Two Chicks Obsessed with Books & Eye Candy

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Book Excerpt

Love You So Sweetly by Tara Lain: Exclusive Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

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Reading his future in a glass of sweet tea.

The youngest son of one of America’s richest families, Remy Merced is so busy trying to save his family company from collapse, he’s never taken time to figure out if he’s gay, much less if he’s happy. Then his meddling mama hires him an assistant who’s everything Remy thinks he doesn’t want. Cute Harper Treadwell, from rural Arkansas, is a brilliant business prodigy… and openly gay. His wit and charm could confirm Remy’s suspicions about his own sexuality almost instantly—if they weren’t both already partnered.

When Remy’s girlfriend and Harper’s boyfriend get a little too friendly, Remy finds that the path to happiness requires a long drive in an old Prius, a growing appreciation for small towns, and a whole lot of sweet tea. But before they can forge a future—they have to let go of the past.

Title: Love You So Sweetly
Series: Love You So: Book Four
Author: Tara Lain
Release Date: September 13, 2019
Category: Contemporary Romance

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Favorite Movies That Take Place in the South

Hi. Welcome. I’m so happy to be here celebrating the release of my new romance, LOVE YOU SO SWEETLY. This book starts in southern California like so many of my novels, but then moves to a rural town in Arkansas. I was actually born in the southeast, in Augusta, Georgia, although I left before I was a year old. Still, tons of southern relatives kept me very much in touch with my southern roots. You may know that I love movies second only to books so I thought I’d tie these themes together and share some of my favorite movies that take place in the south. Here they are in no particular order—

  • A Streetcar Named Desire – this old movie is worth seeking out to see the astonishing and astonishingly sexy Marlon Brando as Stanley and Vivien Leigh as Blanche Dubois.
  • In the Heat of the Night – they do call him Mr. Tibbs, and Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger make this tense and fascinating movie so timely for us today. The heat is another character.
  • The Big Easy – Dennis Quaid with a bad accent and great abs plus Ellen Barkin make this movie a sizzler.
  • The Long Hot Summer – While most people think of the Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward star turn, I’m particularly fond of a 1985 made for TV version starring Don Johnson and Cybil Shepherd.
  • My Cousin Vinny – Containing one of the all-time best funny performances in movies, My Cousin Vinny can be watched over and over, especially to see Marisa Tomei.
  • Django Unchained – In Tarantino’s top 5 in my opinion, the film is (of course) tough to watch, but still brilliant and funny in its marvelous excess.
  • Gone With the Wind – No list would ever be complete without it.

There are some of my faves. There are many others, including most of Tennessee William’s plays made into movies. What are your favorite movies set in the south?

Dasher

But he and Felicity hadn’t had sex in weeks. Shouldn’t he have a set of horns that would put Dasher, Dancer, and Prancer to shame? Hell, he was in his twenties. Even if he was sleepwalking, shouldn’t he be ready to stick his cock in anything female that passed within five feet of him? Wasn’t that the way most guys felt? Shit, these questions haunted the back of his brain all the time while the front worried about the business. And it wasn’t like he didn’t know why it worried him.

He sipped coffee and glanced at John Jack, who was smiling at his wife with open lust. It’d be nice to have somebody he trusted to tell him straight if he was undersexed or asexual, or…. He sighed softly. But he and John Jack didn’t have that kind of relationship. John Jack was seven years older and was more a product of Arkansas than California. He put a lot of store in “being a man,” and Remy was scared of what John Jack would say if Remy tried to get personal. Remy worked all the time, so everyone he knew was associated with the company, and since Remy was the boss, who the hell was he going to tell his troubles to?

His mama’s voice came from the direction of the kitchen, telling Nigel she’d like some more ice cream.

Felicity turned to Remy and leaned in. “I’m going to make my excuses. I’m too tired.” She put a hand on his arm. “Sorry, dear.” She kissed his cheek, rose, said a fast goodbye to Trudy and John Jack, and was gone before Mama even made it into the room.

Remy had a pretty good idea he shouldn’t be smiling.

Tara Lain believes in happy ever afters – and magic. Same thing. In fact, she says, she doesn’t believe, she knows. Tara shares this passion in her best-selling stories that star her unique, charismatic heroes — the beautiful boys of romance —  and adventurous heroines. Quarterbacks and cops, werewolves and witches, blue collar or billionaires, Tara’s characters, readers say, love deeply, resolve seemingly insurmountable differences, and ultimately live their lives authentically. After many years living in southern California, Tara, her soulmate honey and her soulmate dog decided they wanted less cars and more trees, prompting a move to Ashland, Oregon where Tara’s creating new stories and loving living in a small town with big culture. Likely a Gryffindor but possessed of Parseltongue, Tara loves animals of all kinds, diversity, open minds, coconut crunch ice cream from Zoeys, and her readers. She also loves to hear from you.

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Kel’s Keeper by K.C. Wells: Exclusive Guest Post, Excerpt and New Release Review

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Today’s Exclusive Guest Post is from K.C. Wells and she is talking about SEX!!!! Specifically, how much do you want in a book? And “boy”, is she is spot on, that author’s will never be able to please everyone. Check out the great guest post, and excerpt, and let us know what you think…how much is too much or not enough sex in a book?

When Kel Taylor’s life changes irrevocably, he finds himself alone in the world. He might have rebelled a little against his parents, but that didn’t mean he was ready to lose them. Unable to cope with his grief and feelings of guilt, he turns to booze, but before he hits rock bottom, someone dives into the murky waters to save him.

Luc Bryant watched Kel grow from the little kid whose football broke a pane in his greenhouse, into the sexy young man who sent heat racing through him. That was when Luc stopped watching and distanced himself, because he didn’t want to be that kind of a man. And that’s how things continued, until he saw to what depths the boy had sunk. Luc will be damned if he’ll let Kel kill himself. What Kel needs is a friend, and Luc’s shoulders are plenty big enough to bear his burdens.

Kel doesn’t need a friend. He needs a pair of strong arms to hold him, a broad chest to curl up against, someone to listen to him, someone who cares for him… and a whole lot more.
What he needs is a Daddy.
He just doesn’t know it yet.

A stand-alone book that contains an age gap relationship between a sexy daddy and a virgin.

Kel’s Keeper

KC Wells

M/M Romance, Daddy/boy, Age gap

Release Date: 09.01.19

Cover by Meredith Russell

Photographer by Ben Fink

Models: Adam Keith and Joe Ryan

 

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So that’s one order of plot. How much sex did you want with that?

The one thing every author knows? You can’t please everyone.

“There was too much sex in it.”

“There wasn’t enough sex in it.”

“The relationship was too slow to develop.”

“I LURVE a slow burn!”

“The age gap was too big.”

“The age gap was just right.”

You probably know where you fall in these comments.

