Category: 5 star Rating

A Stella Review: With or Without You (Go Your Own Way #2) by Zane Riley

RATING  5+ out of 5 stars

With or Without You by Zane RileyIn the much-anticipated sequel to Go Your Own Way, high school seniors Lennox McAvoy and Will Osborne pick up right where they left off—navigating the tumultuous waters of a new relationship and dealing with Will’s disapproving father.

When a violent incident forces Lennox to give up his independent ways, he must come to terms with his past just as Will is grappling with his future. As Will’s college plans become reality, will Lennox have the courage to go after the opportunities he doesn’t think he deserves?

If you follow my reviews, it’s probably not a mystery I’m a devoted lover of Interlude Press books. Without a doubt Zane Riley  is one of their best authors. I fell in love with Go Your Own Way and this sequel was sublime. I anxiously waited for With Or Without You  and I can say Zane couldn’t have written something better. Now if I could only read the third book right this second it would be perfect.

The story starts where the first book ended. Will’s dad is finally back from the hospital, still recovering and still not liking Lennox at all. Lennox who is living (or trying to live) with Will, although the need to be back to the nasty hotel room his grampa is renting for him is strong, the place where he can escape from all the good things his life is throwing at him.

Will is rightly a little obsessed with college, he’s planning to move to NY while Lennox can’t see a future for him, or a future with his boyfriend. He is still wearing the ankle monitor from when he left the juvinile prison. But despite his pessimism, amazing events are going to present to Lennox.

Why I loved this book so much? First of all, the characters. Zane did an awesome work. The growth and the changes in Lennox and Will were clear, they are becoming strong adult who everyone should be pride of. They are only eighteen years old but Will is a force of nature and Lennox has seen so much in his life all his fears are naturally understandable. What truly caught my heart was the ability of the author at showing me the deep love the characters, main and second ones, feel for each other. It came to me powerfully in every form love can be shown. I submerged myself in the story, sexy and funny, emotional and brave. A warning, this is not a YA book so be ready for some hot scenes.

With Or Without You was so perfect I can’t wait for more. I feel to highly recommend the series (to  read in order) to everyone who is looking for a new, talented author who can greatly write and engage you in beautiful stories.

Book Design by CB Messer and Cover Illustration by Colleen M. Good. It seems to me the cover is a little different in style from the cover of the first book, still I like it a lot.

Sales Links

Interlude Press

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BOOK DETAILS:

Published July 21st 2016 by Interlude Press
Kindle Edition, 348 pages
ASIN B01F7PBIEE
Edition Language English

A MelanieM Review: Black Dog Blues (Kai Gracen, #1) by Rhys Ford

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

black-dog-bluesEver since being part of the pot in a high-stakes poker game, elfin outcast Kai Gracen figures he used up his good karma when Dempsey, a human Stalker, won the hand and took him in. Following the violent merge of Earth and Underhill, the human and elfin races are left with a messy, monster-ridden world, and Stalkers are the only cavalry willing to ride to someone’s rescue when something shadowy appears.

It’s a hard life but one Kai likes—filled with bounty, a few friends, and most importantly, no other elfin around to remind him of his past. And killing monsters is easy. Especially since he’s one himself.

But when a sidhe lord named Ryder arrives in San Diego, Kai is conscripted to do a job for Ryder’s fledgling Dawn Court. It’s supposed to be a simple run up the coast during dragon-mating season to retrieve a pregnant human woman seeking sanctuary. Easy, quick, and best of all, profitable. But Kai ends up in the middle of a deadly bloodline feud he has no hope of escaping.

No one ever got rich being a Stalker. But then few of them got old either and it doesn’t look like Kai will be the exception.

Black Dog Blues is another mashup of gritty fantasy, action/adventure and pure adrenaline rush from Rhys Ford, a favorite author of mine.   The first in a new series, Black Dog Blues introduces us to Kai Gracen, a fae mutt the likes  no one has ever seen before or wants to.  Considered an abomination because Kai is both a sidhe and unseehlie, a genetic mixture that shows on his face and body, his was a nightmare that started at his creation and only stopped when he was won at a poker game by a Stalker.

