M/M Romance

Stuck in the Middle–HIATUS–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for a M/M/M menage contemporary romance from LA Witt. HIATUS is a bittersweet, but realistic, read featuring a married couple who is divorcing and their third–who tries to keep them together.

HiatusAbout the book:
Three’s a disaster when things come unraveled.
Rock star Nate Keller is on top of the world, but his headlining tour has one drawback. It keeps him away from his boyfriends, Theo and Cameron, for weeks at a time. Yet after four-and-a-half years—and a lot of hard work—the trio is still going strong.

But then Cam comes to visit with devastating news. After seventeen years together, he and Theo have agreed to a trial separation. Nate tries desperately to fix his lovers’ broken relationship, but there’s only so much he can do from the road.

At home, Cam tries to carry on, but feels like his whole life is spiraling out of control. Theo struggles to cope with the split as his depression worsens. They’re both spinning their wheels, quickly losing hope they can keep it together—and keep the man they both still love.

Desperate, Nate drops everything in a last-ditch attempt to pull their trio back together before they hit rock bottom. Except their love could already be shattered beyond repair.

Warning: Contains two men who must face how broken they are before they can fix their failing marriage, and the man who loves them both—but doesn’t know how to save them.

My Review:
This is a bittersweet menage M/M/M story that explores a disintegrating marriage, and the reasons behind the collapse. It has a happy ending.

3.5 stars.
Cam and Theo are a married couple. They’ve been together 17 years–since college–and just over four years ago met Nate, singer in an up-and-coming band. They were up for some fun, and it worked so well, that Nate joined them, permanently.

Well…the book opens with Nate ecstatic for one of his rendezvous nights on the road with his sexy boyfriends, only to find Cam waiting for him. Because Theo is moving out of their house back in LA. Nate’s blindsided and hurt, and Cam’s a mess. They make love, but it’s bittersweet.

Rinse and repeat that a few times. Sometimes Theo comes, sometimes Cam comes, see–while they can’t live together, neither wants to lose Nate. It’s a bad situation.

What Nate learns, as he strives to get his men back together is that Theo’s been suffering depression for a long time. And, Cam’s been struggling with borderline-OCD and panic attacks for a long time, and neither noticed the other’s problems because they were too wrapped in their own mental illness.

There is a lot of bitter in this book. There are also points of extreme sweetness. As a person who’s suffered depression, I felt it was more bitter than sweet. As a person who’s weathered rough patches in a long marriage, it was raw to experience echoes of similar distance in the characters on the page.

It ends with a very reasonable and relatable and realistic reunion. That was really satisfying, but I still had a LOT of angst–some on the page, some of my own baggage–to heft before I got to the good parts. Those good parts coming at the very end of the book.

Poly romances are often hard to relate to, but it’s not hard to relate to the unraveling of love. Nate was such a dear, really stoking the fires to get Cam and Theo to reconcile, but his efforts were in the wrong place, because only the people breaking up can do the making up–as Theo and Cam realized.

The mental illness issues were carefully described, and felt very real–especially the depression as I have first-hand experience with that. I liked how the solution was never complacent, not: “we’ll get over it.” Once Cam and Theo claimed their issues, they got productive help managing their emotional state. Part of their delay seeking counseling was fear that any marriage counselors would tell them they needed to cut Nate loose. I could relate with that fear, as poly relationships are not given the same weight as marriage, and that prejudice proved a hindrance to their health. Still, there were several lights at the end of the tunnel, and the end proved to be both happy and sexy.

In all, it worked for me. I just wished it had been a little more upbeat.

Interested? You can find HIATUS on Goodreads, Samhain Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and AllRomance. I received a review copy via NetGalley.

About the Author:
Lauren Gallagher is an abnormal romance writer who has recently been exiled from the glittering utopia of Omaha, Nebraska, to an undisclosed location in South America. Along with her husband, a harem of concubines, and a phosphorescent porcupine, she remains, as always, in hiding from the Polynesian Mafia. For the moment, she seems to have eluded her nemesis, M/M romance author L.A. Witt, but figures L.A. will eventually become bored with the wilds of Spain and come looking for her. And when that time comes, Lauren will be ready. Assuming L.A. doesn’t have her hands full keeping track of Lori A. Witt and Ann Gallagher, which she probably will.

Visit her website, Facebook, and twitter.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Audiobook Love: THE LAW OF ATTRACTION

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for an audiobook release of THE LAW OF ATTRACTION, a contemporary M/M Romance from Jay Northcote. THE LAW OF ATTRACTION is a fantastic standalone workplace romance that strikes the right balance of communication, tension and sexytimes. Add in a D-Lish Brit sexy-growling his way through the prose? #Swoon

TheLawofAttraction_finalAbout the book:
When a professional relationship turns personal, it’s impossible to resist the law of attraction.
Alec Rowland is a high-flying lawyer in a London firm whose career is his life. He doesn’t have time for relationships and his sexuality is a closely guarded secret. After picking up a cute guy on a Friday night, Alec’s world is rocked to its foundations when his one night stand shows up in the office on Monday morning—as the new temp on his team.

Ed Piper is desperate to prove himself in his new job. The last thing he needs is to be distracted by a crush on his boss. It’s hard to ignore the attraction he feels, even though Alec’s a difficult bastard to work for.

Both men strive to maintain a professional relationship, but tempers fray, passions ignite, and soon they’re both falling hard and fast. If they’re ever going to find a way to be together, Alec needs to be honest about who he really is because Ed won’t go back in the closet for anyone.

A little taste…

His companion was still watching him, seemingly waiting for him to make his move. Alec felt irrationally irritated. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Even though he only did it occasionally, picking up men was easy for Alec. Buying a drink was more than he usually bothered to do for the twinks he hooked up with when he was in the mood for a warm body to fuck. Alec was well aware of his own attractiveness and used it to his advantage. A crook of a finger, a tilt of his head, or even just a look was usually enough to make them come running.

But this guy didn’t seem to know the rules of the game.

“Strong, silent type, huh?” He suddenly grinned at Alec, all neat white teeth and dimples. “You could start by telling me your name. Mine’s Ed.”

“Alec.” He handed a note to the barman as he came back with their drinks. “Keep the change.”

“Cheers, mate.” The barman winked as he pocketed the tip.

Ed’s eyebrows lifted. “Change from a twenty? You must have money to burn.”

“Something like that.” Alec let his gaze rake deliberately down Ed, examining him from the front this time. His arms were still folded over his chest and his T-shirt had ridden up enough to expose a feathered line of hair on his belly, leading down to a nice-looking package in obscenely tight skinny jeans. “I hope you bottom?”

Ed blinked and choked on his mouthful of rum and Coke. Alec suppressed the urge to grin, enjoying the fact that Ed had momentarily lost his cool.

“I’ve been known to,” Ed replied, rallying. He licked his lips.

