Lillian Francis - Author: May 2018

Thursday, 31 May 2018

Book Blast and Review - Just a Year by Jena Wade

BOOK BLAST

BOOK 1

Book Title: Just A Week (#1)

Author: Jena Wade

Publisher: Self Published

Cover Artist: Silver Heart Design Studio www.silverheartstudio.com

Release Date: May 12, 2018

Genre/s: Contemporary Gay Romance

Book 1 of 2

Goodreads

Blurb

Just a week is not enough time to fall in love, but Fate doesn’t care. Seth’s carefully crafted plan for how his life will go doesn’t include falling in love with a guy in his horrible hometown. He wants to start a new life anywhere but at home. Until Maddox storms in with his multi-colored hair and carefree attitude.

Long distance relationships don’t work and Seth isn’t into gambling with his future. But the more time he spends with Maddox, the more he’s willing to throw caution to the wind. Now his plan for the rest of his life has been turned upside down and seems to include things Seth never thought possible, including a lifetime of happiness in his hometown.

Buy Link - Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US

Amazon UK

BOOK 2

Book Title: Just A Year (#2)

Author: Jena Wade

Publisher: Self Published

Cover Artist: Silver Heart Design Studio www.silverheartstudio.com

Release Date: May 12, 2018

Book 2 of 2

Genre/s: Contemporary Gay Romance

Length: 22,000 Words

Goodreads

Blurb

Just a year is too much time to spend apart from the man you love, but Seth has a carefully crafted plan for how to make it work. Taking an internship four hours away from Maddox may not have been the smartest choice Seth has ever made, but he is determined to make it work. Until life throws a wrench in his plans and turns his and Maddox’s world upside down.

My Two Pennies Worth

Just a Week and Just a Year are both short reads, approx 1 hour each. Book 1, Just a Week, deals with the meeting of Seth, a man who always has a plan for everything, and Maddox, a free spirit, and the almost instant attraction that turns Seth's life upside down and threatens his life plan. This first book is a cute opposites attract story about finding that someone who makes you want to take chances and step outside your comfort zone. As the title suggests the main action take place over the space of a week, with a later epilogue.

Just a Year picks up the story of Seth and Maddox some 18 months later. This story has more serious themes, including some selfish decisions by Seth and the strain this puts on their relationship.

If I have a problem, it's with the covers. Maddox is a free spirit. The first time we meet him he has spiky orange hair, then black, then blue, then purple. At one point in the second book he has pink hair. His main dress code is skinny jeans and T-shirts. Neither of these cover models resemble Maddox to me.

Both books are written in Seth's 1st person POV.

A couple of good quick reads. You fall in love with the characters in book 1 and are invested in them for book 2.

Excerpt from Just a Year

Just a year. No more, no less. Three hundred sixty-five days. Five hundred, twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes.

Great, now I would have the Rentsoundtrack playing in my head throughout the entire ceremony.

I took a deep breath and focused on the commencement speaker. After five long years, the last one and a half being the longest by far, I’d finished my degree. No more term papers, no more eight a.m. classes, no more all-nighters in the library so I could have a homework free weekend with my boyfriend.

Maddox.

He sat out there in the crowd with my parents. I felt his eyes on me, but I couldn’t see him. I’m not even sure which section they were in. The Breslin Center was filled to the brim with graduates and their families. All waiting for their individual name to be called so they could walk across the stage and collect a fake diploma. The real one wouldn’t arrive in the mail for a few weeks.

Just a year. That wasn’t that long, was it?

Maddox and I had survived the past year and a half getting to know each other over Skype and Facetime, chatting, Snapchatting, the works. Thank God for the digital age. On the rare occasions that we physically saw each other, well, I mean, I don’t really have to explain how those encounters went.

Jobs right out of college were hard to come by, everyone knew that. Maddox would understand.

Just a year.

“Seth Brown, Masters of Science in Marketing Research.”

I took a deep breath, walked across the stage, accepted my fake diploma from the university president, smiled for a picture and then I was done.

Five years, would have been six if I hadn’t busted my ass taking summer courses, done.