What a crazy, hard bitten wonder of a character Ford has in Kai Gracen.  When it says tortured childhood, here its in all caps and dripping in Kai’s blood. A survivor of the past, anything other than getting through the present times is never taken for granted in this imaginative and wildly speculative new world order of recognizable and fae caused by the merging of human and Underhill.  The vivid descriptions of how the earth and San Diego now look are wondrous as they are dangerous.  The creatures bounding over lava fields and cracked roadways?  A mixture of old world, new world and fantasy all thrown together.  Dragons hunting antelope?  Yes indeed.  And it feels so real.  Not that anyone with any common sense would want to actually be there. OK maybe a tad.  Truly, the scenes  as wildly scary as they are draw you into the world and Kai’s place in it.

Oh Kai.  Snarly, competent…he belongs in such a wildly uneven and unpredictable world.  You never know what you will meet or where your next enemy or perhaps friend (if that’s possible) will come from.

Kai’s world consists of the people who helped bring up a feral mixed race fae and who helped make him one of the toughest Stalkers out there.  We get to meet them all here and what an amazing lot they are.  Ford makes them all believable and unforgettable, flawed tough, and hardscrabble.

But the scariest of the lot?  The Fae and the Fae court and politics.  This will include Ryder, the sidhe lord who hires Kai and who has his own agenda and motives in mind.  I liked Ryder but he’s so smooth (intentionally so) that it took me a while to warm up to him.  I far preferred the rude, often snarly Kai…especially when he’s poking at the imperious Ryder.

There are some stomach churning moments as  well as ones guaranteed to make your heart race.  Its Rhys Ford’s story afterall and these Fae are the true Fae of the old Tiernan Og.  Those to be feared, with little care for the human world.

And there are dragons, beautiful, fire breathing, fast flying dragons.

Be still my heart.

There’s a sequel out.  And more to come.  Oh happy, happy, reading times ahead.

If you love fantasy, gritty, sometimes scary, wonderful heart stopping, action packed, fantasy packed with memorable characters,then look no further than Black Dog Blues.  I highly recommend it.

Cover art shows Kai Gracen with his dark features.  Its perfect.

Sales Links

DSP Publications

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Book Details:

ebook, Second Edition, 246 pages
Published February 3rd 2015 by DSP Publications (first published May 10th 2013)
ISBN 1632163543 (ISBN13: 9781632163547)
Edition Language English
setting San Diego, California(United States)

Note from DSP Publications: Spend your weekend with Kai Gracen! Mad Lizard Mambo by Rhys Ford will be released on the DSP Publications website 3 days before other retailers, on September 10. Additionally, eBook one in the Kai Gracen Series, Black Dog Blues, will be 99 cents September 6-13, 2016.

A MelanieM Review: Re-Inventing Love by Storm Grant

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Re-Inventing LoveEngineer and assistant inventor,Maximilian Grun is in love with his employer, but he daren’t reveal the truth. It’s 1910 and if Canadian authorities learned of his homosexuality, they’d deport him back to Germany where the country of his birth would become the country of his death.

When promising young inventor and mathematician,Dr. Jasper Hamilton expresses his own feelings for Max, the young German regretfully declines. He cannot risk their partnership, their reputations” their very lives!

Then a rival inventor sabotages their inventions. Jasper is caught between the physical and the metaphysical, reduced to atoms, and transported to the spirit plane! Max is devastated, deeply regretting his lost chances.

But Jasper manages to communicate across the aether, telling Max he must reverse the machine’s polarity. But without Jasper’s talent for mathematics, the calculations defeat Max.

Can the would-be lovers bridge the gap between life and death to finally be together?When a ghastly lab accident blows a respected inventor away, his loyal assistant must devise a way to bridge the gap between the planes of existence to reunite them in life and in love.

I was not sure what to expect from Re-Inventing Love by Storm Grant.   The premise was intriguing and the author was completely new to me.  Two things I liked.  Plus it was historical, another bonus.  The story  turned out to be so much more than I ever  imagined.  It was a wonderful historical novel, rich in elements from that era.  It was a paranormal tale, filled with inventive touches real and imagined.  The author’s note where Grant’s give’s a nod to the inspirations behind the story should not be missed. Finally, its a sweet, touching romance, still in keeping with the era, noting that such same gender love is forbidden, likely to lead to imprisonment and death.  And on every level that it explores and incorporates into the story, it works beautifully.

