contemporary

Mother Parker by Rhys Everly: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

August 4, 2022 by Denise

. .

Divorced. Beaten down. A failure. Until a ray of sunshine comes into my life…

People call me Officer Grumpypants, but wouldn’t you be if life kept knocking you down?

My life is an endless sh*t list that I can’t even begin to unravel.

It all started when my parents died.

It continued when I was forced to sell my house.

And it all came to an epic conclusion when my wife walked out on me.

What I need is to get my mind in order and my life back on track.

So when my old commander offers me a job in Mayberry Holm, I grab the opportunity by the balls.

I’m ready to put my head down and my hands to work.

What I wasn’t planning though was becoming pet food for crows by this infuriating little man who throws seeds at my face.

Or being hired to help said man with his new store.

Or having to protect him from a bunch of criminals that prey on his softness and sweetness.

Even though he drives me insane, I can’t stop thinking of him. And even though he’s annoyingly cheerful, I can’t help but smile around him.

Or fantasize about him doing… naughty things to me.

What the hell is happening to me? Am I falling for the young, bubbly, pink-haired man? And is it too late to stop it?

Welcome to Mayberry Holm, a small island in the Atlantic full of crime, secrets and happily-ever-afters, and the ex-Navy SEALs that come to deal with them all.

Title: Mother Parker
Authors: Rhys Everly
Length: 80K
Series: Mayberry Protectors Series, Book 1
Genre: Contemporary, Romantic Suspense, Military Romance.
Heat: 3 out of 5
Release Date: August 1st

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

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“We can “We can watch this one if you want. It’s new. Or this one.”

The movies in question were two of The Rock’s newest action flicks.

“What? Just because I’m a big army man means I only watch action movies?” I gave him a sideways glance, and he frowned.

“Well…I didn’t want to assume, but yeah,” he said.

“Well, you’re wrong.”

“I’m glad. So…what do you want to watch?” He offered me the remote, and I stared at it, but I didn’t take it from him.

“Um…anything.”

He elbowed my ribs and smiled.

“Come on. What’s your go-to? I’ll put it on.”

“It’s okay.”

“Why aren’t you telling me?” he asked and dropped the slice he’d just picked up.

“Because you’ll laugh at me.”

“I promise I won’t,” he laughed.

“You’re already laughing.”

I sank farther into the couch and crossed my arms, refusing to let that man get under my skin, even though he looked cute doing it.

“Only because I’m amused by how shy you are about it. Come on. Tell me. Please, please, please.”

He draped a hand over my arm and caressed it with blinking, needy eyes.

“Please!”

Agh, fine.

How could I resist him when he begged me like that.

I grabbed the remote and searched for the show.

“Oh my God. You watch Jane the Virgin to relax?”

“I knew you’d laugh,” I sighed.

“I’m not. I just think that’s the cutest fucking thing ever! But sooo gay! How did you not know until now?”

“You’re dead,” I shouted and attacked him with tickly fingers and kisses while the first episode of Jane played on, which only indicated he’d never watched it.

I ignored the fact and focused on how wonderful his laugh sounded in my ear. Maybe he had already watched it once. It better be because I didn’t know if this relationship would last if he couldn’t stand Jane the Virgin.

Rhys Everly-Lawless is a hopeless romantic who loves happily-ever-afters.

Which would explain why he loves writing them.

When he’s not passionately typing out his next book, you can find him cuddling his dog, feeding his husband, or taking long walks letting those plot bunnies breed ferociously in his head.

He writes contemporary gay romances as Rhys Everly and LGBTQ+ urban fantasy and paranormal romances as Rhys Lawless.

You can find out more about him and his work by joining his Newsletter or his Facebook group, Rhys Everly After.

Connect with Rhys:
Website: https://www.rhyswritesromance.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rhyswritesromance
Instagram: @rhyswritesromance
Twitter: @rhyswritesmm
Tiktok: @rhyswritesromance

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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back by Cyd Sidney: RB, Exclusive Excerpt, Release Day Review and Giveaway

July 27, 2022 by Denise

. .

