Review Tour - Bitter Heat (Heat of Love #3) by Leta Blake

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Length: 110,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Dar Albert @ Wicked Strange Designs

Heat Of Love Series

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

Book #2 - Alpha Heat - Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Blurb

A pregnant omega trapped in a desperate situation, an unattached alpha with a lot to prove, and an unexpected fall into love that could save them both.


Kerry Monkburn is contracted to a violent alpha in prison for brutal crimes. Now pregnant with the alpha’s child, he lives high in the mountains, far above the city that once lured him in with promises of a better life. Enduring bitterness and fear, Kerry flirts with putting an end to his life of darkness, but fate intervenes.


Janus Heelies has made mistakes in the past. In an effort to redeem himself, integrity has become the watchword for his future. Training as a nurse under the only doctor willing to take him on, Janus is resolute in his intentions: he will live cleanly in the mountains and avoid all inappropriate affairs. But he doesn’t anticipate the pull that Kerry exercises on his heart and mind.


As the question of Kerry’s future health and safety comes to an explosive head, only the intervention of fate will see these desperate men through to a happy ending.


This gay romance novel by Leta Blake is the third in the Heat of Love universe which began with Slow Heat. It’s 111,000 words, with a strong happy ending and a critically-acclaimed, non-shifter Omegaverse. It features alphas, betas, omegas, male pregnancy, mpreg, heat, and knotting. Content warning for a violent and oppressive society regarding reproductive rights.

My Two Pennies' Worth

Each to their own but MPreg stories really aren't my thing. Except...this series. I love it. I don't know why when most other mpreg has me rolling my eyes and questioning my life choices. Maybe it's the carefully constructed world-building. Maybe it's the excellent writing. Or the most gorgeous characters who I can't help but fall in love with. Whatever the reason (here's a clue, it's all of the above), Leta Blake draws me in and doesn't let me go until I've cried ugly tears at least once. That she also managed a character redemption for Janus to the point where I adore him is impressive.

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.

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Release blitz - Dine With Me by Layla Reyne

Dine with Me by Layla Reyne

Release Date (e-book and audio):

September 16, 2019

Blurb:

Life never tasted so good.

Miller Sykes’s meteoric rise to award-winning chef is the stuff of culinary dreams, but it’s all crashing down around him. He’s been given a diagnosis that could cost him something even more precious than his life: his sense of taste. Rather than risk the very thing that defines him, Miller embarks on a last tour of his favorite meals while he still can.

But there’s a catch: he needs a financial backer to make it happen, and he doesn't want anyone to know he's sick.

Dr. Clancy Rhodes has two weeks to come to terms with putting aside oncology to work at his father’s thriving plastic surgery practice. When the opportunity to travel with a Michelin-starred chef presents itself, the foodie in him can’t believe it. It doesn’t hurt that Miller’s rugged good looks are exactly Clancy’s cuppa joe.

As Clancy and Miller travel from coast to coast and indulge in everything from dive bars to the most decadent of culinary experiences, they’re suddenly sharing a lot more than delicious meals. Sparks fly as they bond over their love of flavors and the pressures of great expectations. But when Miller’s health takes a turn for the worse, Clancy must convince him he’s more—so much more—than just his taste buds. And that together, they can win a battle that once seemed hopeless.

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

Links:

AMZ: https://amzn.to/2CNDzbA

Universal: https://books2read.com/DineWithMe

Excerpt:

By the time they were on the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, all of Clancy’s thoughts and words were fighting to get out. He watched through the windshield as Miller stood by the ferry’s rail, a lone figure seemingly oblivious to the blowing snow flurries as he stared straight ahead.

To the island where they would be stuck together for the weekend.

Fuck. Clancy had to say something or else this was going to be the most awkward Christmas Eve weekend ever.

He tossed his empty coffee cup aside, grabbed his scarf from the back seat, wrapped it around his neck, zipped up his hoodie, and buttoned his coat over everything. Bundled, as well as an LA boy could be, he shoved open the car door, took one step out, and had to cling to the door to avoid wiping out. Steadying himself, he carefully made his way to the rail where Miller stood. And just as carefully, he approached the conversation, starting with something easy. “Thank you for the coffee and beignets this morning.”