But sex scenes can be problematic. Not writing them – although I have been known to leave them to the end on occasions, and I know I’m not the only author who does that 😉 – but deciding how many to write.

When I first started writing, I wrote a LOT of sex scenes. I recall #3 of the Learning to Love series had a few cut out, and as for An Unlocked Heart…. Yeah, a few never made it to the final edit. (Leo and Alex were like bunnies!)

But I learned. A sex scene has A PURPOSE.

It moves the story along.

It reveals something about one or both of the MCs.

When I wrote BFF, I wanted their first time together to be written differently. And I love how it came out.

“When we reached the point where we wanted more, I had to laugh when it turned out we’d both been shopping for condoms and lube. Great minds, huh?

And that’s when things got really serious. Because we’re talking fingers, slick fingers going where nothing had ever gone before. Mind-blowing discoveries, like “What the hell did you just do?” and “For God’s sake, do it again, and again, and again.” Moments that almost stopped my heart, like when he looked me in the eyes and told me he wanted to see my face while I was inside him.

Inside him. Sweet Jesus Christ, I was inside him, and it was tight, and hot, and so, so good.

Oh my God. Slow rocking into him, feeling him tighten around me.

His legs wrapped around my waist, heels digging into the swell of my ass as he urged me to go deeper.

That feeling of being connected, the one that nearly broke me, when I was as deep inside him as it was possible to be and his arms were around me. I swear my soul wept to see that look in his eyes. The look that said “I love you,” and “I’m yours,” and “You’re a part of me now.”

Because I was. God help me, I so was.”

The sex scenes in BFF were right at the end of the book. And some readers felt it wasn’t a romance.

In Truth Will Out, there were none. I literally closed the bedroom door. And you know what? It was right for that book. The romance took a back seat to the mystery. Of course, by book #2, they’ve loosened up a bit. 😉

Now, when I wrote the Damon & Pete stories, under the name Tantalus, there was a LOT of sex. With those stories, the sex came first, then the character development. By the end, Damon and Pete were fuller, more fleshed out, and you cared about them, because you got to know them.

Pride & Protection had maybe two or three sex scenes, but I had so much fun writing them. Standing up, over a desk….

And that brings me to another important point. Research.

Yes, I watch porn. You’d be amazed what’s going on inside my head when I do, however.

‘How do I communicate that look? That noise? That sigh?’

I don’t watch scenes that have no emotion. I want to see a connection.  And sometimes you come across a scene that takes your breath away, because it is SO GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL and Holy hell How do I write that?

When I was writing Kel’s Keeper, I was spoiled for choice. Too many inspirational scenes, too little space to write them. In the end, I wrote more sex scenes in this book than in anything I’ve written in a long while. Before I started writing, I asked readers who read a lot of Daddy kink for their thoughts on what they expected to see in a sex scene. And you can bet I referred to these thoughts when I was planning the scenes.

And how did readers react?

Some loved it. Some skimmed the sex scenes because there were too many.

Some loved the emotion portrayed between Luc and Kel. Some said there wasn’t enough.

Which brings me right back to my first point:

You can’t please everyone. (But you can sure try 😉 )

The time for worrying about Kel had long past. Luc had to do something.

After the funeral, he’d kept his promise and checked in on the boy regularly, and at first it had looked like Kel was coming through this. At least, Luc assumed he was. He didn’t get to see Kel all that much, but their brief conversations over the property boundary were proof that Kel was alive and well, if looking a little thin.

Then the conversations dwindled, as did the phone calls. Kel politely refused Luc’s invitations to eat with him. He refused Luc’s offers of assistance. And lately there had been far too many occasions when Kel didn’t answer his phone. No reply to texts. When Luc had ventured across to knock at the door, there had been no answer. Of course, he could have been out, but somehow Luc doubted that. When April gave way to May, Luc’s disquiet increased.

There were signs of life at the house next door, however. Walmart trucks came and went, and more than once, Luc dashed out to catch Kel before he closed the front door, but he was never fast enough.

Almost as though the boy was avoiding him, which if it were true, would be extremely ironic.

The day arrived when Luc wasn’t content to sit back anymore and wait for something to happen. It was time for the last resort—and that meant Christine’s spare key, the one he’d never gotten around to giving back to Kel. Thank God.

Luc grabbed it from the hook in the kitchen where he kept his keys, and went out of the house. Kel’s car was in the driveway, and judging by the state of the ground beneath it, Kel hadn’t moved it for a while. That only added to Luc’s sense of foreboding.

He went around to the front door, not bothering to ring the bell. After weeks of his knocks going unanswered, there seemed little point. Luc inserted the key into the lock, praying there wasn’t a chain attached on the other side. Thankfully, the door opened, and Luc stepped quietly into the silent interior. He peered into the sitting room, then the dining room, but there was no sign of Kel. When he entered the kitchen, the sight was enough to stop him in his tracks.

Dishes were piled high on every countertop. The dishwasher door was open, and Luc peeked inside. It was full of dirty dishes. The sink was full too, and the trash looked like it hadn’t been taken out for weeks.

Luc noted the pizza boxes and take-out cartons. At least he’s eating something. It was only when he took a closer look at one corner of the kitchen that the full extent of the situation hit him.

Bottles. Lots and lots of empty bottles. And most of it was the hard stuff, Luc was dismayed to see. There were empty cans and bottles of hard cider, and bottles of wine too. It appeared as if Kel had drunk his way through the contents of a bar.

Dear God, what state is he in, if he’s drunk all that?

Luc checked the rest of the first floor, but there was still no sign. He paused at the foot of the stairs, his nostrils flaring. The smell of stale alcohol was very noticeable. Luc mounted the stairs, his heart pounding. This is not good. This is way worse than I thought. Already he was kicking himself for not charging in sooner.

When he reached the door to Kel’s room, Luc paused, steeling himself for whatever lay beyond it, and praying fervently that the boy hadn’t choked to death on his own vomit. He pushed open the door and heaved an internal sigh of relief at the sight that awaited him.

Kel was in his bed, only the top of his head visible above the comforter, but he was clearly breathing. The room was in semidarkness, and the reek of alcohol was at its strongest, accompanied by the smell of stale sweat. Luc crossed the floor, put his hand to the lump beneath the covers, and gave Kel a light shake.

Nothing.

Luc gave him a stronger shake, and Kel’s groggy voice shattered the quiet. “Wha?”

“Kel,” Luc said urgently. “It’s Luc.”

“Go ’way.”

Like Luc was going to do that. “No, I’m not going anywhere. Remember?” He slowly drew back the comforter, only to have Kel seize it from him and pull it back over himself. Half-closed brown eyes regarded him with incredulity.

“How’d you get in here?”

“I have a key. You mom gave it to me. Remember, she asked me to check on the house?”