“Good.” Alec held his gaze, noting with satisfaction that Ed’s pupils had blown wide and his lips parted as Alec looked at them. God, he had a pretty mouth. Alec lifted his glass and downed his drink. The burn of the whisky tore through him and made his nerves tingle with anticipation. He needed a good fuck; it had been too long. “Drink up, then.”

Oh, that Alec is a right git, inn’t he? This is an auspicious meet-cute, but dang does their chemistry reach combustible levels.

My Review:
Alec is a hardworking corporate attorney hoping to make partner in his law firm. He puts in extraordinary hours as he has nothing else to do with himself. He’s a deeply-closeted gay man who’s hidden his orientation ever since that fateful day he was expelled from school for having a dalliance with a schoolmate–and that wasn’t even the worst that happened to him that day.

Ed is a newly-minted attorney, back in London and seeking employment. The weekend before he’s due to report at a firm as a temporary associate, he’s out with his flatmate and gets picked up by a suave, wealthy, older man. Alec. Their connection is immediate. Ed’s not a player, and he doesn’t go for older guys, per se, but something about Alec’s swagger turns him on. And, it’s the same for Alec. He usually hits on mealy-mouthed younger men who’d never challenge him in any way, but Ed stands up for himself. Demands a drink and some conversation before he allows himself to be wooed.

Their night together is incendiary. Neither has the guts to call it quits, and they share Alec’s bed in his barren home. The morning after is worse than shite, but it becomes all the more complicated when Ed turns up as the temp on Alec’s team handling a huge hotel merger. Alec’s so fearful of Ed revealing his dark secret, and Ed’s a peach.

Lookit, I loved the book. I didn’t always love Alec, but Ed–he’s a dream. A good dream. The kind you wake from and immediately wish you could fall back to sleep into. He’s kind and charming and funny, and hardworking–even surpassing Alec’s insane work ethic. Alec’s in turmoil. He’s so attracted and so scared and so bitter seeing Ed openly admitting to his sexuality and it being accepted without a qualm. Alec’s been carefully cultivating a hetero persona in the office, using a longtime friend as a beard. He’s fearful that coming out now will convince his workmates that he’s a liar, and jeopardize his partnership hopes.

It’s all very real, and the romance that brews is so bittersweet. Working together for days on end becomes a struggle for both of them–and Alec gets vindictive at one point. The result: pure passion.

I thoroughly loved the loving here. And the parts of tense separation only stoked the fires. They are honest with each other. Alec does not want to come out. Ed will not be a dirty secret. There seems no accord to be made, and yet Alec knows the only way to find happiness for himself is to take it. To make it happen. He has real fears of being ostracized in his family, and makes a choice to be honest–and to reveal why he hid his true self for so long. The emotions will run high for the reader, I think, without being caught in too much angst.

The HEA is real, and spectacular. Highly recommend.

The audiobook is just as lovely as the ebook. Matthew Lloyd Davies has a deep tenor voice that is absolutely delightful. I swooned, listening to his growly-purr for Alec, and still distinctive, but also deeply-voiced Ed. And, wow, the steamy sexytimes were absolutely molten as he gave life to all those yummy bits. This is the first time I’ve listened to one of his narrated books, but I’ll be looking out for new ones. He’s thoroughly engaging and managed to modulate his voice for female dialogue as well as adding appropriate accent for characters who had different dialects. At just over six hours of running time, I was able to listen to this book a few times over the course of a lengthy road trip. Each time I liked it more.

interested? You can find THE LAW OF ATTRACTION on Goodreads, Audible Audiobook and Amazon eBook.

About the Author:
Jay lives just outside Bristol in the West of England, with her husband, two children, and two cats. She comes from a family of writers, but she always used to believe that the gene for fiction writing had passed her by. She spent years only ever writing emails, articles, or website content. One day, she decided to try and write a short story–just to see if she could–and found it rather addictive. She hasn’t stopped writing since.

You can find Jay on her website, Twitter, Facebook Author Page, and Amazon.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!

Where We Stand: ENDINGS & BEGINNINGS–Excerpt & Kindle Giveaway!

E&B-BannerHi there! Today I’m sharing an exclusive excerpt and giveaway in support of a contemporary BDSM M/M romance from KC Wells and Parker Williams. ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS is the eighth–and final–book in the Collars and Cuffs series, and should be read in order.

Be sure to drop down and check out the excerpt, interview and get in on the Kindle Fire giveaway!

EndingsandBeginningsFSAbout the book:

In all his relationships, Darren Fielding never found the level of intimacy he witnessed between Thomas Williams and his sub, Peter, the day of Peter’s “rebirth.” Not only that, he never realized such intimacy was possible. For two years, Thomas’s business card has been burning a hole in his wallet. When Darren’s lover moves on, maybe it’s finally time to see where that card takes him.

Collars & Cuffs’s new barman, JJ Taylor, is really conflicted right now. He went to the club with a very specific purpose, already convinced of what he’d find there. Except it’s not what he expected at all. He certainly didn’t anticipate finding himself drawn to the new wannabe Dom. Nor could he have guessed the direction that attraction would lead him.

Old love, new love, vows, pain, rage, moving in, moving on…. The members of Collars & Cuffs face an event that touches some of them deeply, but it will only reinforce what they already know: together they are stronger, and some bonds cannot be broken.

A tender tidbit!

The alarm clock would be going off in ten minutes, but I hadn’t been asleep for the last half-hour. I lay there, tousling Peter’s hair while he slept. The weight he carried on his slender shoulders always seemed to disappear when we had a vigorous night of lovemaking, followed by sleep. I loved waking up a few minutes early so I could count my blessings.

Six minutes until the clock would be going off. I sigh. I wish I could stop time right now, so that we could both simply lay here and be together. It’s a foolish dream, I know, but I’m not willing to give it up. Until the day that Peter walked into my life, I never realized what I had been missing. His presence brought a warmth on the chilliest of nights, and made me want to soak it all in.

Five minutes. I know that Peter worries about me dying before he does. He fears being alone almost as much as I do. But I’ve taken steps to ensure he’s taken care of. Hell, even Jarod has put something aside so Peter won’t have to worry if something happens to me. Or when.

Four minutes. What would I do without Peter? That bastard, Curtis Rogers, almost took him away from me. I could have lost my boy without ever telling him I love him. I take the time to do that every day now. Peter has to know that he’s a good, kind soul, and that he means everything to me. How I ever thought I could live without him is beyond me. Having him now makes me realize how empty my life had been.

Three minutes. He’s stirring. He must know that it’s close to the time we would both be starting our day. He’ll make breakfast while I shower, then he’ll start on his chores. I’ve never seen him happier than when he gets to work in the library. I order more books now than I ever have, just because it pleases him. I might be his Dom, but that doesn’t mean I can’t spoil my boy. Funny how the books I used to order were stodgy old research books, but now I order more mysteries, thrillers, and even some romance books that I know Peter likes.

Two minutes. His eyes are fluttering. Is he dreaming? I hope it’s a pleasant one. He’s had far too many nightmares for someone so young. If I could go back and change things so that Peter never met Curtis, I would do it without hesitation. Even though it would cost me the chance to be with him, I’d do it. Whatever it took to make Peter happy.