“I promised you,” Miller answered flatly, not giving him a glance.

Careful and easy took a flying leap off the side of the boat. “Do you still want to be here?” The next second, Clancy registered how that question could be taken, beyond just this trip, and he wanted to jump over the rail himself. “On this trip,” he clarified. “Because if you’re just here because you promised, we can call it off. You can keep the money—”

“It’s not about the money.”

“Fine, but Miller…” He leaned a hip and hand against the rail, trying to get Miller to look his way, to no avail. “If this trip is making you miserable, if you don’t want to be around me, if you—”

Miller’s hand over his silenced the rest of Clancy’s words. “I want to continue, and I don’t want to do it alone.”

“But do you want to do it with me?”

Miller finally gave Clancy his eyes, and they were red-rimmed and bloodshot. Clancy sucked in a sharp breath, fearing the worst.

“Yes,” Miller said softly.

Clancy didn’t hide his huge exhale, and Miller’s answering smile was worth it. The world steadied below Clancy’s feet even as the boat rocked over the waves. He drew his hand back and shoved both of them into his coat pockets. “Where are we going, then? On Martha’s Vineyard?”

Miller glanced back out over the water, toward the island that was growing nearer. “The first place I chef’ed.”

“I thought that was in New York, with Greg.”

He shook his head, a strange mix of pain and longing streaking across his face. “When Sloan and I left home, we came here first. A friend of Ma’s ran a B and B in Edgartown. It was the summer season and she needed the extra help. She rented us a dingy little basement apartment for cheap, Sloan cleaned and helped manage the inn, and I was the on-site handyman and landscaper. But I still needed to get out and make some extra cash.”

“So you found a restaurant to work in?”

“The kitchens in New York and San Francisco might have refined my skills, but Oscar M’Raihi gave them to me.”

“I can’t wait to meet him.”

About Layla Reyne:

RITA Finalist Layla Reyne is the author of the Agents Irish and Whiskey, Fog City, and Changing Lanes series. A Carolina Tar Heel who now calls the San Francisco Bay Area home, Layla enjoys weaving her bi-coastal experiences into her stories, along with adrenaline-fueled suspense and heart-pounding romance. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and its Kiss of Death and Rainbow Romance Writers chapters. Layla is a 2019 RWA® RITA® Finalist in Contemporary Romance (Mid-Length) and 2016 RWA® Golden Heart® Finalist in Romantic Suspense.

Connect with Layla:

FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/laylaslushes/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/laylareyne

IG: https://www.instagram.com/laylareyne/

Newsletter: https://www.laylareyne.com/signup

AMZ: https://www.amazon.com/author/LaylaReyne

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/layla-reyne

Giveaway:

Signed limited edition paperback + swag ($10 Amazon Gift Card if international)

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Review Tour - Fated Hearts by Garrett Leigh

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link - Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow with Kindle Unlimited.

Length: 60,000 words approx.


Cover Design: Black Jazz Design


Blurb


"He's not a wolf."


Devastated by the death of his best friend, Zio is a soldier with one thing on his mind: revenge. Consumed by a conflict that's raged as long as he's been alive, he's had little time or inclination to learn the legends of the shifter world he was raised in. And he certainly doesn't have time to deal with a shifter of a different kind, even if it's for the good of the war effort. For the good of his pack. The fact that he's already crossed paths with the new face in his unit is almost irrelevant.


Almost.


Do no harm. Give life not death: it's the oath Devan was reborn to live by, so when he's sent abroad to embed with a wolf pack as their resident healer, he doesn't hesitate. In the supernatural world, some bonds are instant--soldiers become brothers, pack become family. But others run deeper and before long, Devan's at the mercy of instincts he can't control. Zio's inner wolf is desperate to be with Devan, while Devan struggles to keep the pack safe. But as the war escalates, and new love is tainted by anguish and pain, the battles within might prove the toughest of them all.


"I won't let him die."