Kel propped himself up on his elbows, and the comforter slid lower, revealing…

Well, I certainly didn’t expect that.

KC Wells has written some pretty good books dealing with kink of all sorts. This one missed the mark for me though.

Kel is 24 and in the closet. Because his father and grandfather are preachers and he was brought up to believe it was wrong. He knows it isn’t really wrong, but he just doesn’t have it in him to come out. And then an accident means he doesn’t have to.

Luc has been Kel’s next door neighbor as long as he could remember. Always a nice guy, but his parents didn’t really socialize with him being that he wasn’t in the church. But the exchanged pleasantries. Those pleasantries turned into helping Kel when his parents died.

For a guy who was brought up hardcore Christian, he didn’t seem to struggle all that much with, well, anything. There were moments, but nothing like other stories I have read.

It’s a very slow burn. Mostly because neither wanted to admit their attraction to the other. But once they finally do- holy hot, they are all in. Although vanilla, they are having sex everyday, twice a day. Which is just fine. Except the blurb calls it a Daddy/boy book. And there is a little bit of Luc calling Kel “boy”, it’s more out of habit than anything else. Kel is kind of clueless.

So if you are looking for a Daddy book, this really isn’t it. They don’t embrace that until basically the end of the book. Total disappointment.

I honestly wish it hadn’t been labeled that way because without it I think I would have liked it a lot more. But I kept waiting…and waiting…and waiting for Luc to talk about his kink. And there were plenty of opportunities.

I did love the dynamic between the two. The way Luc immediately started taking care of Kel. They were loving and caring right from the get go. Add in the steamy sex and they were a great couple. But kinky Daddy and boy, no.

I’d go up a full star if they had embraced the Daddy/boy kink WAY sooner in the book. But as is…meh

3 Pieces of Eye Candy

K.C. Wells started writing in 2012, although the idea of writing a novel had been in her head since she was a child. But after reading that first gay romance in 2009, she was hooked.

She now writes full time, and the line of men in her head, clamouring to tell their story, is getting longer and longer. If the frequent visits by plot bunnies are anything to go by, that’s not about to change anytime soon.

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Dine With Me by Layla Reyne: Blog Tour, Interview, Excerpt, Review and Giveaway

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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 cup of 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!

This book is approximately 69,000 words

Title: Dine With Me

Author: Layla Reyne

Release Date (e-book and audio): September 16, 2019

 

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  • Can you share with us something about the book that isn’t in the blurb?

LR: It’s not just Miller and Clancy in this story. There’s a supporting cast of characters—family, of the blood and found sort—that I absolutely adored writing. And they support, first and foremost. No one here is trying to foil or divert our main characters, and I love that about this story. They are there to support Miller and Clancy, as best and as full-of-heart as they can.

  • Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?

LR: Every place Miller and Clancy visited is a place I’ve dined or based on a place I dined. (Sadly, a few of my favorites had closed!) Each place in this book is as special to me, for my own reasons, as it is for Miller and Clancy. For instance, one of the stops is The French Laundry, which is where my husband and I got married, so it holds a special place in my heart too.

  • Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?

LR: Ohmigod, they both do. This story has been rattling around in my head since 2015. It was on the initial list of project ideas I gave my agent. There’s a lot of me in both Clancy and Miller (more so Clancy, my husband more so Miller), but it’s really a love letter to all the amazing dining experiences I’ve been so lucky to have in my life.

  • What is the significance of the title?

LR: It starts as the opening line of the advertisement Miller posts for the tour. It also ends the book in a way that still makes me happy sigh.

  • What is the future for the characters? Will there be a sequel?

LR: This is a standalone, so there won’t be a sequel. Though keep your eyes peeled for a special project involving one of the secondary characters.

  • If you had to describe character Miller Sykes in three words, what would those three words be?

LR: Loyal, Self-Sacrificing, Stubborn

  • If you had to describe character Clancy Rhodes in three words, what would those three words be?

LR: Earnest, Honest, Risk-taker

  • If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?

LR: Oh, this is easy (since the book has been in my head for YEARS). I’ve always had Clive Standen as my fancast for Miller and Grant Gustin as my fancast for Clancy.

  • Was the writing process different and what challenges did you face writing contemporary romance versus romantic suspense?

LR: I couldn’t just throw a car chase or explosion in when I needed to pick up the pace! But seriously, I really did have to dig deep to center this one more on emotions, more on the journey of these two men, individually and potentially together in the future. That’s what’s driving the story, versus my usual twisty plot.

Seventies Santa laid a hand on Clancy’s hip, and the connection between Miller and Clancy snapped, the latter’s attention drawn to the interloper. Miller was off his stool the next instant. If he thought too hard on it, he’d reverse course and walk out the door instead of onto the dance floor. Let Clancy pursue things with the attractive man who was clearly interested in him. Who wouldn’t be? And why shouldn’t it be Santa? It sure as hell shouldn’t be Miller, who had a death sentence hanging over his head.

He had no business making any sort of claim on Clancy. No business getting more involved with him, even if only for the week they had left together. No business shoving his body between Santa’s and Clancy’s, knocking Santa’s hands off him, and grasping Clancy’s hips. No business, when Clancy grinned and stepped forward, coasting his hands over Clancy’s hips and splaying his fingers across the curve of that perfect ass.

Santa ceased to exist, Clancy’s attention totally on him.

“Dancing,” Miller shouted over the music. “Wouldn’t have figured.”

Clancy leaned forward, speaking right into Miller’s ear. “Did you miss the part where I like dick and live in WeHo?”

Laughter bubbled out of Miller, and Clancy’s goofy smile made him impossibly sexier. That body, those moves, and still the irrepressible brightness. Miller stepped closer, swiping back Clancy’s damp hair and letting his fingers drift slowly through it. “Fuck, you’re stunning.”

Smile wide, Clancy draped his arms over Miller’s shoulders and brought their bodies into brushing contact. “Dance with me, Chef.”

Miller didn’t even care about the slip, not when it was uttered in that low, sexy voice, seducing him into movement.

Song after song, they swayed and writhed in sync, their bodies like magnets inching closer and closer. Miller couldn’t say how many songs it was before his forehead fell against Clancy’s and the last bit of distance between their bodies vanished. The instinct was there to close the distance between their mouths too, but almost as strong was the profound relief rushing through Miller. He’d needed this release, needed to let go and forget about everything except moving his body in time with the gorgeous man in his arms. Clancy had known that, had recognized it while they’d sat at the bar, and had made it happen. He’d been exactly what and who Miller needed tonight.

“Thank you,” Miller whispered.

“You’re welcome.” Clancy’s warm breath tickled his lips. “But this is ninety-five percent selfish on my part.”

“It’s one hundred percent selfish on mine.”

Clancy looked up with dilated eyes, only a thin ring of dark green visible. He licked his lips, and if he hadn’t spoken, Miller would have claimed them. “I’m more than okay with that.”

