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We Could Do This Forever by Emerson Beckett: Blog Tour, Exclusive Book Excerpt, and Giveaway

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.                             .

Preston James did things to me. Things that had me wanting more of him and his dirty mouth, even though I knew better. Things that made my heart race. Things that made me come to realize there was more to my boss’s best friend than met the eye.

Nick Reed
As one of the bartenders at Alejandro’s Bar, I’ve seen it all. I’ve even watched my friends, Christian and Cooper, both find the loves of their life. Six years after breaking up with my college boyfriend, I’m convinced that’s not the life I’m supposed to have until forty-five-year-old Preston James makes me the target of his relentless sexy stares and his straight-forward, dirty propositions.

Maybe being the object of his desire wouldn’t be so bad.

Preston James
The first time I laid eyes on Nicholas Reed, I knew I had to have him. There was something about my best friend’s bartender that captivated me. And I always got my way. But this twenty-eight-year-old grad student has me jumping through all kinds of hoops to get his attention. There’s nothing I won’t do to prove to him I’m exactly what he needs. I’m relentless like that and I won’t stop until he’s mine.

We Could Do This Forever is the first book in the We Could Do This Duet and is an MM Bisexual Romance. Additional tropes: Age Gap; Mutual Pining; Boss’s Best Friend; Secretly Wealthy; Humor.

Title: We Could Do This Forever
Authors: Emerson Beckett
Length: 88k
Series: We Could Do This Duet, Book 1
Genre: Contemporary

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

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Once the door had closed behind us, I turned and caged Nick up against it, my body blanketing his.

My hands went to his face, and Nick leaned into my touch as I skated them through his soft hair to cup his cheeks. His arms wound their way around me to pull me closer.

“I don’t know how much longer I can restrain myself from kissing you.”

“Then don’t,” he whispered, inching closer.

When our lips met for the first time, the slow sensual glide of our tongues, tasting and devouring each other, became our world as everything else fell away. We could have been in the middle of the street and we wouldn’t have cared.

Releasing a year’s worth of sexual tension made me yearn for more, but I pulled back and placed an adoring kiss on his forehead and on each cheek. I never wanted to take my hands off him.

“Now I really wish I hadn’t waited so long to do that.”

“I didn’t tell you to stop.”

I laughed and looked at him. “What if I can’t stop?”

“I hope you don’t.”

One kiss wasn’t enough when I’d waited so long. I leaned back in with a sensual swipe of my tongue over his lips before diving in for another kiss to explore his beautiful mouth, beginning the journey to learn what he liked and what turned him on. Nick’s moans and whimpers were a road map to pleasuring him.

Breaking the kiss, I laid my forehead against his and swiped my thumbs along his stubble. “For the record, I knew I was right.”

Nick chuckled as he inhaled a shuddered breath. “About what?”

“That we were going to be good together.”

“It’s been less than five minutes. What makes you so sure?”

I looked into his light blue eyes that swirled with the same lust I was feeling. “You’ve had my full attention since the first time I met you. You’re been camped out up here in my brain, and every time you looked at me or told me you didn’t like my shirt, it just threw another log on the fire. And now that I’ve kissed you, it’s like the world is on fire.”

Nick grinned as I turned his head to the left and kissed down his neck. “And I’m sure because of the way you hold on to me like you’re afraid I’ll stop,” I whispered into his ear. I placed more open-mouthed kisses along his neck and down to his shoulder.

Nick was lost in my sensual treatment as he shivered and moaned. When his hips bucked and his cock brushed mine, I almost lost it.

I dug down for the control to stop and pulled back. I watched his tongue snake out again to lick away the remanents of our kiss. And there he went again, throwing another log on my fire. We had to get out of the alley.

“Let’s go, Nicholas,” I whispered, running my hands down his arms to take his hands. I pulled him from the door. “We have work to do.”

Emerson Beckett is an avid sports fan and lover of M/M romance books. She loves her new career as an author of gay romance. It’s even more fulfilling for her when she can combine the two.

Emerson is the co-author of The Package Deal Series, which includes The Quarterback Keeper, Pass Interference, Unnecessary Roughness, Two-Point Conversion, Illegal Motion, Ineligible Receiver, and Roughing the Kicker.