The story starts off in Germany,  with a young apprentice and his older mentor working on a special invention and things go very badly.  We follow the the young man’s recovery through various scary scenes and months which I won’t spoil here.  They are of high importance in making the character of Maximilian Grun feel authentic, as both a scientist and as a damaged man.  We get the full history on Max…his troubles, his pain, everything.  Even his naivete’.  And Grant surrounds him in the elements of the era, from laws to major points in the history timeline.

When the story lands in Canada, and the household of Dr. Jasper Hamilton and his forward thinking sister, Octavia, I was throughly entranced.  Then became even more so.  Dr. Jasper was already an inventor who along with his trouser-wearing sister (and house servants/assistants) had filled his house with his inventions from toasters (that burnt toast if you weren’t careful) to washer tubs for washing clothes.  A marvel indeed and based on inventions present at the time.  Octavia, a widow, is a bright, sparkling presence, whose personality leaps off the pages alongside that of her brother and their other household occupants (cat included).  Really, be prepared to fall in love with this entire household.

How Max comes to find employment and a home here with Jasper and Octavia is a neat twist of tale and villain.  Yes, the author has engineered a believable villain for this story.  His actions are both plausible and reprehensible, thoughtless and based on self gain, no matter the cost.  So you get a layered and understandable man to cringe at his every appearance.  Its wonderful.

There is also the paranormal element here, ghosts, another plane of existence to explore.  Its deliciously done.  Storm Grant is clearly having fun here, from the name of the device (see the author’s notes again) to the racket, explosions, and results that occur).  Most are mind boggling, all are marvelous and great for the story.  I enjoyed each and every scene, right up to and including the unexpected final one.

I often watch a series here called The Artful Detective. I believe the author refers to the same show as the Murdoch Mysteries in her notes.  A Canadian detective in the 1900’s who uses science (often ahead of his time) and inventions to solve crime.  It was one of the inspirations behind the story as both incorporate actual history and real inventions into their storylines.  Both the series (I bet the name difference is due to the country where it airs) and this story are charmers.

Whether you are a fan of historical novels, this is one story you won’t want to miss out on.  Its got a little bit of something for everyone.  But mostly?  Its just plain wonderful.  I highly recommend Re-Inventing Love by Storm Grant.  Now I need to seek out and read other books by this author.  What a treat.  And while you’re at it check out The Artful Detective as well.

Cover art by Deana Jamroz.  I liked this cover.  A bit old timey true in keeping with the paperback mysteries and dime novels.

Sales Links

MLR Press LLC

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 236 pages
Published April 21st 2016 by MLR Press, LLC
ASINB01ENHDG6U
Edition LanguageEnglish

 

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Rented Heart by Garrett Leigh

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Rented Heart by Garrett LeighLonely and grief-stricken, Liam Mallaney finally agrees to go out with his friends to make an attempt to get back into being social and sociable a year after he lost the man he considered his husband. As he seeks respite outside the bar and tries to decide whether or not to go home, he’s approached by a young man who propositions him. It isn’t until he decides to go with the guy that he finds out it’s going to cost him a wad of money.

Zac Payne has been surviving on the slim pickings in this small town ever since he moved from London to Holkham to start anew after he recovered from a drug addiction that nearly killed him six months before. Because his services aren’t as often in demand here, he has to work long days and nights to earn enough to support himself and his still drug addicted best friend, Jamie. He feels that he owes Jamie since he’s the one who got Zac to the help he needed on time.

When he takes Liam home he gets more than he bargained for however. Liam is a hot, sexy Alpha male who treats Zac differently from any of his other Johns. In fact, it’s the most memorable night Zac has ever spent with a man, and the first time he ever brought one to his own bed. Unable to forget Liam, Zac daydreams of what might be if he wasn’t a hooker, so when Liam contacts him after a few weeks, he gladly accepts his offer of spending the day with him.

In the meantime, Jamie is falling further into his addiction and though Zac knows he’s powerless to help him, when Jamie shows up at the apartment with a cache of drugs, Zac flips out and kicks him out. Distressed, he does something he’ll later regret while spending the balance of the day with Liam, who is rapidly becoming so much more than just a John.

The author takes us through Liam’s healing from the grief and despair that has plagued him for so long, introduces us to the life he shared with his lover, and gives us a glimpse into the real Liam behind the corporate façade he wears to keep the company they founded together running. Concurrently, we explore Zac’s personality, his hopes and dreams, and his deep desire to do whatever it takes to stay sober. We also get to know Jamie and while watching him rapidly deteriorate, not only in body but also in spirit, we learn the depth of Zac’s devotion to him.

