guest post

Nice Catching You: A Holiday Love Story by Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood: Blog Tour, Exclusive Author Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

November 5, 2020 by Denise

What happens when the No. 1 college hockey star in the country falls in love—with a man? Nick Johnson, a top prospect for a pro hockey team, has a secret: he’s gay. Tired of living in the closet for the sport he loves, he sees no way out.

Jacob Meyer’s string of bad boyfriends left him cynical about love. Instead, he focuses on his studies as a third-year law student. With a new job waiting for him, he’s eager to graduate and move on.

On a school-sponsored trip, Nick and Jacob meet in a most unexpected way. When Nick tells Jacob his secret, they decide to hang out, just as friends. But their attraction is too strong to ignore, and they soon begin dating.

Since Nick is a big man on campus, it doesn’t take long for people to notice his attachment to Jacob. All hell breaks loose when the relationship gets out. As the national media descends, university officials try to figure out how to solve their “problem.” Their efforts divide Nick’s team, inflame fans, and put Nick and Jacob’s futures in jeopardy. Will the men be able to survive a plot to destroy them without derailing both their careers?

Nice Catching You is an out-for-you romance featuring a lot of love, exciting hockey, and a beautiful holiday. There’s also plenty of steam and a very happy ending.

Title: Nice Catching You: A Holiday Love Story

Author: Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood

Publisher: Wainscott Press

Release Date: 10/30/2020

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 84,000 words

Genre: Romance, Gay Holiday Romance, Contemporary Gay Romance, Holiday Romance

Goodreads

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

We Ran a Survey by Ryan Taylor and Joshua Harwood

Our new book, Nice Catching You: A Holiday Love Story, is a sweet romance about a Nick Johnson, a college hockey star who is gay but closeted. Since he is the top-ranked college hockey player in the country, professional hockey teams are eager to sign him to play. Nick is desperate to come out and find a genuine relationship with a man, but he doesn’t see how that can happen.

One day, Nick meets Jacob, a law student at the same university Nick attends. They connect immediately, and it doesn’t take long for word to get out about their relationship. As the media descends on their school, university officials panic, and chaos ensues. Some people claim Nick’s potential as a professional player has been destroyed, while others say his coming out has nothing to do with playing hockey. Both Nick and Jacob’s careers seem to be in jeopardy as they make their way through the developing drama.

We’re both big hockey fans, and while we were writing Nice Catching You, we got curious about how people might really feel about such a situation. We created a survey and invited thirty people we know in various ways to participate. None of them knew the survey was connected to a book we were writing.

Twenty-four people took the survey, which was set up online. The survey was not scientific, but we did our best to cover the topic. The responses were anonymous, so we have no idea who took part or what any of them said.

Here are the results from some of the questions.

1. For baseline purposes, are you LGBTQ+?
a. Yes: 7/24
b. No: 16/24
c. Prefer not to say: 1/24

2. Do you have the general impression that homophobia is a significant problem in college sports?
Yes: 18/24
No: 2/24
Not Sure: 4/24

3. Do you have the general impression that homophobia is a significant problem in professional sports?
Yes: 21/24
No: 1/24
Not Sure: 2/24

4. How many openly gay hockey players do you think currently play at the top professional level?

10 or more: 3/24
5—9: 4/24
1—4: 9/24
None: 8/24
[Authors’ note: there are, in fact, none]

5. Do you think there would be much media attention if a national collegiate sports star came out?
a. Yes: 9/24
b. No: 5/24
c. Not Sure: 10/24

6. Do you think there would be much media attention if a professional sports star came out?
a. Yes: 20/24
b. No: 1/24
c. Not Sure: 3/24

7. If a top prospect for professional sports came out, do you think he or she would possibly be putting a sports career at risk?
a. Yes: 16/24
b. No: 3/24
c. Not Sure: 5/24

8. What do you think the general public opinion would be of a top collegiate or pro sports player came out?
a. Favorable: 9/24
b. Unfavorable: 12/24
c. Not Sure: 3/24

What do the results tell us? This isn’t a professional survey, and we are not professional pollsters, so we can’t say much. Certainly, most people believe homophobia is a problem in college and pro sports and that a top prospect for a professional team could be putting their potential career at risk by coming out. A high number of those responding agree that either a nationally known college athlete or pro athlete coming out would get a lot of media attention. There is less agreement on what general public opinion would be if a player came out.

One thing is sure—the kind of plot we have in our book would be believable based on the poll results. We hope you’ll read Nice Catching You and let us know what you think about Nick and Jacob’s story.

JACOB

Sunday, December 4

I haven’t been on many buses, but I was starting to think I might die on this one. The snow began falling before we left Whiteface Mountain early in the afternoon, not unusual for one of the top ski resorts in the Northeast. We were due in Syracuse before six, and I hoped the weather didn’t delay us much. The last week of classes would start the next day, and I had work to do.

The snow was coming down hard, and by the time we reached I-87, I could see very little out the window. Many of the cars had pulled over to the side, and others were creeping along with their hazards flashing. Our bus joined the traffic and immediately began slipping all over the road.

With fifty-odd college students on the trip, there had been a lot of noise when we left the resort, but nerves had soon taken over, and people were mostly quiet now. I sat alone, three rows from the back of the bus, trying to read a case for Federal Courts. With only one more semester of law school to go, I needed to do well. A big firm in Boston offered me a job right before Thanksgiving, contingent on my maintaining a 3.8 GPA. Pulling a C in Fed Courts would bringme slightly under the requirement. Although I had high hopes for a job in DC, I couldn’t risk losing the Boston offer.

Between the bus sliding in the snow and the constant chatter from the guys in the seat behind me, I couldn’t concentrate at all. They were hockey players, and they kept up a conversation about the game, other players, cars, and whatever else dumb undergrad jocks talk about. They were the only people behind me except for their friend, who was passed out on a seat in the back.

Whoa! The rear end of the bus lurched violently into the left lane. I tried to grab something to hold onto, but I was already airborne by the time I dropped the heavy casebook. Hands grabbed my shoulders but didn’t slow my momentum. Dreading the impact with the seat across the aisle, I screwed my eyes shut and held my breath. All at once, something stopped, rather, someone stopped me, and that someone had brawny arms and a hard body. He’d caught me in midair.

“You all right?”

“What?” On my back in the man’s arms, facing the top of the bus, I couldn’t see much. I turned my head, trying to find out who had hold of me.

“Everything okay?”

I craned my neck in the other direction just as he leaned over, and it was—shit!—one of the hockey guys who’d been sitting behind me. I’d seen him over the weekend with his buddies, at least one of whom had laughed at me the whole time. Now they’d laugh even harder, and I’d be known as the skinny little runt who couldn’t even stay in his seat—the twit who had to be rescued by a real man.