I smiled as I looked around the crowd, searching for Maddox. He’d make this whole thing worthwhile. It was his idea for me to walk at graduation. I was all set to skip it, but he insisted that I needed to do the traditional thing, and he and my parents would drive up for a nice visit.

Against the odds, I found him. His pink spiked hair stood out. How could it not? He grinned and waved frantically.

Worth it. Totally worth it. I would do anything to see that smile. To earn that smile.

Let’s hope it stayed in place after I told him about the job offer.

Just a year.

Buy Links - Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US

Amazon UK

About the Author

Jena began writing in January of 2013 as a New Year's Resolution--and so far she has stuck to it! She lives in Michigan. By day she works as a web developer, and at night she writes. Born and raised on a farm, she spends most of her free time outdoors, playing in the garden, or riding her horses. She also helps run the family dairy farm.

Social Media Links

Blog/Website

Twitter

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Tuesday, 29 May 2018

Review and Blog Tour - Alpha Heat by Leta Blake

A note from your blogger: I'd like to apologise to both Leta Blake and Signal Boost Promotions for not managing to post this on the agreed date.

This in no way makes up for my lapse but you can pick up Slow Heat (Book #1) for free at Amazon at the moment.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Length: 130,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Dar Albert @ Wicked Strange Designs

Heat of Love Series

Book #1 - Slow Heat - Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

A desperate young alpha. An older alpha with a hero complex. A forbidden love that can’t be denied.

Young Xan Heelies knows he can never have what he truly wants: a passionate romance and happy-ever-after with another alpha. It’s not only forbidden by the prevailing faith of the land, but such acts are illegal.

Urho Chase is a middle-aged alpha with a heartbreaking past. Careful, controlled, and steadfast, his friends dub him old-fashioned and staid. When Urho discovers a dangerous side to Xan’s life that he never imagined, his world is rocked and he’s consumed by desire. The carefully sewn seams that held him together after the loss of his omega and son come apart—and so does he.

But to love each other and make a life together, Xan and Urho risk utter ruin. With the acceptance and support of Caleb, Xan’s asexual and aromantic omega and dear friend, they must find the strength to embrace danger and build the family they deserve.

This gay romance novel by Leta Blake is the second in the Slow Heat universe. It’s 130,000 words, with a strong happy ending and a well-crafted, non-shifter Omegaverse. It features alphas, betas, omegas, male pregnancy, heat, and knotting. No cheating. Content warning for brief sexual violence.

My Two Pennies Worth

Book 1: Slow Heat

I think one of the reasons I can't really connect with MPREG books as a whole is less to do with the male pregnancy thing and more to do with the why. The reader suddenly discovers a man is pregnant and there is no reason behind it, or just a perfunctory mention. Not so with this book. Leta Blake has given us a whole well built backstory on the world and why male pregnancy is necessary (there are literally no female humans, due to THE GREAT DEATH). Making Jason a student was a stroke of genius because it allowed her to have a reason to introduce the world-building information without it appearing as info dumps.

I cried ugly tears in this one several times. I thought my heart would be ripped out when I read about Xan (Jason's best friend) and the last 20% of the book had me in tears almost constantly.

Jason was a sweetheart and Vale too independent (which was good) and full of self loathing (which was understandable). I didn't like Urho (until I did--you'll know when). In fact the whole group, including the cat, were great as an ensemble cast.

If you only read one MPREG book, make it this one.

Book 2: Alpha Heat

"If you only read one MPREG book, make it this one."

I lied in my last review, make it this one.

I made no bones in my last review that Xan broke me almost every time he appeared on the page in Slow Heat. Now we catch up with him five years later and committed to an omega. But his ability to break my heart remains. He hates himself and is wilfully self-destructive which is almost painfully to read but once he is happy, he is a joy. I think Xan is probably my favourite character from the series.

Both books, as you can imagine from the title, have their fair share of hot, sexy scenes although I think book #2 felt more sexual, with a slightly kinky edge.

Now I need Ray's story, because the possibility of a bearded bear of an omega turning up in that tale has me salivating.

