romance

StrangeLove (The Young Americans, Book 3) by TL Bradford: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

April 20, 2022 by Denise

Archer

The year began great for me.

Became the starting quarterback for an NFL team – check.
Secured a multi-million-dollar contract – check.
Moved to LA and lived the glamorous life – check.

What could possibly cause me any issues?

Oh yeah, one more thing. I’m gay.

I was outed a couple of years ago to my former team and my family, but it hasn’t been made public knowledge yet. Well, that is, until now. I’ll be known as the first LGBTQ+ active player in the league’s history. And if I stick to the conditions of my contract, it won’t be a problem. The thing is, I’m not really a guy known for playing by the rules.

Most people think of my personality as the three B’s: bold, brash, and blunt. My mouth has gotten me into more predicaments than I can count. Even my best friends have told me I’m stubborn as a mule and have the delicacy of a bull in a china shop. This presents a big problem for me because I have my eyes set on winning over the guy who stole my heart years ago, only he doesn’t know it yet.

Getting his attention is going to be challenging. It’s a good thing I’m tenacious.
Unfortunately, it’s not great timing and could get me into a whole mess of trouble.
Why does falling for a guy need to be anyone’s business but mine?

Kai

The past couple of years were a whirlwind of activity. My career took off after my guest shot appearance in Americana. I appeared in a few indie features and finally got a shot at my first major motion picture release. The work came as a great distraction from my personal life, which took a further nosedive after I found out the guy I was falling for had already fallen for someone else.

Why should I be surprised? He was another in a string of failed relationship attempts. I swore I wouldn’t get involved with anyone else, choosing to stay focused on my career instead. That is, until the force of nature known as Archer McMillan came storming into my life.

To be the pursued instead of the pursuer was not in the cards. To top it off, he’s everything I’m not. Yet, there’s something to be said for a guy who can make you laugh when it’s the last thing you want to be doing. I’ll admit he’s got a playful and determined spirit. Archer also has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I’ve ever known. Not the mention the cute way he… Hold on. What am I doing? We cannot be a thing. Nope. Not gonna happen. Ever. Right?

***

Follow Kai and Archer as they cross the lines as friends, partners-in-crime, and confidants, to discover a love beyond boundaries that needs no definition.

(StrangeLove is a funny, heartwarming, slow-burn love story. It contains a cast of fully developed characters that encounter romance, laughter, and life lessons. It contains adult language, mature themes, and is best enjoyed by those over the age of 18. It can be read as a standalone; however, if you would like to know the backstories of some characters, check out the prior books in the series.)

StrangeLove

The Young Americans, Book 3

By TL Bradford

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads

To my chagrin, it’s Xander who opens the door when I arrive. I swear, this never gets any easier. First Noah, now Xander.

He starts cracking up the minute he sees me, bending over and holding his stomach.

“What’s so damn funny?” I ask him, annoyed.

I immediately look down to see if my fly is open or if I have toilet paper stuck on my shoe. I must look like a dog chasing his own tail.

He never has a chance to tell me why he’s laughing before Kai shows up and whaps him across the back of his head.

He says to him, “Xander, I thought you said you were gonna leave, like hours ago.”

“I was, but I had to see for myself, and Archer, man, you did not disappoint.” He starts laughing anew and Kai pushes him to the side.

“Come on in, Arch. Can I get you something to drink before we go?”

“No, I’m good.”

We stare at each other, then I remember to hand the flower arrangement over to him.

“It’s a full bird of paradise. Isn’t it great! What do you think?”

He awkwardly struggles to hold it.

“It’s… uh… big.”

“Yeah, right! It’s huge! I thought it would look good on your living room table.”

“Wow, this is… so much.”

“I saw it and right away I thought of you.”

“You did?”

“Sure! It’s unique, strong, and majestic. Just like you. That plant will probably live forever!”

“Ooh… I bet it will.”

“Yeah, no matter how hard you try to kill it, Kai.” Xander falls over, laughing again. I fail to see the funny.

“Don’t listen to him. It’s beautiful. Just give me a minute to clear some space on the table.”

“It can be a centerpiece. All the super bright colors lighten up the room,” I explain.

“That it does. That it does.” He nods.

I help him move items off the table to place the enormous flower arrangement on the table.

“There! Perfect! It’s a real conversation piece,” I say.

“Yep, we’ll be talking about this for years!” Xander barely manages to get out.

Kai quickly gets his jacket by the door and takes my arm to lead me outside.

Confused over Xander’s reaction, I ask him, “What was that about? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, Archer. You… did everything just right.”