Ryan Taylor and Joshua Harwood met in law school and were married in 2017. They live in a suburb of Washington, DC, and share their home with a big, cuddly German shepherd. Ryan and Josh enjoy travel, friends, and advocating for causes dear to their hearts. Ryan also loves to swim, and Josh likes to putter in the garden whenever he can. The romance they were so lucky to find with each other inspires their stories about love between out and proud men.

https://www.ryanandjoshth.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ryanandjoshth

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18708074.Joshua_Harwood

ryan-josh@ryanandjoshth.com

https://www.instagram.com/ryan.josh.th/

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ryan-taylor

https://linktr.ee/ryan.josh

Tour Schedule

11/2	Love Bytes Reviews	http://lovebytesreviews.com/
11/3	The (Really) Naughty Corner	https://elizabethcoldwell.wordpress.com
11/4	My Fiction Nook	https://myfictionnook.com
11/5	Two Chicks Obsessed with Books and Eye Candy	https://twochicksobsessed.com/
11/6	Joyfully Jay	http://joyfullyjay.com

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wild Sky by Zaya Feli: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

August 28, 2020 by Denise

Tauran Darrica has been retired from the Valreus Sky Guard for four years following the Battle of the Broken Wings that resulted in the death of his dragon. Now, all Tauran wants to do is spend his days forgetting the past and gambling his way to an unsteady income.

So when his old general from the Sky Guard hunts Tauran down to request his help with staving off the increasingly aggressive wild dragon population, Tauran refuses. But a fire ruins his rented room and leaves him without a place to stay, and Tauran finds himself on the road to Valreus, after all.

Tauran is determined to stay as far away from dragons as he can get, but a starry-eyed young man from Sharoani, land of the wild dragons, might just ruin his plans.

Kalai Ro-Ani has spent his life watching the stars, knowing he could never reach them.

With his wild dragon Arrow, he sets out for the city of Valreus in the hope of building himself a better future than he could have stuck at the foot of the Kel Visal dragon temples.

But nobody told Kalai that only the Sky Guard is allowed to own dragons, so when Arrow kills a guard in Kalai’s defense, it looks like his adventure might be over before it can begin. But a chance encounter at the old Valreus archive offers Kalai the future he’d been hoping for. In the span of a single day, he has a home, a job, and a purpose.

In Valreus, something much bigger falls into his lap – along with a tall and striking Valrean man with a rather strange disposition.

A new, LGBT+ fantasy story from Zaya Feli, featuring dragons, aerial battles and epic journeys through dangerous wilderness.

WILD SKY by Zaya Feli

Publisher: Self-published

Release Date: Ebook: August 24th | Print: TBD

Length: Ebook: 189,000 words

Subgenre: Fantasy/Romance

Warnings: mentions of symptoms of depression and PTSD. Medicine addiction and withdrawal.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

From the author, Zaya Feli:

The overarching theme is about how healing is possible despite severe damage. That some things may not be fixable, and that simply learning to persevere and find support and happiness where it exists can be enough.

It took Tauran two days to work up the courage to enter the guard grounds.

He knew he was being a coward. That this new place, these new recruits, and the Ground Guard had nothing to do with what had happened at the Solar Tower.

But Tauran’s nerves weren’t so easily convinced.

When he approached the steel gates, he was happy he’d skipped breakfast. He grabbed the string and rang the bell a little too hard.

The hatch in the door opened, and a thankfully unfamiliar face appeared.

“Tauran Darrica,” Tauran said, “here at General Falka’s request.”

The doors swung open with a groan.

And then he was inside.

The atmosphere was such a stark contrast to the gloom brewing in Tauran that he had to pause and take a moment to adjust. It was as if Tauran’s memory of the guard had frozen in the time after the Battle of the Broken Wings, that stunned period full of fear and sorrow and rage.

But in the four years since Tauran had last been surrounded by the guard, it had recovered.

Young recruits ran past him shoulder to shoulder on their way to the first lesson of the day. A pair of older men, captains, judging by their uniforms, sat bent over a table, spending their break playing a game of Isutagi. At a table behind them, a woman with her sleeves rolled up past her elbows focused all her attention on the pistol she was cleaning. Black and copper uniforms dominated the outdoor space. The Ground Guard had always outnumbered the Sky Guard, but the difference seemed even more stark, now.

A brief glimpse of silver caught Tauran’s eye here and there. Messengers, or perhaps weather specialists, on their way to delivering flight reports and air pressure charts.

Tauran took a deep breath of the air inside the grounds and found it didn’t sting as much as he’d feared.

This book (all 764 amazing pages) kept me reading until a ridiculous time in the early hours of the morning to finish. It’s been a while since I was so engrossed in a story. It kept me glued.

Fantasy at its best, and a new to me author I’m thrilled to discover has a backlist.

Two men. One a washed up permanently damaged ex Dragon rider who’s own Dragon died in a terrible war, and one a young innocent-ish geek who happens to have his own wild dragon currently hidden because in their world, dragons are so rare only properly trained riders are allowed to keep them.

The world building is amazing, the relationship between them and their dragons are wonderful, but this isn’t just a sweet romance.

There is evil, betrayal, enemies where you least expect, a wild dragon egg about to hatch, and problems that seem insurmountable. And not everything is black and white. Expect surprises and plot twists.

This will appeal to fans of Mercedes Lackey, Megann Derr, and C.S. Pacat

Five “Dragon’s teeth” (Sounds better than stars)

Zaya Feli grew up in various small towns in eastern Denmark where she spent most of her childhood and youth daydreaming about strange and incredible fantasy worlds. In 2018, she moved to northern Denmark with her pet snake, Helix, to work as a web developer, and is now dedicating all her free time turning the fantasy worlds inside her head into words and illustrations on the page.

An avid sci fi and fantasy fan since childhood, she also has a deep love for history, archery, nature, language and art.

Zaya Feli released her debut novel, Stag’s Run, in November 2016, and has since released four more full length novels and a short story. Her favourite genres are fantasy and sci-fi with a sprinkle of romance.

Connect with Zaya: Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Website

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sand-Man’s Family: An M/M Coming of Age Romance by CJane Elliott: RDB, Exclusive Author Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

August 25, 2020 by Denise

It isn’t easy to leave a family that hurts. But what if it’s the start of finding a love that heals?

High-school senior Sandy’s Catholic parents are furious to discover he’s had sex before marriage. But when he blurts out he’s bisexual, they go ballistic. To avoid conversion therapy, Sandy runs away from Rockford, Illinois to move in with his gay uncle in Portland and start a new life.

He leaves behind Jade, the fabulous out gay kid in their Catholic high school. They hooked up—once—to confirm Sandy’s bisexuality. Jade had never expected to get that far with star athlete and altar boy Sandy. But he was crushed when Sandy disappeared without even telling him.

A year later Jade and Sandy run into each other on the train going home to Rockford for Thanksgiving and form an alliance to help Sandy confront his parents. Will they keep building where they left off or will their spark turn to dust?

If you like coming of age stories, queer kids finding the courage to be themselves, and the comfort of found families, you’ll love Sand-Man’s Family.