May 15 - The Novel Approach, OMG Reads

May 19 - Love Bytes, My Fiction Nook, Cupcakes & Bookshelves, Mainely Stories

May 20 - MM Good Book Reviews

May 21 - Making It Happen, Dog-Eared Daydreams

May 22 - Bayou Book Junkie

May 23 - Mirrigold, Bayou Book Junkie, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Diverse Reader, Wicked Faerie's Tales & Reviews, V's Reads, Oh My Shelves, Lillian Francis, Sexy Erotic Xciting, Kimmer's Erotic Book Banter, Gay Media Reviews

May 24 - Joyfully Jay

Author Bio

Author of the bestselling 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.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/letablake

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LetaBlake

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letablake

Website: https://letablake.wordpress.com

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Cover reveal - Blood Bathory: Absence of the Sun by Ari McKay

Cover Design: Lou Harper @ Cover Affairs

Add to Goodreads

The Guardians of Gaia Series

Blood Bathory: Like The Night (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

Tyger tyger, burning bright…

As theriomorphs in the service of Gaia, Tyr Gustavson and his lover Aaron fought against the vampires aiding the Third Reich during WWII. But even the fierceness of Tyr’s tiger form couldn’t save Aaron from being torn apart when a mission went horribly wrong. Lost in his pain, Tyr remained feral until he was unwillingly recalled to Gaia’s service seventy years later.

In the forests of the night...

When fighter pilot Adam Carson’s plane was shot down, he thought the worst that could happen was being sent to a Nazi prison camp. Little did he know there were other monsters in the shadows, and one of them wanted to claim him. But refusing Elizabeth Bathory had a price. Adam was turned against his will and trapped in a coffin as punishment for his resistance.

What immortal hand or eye…

While hunting ghouls, Tyr and his colleagues discover Adam’s prison. Believing he could be an asset, Marielle Du Lac frees him. Adam joins the team and is drawn to Tyr, despite Tyr’s hatred of vampires. When Tyr rejects Adam out of fear, Adam accepts a suicidal mission to find Thrace, the original nosferatu. If their desperate plan works, the theriomorphs could destroy not only Elizabeth, but the sire of all vampires as well. But if it fails, they could unleash a force leading to the destruction of them all… and perhaps of Gaia herself.

About The Authors

Ari McKay is the professional pseudonym for Arionrhod and McKay, who have been writing together for over a decade. Their collaborations encompass a wide variety of romance genres, including contemporary, fantasy, science fiction, gothic, and action/adventure. Their work includes the Blood Bathory series of paranormal novels, the Herc’s Mercs series, as well as two historical Westerns: Heart of Stone and Finding Forgiveness. When not writing, they can often be found scheming over costume designs or binge watching TV shows together.

Arionrhod is a systems engineer by day who is eagerly looking forward to (hopefully) becoming a full time writer in the not-too-distant future. Now that she is an empty-nester, she has turned her attentions to finding the perfect piece of land to build a fortress in preparation for the zombie apocalypse, and baking (and eating) far too many cakes.

McKay is an English teacher who has been writing for one reason or another most of her life. She also enjoys knitting, reading, cooking, and playing video games. She has been known to knit in public. Given she has the survival skills of a gnat, she’s relying on Arionrhod to help her survive the zombie apocalypse.

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Release Blitz - Murder in New York by CJ Baty

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Murder in New York, The Pinkerton Man Series

Author: C.J. Baty

Cover Artist: Select-O-Grafix, LLC

Genre/s: M/M Mystery

Release Date: May 27, 2018

Buy Links: Amazon US // Amazon UK
The book will be available for a reduced price of $2.99 during the Release Blitz (instead of $4.99).

Goodreads

Blurb

Coming back to New York to see her ailing father, Lizzie Ferguson did not expect to find him healthy and newly married to a much younger woman. She, also, didn’t expect to connect with an old lover and childhood friend or be accused of killing her father. But, life has a way of knocking you to your knees when you least expect it.

