Throwback Thursday review for a book I read a while back from Philip William Stover. THE HIDEAWAY INN is the first book in his Seasons of New Hope series, and features a reconnection romance between two men who loved in their teens, and are reconnected in their old hometown of New Hope, Pennsylvania.

About the book:

High school wasn’t the right time or place for their relationship to grow, but now, fifteen years later, a chance encounter changes both of their lives forever.

No one in the charming river town of New Hope, Pennsylvania, needs to know that Vince Amato plans on flipping The Hideaway Inn to the highest bidder and returning to his luxury lifestyle in New York City. He needs to make his last remaining investment turn a profit…even if that means temporarily relocating to the quirky small town where he endured growing up. He’s spent years reinventing himself and won’t let his past dictate his future.

But on his way to New Hope, Vince gets stuck in the middle of nowhere and his past might be the only thing that can get him to his future. Specifically Tack O’Leary, the gorgeous, easygoing farm boy who broke his heart and who picks Vince up in his dilapidated truck.

Tack comes to the rescue not only with a ride but also by signing on to be the chef at The Hideaway for the summer. As Vince and Tack open their hearts to each other again, Vince learns that being true to himself doesn’t mean shutting down a second chance with Tack—it means starting over and letting love in.

My Review:

Vince Amato grew up in western New Jersey, just across the Delaware from New Hope, Pennsylvania, a bastion of acceptance for LGBTQ folk. “Skinny Vinny” was horribly teased for his thin frame, studious nature, and supposed homosexuality. As soon as he could escape, Vince did–and he made a lot of money in realty in NYC. A professional gaffe, however, has put him on the outs with his investment firm, and he’s just bought The Hideaway Inn in New Hope with the intention of fixing it up and selling it at the end of the summer, to a hotel conglomerate looking for boutique properties.

With the Memorial Day weekend approaching, Vince’s travel plans go completely awry, and he’s unwillingly rescued by his former high school crush/clandestine lover, Tack O’Leary. Tack would never have come out in school–his old man and best pals were pretty serious homophobes, but he had a yearning for the thin, nerdy Vinny, and is relishing the opportunity to reconnect now that 15 years and a whole lot of maturity have passed between them.

Vince’s hotel is nearly ready to be condemned, but the kitchen is serviceable, and when his tempermental chef quits, Tack comes to the rescue a second time. And, a third and a fourth, because Tack is really jazzed to help Vince, if he can make the Hideaway a place people want to visit. Vince tries to use his finely-honed body and icy manner to keep Tack at a remove, but Tack’s gregariousness, and his earnest desire to both help Vince and build his own rep as a budding chef (in training) has Vince letting him in closer than nearly anyone in his life. In fact, to save costs and facilitate their partnership in business, Tack ends up rooming in Vince’s two-bedroom owner’s suite. Much to Vince’s frustration.

Tack’s life has changed a LOT over the years, though, and he’s not only come out, he’s divorced his wife and is co-parenting their young child, who may be trans. It’s a mind-bind for Vince, but he’s grateful for the changes, and for Tack’s help and friendship. Unfortunately, if Vince turns around and sells the Hideaway, well, that will be the end of their budding reconnection–and romance. But, New Hope proves to be living up to its name, and Vince’s life couldn’t be more complete even with a fat bank account and a Manhattan penthouse.

It’s a sweet story and Vince is treated pretty roughly by the author; he takes a licking and keeps on ticking though, just like he did back in high school. His life goals and ambition are hard to set aside, but the connections he’s making in New Hope sure go a long way toward smoothing the transition into a new path. Tack is a good guy, and I think it’s just as easy for the reader to forgive his youthful mistakes, as Vince finds it to do. He really trusts Vince in a way he hasn’t trusted many partners, and his fear that Vince will leave him again is palpable.

It’s a great start to a series, with lots of fun and spunky side characters. The descriptions are thorough without bogging pacing, even when we’re looking backward into Vince and Tack’s childhoods. I could nearly smell the briny waters off the Delaware, and hope to see more great stories in the future.

Interested? You can find THE HIDEAWAY INN on Goodreads, Carina Press, and Amazon.

About the Author:

Philip William Stover splits his time between Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and New York City. He has an MFA in writing and is a clinical professor at New York University.