One minute. Oh, how I wish I had more time to watch him sleep. His dream must be a pleasant one, because he’s murmuring. Whispering Sir over and over. I see the covers tent, and hope that he’s reliving our passion from last evening, when he cried out for me, clung to me as he achieved his orgasm. God, that’s the most beautiful sight.

The alarm goes off, and Peter reaches over to turn it off. He cuddles against me, and smiles. “Good morning, Sir.”

My heart fills, knowing this incredible man is all mine. I kiss his head. “It is. The best.”

Oh, wow. Such a sweet scene!

Interested? You can find ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS on Goodreads, Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and AllRomance.

****GIVEAWAY****

In honor of this being the final book in the series, KC and Parker are giving away a Kindle Fire! Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link for your chance to win.

Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Authors:
About KC Wells…
Born and raised in the north-west of England, K.C. Wells always loved writing. Words were important. Full stop. However, when childhood gave way to adulthood, the writing ceased, as life got in the way. K.C. discovered erotic fiction in 2009, when the purchase of a ménage storyline led to the startling discovery that reading about men in love was damn hot. In 2012, arriving at a really low point in life led to the desperate need to do something creative. An even bigger discovery waited in the wings—writing about men in love was even hotter….

K.C. now writes full-time and is loving every minute of her new career. The laptop still has no idea of what hit it… it only knows that it wants a rest, please. And it now has to get used to the idea that where K.C goes, it goes.

And as for those men in love that she writes about? The list of stories just waiting to be written is getting longer… and longer….

Catch up to KC on twitter and Facebook.

About Parker Williams (or at least his voices):
Good day! We are the voices that live inside Will’s head. The ones who whisper to him constantly, beckoning him to speak of our adventures, to tell of our love, and perhaps, if we’re in a mood, kill a person or two.

We guide his hand as he tells our tales where love is the most powerful force, but must be worked for, molded, and finally, embraced. There can be no shortcuts or substitutions on the path to a happily ever after.

We hope you will join with us as Will fulfills his obligation to ensure our stories are told and, we hope, enjoyed.

You can find Parker Williams on his website, twitter and Facebook.

pride

More Than Love INTO THE BLUE–Review and Giveaway!

ITB-BannerHi there! Today I’m so excited to share a review and giveaway for a New Adult M/M romance from Pene Henson. INTO THE BLUE is a sweet and tender tale of two surfer best friends who fall harder than a breaking wave.

Catch the excerpt and be sure to enter into the book and $25 gift card giveaway below.

Into The Blue 1600px FRONT (Smashwords, Amazon)About the book:
Tai Talagi and Ollie Birkstrom have been inseparable since they met as kids surfing the North Shore. Now they live with their best friends in a pulled-together family, sharing life and the saltwater in their veins.

Tai’s spent years setting aside his feelings for Ollie, but when Ollie’s pro surfing aspirations come to fruition, their steady world shifts. Is the relationship worth risking everything for a chance at something terrifying and beautiful and altogether new?

How about a little taste?

Across from them, one of the Brazilians plays guitar. Ollie doesn’t recognize the song even when a couple of others sing along. The beach is wider and the sand finer than on the North Shore, but every beach is a little like home. Ollie misses the Blue House; he misses the surf and the palms and the shoreline he knows so well. He misses Jaime and Sunny and Hannah. Still, though he’s as far from home as he’s ever been, Ollie’s comfortable. These are his people, too. He leans back on his arms and looks up into the dark.

He’s watched the night sky since he was a little kid, but down here in the Southern Hemisphere he doesn’t recognize the hundreds upon hundreds of stars. The Southern Cross is up there. Ollie tries to orient himself.

Tai shifts toward him, then looks up and follows Ollie’s gaze. The warmth of Tai’s body settles into Ollie’s heart, grounds him. Ollie leans into him a little, and their arms brush to the elbow. The contact simmers in the air between them.

Unexpectedly, Ollie knows what he wants. “Come back to the hotel,” he says quietly to Tai. He pitches his voice low. It hums across the tiny space between them. No one else can hear him over the pounding surf and the sound of the music. It’s easy to be bold in the dark of a beach where Ollie’s never been before. He’s shocked by that same boldness.

Some thoughts on writing from Ms. Henson

Do you pay attention to literary criticism? If so, how do you handle it?
This is my first book and I’ve only had a few reviews so far. Those have been positive which is a joy, but with negative comments too, of course. Like every human I find it hard not to obsess over the negative and ignore the positive. I’m working on having a thick skin and being more realistic as I read. I am also trying to take those criticisms on board rather than thinking of them as insurmountable. And when it gets hard I ask my greatest cheerleaders to give me a pat on the back.

How do you come up with your titles?
This one started as OUT OF THE BLUE which was honestly an attempt at something sort of bright and a bit cheesy. I just threw it in as a working title. INTO THE BLUE started to seem more natural as barely anything in the book is a shock, but a lot of it is about being willing to let go and go deeper.

My next book had a long song lyric as a working title but a bit of brainstorming about the setting got me a lovely new title.

What new authors have grasped your interest?
I hate to mention some authors and not others, but I’m choosing the authors that captured me most quickly: Jude Sierra who has such a complex and soft-hearted understanding of humans alongside a poetic ability to describe the physical. And Michelle Osgood who writes women in love with women and whose characters are hilarious and strong.

What is the hardest part about writing?
Sometimes I find myself stalled and I think it’s lack of interest and battle with myself but then a few days later I realise there’s some critical plot or character point that I haven’t worked out properly. Those days are tough. And then also the daily grind of getting something from my head onto the page. I love it, and some days my fingers fly across the keys, but it can be hard some days.

Wow. I can relate to A LOT of that!

My Review:

Ollie and Tai have been best friends since childhood. They live together in a house with Ollie’s teen brother Jaime and two women, Sunny and Hannah. They’ve made their own family, as Ollie and Jaime are orphaned, and Ollie is Jaime’s guardian. Tai is an out gay man, and Ollie has no problem with that. They live on O’ahu in a run-down beachfront house that each adult chips in to afford, and many times in the past five years they have had trouble paying the rent and the electric.

Ollie and Jaime have a strained relationship; it’s not easy being the parent of a 16 year old. Tai, mediator and confidant, is the glue that holds them together most days. Add to that stress, Ollie’s career is in question. He had been set to join the pro surfing circuit two years ago, but an injury beached him. He’s rehabbed as much as he can, while working full-time at a resort, and knows that he’ll have one shot to regain his dream career:  to win one of two wildcard entries into the Bonzai Pipe Masters competition. If he makes that tourney, he could win some serious money–otherwise, he needs to enter the hospitality training program, so he can securely support himself and Jaime.