Besides being a retired teacher and author, Emerson lives in North Carolina and has been married to the same man for 33 years. She is a mother of three, one of whom is proudly part of the LGBTQ Community and completely responsible for her addiction to MM Romance. Even though the kids no longer live at home, they filled the empty nest with an Australian Shepherd, three cats, and a cute bunny rabbit.


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Treading Water by Alex Winters: Release Blitz with Exclusive Excerpt

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Actor Tucker Crawford is having the worst summer ever. Thanks to a viral video of him trying to swim, he’s the laughingstock of Hollywood and his role in a hit TV series is in jeopardy. The only bright spot is Tucker’s sexy new swim coach, Reed Oliver, but even that has its problems—because Tucker is deep in the closet and has never been with a guy.

Reed Oliver is having the best summer ever. He’s just scored a high-paying freelance gig teaching a Hollywood actor how to swim. The two of them have the run of a deserted summer camp, complete with an Olympic-size swimming pool. But when cocky playboy Reed meets shy, virgin Tucker, sparks fly and Reed’s walk-in-the-park coaching job becomes a minefield of temptation. Once they kiss for the first time, there’s no way to overcome their mutual passion and no looking back. But after two weeks of secluded intimacy, can they keep their romance alive in the real world?

Title: Treading Water
Authors: Alex Winters
Length: 310 pages
Series: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary

Amazon – All Regions

Goodreads

Reed squirmed where he stood, tan lines aglow atop the slipping-down waistband of his baggies. His skin was smooth and radiant, almost hairless. No, Tucker realized, he was hairless—smooth and slick as a baby’s butt. Tucker let his eyes covet Reed’s body from afar, admiring the place where his happy trail should be and finding none. The realization made him wonder if Reed was smooth everywhere else as well. All the way down, for instance. Hollywood, Tucker knew, was full of dudes who manscaped to various degrees. He hadn’t taken Reed for a pretty-boy spa-day salon type, but maybe he preferred the feel of nothing, nowhere, anywhere. Tucker couldn’t help but wonder what that might look like—smooth and clean and hairless. He scrubbed the thought away as quickly as it had come. The last thing he needed to be doing at that moment was picturing Reed’s smooth, slick junk.

Or at least, he tried to stop.

“I’m getting mixed messages here, Tuck.”

Tucker chuckled, glad for the return to normal, civilized above-the-waist conversation that didn’t necessarily involve manscaping and literal navel gazing.

He glanced up from Reed’s bare waistline and grinned. “Yeah, I guess I’m all messed up. Hate the Hollywood game but am kind of addicted now. Maybe this hiatus will actually be good for me, you know?”

Reed nodded as he sank down slowly beneath the surface of the crystal-blue water until only his head poked out. His big brown eyes, soulful and searching, made it clear he wanted Tucker to join him.

He licked his lips, torso still broiling in the late August sun, bare shoulders already reddening from an early burn. He sighed and sank down to join Reed. The water claimed his sweaty bare skin and forced a sudden involuntary smile from his lips.

His feet were still firmly on the shallow-end concrete, knees slightly bent, chest buoyant as he clung to the pool deck with one hand, just in case. He realized, in that moment, he had gone deeper than he’d intended to go and far quicker.

Reed gave him a satisfied grin and nodded at his bobbing form. “Look at you, half-submerged and everything. And on your very first day, no less.” His tone, as always, was part nurturing, part smartass. The sound was quickly becoming music to Tucker’s ears.

Alex Winters is the pseudonym of a busy restaurant manager whose curious young staff would love nothing more than to follow him around the dining room reading his steamiest, most romantic passages aloud! When not writing romantic holiday stories of various heat levels, he enjoys long walks with his wife, scary movies and smooth jazz. Visit him at www.awintersromance.com to see what stories are brewing up next!


Connect with Alex:
Website: www.awintersromance.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/awintersromance
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Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/awintersromance
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23210941.Alex_Winters

Like I Wanted (Heather Bay book 5) by Charlie Novak: Release Day Review

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Roommates. Best friends. Boyfriends?