As a freelance journalist, his essays and reviews have appeared in Newsday, the Forward, the Tony Awards, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Houston Chronicle, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and other national publications. For many years he ghosted for an international best-selling women’s fiction author. He has published multiple middle-grade novels for Simon & Schuster and was the American Theater critic for About.com.

He grew up tearing the covers off the romance novels he devoured so he wouldn’t get teased at school. Now he enjoys traveling the world with his husband of over twenty years and would never consider defacing any of the books he loves.

You can find Philip on his website, and twitter.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!


Grief and Growth THIS VOW–Review and Giveaway!

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for a brand new contemporary M/M romance from J.R. Hart. THIS VOW is the second book in her This Love series. Two young men, engaged to be married, are tested when a fire destroys their home, and the fall out they experience.

Drop down to catch an excerpt, my review and enter for a chance to win a $50 GC.

About the book:

Nicholas and Alex know one thing for sure: they want to spend their lives together, and now that they’re engaged, they can start planning their big day to make that happen. The only hitch? Both of them have very different ideas on what that means.

Nicholas has been all about a grand wedding since he was a teen, carefully planning every detail from floral arrangements to the perfect cake. He has big dreams and a bigger budget to make it happen. But Alex? Despite finding the love of his life, he’s still a little jaded, and he’d rather elope at the local courthouse, keeping the start of their married life low-key.

Can they set aside their different ideas on their big wedding and compromise to make it the wedding of their dreams, or will a major tragedy be the final blow after they struggle to see eye-to-eye?

How about a yummy taste?

Prologue

“Nicholas, there’s a fire, in the kitchen! We have to go!”

Bleary-eyed from sleep, Nicholas didn’t grasp what Alex was saying. “Fire?” He didn’t comprehend the box of recipes in his hand, why Alex was shoving them at him frantically. Drowsiness from cold medication and the deep sleepfulness of his nap didn’t help matters, a slur of loud, blaring alarms sounding in his mind as he tried to pay attention to what Alex was telling him.

“In the kitchen! We have to get out of here, Nicholas. Carry the recipes! Let’s go!” Alex insisted.

Fire? His brain repeated the word. Fire. Fire! Oh gosh. He glanced around him, trying to take stock of what they might be able to save. “Okay, um…” They had to get their things, important memories and items from around the apartment. Why was Alex in the bedroom instead of grabbing their photos off the walls and the box of notes they’d written each other early in their relationship out of the closet?

“Nicholas, we don’t have time to get stuff. It’s spreading too fast. We have to go.” Nicholas followed Alex’s eyeline up to the smoke entering the bedroom, watching as he raced toward the living room, and the urgency finally started to click into place. A fire. An actual fire. Not the hypothetical “what three items would you save in a fire?” kind of situation, but a real-life, honest-to-God fire. “Oh no.” Stumbling out of the bedroom and closing the door out of habit, he could see the flames now, the bright-orange flickers of light in the kitchen. He started toward the source of it, the location of most of his prized possessions, but Alex yanked him back by the arm.

“Crawl!” Alex urged him. “We have to crawl over there.” Alex ducked down, tugging his shirt up to cover his mouth and nose. Nicholas followed suit, grasping the recipe box and moving ahead, trying to get to the door and open it while Alex scanned the room. Halfway there, the half wall dividing the kitchen from the entryway shook with a loud bang. Something in the kitchen exploded. “Oh my God!” Alex yelped.

“What was that?” Nicholas assumed the explosion came from some pressurized can like cooking spray, or the bottle of their favorite whiskey they enjoyed on poker nights with the girls. His brain lagged behind the urgency of the situation, focused on the things being consumed by the fire creeping closer.

“I don’t know!” Alex’s words jarred him back into the moment. “Let’s go to the balcony,” he pleaded. The fire escape there hadn’t worked in years, but Nicholas agreed that outside, regardless of a way down, was the safer bet. If anything, they could breathe fresh air out there instead of toxic smoke in their apartment.

Alex crawled in the other direction and Nicholas followed, watching Alex slide the glass door open and let him through. Both of them stood and closed the door to seal the blaze behind them. “Now what?”

If the fire got any closer, Nicholas figured the heat could shatter the glass. Was it the movie Backdraft that happened in? He didn’t know why his mind focused on Hollywood hypotheticals instead of on the reality of what was happening to his home, his life. Maybe because his brain was on a delay, hadn’t fully registered the intensity of the situation.