A stuffy composer meets a flirty ballet dancer. Can these opposites make music together, or will their dreams pull them apart? This is a sweet and steamy MM romance set against the sun-soaked hills of Los Angeles.

Joshua

I should be applying for grad school. Or looking for a job. Anything to get out of my awful rut. But instead, I’m obsessing about the dancer I hooked up with at the ballet studio. Who would have thought a gig playing the piano would lead to the hottest sex of my life? Before we got down to it, I think I promised to help out on a dance concert he’s producing. I was in such a lust haze I barely remember. He’d better text soon. I wonder if he’s still interested in seeing me in a *very* unprofessional capacity.

Brandon

I can barely focus on the upcoming dance concert or my move to New York. I’m thinking about that cute pianist instead. Did I tell him I’m moving? Things happened so fast between us I can’t remember. I’ve never had an experience like that where I was totally unraveled by a stranger. If I wasn’t about to move across the country, I would definitely want to go another round. But I’m leaving, so no more hot domination games with Joshua. I’ve got to keep things professional and not fixate on the way his elegant fingers moved across my body.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back is the first book in the Ballet Boys series. Each book is a standalone, but for maximum enjoyment, I suggest starting with book one.

Title: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Authors: Cyd Sidney
Length: 35K
Series: Ballet Boys, Book 1
Genre: Contemporary, BDSM, Romantic Comedy.
Tropes: Opposites attract, Grumpy/sunshine, Instalust.
Content: Dominant/submissive BDSM relationship with impact play, Sex is described explicitly, and Parental illness/death is mentioned.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

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Brandon was packing his bag for their fourth rehearsal with Joshua. Three meetings and three quick goodbyes; the clock was literally ticking on his departure, and all this potential sex time with Joshua was gone with no sex in sight. It was a fucking tragedy in Brandon’s opinion, but he would just have to make peace with it. Joshua was holding firm on not socializing with them and Brandon didn’t want to push.

Tristan strolled in and started stretching on the floor. Brandon tried to cover his frustration when he greeted his roommate.

“Hey, man.”

“Hey, yourself. Listen, Brandon, we’ve got to talk.” This was news to Brandon. Everything seemed to be going well for his team of dancers.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s you.” Brandon felt a sting of anxiety tighten in his chest as Tristan continued, “You and Joshua.” Brandon was relieved that it wasn’t something serious but irritated that Tristan was bothering him with this.

“There’s no me and Joshua. How could there be something wrong?” Tristan rolled his eyes.

“You and Joshua have been doing some weird kind of avoidance dance ever since day one, and it’s painful to watch. That, and the eye fucking, and pining looks. There’s been a lot of pining and yearning. You guys need to get it together and figure out what’s happening between you. Sarah and I thought about locking you two in the closet,” Brandon let out a little gasp, “but we think you need more than a good fuck. We think you need to talk to each other, and then maybe fuck.”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” Brandon’s cheeks were hot with embarrassment.

“You have made it our business. It’s everybody’s concern because you two are emoting all over the place, and it’s a real distraction.”

“Fine, I’ll talk to him.”

Sarah skipped into the room.

“Did you talk to Brandon about the sad puppy dog faces, Tris?”

“Yep.”

“Is he going to do something about it?”

“I’m right here, you guys! Fuck.” Brandon was starting to get ticked off for real. Tristan gave him an appraising look.

“He says he’s going to take care of it, but I have a feeling he’s going to try to weasel out.”

“I will not weasel out.”

“We know you won’t,” Sarah smiled sweetly, “because if you do, we’ll confront him ourselves and tell him how pouty you get every time he turns down one of our invitations.”

“You would never.”

“Don’t test us. Talk to him.” Sarah gave him a quick hug and turned to get her stuff.

You know I always want to read a book that has ballet in it. So I figured I would give it a shot. Let’s say, I’m glad it was short.

There is a story there, but it needed WAY more fleshing out. There’s very little dialogue so the book just tells me what they are doing. The book starts with Joshua sounding like a hot mess…but he isn’t. At least not for the rest of the book. He also tries being a Dom, or at least a very strong top, to Brandon and it just comes off as silly.