Theo and Laurie have been best friends for six years but despite doing everything together, they’ve never been anything more than best friends and roommates.

Then someone calls them boyfriends and upends their neat little world.

As the pair struggle to put a lid on their feelings, a random email from Theo’s brother throws him even further off balance and all Laurie can do is offer a niche form of stress relief. But Laurie’s support doesn’t stop at rope garters. Once the two of them fall into bed, it’s clear things will never be the same between them.

Now, Theo and Laurie must finally address the feelings they’ve tried to hide from and figure out if they really are just friends, or if there’s always been something more between them. Can they give each other everything they ever wanted?

Like I Wanted is a steamy best friends to lovers contemporary MM romance featuring a femme boy who loves zombie horror and weird taxidermy, a goth with a secret love of shibari, interfering adult entertainers, a vicar who takes no shit, and a quest for guinea pigs.

It is the fifth and final novel in the Heather Bay series and is best enjoyed as part of the series.

Please note that one of the MCs is involved in adult entertainment and chooses to remain working in the industry, with the full consent of his partner, once they’re in a relationship. For more information, please see the internal Author’s Note.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

FINALLY!!!!!!! If you know you know! It wasn’t just the original group of friends and their significant others. And probably most of Heather Bay. They acted like they were together. They worked together. They lived together. Were they together? No one knew for sure. But now we do. No. Until now they were bffs. Who lived together, worked together and definitely acted like they were together. But weren’t.

And apparently we ALL saw what they didn’t. That they were perfect for each other and basically already in love with each other but for various reasons, never let the other know.

We are talking about Theo and Laurie of course. Laurie, the resident goth and owner of the local funeral home and Theo, the rainbow chaos goblin who works in the embalming room, is a streaming gamer AND has a porn channel. It’s a wonder he sleeps.

Honestly, seeing them realize what their friends thought was pretty funny. Seeing them realize that they do actually love each other was endearing. Seeing a side of Laurie no one else sees was HOT.

I loved the direction that little tidbit took us. Unexpected, but also totally tracks. Having that dynamic unfold was beautiful actually.

There’s also a bit of a side story involving Theo which really brings out the protective side of Laurie. Swoon. And no, it isn’t Theo’s amateur porn career. Laurie is totally fine with that as long as Theo stays open and honest about what he is doing with whom.

Having Theo and Laurie find their happily ever after- with each other- was SO worth the wait. They were great characters that we got to know so much better and cemented their place in Heather Bay happiness.

4.5 pieces of eye candy

You, Again: MM Small Town/Hockey Romance (The Elmwood Stories Book 1) by Lane Hayes: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

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The hometown hockey hero and his best friend’s brother…

Vinnie

Hockey is in my blood. I learned to skate before I learned how to ride a bike. I’ve been on a wild ride, playing at the highest level for some of the biggest and best teams in the league. But now it’s over, and I’m not sure what to do with myself.

So I’m going home to Elmwood.

But I’ll tell you what I’m not gonna do—I’m not going to coach my buddy’s junior hockey league. No chance. I don’t know how to deal with kids, and besides, the other coach—who happens to be my best friend’s brother—hates me. With reason.

That may be old news, yet something tells me we’re going to have to deal with the past.

And that’s almost as scary as coaching teens.

Nolan

No, I don’t hate Vinnie, but he drives me nuts.

He’s cocky, goofy, selfish, and yeah…after all these years, I’m still attracted to him. But I’m a responsible adult now. I run my family’s business, and with the help of my ex, I’ve made Elmwood Diner into a New England institution.

So maybe my life isn’t particularly exciting at the moment, and maybe Vinnie isn’t the worst. Nonetheless, I have no desire to rekindle a friendship with the hockey hero who no doubt will be on the first flight out of town the second he gets bored or gets a better offer.

And I’m not coaching with him. No way.

Ugh…

I can’t believe I’m doing this again.

You, Again is an MM bisexual, best friend’s brother, frenemies to lovers romance featuring old friends, a new quest, and a little hockey HEA!