He smiles at me. I smile back.

T.L. always hated math, so it was a good thing she had a way with words. Since she was a shy and quirky kid; words were her best friends. She would imagine entire worlds in her head and talk to herself endlessly. Her mother wondered if she was speaking with ghosts for a while.

Her older sister was a voracious reader of trashy romance novels and would pass them down to her after she had finished them. T.L. was the only 10-year-old kid sitting in class reading “The Stud” by Jackie Collins during reading time. Oddly enough, she never got called out on it.

As she grew older, her tastes evolved, but one thing held fast; her undying attachment to love stories. One day out of the blue, she decided to write the love stories she always wanted to read instead of searching for her story. Since then, writing has been a dream fulfilled for her and she could not be happier.

She enjoys writing about love, regardless of gender and is a proud supporter of the LGBTQ community.

T.L. calls the Pacific Northwest her home and enjoys the quiet rural life of her little oceanside home with her playful/crazy husband and their giant dog Noah.

Catch up with T.L.:
Instagram – @tlbradfordauthor
Twitter – @tbradfordauthor
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Finding Finn by Charlie Novak, Narrated by Dan Calley: Audiobook Review

April 19, 2022 by Denise

What happens when a quiet boy with a secret falls for his best friend?

Finn has always kept people at arm’s length. Being quiet and shy doesn’t get you many friends outside your family, and it’s even harder when you’re running a spicy, secret side project.

But Gem might be the exception to the rule. The game designer is clever, self-deprecating, and appreciates Finn’s affection for all things nerdy. He’s the one man who can find the real Finn…if Finn lets him in.

When Gem asks for Finn’s help opening a new board game store, it brings the two of them closer than ever before. Soon things become complicated as lines of friendship blur between them, and Finn begins to worry Gem will find out his secret.

But maybe that wouldn’t be as bad as it seems. Maybe Gem already knows the secret Finn’s keeping. All he has to do is convince Finn to share….

Finding Finn is a 78,000-word contemporary MM romance featuring late-night shop shenanigans, far too many nosy siblings with no boundaries, two best friends, and some steamy audio fantasies. It contains no love triangle, no cheating, and no angst.

Amazon – Ebook – Kindle Unlimited

Audible – Audiobook

Link to my book review here.

Ok. Whew. Imma need a minute! I knew this audio would be off the charts hot after reading the book. And I couldn’t wait!

Dan Calley has a nice cadence to his narration. And while a previous audio of his I didn’t notice too much of a difference between characters, in this one I did.

Jem has just enough of a Scottish brogue to hint at his upbringing without being a THICK brogue that can be hard to understand. I had no problems understanding anything.

Finn has a quiet dominating strength about him and that totally comes through. I could picture him saying the words. Especially when he goes from regular Finn to sexy Finn. It’s always the quiet ones.

As much as I enjoyed the book, the audio really brought it all to life. This is a must listen.

4.5 pieces of eye candy

Definitely Deacon (Belong to Me Book 2) by Vawn Cassidy: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

April 18, 2022 by Denise

Jesse Ainsley’s life running his busy veterinary practice in the sleepy Cornwall bay he grew up in leaves no time for a serious relationship… at least, that’s what he tells himself, but the simple truth is much more cliché. He’s been in love with his best friend forever, but when he starts pulling away and goes radio silent on him for six months, Jesse begins to wonder if their friendship is finally over.

Deacon James lives his life at two speeds, a hundred miles an hour and stop. He’s spent the last decade travelling the world, winning races, partying with the most beautiful men and women, and living life on his terms, a life which was pretty close to perfect… with just one caveat… he’s never quite been able to get over the boy he left behind. His best friend Jesse has always made him yearn for something he’s too afraid to face and cutting him out of his life seemed like the only answer.

But things are never that simple. When Deacon wakes from an accident in Italy with Jesse asleep in the hospital chair beside him, he discovers Jesse’s been keeping secrets of his own.

At a crossroads in their life, they’re faced with a choice, build something deeper and stronger from the ashes, or let words unsaid and secrets tear them apart forever.

From author Wendy Saunders writing as Vawn Cassidy comes this second chance, friends to lovers, hurt/comfort with a HEA.

Definitely Deacon

Belong to Me Book 2

By Vawn Cassidy

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads

He shuffles out into the hallway with me hovering over him protectively. It must be really annoying, but I can’t seem to help myself. My mind keeps trying to remind me how close I came to losing him, and I keep having to elbow that annoying voice aside otherwise I’ll end up morphing into a stage five clinger.