Joshua comes off as very meek and mild. Damaged by his previous boyfriend, yet we don’t really get a lot about that whole situation. A natural Dom he is not. More like he wants to be a Dom to take back control he lost to his previous boyfriend.

Brandon is very outgoing but immediately let’s Joshua take control sexually. When it seems like it is going to be a one off. It just didn’t hit right.

So I am going to give it a meh and be glad that it only took less than 2 hours to read.

2.5 pieces of eye candy

. .

My name is Cyd Sidney and I write queer, romantic tales with a lot of spice/steam/heat (let’s just call it sex). My stories are funny, surprising, and include lots of banter. I’m thrilled that you’re here and hope you’ll join me for the ride!

 Catch up with Cyd:
https://twitter.com/CydSidney
https://www.tiktok.com/@cydsidney
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22076301.Cyd_Sidney
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077148340652
https://www.instagram.com/cydsidney
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Beautifully Unexpected By Lily Morton: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway

July 16, 2021 by Denise

Sometimes love comes when you least expect or want it.

Magnus Carlsen is determined to grow old disgracefully. At fifty-two, he doesn’t believe in keeping anything. Men, sofas, books—everything gets jettisoned, eventually. He’s divided his life into happy compartments. A successful trial lawyer, he spends his days lecturing jurors, exasperating judges, and striding arrogantly around courtrooms. He fills his nights with a parade of handsome young men who want to make him happy. Why date someone his own age to discuss back pain, retirement-planning, and corns, when he can date men who don’t care to discuss anything at all?

However, when one of these sunny young men shows an inclination for dramatic scenes, Magnus meets his new neighbour. And his whole world implodes.

Laurie Gentry is nearly the same age as Magnus, but that’s where the similarity ends. He’s messy and creative and nosy and mysterious. He’s everything that Magnus has spent a lifetime avoiding. So, why can’t he get Laurie out of his head?

Luckily, Laurie is only in London for the summer. Magnus can uncover Laurie’s mysteries and indulge their annoyingly hot attraction, and Laurie will be gone before complications arise. A few months isn’t long enough to lose his heart. Is it?

From bestselling author, Lily Morton comes a romantic comedy about two footloose older men and how one summer in London brings something quite beautifully unexpected into their lives.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads

I come back out to find him examining a picture on the wall. It’s a six-foot landscape of the Danish coast done in sepia tones. “This is so good,” he says. “Your mum?”

I nod. “She gave it to me when I was twenty-one.”

He whistles. “Nice present.”

“I’d have preferred a motorbike,” I inform him. He gapes at me and I wave my hand. “Shall we?”

He peeps through the open door of my study at the mess of papers on the desk. “We definitely should.”

We leave the flat, and, as I lock the door, he leans against the wall watching me. “You seem busy,” he observes.

“I have a trial starting on Monday. I’m just getting a few things straight in my head.”

“Are you nervous?”

I look at him incredulously. “No.”

We walk towards the lift. “You thrive on your job, don’t you?” he says.

I shrug. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

“Even living in such an artistic world? Your dad was a poet laureate and your mum a painter. Being a barrister is such a departure.”

“I was the shame of the family,” I say solemnly. “My mother was so embarrassed when I got my law degree that she wouldn’t tell anyone what I did for ages. She thought I should be doing something creative, so she’d tell people rather vaguely that I did something with paper. Half of her circle were convinced I was an origami expert.” He laughs. “It is true. I still get handed paper and asked to make a swan.” I consider that. “The only thing worse would have been if I became a policeman. But then I’d have had to arrest half of her boyfriends.”

“Did she have many?”

We walk out of the building into the sunshine, and I slide my Ray-Bans down over my eyes. “Define many.”

He starts to laugh. “Ouch!”

“Usually at this point, a man would be full of sympathy for me.”

“I’m not most men,” he informs me truthfully. “Anyway, that’s a lie. Your young men would probably be pretending to listen to you while wondering which knot to tie on their genital decorations.”

“You could be right,” I say slowly. “Good grief, I always thought they were interested.”