Title: You, Again
Authors: Lane Hayes
Length: 57k
Series: The Elmwood Stories, Book 1
Genre: Contemporary.
Tropes: Bisexual awakening, Best friend’s brother, small town, hockey, frenemies to lovers

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

Goodreads

We sipped our coffee in silence, lost in our own thoughts.

“Are you staying with your dad?”

“No,” Vinnie replied. “He’s in London for the summer, so I suppose I could have, but I bought the Asburys’ old place. It’s private and it’s in good condition.”

The Asbury estate was more like a log cabin on steroids than a basic house. It was situated at the very edge of town, accessible via a winding dirt road, and surrounded by woods. The perfect spot for someone who needed a little privacy. But it was a lot of house for one person.

I didn’t say that, though. I went with, “I heard the Collinses redid the kitchen and bathrooms before they moved to Burlington last September.”

“Yeah, they did some nice work. You should come by and see it.”

Like that was ever gonna happen, I mused sarcastically.

I cocked my head. “How long are you staying?”

“Through the summer…I think.”

“Then you should coach for Ronnie.”

Vinnie widened his eyes comically. “You think I should do it. Why?”

“Ronnie could use a break. If that’s you…so be it,” I said flatly.

He furrowed his brow hard enough to give himself a headache. “Now I’m really suspicious.”

“Don’t be. It’s a simple proposition.”

“But?”

I sipped my coffee thoughtfully before setting the mug on the counter, my gaze locked on his. The ensuing stare-down was epic. Standing gave me a bit of an advantage, but Vinnie’d had years of practice intimidating opponents on the ice.

I finally looked away and leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “But…I think you’ll walk away when it gets tough or when you get a better offer, or when you just get bored of this place. Like you always do.”

“Ouch. That’s gonna leave a mark.”

“I’m not being a dick. I’m being honest. Your life isn’t here…Ronnie’s is. You can walk away whenever you want and not lose a thing. It’s a little different for the rest of us,” I continued conversationally.

“And this is the part where you’re not being a dick?”

“Trust me, it is,” I huffed.

This is a nice, cozy, friends/enemies to lovers small town story. They kind you wish you were under a blanket in your favorite chair with tea or hot chocolate. And cookies.

Pro hockey player Vinnie is hanging up his skates. Not really going out on top, but definitely not at the bottom. With no real friends and definitely no family in Washington state, he heads home to New England and his small town of Elmwood. There are his best friend, his best friend’s brother and their mother. All of whom he considers family. Except the brother isn’t happy to see him and Vinnie has no idea why.

Nolan has crushed on Vinnie pretty much since he figured out he was gay. He was the third wheel in the friendship trio, but he was always welcome. He’s also back in Elmwood after giving up a career to take over the family diner after his father died unexpectedly. He isn’t happy Vinnie is back. Or that they are working together to coach hockey at his brother’s rink.

Vinnie is that happy go lucky guy who just wants to be friends with everyone. Even after growing up with a father who treated him as an afterthought on a good day, Vin always looks for the silver lining.

Nolan isn’t bitter, really, about giving up on his career. Especially since he redid the diner and make it into a restaurant with a wait list. He adores his mother, his brother and his niece. Vin, he hates but secretly still wants.

Being forced together as coaches plus Vin’s affable charm slowly break down Nolan’s walls. AND Vin actually get him to tell him why he is so mad at him. And honestly, it was with pretty good reason. But they clear the air and keep whatever is going on between them on the down low. Because that always works.

I absolutely adored Nolan’s niece. Precocious, a book worm and a wicked slapshot on the ice, I loved the scene’s with her in it.

The story was a bit cookie cutter, but the characters really made the book so enjoyable. I’m looking forward to the next book who I hope is this guy and that guy. LOL

4 pieces of eye candy

Lane Hayes loves a good romance! An avid reader from an early age, she has always been drawn to well-told love story with beautifully written characters. She loves wine, chocolate and travel (in no particular order). Lane lives in Southern California with her amazing husband and her fabulous pup, George.