My Two Pennies' Worth

Is this the first shifter book from Garrett Leigh? I certainly don't remember another. Why did they wait so long to write this, shifters, or at least the sort I like to read, suit this author's style of writing. Excellent world-building. Gritty, sometimes harsh and graphic action, and two very different characters who try to fight fate and their attraction, making the romance a slow burn rather than the more predictable insta-love of most shifter stories. 

Great start to a new paranormal series.

Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.


Garrett's debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.


When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.


Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.


Website: http://www.garrettleigh.com/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh

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Release Blitz - Where Love Grows by Jay Northcote

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link - Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow with Kindle Unlimited

Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design

Length: 70,000 words approx.

Blurb

When two broken men look to each other for help, an unexpected romance blooms.


Stephen’s home, deep in the heart of the Welsh valleys, suits his reclusive nature. However, as he recovers from illness, he’s struggling to manage alone. As nature reclaims the land he’s poured his heart into cultivating, he becomes increasingly unhappy. His only outlet is his blog, where he documents the decline of the garden that had been his pride and joy.


Luke is more used to a concrete jungle. He was a high-flyer, living and working in London, until addiction sent him into free fall. Now on the road to recovery, he still wants to make some changes, but he’s unsure where to find the purpose and fulfilment he craves.


A mutual acquaintance suggests Luke visits Stephen to help him out for a while, and a seed of hope is planted. From prickly beginnings, shoots of friendship emerge, blossoming into a deeper connection when they act on their mutual attraction.


This was only ever supposed to be a temporary arrangement, and soon Stephen will be able to manage on his own again. But both men need each other in ways they’re afraid to admit. If their love is going to last for more than one season, they’ll need to find the courage to be honest.

Jay lives just outside Bristol in the West of England. He comes from a family of writers, but always used to believe that the gene for fiction writing had passed him by. He spent years only ever writing emails, articles, or website content.


One day, Jay decided to try and write a short story—just to see if he could—and found it rather addictive. He hasn’t stopped writing since.


Jay writes contemporary romance about men who fall in love with other men. He self-publishes under the imprint Jaybird Press.


Website: https://jaynorthcote.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jay_Northcote

Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/jaynorthcotewriter

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/jaynorthcotefiction

Facebook author group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jaysplayground

Newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/JN-readers

Jay’s books: http://author.to/JayNorthcote

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Review Tour - The Good Green Earth (Colors of Love #3) by V.L. Locey

ADD TO GOODREADS

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link


Cover Design: Designs By Sloan


Length: 75,000 words approx.


Colors Of Love Series


Book #1 - Lost In Indigo - Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book #2 - Touch Of A Yellow Sun - Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

After the Syracuse Stallions clinch the championship, Nathan Zinkan, the renowned wild man of the AHL is arrested for a DUI. Again. When a no-nonsense judge adds a heavy dose of community service to an already stiff sentence, Nathan has to forget a summer of partying and slide on a pair of gardening gloves. His entire future now rides on how well he can behave while helping elderly urban gardeners tend to their tomatoes.


Watching local garden center owner Bran Cavanaugh working without his shirt is a benefit he wasn’t expecting. Pity Bran is also the one in charge of the community garden as well as keeping tabs on Nathan’s hours served. The two men are instantly at odds due to Nathan’s rebellious nature and Bran’s icy demeanor. Yet there’s no denying the attraction that begins to build between the hot-headed athlete and the cool as a cucumber master gardener.


Will their attraction grow into something deeper, or will it wither and die on the vine?

My Two Pennies' Worth

This is the third book in this series but the characters are unrelated so they can be read in any order or as completely separate entities. That said they all have the author's trademark hockey player. This time it's a young player in trouble with the law and forced to do community service. 

This is a lovely age gap romance. Both characters have relationship and abandonment issues which makes for an angsty read but the author doesn't let issues linger for too long before they are addressed so they don't stretch your heart to breaking point.

USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.


V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.


When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.

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Review Tour - Hot Potato (A Seacroft Novel) by Allison Temple

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link - Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow With Kindle Unlimited

Length: 80,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Cate Ashwood Designs

Seacroft Series

Book #1 - Top Shelf - Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Book #2 - Cold Pressed - Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Blurb

As Seacroft’s resident weirdo, Avery proudly flies a lot of freak flags. It’s a constant battle to be taken seriously when everything, from his red hair to his sexuality, makes him stand out in this small town.