This is a romance, but it’s very quiet and develops over the course of several months. Ollie has virtually no sexual experience. By choice, it seems. He’s an introvert in the extreme, even has trouble allowing his closest friends to touch him, or be around him. Except Tai. Tai has always been there, and they have a very strong friendship. Tai makes surf boards, and helps train Ollie–has for years. Ollie’s on the cusp of greatness, and Tai can’t be more proud, but he could be more, for Ollie. He’s always been Ollie’s best friend, but Tai has held a serious love to Ollie for many years now.

I don’t want to give away too much plot, because a lot of it relates to Ollie’s successes or failures in surfing. That said, Ollie has some success, and his prize money is sufficient to pay the bills. He gets Tai to come along on a competition tour. Tai’s so good at relating to people, and calming Ollie, too. In fact, Ollie can’t conceive of a life without Tai in it. While his last several years have been a morass of grief and injury, scrabbling to make ends meet, being with Tai on tour gives Ollie the space he needs to see that his affection for Tai is more amorous than he’d ever noticed. He’s so awkward, however, that he struggles to make this clear to Tai. Tai knows that going along with the “tour romance” will break his heart completely, but he also can’t resist the opportunity to make love to the only man he’s ever loved.

There are some steamy, and tender, bits, with Tai educating Ollie in the ways of sex. Naturally, when the tour ends, life gets pretty complicated. Ollie doesn’t know how to be in a relationship, and doesn’t think free-spirited Tai even wants one. Tai steps back, so he doesn’t hurt himself, or Ollie, any more than he already has. Their lives are changing; Ollie’s success brings experiences and opportunities that were unforeseen and are unwelcome, to some degree. Tai’s surfboards are gaining interest with pro surfers, thanks to Ollie’s performance. It means long hours and new partnerships–less time for hanging, or training, Ollie.

Can their friendship survive this new status quo? It doesn’t look likely. Nope, because Ollie wants more than Tai would have given any of his other hook-ups. And Tai’s scared to hand over his heart, if Ollie isn’t willing to love him completely. Spoiler alert: this book is an HEA, and it’s a fantastic one, at that. This make-shift family is so interesting, and the romance is so tender, I didn’t want it to end. The writing is lyrical and paced much the same as island time–we get there when we get there, mahalo. It gave the prose a lilting feel, and I adored the surfing terms and experiences, because this was a whole new world for me. Also, I liked the interracial romance, and the strong community that surround Ollie and Tai.

Interested?  You can find INTO THE BLUE on Goodreads, Interlude Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Smashwords, AllRomance, Book Depository, and Indiebound.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link for your chance to win a $25 Interlude Press Gift Card or one of FIVE first prizes of an e-copy of ‘Into the Blue’ by Pene Henson.
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
Pene Henson has gone from British boarding schools to New York City law firms. She now lives in Sydney, Australia, where she is an intellectual property lawyer and published poet who is deeply immersed in the city’s LGBTQIA community. She spends her spare time enjoying the outdoors and gazing at the ocean with her gorgeous wife and two unexpectedly exceptional sons. Into the Blue is her first novel.

You can find Pene on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
pride

True Love For An ANGEL UNDONE–Excerpt and Review

Angel Undone BannerHi there! Today I’m sharing a review for a new supernatural M/M romance from Leta Blake. ANGEL UNDONE features a disenchanted archangel who unexpectedly falls for a closeted Jew.

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000038_00050]About the book:
The Archangel Michael is tired. He fought wars and shoved his brother Lucifer out of heaven all before the Dark Ages rolled around. His role as protector of Israel now encompasses all of humanity, and while he performs his job perfectly, there’s little personal joy in it.

Until one night in a bar when he meets Asher.

Michael isn’t sure what it is about the vulnerable, self-deprecating Asher that calls to him, but something about the restrained depths of Asher, his gentle smiles and encyclopedic knowledge of flowers, tugs at Michael in a way that can’t be denied. Too bad romance isn’t part of his mission.

Facing an eternity of perfect submission to God’s authority, rebellion stirs in Michael. Questions of free will, angelic vocation, and the role of love and lust demand answers that just might cost Michael his place in heaven.

How about a little taste?

Angel wings aren’t easy to fold into the shape of human scapulae, but Michael is accustomed to the strain and hardly breaks a sweat. He forces the long primaries to bend into the upper wing coverts, and then, in moves like feathered origami, he tucks it all in again, before smoothing them under flawless human skin.

He glances in the modest hotel room’s bathroom mirror and pulls on the dark brown shirt that will set off his eyes, before running a hand through his blond, curly hair. The light of his angelic grace glows from his pores, too bright to escape notice, and with a small exertion of will he tamps it back.

Though human form is confining and uncomfortable, the time has long passed when dropping down in a blaze of angelic righteousness was appropriate. Now covert operations pay the dividends of souls delivered from jeopardy. Even if Michael’s skin feels too tight, and his wings are already aching, protection is his business and discomfort is a small sacrifice.

After tightening the laces on the leather, soft-soled Clarks he keeps for nights of trawling the Mercy Street bars, he kneels by the sliding glass door to the balcony and looks up at the stars. It’s a fallacy that heaven is up there somewhere. Heaven is everywhere all at once, and yet when Michael dons human skin, he finds his eyes drawn to the sky when he prays.

He rises. Time to go.

My Review:
Michael is a protector of man, walking the Earth and fulfilling what acts of kindness and mercy he can, based on his directives from God. He’s done this a long time, and finds his joy is fleeting. In short, he’s lonely.

One evening, he’s sent to find Asher, a lonely closeted gay man who has never acted on his urges, out of respect for his devout and homophobic parents. The time they spend together fulfills Michael in a way he hasn’t been in centuries. He is supposed to only assist Asher to feel goo about himself, but Michael can’t leave it for one night only. He seeks out Asher again and again.

As they build a relationship, Michael struggles to keep his activities from God, and fears of being cast down, like Lucifer. Would it be so bad? To gain to love of his human, at the risk of losing his connection to God?

This is a sweet and tender novella, with really interesting existential questions. I liked how Michael had a real dilemma, and an untrustworthy confidant who *may* have the answers. Is Asher’s love a test? Or, a gift?

There’s a few yummy sexytimes, and an angel who does his best to love a human, even when it’s a bit of a disaster. Asher is so earnest, and compassionate, and he falls hard for Michael, even as he learns Michael’s big secrets. Asher and Michael are good for each other, and the story ends with an HEA.

Interested? You can find ANGEL UNDONE on Goodreads, Amazon (US and UK) Barnes & Noble, AllRomance , and Smashwords.

About the Author:
Author of the best-selling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.

You can find out more on her website, Facebook and twitter.

IndiGo

Practicing Kink for the RISK AWARE– A Review

Hi there. Today I’m sharing a review for a new contemporary BDSM M/M romance from Amelia C. Gormley. I really enjoyed her dystopian future books, JUGGERNAUT, STRAIN and BANE, and I jumped at the chance to read RISK AWARE. This one is a different type of kink, and I really enjoyed it.