Title: Sand-Man’s Family: An M/M Coming of Age Romance

Series: Wild and Precious Book 3

Author: CJane Elliott

Publisher: CJane Elliott

Release Date: 8/24/20

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 36,800 words

Genre: Romance, New Adult, Young Adult, Coming of Age, coming out, family drama, bisexual, college, hurt-comfort

Goodreads

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Book 1, Wild and Precious, is on sale for just $0.99 for a limited time.

Find the entire series HERE.

Hello there! I’m CJane Elliott and happy to be on the Two Chicks Obsessed blog today to share Sand-Man’s Family, the third book in my Wild and Precious series.

Sand-Man’s Family differs from the first two stories in the Wild and Precious series in the age of the main characters. In the first two novellas, those ages ranged from mid-twenties to late thirties. In Sand-Man’s Family, Sandy and Jade (and Dare, who Sandy dated before Jade) are seniors in high school (for the flashback scenes) and most of the action takes place the following year, when they are at the most nineteen years old.

I enjoy writing New Adult characters who are teetering on the edge of adulthood. They’re often still sorting out who they are in relation to themselves, their gender/sexual identity, and their relationships. Family still plays a big role, positive or negative. This is the age when people start living away from home and begin to create their families of choice. Some of them are lucky in their families of origin but many are not.

I’ve brought you a short scene that happens after Sandy’s parents bring the parish priest and a conversion therapy expert to the home when Sandy returns for Thanksgiving to continue to pressure him to give up his “sinful” bisexuality. Needless to say, they don’t succeed. Sandy is rescued by the arrival of Uncle Phineas, his partner Cody, and Jade. After confronting Sandy’s parents, they all go the Phineas and Cody’s hotel, along with Sandy’s younger brother Connor. I love that Sandy has found a loving, accepting family with his uncle, his brother, and his budding love interest, Jade.

Sandy lay on the big hotel bed, his head on Uncle Phinney’s shoulder while Connor rested on Phinney’s other shoulder. Jade snuggled in against Sandy’s back. Cody had declined the puppy pile in favor of providing soft soothing music on his guitar.

“I love you both so much.” Uncle Phinney patted them tenderly. “I’m so proud of my nephews.”

“Thanks, Uncle Phinney.” Connor’s voice sounded muffled, like he’d stuck his face into Phinney’s armpit or something.

Sandy soothed the emotions swirling inside by concentrating on the safety of Uncle Phinney’s sturdy shoulder and the soft touch of Jade’s arm around him. He didn’t want to think about his parents or his former home or his brother and sisters stuck there. He wanted to be here, warm and loved, with Cody playing softly in the background.

Cody paused. “We can cut our trip short, you know. We can come home with you if you want, Sand-Man.”

“No. I’m cool.”

“You sure?” Uncle Phinney’s frown was full of concern. “It’s really okay. Cody and I already talked about it.”

“I’ll be fine, Uncle Phinney. I’ll be where I want to be, in Portland. Blaine and Gemma are around if I need anyone.”

“And I’m only a few hours up the road,” Jade said softly into Sandy’s ear.

Sandy grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I know.” Then he peered over at Connor.

“Connor’s the one we need to worry about.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m sticking around till I graduate, then I’m out of there. I don’t want to leave the girls until I have to.”

“Call us. Anytime, day or night.” Uncle Phinney made an anxious sound. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I’m worried for you.”

Jade stirred and raised up on one elbow. “Papa’s aware of the situation. I sent him the video.”

When everyone looked at him funny, he added, “He’s got a lot of cop friends. He’ll keep an eye out. Connor, he said for you to call him if things get hinky.”

“Cool. Thanks.”

They all flopped back down, and Sandy relaxed completely. He found himself stroking Jade’s hand and wishing they had a room to themselves. As if reading his thoughts, Jade leaned up and nibbled his earlobe. Now Sandy really needed for them to get a room.

“Come to my house tonight?” Jade whispered.

“Um, Uncle Phinney?”

“Hmm?”

“Is it cool for me to go over to Jade’s? He’s gotta go to the airport tomorrow too, so I can get a ride to the shuttle with them. You guys could drop Connor off and be on your way.”

He saw Uncle Phinney smile and glance over at Cody, who smiled back. “Sure. As long as Connor is okay with his brother ditching him his last night here.”

“Whatever, man.” Connor yawned. “I’ll be here, cockblocking Cody and Uncle Phinney.”

After years of hearing characters chatting away in her head, award-winning author CJane Elliott finally decided to put them on paper and hasn’t looked back since. A psychotherapist by training, CJane writes sexy, passionate LGBTQ romances that explore the human psyche. CJane has traveled all over North America for work and her characters are travelers, too, traveling down into their own depths to find what they need to get to the happy ending.

CJane is bisexual and an ardent supporter of LGBTQ equality. In her spare time, CJane can be found dancing, listening to music, or watching old movies. Her family supports her writing habit by staying out of the way when they see her hunched over, staring intensely at her laptop.

CJane is the author of the award-winning Serpentine Series, New Adult contemporary novels set at the University of Virginia. Serpentine Walls was a 2014 Rainbow Awards finalist, Aidan’s Journey was a 2015 EPIC Awards finalist, and Sex, Love, and Videogames won first place in the New Adult category in the 2016 Swirl Awards and first place in Contemporary Fiction in the 2017 EPIC eBook Awards. Her contemporary novel All The Way To Shore was runner up for best bisexual fiction in the 2017 Rainbow Awards.

http://cjaneelliott.com/

https://facebook.com/cjane.elliott

https://twitter.com/CJaneElliott

cjaneelliott@gmail.com

http://instagram.com/cjaneelliott

http://bookbub.com/authors/cjane-elliott

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Acsquidentally In Love by K.L. Hiers: Blog Tour, Exclusive Author Interview and Giveaway

August 25, 2020 by Denise

Nothing brings two men—or one man and an ancient god—together like revenge.

Private investigator Sloane sacrificed his career in law enforcement in pursuit of his parents’ murderer. Like them, he is a follower of long-forgotten gods, practicing their magic and offering them his prayers… not that he’s ever gotten a response.

Until now.

Azaethoth the Lesser might be the patron of thieves and tricksters, but he takes care of his followers. He’s come to earth to avenge the killing of one of his favorites, and maybe charm the pants off the cute detective Fate has placed in his path. If he has his way, they’ll do much more than bring a killer to justice. In fact, he’s sure he’s found the man he’ll spend his immortal life with.

Sloane’s resolve is crumbling under Azaethoth’s surprising sweetness, and the tentacles he sometimes glimpses escaping the god’s mortal form set his imagination alight. But their investigation gets stranger and deadlier with every turn. To survive, they’ll need a little faith… and a lot of mystical firepower.

Book Title: Acsquidentally In Love

Author: K.L. Hiers

Cover Artist: Tiferet Design

Genre/s: Paranormal M/M Romance, Mystery, Tentacles

Trope/s: Solving Your Own Murder, Boy Meets God, Hidden Villain, Consentacles

Themes: Restoring Faith, Seeking Justice, Self-Sacrifice

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 60 000 words/ 188 pages

It is the first book in the series.