Small towns are also a terrible place to keep secrets, and Lincoln has a bunch of them. But his demons aren’t going to hold him back from his dream job at the Seacroft Fire Department. His life is finally coming together, until the red-haired twink with the big smile and fast mouth calls in an emergency.


Pining for the hot firefighter is Avery’s newest flag, even if he agrees to be “just friends.” For Linc, every minute with Avery is a temptation. He needs to let go of his fear and admit the truth. Linc doesn’t want to be Avery’s friend; he wants to be his everything. But just as Linc is ready to risk it all, Avery gets an unexpected offer to spread his colorful wings and fly away.


Hot Potato is an 80k slow burn friends-to-lovers contemporary MM romance. It features a fast-talking accountant who’s cooler than he thinks, the closeted firefighter who loves him more than he should, and a great big happy-sigh HEA.

My Two Pennies Worth

I love these series of Seacroft novels. Avery appeared in the last book as one of Oliver's only juice customers and with a massive crush on the older man. A year has passed and Avery is over Oliver, he's also moved into his own place. 
Avery was adorably awkward in that book and the addition of a year and some independence has done nothing to help. He's a real cutey and it's great to see him come out of his shell as being friends with Linc broadens his friend circle. 
Linc is a sweetheart but he's deep in the closet, understandably, and he's constantly fighting the urge to protect himself and others by running away from the situation he finds himself in.

Well written with endearing characters, this slow burn tale is just lovely.

Allison Temple has been a writer since the second grade, when she wrote a short story about a girl and her horse. Her grandmother typed it out for her and said she’s never seen so many quotation marks from a seven-year-old before. Allison took that as a challenge and has gone on to try to break her previous record in all her subsequent works.


Allison lives in Toronto with her very patient husband and the world’s neediest cat. She splits her free time between writing, community theater stage management, and traveling anywhere that has good wine. Tragically, this leaves no time to clean her house.


Newsletter (get two free shorts right now): https://allisontemplebooks.com/newsletter

Facebook Reader group: https://facebook.com/groups/allisonsalist

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07B7P5591

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/allison-temple

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17490635.Allison_Temple

Twitter: https://twitter.com/allitemplebooks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allisontemplebooks/

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Release Blitz - The King’s Dragon by W.M. Fawkes & Sam Burns

The King’s Dragon by W.M. Fawkes & Sam Burns

Series: Fire and Valor #1

Release Date: September 26, 2019

Subgenre: LGBTQIA+ High Fantasy Romance

Order here:
Universal: http://mybook.to/thekingsdragon
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XC67S95

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47945724-the-king-s-dragon


Synopsis for The King’s Dragon:
Lord Tristram Radcliffe has a secret—he is the only dragon at the king’s court in Llangard. It’s a secret he’s kept from the knights he’s fought beside, from the ladies who bat their lashes at him, and from his closest companion, Prince Reynold. If it were to get out, he’d be banished to the Mawrcraig Mountains along with the rest of his kind, but the kingdom of men is the only one he’s ever known, and his heart lives in the stone halls of those who’d count him an enemy.

When the old king dies and Prince Reynold takes the throne, two visitors from the north throw Tristram into the middle of the ancient conflict between dragons and men. They put him on a collision course with the king’s shadow, Bet Kyston, a dangerous assassin who may want him dead or may want more of Tristram that he’d ever thought to give.

With the eyes of dragons upon him and a threat from the north creeping toward the home he loves, Tristram must weigh his allegiances before his dual legacies tear him apart.