There were many layers to this emotional drama, and with each page turn the author kept my interest at a peak with yet another new development or another perspective. Alternating scenes between Liam and Zac, because so much of the story took place when they weren’t together, added depth to the drama. I appreciated the strength of their inner resolve and the commitment each exhibited as they fought through the difficult circumstances that plagued them.

My respect for Garrett Leigh grows exponentially with each book I read from this author. I honestly wish I could give this story more than 5 stars, and I very highly recommend it to those who are looking for a story of redemption and the engaging characters who fight their way through their very divergent circumstances to finally be together.

Cover art by Garrett Leigh is perfect for the story.

Sales Links

Riptide Publishing

more links to follow – not yet available

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Book Details:

ebook, 228 pages
Expected publication: September 10th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitleRented Heart
ISBN 162649391X (ISBN13: 9781626493919)
Edition LanguageEnglish

A MelanieM Release Day Review: Connection Error (#gaymers #3) by Annabeth Albert

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Connection Error By Annabeth AlbertIt’s typical of video game programmer Josiah Simmons to be the last one on the plane on the way to the biggest meeting of his career. Though he’s (mostly) coping with his ADHD, he can’t handle another distraction. But he also can’t ignore his rugged seatmate—especially once he learns the military man’s a fan of his game.

Ryan Orson refuses to let his severe injuries pause his career as a navy SEAL. He’s got hours of grueling physical therapy ahead of him, and no time for anything that might get in the way of his return to active duty. But that doesn’t mean he’s above a little first-class flirtation with geeky-cute Josiah.

When a delay strands the pair in St. Louis, they agree to share a hotel room and a night of gaming. Neither expects their new connection to move to the next level in the light of day. Opposites may attract, but is this game over before it’s even begun?

My love affair with this series began with Status Update (#gaymers, #1) where I met Adrian Gottlieb, video game designer of Space Villager and his lover geoarchaeologist Noah Walters and solidified with Beta Test (#gaymers, #2) and the couple of that story, graphic designer Ravi Tandel and Tristan Jones.  Now comes Connection Error (#gaymers #3) by Annabeth Albert and it turns out, that yes here’s a couple I can love as much as the original I first fell in love with, that of video game programmer Josiah Simmon and injured Navy seal Ryan Orson.

Josiah popped up first in Beta Test during a gaymers party that Ravi and Tristan attended.  He was a stand out character there and clearly needed his own story so I was thrilled to see Annabeth Albert give him one here.  But what made him interesting there makes him a deeply layered, fascinating character here.

Young, he has a severe case of  ADHD, to the point that he lives at home, has a strict schedule and medications he uses to help him control it and function.  He’s highly successful at his job at Space Villager and about to lead a group of programmers into a new stage of development for the game.  Its a hugely busy and scary time for Josiah.  And due to Albert’s wonderful way with characterization, we see into the heart of Josiah.  His nerves, his fears, the way he functions or sometimes doesn’t at the office…every part of his life.  By giving us…this open, stubborn and sometimes fragile Josiah (a very believable one), we are quickly pulled into his life and connected to him.

Sitting on a plane heading to the same destination as Josiah?  That would be injured Navy Seal Ryan Orson.  His character surprised me.  I’m not  going to go into anything here.  Read the story.  But having Ryan here, real, hurting, stubborn, and impossible not to give your heart to made this story for me. Connecting him with Josiah?  Amazing.  Watching them work together to find a common ground for a relationship made for a book I never wanted to put down.

Annabeth Albert doesn’t do fast romances.  Her characters have their own issues to work through, sometimes they have personal blinders on, sometimes obstacles of their own making stand in their way to happiness.  Whatever.  It always takes a while for them to work through their differences and believe they can be happy themselves and with another person.  I love that about her stories.  Sometimes gritty, painful, and real.  So that when it works, when the main characters such as Josiah and Ryan realize that a future is possible together, well the joy and love just flows making the story and romance all the sweeter.

Plus…Space Villager.  Yep.  I still want the game.

This is the third book in the series.  In each book we get to see some of the couples from the previous stories.  I love that too.  I don’t know where the next couple is coming from but I can’t wait to read it.  This is one of my favorite series.  I highly recommend this story and all the #gaymer novels.

Cover art is terrific and works for the story.