Unhooking his arms from behind Miller’s neck, Clancy ran his hands over Miller’s shoulders and down his arms, tracing the ink. They traveled back up, then down his chest, fingers curling in Miller’s T-shirt. Clancy dragged them backward until his back hit the wall. Miller tried to slam on the brakes, not wanting to crush Clancy, not wanting to eat him alive in public, but Clancy kept hauling him forward. Cheek to cheek, chest to chest, Clancy slid a knee between Miller’s legs and pressed his thigh up against Miller’s straining cock. Clancy canted his hips, revealing his own need, and Miller couldn’t stop himself from rocking forward. He shoved a hand between the wall and Clancy’s ass and grabbed a handful of cheek, holding Clancy and his dick tight to him, chasing after this feeling. Heat, relief, life, desire, all driving him higher. He snuck his other hand under the hem of Clancy’s shirt, dragging his fingertips through the sweat at the small of his back. A shiver raced through Clancy, and Miller thrust his hips again. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this turned on, had felt so wanted while also wanting so much.

Clancy nipped his earlobe. “Be selfish a little longer.” He dragged his lips along the line of Miller’s beard and over his cheek, angling toward his mouth.

Miller wanted to taste him, more than he’d ever wanted to taste anything. Wanted to taste the hot, flushed skin behind Clancy’s ear, the sweat from his back that slicked Miller’s fingers, and the softly curving lips that had tempted Miller every time they’d closed around a damn fork. He wanted to know how the bitter, spicy sweetness of the Vieux Carré mixed with Clancy’s own unique flavor.

This is both a foodie lover’s dream and a romance lover’s dream. Long, slow burn and a happily ever after (no spoiler there, it says it right in the blurb).

Miller is all about food. As a chef but also as a foodie. He loves and appreciates it all- from burgers to the finest meal at the finest restaurant. And with his mortality in question, he wants to eat it all one last time.

Clancy finished his residency and is about to join his father’s medical practice in LA. But before that, his parents are footing the bill for him and Miller to take a two week eating tour of all of Miller’s favorite spots. Because even though he is a doctor, Clancy is a total foodie. He wants to eat it all, experience it all, talk about and dissect it all.

They talk about food. A LOT. They eat A LOT of food. And we are all in with the first restaurant, the real life The French Laundry. Where they eat various courses for 4 hours.

So you’d better like reading about food. Luckily for me, I really do.

I loved following these guys as they traveled to different spots in the United States. The best is that they weren’t always the best of the best by Michelin stars standards. They were the best in Miller’s heart for various reasons.

The bison stew was amazing, but they were also there for the view. Irish pub food in NYC that you could get on any corner, but this is where Miller and his two best friends really cut their teeth in the business.

And through the travels and the food and the stories, Clancy begins to really try to diagnose Miller, because his excuse of altitude sickness isn’t cutting it. But he is also trying to respect Miller’s boundaries. All the while caring more and more about the man as a friend. And questioning his career choice to work with his father in plastic surgery instead of his first love of oncology.

There is not a meal that wasn’t on purpose. Even when they hit a road block with one of the scheduled stops. They improvised and another magical meal with meaning (sorry for the alliteration) was enjoyed.

The sicker Miller got, the more Clancy wanted to help. But also the sicker he got, the more his defenses slipped around Clancy. Until neither could fight it any longer. Which just made it all the better.

If you don’t love and or appreciate food and the restaurant business, some parts may get boring for you. But I truly loved it.

4 Pieces of Eye Candy 

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.

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Stained Hearts by Parker Williams: Exclusive Character Interview, Excerpt and Giveaway

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Today, Parker Williams is here, talking about his new book Stained Hearts. And I have to say, if you don’t shed a tear or two at the character interview and excerpt, I will be very disappointed! This is book 3 in the series, and so touching! (I really enjoyed books 1 and 2 as well). So, check it out, and make sure to leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway.

Can two hearts stained by past pain find healing together?

Tom Kotke held his husband of twenty-five years on the day he died and spent nearly a year adrift. Determined to force Tom back into the world, his family takes him to the Park View Diner, where he meets young stained-glass artist Aiden Dawson. For a brief moment, Tom doesn’t think about his deceased husband—a terrifying prospect.

Slowly, Aiden draws Tom out of his shell and helps him feel alive once more. But Tom isn’t the only one who has suffered. Aiden fears no one sees beyond his wheelchair. Even if Tom can convince him he’s different, they’ll still have to overcome their age difference and a secret that could destroy their future together.

Title: Stained Hearts
Series: Links in the Chain: Book Three
Author: Parker Williams
Release Date: September 10, 2019
Category: Contemporary Romance

Word Count: 67,000

Book Categories: Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance, Hurt and Comfort, Loss and Redemption

Goodreads

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Amazon

Dreamspinner

iBooks

Kobo

Good morning! Today we’re going to be talking with Tom from ‘Stained Hearts’, the third and final book in the Links in the Chain series.

 

“Tom, thank you for taking the time to meet with us.”

“Sure, no problem.” He glances around. “Wait, when did I agree to do this?”

“Oh, your mom set it up. She said you needed a break after dealing with the loss you did.”

The sheen of tears was obvious, and I immediately felt like an ass for reminding Tom of what he lost.

“I’m sorry about that. My mouth usually engages a day or two before my brain does.”

“That’s…fine. We can talk about it if you want.”

“Are you sure?”

Tom nodded.

“Okay. So Brian was the love of your life.”

Tom’s gaze took on a dreamy quality. “He was. From the day I met him, no one could ever hope to catch my eye. He was such a tiny thing, but his presence filled any room he was in, no matter how large. Though he’d deny it, Brian captured the attention of everyone, and he held them in his web, because once Brian approved of you, you had a friend for life.”

“Was falling in love hard for you?”

Tom chuckled. “Oh, no. Falling in love with Brian was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. One look into his eyes, and I want him to know that I would do anything to make him happy. And I spent nearly twenty-five years doing just that.”

“And then he got the diagnosis.”

“Yeah… That was the worst fucking day in the history of ever for me and my family. Brian gathered us all together an told us in no uncertain terms he had cancer. The doctors told him he was on borrowed time, but he told me he would outlive any expectation they had. And he did. But I watched as the fucking disease consumed him. That healthy glow paled, his bright eyes dimmed, and that beautiful hair became brittle and fell out in clumps.” Tom gave a pained smile. “He told me he would understand if I didn’t look at him the same. He was wrong, though. His beauty was never on his outside, it was the inside I was in love with.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.”

“What are your plans now?”

There was a moment of uncertainty. “I’ll be honest, I’m trying to take everything one day at a time. After he died, I fell apart. Mom and Dad dragged me out of the house and did their best to push me to become part of the living again. I kicked and screamed the entire way, but they were right. I needed it.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I don’t think Brian would want you to be alone.”