“Probably just bored into submission,” he says in a comforting tone.

Read Erin’s review here.

Lily writes contemporary romance novels, and specialises in hot love stories with a good dose of humour.

Lily lives in sunny England with her husband and two children, all of whom claim that they haven’t had a proper conversation with her since she bought her first Kindle.

She has spent her life with her head full of daydreams and decided one day to just sit down and start writing about them. In the process she discovered that she actually loved writing, because how else could she get to spend her time with hot, funny men!

She loves chocolate and Baileys and the best of all creations – chocolate Baileys! Her lifetime’s ambition is to have a bath in peace without being shouted by one of her family.

Sleight of Hand (The Kings: Wild Cards Book 3) by Charlie Cochet: New Release Review and Giveaway

July 7, 2021 by Denise

Former Special Forces Green Beret, Sacha “Joker” Wilder, is well-versed on the subject of demolitions. As a silent partner of Four Kings Security, Joker spends his days working alongside his brothers-in-arms and his best boy, Chip—a bomb-sniffing Belgian Malinois with sass. Years of military and private security experience have prepared Joker for almost anything, except the explosive attraction between him and Giovanni Galanos.

When Gio returns from his travels abroad, everyone is charmed by the handsome billionaire philanthropist, but in Joker’s experience, anyone who’s too good to be true usually is. Gio is hiding something, but the more time Joker spends around Gio, the more his walls start crumbling, leaving him exposed and at risk of losing his heart, something he swore he would never do. Love is for suckers, and that’s not him.

For years Gio has dedicated his life to his charity work, helping people around the globe, but when things go horribly wrong during one particular trip, Gio decides it’s time to come home for good. The desire for family, and a certain ex-Green Beret with a chip on his shoulder, has Gio eager to restart his life Stateside. For all of Sacha’s blustering and griping, no one makes Gio feel safer. If only Sacha could see how right they are for each other.

Danger lurks in the shadows as someone sets their sights on Gio, and secrets are forced into the light. If Gio and Joker are to have any kind of future together, they’ll have to face difficult truths, because where love is concerned, it’ll take more than sleight of hand to make things work.

The Kings: Wild Cards series is a spin-off of the Four Kings Security series.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Worth the wait!

Joker, real name Sacha, and Gio have been dancing around each other for several books now. Gio hasn’t hid his attraction to Joker, but Joker decided he hated Gio from the start. Which obviously means he was also attracted.

And now they get to find their happily ever after.

It was fun watching them dance around each other. Gio was so cool about it, never pushing or being obnoxious. Just letting Joker know, without a doubt, that Gio wanted him.

What no one knew was that Gio was hiding some things. So pretty important things. So when the truth came to light, there were some upset Kings and Gio’s brother Laz.

We got more of Joker’s background, which was interesting. One of the reasons I really liked Joker is that he was short. I know, silly, right? But these big tough security guys are always like 6’4″, 250lbs of solid muscle. But Joker was short and wiry. Hella strong, but not the quintessential muscle bound dude.

And can we talk about Chip? Joker’s dog who worked with Joker at his job, but was also a well loved pet when they were off the clock. So when Chip fell hard for Gio, Joker was done for.

There was a bit of bad guy mystery, but it didn’t take over the story at all. It just added to Gio’s persona.

Of all of the King’s Security books, I believe this one can be read as a stand alone. But really, they are all fun reads.

4.5 pieces of eye candy

One commenter on this post will win an ebook of any backlist Charlie Cochet book.

Keeping Kellan (Keeping Him Book 2) by Amy Aislin: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

June 10, 2021 by Denise

Brant Harkrader is done living by other peoples’ rules. He may not know exactly what he wants out of life, but he’s perfectly happy letting that question figure itself out while starting a new job as a tour guide.

Too bad the one thing he does want—his sister’s BFF—only sees him as a little brother.

Or so he thinks…

Kellan Shelby-Briggs has never shied away from going after what he wants. And what he wants is the important contract that will put his brand new company on the map—and Brant.

Too bad Kellan’s career keeps yanking him away just as things heat up between them.