Deak climbs the stairs, and I can’t help but stare at his firm arse. Why am I torturing myself like this? I’m happy just to have our friendship back, I can’t start dreaming about more, that way lies madness… and blue balls apparently.

“Jesse?” Deak says with a hint of uncertainty in his voice as he stops at the top of the stairs. “There’s two doors.”

“Well done, you can count.” I reply dryly.

“If that room is the bathroom, then that means this is a one-bedroom house,” he reasons out.

“And they said you were just a dumb sailor with a pretty face who only likes fast boats and even faster bed partners,” I say easily.

“Read that article, did you?” He turns to glance at me over his shoulder.

“Read?” My brows rise. “It’s framed and mounted on the wall in the downstairs toilet.”

“Fuck off,” he snorts. “Seriously though, where am I sleeping?”

“In the bed.” I blink at him as if the answer should be obvious.

“And you’ll be sleeping…?”

“On the play dough sofa,” I reply. “Did you miss the part where I called it the napping sofa? It is so named for a very obvious reason.”

He stares at me silently with a small smile playing on his lips. “I’ve really missed your sarcasm, Jess.” He shakes his head with a little laugh. “But I’m not kicking you out of your bed.”

“You’re not.” I shrug. “I offered it.

“Well you didn’t exactly, did you?” His brow folds. “You kind of got stuck with me because Garrett decided to start re-arranging the walls in his place.”

“Deak, it’s fine.” I shake my head again. “Seriously, I’ve slept in worse places than my incredibly comfy sofa thanks to Ryan’s beer tasting sessions.”

“Oh yeah?” he replies with one dark brow raised questioningly.

“Last time, I woke up naked on a golf course wearing nothing but a pair of argyle socks,” I admit ruefully. “I’m still not sure where the traffic cone came from. Still, I was better off than Ryan, he was naked and handcuffed. Not sure where the handcuffs came from either to be honest.”

Okay, I seriously needed this book in my life. Before Definitely Deacon, I picked up, and quickly put down no less than three other books. Not that they weren’t good, or that I won’t go back to them, but at that moment in time, they were not what I was needing. Now, full disclosure, I didn’t read Suddenly Beck, (although it is still in my tbr pile, and it got moved up quickly after this book), but I read Vawn Cassidy’s Dead Serious and FLOVED it. If you haven’t read it, go right now, grab it…I’ll wait…hurry up…it’s just fantastic. So, I snatched this one right up and wasn’t disappointed.

I don’t generally use the phrase “all the feels”, but this one really did give me all the feels. Childhood friends turned into first loves until grief was too much for Deak and he had to leave. And he really couldn’t come back until he found what it was he was looking for, which as it turned out was there all along. See? All the feels. Deak really had it rough. He held it together a long time, despite having some heavy sh!t happen to him along the way. He still managed to keep a sweet, loyal and funny personality. Impressive considering, but a testament to all the people who helped him along the way, as well as his inner strength.

Jesse, so very different from his twin brother, but you can definitely see how connected they were. Beck didn’t even hesitate to drop everything and take Jesse to Rome when he needed to be there for Deak. Jesse was sarcastic, made me laugh many times, but also didn’t have the best opinion of himself, which seemed to be very much wrapped around how Deak kept distancing himself further and further from him, causing so much additional strain on Jesse. Even something as impressive as becoming a veterinarian he described as “playing with puppies all day”. He was the rock that Deak needed, but didn’t know it, until almost too late. Definitely some hurt along the way, and it isn’t easy to move past that kind of pain and secrets..

I’ve realized between the two books that I’ve read from this author, that a strength of hers is side characters. They don’t just appear, do what they are supposed to do, then disappear. They are funny, quirky, memorable characters. Maybe they’ll get a book, maybe they won’t, but you don’t finish the book and think “now which of the side characters did X”. That’s a talent to be cultivated and enjoyed. Whether it was Deak’s friends, Jin, Kyan, Damien or his silver fox Uncle Garrett, they all had their own personalities and quirks.

There’s definitely more to explore in the bay, so I hope to see where this goes.

4.5 pieces of eye candy

Vawn Cassidy is the mild mannered MM obsessed alter ego/ pen name of contemporary fantasy & romantic suspense author Wendy Saunders. She’s a Brit and lives in the UK with her husband and kids.

