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Like I Wished (Heather Bay Book 2) by Charlie Novak: Release Day Review

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Dreaming about my best friend’s brother is one thing, him actually falling for me is another.

Baking cupcakes for the science department bake-off shouldn’t strike fear into the heart of chemistry teacher Noah, but his previous record hasn’t exactly been glowing. In an attempt to stave off another year in last place, Noah turns to the one man who might be able to help him: his best friend’s older brother, Spencer.

Noah’s had a crush on the vibrant and sporty footballer turned baker for years, but the chances of anything happening between them are slim to none. Spencer is caring, funny, gorgeous… and totally straight.

Spencer has never thought about dating men before, but after watching Noah lick buttercream off a whisk he’s suddenly realising he’s not as straight as previously thought.

Revelations about his sexuality are one thing, but his footballing past being dragged into the present is another and Spencer isn’t sure which is more stressful. But he’s sure about one thing: he wants Noah in his life. Now all they have to do is figure out how to make their wishes come true.

Like I Wished is a hot and heart-warming best friend’s brother contemporary MM romance featuring adorable ghost cupcakes, a bisexual awakening over baking, gate-crashed first dates, gym-bro besties, and lots of hot chocolate.

It is book two in the Heather Bay series and while it can be read as a standalone, it’s best enjoyed as part of the series.

Lately I feel like I’ve read a lot of books that have had conflict. A lot of unnecessary conflict. Thinking it made for a better story? More interesting characters? I don’t know. But I was thinking to myself “why can’t two guys just, yanno, date and fall in love without all of the dramz???”

Well the universe spoke and gave me this story.

Being a fan of Charlie Novak, I had already read (and thoroughly enjoyed) book 1. There was conflict in that, but it absolutely made sense. Just so you don’t think I am anti conflict. I actually love drama and angst. But it has to make sense. But this story is 2 men who already know each other. And like each other. And consider each other friends. Their only obstacle, if you can call it that, is that one of the guy’s is best friend’s with the other guy’s brother.

Noah had been crushing on his best friend’s brother for YEARS. He thought he was sly about it, but apparently not. Spencer had defaulted to straight, but he started noticing Noah ever since he brought him home one night to take care of him because he was a bit on the drunk side.

When Spencer starts figuring it out, he is fairly straight forward with Noah. No beating around the bush. No being super scared or nervous. Just kind of all in. He had the confidence to say he was new at this but wanted it and wanted to do it right.

And Noah, that little cinnamon roll, had zero issues with speaking up with what he wanted. Who knew Noah was such a dirty boy?

All of the guys from book 1 appear. We see Laurie and Theo in their natural habitat (their apartment) and I am soooooo intrigued with those two. I hope we get their story.

But I digress. Even though both guys were a little nervous telling their friends (especially the brother/best friend) it was fine. Not manufactured fights. Just the snark we expected from him.

So yes, a story where two guys start dating, develop feelings, freely admit those feelings and go on to have a seemingly healthy relationship with each other. YAY!

4 pieces of eye candy

His Reluctant Cowboy: A Gay Cowboy Romance (Woods Ranch Book 2) by A.M. Arthur: Release Day Review * 2

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He thought his cowboy days were behind him. But life—and love—had other plans.

Michael Pearce left the small-town life of Weston and cattle ranching for the hustle of Austin, and never looked back—until his father suffers a stroke and requires in-home care.

Josiah Sheridan became a certified nursing assistant after seeing how wonderful his single mother’s in-home aides were before she died. He wants to help people, and he does his best with the work he can find in small-town Weston, Texas. He also lives a complicated life with his lover—to the rest of the world, they’re just roommates. Behind closed doors, their life is…strained.

Meeting Michael, a kind and openly gay—not to mention much older—man, gives Josiah a glimpse into a brighter, happier world. He loves Michael’s self-confidence and plethora of life stories. But it will take patience, planning, and more courage than Josiah thinks he has to finally break free from his old life and find real love with Michael.