Stiles Long had always regretted that the killer, from his first case as a Pinkerton Agent, had got away. Now, in New York it was happening again. The Hotel Astor Bar was a meeting place for men who enjoyed the company of men. And, some of them were being brutally murdered. When one of the suspects from the original case appears at the hotel, Stiles is torn between his desire to stop a killer and kiss the man senseless.

Two different cases, but some of the faces overlap from one to the other. Stiles and Lizzie are in a race to discover who the killers are before another body gets added to the count.

Trailer video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyVKUkxX7lQ

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyVKUkxX7lQ]

Excerpt

Michael O’Leary’s presence at the bar brought Stiles back to the present. He was dressed in a charcoal suit. His slim body moved with strong determination. As he approached the left end of the bar, he glanced across the room until his eyes saw Stiles. The sweet smile that spread across Michael’s face did funny things to Stiles insides. He quivered for a moment then smiled back, the reaction impossible to stop.

There were several younger men at the bar. One with dark curls framing an oval face. He wore a velvet evening coat the color of the night sky. Stiles had noticed him earlier but Gershon had distracted him with his departure.

“Michael,” the young man called out. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in ages. Why did you run out of here the other night?” He entwined his arm through Michael’s and led him to an empty space at the bar. He ordered them drinks and leaned in close to Michael to speak to him.

Stiles watched as the night wore on. Several men came and met with another man and left together. One young man stood out to Stiles. He appeared to be very nervous. His movements were stiff and not at all comfortable. Whenever someone would speak to him, he would jump and look around watching for something or possibly someone. A man several years older than Stiles approached the jumpy man and spoke to him. He noticeably relaxed as he accepted the drink he was offered, and a smile finally appeared on his face. He was very handsome and very young. Stiles estimated he was in his early twenties if that old. His face was angular and trim, not a hint of an evening beard appeared on his chin even at this late time of the day. The two were standing next to Michael and the man with the dark curls who wouldn’t let Michael out of his sight.

“Davis, I’m sorry but I am meeting someone tonight,” Stiles heard Michael say.

“What? I’m hurt Michael,” Davis answered. “How can you throw me aside like that?” He wiped at his eyes, though Stiles could see no tears.

“You’ll be just fine,” Michael said as he turned away from Davis. “Look, isn’t that Mr. Rupert over there.”

Davis looked across the room in the direction of a gray-haired man in a black suit with an emerald green tie. The pout disappeared from his face and he left Michael to join the man.

Michael approached Stiles table and bowed slightly.

“Is this seat taken?”

“No. Please sit.” Stiles motioned to the empty chair beside him.

A steward appeared asking for their drink orders and left as quickly as he had appeared.

“Davis seems quite a catch,” Stiles teased.

Michael looked down at his folded hands. There was a flush to his cheeks when he faced Stiles.

“We’ve met a few times. He’s not really interested in anything but having fun.”

The statement was leading but the steward arrived with their drinks and Stiles waited until he departed again to continue.

“What are you interested in?”

Michael circled his glass on the table with his index finger, making the ice clink. He lifted the glass and drank. Stiles watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed. His cock stiffened while he watched. Suddenly the room felt very warm.

“I know men like us aren’t supposed to want more than a dalliance to keep our urges at bay,” Michael sighed. “But what is wrong with wanting more.”

“More?”

“Why is it that only men who marry women have the right to a life time of companionship? Someone to celebrate with when things are good or someone to cling to when the day has been awful, is it really too much to want that?”

Stiles wasn’t sure what Michael was getting at and he really didn’t understand the idea. Was he talking about men being together as in marriage? That was impossible. Society would never accept an arrangement such as that. There were laws, even in America that would forbid it.

“I know what you are thinking, it’s against the law. But why? Why is it so wrong to want a permanent relationship? I know what I want—what I need— is against nature and God, but why is it wrong to want to be loved? Just because it’s a man’s body that I crave, a man’s touch to start my blood boiling, a man’s look of desire…” He quieted as he looked at Stiles.