Connect with Vawn:
www.vawncassidyauthor.com
www.facebook.com/vawncassidyauthor
www.facebook.com/groups/cassidysbayboys
www.instagram.com/vawncassidyauthor
www.goodreads.com/vawncassidy

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The Moves We Make by CD Rachels: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

April 15, 2022 by Denise

Landon
On my university soccer team, people see me as an obnoxious loud-mouth, but this semester, I’m turning over a new leaf. Part of that involves supporting my best friend and his new relationship (with a guy!). Ravi being gay has really thrown me for a loop. The way he looks at Steven, it makes me feel… jealous? I’m not gay, but no girl has ever made me feel the way those two feel about each other. To top it off, I’m forced to take my university arts requirement in the form of a dance class! I have to fumble around trying not to fail while the teaching assistant Dane refuses to take it easy on me.
Still, the longer I spend in dance class, the more I get to know the real Dane: he’s fun, interesting, sweet, attractive, and… did I say attractive?! No way, that’s not what I meant. Because if I actually feel that way then… turning over a new leaf just got a LOT more complicated.

Dane
Dance is my life, and being a performing artist is my ultimate goal. That’s why I took this university TA position and why I’m hoping to secure an internship in the big city. I refuse to get distracted by some (admittedly handsome) jock that I’m tasked with teaching. He’s uncoordinated, but eventually, I can tell that he’s actually trying, so I cut him some slack. There’s also the tiny detail that he admits he may not be 100% straight.
That’s fine by me. It’s not like a guy like that would go for someone with a messed up face like mine. Still, as the weeks go by, something shifts and we become closer. I can’t let myself become sidetracked in catching feelings for a boy who’s new to being queer. I just need to disregard the burning chemistry we have whenever we’re in the dance studio alone. It’ll be easy to ignore the way he makes my heart flutter when he talks to me, or how charming he is when he lets down his guard.
Well… maybe one kiss won’t hurt, right?

The Moves We Make is a low-angst, male/male romance, opposites-attract story involving hands-on movement lessons, road trips, drunken dance floors, soccer games, and discovering what love and sex with the RIGHT person can actually lead to, HEA guaranteed. It is the second of the Artists and Athletes series but can be read as a standalone.

The Moves We Make

Artists and Athletes, Book 2

By CD Rachels

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads

Book 1: The Lines We Draw

Book 3: The Strings We Play (out August 8th)

Going through my closet, I manage to find an old dark-brown suit and a white button-down I haven’t used in ages. They’re still clean, and I’m sure they’ll fit Dane, so I grab them and some black dress shoes and walk next door to the guest bedroom. I lay out all the clothes on the bed and stare at them intently as if they’ll soon reveal to me some secret code.

“Hey, you’re back!” I hear Dane close the door behind me.

“Yeah, I got you some—” My words are cut off as my brain short-circuits. Dane is standing in front of me all wet and wearing only a towel. The remnants of shower water dribble down his rippling abs, and all of a sudden, I can’t speak. I knew dancers were fit, but I didn’t realize Dane was hiding the body of a Greek god under all those sweaters.

“Nice! A brown suit!” He thankfully doesn’t seem to notice my thirst. “Thanks, Landon!”

He walks over to the bed and puts on his white boxer briefs right in front of me under the towel, then lets the towel drop to the floor. Now that I have a direct view of his sculpted ass packaged in thin fabric, I can say for sure he’s nothing like the chicks I’ve been interested in before. Yet, with his back on full display as he pulls on my pants, it feels like…Do I think Dane is sexy? I can’t stop staring at his body, and these urges are pulling me toward him just like during puberty when I started jerking off to girls, but…Dane isn’t a girl. That would mean I’m…

I shake my head and take a step back. “Uh…” He turns to look at me. His right eye is so soft as he puts on the button-down shirt. “I’ll meet you downstairs!” I bolt out of there and shut the door, trying to catch my breath.

—

I stand outside by the buffet table, putting dressing on my salad. The inner courtyard of our house has been set up with a dozen round tables and heat lamps because it’s winter. Twenty guests roam around, most of whom are either chatting with my parents or talking to my siblings—Link, Kara, and my older brother Lars with his wife. Eventually, Dane makes it outside, and fuck, is he hotter with the suit on than he is half naked? Is that a thing?

I try to push down all these bi-curious thoughts. “Dane! Come get some food!” I smile and wave him over.

“Thanks man. This is”— he looks around— “lavish.”

“My parents like to do it big for these parties.” He smiles at this and starts putting food on his plate. Eventually we sit down at a table in the corner away from the crowds.

“You think you got the internship?”

“I hope so. They seemed genuinely interested in me.”

“I hope you get it too. Just think, if you get it, since I live nearby, maybe we can hang out in the summer.”

I eat some salad and look at him. An expression I don’t recognize flashes across his face before he smiles again. “For sure.”