Goodreads

Amazon US

Amazon UK

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing for over twenty years! The very first book I wrote was a very silly story about a little girl who could travel to a magical world with unicorns and goblins. It just kept going and going until I ran out of pages in the notebook I was using, but I was totally hooked on storytelling after that.

Before you started, had you written any fan fiction? If so, what fandom?

Indeed! Back in the AOL days, I was very much into Xena, Hercules, Anne Rice’s Vampires, and X-Men. These fandoms were my first real experiences with same sex couples, canon or otherwise, and it had a tremendous impact on my life. For someone that was young, very scared, and very much struggling with their sexuality and gender identity, fandom was my sanctuary. It was the first place I’d found where I was told that it was okay to be different, and it was okay to feel this way.

As I got older, I kept writing original works, but I also drifted in and out of other fandoms like FF7, Dragonball Z, Dragon Age, Flash, Hannibal, Gotham, and so on. I don’t actively participate in any now, but I still lurk occasionally. I don’t have the time to stay involved like I used to, and fandom has changed so much since I was a kid. If nothing else, I’ll always be grateful for all of the love and support those early fanboys and fangirls showed me.

Are you in agreement that writing fan fiction is a great way to hone ones’ craft – why or why not?

I absolutely am. Fan fiction is a totally valid form of writing. It still takes skill and time and a lot of love to put together. It’s a great way to get critiques and develop your writing style. It can be difficult to get feedback on original content, but there’s a familiarity and a comfort in fan fiction that readers are drawn to because they already know the characters. When I did try sharing original works, I never got a fraction of the comments, replies, or whatever as I did when I posted a new fan fic.

Recently, a writer sabotaged her career by answering a bad review on a blog. How would you have handled this and do you think authors should answer their reviews?

It’s easy – don’t do it. Don’t answer, don’t reply, and if you don’t think you can handle the critiques emotionally, just don’t read them. Have someone else screen them for you if it’s that much of an issue. Bad reviews can really hurt like hell, but it’s just that one person’s opinion. Not everyone is going to like what you write, and that’s okay. It’s just something you have to accept as a writer. It’s not all bad, though. Negative reviews do have some potential to be constructive. I know that I need to lay off my excessive adverb usage, for example, and it’s something that I’ve tried working on in my current projects.

What is your opinion on the “chicks with dicks” analogy? In your opinion, is it wrong for your males to be emotional or romantic?

I think it’s a transphobic slur and has no place in any discussion of literature. I’ve only ever known this phrase as an insult against transgender women, and I honestly had no idea that it had taken on this other meaning – which, let’s face it, is also an insult. My understanding now is that it’s being used to specifically target straight female writers and accusing them of not being able to write authentic male characters because somehow their womanly feelings are going to get all over them like cooties.

I don’t think the analogy is appropriate at all. It’s actually pretty disgusting in my opinion. It’s not okay to use such a mean phrase while blindly ignoring its cruel history, and I really don’t appreciate the sexist insinuation that emotions are somehow exclusive to females – much less the dig that it’s only straight female writers who are writing men like this. The identity of who is writing these stories is irrelevant because it’s glossing over the bigger issue here, which is that people have a problem with romantic and emotional males.

There is nothing wrong with writing emotional male characters. As an author who’s been accused of flipping M/F to M/M because I wrote a very emotional man, this irritates me. Men are allowed to cry and be afraid or upset and having feelings doesn’t invalidate their gender. It’s damaging to say otherwise. It perpetuates toxic masculine stereotypes to insist that males be strong and macho all the time or else they’re not real men. Plus, for me personally, it’s boring to write. I enjoy stirring up drama and angst in my little worlds, and I love a good emotional fallout.

Now, readers have the freedom to choose what they want to read, just as writers choose what they want to write. There are lots of people who enjoy manly men from both sides of the pages, just as others like men who are more in touch with their emotions. That’s just ducky. We’re not all going to like the same things. However, expressing one’s distaste on the flawed logic that men aren’t supposed to have feelings is sexist and using that kind of transphobic language is painfully ignorant.

What are you currently working on?

I’m in the process of editing the sequel for Acsquidentally, and I’m so excited for readers to see another part of that world. For my BDSM fans, I’m almost finished with a sexy tale of an embalmer and a florist. I usually don’t discuss my profession as an embalmer in great detail, and this particular book was the perfect vehicle to shake out some old demons and have some fun with it.

When creating your characters, do you have models in mind or are they totally fictional?

I usually have very specific people in mind or weird combinations of them. A character may have Zachary Quinto’s face, but they’ll have Donal Logue’s unapologetic swagger. Perhaps they have Wentworth Miller’s eyes, but Alan Rickman’s velvety voice. Different aspects of real people inspire me in a lot of different ways. There are some characters that I’ve written that are partially inspired from people I know in real life. It’s usually all pretty fluid – except Maury the Mouth from Cold Hard Cash. He’s Bob Hoskins. Totally.

If you write gay romance or erotica, just how descriptive are you in their sex scenes?

Very. The love scenes are honestly some of my favorite parts to write because it’s so very cathartic for me. I want it to feel real, and I think that’s why I am so descriptive.

What is your opinion as to why publishers only want to group all man-love stories under erotica? Do you feel this is a hindrance to our genre?

I would say it all goes back to good ol’ fashioned ignorance. There are unfortunately people who believe that homosexual relationships are immoral or deviant, and that ignorant stance has hurt gay literature since its inception. We’re decades ahead of the times when newspapers and journals were blatantly blacklisting gay authors and their books, not to mention the outright censorship and refusal by publishers to even take on gay stories, but I think a lot of those bad habits are still around – including how gay books are classified. If you spend any time researching the history of gay literature, you’ll always stumble across the era of highly sexualized queer pulp fiction. This was after all the censorship bans on obscene content had been lifted, and there was a veritable tidal wave of these crazy little books.

Most of them had miserable endings, were pumped full of thoughtless smut, but they were one of the only commercially available literary representation that the queer community had for a long time. Years before we ever had gay romance, there was a freakin’ ton of gay erotica. The stereotypes of gay men being super promiscuous are rooted in the behavior described in these books, and its echoes were still felt by gay writers years later. David Bergman discussed how difficult it was for gay men to write about sex in his book, The Violet Hour: The Violet Quill and the Making of Gay Culture – if they talked about their sex lives, they were just reinforcing those stereotypes. But if they didn’t, then they were implying that it was dirty and shameful. So, they just went for it, unfortunately adding more fuel to the idea that all gay literature was all about sex.

As a result, publishers were classifying everything gay as erotica because it was like they really had no idea what else to do with it. The very word “gay” had implied explicit sexual deviance for so long, fueled by hundreds of queer pulp books and gay authors’ own stories, that it became the standard to categorize all of gay literature. It wasn’t until gay bookstores took off that there was finally this big network free of mainstream publishing restrictions for gay authors to get their stories out there without being choked by that ol’ erotica collar. There were also fantastic activists like Barbara Gittings – who is probably best known for lobbying the American Psychiatric Association to change the definition of homosexuality as being a mental disorder – but she also worked with the American Library Association to provide libraries with access to quality gay literature and not just those books claiming that being gay was a sexual perversion.