Stiles could see it in Michael’s eyes. Desire burned there. Need so strong, his pupils had darkened to a forest green. He’d never seen another man look at him that way. It was more than lust and Stiles had no name for it.

He’d been half hard since the man had walked into the room, now his painfully erect cock was straining to break free from his trousers. Stiles didn’t know what Michael was talking about, but he did know that his own lust was going to overpower him soon.

This evening had not gone as planned. Now, all he could think of was getting Michael into bed and taking what he needed and what the other man clearly wanted.

“My room?” Michael choked out quietly.

They rose without taking their eyes off each other. Neither said a word as they walked from the lounge through the lobby to the elevator. Only their shoulders touched as they walked. Michael told the operator his floor and they rose slowly.

On the third floor, they walked side by side to a room half way down the right side of the hall. Michael withdrew a key from his trouser pocket and Stiles saw the bulge protruding at the front placket when Michael pushed his jacket aside. Lust raced through Stiles, hot and needy.

Giveaway

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card and a choice of ebook from C.J. Baty's backlist.

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About the Author

The dream of writing her own stories started in high school but was left on the back burner of life until her son introduced her to Fan Fiction and encouraged her to give it a try. She found that her passion for telling a story was still there and writing them down to share with others was much more thrilling than she had ever expected.

One thing she has learned from life and she is often heard to say is, “You are never too old to follow your dream!”

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Thursday, 24 May 2018

Listen with Lillian - Once Upon a Haunted Moor by Harper Fox

Once Upon a Haunted Moor by Harper Fox

Narrated by Tim Gilbert

Length: 2 hrs and 57 mins

Gideon Frayne has spent his whole working life as a policeman in the village of Dark on Bodmin Moor. It's not life in the fast lane, but he takes it very seriously, and his first missing-child case is eating him alive. When his own boss sends in a psychic to help with the case, he's gutted - he's a level-headed copper who doesn't believe in such things, and he can't help but think that the arrival of clairvoyant Lee Tyack is a comment on his failure to find the little girl. But Lee is hard to hate, no matter how Gideon tries. At first Lee's insights into the case make no sense, but he seems to have a window straight into Gideon's heart. Son of a Methodist minister, raised in a tiny Cornish village, Gideon has hidden his sexuality for years. It's cost him one lover, and he can't believe it when this green-eyed newcomer stirs up old feelings and starts to exert a powerful force of attraction. Gideon and Lee begin to work together on the case. But there are malignant forces at work in the sleepy little village of Dark, and not only human ones - Gideon is starting to wonder, against all common sense, if there might be some truth in the terrifying legend of the Bodmin Beast after all. As a misty Halloween night consumes the moor, Gideon must race against time to save not only the lost child but the man who's begun to restore his faith in his own heart.

Buy links: Audible

My Two Pennies Worth

This audiobook is book #1 in the Tyack & Frayne series. I look at my original review for the ebook and I find words like mysterious, evocative, creepy. And I have to say, they probably apply even more to the audio production.

Once Upon a Haunted Moor is set in a small Cornish village with Bodmin Moor as its backyard. A child has gone missing up on the moor and the local bobby, Gideon Frayne has had no luck in locating her. In an effort to try a new tack, a psychic, Lee Tyack has been called in to attempt to use his particular skills. At first this rubs Gideon up the wrong way, but mostly that is from a desire to protect the girl’s family from a charlatan and guilt at not finding her himself. But they soon find a way to work together, and more.

Gideon is a solid character, not easily spooked, and reliable. He’s been hiding in the closet, despite having been in a serious relationship previously, although it may have been a closet made of glass for all the good it did hiding the true nature of their relationship from the villagers.

Lee is a psychic, but he has other jobs, because finding lost children, or bodies, doesn’t pay the bills (because he doesn’t charge for those type of services). Lee is a good man, honest and not the type to give false hope. He’s also a man worth coming out of the closet for and Gideon does so in quite spectacular fashion (for him). Their romance progresses over a very short space of time but never once feels like instalove. At the end of the novella their relationship feels strong, a good basis to start something from, and if you never listened to another book in the series it is a solid place to end. But why would you, when there are so many more excellent stories to be told.