Alex pushed their mostly dead succulents in front of the door and nestled Nicholas against the railing of the balcony that didn’t line up with the glass, putting them out of harm’s way. He must have been thinking the same thing about the glass shattering. “Call 9-1-1,” Nicholas told Alex. Drilled into his head from countless school fire safety classes, he didn’t have to even think. But then the reality of what was happening hit him all over again. A lot of their beloved belongings continued to burn. Maybe they had time… “We forgot—”

“Nicholas, we can’t go back in,” Alex reminded him. “Whatever we’ve forgotten, it’s not important.”

Right. Good enough. Getting out alive had to be good enough. Nicholas nodded, tearing up as Alex pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“What are you doing?”

“Telling Jade to pull the building fire alarm,” he said. Their own smoke alarm only sounded in their apartment, barely loud enough for the neighboring apartments to hear. This was a good thing when the alarm sounded for minor problems, like grease popping around eggs, but not a great feature when it came to a real fire. Then, Alex’s voice switched to no-nonsense mode as he called 9-1-1, waiting till he was connected and then explaining the fire to the dispatcher.

Nicholas could hear the fire alarms blaring clearly now. Jade must have done as he asked. From the balcony, Nicholas saw the edges of the flames licking at the picture they’d hung on the wall after their engagement. He turned away. He couldn’t bear to look at the fire taking away everything they owned, every precious memory they’d shared in the apartment. Looking down at the ground, he spotted people filtering out of the front doors of the building, staring up to them on the balcony above. “What the heck happened?”

“I was trying to make you soup,” Alex admitted, followed by, “I’m so sorry.”

The guilt in his voice was palpable, breaking Nicholas’s heart. “Baby, it’s all right.” As the trucks backed up, ladders extending, Alex cried against him, his free arm around him. Alex sobbed harder than Nicholas had ever seen him cry.

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated and then he turned toward the ladder, heading down with Nicholas climbing after him, cradling the recipes in his arm. He listened to the sound of the crackle through the sliding glass door as the contents of their lives went up in smoke.

My Review:
Alex and Nicholas are a committed couple planning their wedding when disaster strikes. Their apartment catches fire when Alex, an admittedly terrible cook, gets distracted while trying to cook soup for Nicholas, who is sick. Because Alex had been ill before Nicholas, he’s still not smelling things too well, and the fire is raging in the kitchen before he senses the smoke.

Their apartment is a total loss, and it’s more than just a domicile. This was the first home in which Alex could be himself, and live a sully out life. And, Nicholas’ family heirlooms–including the massive wedding planning binder he and his dying mother had created–are mostly gone. All Alex was able to save was the handmade box of cherished recipes that Nicholas would be lost without.

Now, they live in a barren apartment, blocks form their former home and their best pals, who’d lived down the hall. It’s a huge adjustment, and not a little without resentment. Both Alex and Nicholas are feeling the strain, but Alex is definitely hit more acutely, as he feels majorly responsible for both Nicholas’ illness, and the fire. Plus, he’s struggling with the vastness of the wedding plans, which make what he wishes was an intimate and quiet affair into the lavish spectacle that Nicholas wants to spend his inheritance funding.

Can these guys come to terms with their inner issues, before they get more into turmoil they they want?

I really liked both Alex and Nicholas. They are good solid characters who are 100% invested in their love, even if they struggle with how they want to show it. I loved the differences between their backgrounds, and how this informed their conflict. Alex has always had to scrimp, and his family is small and cold–unaccepting of him and his sexuality. It’s a big reason Alex cringes at the cost of a one-day affair, like the wedding of Nicholas’ dreams. He has only their mutual friends to invite, anyway. Meanwhile Nicholas may not have his parents around anymore, but when he did they were loving and accepting of him–and they provided a lot of money to start him out in life. So, Nicholas’ desire is to shout to the rooftops his love for Alex, with a blow out wedding that will live in everyone’s memories. The stress is high. Add in the huge curveball to lose nearly your whole life’s possessions in and instant, and what might be minor issues, like not having a proper cake pan since it was ruined in the blaze, are suddenly constant irritations. It makes for rocky goings, but also allows for some true character growth as the new-love infatuation period gives way to brutally honest moments, and deep soul searching.

I had not read the first book in this series, but felt I could pick this one up and enjoy it on it’s own–with sufficient backstory to help me get into the flow without bogging the pace.