Okay, I came into this one in the second book so I need to go back and read the first one because I feel like it’s going to be about Ravi and Steven, who are so very cute in this one, I really wanna read their story… in saying that, having started with this one, it didn’t take anything away from this one, so I didn’t feel lost or out of the loop with anything. This story is about Dane and Landon…

Landon, I was unsure about in the beginning. He’s your typical dude bro and obnoxious is putting his personality lightly. He wasn’t intentional about it though and he quickly became a lovable obnoxious dude bro… does that make sense? Anyway… a star player on the school’s soccer team, he’s forced to take an artsy class and his coach pulled some strings to get him into Dane’s dance class.

Dance is Dane’s life. He’s a TA for the dance class that Landon has just been enrolled in for the semester and he is not happy about. Dane has a physical abnormality and if you add that on top of being openly gay and a dance major, I can imagine the dude bro types are not his cup of tea.
Or, well, they are, but he doesn’t want them to be. He’s been bullied by those types because of those things and Landon just seems like one of them. He treats him accordingly in the beginning, but as Landon did with me, he won Dane over pretty quickly.

What I love about this story, is how real it feels. It was all really genuine, especially in Landon’s quest in curiosity. He was very narrow minded or maybe just uneducated in his idealization of what gay or bi means and the type’s of people that are. I liked how he didn’t really bat an eye at it once he realized his feelings or attraction for Dane.As a matter of fact, nobody really batted an eye about it and I loved seeing that. I have teenage kids that are heading into college in the next year or two, one of them is gay. We live in a small conservative town with zero support for the LGBTQ community, so I’m hoping they can find a place where there’ an open community and such acceptance. Fingers crossed, right?

All in all though, I enjoyed watching Landon’s growth in not only himself but just his understanding. I loved how once he developed feelings for Dane, he didn’t question them and he was proud to be seen with him, especially because Dane has not really been self conscious about his appearance because of the eye but because he never expected someone like Landon to see him in any sort of romantic light and the fact that fell for him and let himself fall of Landon was so cute.

I really need to go back and read book one, but this series is going to be an insta-click buy for me because i can’t wait to see who’s next!

If you like charming loud mouths who occasionally sticks his foot in it, then you’ll love watching these two dance around each other…(see what I did there? Wink wink) Super cute story!

5 pieces of eye candy

CD Rachels has been coming up with stories since he was little. At first it was all about superheroes and pocket monsters, but his genre of choice has expanded since puberty.

He’s been consuming young adult gay fiction since he was a teen, but within the past five years moved up to the big leagues of gay adult romance. In 2020 during quarantine, he burned through more male/male romance books than he ever had in the previous 29 years combined.

He lives in New York City with the love of his life and works in health insurance. When he’s not reading and writing, he’s playing board games and practicing music. He is honored to become a self-published author, and if you’re reading this, your support means so much to him that it’s giving him a tingly feeling (in a good way).

Follow him on instagram: @cdrachels

Or join his group on Facebook: “CD Rachels’ Chill Discourse Room”

Catch up with Sam:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/cdrachels/
Amazon Author’s Page: CD Rachels Author Page
Facebook Author Group: CD Rachels’ Chill Discourse Room

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Catching His Fall (Mesa Boys Book 1) by Christie Gordon: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

April 14, 2022 by Denise

Max has a plan. Tanner doesn’t do plans. Plan or not, they’re better off together.

Max Thompson has a few problems. He’s spending too much time at the skatepark watching a mysterious, unattainable young man he refers to as skater boy. Meanwhile, his college fund is running dry in his senior year at Arizona State University and it’s time to find a roommate to help with expenses. Hopefully one that’s not too weird this time. He’s spent his college years staying away from love to focus on school, but he can’t get skater boy out of his head.

Tanner Donahue is a hardworking assistant manager at a grocery store, who likes to skateboard and play guitar in a cover band in his spare time. But Tanner has his own problems. The first being the fact that he hooked up with and fell for his roommate and coworker, who has decided a relationship with a guy is not what he wants. It’s time for Tanner to find a new place to live and learn from his mistake.

When Tanner shows up on Max’s doorstep with his guinea pig, Stan, hoping to rent the room Max has available, Max jumps at the chance. Max soon realizes he’s going to have to walk a fine line if he’s going to make Tanner his own while living together. It doesn’t help that Tanner’s old roommate wants him back, and Tanner’s family situation is complicated at best. As truths are revealed and problems pile up, can Max and Tanner navigate what’s thrown at them to come out together?