Even with all this awesome work going on to change perceptions of gay literature, there’s still a lot of work to do. Amazon didn’t even change its own classifications of gay literature to add a romance category until 2014 after authors had complained and Tracy Timmons-Gray sent off her infamous “Dear Mr. Bezos” letter. Before that happened, my understanding is that everything was crammed under Gay and Lesbian, but there still was an “erotica” category because of course there was.

I absolutely do feel it is a hindrance to the genre because not all gay literature is going to be sexual in nature. The assumption that it is going to be simply because it’s gay is ridiculous, and it feeds into the stereotypes of LGBTQ+ people being more promiscuous than heterosexuals. There’s nothing wrong with writing gay erotica, but it’s simply unfair and wrong to group every book with a gay person ever in this category. Queer people’s stories are more than our sex lives, more than the trashy pulp books of old and more than the gay authors who only wrote it because they felt pressured, and I hope that we continue to see more positive changes. Even though all gay erotica is gay literature, not all gay literature is going to be erotica, and that needs to be made clear.

Do you believe it’s important for you to know the gender of the author?

No. If they can tell a good story, make me laugh, whatever, I really don’t care.

Do you feel that celebs who are gay or bi should come out the closet?

That’s not a decision I can make for another person, famous or not. Coming out is a huge decision and for people that are in the public eye, it can be very difficult to make that step. Coming out for me was very difficult, and there are still members of my own family who don’t know my truth because I already know how they’d react. Obviously, it’s amazing when celebs come out because queer fans have someone new that they can look up to – but it’s also none of my business. They’ll come out when they’re ready or they won’t.

Thank you.

K.L. “Kat” Hiers is an embalmer, restorative artist, and queer writer. Licensed in both funeral directing and funeral service, she’s been working in the death industry for nearly a decade. Her first love was always telling stories, and she has been writing for over twenty years, penning her very first book at just eight years old. Publishers generally do not accept manuscripts in Hello Kitty notebooks, however, but she never gave up.

Following the success of her first novel, Cold Hard Cash, she now enjoys writing professionally, focusing on spinning tales of sultry passion, exotic worlds, and emotional journeys. She loves attending horror movie conventions and indulging in cosplay of her favorite characters. She lives in Zebulon, NC, with her husband and their six children, three of whom have paws and one who sometimes thinks he does.

Author Links

Blog/Website | Facebook | Instagram | Newsletter Sign-up

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win a $15 Amazon Gift Card or one of FIVE ebook copies of Acsquidentally In Love

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts, interviews, and reviews here

The Experiment by Rebecca Raine: Exclusive Author Interview, Excerpt, Release Day Review and Giveaway

August 19, 2020 by Denise

When a single kiss calls your sexuality into question, there’s only one sure path to a reliable answer: further research.

Patrick

I like to think I know myself outside and in. As a developmental psychologist, I’ve spent years exploring the true foundations of my identity. So, when losing a bet means kissing my best friend, Logan, I already know I’m going to hate every second of it. All the relevant questions regarding my sexuality were asked and answered years ago. The results were conclusive: despite the odd same-sex attraction, I dislike being touched by men.

That is, it seems, until Logan is the man doing the touching. The intense desire aroused by his kiss contradicts all my expectations and I have no idea how to integrate the new information. Thankfully, I know exactly how to uncover the truth about myself—once and for all.

Logan

I’ve put a lot of effort into keeping Patrick out of my fantasies and in the friend-zone. Our recent lip-lock may have unleashed my feelings for him temporarily, but I’ll get them back on their platonic track in no time. Falling for a friend, especially a sexually ambivalent friend, is a one-way ticket to heartache.

But, when the unforeseen impact of our kiss inspires Patrick to conduct an experiment into the extent of his bisexuality, I can’t resist volunteering to help. If any man is going to join Patrick on his journey of self-discovery, it’s sure as hell going to be me.

Book Title: The Experiment

Author: Rebecca Raine

Cover Artist: Bec Rivers

Release Date: Tuesday, 18 August (AEST)

Genre/s: Contemporary MM Romance

Trope/s: Friends-to-Lovers, Gay for You, First-time Gay

Themes: Friendship, Self-discovery, Self-experimentation

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 85 000 words/ approx. 210 pages

It is a standalone book.

Goodreads

Amazon US – Kindle Unlimited

Amazon UK – Kindle Unlimited

The prized possession you value above all others…

My phone. My entire life is organized through my phone. I would be completely lost without it.

The unqualified regret you wish you could amend…

Buying a two-door car. I had no idea I’d be still be driving that car around after giving birth to two children years later. Do you have any idea how hard it is to fit a baby car seat into one of those things? Because I sure as hell do!

The temptation you wish you could resist…

YouTube. I love YouTube! There is soooo much to watch: fan-made videos of all my favourite couples; lessons from my favourite self-development gurus; tips for organizing my life, work and home. I can get lost in YouTube for hours. Some of my favourite channels include: Lessons from the Screenplay, Binging with Babish, and Primitive Technology Man. If I ever get stranded on a desert island, I with totally know how to build a hut.

The film you can watch time and time again…

A Room with a View. It was one of my favourite movies as a teenager. It’s everything I adore in a movie … beautiful, funny and romantic. I can happily watch Lucy and George fall in love over and over again.

The unlikely interest that engages your curiosity…

Graphic design. I started making graphics when I joined Instagram in February of 2019. The more I play with pictures the more I love trying new and interesting techniques. I’ve really enjoyed watching my own development over the past year and a half.

The poem that touches your soul…

Invictus by William Ernest Henley. I love the poem so much I incorporated it into one of my novels, All the Broken Pieces.

The song that means the most to you…

Uprising by Muse. It’s a kick-arse song that always gets the blood pumping.

The unfulfilled ambition that continues to haunt you…

Supporting my family with my writing income. That’s the big dream. I will keep whacking away at that thing until I conquer it. Or die trying. 😊

Your early recollections of writing fiction…

I was in Grade 4 when I wrote a story for school. It was a sweeping saga set during the American Civil War (I’d recently watched Gone with the Wind) and featured a brave and beautiful heroine. It had some minor historical inaccuracies (like the heroine finding out the war was over when she heard it on the radio) but I clearly remember getting lost in the telling of that tale. Then, one day, I arrived at school to be told I was supposed to have finished it over the weekend. I hurriedly wrote a ‘and then I woke up’ ending and handed it in. The teacher loved it… except for the disappointing ending. I don’t blame her.

The crime you would commit knowing you could get away with it…

I would absolutely rob a bank. Gimme the cash!

The philosophy that underpins your life…

You can’t fail if you never give up. I may not be fast, but I am bloody tenacious.