Interested? You can find THIS VOW on Goodreads, NineStar Press and Books2Read.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter Giveaway link for your chance to win a $50 NineStar Press gift card.
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:

J R Hart is a queer 30-something novelist passionate about telling romantic and erotic stories about LGBT+ characters. When J R isn’t writing, you can find her at the science museum with her son, cheering for her favorite soccer team, or at The Bean Coffee Co plotting her next work.

You can reach out to J. R. on her website, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.

Lives Up-ended TO HOLD A HIDDEN PEARL–Review and Giveaway!

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for a brand new contemporary M/M romance from Fearne Hill. TO HOLD A HIDDEN PEARL is the first book in her new Rossingley series. This story features a young physician coming to terms with his sexuality rather late in his life, and the reclusive earl who is his androgynous and sexy superior in hospital. If you are interested in family drama romances, I’d also recommend THE LAST OF THE MOUSSAKAS by this same author.

Drop down to catch an excerpt, my review and enter for a chance to win a $50 GC.

About the book:

Dr Jay Sorrentino is getting married in ten days’ time to the girl of his dreams, so what the hell is he doing in a gay London club with a stupidly handsome stranger? As if calling off the wedding and alienating his friends and family isn’t enough, Jay also has to contend with starting a new job at a new hospital. So the last thing he needs is for the bloke from the club to be his prickly supervisor.

Dr Lucien Avery is a difficult colleague. He’s also the unexpected and reluctant heir to the vast Rossingley estate. Reclusive and miserable, he hates most of his colleagues, people who eat packed lunches, and supervising junior doctors. That is, until the delectable Dr Sorrentino turns up on his doorstep.

A light-hearted M/M contemporary romance, Rossingley takes place in Southern England and is centred around a fictional country house and estate by the same name. The first in the series, it can be read as a standalone.

How about a yummy taste?

LUCIEN

I don’t do nightclubs anymore. It’s not an age thing. Sure, I’m thirty-four, but there are plenty of men and women older than me in here seemingly having a blast. It’s…it’s just that I hoped I’d never need to, I suppose. I think I had this ridiculous notion I’d be happily settled with a great job, an even better loving partner, and a comfortable home. I have the job, and I certainly have the home, not that I particularly wanted it. But the loving partner? Not so much. To be fair, though, I’m quite difficult to love.

So here I am, propping up the wall in Spangles, a club I haven’t visited in years, watching my pissed former work colleagues, Sam and Louis, make complete arses of themselves on the dance floor.

There’s a whole gang of us here. I don’t know any of the others, and I don’t really want to become better acquainted with them either, but Sam has been begging me to come up to London for months and months. He’s been a decent friend since the accident, as much as I’ve let him, and joining him for his boyfriend Louis’s thirtieth birthday is the least I can do to show my appreciation. So I’d downed a few colourful cocktails, which seem to have had no effect on my mood whatsoever, put on my glad rags, done my eyes, and now pretend to be the sexy guy I used to be before my former existence was comprehensively annihilated. And tomorrow, when it’s thankfully all over, I’ll whizz back down the M4 to Allenmouth, and having seen how absolutely spiffily I’m coping, they’ll hopefully leave me alone for a while. I deserve an Oscar for tonight’s performance, but I’m starting to flag. Another ten minutes of hugging the wall and my Campari and soda, and I’ll be on my way.

An enormously tall, Italian Stallion kind of guy gives me a blatant once-over, and my eyes skirt past him. Thanks, but no thanks. Curly black hair, eyes like pools of melted chocolate, bulging shoulder muscles, and a broad chest threatening to break out of his tight white T-shirt. As if at any minute, the T-shirt might rip open and his skin turn an ugly shade of green. As he is, with T-shirt intact, he’s what Americans refer to as a jock. Or an especially buff Danny Zuko. But I’m no simpering Pink Lady. He’s absolutely not my bag at all.

My gaze settles on a little cutie chatting to his friends near the bar. Much more like it, exactly my type of guy. Perfect tight arse in the skinniest of black jeans, and he’s demonstrating the grace of a ballet dancer as he reaches upwards onto his toes to speak into a friend’s ear. Slight of build, and floppy, dirty-blond hair with pink frosted tips. Sensing my interest, he shyly smiles at me, and I look away. We all know the rules to this game, and a few seconds later, I glance back at him. He returns the look at precisely the moment that a protective, possessive arm comes to rest across his narrow shoulders, and the ruggedly handsome owner of that arm plants an adoring kiss on his cheek. With a regretful shrug, the cute guy turns to his companion and is pulled into a loving hug. A keeper for sure, only not my keeper unfortunately. Oh well, c’est la vie.