Amazon

Carina Press

Book 1: His Fresh Start Cowboy
Book 3: His Accidental Cowboy (Coming 6/23)

It’s been a minute since I got to read some of AM Arthur’s cowboys. I missed them.

This is book 2, but you don’t have to read book 1. In fact, I kind of like that they are basically 2 new characters. We met Josiah briefly in book 1, but he wasn’t one of the guys working at Woods Ranch. And Michael is back in town to help his estranged father after he had a stroke. His estranged father we also met in book 1. Elmer, the metal sculpture artist who rented out his trailer.

Both of these guys are broken. Michael’s brand new ex husband weasled him out of a lot of money, his business and his patent. Josiah is in a relationship that is a secret, but they live together and he is being abused.

This led to a nice, slow burn between them. The attraction is immediate and obvious, but they are both wary. Partly because Josiah is Michael’s dad’s home nurse. But partly because of what they each just got out of.

Josiah just broke my heart. He is one of those people that just keeps having crappy things happen to. To be honest, a few too many tragic things. He seemed to have a permanent black cloud. What I assumed about what had happened to him wasn’t even close.

The Big Fight that strained the relationship between Elmer and Michael was also a bit…anticlimatic. Not that the trauma that caused the fight wasn’t exactly that- trauma. But these two men should have mended fences long ago. I think because we also met Elmer previously, we know he is a good guy. So Michael being mad at him for something 20 years ago just didn’t seem right.

I did appreciate how gentle Michael was with Josiah, even before he knew everything that has happened to him. But I wished he would have stopped Josiah from doing things around the house. That isn’t part of being a home nurse. But he cooked and cleaned everyday. Breakfast and lunch for Elmer? ok. But having dinner in the crockpot for Elmer and Michael just seemed a little much.

You could see the coming conflict toward the end from a mile away. I could have made a list that would have been checked off.

I don’t not like the story. I did. But I think Elmer deserved more grace from Michael. Michael should have been WAY more angry at his ex and everyone should have noticed what was going on with Josiah. They went from the slowest of slow burns to moving in together.

And not for nothin, but the Woods family is a little too good. Silly, but still.

3.5 pieces of eye candy

I haven’t gotten to read this author’s cowboy books before, but figured I would jump in here. This is book 2, but it stands alone.

Michael is recently divorced and had everything taken from him from his awful ex. Meanwhile, Josiah, I don’t want to say much, but it isn’t a good situation, it made my heart hurt for him.

This was a slow burn, which was good for the situations these two were coming out of. However, it just didn’t work well for me. Too many things just didn’t sit well for me. I felt like there were pieces that didn’t quite make sense for me, or were too blatantly wrong for what I expected. And the ending was a bit too predictable.

It was an okay story, and I’d like to read another cowboy book from this author, because I love the narration and descriptions, and few authors can make me cry more than once in a book, and she does most of the time. This just wasn’t the right story for me, I think.

Care by RM Lovely & KP Lane: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, and Giveaway

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Jaxon loses his breath for Henry…

In all the wrong ways. When an asthma attack at work lands him in the arms of his drool-inducing, rich af, totally intimidating boss Jaxon just wants to crawl under a rock. Poor, struggling, and with no options left he can’t afford to lose this job by making a fool of himself. And that’s just what he does on day one.

But King Henry doesn’t seem to mind at all. With a firm hand and a warm heart, he takes young Jaxon under his wing and gives him all the care a boy could ever want. Could this be the Daddy of Jaxon’s dreams?

Care is a sweet, low-angst, age play novel with an adorable doggy, a sweet boy, a loving Daddy, and a happily ever after so sweet it’ll melt you to pieces!

Title: Care

Authors: RM Lovely & KP Lane

Length: 50K

Series: Tender Hearts, Book 1

Genre: Contemporary, Kink.

Tropes: Daddy kink/Age play

Release Date: October 1st

Review Deadline: November 10th

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

Goodreads

“Oh, thank you, Daddy,” he whined, propping himself on the couch and wrapping his legs around me. “Thank you.”