The character you enjoyed writing the most…

Oh no, that’s like trying to choose between children. I suppose the character I enjoyed most was Jeremy (from Everything We Need and All the Broken Pieces). Probably because, of all my characters, he was the most ‘real’ to me. He’s the character I never made up. Instead, he waltzed into my head, fully formed, and introduced himself.

The character you found difficult to write…

Harrison (also from All the Broken Pieces) because he hurt the most. He suffered from Major Depressive Disorder and went through a depressive episode during the book. Put that together with his painful backstory and… well, I shed quite a few tears spending time with Harrison.

The book you enjoyed planning/writing the most…

That would definitely be my latest book, The Experiment. I never felt like I had to plot this book. Instead, the whole story downloaded into my head fully formed and all I had to do was roll with it. There was still a lot of work involved in the actual writing part, but I always knew the story was there. That took a ton of the pressure off, leaving me free to have fun with it.

And the promo…

Tell us something about your new release, The Experiment.

The Experiment is a contemporary MM romance. It contains friends-to-lovers, gay-for-you and first-time-gay tropes and has a solid HEA. There’s plenty of fun to be had, a little angst, and hot sexy times.

At its core, The Experiment is a story of self-awareness. It’s the push and pull between what we believe to be true about ourselves, and the subconscious parts of us that lurk deep beneath the surface. What would you do if you uncovered a part of yourself—an intensely vibrant part—that you had no idea was there? Would you want to learn more?

Where did the idea for The Experiment come from?

I was at home, minding my own business one day, when a new idea came to me in a flash of inspiration. I could see a man trying to psyche himself up to kiss another man, even though he really didn’t want to. I knew they were in a bar, and that he was doing it to satisfy a lost bet, but other than that I had no idea what was going on.

Then the man turned to his friend, who was sitting beside him, and said, “You know, mate, this would be a hell of a lot easier if you’d quit laughing.” In that instant, I knew the friend was the man he would end up kissing, and he would be anything but reluctant by the end of it.

I loved the idea so much I grabbed a notebook and pen and spent the next hour furiously scribbling down every detail I could come up with. That scene became the opening of The Experiment and that one line of dialogue is still there, exactly the way Patrick said it the first time.

What makes The Experiment different from other novels?

One of the interesting quirks of this book is that it isn’t set out in chapters. Instead, it’s divided into the sections of a research experiment. Including the Research Question, Participants and Methodology, and Data Gathering, all the way through to the Conclusion. It was an idea I had early in the planning, and it grabbed me from the start. The more I wrote the more the idea seemed to fit. By the end, I couldn’t imagine setting it out any other way.

Are you more like Patrick or Logan?

My personality definitely shows up more in Patrick’s character. Like Patrick, my background is in psychology. And, while I’m not as obsessed with self-awareness as Patrick, I am well and truly an overthinker. There is nothing I like better than experimenting with new tricks and techniques to find better ways of doing things. They usually have to do with trying to figure out how to write faster.

“You can do your experiment with me.”

My heart pounds, as I wait for him to respond to my offer. The part of me that’s sure he’ll say yes is already weak with relief that he won’t go out looking for anyone else. I don’t want other men touching Patrick. If he’s only ever going to do this experiment with one man, I want that man to be me.

“I thought you wanted to go back to the way things were.” His gaze is wary, and he has yet to move a muscle. “We’re friends, nothing more. That’s what you said.”

“Yes, and it’s still true,” I assure him. “I do want to go back to being friends. But we can do it after the experiment.”

His breath has quickened and, when he speaks again, his voice is rough. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“It’s the best viable solution,” I tell him, as if coating my possessiveness with a thick layer of pragmatism will make it less obvious. “Don’t forget, it was my kiss that breathed life into your queerness.” My body reacts to the idea of doing it again… and again… and again. However many times he needs to be satisfied. I make a show of licking my lips, enjoying the way he watches with rapt attention. “How much do you want to bet I can get more than a boner out of you?”

With a start, his eyes narrow and he points a finger at me. “No more bets.”

Laughing out loud, I nod. “That’s right. How could I forget?”

He runs a hand over the back of his neck as he looks around the bar, before returning his gaze to me. “I’ll admit, when I decided to do this, my first instinct was to come to you.” He gestures at me with an impatient hand. “You’re the only guy I’ve ever enjoyed kissing and it totally blew my mind. Why do you think I’m doing this in the first place?” he growls, his frustration coming through. “It’s not just because of what happened when we kissed. It’s the fact I can’t stop thinking about it.”

He’s not the only one. I’ve rubbed my cock raw in remembrance. The urge to shove him back against the nearby wall washes over me. I want to give him something new to think about. Ignoring the impulse, I swallow hard and speak in a low voice. “When you’re thinking about it, are these analytical thoughts about what it all means? Or are they wanking thoughts?”

He glances away, trying to appear nonchalant. “Both.”

My muscles tighten at the thought of him with his hand wrapped around his throbbing dick, fantasising about kissing me while he pants and moans his way to orgasm. I want to know what he looks like when he comes. What he sounds like. How he feels.

“But,” he says, with emphasis, interrupting the lustfest going on in my head, “I decided against it because I know you don’t—” The words cut off and his eyes close briefly. “I don’t want us to stop being friends.”

“I don’t want that either but, Patrick, you’re playing with fire here and assuming no one will steal the matches. I’m the only one I trust to do this right.”

He’s still reluctant. I can feel the force of his doubts. But he hasn’t said no.

“Patrick, listen to me.” I slide a hand around the back of his neck, urging him to meet my gaze. “You need someone you can trust to stop when you say stop, no matter what’s happening when you say it. Someone who won’t get pissed at you and accuse you of being a tease when you leave them with blue balls.” Releasing him, I grin. “Besides, you tried looking for someone else to kiss. It didn’t work. You chose me and now you’re stuck with me for the duration.”

He huffs out an indignant sound. “I could find someone else to kiss,” he blusters, “if I looked really hard… for about ten years.”

I laugh out loud, knowing I almost have him convinced. “Yeah, but even if you did, it wouldn’t matter.”

“Why is that?” He leans closer, as if he’s looking forward to my response.

In that instant, I realise how badly I want this—him. I want to tug on every thread of his sexuality, freeing each strand for thorough inspection. I want to tie him in knots, before making him unravel for me. And I want him to know, every second along the way, I’m the one who is doing this to him. That I’m the only man to ever make him feel this way.

Licking my lips, I take a step closer and bring my face in next to his. “Because even if you did hit your limit with someone else, you’d always wonder how much further I could have taken you.” I lower my head, so he can feel my breath against his neck as I go in for the kill. “Patrick, my friend, I’m going to drag your arse so far down my end of the spectrum, you’ll have to claw your way straight.”

Sorry, nope. I was 5% and already had 3 notes written about eye rolling things. Two of them were questionable language/phrasing. “Tickling man tonsils”? Seriously? And “He comes across as a breeder”. Sorry, but I take offense with that term.

And the last was “We don’t hang out all the time because you rub me the wrong way.” Said from one friend to another. When they both want to sleep with each other. Who tells a friend that they rub them the wrong way?