The narrator does an excellent job, imbuing the tale with an edge of mystery and the unknown. The MCs in particular have distinctively different voices and the accents convey those of really Cornish people that I’ve met.

All in all an excellent start to the series and I look forward to revisiting Tinsel Fish soon.

Wednesday, 23 May 2018

Cover reveal - Murder in New York by C.J. Baty

COVER REVEAL

Book Title: Murder in New York, The Pinkerton Man Series

Author: C.J. Baty

Cover Artist: Select-O-Grafix, LLC

Genre/s: M/M Mystery

Blurb
Coming back to New York to see her ailing father, Lizzie Ferguson did not expect to find him healthy and newly married to a much younger woman. She, also, didn’t expect to connect with an old lover and childhood friend or be accused of killing her father. But, life has a way of knocking you to your knees when you least expect it.

Stiles Long had always regretted that the killer, from his first case as a Pinkerton Agent, had got away. Now, in New York it was happening again. The Hotel Astor Bar was a meeting place for men who enjoyed the company of men. And, some of them were being brutally murdered. When one of the suspects from the original case appears at the hotel, Stiles is torn between his desire to stop a killer and kiss the man senseless.

Two different cases, but some of the faces overlap from one to the other. Stiles and Lizzie are in a race to discover who the killers are before another body gets added to the count.

About the Author

CJ Baty lives in southwest Ohio with her very patient husband and two encouraging children. Her heart however, lives in the mountains of Tennessee where she hopes to retire some day. The mountains have always provided her with inspiration and a soothing balm to the stresses of everyday life.

The dream of writing her own stories started in high school but was left on the back burner of life until her son introduced her to Fan Fiction and encouraged her to give it a try. She found that her passion for telling a story was still there and writing them down to share with others was much more thrilling than she had ever expected.

One thing she has learned from life and she is often heard to say is, “You are never too old to follow your dream!”

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Release Blitz and Review - No Luck by Kayleigh Sky

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: No Luck

Author: Kayleigh Sky

Publisher: Kiss Drunk Books

Cover Artist: Kayleigh Sky

Genre/s: Contemporary / Suspense

Length: 109,200 words/508 pages

Goodreads

It is a standalone story.

Blurb

Careful what you wish for…

Close to landing a role in a sitcom he hopes will show his father he isn’t a failure, Vane Riley loses everything when his boyfriend dumps him and his father dies. With nowhere to turn, he heads home to regroup and help his sister, Rose, keep the family diner afloat. Trying to ease his grief with a guy in a bar seems like a good idea until the guy can’t get rid of him fast enough. The last thing Vane expects is for his one-night stand to appear at his dad’s funeral with a quirky tarot reader on his arm and a romantic history with Rose.

Doug Moore is a widower who isn’t ready to move on, but he can’t seem to get the clumsy guy he met the night before out of his thoughts. After helping Vane get back into the car he somehow locked himself out of, Doug figured he’d never see him again and can’t believe his lousy luck when Rose’s loser brother turns out to be the hookup he can’t stop thinking about. Doug is determined to keep his distance, but when Rose hires him to renovate the family home Vane is now living in, there’s not much chance of that happening.

Though Doug wants nothing more than to resist him, Vane ticks all his boxes. Clumsy, needy, sexy and… Oh yeah. Paranoid. Not for a minute does Doug believe somebody is out to hurt Vane despite the strange accidents that have befallen him since returning home, but Vane is sure somebody wants him dead.

Doug is solid and steady. Vane is emotional and imaginative. Nobody’s trying to kill him. Doug is sure of it…

At first.