Now that Brant is back in town—up close and personal in Kell’s living space—can they finally get the timing right to go after the love that has eluded them both for too long?

Keeping Kellan
By Amy Aislin

Keeping Him, Book 2

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Kell was staring at him. “You baked?”

“Uh-huh.” The look Kell was giving him made his stomach do backflips. He leaned a hip casually against the counter. “Don’t get too excited, though. Like I said, I don’t know if I did it right. They might be gross.”

“You baked?” Kell repeated. He crept in closer to Brant, slowly, as though he thought Brant would flee at the slightest provocation.

But, today, Brant’s stupid desire to run was nowhere to be found.

Because this was Kell. Kellan Shelby-Briggs, who used to babysit him when he was little, and instead of sitting Brant in front of the television so Kell could spend all night talking on the phone with his friends like most teenagers would do, Kell had played board games with him until it was time for bed. Kell, who saw the world as one giant playground on which he could get shit done and show everyone how goddamn capable he was. Kell, who’d never treated Brant like an annoying kid. Kell, who’d often wandered over from next door to visit Wendy, but who had always brought a little something for Brant—an action figure, a new baseball, a well-loved board game he no longer played, his mom’s freshly baked cookies, hockey cards.

He was literally the boy next door, and he was looking at Brant with a cocky half-smile that was way sexier than it should’ve been.

It made sense in the grand scheme of things, though. Brant had always been attracted to competence and confidence. And here was his dream man in the flesh, coming toward him until he stopped less than half a foot away.

“You baked,” Kell said again, though it didn’t sound like a question this time. More like an acknowledgement.

“Mm-hmm.” Brant straightened, bringing them that much closer. Kell’s eyes slipped to his mouth. “As a thank you for letting me stay here. And for dessert for tonight’s date.”

Those eyes, clear pools of blue, snapped back to his. “Date.”

“Wasn’t that what the steak and shrimp kabobs were for? Not to mention the salad, the veggies, the potatoes, the dip, and the lava cakes. A date.” It had been too much for one person, so he’d brought the leftovers to Wendy’s last night. Except for the lava cakes. Those he’d kept.

“A clandestine one,” Kell admitted. “In case it wasn’t something you wanted.”

Brant wanted so much that he was tempted to let the pizza burn and drag Kell upstairs. Hell, he was kicking himself for not staying for the “movie” the other night. When had he ever backed away when he was interested in someone? The last time he’d seen someone he wanted to know, he’d walked right up to him in the bar and had taken him home two hours later.

Just that things were different with Kell. Everything that pulled Brant toward him—the friendship, the familiarity, Kell’s steady presence—also threatened to push Brant away. Because they were entering dangerous territory and neither of them would remain unscathed if they fucked this up, and it would forever alter their relationship, whatever that turned out to be.

Right now, though, with Kell looking at him with heat in his eyes? None of that seemed to matter.

The oven timer went off, an incessant beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep. Neither of them moved.

“Going to get that?” Kell asked, voice dropping to a husky rumble that had goosebumps climbing up Brant’s arm.

“In a minute,” he murmured and, hand to Kell’s chest, pushed him back against the counter, slotted himself between his thighs, and kissed him.

Book 2 in a series, but stands alone.

This story was sweet. Crush on his sister’s best friend since he was a kid. But now everyone is grown up. And the crush works both ways.

Kellan and Brant so easily just slipped into a relationship. Brant was staying with Kellan until he found a place of his own having moved back to his home town. And even without a sexual relationship at all, they just fell in to that groove. They were so comfortable with each other, with mutual crushes, so it was completely natural. Even Brant’s sister- Kellan’s best friend- really had no issue with it at all.

Poor Brant is trying to figure his life out. He played junior hockey as dictated by his step father. He went to college. He got the job in the cube in the city. But he wasn’t happy. So he went back home, back to the small town life and mountains he loves. And Kellan.

Brant has a really strained relationship with his mother and step father. Proving that words can do as much damage, if not more, than fists. Brant’s sister was just old enough to have moved out to college and didn’t know how bad it was. But Brant just kept it in.