Risk AwareAbout the book:
Tattoo artist Geoff Gilchrest is convinced his life is some sort of cosmic joke. Why else would a hemophiliac also be a masochist? He’s given himself more than one elbow bleed since puberty just doing what guys do when alone and bored, so forget about whips and chains. How many partners would contemplate playing with someone even a mild flogging could kill?

Gallery owner Robin Brady knows he can deliver what Geoff needs: to be taken to the edge of danger but never beyond. But Robin came to Saugatuck to get away from the leather scene and heal from a betrayal by his former sub, so he’s not sure he should get involved with Geoff. His ambivalence isn’t helped by the fact that Geoff’s unwillingness to communicate about his well-being hits Robin in some very raw places.

Geoff’s hemophilia isn’t the obstacle he thinks it is. Instead, a lack of trust—on both their parts—is what could end them before they have a chance to begin.

My Review:
4.5 stars for this contemporary M/M BDSM story.

Geoff Gilchrist is an adult hemophiliac who is also gay. Hemophelia is a disorder of the blood which prevents clotting when a vessel is broken. Thus, even small cuts or bruises could lead to life-endangering medical problems. Years of his mother’s extreme overprotectiveness, may have saved his life. Growing up in the 80s/90s before the blood supply was considered secure meant sure transmission of disease to people requiring transfusions. It’s true that many hemophiliacs contracted HIV, Hepatitis, and other diseases as a result of receiving infected blood. Geoff’s mother, who had recently died, urged him to stay closeted–because she was sure he’d end up being beaten in a hate crime and bleed to death.

Geoff’s sexual desire is in BDSM, very rough sex, and kink. Not that he can have any of that, safely. Still, he craves it, and is fascinated by the idea of lashings that draw his hated, defective blood. He goes to a gay resort in Michigan with a good friend, and their vacation coincides with a Leather Man meet-up. There, experienced Dom Robin Brady is attracted to Geoff’s gangly features and shameless want. Robin thinks that Geoff is just a newbie, but the reality is a wedge between them. Geoff is nearly so desperate to gain the sexual experience he desires that he doesn’t tell Robin about his condition, at first. Robin can’t consent to being Geoff’s Dom if he doesn’t understand what Geoff would require as a sub–and that includes his medical care, in this case.

See, it’s all about RACK: Risk Aware Consensual Kink. Robin can’t give consent if he doesn’t understand how to safely play with Geoff. Robin does think he can give Geoff many of his desires, even if it’s not the way Geoff originally envisioned them. I found it fascinating, truly, how Robin was able to conceive scenes that were safe for Geoff, and yet challenged him. This book has a lot of sex. It also has a lot of blood, pain, and misunderstandings. At different points, Geoff has to be honest–and not just about his disease. Then again, Robin has some damage from his most recent relationship debacle, and that causes him to pull back when he should reach forward.

It was interesting the different stigmas present. Geoff was shunned for being a hemophiliac as a child. He was assumed to be diseased (of the HIV variety) when he wasn’t, and assumed to be gay if he had (even if he didn’t) HIV. All of this faulty circular logic was prejudiced and ignorant and he struggled to be normal in a world that didn’t accept him. He is loathe to accept help or solicitousness from anyone, as a result of his mother’s extreme parenting. It takes him a while to really trust Robin, but Robin is awesome at pushing those boundaries and getting help when needed. Naturally, a hemophiliac is easily bruised. One who engages in rough BDSM play, like Geoff craves, is going to get hurt at some point. And, the medical/legal community is not especially keyed in to kink-related injury. I could full-well imagine how grimly they would look on the bruises Geoff considered preen-worthy badges.

I’m not a fan of blood play, but this is the first book I’ve read where I truly understood it. Geoff has a very love-hate relationship with his blood. He hates his condition, and wants to be normal. That the care of Geoff was clearly Robin’s first consideration made all this easier to understand. They invested a lot of time to knowledge and training, so that Robin could give Geoff treatments to facilitate blood clotting, and prevent spontaneous bleeds. Robin invested himself so completely it was easy to expect that these guys were in it for the long run.

I’ve read a lot of BDSM in the last few years, but this one is different. I like that if features a character who is chronically ill, to the point of slight disability. I like that it addressed prejudices within, and outside of, the kink community. The sexytimes were really well written, and had kink that was believable for the characters. It’s a book that’s going to stay with me.

Interested? You can find RISK AWARE on Goodreads, Riptide Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and AllRomance. I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

About the Author:
Amelia C. Gormley published her first short story in the school newspaper in the 4th grade, and since then has suffered the persistent delusion that enabling other people to hear the voices in her head might be a worthwhile endeavor. She’s even convinced her hapless spouse that it could be a lucrative one as well, especially when coupled with her real-life interest in angst, kink, social justice issues, and pretty men.

When her husband and son aren’t interacting with the back of her head as she stares at the computer, they rely on her to feed them, maintain their domicile, and keep some semblance of order in their lives (all very, very bad ideas—they really should know better by now.) She can also be found playing video games and ranting on Tumblr, seeing as how she’s one of those horrid social justice warriors out to destroy free speech, gaming, geek culture, and everything else that’s fun everywhere.

You can find her self-published Impulse trilogy almost anywhere ebooks are sold, and check out her catalog of Riptide Publishing releases at their website.

You can contact Amelia on Twitter, Facebook, GoodReads.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Love After Loss, A PATCHWORK PARADISE–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for a new contemporary M/M romance from Indra Vaughn. PATCHWORK PARADISE is a friends-to-lovers story about a man who survives the death of his love–and find love again in ways he never expected.

Patchwork ParadiseAbout the book:
Oliver and Samuel’s relationship is fairy-tale perfect. They share a gorgeous house in Antwerp, go out with their friends every weekend, and count down the days to their dream wedding. But their happy ending is shattered one late night, and just like that, Ollie is left bereft and alone.

The months that follow are long and dark, but slowly Ollie emerges from his grief. He even braves the waters of online dating, though deep down he doesn’t believe he can find that connection again. He doesn’t think to look for love right in front of him: his bisexual friend Thomas, the gentle giant with a kind heart and sad eyes who’s wanted him all along.

When Thomas suddenly discovers he has a son who needs him, he’s ill prepared. Ollie opens up his house—Sam’s house—and lets them in. Ollie doesn’t know what scares him more: the responsibility of caring for a baby, or the way Thomas is steadily winning his heart. It will take all the courage he has to discover whether or not fairy tales can happen for real.

My Review:
Ollie and Sam are childhood friends and have been boyfriends for a decade–their whole adult lives. They live together in a house Sam inherited from his grandmother, and look forward to their wedding in a month. Then Sam is killed by a mugger and Ollie’s life dives into the deep, dark, depression end. We really get a sense of Ollie’s loss, as he struggles to get out of bed, exist alone, walk through the house where he and Sam planned their lives out. It’s truly heart-wrenching.