Any restraint I had vanished at that moment, and I unbuttoned his pants first, followed by my own. I pulled them down enough that my hardness was no longer hindered by the stiff denim fabric and was free to expand under the stretchy fabric of my boxer briefs. Once I was more comfortable, I reached into the waistband of Jaxon’s underwear and pressed my palm firmly against his rapidly stiffening member.

“Fuck, Daddy…” He gripped me around the neck even tighter and tilted his hips up toward my touch.

“Greedy tonight?” I asked. He nodded yet again, and I laughed low in my throat. “Well, who am I to deny my Baby Boy?”

I pulled out my hand and lifted him into my arms, his lean figure feeling like next to nothing. He kissed along my cheek and neck as I walked us into the bedroom, where I laid him back on the bed, returning the kisses and sliding my hand into his pants once more.

He was almost completely hard now, and my own cock twitched closer to the same state as I wrapped my fingers around it. Jaxon arched up into my grip, and I stopped for a moment to marvel at how beautiful he was.

But only a moment.

KP Lane and RM Lovely are two friends who decided to write wonderful age play books together. They love to relax at home with a good movie, a glass of wine, and books, books, books! Together, they write books with love, sweetness, and the cutest littles you’ve ever seen.

Connect with authors:
https://www.facebook.com/KP-Lane-RM-Lovely-110204255073326
https://www.instagram.com/rm_kpromance/
https://mailchi.mp/adf03ec61b3e/newsletter-signup

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No Wrong Moves (Zone Defense Book 3) by Becca Seymour: RB, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

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Pining for your best friend sucks ass—and not the good kind of sucking. But I can’t back away, and I definitely can’t let go. Eddie Phelps is too damn important to me. He has my heart and soul. Well, he and his daughter, a ten-year-old who one day will run the world.

It’s not like I can even blame Eddie for mixed signals or anything. He’s done everything right. He always does. Honestly, that’s part of his problem.

But I won’t put pressure on him. That means it’s down to Eddie to see how freakin’ awesome a catch I am. I just have no idea how exactly I’ll get him to do that.

Sure, I’m a professional basketball player. But once upon a time, so was he. It’s going to take something huge to get him to see beyond my age *cough immaturity cough*. But since Eddie isn’t one for making wrong moves, I’m not sure a grand gesture will work.

That leads me back to pining, and hoping somehow, someway, he’ll see me as more than a joker. More than his best friend—even though I’m a kick-ass one. Maybe someday, he’ll know I’m exactly the person he needs to make the move on.

Title: No Wrong Moves
Authors: Becca Seymour
Length: 72K
Series: Zone Defense, Book 3
Genre: Contemporary.
Tropes: Best friends to lovers, Age gap, Single dad, Sports.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

Goodreads

No Take Backs (Zone Defense Book 1)

No More Secrets (Zone Defense Book 2)

The loud burst of music from my phone made me jump. I fumbled with it, a frown already forming as I glanced at the screen. Immediately, it flipped into a smile, tension rushing out of me.

Pearce.

“Hey.”

“Hey, back. Whatcha doing?”

God, it was good to hear his voice. The man had the ability to chase away my frustration and unhappiness with just the curve of his smile or the cadence of a single syllable. “Just put Lottie to bed, then going to grab a shower.”

“Thank Christ. I can smell the stench from here. Lottie begged me earlier to make sure you hosed down. The shame of traveling with you tomorrow would have been too much for her. She was threatening legal action.”

I chuckled, breathing easier listening to his goofiness. “That right? What kind of legal action we talking? If there’s a good deal on the table…?”

“Oooh, you don’t want to mess with that girl’s plans. You’d be living on Spam and butter for the rest of your life.”

“Uhm… that’s quite a combination.”

“Right!” He laughed. “She’s an evil genius.”

“Uh-huh. But considering my girl wouldn’t recognize Spam if it landed on her plate and did a song and dance, I have a feeling you’re in on this and working out the terms.” I pulled myself up, adjusted my pillows, and leaned back, relaxing into the conversation.