Catching His Fall is a roommates to lovers, opposites attract romance with an HEA and no cliffhangers. It features a determined college student and a bad boy skater with a heart of gold who only wants to please. This is book one in the Mesa Boys series. Each book features a different couple.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads

Max stood in the doorway, fixated on skater boy. No. Tanner. Skater boy had a name. And good God, he had the most stunning hazel eyes. And holy shit he was even hotter up close. His cock pulsed. Even my dick is happy to see him. Even? His heart thumped in his ears. He needed to say something. What the hell was he supposed to say? The roommate Gods were shining bright on him today. Oh, holy fucking hell fuck. He had to make him live here. He just had to.

“Uh, hi?” Tanner waved.

Oh, my God, that’s so cute. Max cleared his throat, then swallowed, struggling to find his voice. “Hi.” Pull it together. He’s going to think you’re weird. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Come on in. I’m uh, Max.” He stepped to the side. What could he say to sell the place? He had to lay it on thick.

Tanner walked inside, over the gray, wood laminate floor, and scanned the main room, nodding his head. “Pretty nice place you got here.” He pointed to the couch. “You uh, buy your furniture at IKEA?” He lifted the edge of his mouth.

“Yeah, pretty much everything in here is from there.” Max bit his lip. “B-but I got the good stuff, not the real cheap stuff. Didn’t want it falling apart on me.” He offered a quick laugh. He sounded like an idiot. “D-do you have your own furniture you want to use? I’m cool with that, too, we can move stuff around.” His gaze fell to the tight black jeans hugging Tanner’s perfectly round ass under a gray, long-sleeve t-shirt. Even that was better up close.

“I was going to leave my stuff for my old roommate. I got it all at Goodwill.” Tanner stopped and faced him with a sly grin. “I love IKEA actually. All my bedroom furniture is from there.”

Max rubbed his palms on his thighs. How did they get so sweaty all of a sudden? “Oh, good.” He stalked behind him, fixating on the wide shoulders and down to the way his tight ass swayed in his skinny jeans. “S-So, your bedroom is, is right in here.” He sauntered past Tanner to the extra bedroom and turned on the dome light in the ceiling. “I mean, if you want to, to move in with, with me.” He needed to quit stammering. The guy would think he had a speech problem or something. He drew a deep breath.

As Tanner strolled in the room, his shoulder brushed Max’s chest.

Max’s breath caught and his heart stuttered. If Tanner moved in, how was he going to handle it? He’d have to find a way to settle down. This was too intense. “Uh, so you’ll have this room and we’ll be sharing a bathroom.” He swallowed hard. His mouth was dry. He needed water or maybe a beer would be better? “I hope that’s okay?”

Tanner turned inside the bedroom, perusing the black and white desk and laptop with two large monitors resting against one wall. “So, you’re using the room now, or did you have another roommate who’s in the process of moving out?”

“Oh, I was going to use this room for my online classes and studying. I didn’t have a roommate this year.” Max chuckled. “I haven’t had very good luck with roommates, well, except for Josh, but he has a place, and he doesn’t want to move again or be far from campus.” Shut up, you moron. He huffed. “Do you want a beer or something? ‘Cause I could really use one.” He pursed his lips. What was Tanner thinking about all this?

Tanner’s gaze found his and he spread a wide smile over his mouth. “A beer sounds awesome, man.”

“Okay.” Max headed for the kitchen, stubbing the toe of his sneaker on the edge of the gray rug under the coffee table, then stumbled and righted himself. “Fuck.”

“You okay?” Tanner called out.

Christie Gordon started writing gay and M/M romance fiction after becoming preoccupied with anime and in particular, the boys love and yaoi genres. She’s always had stories in her head and always enjoyed writing, so she took up fiction writing classes at a local community college and published her first book with eXtasy Books back in 2009. Christie likes to write complicated characters with painful pasts that refuse to be ignored until the characters are forced to face them head on. Angst? Yes. Happily ever after? Always. It’s the struggle to get there that counts.

Christie’s day job is in the high-tech industry with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration. She currently lives in the Phoenix, Arizona metro area and enjoyed eight years in the Bay Area of California but grew up in Minnesota. She shares a home with her partner of twelve years, a musician by night and a coder by day, who is currently in three bands, giving her plenty of time to keep writing. She is also a mother of two sons, one currently in college for engineering and the other preparing for nursing college. Her one-eyed, rescue pug is always by her side, snoring the day away.

Connect with Christie:
Newsletter: https://christiegordon.com/newsletter/
Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/christiegordonauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/christiegordon
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ChristieGordonAuthor
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All American Boys, Part 2: Blog Tour with Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

April 12, 2022 by Denise

Welcome to the All American Boy Series

Are you ready to set sail with these hot new boys from the All American Boy Series?