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A Boy Called Rainbow by Robin Knight: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

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Love comes in all colors…

Art evaluator Miles Tate is finally about to start living his dream… that is if he can get the funding in place to open his own art gallery in New York. But when an unexpected turn of events finds every one of Miles’ perfectly-planned dreams turned upside-down, it’s time to escape Manhattan and reluctantly take up a well-paid job in the tiny seaside town of Hope’s Bluff, Georgia. For Miles, it’s his only chance to make some money, claw back what little dignity he has left, and figure out what the hell to do with his life.

But evaluating the art collection of a deceased estate isn’t made easy by the grandson of the dearly departed in question. Indeed, the young man who calls himself Rainbow is a hot-tempered, hotter-than-hell artist whose secrets run deep and passions run raw. He is talented, troubled, tempestuous and deaf… and possibly the one person who can save Miles from his own heartache.

Can Miles finish the job he’s been paid to do… or will two opposites find that they have more in common than they first imagined? Can the pair of them find the strength in each other to rebuild their lives… or will the traumas of their pasts drive them both away? Will Miles turn his back on the handsome, hurt, artistic genius he’s stumbled upon… or will he finally find true love in the arms of a Boy Called Rainbow?

Title: A Boy Called Rainbow
Authors: Robin Knight
Length: 62k
Genre: Contemporary

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

Goodreads

I stood from my spot on the floor and nodded, “You want to see me dance? Then let’s dance!”

Rainbow jumped up and down, clapping excitedly before racing off to Odette’s closet and returning with an old record player. He set it down on the floor, plugged it into the nearest socket, disappeared again, then returned with an album cover in his hands.

He spun it in his fingers before presenting the cover to me.

“Oh wow! Whitney Houston. You’re serious about this!”

Rainbow nodded confidently, looking extremely pleased with himself.

“But wait… you can hear music?”

Rainbow laughed again and shook his head. He crouched and placed his hand against the floor, then ran his fingers over his bare feet, up his legs and torso, and finished with a thump-thump-thump against his heart.

I felt stupid. “The vibrations. You dance to the vibrations.”

He nodded again, then slid the record delicately from its sleeve. Holding it between is fingertips, avoiding any chance of leaving his prints on the vinyl, he placed the record on the turntable with the utmost care, as though he was cracking a safe or setting an explosive with sticks of gelignite. He set the turntable in motion and the record started spinning, and with one final act of precision, he placed the stylus in the groove—

Side A.

Track One.

Rainbow turned the volume up as high as it would go, the crackle of the needle in the groove filling the room before the beat of Whitney’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody kicked in.

Instantly Rainbow’s feet began to move, his body light as a feather, his every step in time with the music.

His hands curled up and his fists began to shake like he was holding maracas.

His hips began to gyrate ever so slightly, feeling the rhythm.

His shoulders tipped left then right, shimmying in such a sexy way I wanted his jeans off then and there.

But first there was music to dance to.

With a mischievous gleam in his eye, Rainbow hustled his way toward me.

He craned his eyebrows suggestively, then did a turn in perfect time to the song, letting me know that the music was all that mattered right now, and if I wanted to join in… now was my one and only chance.

Stiffly I began to move my hips.

I felt like the Tin Man trying to boogie, which was clearly the impression Rainbow got too.

He grinned and reached for me, taking my hips in his hands and swaying me into a smooth and sexy groove, left and right, then back and forth, forcing my feet to move in time with my hips.

I laughed joyfully and shouted over the music, “Fuck, I think I’m dancing!”

But Rainbow wasn’t watching my lips. He was far too caught up in the beat, far too busy passing his moves onto me until we began to dance in unison together.

I felt my shoulders freeing up, as though Dorothy had just squirted oil from her oilcan into my rusty limbs.

I watched my feet step in time with the rhythm… almost… while my legs bent and straightened, freeing themselves of the stiffness that might have set in for the rest of my life had I never met Rainbow.

He twirled and so did I.

He swiveled his hips and soon had me doing the same.

He threw his arms in the air as if he didn’t have a care in the world, whooping with sheer delight over the blasting music, and I did the same.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me close, but he moved too quickly for my fledgling feet.

I stumbled into him.

I stood on his foot and we both staggered, me forward, him backward, until soon we completely lost our balance.

Rainbow fell and thudded onto his back on the floor, making the needle skip to the start of the song.