“Conjecture.” He snorted. “Shit, is that even the right word to use?”

I grinned. “The hell if I know. What have you been getting into?”

“A couple of games of pool with the guys.”

“Please don’t tell me they took your money?” Pearce may have been a kick-ass basketball player, but his pool skills needed some work.

“Not at pool, but the assholes are aiming to make bank on a killer pot, apparently.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Pearce stayed quiet for a beat before clearing his throat. “Uhm, nothing. Don’t worry about it. So, what time’s your flight?”

Brows dipping in confusion, I wondered why he was brushing off whatever he’d been talking about. A bet, I figured. It was unusual for Pearce to hold back. He said shit without thinking all the time. The outcome was usually hilarious and just a little endearing.

Becca Seymour lives and breathes all things book related. Usually with at least three books being read and two WiPs being written at the same time, life is merrily hectic. She tends to do nothing by halves so happily seeks the craziness and busyness life offers.

Living on her small property in Queensland with her human family as well as her animal family of cows, chooks, and dogs, Becca appreciates the beauty of the world around her and is a believer that love truly is love.

Connect with Becca:
https://twitter.com/beccaseymour_
https://www.facebook.com/beccaseymourauthor/
Facebook Group: RoMMance with Becca & Louisa
https://beccaseymour.com
https://www.instagram.com/authorbeccaseymour/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18745264.Becca_Seymour
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/becca-seymour
https://www.amazon.com/Becca-Seymour/e/B07NYXX6JP
Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/r9f0i4

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Terribly Tristan (Bad Boyfriends, Inc. Book 3) by Lisa Henry & Sarah Honey: Release Blitz, Excerpt and Giveaway

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One and done has always been the rule—so what happens when once isn’t enough?

Leo Fisher is the outward picture of respectability, just like his parents raised him to be. But when he inherits a crumbling terrace house from his great-uncle, he also inherits a tenant who turns his world upside down. Tristan is brazen, gorgeous, experienced and utterly fabulous. He’s everything Leo is not—so why is Leo drawn to him? Leo has always made the right choices—the sensible choices—yet here he is, hooking up with his tenant, who’s a rent boy.

Tristan Montague is not a rent boy. Not exactly. He’s a Bad Boyfriend. For a fee, he’ll turn any date into the kind of disaster that will have his client’s unsuspecting parents begging them to date anyone but him. Boyfriending for cash is fun—but for real? No thanks. As far as Tristan is concerned, there are far too many flowers in the garden of love to settle on just one bloom. Instead, he flits happily from lover to lover like a glorious gay butterfly, and he doesn’t do repeats.

Except when he meets his cute, awkward landlord Leo, Tristan finds himself rethinking his ‘no repeats’ rule. He plans to show Leo that he, too, can be a glorious gay butterfly, but when physical attraction becomes something deeper, Tristan realizes he might be ready to hang up his wings and date…for real.

But in order for Leo to take a stand against his overbearing parents, Tristan will need to play the Bad Boyfriend one last time—and it’s going to have to be spectacular.

Reader advisory: This book contains instances of homophobia, and the death of a minor character.

Word Count: 62,357

Book Length: NOVEL

Pages: 246

Release Date: 18th October 2022

Genres: COMEDY AND HUMOUR, CONTEMPORARY, EROTIC ROMANCE, FAKE RELATIONSHIPS, GAY, GLBTQI

Amazon – All Regions

First For Romance

Goodreads

Book 1 in the Bad Boyfriends, Inc. series: Awfully Ambrose

Book 2 in the Bad Boyfriends, Inc. series: Horribly Harry

On an otherwise unremarkable Saturday morning, Tristan Montague was woken by a hard pounding. And not the sort he liked. The sort he liked, he realised as he unglued his eyelids, wouldn’t be forthcoming at all—last night’s hook-up was still crashed out beside him flat on his back, with his mouth open as he snored. This pounding, unfortunately, was coming from his bedroom door.