Release Blitz Teaser

Bet was at Reynold’s side so fast Tris didn’t even see him move. He looked unaccountably nervous for a man who could almost certainly take down any man on the field. “Your Majesty?”
“I want you to fight Lord Gaspar’s guards.” When Gaspar sputtered, Reynold turned to him. “You don’t think it a fair fight? Shall I allow you to join them as well?”
“I assure you, sire, any one of my knights could handle this whelp of a commoner, even if Lord Radcliffe cannot.” He sneered at Tristram, as he had since Tris had been a child. He’d been a friend of Tristram’s mother’s husband—the man the court thought was his father. Tris had always assumed Gaspar knew him to be a bastard, but frankly, he had more important things to worry about.
He wasn’t sure why, but he was worried about Bet. The man was dishonorable and infuriatingly smug, but also . . . like Tris, he never hesitated in his duty to his king. Wasn’t there a kind of honor in that, when one committed dishonorable acts for a king who could not afford to sully himself? Possibly it was Tristram grasping for excuses because he found Bet beautiful, but it still rung true. Perhaps.
“You question Lord Radcliffe’s skill as well?” Reynold asked, pretending to be surprised. He turned to Bet. “Get to it, then. You against Gaspar’s men. If you win, you and Tristram stay. If they win, they stay.”
He had to be joking. While Tris had every faith in Bet’s prowess, it was madness.
But this was no farce. Tristram couldn’t even suggest he deserved to have a part in the deciding of his future. Reynold had announced it, and now Tristram’s fate was in the hands of the king’s shadow.


Release Blitz Excerpt

“What, exactly, did Jorun say?”
Bet’s nose flared as he drew in a breath. He’d learned not to stoke Reynold’s anger unnecessarily. In this instance, it seemed unavoidable, however unlikely that that anger would fall upon his own head.
“He likened your father to a farmer. More shepherd than king—lord over wayward beasts. He said that King Edmund had outlived his usefulness, but that Your Majesty was not likely to.”
The lands of Tornheim, to the north past the high ridge of the Mawrcraig Mountains, past even Lord Radcliffe’s seat at Merrick, were harsh and unforgiving. There, the mighty ruled. There had been whispers of a jarl who could call the wind. That the Cavendish line had not produced an heir with significant magic in generations would signal to their enemies that the kingdom was weak. It was only a matter of time before they tried to take advantage of that weakness.
Reynold considered him a moment. The king’s tempers were much more dangerous when they swept cool as a wind out of the frozen north. He nodded shortly.
“And Jarl Katrien?” His Majesty asked.
“Said very little.”
Behind his closed lips, Bet could see the king run his tongue over his teeth. Never let it be said that Reynold did not weigh his options before acting.
“Jarl Jorun flaps his tongue too much,” Reynold said casually. “Bring it to me. If it’s still in his skull, all the better.”
With a dismissive wave of his hand, Reynold turned back to the lingering mourners. Bet bowed deeply, even as he stepped away. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Author Bio:

W.M. Fawkes is an author of LGBTQ+ urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She lives with her partner in a house owned by three halloween-hued felines that dabble regularly in shadow walking.


Sam lives in the Midwest with husband and cat, which is even less exciting than it sounds, so she's not sure why you're still reading this.

She specializes in LGBTQIA+ fiction, usually with a romantic element. There's sometimes intrigue and violence, usually a little sex, and almost always some swearing in her work. Her writing is light and happy, though, so if you're looking for a dark gritty reality, you've come to the wrong author.


Author links:
Joint Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/FlickerFoxBooks/

Waverly Fawkes:
http://fawkeswrites.com
https://facebook.com/w.m.fawkes
https://twitter.com/fawkeswrites
https://www.instagram.com/w.m.fawkes/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18156587.W_M_Fawkes
https://www.pinterest.com/fawkeswrites/


Sam Burns:
http://burnswrites.com
https://www.facebook.com/sam.burns.52459
https://www.instagram.com/samburnswrites/?hl=en
https://us15.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ef13dc96493795a8fdb75611c&id=e0fb058bf2
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16897949.Sam_Burns
https://twitter.com/SamBurnsWrites
https://www.pinterest.com/samburnswrites/

Giveaway:
Win one of 2 e-copies of any book from the Lords of the Underworld series by Sam Burns & W.M. Fawkes:

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Review Tour - The Secrets We Keep by Rick R Reed

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Length: 195 pages

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Design: Reese Dante

Blurb

Jasper Warren is a happy-go-lucky young man in spite of the tragedy that’s marred his life. He’s on a road to nowhere with his roommate, Lacy, whom he adores, and a dead-end retail job in Chicago.