The All American Boy Series is proud to deliver 9 new MM romance books in the shared world experience you’ve come to know and love. All books are standalone novellas with some cross-over elements.

Join us for Gay Romances from Shane K. Morton, BL Maxwell, Kris Jacen, David Michael, Layla Dorine, Sierra Hill writing as K.C. Kassidy, Miski Harris, TL Travis, Elle Keaton

Week Two’s releases include:

Devin’s Boys by Layla Dorine releasing April 11^th

Pretty Boy by Sierra Hill writing as K.C. Kassidy releasing April 12^th

Boy Overboard by Miski Harris releasing April 13^th

Summer Boy by TL Travis releasing April 14^th

Not a Boy by Elle Keaton releasing April 15^th

Devin’s Boys by Layla Dorine

Releasing April 11^th

Coming home was supposed to be the end of something, until Mikal barreled into his life….and he wasn’t alone.

For Devin McKay, music has been his lover, his drug, and his best friend for as long as he can remember, but there was always something he denied himself while he pursued it. Now that his band has broken up and he’s returned to his hometown of Stoney Brook, he’s settled into a new, somewhat drunken routine, while he tries to get accustomed to this new phase in his life. The last thing he expected was an old friend to send a troubled young musician his way.

Mikal needs help, or rather, his best friend, Moon, needs help getting over the blinding bouts of stage fright that have been plaguing him for the last year. He’ll do anything to get to the root of Moon’s issues, even follow along with the unorthodox methods Devin prescribes for them. After all, Devin was a success in the industry, while Mikal and Moon have been struggling to get a foot in the door.

They aren’t the only ones struggling. Moon’s longtime friend with benefits, Derrick, spends most days rudderless and pretending to be okay. There are things he needs that Moon tries desperately to give him, but Moon has needs too. All their pieces have jagged edges, but with a little twisting and turning, and a lot of songs, they might discover a way they can all fit.

“Don’t put him down when he tried!” Mikal snapped. “Don’t be like everyone else. If you’re helping him just to cut him down, then we don’t need your help.”

The slow smile that crossed Devin’s face was one Mikal didn’t understand and wasn’t sure he particularly liked either. “You sure told me.”

“I mean it too,” Mikal growled, because now his head was reeling and he was confused.

“Of that, I have no doubt.”

Despite the way Mikal glared at him, Devin never looked away. He just calmly sipped his drink, chair back in that precariously reclined position as the occasional ice cube slid off the table and clattered on the floor. “He wasn’t alone in case you were interested. Looks like he may have found another crutch. Tall, blond, not a bad guitar player, smoldering fuck me eyes, jacked-up body with a hint of a swagger.”

Rolling his eyes, Mikal waved down the nearest waitress. “Sweet Old Fashioned please.”

She flashed him a small smile and a quick nod before hurrying away.

“You don’t seem surprised, and yet, I get the impression you’re pissed.”

“Because I am!” Mikal snapped. “Derrick is…”

“So that’s his name. Hmmm, I might have to introduce myself the next time.”

Throwing up his hands, Mikal grumbled the smattering of French curses he remembered from when his grandfather was alive.

“I believe the phrase should be Osti de tabarnak de sacrament, de câlice de ciboire de criss de marde,” Devin replied, quirking an eyebrow at him. “You kinda mangled the hell out of it.”

Mikal flipped him off without giving it any thought, which only prompted a chuckle from Devin, who seemed entirely too amused about the whole situation.

“Tell me something,” Devin asked, leveling a steady gaze at him. “Were the three of you ever a band?”

Snorting, Mikal shook his head. “Derrick plays country. Fuck that noise.”

“Is it noise because you don’t like country, don’t like Derrick, or a mix of both?”

Tracing his fingers over the smooth wood, Mikal struggled with that answer, because it was both easy, and complicated. The gist of it all was that for various reasons, he couldn’t have either of them the way he wanted them, and it grated on him that they could have each other in whatever way they chose. Was enough to make him rethink his position, just to know the feel of both of them wrapped around him.

“Wasn’t that hard of a question,” Devin quipped as Mikal’s drink was sat down on the table beside his hand.

“You’d be surprised.”

“Not likely.”

Grumbling, Mikal took a drink to avoid answering.

“I’m starting to get the impression that music has nothing to do with what you don’t like about Derrick, or Derrick and Moon together.”

“So?”

Lifting his drink to his lips, Devin regarded him over the rim. “You asked for my help, remember? Don’t get pissed at the methods. If yours worked, you wouldn’t need me.”

