Twice In A Lifetime (Sheltered Connections, Book 1) by R.M Neill: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

One is suffering through a fog of grief. The other crushing feelings of inadequacy.
Fate knew they needed each other.

Dominic
For the longest time, I believed we get one shot at true love. A single person that sets our soul on fire. I had that with my wife until she died, then I was lost in a dark sea of grief. In need of companionship, I decided to adopt a dog.

What I found at the shelter was so much more. Micha, the volunteer, is insanely cute and ridiculously funny. He awakens feelings within me I never knew existed. Is it possible I may get a second chance at real love?

Micha
Love just isn’t in the cards for some people. And I’m among those unfortunate few destined to be alone. I trusted the wrong man with my heart once and had it shattered into a million pieces. I won’t make that mistake twice. Instead, I pour every ounce of my energy into building my business and trying to convince myself I’m not lonely.

But Dominic could be the one to tear down the walls I hide behind. He’s the most handsome man I ever met and unbelievably kind. I know he experienced a horrible loss. Is that what’s behind his attraction to me? Or has the connection between us led to his bisexual awakening?

Twice in a Lifetime is the first book in the Sheltered Connections Series. This book involves themes of hurt/comfort, bisexual awakening, and an age gap. Swoon-worthy moments, laugh-out-loud humor, and scorching chemistry make up this 70k word story. Oh, and don’t forget the cherry flavored icing.

Title: Twice In A Lifetime
Authors: R.M Neill
Series: Sheltered Connections, Book 1
Genre: Contemporary.
Tropes: bisexual awakening, hurt/comfort, age-gap.

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I spin my phone and open the screen again to see mine and Jenny’s face smiling back at me. I slide it over to Micha.

His hand goes to his mouth with a quiet gasp. “Oh Dominic, is this Jenny?” I nod with a proud smile, and he raises the phone for a closer look. “She’s beautiful. I love her eyes, so full of happiness here. What were you doing?”

He passes the phone back to me and I close the screen. “It was the semi-formal in college. Almost ten years ago now. And thank you, she was beautiful.”

“Not was Dom. She is and always will be. That’s never going to change.”

My mouth goes dry as I stare at this man. The only person that’s pulled me away from speaking about Jenny in the past tense because he’s right, she always will be beautiful, and he wasn’t afraid to come out and say it. No tip toeing around, wondering if he might say the wrong thing to me. He so freely speaks his mind, even in the face of grief. It’s a refreshing change from how most people speak to me about her. I definitely like it.

This was a new to me author, and well there was an animal, so I jumped right in. I believe that although this is the first book in the series, that one of the couples may have been from a previous book. Either way, this book is a stand-alone.

Dom has decided to step back into the dating pool after his beautiful wife dies, and he is grief stricken. When that doesn’t quite go as planned, then adopt a dog to help with the loneliness. In comes Maggie, and the volunteer who helps Dom become a dog owner who knows how to care for his dog. So sweet! Dom had previously thought he was straight, but realizes he’s bisexual as he meets and wants to get to know Micha more, with very little angst on his part at the suddenness of it.

Micha had to be one of the best people in that town. He saw how easily people he was supposed to count on, hurt him and cast him aside. Meanwhile, he runs a successful dog grooming business by himself, volunteers at the animal shelter, and still seems to want to assist everyone as much as possible. I adored Micha, and was rooting hard for his HEA, after all the pain he’d experienced at the hands of his own father and the man he’d been in love with at 19. I also loved that Micha talked to the dogs he was grooming to try to work through his problem. That was adorable.

I found it a bit strange the way the location of the businesses was set up, or at least how I saw them. The grooming business was connected by a door to the vet business, even though they did not work together. The shelter, Dom’s butcher shop. It seemed as if they were all on the same street. Was it a small town, or a very tiny town? Also with Tara, how did she not know about Dom and Micha. Anyway, this all was a bit distracting to the story for me.

Micha’s friends were incredible with him. They were the friends that you call if you need to hide a body. They were completely behind him, always trying to build him up, and making sure he was taken care of. He deserved that kind of caring.

All in all, well written, with a few head scratching moments, but still a recommended read.

4 pieces of eye candy