And then everything changes in a single night. Though Jasper doesn’t know it, his road is going somewhere after all. This time when tragedy strikes, it brings with it Lacy’s older, wealthy, sexy uncle Rob. Despite the heart-wrenching circumstances, an immediate connection forms between the two men.


But the secrets between them test their attraction. Will their revelations destroy the bloom of new love... or encourage it to grow?

My Two Pennies' Worth

Heavy on the angst and low on the romance this book deals with the aftermath of a tragic event and how the two men involved, Jasper and Rob, cope. This was a heavy read and sometimes depressing. But as usual Rick writes as though transcribing the story of personal friends, confident and assured.

Tissue warning.

Excerpt

It’s always exciting for me, both as a writer and as a reader, when the two main lovers in a book first meet. In THE SECRETS WE KEEP, that first meeting is at a funeral home wake, for someone both men loved deeply (and for whom many of the secrets in the book are kept).

***

When he stepped out of the bathroom, someone was waiting for him. An older man.


Jasper tried to thread his way around the guy. “Did you want to go in?” Jasper gestured toward the open bathroom.


“No. I was waiting for you.” The guy eyed him. He was probably a good twenty years older than Jasper, but as inappropriate as it was at a time like this, Jasper couldn’t help noticing how sexy he was. Trim, a little on the short side, it was obvious, even in his impeccably tailored black suit, he was in very good, and very powerful, shape. Jasper was certain those weren’t shoulder pads testing the seams at the tops of his arms.


He had kind eyes. And they were the most amazing shade of pale gray. Jasper had seen a husky once with eyes like that; he couldn’t say he’d ever seen anything like it on a human being. Those eyes were mesmerizing, arresting, and chilling, framed in long, black lashes.


His hair was silver, shorn close on the sides with a bit more on top, spiked with some gel.


He wore a fashionable five-o’clock shadow that Jasper couldn’t deny he wanted to feel—either with his fingers or against his own smooth cheeks.


“For me?” Jasper smiled. “I’m sorry. Do I know you?”


He simply smiled enigmatically. “Probably not. But I bet I know you. You’re Jasper, Heather’s roommate, right?”


“Yeah. And you are?”


“I’m Robert. Robert Burroughs.” He extended his hand.


Jasper gripped the warm hand, slightly soft and a little damp. He didn’t take his eyes off Robert the whole time, and the “whole time” was much longer than the duration of a handshake for most guys. It sent a shiver through Jasper.


“Burroughs?” Jasper had a terrifying thought. What if this is her dad? Good Lord, I’m flirting with Lacy’s dad! At her funeral! The very thought caused beads of sweat to pop out on Jasper’s forehead. He held in a giddy burst of laughter. “Are you, um, related to Lacy? Er, Heather?”


Please don’t say you’re her father.


“I’m her uncle Rob. Did she never mention me?”


Jasper wracked his brain. One thing neither of them did much of was talk about their respective families. They liked to believe they were each other’s family now, “chosen family” was the term they used. The idea, the memory of this, brought a lump to Jasper’s throat, bringing home for real that his best friend was gone. “I’m not sure.”


“It’s okay if she didn’t. I hadn’t seen her in quite some time. My schedule doesn’t afford me much opportunity to see family, as much as I might want to.” He smiled, and Jasper noticed the sadness around his eyes despite it. Robert went on softly, “I wish I’d had one more chance to talk to her, to tell her how I loved her. I’m afraid she didn’t know.”


Jasper nodded. “Me too. If I could just talk to her one more time, maybe we wouldn’t be here.”


Robert cocked his head. “No?”


Jasper didn’t want to disabuse him of the notion that Lacy had not killed herself, if that was what he was choosing to believe. So he simply said, “Who knows?”


“Heather used to write sometimes, a long time ago. She’d shoot me a text, you know, a birthday emoji or a holiday one. We were close when she was a kid. I used to take her places with me whenever I could. Her parents never really got her, you know?”


“Oh, I know.”