Ollie and Sam’s mutual friends try to get Ollie moving on. Thomas, in particular, isn’t happy that Cleo is pushing Ollie to date again–even six months after Sam was laid to rest. Ollie isn’t sure what the subtext of that frustration is, but he’s also not sure that he should be dating again. He’d thought Sam was his one true love, and even making a connection with another man leaves him weeping. Thing is, Ollie never did see the way Thomas looked at him–as someone he always wanted to date. They’ve been friends for five years, and Thomas has dated more men–and women–than Ollie can count. Just when Ollie has the courage to talk with Thomas about their misunderstanding, Thomas decides to take off for a six-month tour around Europe. He and Ollie maintain constant contact via the phone, but things get messy when Thomas finds a companion. And when that seems to fizzle, well, there’s another complication–in the form of Thomas’ unexpected newborn son, Milo.

Wow.

Thomas is a wreck, and Milo’s mom is a wreck, but neither of them want anything much to do with the other despite their unplanned child. That said, Milo’s mom is experiencing post-partum depression and needs Thomas to care for Milo–enter Ollie to the rescue. Of sorts. He’s got a big empty house, and his mother’s able to child-sit. That said, Ollie’s charmed by the little screamer, and having both Thomas and Milo under his roof allows him to re-envision his life. Sam had never wanted children, and Ollie thought he was comfortable with that. Helping Thomas care for Milo gives Ollie a glimpse of parenthood he’d never had–and he discovers he truly wants it. There are some money considerations, not the least of which is Sam’s parents who want Sam’s house to be sold, and it’s one issue too many for Ollie and Thomas to overcome, perhaps. These guys have known each other for years, might could love one another, share a house and child-care duty–and yet have NEVER been on a date together. So, yeah, everything backwards. The sexual tension is really high, and the slow burn pulls us through Ollie’s despair and depression, and Thomas’ anxiety, giving a hopefulness to the story that I really needed.

Also, Ollie is a scream as a pseudo-daddy. I definitely enjoyed his novice caregiving perspective, and how willing he was to accept both Thomas and Milo into his life. Ollie’s such a sweet soul, and his grief is so acutely rendered that I sank right into it. I also loved the little insights I gleaned of Belgium, which was a unique setting for me as a reader. Thomas is a good man, and he never pressured Ollie to move on, or to love him, despite his own intense feelings for Ollie. Neither man wants to ruin their friendship, and the tentative steps they make toward becoming lovers are tender and well-considered.

Interested? You can find PATCHWORK PARADISE on Goodreads, Riptide Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and AllRomance. I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

About the Author:

After living in Michigan, USA for seven wonderful years, Indra Vaughn returned back to her Belgian roots. There she will continue to consume herbal tea, do yoga wherever the mat fits, and devour books while single parenting a little boy and working as a nurse.

The stories of boys and their unrequited love will no doubt keep finding their way onto the page–and hopefully into readers hands–even if it takes a little more time.

And if she gleefully posts pictures of snow-free streets in winter, you’ll have to forgive her. Those Michigan blizzards won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

You can catch up with Indra on her website, Facebook and twitter.

Thanks for popping in  and keep reading my friends!

Surviving a BLOW DOWN

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for a contemporary M/M mystery/romance from JL Merrow. I’ve recently enjoyed her recent books, PLAYED! and OUT! so I stepped into her murder-mystery M/M romance Plumber’s Mate series, and I was not disappointed! BLOW DOWN is the fourth book in the series, but I had no trouble loving it despite not reading the earlier books.

About the book:
Death is what happens while you’re making other plans.
The last thing newly engaged plumber Tom Paretski needs is to stumble over another dead body. He’s got enough on his mind already as the reality of his impending marriage sinks in. Not only is his family situation complicated, his heroism at a pub fire made him a local celebrity. Now everyone and their uncle wants a piece of his psychic talents.

Hired to find a missing necklace, Tom and his fiancé, private investigator Phil Morrison, wind up trying to unmask a killer—and there’s no shortage of suspects, up to and including the local bishop himself.

As Tom and Phil try to uncover the truth, they find themselves pulled in all directions by the conflicting pressures of their families and their own desires. But the murderer they’re up against is a ruthless schemer who won’t hesitate to kill again. If Tom and Phil aren’t careful, their love—and all their plans for the future—could be blown down like a house of straw.

Warning: Contains a bishop of questionable Christian charity, a necklace of questionable taste, and a plumber of questionable nationality who may be running out of time.

My Review:
This is the fourth book in a series, but I didn’t have any trouble enjoying it without having read the previous three books.

Tom Paretsky is a plumber with a skill that allows him to find “lost” things. Unfortunately, he often finds dead bodies, it seems. He’s newly engaged to Phil Morrison, a private investigator. Tom’s called in as a favor to his sister Cherry, to find something lost, a valuable diamond necklace, for uppity Amelia Fenchurch-Majors. This puts him on the cross side of Amelia’s step-daughter, Violet Majors.

And, when he discovers a body in the midst of the church picnic fundraiser it’s a big, big problem.

Okay, so this is a mystery and it has lots of peril–some bits more mild than others–but it’s also a character study. Tom is fantastic. His language is sublime. I never, for an instant, was confused about his Britishness.

“So, I’ve had everyone and his bloody dog asking me all kinds of crap ever since, up to and including Will it rain tomorrow? and Can you just fill in this lottery form for me? ta very much.”
“That’s just silly. You can’t do anything like that.” She paused. “Can you?”
“Sis, I live in a two-bed semi in Fleetville. What do you think? But try telling them that. Everyone seems to think psychic means whatever they bloody well want it to mean.

Tom and Phil are a sweet couple, still trying to figure out what to do with their relationship. When will they marry? Where? Will they move to Tom’s house, Phil’s flat or elsewhere? Tom has yet to meet Phil’s family–and that’s a fun Sunday roast dinner scene.

Seriously, I was so entertained by Tom I almost didn’t care at all about the murder mystery. Though, the investigation continues and it’s complicated and sordid and there’s plenty of dead-ends and fits and starts. Tom has such a fun and fresh outlook. His dry humor just sings to my soul. I love his bestie, Gary, who makes it perfectly clear that he and his hubs wouldn’t mind a bit of four-way with Tom and Phil. Those sassy blokes! This regular-guy-with-a-gift mystery is just good reading. Expect a harrowing moment or two; the killer sure doesn’t want a psychic getting the better of him (or her!) and might take the opportunity to snuff Tom’s candle. Little bit of sexytimes, but it’s not a big part of this story at all. That said, I liked that their relationship progressed nicely, and in a way that very likely leads us into further mystery stories down the pike.
Sign me up!

Interested? You can find BLOW DOWN on Goodreads, Riptide Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Kobo. I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

About the Author:
JL Merrow is that rare beast, and English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again. Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.

She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and and mysteries, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy and her novella Muscling Through and novel Relief Valve were both EPIC Awards Finalists.

JL Merrow is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, International Thriller Writers, Verulam Writers’ Circle and the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.