A second later I fell on top of him, knocking the wind out of him.

Rainbow wheezed as I mumbled, “Shit, fuck, I’m so sorry! God I was doing so well!”

He caught sight of my lips as I said that, and through his gasping and spluttering for air he started to laugh, shaking his head in disagreement.

Two things I am an absolute sucker for. Dancers and deaf or hard of hearing characters. So I was all in.

Let’s start with main character #1 Miles. Art evaluator/wanna be gallery owner who catches his long term boyfriend cheating. Of course the boyfriend gaslights him into thinking he is the my boring, arrogant person out there. Throwing all of the ex lovers in Miles’ face was a bit much.

Off he goes to a small town outside Savannah, Georgia to appraise a collection by a completely unknown, and now deceased, artist. His first meeting with the man who hired him had me rolling me eyes. Talk about some crazy stereotypes. And not for nothin, Miles putting up with the slurs from this guy was ridiculous. He is also waiting to kick his brother out of the house formerly owned by his grandmother- the deceased artist. The hatred was ridiculous.

Off Miles goes to a bed and breakfast of sorts even though there are only 2 rooms for guests. And the B&B owner is a bit of an eccentric cat lady. Literally 13 cats. And the stereotypical talk again. And what she cooks makes it sound like they are in the bayou of Louisiana, not coastal Georgia.

Finally we meet Rainbow. Who is deaf and no one bothered to tell Miles. Rainbow is the only character who isn’t a giant stereotype. He is desperate to keep his grandmother’s art private as was her wish. And to keep the roof over his head.

Miles begins learning ASL at a very rapid pace from a handwritten book. Sigh. ASL is a language. There’s no way to learn it as fast as he did. Anyway. There are sparks between them, Miles learns more about Rainbow, his grandmother and their family.

Beyond the ASL thing, I really did feel like Miles and Rainbow had a connection and belonged together.

There are a couple more quirky characters, a couple more stereotypes and a hurricane.

Overall I liked the story, there were just more than a few things that ruffled my feathers. A few things that were just far too unbelievable that just took me out of the story.

3 pieces of eye candy

.                                   .

Robin Knight is the author of gay fiction novels, novellas, and short stories, ranging in genre from gay adventure, gay romance, gay suspense, and gay comedies.

The heroes of Robin’s books love to spend their time jumping off the page, stumbling through misadventures, and falling in love.

Robin has worked in advertising, politics, journalism, and event management, but nothing is as fun as telling stories.

Connect with Robin:
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Like You Hate Me by Bethany Winters: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

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I’ve never hated anyone as much as I hate him.

The day my sister died, I told her best friend I never wanted to see him again, and I meant it.

I lost her because of him. Everything I used to care about means nothing now because of him.

It’s all because of him.

So when he shows up on my driveway two years later and tells me he’s moving in with me for his freshman year of college, I kick his ass and tell him to disappear. For good this time.

But I already know the defiant little brat’s not gonna listen. He never does.

Being near him again makes me crazy. I’m supposed to be the college basketball star my father raised me to be, but now I’m focused on a new game. I’m obsessed with watching him, touching him, breaking him. His body, his head, his heart, anything I can get my hands on…

I’m gonna take it all until he’s got nothing left.

And even though he knows exactly what I’m doing to him, he’s gonna let me do it anyway.

Title: Like You Hate Me
Authors: Bethany Winters
Length: 90k
Genre: Contemporary

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

Goodreads

“Since when do you venture all the way over here?” Frankie asks, grinning at me over her shoulder as I follow her into the coffee shop.

“Shut up.”

She chuckles and moves up to the counter to place her order. Looking around, I find Xavi sitting at his usual table by the window, wearing a dark gray hoodie with the hood pulled up over his head. I force my face to remain cold and impassive as I watch him be, enjoying the way he shifts in his seat and pulls his sleeves down over his knuckles. His eyes crinkle at the corners when they find me, like he’s trying not to wince.

My face is a punishment for him. And if he insists on sticking around, I’ve got no problem going out of my way to make him look at it every chance I get.

“Nate,” Frankie says, probably not for the first time.

“Yeah?”

“What do you want?”