After those I had to go to Amazon and look up the author to see if I had read anything else by her. Big nope. Why? I think all but 2 or 3 were traditional hetero romances. It just makes me wonder why she then decided to write gay romance. Because it is popular? Sorry, go back to what you know.

I read the whole thing. It wasn’t AS cringy as the first 5%, but it wasn’t great. So much stereotyping. So much just silliness. Patrick is in a master’s program for developmental psychology and to justify his feelings for his friend Logan (out of the closet gay) he wants to approach it as an experiment.

He decided as a teenager that he was straight. That’s nice, but a developmental psychologist focusing on human sexuality will KNOW that sexuality is fluid. So, duh.

Logan was already kept a secret by another friend and it ruined a life long friendship. And he is going to do it again?

I’m sorry, it was just not a good book at all. Get a good beta reader (or 5) who know MM romance. Because this wasn’t it.

Rebecca is a long-time lover of all things romance. Whether it’s a book, movie, or real life, she will always have more fun if there’s a love interest thrown into the mix. She lives in Queensland, Australia with her very own hero husband, two quirky kids and one big, black dog. Other than reading and writing books, her favourite things include loud music, enjoying a glass of wine on the patio, organising everything in existence, and spending too much time on the Internet.

a FREE copy of All the Broken Pieces

Social Media Links

Blog/Website | Facebook | Facebook Author Page

Pinterest | Instagram | BookBub | Goodreads

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win one of five mobi copies of The Experiment

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts, interviews and reviews here

Too Close to the Flame by Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood: Exclusive Author Interview, Excerpt and Giveaway

August 3, 2020 by Denise

One of my favorite exclusives is Author Interviews. I just love to get to know the authors better, and what they think about the characters they’ve written. Today we have a great interview with the authors of the new release Too Close to the Flame, Ryan Taylor and Joshua Harwood. We get a little bit of everything in this interview. Love! 🙂 So take a look, read the excerpt and don’t forget the giveaway down below!

Can he ever learn to trust again?

Brandon Weber’s old boyfriend almost beat him to death. Brandon survived, but still bears the emotional scars. Eighteen months later, he has withdrawn into himself, convinced he’ll never be able to trust another man.

Devin Macadam, fresh out of law school, has an exciting new job. He is also on the lookout for just the right guy, someone to take care of and love.

When Devin shows up for the first day of work at his new office, he meets Brandon, a legal assistant there. Sparks fly, but Brandon is paralyzed by fear and isn’t about to give another man the power to hurt him again. Devin, never one to give up easily, doesn’t want to take no for an answer. Both men feel the magic, but can their relationship ever get past the friend zone?

Too Close to the Flame is a dark-to-light, sweet romance featuring out and proud gay men, lots of feels, steamy love scenes, and a wonderful happy ending. The book is approximately 86,000 words and has X-Ray enabled for your reading pleasure.

Trigger Warning: Too Close to the Flame contains specific memories of physical abuse.

Title: Too Close to the Flame

Author: Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood

Publisher: Wainscott Press

Release Date: July 31, 2020

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 86,000 words

Genre: Romance, Hurt/Comfort Gay Romance, Sweet Gay Romance

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads

Interview with Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood on the Release of Their New Book, Too Close to the Flame

Tell us about yourselves. You’re married, right?

RYAN: We are married. We met in law school and were attracted to each other right away. Soon, we started dating, and eventually got married several years later, in 2017.

JOSH: Ryan practices law, and writing is a side gig for us. We spend as much time as possible together, and have a constant companion in our big, goofy German shepherd.

How did you start writing?

RYAN: Josh started reading gay romances, and after he made me read a few, I got hooked on them too.

JOSH: A lot of the books out there are really good, even inspirational. We have such a beautiful love story of our own that we wanted to share parts of it. Also, we thought we had a unique perspective from which we could portray gay male characters as authentically as possible.

RYAN: We wanted to find issues that were important to us and gently work them into our stories. For example, in What He Really Needs, we dealt a bit with immigrants’ and women’s rights in the workplace.

Josh: When we got back from our honeymoon, we started our first book, No Brief Affair. It took us a year to write, and it tells some of our own story with a lot of fiction thrown in.

Do you still write a book a year?

RYAN: No, we’ve gotten faster. Our current goal is to put out three or four books a year.

JOSH: That’s a lot, considering that Ryan works fulltime, but we’re dedicated to trying.

Let’s switch to the book that was just released, Too Close to the Flame. What can you tell us about it?

RYAN: Too Close to the Flame is a slow burn, hurt/comfort, sweet love story about Brandon and Devin. Brandon works as a legal assistant in a law practice, and Devin, who has just graduated from law school, goes to work there. As soon as they meet, they’re smitten with each other.

JOSH: Each tries to resist the attraction, for his own reasons. Devin soon gives in and tries to get Brandon interested in dating, but Brandon holds back. He has a secret—his old boyfriend was an abuser and almost killed him.

RYAN: Devin eventually finds out, and the two men become friends. Eventually, they become boyfriends.

JOSH: There are some hard patches as Brandon begins to recover from what he went through. Devin’s there to help him, and once Brandon lets him in, their romance blooms into something beautiful.

RYAN: There’s nothing like true love to help you recover from bad things, which is one of the points we wanted to make.

JOSH: The other thing we want to do is bring attention to the often neglected issue of domestic violence in gay relationships.

RYAN: Brandon suffered, but Devin begins to draw him out of his shell. The romance blooms and takes off. The rest of the book is about Brandon’s increasing confidence as Devin shows him unconditional love. Brandon also helps Devin by trusting him so much. The book absolutely roars into an extremely happy-ever-after ending.

It sounds really good. Is it intense?

JOSH: There are only a few places early in the book where the abuse is discussed graphically. Other than that, it’s something their love overcomes.

RYAN: We put a trigger warning on the book for people with special sensitivity to the topic, but everyone else should be fine. Too Close to the Flame is a happy book—it’s just that the characters have to earn their happiness.

JOSH: We hope people will appreciate the beautiful story and celebrate everything Devin and Brandon find in each other.

A few more questions. What do you guys like to do in your spare time?

RYAN & JOSH: (Laughing.) Write.

JOSH: Fulltime work and putting out three or four books a year doesn’t leave a lot of spare time.

RYAN: We enjoy hanging out a lot. Sometimes we watch movies or play games, and we love to cuddle up and read.

JOSH: I like gardening. I used to watch my grandpa do it, and as an adult I wanted to try. It’s very Zen.

RYAN: I love to swim, and I was on my high school and college swim teams. Now, I especially enjoy it when my husband joins me in one of the Speedos I buy him.

JOSH: You goofball! I do not wear Speedos, hardly ever.

RYAN: I know. You make me wait for it!

JOSH: (Poking Ryan in the ribs.) Is it worth the wait?

RYAN: (With a straight face.) I keep buying them, don’t I?

Anything else you like to do?