“With the music, not anything else.”

“Everything you’ve got going on in your life is going to affect your music. If you don’t know that by now, then maybe we need a little remedial session on where music comes from and how emotions shape everything to do with it.”

The glass was cold beneath Mikal’s fingertips. He should have set it down, warmed them up on his jeans. Instead, he swirled the ice in a circle and watched the liquid slosh. “Most people would consider it bad form to say someone has fuck me eyes when you’re sorta hitting on someone else.”

“Only sorta? Guess I’d better up my game.”

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Pretty Boy by Sierra Hill
writing as K.C. Kassidy

Releasing April 12^th

Finn
It’s true what they say. Possessing a pretty face has its perks, especially one I’ve relied on since I began modeling at seventeen. It’s paid for my college education and sent me around the world – all without taking a single dime from dad.
But it never got me what I truly wanted: his approval.
That’s the reason I’m in Stoney Brook, Maine.
To make a difference and prove to my dad I’ve changed.
What I don’t expect in this lobster fishing town is to catch feelings for a certain lobsterman. But Mason Proctor reeled me in, hook, line, and sinker.

Mason
I’m a homebody whose twenties are passing me by.
Something I hadn’t realized until I met Finn Caldwell, the pretty boy who breezed into town and hooked me with his smile. I want to be more like him; daring and fun.
The problem is my dad’s lobster business keeps me anchored down in a job, a town, and a future I don’t want.
I’ve played the role of good and loyal son long enough. I need to break free and live life on my own terms. But I don’t have it in me to cut ties and tell my parents the truth.
Finn and I may be different, but we both have something to prove. He needs to prove his worthiness to his father.
I only need to prove my bravery to one man.
Myself.

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Boy Overboard by Miski Harris

Releasing April 13^th

Why must Fate insist on having the last word?

Spoiled rich kid Riko Walker has spent the past year roaming the New England coast, working hard to maintain the rudderless image his father believes. Riko doesn’t need his father, or anybody else. Until a beating leaves him broken and alone in the middle of nowhere.

Braxton Harper’s inner voice screams “don’t get involved!” when he finds a bloodied and beaten young man in a heap on the roadside. He’s gotten good at ignoring that voice, loading the stranger into his truck and promising a place to rest and heal.

The Titanic-sized chip on Riko’s shoulder makes Braxton want to drop this ungrateful brat and be on his way. After all, no one handed Braxton anything in life. He’s worked hard for what little he has. If Riko doesn’t want help, why bother?

Fate has no patience for their stubbornness, throwing the two together time after time. How can sparks fly between two so different men? And can move they move past ugly beginnings to find their common ground?

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Summer Boy by TL Travis

Releasing April 14^th

Summer romance is not for those who are led by their heart.

For Jonah Thomas, life is wake up, eat breakfast, go to work at his family’s restaurant Ahoy Matey’s. Lather, rinse, repeat. Next! His hometown, the sleepy little Stoney Brook, Maine, doesn’t offer much for someone like Jonah.

He’s not really living and has no clear path in front of him. Jonah merely…exists.

Party boy, Micah Hannigan is determined to enjoy the summer before his final year of college. Stoney Brooke, Maine is not on his bucket list. Two weeks there with his family is a life sentence, especially when his friends are living it up on the beaches of Florida where he should be.

Micah has plans, lots of them but he’d never factored in meeting the beautiful and intriguing Jonah Thomas.

It’s crazy how love always finds a way when you least expect it.

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Not a Boy by Elle Keaton

Releasing April 15^th

Henry should have kept on walking by when he spotted the younger man sitting alone on the beach. He should never have stopped, never sat down, and certainly never kissed him. Because now Henry is experiencing feelings. And he doesn’t like it one bit.

Things happen for a reason, even random hook-ups. Ben was supposed to get off work early that night. It was no accident the sexy stranger stumbled on his beach hiding spot. The Kiss was destined, as well as what happened afterward. It wasn’t as if Ben believed in love at first sight, but this was damn close.

It’s a good thing Henry lives three-thousand miles away or he might do something stupid, like ask for Ben’s phone number.

Ben’s hometown boss begs him to return and he agrees, only regretting not being able to say goodbye to his snarky divorce lawyer. But all the wanting in the universe isn’t going to bring them together again, he doesn’t even know Henry’s last name. Besides, home is on the west coast, not Maine.

Sometimes the universe is a funny place.

#foundfamily #agegap #acceptance #oppositesattract #boynextdoorisnotaboy
All American Boy Series: Semi-Sweet MM Romance

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