Gloria Gaynor is belting out ‘I am what I am’ at the top of her lungs. Most definitely my cue to leave. I finish my drink and head to where I last saw Sam and Louis. With a bit of luck, they’ll be so engrossed in each other they’ll let me slip out unnoticed to find a taxi to take me home. As I begin to push through groups of sweaty clubbers, the Italian Stallion guy blocks my path. And I mean blocks—he’s broad and beefy. He’s giving me another once-over, this time anxious, through thick black lashes, and his liquid-brown eyes are strangely as skittish as a colt’s. I make to squeeze by. But his big hand reaches around, catching me unawares, settles firmly around my wrist, and I’m tugged towards a dark corner of the club. Granted, it’s an unconventional hook-up technique, but I’m pissed enough and curious enough to go with it—perhaps in the dim light, he’s mistaken me for my cousin Freddie; it wouldn’t be the first time. We both have rather striking features.

So it seems that now he’s got me here, he’s not quite sure what it is he wants. He hovers in front of me, one hand resting lightly at my hip, and I can’t tell if he’s very nervous or very drunk. I’m happy to wait; I’ve nothing better to do. Anyway, I’m mildly intrigued as I have a feeling that, like me, he doesn’t really belong. He licks his lips once—yes, definitely nervous—and it draws attention to his fine mouth, a full Cupid’s bow, now glistening wetly. The sort of generous wide mouth made for laughing. Or cock sucking. I’m focusing on those lips now because the background thump of Ms Gaynor makes audible speech nigh on impossible.

“Can I suck your cock?” he asks.

My Review:
Dr. Lucian Avery is the reluctant 16th earl of Rossingley, a title he never expected, nor desired. See, he inherited his land and title about 18 months ago when his father, the 15th earl, mother and elder brother and his young pregnant wife, were all killed in a helicopter crash. Being the “spare” is unpleasant, especially as he’s virtually alone in the world. It’s taken him months to claw his way out of the depression that’s had him living a life of a recluse, only showing up to hospital for part-time duties as a anesthesiologist consultant. He’s 34 years old, and living alone in the small part of the palatial estate of his youth. He’s a feared colleague in the hospital, due to his demanding nature, general unapproachability and aloofness. While up in London, out with some friends from his previous life–before the accident–Lucien is approached by a big, strapping hunk who offers a sexual favor. It’s a good experience, because it takes Lucien out of his seemingly unending misery for a few minutes.

Dr. Jay Sorrentino is a junior consultant who’s a week away from his wedding to the fellow doctor and woman he has been dating form more than 4 years. They have a home and joint bank accounts, and work in the same hospital in Allentown–but Jay has had a lingering suspicion that his growing malaise and disappointment about his impending nuptials is related to his sexual dissatisfaction. Over the past couple of years he’s wondered if he’s gay–but been terrified to acknowledge. A drunken experience in a London gay club has cleared away the morass of his shilly-shallying. Unfortunately, his anonymous bar hook-up turns out to be the supervising consultant on his new training leg in hospital. Jay’s fervent wish that the immaculate, beautiful and demanding Dr. Avery are dashed rather fantastically. Yet, he’s completely intrigued by the prickly man.

This is a sweet and sexy romance as Jay and Lucien develop as strong affection for one another. Jay is conscientious and notices when Lucien is troubled, and is not afraid to approach him, thinking that he’s a man on his own–rightly so. Lucien is so unused to solicitousness, and he needs a person to lean on, given his long grief suffered alone. Jay is attracted to Lucien’s quirks, including his penchant for women’s lingerie and femme affectations. His androgyny holds big appeal to Jay, and over several weeks to months their relationship morphs from one of professional and personal support to a sexual one. Jay’s attraction to Lucien is growing by leaps, but he’s still entangled with his ex-fiance, as they unravel their joint lives. It’s a lot of stress, that Lucien relieves the more intimate they become.

I loved this story, with two interesting and complicated characters–who both need a good friends and partner to lean upon. Their love story is tender and compassionate, as both men are highly educated and compassionate men, per their medical training. It’s so sweet, I was repeatedly reminded that emotional vulnerability is a very sexy look for otherwise powerful men. I look forward to the next book in this series, knowing that it will likely include a different couple.