“He doesn’t…didn’t. But I’m okay with it. I’m not looking for anyone else, and I really can’t see myself finding anyone who could hold my heart like Brian did.” He checked his watch. “Is that it?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Sure, no problem. I’m not sure why you wanted to interview me, but I appreciate you coming by.”

I stood to leave. “Have a good day, Tom.”

“Thanks. I’m heading over to the diner to see Noel and Lincoln. You’re welcome to come if you’d like.”

I smiled at him, because I knew what was about to start unfolding. “Nah, it’s fine. I think this trip will be memorable for you. Take care.”

I left Tom’s house and, while sad for his loss, I realized that sometimes we have to lose something we love in order to grow strong enough to find a new thing that we’ll hold onto. Tom’s journey to healing would start today.

There is a moment, just as twilight gives way to total darkness, when everything over the lake is still. It’s like the world is holding its breath, waiting to see what’s going to happen. It’s during this one, singular moment when I feel… free from the memories. Of course, like they always do, they surge back when I realize I can’t cling to that magical second any longer.

In October, Brian and I bought a cabin near Crivitz, Wisconsin. A quiet, peaceful tract of land where we could lay together and love each other as much as we could. I had a company come in to fix it up, so after we shared Thanksgiving dinner with our family, we could pack up our things from our home in Milwaukee and move into the cabin. The place was beautiful, but I don’t know how much of it Brian really saw. Each passing day he got weaker and weaker, and each day I wished I could freeze time.

When January came around, we went home to Milwaukee for a little while. Brian told me he wanted to go back and say goodbye to our friends and family. The trip was awful, what with my mother and father spending hours locked away with Brian, and him wanting some alone time with my brother, Robert, and his lover, Galen. After finally meeting with Lincoln and Noel, Brian also asked to go to Lincoln’s diner alone so he could sit and talk with Noel. It hurt me to have him away from me, but I understood his need to be by himself for a time. It still sucked.

I remember the night clearly. There was a haze over the lake, and the clouds obscured the moon. Around us, the night air filled with sounds, like the animals were doing whatever it took to make Brian happy. We sat there, holding hands in our little bit of paradise, where nothing bad could happen. Only… it could. Brian wanted to stay here because he didn’t intend his last days to be spent being fussed over by our friends and the family we’d created. The thought that they pitied him made his heart hurt, because Brian was the healer. He needed to make everyone else feel good. And now it was he who needed the healing, but we both knew it wasn’t going to come. The doctors had given him less than a year. He swore to me that he would prove them wrong, and he did. Being the fighter he was, Brian stretched it out to five. But every hourglass runs out eventually.

One night, just as twilight was giving way to total darkness, he reached for my hand.

“I love you.”

My throat seized. I knew what he was doing, but I wasn’t ready. Not yet. “I know.”

“You have to let me go.”

I jumped out of the chair and spun to face him. “How the hell do you expect me to do that? Since that first day in college, I have been in love with you.”

It was true. When this young Asian man knocked on the door to the dorm room, my tongue stopped working. He was so goddamn beautiful, it hurt to see him and not be able to touch his flawless skin. But that was 1993, and things were still kind of closeted. Hitting on your roommate was probably the stupidest thing you could do, despite what the porn videos said.

“I’m Brian Chen.”

His voice sent ripples of pleasure through me. I was hit hard by lust and longing, and the only thing I could think of was that it would be a very long four years.

“Hi. I’m Tom Kotke.”

He held out his hand, and after I took it, I was reluctant to let go. He smiled at me, showing off pearly white teeth, with one just a little crooked. I wanted to kiss that mouth and let my tongue explore that tooth. I’d never had sex before, but right then I wanted to drop to my knees and show this man the pleasure one guy could give another. Or, at least what I’d seen in porn.

He chuckled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tom Kotke. Might I have my hand back?”

It was then I realized I still held his hand in mine. I let go of it, instantly regretting having done so. “I’m sorry.” I worried that now he’d think I was some kind of freak. “I’m not a weirdo.”

And saying that out loud seemed to prove the opposite.

He gave the barest of smiles. “No, I never thought that.”

And that was our first meeting. Over the next two months of living together, Brian spent every night at home, in front of his laptop. Secretly I was grateful for that fact, because seeing him with another person would have hurt. It wasn’t too much longer before I had to admit to him that I was gay, because having him be uncomfortable around me was definitely not what I wanted.

“I figured that out when you held my hand that first day. If I’m honest, I wish I hadn’t said anything and you had continued.”

My heart beat a little faster. “You mean…?”

His grin slid into place, and my heart went pitter-pat. “Yes, Tom, I’m gay as well.”

And that sealed the deal for me. I was in love with him.

Before those memories could swamp me, a wheezed breath dragged me back to the here and now.

“I watched you every night, pen in your mouth, as you worked on one paper or another. I dragged you up to bed on nights when you told me you needed five more minutes. I sat in the audience as you stood up there, diploma in hand, and told our class that they were responsible for the world they were entering. That they had to choose kindness over money. And the day I asked you to marry me….”

“And I said no.”

I couldn’t swallow past the lump in my throat. “You said no.”

He quirked his artfully plucked eyebrow. “And why did I say no?”

“Because you didn’t want me to have to choose between you and a career. You thought you were doing good by me.”

“And I was wrong. The day you slid that ring on my finger, I finally understood what it meant to be whole.”

“Right, and now you think I’m supposed to just let you go and move on? I won’t be whole anymore, so how the hell do you think I can pick up and forget you existed?”

“Sit down.”

“No.”

He gave me a weak smile. “Tommy, sit down.”

When he called me Tommy, my knees wobbled. It was a nickname that only he could use. I wouldn’t accept it from anyone else, not even my family. From him? My heart always thumped a little harder at hearing it in his soft voice, as his light brown eyes held me captive. I sat on the bench beside him, and he put a hand on my arm.

“I’m not saying you have to do it now, but you can’t keep living for me. I won’t be here in anything more than a memory. If you really want to honor that, then you need to live. You’ll have to do it for both of us. Take that trip and go parasailing like we always said we’d do. Trek across the desert on the back of those humped nightmares. Ride the scariest roller coaster in the world. Do that, and your heart will race harder than it’s ever done before.”

“No, it won’t.” I turned my hand over and wrapped our fingers together. “The day you said ‘I do’? Nothing will ever be more thrilling or terrifying than that.”

He coughed, his body shuddering. He reached up to cover his mouth. When he pulled his hand away, dots of blood coated his palm. The inevitable had finally happened, and I was about to lose my heart.

“It’s been twenty-five years, baby. The best anyone has ever had, but—”

“Shut up.” I leaned over and put my head on his shoulder. “Please. Just stop talking. Let’s sit here and enjoy the quiet.”