“Wha?” Tristan grizzled. The house had better be on fire, seriously, because it was only—he flopped an arm out, fingers searching for his phone on his nightstand—11.37 a.m. That was inhumane for a Saturday. Unless it was Sunday—but no, it would be just as inhumane for a Sunday.

The pounding on his door continued.

Tristan rolled out of bed and shuffled to his door. He pulled it open and glared at Harry, his housemate.

“Tristan!” Harry exclaimed, then his wide-eyed gaze travelled down Tristan’s naked body and back again. By the time it returned to his face, Harry was bright pink in that adorkable way that made Tristan want to ruffle his hair, pinch his cheeks and possibly rail him over the back of the couch into next week. Harry was out of bounds, though. Not only was he like the awkward little brother Tristan had never had, but Harry was also stupidly in love with Jack, their other housemate. They gave each other such heart eyes over breakfast each morning that Tristan half expected the local wildlife to burst into song every time, Disney-style. The local wildlife, in their case, being the mice infesting the walls and the huntsman spider that lived in the shower. “Tristan, you’re naked!”

There wasn’t really anything Tristan could say to that, so he nodded and waved his hand in front of himself like a showcase model on a television game show.

Harry’s blush extended all the way up to his glasses. “Like, really, all the way, naked.”

He sighed. “Did you wake me up just to tell me that?”

Harry blinked at him. “No! I woke you up to tell you that Mr. Erskine is dead!”

“Oh.” Tristan felt a moment of actual regret. Their landlord was at least six hundred years old, and batshit crazy in the best possible way. He loved to drop in and collect the rent money from the Milo tin in the kitchen, then spend hours regaling Tristan with stories of the Cross back in the seventies. And Tristan loved listening, because Kings Cross back in the day had been wild. “I thought the Milo tin was getting full.”

“I thought he’d just forgotten to collect the rent.”

Tristan sighed again. “Wow. That really, really sucks. Mr. Erskine was an awesome old bloke.”

“He once offered me a hundred dollars to play with his hair,” Harry said, his brows pulling together. “Which didn’t make any sense, because he was bald.”

“Well, not everywhere, probably.”

Harry blinked rapidly. “Oh. I didn’t think of that.” His mouth turned down. “Ew. Was he sexually harassing me?”

“To be fair, I think he sexually harassed everyone without realising it,” Tristan said. “Oh, man. What’s going to happen to this place, do you think?”

Harry looked slightly panicked. “I don’t know! I can’t afford to live anywhere else!”

The old terrace house in Dickson Street, Newtown, was a complete dump. It was the rotten, blackened tooth in an otherwise pristine smile of gorgeously renovated veneers, but it was cheap. Well, cheap by Sydney standards, at least. Which wasn’t saying much. Tristan would be okay whatever happened, but Harry and Jack were on incredibly tight budgets.

“I mean, these things take months, right?” Tristan asked. “Wills and probate and all that bullshit. And there’s probably some law that you can’t just throw tenants out on the street without notice. Isn’t there?”

Harry chewed his bottom lip. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, don’t stress about it,” Tristan said, even though it was pointless, because Harry stressed about everything. “It’ll all work out in the end.” He lifted his nose and sniffed as the scent of bacon and eggs cooking reached him, and his stomach growled. He brightened. “Is Jack making breakfast?”

Harry blocked him as he tried to step out of the room. “Tris!”

“What?”

“You’re naked.”

“Oh yeah.” He reached around to grab his robe off the hook on the back of his door. “Breakfast first, then crisis, okay?”

Harry nodded unhappily, and they headed down the stairs.

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Lisa Henry – https://www.firstforromance.com/index.php?route=product/author/info&author_id=11797

Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.

Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.

Lisa has been published since 2012, and was a LAMBDA finalist for her quirky, awkward coming-of-age romance Adulting 101, and a Rainbow Awards finalist for 2019’s Anhaga.

Find out more at Lisa’s website and blog. You can follow her on Bookbub and sign up to her newsletter.