Interested? You can find TO HOLD A HIDDEN PEARL on Goodreads, NineStar Press and Books2Read.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter Giveaway link for your chance to win a $50 NineStar Press gift card.
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
Fearne Hill lives deep in the southern British countryside with three untamed sons, varying numbers of hens, a few tortoises, and a beautiful cocker spaniel.

When she is not overseeing her small menagerie, she enjoys writing contemporary romantic fiction. And when she is not doing either of those things, she works as an anaesthesiologist.

You can reach out to Fearne on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Role-Playing into Love: FOLLOWING THE RULES– Review and Giveaway!

Hi there! Now that school is wrapping up, I’ve got more time to start posting reviews again. Today I’m sharing a review for a brand new contemporary M/M romance from Lane Hayes. FOLLOWING THE RULES is the first book in her new The Script Club series, that spun off a little from the Starting From series–beginning with a literal rocket scientist who’s looking for a little extra cash and begins tutoring his roomie’s older brother in humanities. And man-love…

Drop down to catch my review and enter for a chance to win a $25 GC.


About the book:

The geek, the jock, and a new set of rules…

Topher:

My friend’s brother needs an academic assistant and I need a job. Problem…jocks are my weakness. Seriously. I lose my ability to speak coherently around muscle-bound hotties. Oh yeah, I lose my inhibitions too—not a good look for a guy with a genius IQ. So what am I going to do about Simon?

Simon:

Finishing college isn’t high on my list of priorities, but my future in professional football is looking bleak. I need a plan B or C, and I could use some help navigating life as an undergrad. Topher is perfect. He’s also a little strange…but in a good way. And I like the way I feel when I’m around him—as though anything is possible. Maybe if we follow our hearts, we’ll find what we’re looking for. But that means changing the rules…

Following the Rules is a MM, bisexual awakening romance starring a lovable nerd, a cool jock, and some extracurricular fun.

My Review:
Topher is an aeronautical engineer with one year to go in his master’s program. His paid internship just dried up and he has a month to go before school starts. With time on his hands and money on his mind, Topher is almost happy his new roommate, George, suggests Topher tutor his older brother, Simon, a man returning to college while on hiatus from the NFL. Simon had played several seasons for the LA Rams, but he’s been sidelined with a concussion, again. He was cut from the team, after a looong recovery, and is in limbo, training and taking classes, awaiting whatever magic his agent can work to get him signed to a new team.

Topher has a mini-mega-crush on Simon, and he’s a whole lotta awkward about it. Thing is, Simon is an uninhibited man, and he’s very lonely. The wait for his return to the NFL is messing with his head and he’s desperate for some company to fill his home and head with distraction. They meet in an unconventional way–and Simon’s cool with it, even as it unsettles Topher, because, well, sexy naked men tend to unsettle him. But they have some silly banter, with Simon intrigued by Topher’s dedication to research, schooling and sexytimes. And, they connect in banter over “scripts” like sexy role-playing that has Simon’s flagging libido taking notice in ways it never has before.

This audiobook is totally fun and a treat to enjoy. I really loved the efforts the narrator took to help differentiate the voices, including Topher’s whiskey-totting gran, and Simon’s goth-dracula brother George. Topher’s voice sounds geeky-sexy with a sweetness and lightness that belies his eagerness to please. Simon’s deeper timbre easily had me mentally-conjuring an athletic professional, who is always down for an adventure.

The casual-to-more romance was low-angst and easily followed, with the fun of first-times and all the excitement surrounding exploring one not only a new lover, but one who is shaping up to be a soul mate. I really enjoyed it, and look forward to watching other sexy geeks in Topher’s inner circle find love. This series is a spin off from the Starting From series, so we get a few cameos of Topher’s former roomie, Cody, who found love with a rock guitarist in Starting From Somewhere.

Interested? You can find FOLLOWING THE RULES on Goodreads, Amazon and Audible.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter Giveaway link for your chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card.
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
Lane Hayes loves a good romance! An avid reader from an early age, she has always been drawn to well-told love story with beautifully written characters. Her debut novel was a 2013 Rainbow Award finalist and subsequent books have received Honorable Mentions, and were winners in the 2016, 2017, and 2018-2019 Rainbow Awards.

She loves red wine, chocolate and travel (in no particular order). Lane lives in Southern California with her amazing husband in a not quite empty nest.

You can reach out to Lane on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Amazon.