Buy Links - Available on Kindle Unlimited

http://smarturl.it/NoLuck2018

My Two Pennies Worth

Ah, Vane is kind of paranoid and nobody quite believes him when he claims someone is trying to kill him. But I did. And I picked out the responsible party quite early on (although one of the red herrings had me doubting myself) but what I couldn't work out was why.
Anyhow, I've jumped to the end of the book here, let's start at the beginning where Vane is living in LA trying to make it as an actor. But it's obvious from the beginning that his heart's not really in it, and he's sort of clumsy, and he really loves to cook. Then two things happen, he discovers his boyfriend is a cheat, and his dad--who he's never been able to please--dies. Cue him returning to the town he left years ago to find fame and fortune that never materialised. On the way into town he hooks up with a stranger, who turns out to be anything but.
Vane is a contradiction, he's clumsy and an actor. And yet at other times he graceful, and a pie cook. He's unapologetically gay, and according to his (ex) boyfriend this scuppered his career.
Doug has always hated the idea of Vane, so imagine how annoyed he is to find he's physically attracted to him. Doug's bisexual but since he was married to a woman for years he's never really come out.
This story starts as (sort of) enemies to lovers. There's some kinky sex (outdoors/lace panties/getting off on the thought that people can see) as they progress from a sex only relationship to something more. Just as they seem to be getting settled strange things start happening to Vane, but Vane's insistence that someone is out to get him seems far-fetched. It's far more likely his clumsiness, right?
Oh and I must give a shout out to the sister's kids, especially the young boy. I laughed out loud at his antics once he got comfortable with Vane. I was honestly sad that we didn't get more of the kids in the later part of the book.

Excerpt

The interior was dark, lit mostly by the glow of the TV.

Doug was pretty sure the guy at the table beside him was sound asleep. The dreariness of the place hit him out of the blue, and he had a feeling he was just punishing himself by staying. There were other places he could be, even sitting in a movie theater with Dorcas if he’d thought about it. But that ball of energy in his chest had brought him here.

He let his chair tip down just as the entrance door swung open and somebody in jeans and a jacket with a hoodie underneath stepped in—and promptly tripped. After he righted himself, the guy fixed what had to be a glare at the raised section of weather stripping across the threshold.

Doug lifted his mug, laughing into it before he took a drink.

The newcomer headed to the bar and stood at the corner until the owner finished with another customer and turned to him. Doug couldn’t see the guy’s face in the shadows, but he heard the owner say, “Yeah?” in a surprised tone and a few words in return. “Real quick… couple miles.”

Doug doubted the owner responded to whatever the guy was talking about. A useful reply would need more than the “You gonna buy somethin’?” he came up with.

Doug finished his beer and kept his eye on them. Maybe the owner made the guy nervous because the money he dug out of his pocket flew everywhere but on the counter.

“Shoot.”

The almost curse rang loud and clear. Doug grinned as the guy chased the rolling coins, picked up a couple, turned around, and bent over again.

Nice. Cute little bottom in those worn-out jeans.

Doug watched him step back to the corner of the bar and count his coins. The owner shook his head. Doug sighed, guessing the guy didn’t have enough money and the owner wouldn’t cut him any slack. What an asshole. Doug wasn’t coming to this place anymore. It had always been sketchy, but now it was a dreary, low-class dump.

He stood and strode to the bar. “Another one. For him too.”

The guy raised his head from his pile of money, and Doug got his first good look at his face. He startled. “Jesus, are you okay?”

The guy frowned, looking cute as hell as he tried to figure out Doug’s question.

Doug pointed at his own cheek. The poor light hid a lot, but he thought the guy blushed. And then he… giggled. A real-live giggle. Doug couldn’t help but laugh. Of all the weird things. Though from the twitches running through the guy, his giggle was clearly a result of his nerves. Doug liked that. Meg had been shy too.

“Kick-boxing.”

The words took a moment to register. Doug lifted the beer the bartender set down and motioned with his chin at the other one. The guy picked it up, nodded, and took a swallow. His sigh sounded happy.

“I didn’t think kicking people in the face was allowed,” Doug said. He didn’t for a minute believe the guy had gotten his bruises in a kickboxing match.

“Well, it was an accident. I’m kind of clumsy.”

No kidding. “Glad I have no interest in contact sports.” No, Doug was a baseball kind of guy and lazy about working out. His job was physical, and he put muscle on without even trying.

“I quit,” the guy said.

“Better part of valor,” Doug murmured.