RYAN: We love bike rides and walks. The dog loves to play, so we spend as much time doing that as we can.

JOSH: Cooking. We like to cook together, but we both love making food for each other too.

All right, every interviewer has to ask a few silly questions, so here we go. Salty snacks or sweet?

RYAN: Josh prefers salty and I like sweet.

Wine or beer?

JOSH: We enjoy both, but Ryan’s a big fan of craft beers. I usually prefer a nice wine.

Tea or coffee?

RYAN: We’re definitely a split household on that issue. I love coffee and Josh is a tea man.

What’s your favorite place to vacation?

RYAN: Anywhere we are. We love to travel, especially in Europe, but we have a trip to Australia on the books. We were going to go this summer, but with everything that’s happening, it wasn’t possible. We’ve rescheduled for December and hope we can go then.

JOSH: We love nice beaches. The Caribbean, Hawaii, and Spain have the best, of the places we’ve been.

RYAN: We both love the winter and it’s fun to ski and go snowmobiling.

JOSH: Ryan likes to snowboard, but I don’t do that.

RYAN: (With a hopeful smile.) Do it with me this year?

JOSH: Not on your life. I prefer having all my limbs in one piece.

Thanks for being with us today. Anything else you’d like to say?

JOSH: We’d like to send out a huge thank you to everyone who reads Too Close to the Flame. You guys have a lot of books to choose from, and every time you read one of ours, we are very thankful to you.

RYAN: Let us know how you like it. Also, consider joining our Facebook group, Ryan and Josh’s Room. We’re in there every day, so it’s a good way to stay in touch. We’ll leave a link right below.

I raced into the kitchen like a madman, afraid that something was on fire. Acrid, gray smoke billowed out of the toaster, and I barely kept from yelling in frustration. Everything was going wrong this morning. My alarm hadn’t gone off, the water in the shower was cold, I cut myself shaving, and my best blue suit had come back from the dry cleaner with a stain on the lapel.

After unplugging the toaster, I used a fork to coax out the pieces of charcoal that used to be a bagel. Damn it!—it was the last one. Now I’d have to take time to scramble eggs, because there was no way I could go to my first day at a new job on an empty stomach.

Returning to the bedroom, I decided my gray suit would have to do. A white shirt and maroon Hermès tie made it look better than it was, and I wore my black cap toe oxfords. They were comfortable and looked great with the suit. Another glance in the mirror and I headed back into the kitchen, where I barely had time to cook and inhale three eggs. The drive to the office had taken about fifteen minutes when I did a practice run a few days earlier, but I wanted to leave half an hour early just in case.

The extra time turned out to be a good thing. Traffic on Massachusetts Avenue was mostly fine, but there was an accident where I was supposed to turn onto 9th Street. I sat for ten minutes waiting to make the turn. “Fuck!” I yelled about five minutes into the delay, and banged on the steering wheel for good measure. I ended the tantrum with a long blast of my horn.

My new job was a good one, and I wanted to do well. I had to be ready to do anything, as soon as I was asked to do it. Furthermore, I had to do a kickass job because I didn’t want anyone thinking I got the position because of my last name. But being the best wasn’t only measured by doing great work. Early and eager were watchwords I needed to live by.

Waiting for the intersection to clear, I thought back over the last few months. When I graduated from law school in May, I felt like I had the world by the tail—law degree, awesome boyfriend, and a job waiting at one of the hottest boutique firms in the nation’s capital. Things changed when I got home from bar exam prep class one day and heard a strange knocking noise in the bedroom. Afraid someone had broken in, I picked up a baseball bat that was leaning against the wall—I hadn’t put it away after our game the night before—and slowly crept through the apartment. When I pushed the bedroom door open, I almost threw up. My awesome boyfriend was riding one of our supposed best friends in the middle of our goddamned bed, his face screwed up in the ecstatic expression I’d thought was only for me to see. He must have heard the door creak, because he opened his eyes and smiled. “Hey, Dev. Want to join?”

Barely resisting the urge to wield my bat on both of them, I left the apartment and went to cry on my friend Jacob’s shoulder. He was a 2L, a year behind me, and was my best buddy since I helped with orientation for his class. After listening to me curse fate for a while, he pointed out that the lease to the apartment I shared with my ex–boyfriend was in my name. After a beer to soothe my nerves, he and I walked back the building where I lived. The ex-boyfriend was gone, so Jacob and I packed up his stuff and carried it out onto the front steps.

A honking horn brought me back to the present. Traffic was moving again, and I made it to the office with five minutes to spare. After introducing myself to the receptionist, I asked for Liam Macadam, my new boss. She made a quick call, but it wasn’t Liam who came around the corner thirty seconds later. An impossibly beautiful man with light blond hair and sparkling, sapphire eyes, put out a hand. “I’m Brandon Weber.”

I took his hand and —whoa!— the spark flew right up my arm. I jerked away. “Sorry. Static electricity?”

We both chuckled but he seemed frozen in place as he didn’t put his arm down. Seeing too good an opportunity to pass up, I reached for his hand again. He widened his eyes and I realized I needed to say something. “I’m Devin Macadam. Today is my first day.”

Brandon broadened his smile and nodded. “I know who you are. I’m Liam’s assistant. He’s running a little late, but he’ll be here soon.”

I gave him a flirty smile but couldn’t seem to move. After a moment, Brandon tugged his hand away. “Why don’t I show you your office and give you a tour?”

The spell was broken, and I quickly put my professional expression back on. “That sounds good. This is a nice place.”

“We like it. It’s an old warehouse, and you should have seen it when Liam and Michael—the first two partners—rented it. The building was a disaster and needed to be completely renovated. I can’t believe it’s the same place.”

A small cleft in Brandon’s chin caught my eye, and it was a few beats too long before I answered. “Yeah, it’s nice.” Oh God, get a grip. He’s a guy, that’s all.

Brandon put a hand on my elbow and guided us down the hallway. I noticed that he moved with an unusual, stiff gait. Three doors in, on the right, he held out his hand. “Here we are.”

Ryan Taylor and Joshua Harwood met in law school and were married in 2017. They live in a suburb of Washington, DC, and share their home with a big, cuddly German shepherd. Ryan and Josh enjoy travel, friends, and advocating for causes dear to their hearts. In addition, Ryan loves to swim, and Josh likes to pretend he has a green thumb every chance he gets. Both men love writing, and the romance they were so lucky to find with each other inspires their stories about love between out and proud men. You can contact them through their website at www.ryanandjoshth.com.

Facebook | Twitter | eMail | Instagram | Amazon

https://www.facebook.com/ryanandjoshth

https://twitter.com/RyanTaylorandJ1

ryan-josh@ryanandjoshth.com

https://www.instagram.com/ryan.josh.th/

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07L3D9PZ1

Ryan and Josh’s Room

https://www.facebook.com/groups/rjthroom/

Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood’s Website

https://www.ryanandjoshth.com/

Tour Schedule

8/3 Two Chicks Obsessed with Books and Eye Candy https://twochicksobsessed.com/