“They were always trying to change her. Like, she was left-handed naturally, and they worked and worked and worked on getting her to use her right. They tried to get her to hang out with what they deemed the popular girls. They bought her American Girl dolls when all she wanted was a set of paints and a good book, preferably horror. I could stand here all day and tell you how little my brother and sister-in-law knew their girl. But I won’t.


“I just wish I’d stayed in better touch with her. Once my career took off, back when she was just becoming a teenybopper, I kind of got preoccupied and we lost touch.” He paused and Jasper noticed the tears standing in his incredible eyes. Unexpectedly, he laughed. “When she was a little girl, and I mean like three or four, she would sigh and say, ‘Woe is me.’ What little girl says that?”


“Lacy. It so figures.”


“You call her Lacy. Why?”


“That’s how she referred to herself. She was even thinking of legally changing her name. She hated Heather.”


Robert nodded. “I get that. I never thought of her as a Heather. I’m glad she found something else.” He glanced over his shoulder into the viewing room. “I wish they’d respected that.”


I do too. Jasper felt, suddenly, even sadder. For his own loss, sure, but more for Lacy’s loss. The rest of her life. She could have done so much. She could have been happy. He just knew it.


He placed his hand on Robert’s shoulder. “Look, I intended to stay longer, but I need to get out of here. This place is too oppressive. And it honestly feels like someone else is being waked, not the girl I know. So I’m gonna book. But it was nice to talk to you.”


Robert nodded. “Will you be at the funeral tomorrow morning?”


The funeral was set for one of Rogers Park’s Catholic churches. Then they’d fly the body back to California for burial in the family plot.


It was all wrong. All not what Lacy would have chosen.


Jasper shook his head. “No. I don’t think so. This isn’t her. I think I’ll just remember her as I knew her.”


Jasper turned away, feeling on the verge of tears. He didn’t want to cry in front of Lacy’s uncle—or anyone else gathered at the funeral home, for that matter.


As he reached the door, Robert’s voice stopped him.


“Jasper?”


He turned.


“Would you mind if I came with you? I need to get out of here too.”

Real Men. True Love.


Rick R. Reed draws inspiration from the lives of gay men to craft stories that quicken the heartbeat, engage emotions, and keep the pages turning. Although he dabbles in horror, dark suspense, and comedy, his attention always returns to the power of love. He’s the award-winning and bestselling author of more than fifty works of published fiction and is forever at work on yet another book. Lambda Literary has called him: “A writer that doesn’t disappoint…” You can find him at www.rickrreed.com or www.rickrreedreality.blogspot.com. Rick lives in Palm Springs, CA with his beloved husband and their fierce Chihuahua/Shiba Inu mix.


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Cover Reveal - Ready For You (Oahu Lovers #3) by Crystal Lacy

ADD TO GOODREADS

Release Date: October 11 2019

Cover: Crystal Lacy

Length: 66,000 words approx.

Oahu Lovers Series

Book #1 - Brave For You - Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Book #2 - Change For You - Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Blurb

After mistakenly kissing a straight guy, Reggie expects Shohei to run the other way—not continue their fledgling friendship like nothing happened. Now if only Reggie can stop thinking about how Shohei’s lips tasted.


Shohei has never thought of himself as anything other than straight, but he can’t seem to forget the kiss he shared with Reggie. When Reggie volunteers to help him experiment with his newfound curiosity, he doesn’t resist the temptation.


It’s just a little bit of experimenting between friends, right? 

Crystal Lacy lives with her loving family in Hawaii, where it is always either drizzling or sunny and never snows—which is a shame, because she prefers being cold to being damp and hot unless it’s for Very Good Reasons. She writes queer romance, mainly M/M, but also some F/F. She has aspirations to one day write a YA novel about cats.


Crystal is a long-time fangirl and writes slash fanfiction for the Harry Potter and NBC Hannibal fandoms. She has a deep love for fandom culture, and can be frequently spotted on Twitter and Tumblr reblogging pretty fan art.


Join Crystal's readers group on FB for sneak peeks, bonus content, and ARC opportunities or subscribe her newsletter for monthly book giveaways, recs, news, and more! You can also follow Crystal on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

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