Find JL Merrow online on her website, twitter and Facebook.

signal boost

Living An Undefined Life: GAYS OF OUR LIVES–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a release day review for a new contemporary M/M romance form Kris Ripper. GAYS OF OUR LIVES is the first in a new series of contemporary LGBTQ romances that are built soap-opera-style around the queer community in La Vista, California. I really enjoyed it.

Gays of Our LivesAbout the book:
Emerson Robinette only leaves his apartment to get laid and go to work. Having MS—and trying to pretend he doesn’t—makes everything more complicated, especially his fantasies of coming on strong and holding a guy down. Finding a partner who’ll explore that with him isn’t Emerson’s idea of a realistic goal.

Until a chance meeting with a hipster on a bus makes him reconsider. Obie is happy, open-hearted, and warm; what’s more, he gets his kicks being physically dominated, spanked, and teased until he’s begging. It would be perfect, except for one thing: Emerson isn’t made for happiness, and he doesn’t see how a guy like Obie would settle for a cynic like him.

But as far as Obie’s concerned, the only thing keeping them apart is Emerson. Can Emerson handle a boyfriend who’s more invested in his future than he is? Emerson’s barely convinced he has a future. But when Obie’s smiling at him, anything seems possible.

My Review:
Emerson is a 28 year old man who learned he had MS (multiple sclerosis) just under a year ago. He’s not at all happy. Nope. He has no family connections, one solid friend, and one close acquaintance. He teaches English language classes and GED-prep classes at a community center, in addition to some other administrative tasks. The random pain and general fatigue of MS, in Emerson’s experience, has soured much of everything for him. Even sex, because he’d love to be the dominant lover he admires from porn. But, he’s wasting away and barely able to keep himself upright, most days. So how can he manhandle a lover into submission, huh?

It’s not super trendy to be the bitter cripple, but sometimes I can’t help it. I hate this. I hate that I can’t trust my body. I hate that there’s no cure. I hate that some people with MS seem totally fine, like you can’t tell their body is betraying them, and I’m this skinny prick who can’t even get sucked off in a bathroom without falling apart.
I didn’t bang my head into the wall. Self-pity is so much prettier when you don’t have blood running down your face.

Emerson meets Obie on his bus to work. The attraction is instant, and infuriating. Obie’s a hipster and still over-friendly. He wants Emerson, and that only gets stronger when he recognizes Emerson’s got a kinky streak. I must say, Obie is a treasure. His positivity rattles Emerson, sets him emotionally off-balance time and again. Where Emerson would like to curl up in a ball, Obie’s determined to pull him out of himself. That was so endearing. And, I loved Emerson’s response to Obie–most of the time.

Then he was kissing me, and yeah, give me fucking more of that. I bit lightly on his lower lip and he grabbed my waist.
Not so much, son. I shifted my weight and turned both of us, leading with my right leg, until I could press him against the door.
He groaned. And, god, he had a sexy groan.

I get having a chronic illness. I get being depressed about it. Emerson wallows, and I got that, too. I dug how Obie turned his world around, made Emerson realize that, yeah, MS sucks, but it doesn’t have to define you. They have some pretty intense sexytimes, where Emerson turns Obie inside out, in ways he hadn’t quite envisioned, but still were thoroughly satisfying. Obie’s a real creative sort–and I don’t exclusively mean in the bedroom. His attention and his compassion give Emerson the license to confide, to depend upon another person in ways he hasn’t done since being a young child. See, Emerson is wound so tight, he’s trapped in a shroud of self-sufficiency, and I absolutely related to his inability to ask for help. Having a steady partner, like Obie, opens Emerson so that he reaches out for more help when its needed–and he even offers help to others, notably Obie’s psuedo-sister, the very pregnant, not-so-happy, Mildred. Mildred is an emotional mirror of Emerson, and they bond over their collective misery.

The book moved in ways I enjoyed, especially as I hadn’t predicted them. I pretty much lost my heart to Obie, much the same as Emerson, and I was so glad that they had an HEA. It also looks as if Emerson has found himself more than a boyfriend, he’s constructed a new family that accepts him as he is, even if he isn’t rainbows and sunshine and never will be.

Interested? You can find GAYS OF OUR LIVES on Goodreads, Riptide Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and AllRomance.

****GIVEAWAY****

There’s a Riptide-organized blog tour featuring excerpts and insights–and you can enter to win by commenting on the listed blogs. Kris is offering a book from zir backlist as the prize. So, check it out!

About the Author:
Kris Ripper lives in the great state of California and hails from the San Francisco Bay Area. Kris shares a converted garage with a toddler, can do two pull-ups in a row, and can write backwards. (No, really.) Kris is genderqueer and has no pronoun preference, but the z-based pronouns are freaking sweet. Ze has been writing fiction since ze learned how to write and boring zir stuffed animals with stories long before that.

Catch up with Kris on zir website, Goodreads, Facebook and twitter.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!

Is This Really TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?—Excerpt and Giveaway!

BannerTemplate(28)Hi there! I’m so excited to get the word out on a contemporary M/M romance from Deanna Wadsworth. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE is the fifth book in her 1Night Stand series, but it’s easily enjoyed as a standalone

Catch the excerpt and book giveaway, below!

TooGoodToBeTrueFinal_1300x2000About the book:
Disgraced former FBI agent Tim Burkhart desperately wants to reclaim his life and find happiness. Relocating his fledgling private security company to Miami—where his ex-wife moved their two daughters—hopefully is a start. When he’s hired to provide protection for an antiques dealer on his way to Scotland to sell a priceless ancient dirk, Tim believes the break he’s been waiting for has finally arrived. Maybe now he can make enough money to hire a lawyer and get shared parenting of his little girls.

Elliot James runs the antique shop he inherited after his grandfather’s death. Lonely and swimming in debt, he longs for a way to turn his life around but keeps making one mistake after another. Then he finds the ancient dirk tucked away among junk as he’s cleaning out his grandfather’s home. Placing it up for sale, he is thrilled when an out of country buyer purchases the priceless antique. The buyer wants the dirk immediately and sends Tim to ensure Elliot safely delivers it on time.

The moment Tim and Elliot meet, however, everything falls apart. Between break-ins, shoot-outs, stalkers, totaled cars, and the cops, it seems Tim and Elliot will never get to Scotland by the deadline. Despite all the obstacles, an unexpected attraction pulls them together, offering each man a glimmer of hope. But if they don’t deliver the dirk on time, they won’t get paid and neither of them will be able to pick up the pieces of their lives.
Will they complete this job and find a happily ever after, or is all of this really too good to be true?

How about a little taste?