He laid his head against mine. “Okay.”

The moment was perfect. A reminder of why I loved him so very much. We sat there for an hour, and when the coughing started again, worse this time, I reached for my phone. He shook his head.

“Don’t. You’ve got to let me go. It’s time. I don’t have it in me to fight anymore.”

My heart broke, knowing what was coming. “But I can’t…. I don’t want to.”

“I know, but no one can stop time, and mine has come. You need to accept that.”

My eyes filled with tears, and I scrubbed a hand over them.

“Do me a favor?”

“Anything, you know that.”

“Hold me, so I won’t be so afraid.”

God, my heart tore in two. “Okay.” I wrapped my arms around him, the body that had always been delicate but was now thin and fragile. He put his head on my chest, and his wheezing grew harsher.

“I’m always going to love you, Tommy. And if there’s an afterlife, I’ll be waiting for you in the park under the big oak tree. Will you look for me?”

That was where we had our first date. Him sitting there, his face tilted up at the sun, looking so fucking gorgeous. “I swear, I won’t look for anything else.”

“Okay.” He coughed, harder than before. “I’m going to miss waking up and seeing your smile every morning.”

I squeezed him tighter. I no longer had words. In my mind, I was wishing I could die along with him, because being alone? I couldn’t see how that was possible. The man I clutched to me was my life.

“You’re going to be okay. You know that.”

I started to disagree but stopped myself. He needed it to be true. He didn’t want to die with the regret of leaving me alone. “I’ll be okay.”

“Stop lying to me. You’ll cry, grieve, and try to hide away from people. When we went home, I told our family not to let you do it. They’re going to hound you. They’ll force you to go out and meet new people.” He reached up and put his hand on my chest. “And one day, I hope you’ll find love again, because there’s too much in your heart not to share it with—” Harsh coughs wracked his slight frame, and I knew the time had come.

“Rest. I’m going to be right here for you.”

“You always were. And when the time comes that you need comfort, you know where to look, right?”

“Sure.” I really had no idea, but I just needed him to be at peace.

I’m not sure when Brian passed away, but the night had gone dark. As if sensing my mourning, everything around us was still. Taking out my phone, I called the hospital and told them that he had died. They sent an ambulance, and the EMTs found me still cradling the body of my husband. A numbness sapped any strength I had, and I was grateful to the men who took me to the hospital, because I wouldn’t have been able to get there on my own.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of calls and letters, the funeral—Brian had asked to be cremated and wanted his ashes laid to rest in his favorite place in the whole world, Yellowstone National Park. He loved the beauty and tranquility of the place. Of course, I would follow his instructions to the letter, but I wasn’t prepared for what I found when I opened his urn. Brian was always so full of life. He personified grace and beauty in all things. And now? My husband was nothing but a white powder, like something I cleaned out of our fireplace. Upon seeing what was left of my Brian, I broke down in tears. Still, I sucked it up and did what he asked, burying his ashes beneath a tree that he’d carved our initials on decades ago.

Going home—to the house we had bought together a lifetime ago—was bittersweet. I could sense his presence everywhere, and more than once the memories of the life we shared overwhelmed me. Stupid things, like sitting down to watch a favorite TV show, became hollow and empty without him next to me. Going to bed, knowing his side would stay forever cool, had me moving out onto the couch. Not comfortable by any means, but still a damn sight better than rolling over to wrap my arm around him and finding him gone. Again.

Parker Williams began to write as a teen, but never showed his work to anyone. As he grew older, he drifted away from writing, but his love of the written word moved him to reading. A chance encounter with an author changed the course of his life as she encouraged him to never give up on a dream. With the help of some amazing friends, he rediscovered the joy of writing, thanks to a community of writers who have become his family.

Parker firmly believes in love, but is also of the opinion that anything worth having requires work and sacrifice (plus a little hurt and angst, too). The course of love is never a smooth one, and happily-ever-after always has a price tag.

Website: www.parkerwilliamsauthor.com

Twitter: @ParkerWAuthor

Facebook: www.facebook.com/parker.williams.75641

Email: parker@parkerwilliamsauthor.com

Leave a comment for Parker about this new book, and his guest post and excerpt and you could win one of his backlist ebooks!

Pure (Trenton Security Book 4) by J.M. Dabney: Blog Tour, Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

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Innocence wasn’t a personality flaw.

Nicolas “Pure” Warner lived with the curse of a cute face and a terminal blush. He was waiting for his happily ever after. Yet he’d given up on finding his one. His partner and spotter wasn’t the type to settle down but he’d always been drawn to the other man. Pure decided he could live with that, but when powers outside their control took Raul away, Pure would stop at nothing to get Raul back even if that meant leaving the Trenton Security team behind.

Touching the sun only left you burned.

Raul Martinez was a brutal fighter. He’d worked freelance for several years at Trenton Security. There was one dark spot to the perfect job: Pure. The man was sweet and looking for forever. How did the damaged and unworthy ever hope to touch the sun without getting burned? And touching Pure would be a dream come true. When Pure endangers his freedom to save him, how could Raul convince his boy that letting him go was the only option?

Title – Pure

Series – Trenton Security Book 4

Author – JM Dabney

Word Count – 46,000

Genre – MM Romantic Suspense, Daddy/boy

Cover Design – Reese Dante

Release Date: 08.17.19

Amazon

 

He still felt Raul staring at him and it pissed him off, “I said go away.”

“Not happening.”

“Hey, Pure, back to see me again?”

He lifted his head to see the usual ER doctor breeze in. The man was handsome, probably about his age. His visits normally correlated with this doctor’s, his name was Carlton and the man had asked him out for coffee. He’d politely declined and it hadn’t been brought up again.

“Not by choice.”

“I see that,” Carl said with a friendly smile. The man turned to where Raul stood. “Sir, will you leave us so I can–”

“Like that, wouldn’t you, pretty boy?” Raul started to push away from the wall.

No one might think he paid much attention to the dangerous man other than when they were fighting but that wasn’t true, he knew what the man was getting ready to do. “Raul!”

Raul pivoted with the grace of a trained warrior and glared at him. “What?”

“Quit being an asshole.”

“He wants–”

“Shut up, he wants to know if he should call the cops in case I’m being abused.”

“I would never fucking put my hands on you, Pure, what the fuck?”

It was odd to see Raul looking offended and slightly hurt. They fought, a lot, but he never once thought Raul would ever hit him. The man seemed obsessively protective of him. Which was weird since he was at least three inches taller and about fifty pounds heavier than Raul. Raul was a fighter. Brutal when it came to his work. And, yes, the man was an asshole but he wasn’t bad when Raul wasn’t ordering him around.

“It’s standard procedure when someone has as many visits as Pure does and you always seem to be the one with him. I’m aware of his profession, but that doesn’t erase the chance of domestic abuse. Let’s check you out.”