Website: https://www.lisahenryonline.com/

Blog: http://lisahenryonline.blogspot.com/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lisa-henry

Newsletter: https://lisahenryonline.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=89f76ac7a4e6e0e202f27b3f8&id=103da83ac0

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Sarah Honey – https://www.firstforromance.com/index.php?route=product/author/info&author_id=11796

Sarah started life in New Zealand. She came to Australia for a working holiday, loved it, and never left. She lives in Western Australia with her partner, two cats, two dogs and a life-size replica TARDIS.

She spends half her time at a day job and the rest of her time reading and writing about clueless men falling in love.

Her proudest achievements include having adult kids who will still be seen with her in public, the ability to make a decent sourdough loaf, and knowing all the words to Bohemian Rhapsody.

Terribly Tristan will be her seventh published novel in collaboration with Lisa Henry.

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Stronger Than Longing (Chesapeake Days Book 3) by Katherine McIntyre: Release Day Review

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Return to small-town Chesapeake and fall in love with the single-dad bad boy who keeps breaking hearts, and the adorable geek who can’t help but fall head over heels for his brother’s best friend.

For one night with the man of his dreams, Taran’s willing to break all his rules…..

Taran’s always been the reliable one. Safe. Which is why he keeps getting dumped by the assholes he dates. And after the latest round of “too boring,” he’s ready to drink his blues away. That’s until Silas King shows up – the gorgeous guy he’d swooned over through high school.

Silas wants one more night of distraction before his new reality sets in, and he sets his sights on Taran, his friend’s little brother who’s looking sexier than ever. It’s not like he can get in any more trouble than he’s already found himself in.

After Taran and Silas spend one unforgettable night together, feelings emerge, ones quickly stamped out when Silas confesses why he’s back in town. He’s returned to meet his three-month-old daughter.

With that chaos in his life, Silas can’t pursue anything further with Taran, and having longed for Silas his whole damn life, Taran isn’t sure he’ll survive the aftermath. Yet the more they try to avoid their connection, the more they keep colliding…until the passion between them detonates.

Amazon – All Regions

This was a new to me author. What drew me to wanting to read it was the whole small town thing. I grew up in a small town and the dynamics are interesting usually and make for an interesting backdrop.

There were parts I liked and parts I didn’t like. I really appreciated that one of the main characters, Taran, wasn’t white! He was, I think, Indian. Talk about an underrepresented demographic. He is a super sweet guy who wants to be in a relationship. So much so that he kind of settles for less than he deserves and then they invariably break up with him.

Silas is the typical bad boy. Running out of town as soon as he graduated high school. Coming back to visit once a year or so. He only does hookups, male or female, and has never had a relationship.

Which is why, when we find out he is back because his hook up last year got pregnant, I wanted to yell CONDOMS??? There was no talk about how or if birth control failed. Not cool.

So some suspended reality here. His best friend, Taran’s brother, hires him to be a sous chef at his restaurant. Is excited to have someone who worked in Philadelphia to jazz up the menu. Except we never see that. And he just jumps in and no one loses shifts?

I know these are little things, but they take me out of the story.

After hooking up, they decide to do the friends thing. We all know that never works. But instead of fighting a relationship, Silas seems to be the one ready to go all in.

The big conflict happens, the make up happens and then pretty much the end. I wanted more. It just wasn’t enough story for me.

It was fine but a bit forgettable. And there’s one plot device that bugs me that seems to be used often. I won’t say what it is, but it’s to the point that I am eye rolling.

Readable but forgettable.

3 pieces of eye candy

Katherine McIntyre is a feisty chick with a big attitude despite her short stature. She writes stories featuring snarky women, ragtag crews, and men with bad attitudes—high chance for a passionate speech thrown into the mix. As an eternal geek and tomboy who’s always stepped to her own beat, she’s made it her mission to write stories that represent the broad spectrum of people out there, from different cultures and races to all varieties of men and women. Easily distracted by cats and sugar.