Staring down the sights of his Colt 1911 and into the panicked eyes of the young man, Tim said, “Keep your hands where I can see ’em. I want to know where Mr. James is and why you’re in his store.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Tim saw a flash of metal. Instinctively he dropped to the floor. The sharp crack of a bullet shot through the store, shattering something on his left.
The guy behind the counter made a run for the door.
Tim rolled behind the armoire, gritting his teeth when the door slammed shut and the first guy got away. Careful to stay out of sight, Tim assessed the shooter who’d come from the back room. He looked as young and inexperienced as the one who’d run. Tim recognized the weapon in his hand—a 9mm semi-automatic Beretta. Though Tim’s .45 could out-shoot the little pea-shooter at the range, he had no interest in finding out who was the better shot in real life.
“¿Adónde vas? ¡Esperame!” the shooter yelled to his retreating friend.
Wait for me. Tim knew enough Spanish. The guy planned to make a run for it, too. He clambered to his feet. Before he could tackle and subdue him, the kid aimed his Beretta in the general direction of the armoire and fired off a volley of shots.
“Shit!” Tim dove behind a stack of rugs to dodge the bullets.
The gun went silent.
Tim rolled fast onto his back, his 1911 aimed, only to watch the kid flying out the door behind his friend. The door bounced a few times until it closed, the bells clanging.
“Shit! Shit!”
The scraping sounds in the back room, louder than before, drew his attention once more.
As fast as he could, he crept around the counter, his heart pounding. Both hands on his gun, trigger finger resting on the frame and trigger guard, he took a quick peek into the room, ducking back before a possible third perp could make him.
In less than a heartbeat, his brain registered what he’d seen. He exhaled. Keeping his gun lowered but at-the-ready, he entered.
In the center of what looked like a storage room sat the man Tim had been hired to escort to Scotland. He’d been gagged and duct-taped to a chair.
Elliot James.
“Is anyone else here?” Tim murmured.
Mr. James shook his head wildly.
With a relieved sigh, he rushed over to the man and yanked the gag out. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” He gasped for air. “I’m fine.”
“Were there only two?” he clarified, eyes still peeled for danger.
“Yeah,” he managed, his face flushed and startling green eyes wide. Sandy-brown curls fell across the brow of a very frightened but very beautiful man. He took a few slow, ragged breaths, obviously trying to calm himself. “Just the two of them.”
Tim took a steadying breath of his own and slowly released the hammer on his Colt and flipped the safety up, never taking his gaze off Mr. James. “What happened?” He holstered the weapon then tore the duct tape from the man’s wrist.
“Aarrghh!” Mr. James jumped, the chair bouncing.
Tim winced when he noticed the arm hairs stuck to the tape in his hand. “Sorry ’bout that.” He paused over the other strip. “This one’s gonna hurt, too.”
Mr. James pursed his lips and nodded bravely. He let out a tiny hiss when Tim freed his second arm. That one didn’t take as much hair because a silver bracelet had protected most of the skin. Obviously, those punks had been amateurs in restraining.
“Sorry,” Tim said again.
Rubbing his wrists, he let out a breathy laugh. “It’s okay. Thank you for saving my life.”
“I believe that’s what I was paid for. I’m Tim Burkhart, your private security detail.”
Mr. James’s smile made his heart flutter. No, probably just the adrenaline. Tim didn’t get butterflies.
“Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Burkhart.”
“Call me Tim.” He stood and withdrew his phone. He gestured toward his bound legs. “You okay to get those? I gotta call the cops.”
“No!”
Tim almost dropped his phone when Mr. James shouted. He gaped at the man. “What do you mean no?”
Prying tape off of his khaki pants, the man paused. Those big green eyes grew even wider. “You can’t call the cops. My whole life depends on it!”

Some insights from author Deanna Wadsworth:

Hi, Deanna, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

How do you develop your plots and characters?

I can’t really say where my muse gets her ideas from, but plots tend to just pop into my head as fully developed stories. The characters however are more one dimensional until I begin writing. Then the characters kinda teach me who they are and I learn as I write them

 

Who doesn’t love a good hero? Tell us about your protagonists. Was there a real life inspiration behind them?

No real life inspiration, LOL but Tim and Elliot are just normal guys in a bad place. Tim is a former FBI agent trying to get his life back on track after an ugly divorce. He sees this private security job protecting Elliot and an ancient Scottish dirk as a way to fix his financial worries. What he doesn’t know, is that it’s also going to fix his romantic worries as well.

Elliot is a high strung antiques dealer living by himself and swimming in business debt his grandfather left him after his death. Elliot could sell the shop but it’s all he’s ever known and he is afraid to venture out on his own. Fortunately he discovers the dirk and if he can get it to Scotland on time to please his demanding buyer, he just might live happily ever after.

 

What real-life inspirations do you use when world building?

Depends on what I’m working on. I am a hairdresser by trade and I talk to so many kinds of people and I hear the wildest stories. When I wrote TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, I relied on the hubby’s knowledge of firearms to make Tim’s use of a gun believable and natural. I asked a few detective clients I have about some of the cop stuff, and the EMT in the book is really my friend JD who helped make that scene read true. I also picked the hubby’s brain for all the motorcycle bits in EASY RYDER. So I pretty much ask a lot of questions of the experts that I know until the scene is right and when that avenue is exhausted (aka annoyed) there is always Google, LOL

 

Did you learn anything from this book and what was it?

LOL. I learned the names for all the parts of a Colt 1911!

 

It’s your last meal on earth. What do you choose?

Hmmm, well if I’m going out it’s with a seven course spread! I looooove food….

The first course would be my girlfriend’s homemade grape leaves with hummus, feta and olives. Second course, big crab cakes loaded with crabmeat. Third course, crusty warm bread with a gorgeous pesto and plenty of olive oil for dipping. Fourth course, gazpacho with the fresh tomatoes from my garden. Fifth course would be a bubbly, crispy pizza with mushrooms, onions and ham. Sixth course would switch up to shrimp and lobster tail with a baked potato on the side, loaded with butter and sour cream. And I’d bring it all home with a slice of homemade strawberry pie.

LOL I think it would be my last meal because I would explode!

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE sure sounds like a fun one night stand…and then some!

Interested? You can find TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE on Goodreads, Decadent Publishing, Amazon and AllRomance.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link for your chance to win a copy of TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE (one winner) or a backlist title (three winners!).
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
Deanna Wadsworth might be a bestselling erotica author, but she leads a pretty vanilla life in Ohio with her wonderful husband and a couple adorable cocker spaniels. She has been spinning tales and penning stories since childhood, and her first erotic novella was published in 2010. She has served multiple board positions at her local RWA chapter and with Rainbow Romance Writers of America. When she isn’t writing books or brainstorming with friends, you can find her making people gorgeous in a beauty salon. She loves music and dancing, and can often be seen hanging out on the sandbar in the muddy Maumee River or chilling with her hubby and a cocktail in their basement bar. In between all that fun, Deanna cherishes the quiet times when she can let her wildly active imagination have the full run of her mind. Her fascination with people and the interworkings of their relationships have always inspired her to write romance with spice and love without boundaries.

You can find Deanna on her Website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, goodreads, Amazon and Instagram.

You can also find her young adult alter ego, K.D. Worth Facebook and Twitter.

Buy Deanna’s books at Dreamspinner Press, Decadent Publishing or at any reputable eBook seller like Amazon

pride