Raul was strangely quiet. The man was eerily silent on most days, an observer, and Raul didn’t miss a thing. Except when Raul had anger rolling off him in waves, he knew the man was ready to strike. They’d spent several years anticipating their moods and moves, they worked as a perfectly synchronized team.

“I don’t have a concussion, I’m not nauseous, my head does hurt but nothing out of the ordinary when you head butt a wall.” He heard Raul’s deep growl and knew what was coming. He didn’t need another lecture. “Raul, don’t start.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge if you have a concussion or not?”

“Yes, sir,” Pure grumbled.

I feel like I’ve been waiting for Pure and Raul forever! I knew I was going to love Pure, I have such a thing for the wounded bird and he was the very definition. After a teenage trauma, you understand why he’s been saving himself for “the one”…. I wasn’t sure how the type of relationship was going to work with that, and he seemed to get over his hangups really quickly without any therapy or even talking to someone, but.. hey… to each their own, right?

Now, Raul has wanted Pure from the moment he met him, but has kept him in the partners at work and acquaintance category because he didn’t think he was good enough for the innocent man. But Pure, as much as he pushed Raul away in previous books, he was done waiting on him to make a move and when Raul gets arrested for a crime he didn’t commit, Pure makes his move…. Pure makes all the moves, actually, to ensure his Daddy’s safety. I loved watching Pure fight for his man when usually, especially in these tropes, it’s the other way around. I also liked the bottoming Daddy… hot.

What I didn’t like….is that the Crew, none of them took their back, when had it been literally anyone else, they would have. Even Peaches….. all these guys are bordering on insane, but for Pure and Raul, who like Pure pointed out, has gone above and beyond for every one of them at least once, and they were in the wind when it came time for Raul and Pure to need them? It’s unforgivable…

I don’t even think any of them apologized really… not like they needed to, and then Gage had the nerve to talk to Raul like he was the one in the wrong?? Uhm, no sir… I lost a lot of love that I had for the crew in this one, so it wasn’t my favorite. We did get more Horace and Freddie, I really hope they get their own story… I’d love for them to get their happily ever after’s!

I loved Pure’s mom… she was the only one who had their backs no matter what. She was the family that Raul needed and it was good Pure had her, because the guys proved they weren’t worthy of that title in this one. I’m really disappointed about that… and I’m bitter lol

But…. alls well that ends well…it ended beautifully between the two of them and everything Pure ever wanted… I just hope the guys come together in the next one and remember where their loyalties lie and who’s had their back and do better.

3.5 pieces of eye candy

J.M. Dabney is a multi-genre author who writes Body Positive/Diverse Romance and Fiction. They live with a constant diverse cast of characters in their head. No matter their size, shape, race, etc. J.M. lives for one purpose alone, and that’s to make sure they do them justice and give them the happily ever after they deserve. J.M. is dysfunction at its finest and they makes sure their characters are a beautiful kaleidoscope of crazy. There is nothing more they want from telling their stories than to show that no matter the package the characters come in or the damage their pasts have done, that love is love. That normal is never normal and sometimes the so-called broken can still be amazing.

The author is Gender Nonconforming are uses the preferred pronouns They/Them.

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/J.M.DabneyAuthor/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/jmdabney_author

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/authorjmdabney/?hl=en

Reader Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/585182991553194

Amazon Author Page – https://www.amazon.com/J.M.-Dabney/e/B006QZIFLE

Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-m-dabney

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In Safe Keeping by Victoria Sue: Exclusive Excerpt, Release Day Review and Giveaway

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He can’t save everyone…

Firefighter Lucas Attiker is mired in guilt by his inability to save his young son, who perished in a fire three years ago. When he rescues a troubled young man and his baby daughter from a Colorado forest fire, Lucas finally begins to forgive himself. But the wildfire is only the beginning of the dangers facing them.

Hell-bent on saving his daughter from his crime boss ex, Owen Michaels is on the run with the baby in tow—fleeing both the killers who are after him and the US Marshals Service deputies assigned to protect him. When his desperate flight lands them in the midst of an inferno, the man who saves them offers hope for more than just survival.

They might have escaped a blazing forest and a hail of bullets, but both men will need to risk their lives—and their hearts—to give a little girl a loving family… if they can make it out alive.

Title: In Safe Keeping
Series: Heroes and Babies: Book Two
Author: Victoria Sue
Release Date: September 3, 2019
Category: Romantic Suspsense
Pages: 199

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press

Owen closed his eyes. Sometimes the fight was too hard. He felt a touch on his leg and opened his eyes to see Mia grabbing his sweatpants. Smiling. He smiled back. Or maybe, sometimes to protect those you loved, the fight wasn’t hard enough.

“I don’t know who to trust,” he admitted. “We were in an apartment—some kind of safe house they used—and Terry got a call. I didn’t even get a chance to ask who was on the line because I’ve never seen people move so fast in all my life. Terry grabbed the diaper bag, Barry lifted Mia from the small cot we had and handed her to me, and what seemed like only two minutes later, we were running from the building.” And being fired upon. He swallowed. “I’ve never been so scared in all my life. Barry got hit as we came out—”

“You were shot at?” Lucas interrupted, sounding shocked.

“Yes. There was more than one shooter. Terry bundled me between two cars. It was dark, around midnight, and pretty deserted.”

“Where were you?”

“Just north of Old Town in Fort Collins, but it was a Tuesday and really quiet.” Not like the weekends, which were kind of wild. “Mia woke up at the sound of gunfire. She started crying, so it was obvious where we were. There were footsteps, and Terry just stood up and started firing. He shouted for me to run. His truck was only a few feet away, but he was shot.” It hadn’t been the first time Owen had seen someone killed by a bullet, but he hoped to God it was the last.

Something told him that was unlikely.

“Terry must have shot them. I don’t know if they were killed, but they didn’t come after me.”

“Why are people shooting at you?”

And there it was—the question he had been expecting since yesterday and still didn’t know how to answer. “Are you sure you really want to know?”

Lucas didn’t reply, but then he didn’t have to. His confidence, some deep assurance on a different level screamed the answer to Owen. Trust me.

He glanced down at Mia, not only for the little bolt of courage he needed, but to remind himself of why he was here and why he would fight to his last breath to keep her safe. “Because I saw my ex-boyfriend kill her mother.” Lucas’s eyes widened a little, but he still kept silent. Waiting. Owen half smiled. “That’s a good interrogation technique you’ve got going on there.”

“Patience?” Lucas’s lips tilted upward at the corner, and from out of nowhere, Owen suddenly had the desperate urge to press his lips to that spot. Shocked, he jerked back a little.

“Did you know her?”

Owen refocused himself, pushing the inexplicable urge away. “She was my friend.” And he was the reason she was dead.