A slow smile lit the guy’s face. “Caution is preferable to rash bravery,” he added to the quote. “You’re a Shakespeare fan.”

Doug hid his surprise with a nod. The guy was beautiful and charming and familiar, but Doug drew a blank trying to figure out where he’d seen him before. “Are you from around here?”

That changed things. The smile flattened, and the guy pulled back.

“Just visiting. My car broke down. Well, not actually broke down. I got out and dropped my keys.” He gave a blustery-sounding laugh. “Now I’m locked out.”

“I can jimmy it.”

The guy stared at him with his mouth half open. The pink of his tongue showed. Damn. Heat built between Doug’s legs. He shifted on his stool as his lust bloomed, a sensation he’d almost forgotten about. He hooked up with willing partners to expend some energy, but to be honest, attraction wasn’t usually a big part of it.

“Are you a car thief?” the guy asked, shrugging his jacket off.

“Right.”

The smile came back. “Just checking.”

The guy shifted to the stool between them and his hair swung, the dark ends brushing the tops of his shoulders. He tucked it behind his ears, then pushed up the sleeves of his hoodie. He had holes in his lobes but no earrings, and a tattoo of a sun done in black ink decorated the inside of a wrist.

Doug rocked forward, feeling the pressure on his balls, and set his elbow on the counter. “Drink up. I’ll take you to your car.”

The guy nodded. “That’d be great. I was going to call someone, but my phone’s broken.”

Of course it was. This guy screamed total disaster. “What’s your name?”

A whisper of a hesitation preceded his smile. “Ethan.”

Ethan. A nice name, but it wasn’t his. Or maybe it was his middle name. Interesting. Doug wasn’t afraid of him and didn’t think he was a psycho serial killer or anything. When it came down to it though, he probably couldn’t pick a serial killer out of a crowd to save his life. But this guy looked friendly, a little nervous, and a lot needy.

The perfect storm for Doug. He stuck out his hand. “I’m Doug.”

Warm fingers gripped his, and a jolt like a zap from a live wire shot up his arm and down his spine. Ethan’s mouth opened again, a slight part, the pink of his tongue a glimmer inside. “Nice to meet you, Doug.”

“You too.”

He wanted to do more than meet him though. He wanted to plant himself inside him. Ethan’s eyes widened as Doug stared at him, his pupils stretching to the edges of his irises. He flicked his lip with his tongue, picked up his beer, and chugged it.

“Want another?” Doug asked.

Ethan set his mug down. “Sure.”

Doug raised two fingers. “So whadda you do?”

“Write. I’m a writer.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Well, wannabe. I don’t have anything out, yet.”

“You will if you keep at it. That’s impressive. I have a tough time writing a two-page proposal.”

“What kind of proposal?”

“Job proposals. I own a construction company. We do mostly renos and additions.”

“Oh, that’s cool. Like the Property Brothers.”

Without the brother. Or the money. Or the fame. Doug nodded and pressed his lips into a smile. “Exactly.”

Ethan grinned. “I love those shows. I can barely use a hammer.”

“Somehow I think your thumbs thank you for not trying.”

Ethan gaped. Then he inhaled as though to speak but laughed first instead. “Okay. Okay. That’s probably true.”

His hand rested on the counter, and Doug wanted to touch it. The fingers lay flat, long, and slender. The thumb twitched, and Ethan curled it under his palm.

He was elegant and clumsy. And interested in Doug. Heat glowed in his eyes.

Doug pointed a finger at the beer. “Finish up. Let’s get out of here.”

Ethan swallowed. “Yeah. Okay.”

After he drank the rest of his beer and tugged his coat on, Doug gestured to the back door. “This way.”

They went down a short hall to a door painted the same black as the walls. Doug opened it and looked back. A hesitant smile greeted him and a flutter of panic stirred in Doug’s belly. Too sweet.

He knew with perfect certainty he should bail and also that he wasn’t going to.

About the Author

Kayleigh Sky is an m/m romance writer of complex stories of love and redemption that always end in happily ever after. Love matters, and everyone counts.

Peace.