“Whatever you’re having is fine.”

She raises a brow at that. “A pumpkin spice latte?” she asks, and I scrunch my nose in disgust. “That’s what I thought.” She laughs, turning back to the barista. “He’ll have a cappuccino.”

Once we’ve got our drinks, we sit side by side at one of the empty tables in the corner, both of us people watching for a while as we warm our hands with our cups. We don’t say anything, but it’s not awkward. It’s easy with Frankie. Comfortable.

A group of people rush inside the shop, relieved to be out of the cold, and I don’t miss the way the guy at the back of the group turns his head to look at Xavi, chewing his lip as he takes in his form.

“Does that happen everywhere he goes?” Frankie asks, subtly tipping her chin at Xavi. “Girls and guys?”

I nod, my hands clenching into fists on the table.

“He has no idea, does he?”

“Not a fucking clue.”

He’s always been this way. Even back in high school, the kid was oblivious to all the attention he got. He’s oblivious now too, his head lowered as he tries to pretend he’s not peeking up at me every five seconds to check what I’m doing. I like that I’m his sole focus, that he’s clearly jealous of me and Frankie, but at the same time, that sad, broken look in his eyes makes me want to throttle him. All I can think about is forcing him to his knees, digging my thumbs into his jugular, and shoving my cock down his throat so hard he chokes on it. Taking him as hard and as roughly as I can and giving him something to really be sad about.

“Jesus, the way you look at him…” Frankie mutters. “I wish someone would look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like they wanna fight me and fuck me at the same time.” She smirks, and I smirk right back, leaning into her space and taking her chin between my thumb and forefinger. “You hate it, don’t you?” she whispers against my lips, playing along like the good friend she is. “The way you want him. It pisses you off.”

“Right now, the only thing pissing me off is you,” I tell her, digging my fingertips into her skin, but not hard enough to hurt. Never as hard as I’d do it to Xavi.

“That’s not very nice.”

“I’m not a very nice person, Frank.”

“I know,” she says. “That’s why you’re my favorite.”

Fighting a grin, I tilt my head to the side, kissing the corner of her mouth. “Is he gone?”

“Mhm.”

My grin slips free, and I kiss her cheek this time. She playfully pushes my face away, and I drop back in my seat, resting my arm on the back of her chair. Lifting my coffee to take a sip, I laugh under my breath as I watch Xavi storm off through the courtyard.

Do I love angsty books? You know I do! And this one delivered. Drug addiction, death of a sister and best friend, self loathing, hate, blame, meddling best friends, you name it.

Xavi and Nate haven’t seen each other in two years. The why is shown in various flash backs that just break your heart. Xavi the misfit who becomes best friends with the blind girl. They are both from wealthy families where appearances are everything and they do not fit the mold. Katy’s older brother Nate did fit the mold. Everything changed with Katy accidentally overdosed.

Xavi retreated deeper in drugs and alcohol. Nate fueled himself with hate for Xavi who he blamed for Katy’s death. Xavi got clean after rehab (his reason for getting clean gutted me) and is finally going to go to college. And stay in the house Nate rents. It was the original plan before Katy died. And Nate’s best friend convinces Xavi that it’s fine.

It’s far from fine.

Xavi takes a lot of emotional abuse from Nate. But at the same time, Nate has to sometimes remind himself that he hates Xavi. That Xavi is the reason his sister is dead.

Nate moves to using Xavi for sex. And then ignoring him after. And Xavi thinks he deserves it. Self flagellation much? It’s brutal. Xavi hates himself as much as Nate hates him.

I’ll say that I didn’t love that Xavi’s depression seems to lift when Nate is nice to him. And I really wish Nate had more of a wake up call with how he treated Xavi. AND his friends. He really treats Carter and Easton like crap. Carter I can almost see because they had been friends for so long. But Easton? There’s also Frankie, the lone girl in the group (and house) who seems to have a bit of a tragic back story that we don’t get.

So there were a few things I didn’t like that much but there was a lot that I loved. This was my first book by this author and I hope there are more dark and angsty stories in her backlist.

4.5 pieces of eye candy

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Bethany Winters is a Romance author based in the UK.

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