Kellan validated Brant. Listened to him, loved him, supported him. Things he was severely lacking from his mother and step father.

It was a fun book that had a little bit of angst with the parental situation, but not the romance situation.

Great book to read at the beach or sitting in the back yard this summer. Most of the sex scenes are very fade to black with some details. You’ll love Kellan and Brant and their dog Ollie.

4.5 pieces of eye candy

Amy‘s lived with her head in the clouds since she first picked up a book as a child, and being fluent in two languages means she’s read a lot of books! She first picked up a pen on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class had to stay inside for recess. Tales of treasure hunts with her classmates eventually morphed into love stories between men, and she’s been writing ever since. She writes evenings and weekends—or whenever she isn’t at her full-time day job saving the planet at Canada’s largest environmental non-profit.

An unapologetic introvert, Amy reads too much and socializes too little, with no regrets. She loves connecting with readers. Join her Facebook Group, Amy Aislin’s Readers, to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on Instagram and Twitter, or sign up for her newsletter.

Connect with Amy:
Website: amyaislin.com
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/AmyAislinNewsletter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyaislin/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.aislin
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/amyaislin/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amy_aislin
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/amy-aislin
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16693566.Amy_Aislin

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Stumble (Outback Boys Book 1) by Becca Seymour: Quick Review

March 15, 2021 by Denise

Trey has a problem he’s worked hard to manage. It involves not turning into a bumbling mess while around a gorgeous brown-haired man who’s way out of his league. Eight months’ practice from being part of the same LGBTQI+ adventure group, Outback Boys, means he’s perfected the skill.

That’s until an epic stumble makes his head spin and he throws all caution to the wind. But there’s no turning back now, especially since a snow-filled trip means they’re forced to spend even more time together.

Mark has no concerns about the changes unfolding between him and Trey, the giant of a man who’s adorably reserved. He’s been crushing on him for so long that he’s eager to explore more. But when their latest adventure is over and they fall back into the real world, balancing work, life, and a relationship proves more challenging than he envisioned.

Something has got to give, and neither man knows the best way ahead without upsetting the status quo. Can the two Aussies work their way through their new connection, or will they stumble at the first hurdle in their way?

Outback Boys is a sweet and sexy low-angst M/M romance series complete with bruised butts, rope burn, and overworked muscles… all in the pursuit of adventure, of course!

This title was originally part of the Winter Wonderland Giveaway. The Amazon version, however, includes new bonus content–two extended scenes and a must-read epilogue.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Release Date: March 27, 2021

Preorder Now!

Hello, hot cover, I’d buy this book for you alone! In saying that… Trey and Mark were also adorable, so I definitely recommend!

Mark and Trey are regulars with the Outback adventure group and though they’re about as opposite as two people can be, their attraction to one another is obvious.

I love how open and assured Trey is, how he might be a tiny bit self-conscious or shy, his personality isn’t one to dwell on it and it makes for some pretty entertaining moments with Mark, who he not only has a crush on, but it’s made worse when an extra-long flight to the US has Mark going into protective mode and wanting to be there for Trey because he knows he’s afraid.

I loved how sweet and attentive Mark is even from the beginning. Having been on plenty of ski trips that his wealthy life has provided him, he didn’t mind a bit to stay on the easier slopes and watch Trey attempt to try to learn without hurting himself and he just enjoyed spending time with Trey, no matter what they were doing.

Another thing I loved is Mark’s easy-going and laid-back nature. Money wasn’t a problem between them, though it could’ve been and so often is when there’s a good gap in income, what with stubborn male pride and all that, but there was none of that here. It was perfectly handled, I think, where Trey just took everything with a good humor and didn’t make it a big deal either. I like that.

I also liked Mark’s family and accepting they were of Trey, and though there is an ex that pops up a time or two, I liked that he basically stayed in the background and the story stayed low-angst and just sweet.

I haven’t read any story by this author that I didn’t adore, and this one was no different. Such a sweet ending too, I cannot wait to see what happens with Pete, I really hope the next story is about him!

Overall, a great start to what I know will be an amazing series!

5 Pieces of Eye Candy