Lucas waited again, but Owen knew he had to answer. He would see the disappointment on Lucas’s face. Maybe even judgment. Disgust was a given, but he might as well get it over with. He shouldn’t forget that Lucas had saved his life yesterday, and even though Owen had sometimes been in that strange halfway place between fighting for your life and being ready to give up, he was the only thing keeping Mia from Damien. And if there was one thing he absolutely had to do for his best friend, it was to keep her daughter safe. Especially since he had failed so spectacularly at being a friend.

“I met Mary two days after I left home. A couple of guys followed me after I had used the cash machine.” He had been so clueless. “One pinned me, and the other took my cash and card. He wanted the PIN number, and I thought I’d be hard-core and refuse. Turned out they had a knife.” And really shaky hands. He would never forget the press of metal against his throat and the sheer terror he’d felt as it slid across his skin. “I thought they were gonna kill me, even after I told them, but Mary walked into the alley and called them by name. Told them to stop fucking with me.” And they laughed. He had thought he was going to die, and they had thought it was funny. “They took all the money I had left, but Mary stayed.” She’d even gotten him some water after he had puked his guts up. “That was four years ago.”

He glanced out the window, praying Lucas wasn’t going to want it all. He wasn’t ready for that.

“How did you get a car?”

Owen shot Lucas a grateful glance. Lucas could easily push, and Owen was in no position to say no, but as he focused on the deep understanding in Lucas’s gaze, he knew Lucas was giving him a breather. “I stole it.” He watched Lucas carefully, but again, there was no reaction. “I wish I’d gotten a better one, but it wasn’t even locked, and old cars are easier to hot-wire.”

Lucas’s eyes crinkled with sudden humor, and he laughed quietly. “I’m not surprised, if it was that blue Ford Taurus from the cabins. I think rust was holding it together.”

Owen stared. Lucas didn’t seem to be judging him. He’d done a lot of things over the years he wasn’t proud of.

“How long have you got to wait to give evidence?”

“I was supposed to give evidence to the grand jury three weeks ago so they could indict Damien, before we had to run. Now I’m not sure what will happen.” He didn’t know how he was going to last that long on his own. “I just want to disappear.”

“Not easy with a baby,” Lucas said doubtfully.

“I know.” Owen knew he was right. “But I don’t know who to trust.”

“Have you met Deputies DuPree and O’Connor? They’re the two who came to see me in the ER.”

“I like DuPree. She said her niece was called Mia.” He wasn’t sure about O’Connor, though. “I saw her with Terry a couple of times, once just after we left their offices the first time. I have absolutely no idea if I can trust either of them.”

“They can’t all be dirty. Jacko—remember him from the fire? African American? Big guy?”

Owen couldn’t help a short laugh. “You’re all big guys.”

“Well, Jacko comes from a family of cops. His dad and two brothers are on the force, and his uncle is a vice detective.” Lucas grinned. “It took months before his old man forgave him for becoming a firefighter. Anyway, we could ask Jacko to ask his uncle to check into the situation.”

That might work. It was just such a huge risk.

“You can’t run forever.” Lucas pointed to Mia, where she was chewing her fist. “Not with her, anyway.”

No. “So what? You’ll talk to Jacko?”

“How about this? You stay here with me while I sound things out. I don’t even have to mention your name—”

“No? How many witnesses running for their lives do you usually keep around—” Owen clamped his lips closed. He was joking, but his throat had suddenly gotten really tight.

Lucas’s face softened. He’d seen. Owen had a feeling Lucas didn’t miss much. “Why don’t you both plan to stay—at least for today. I don’t think you’re going to be any worse off, and you both need a rest.”

Owen nearly laughed. He possibly would have, if he hadn’t been keeping his lips clamped shut. A rest? When was the last time he’d had that? “I need some things for Mia.”

Lucas stood up. “Help yourself to anything in the fridge for her and make me a list.”

A loving home.

A father who knows what he’s doing.

But they’d start with diapers and milk.

Wow, what a ride!

Lucas is part of the wildfire first responders for the fire department. During a dangerous wildfire, he and his team are sent to check the area and make sure the park and cabins are cleared out of anyone who might be there and in the path of the fire. As I’ve realized over the last several years, and again with this story… the saying, “spread like wildfire” is faster and more dangerous than you realize.
When the team gives the all clear, Lucas chances a glance behind him and sees someone in a car, trying and failing to get it to start. He jumps into action, and that’s where he meets Owen and baby Mia.

Owen is on the run from a very powerful mob boss kind of guy with more power and more reach than any of them know what to do with. Inprisoned by Damien for far too long, he risks his life by running with the baby that was his best friends, who he saw murdered at the hand of the Damien, who happened to be his ex. The things that man put him through will turn your stomach. It was hard to read, at least for me, because I know that these things happen in real life and the police and judges and people of power who are in on it too, make it impossible to tell anyone or escape. So, he run… runs with the baby he considers his daughter, and luckily finds Lucas who isn’t willing to let them go without a fight.

Struggling to deal with his own demons from a life that got taken from him, he feels strongly for Owen and baby Mia. They kind of come in and bring him back to life, when he’d just been going from one day to the next, wallowing in guilt, shame and memories, both painful and beautiful.

Unfortunately, the guys don’t know who they can trust and are surprised a couple of times at who Damien has under his thumb, even someone close to Lucas…. That kind of sprung up out of nowhere, because it was either a small town or Damien’s reach was so long that he just had people sprinkled along everywhere. It seemed a little too convenient, but, whatever. I’d hoped we’d gotten closure from the man’s wife or at least an explanation, so that Lucas didn’t have to live with anymore guilt than he already had.

Being on the run together, trying to keep one another and the baby safe, and having to put all your trust into another person when it was proven that you literally couldn’t trust anyone… had brought these two together and thought was both insta-lovey and slow burny for me… I enjoyed them together. I loved Lucas and the way he was with both Owen and the baby, and I loved how Owen was with both Lucas and the baby… They made a cute little family that would do anything to protect one another and they proved it time and time again throughout this action packed story.

Fortunately, the bad guy doesn’t get away with being the bad guy and everything gets worked out. I won’t tell you how or what happens or why, but it’s a crazy ride and if you like suspenseful reads and don’t mind pricy ebooks, you’ll definitely enjoy this one.

4 pieces of eye candy

Victoria Sue fell in love with love stories as a child when she would hide away with her mom’s library books and dream of the dashing hero coming to rescue her from math homework. She never mastered math but never stopped loving her heroes and decided to give them the happy ever afters they fight so hard for.
She loves reading and writing about gorgeous boys loving each other the best—and creating a family for them to adore. Thrilled to hear from her readers, she can be found most days lurking on Facebook where she doesn’t need factor 1000 sun-cream to hide her freckles.

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