 

Sales Links

Carina Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Itunes | Kobo Books

Book Details:

ebook
This book is approximately 66,000 words
Published September 2016 by Carina Press
Original TitleConnection Error
ISBN139781459290679
Series: #gaymers – Add to Goodreads here:

Its Release Day for Connection Error (#gaymers #3) by Annabeth Albert (excerpt and giveaway)

Connection Error Blitz BannerTitle: Connection Error

Author: Annabeth Albert

Series Title and Number: #Gaymers, Book 3, but stands alone well too

Publisher: CARINA PRESS

Cover Artist: CARINA PRESS

Release Date: September 5, 2016

Heat Level: 4 (explicit m/m sex, but lots and lots of plot too!)

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: approx. 66,000 words

Genre/Tags: Romance, M/m Romance, contemporary romance, military romance

Add To Goodreads

9781459290679

Synopsis

It’s typical of video game programmer Josiah Simmons to be the last one on the plane on the way to the biggest meeting of his career. Though he’s (mostly) coping with his ADHD, he can’t handle another distraction. But he also can’t ignore his rugged seatmate—especially once he learns the military man’s a fan of his game.

Ryan Orson refuses to let his severe injuries pause his career as a navy SEAL. He’s got hours of grueling physical therapy ahead of him, and no time for anything that might get in the way of his return to active duty. But that doesn’t mean he’s above a little first-class flirtation with geeky-cute Josiah.

When a delay strands the pair in St. Louis, they agree to share a hotel room and a night of gaming. Neither expects their new connection to move to the next level in the light of day. Opposites may attract, but is this game over before it’s even begun?

Book Three of the #gaymers series

Excerpt

Chapter 1

Somewhere between the third newsstand and the fourth moving sidewalk in LAX, Josiah regretted not joining his friend Ravi in training for a 10k charity race. Nothing like a flat-out sprint from the check-in counter to the slow-moving security lines and another dash from security all the way through gates to make him rethink his aversion to cardio. And the worst part was that for once in his life he’d made every effort to be on time, getting up before the alarm, starting coffee, making sure they were out of the house by o’dark thirty ready for his early morning flight to Germany via a stop in Washington, DC.

Passport? Check.

Carry-on with both laptops, tablet and assorted accessories? Check.

Suitcase with more shirts with buttons than he’d ever owned in his life? Check.

Double-checking that his ticket was booked under “Josiah” not “Joseph”? Total fail, but in his defense, it never occurred to him that the travel agency his employer used would give the wrong name. And the check-in attendant at the airline counter didn’t want to believe that there was a mistake. Thus, every careful endeavor he’d made to ensure that he was on time—early even—went up in a huff of waiting for a supervisor and then another supervisor.

And now finally he was sprinting to make sure he didn’t miss the plane. Forget being there in time to priority board, he was going to be lucky to make the plane period. His first time flying first class—thank you, Space Villager for being such a bestselling game—and it was off to an inelegant start thanks to a stupid mistake.

Finally, finally, he reached the last few gates of the terminal. The TV sets scattered throughout the waiting area were all taking about that huge freak snowstorm heading for the New York area and whether it might veer south enough to cause snow along the whole Eastern Seaboard. Josiah shook his head, trying to not get sucked in to the TV. As long as he got to Germany on time, it wasn’t going to affect him and he needed to stay focused on—

“Last call for Flight 324 nonstop service to Washington Dulles International,” the loudspeaker blared.

“I’m here, I’m here,” he panted as the gate attendant set the red phone back on its hook. He held out his ticket. The woman was around his mother’s age with very red lipstick and very short blond hair and a spectacular frown just for him.

“Ah. Mr. Simmons.” She looked up after scanning his tickets, decidedly less frosty once she saw his first-class seat number. “Come with me, I’m going to have to walk you down.” She spoke into a walkie-talkie as they headed down the walkway. “We’re going to need to gate check your bags. I’m so sorry, but the first-class overhead compartments are all full.”

“Crap.” She gave him a questioning look, and Josiah remembered that he was supposed to be Mr. Smooth and Sophisticated Project Manager, not some whiny kid. “Sorry. That’s fine. Just let me grab my laptop.” He grabbed the laptop with the longer battery life before the attendant put a pink gate-check tag on his two bags. “But…uh…fragile.”

She gave him a tight smile, but added a yellow Fragile tag to his laptop bag. “You’re in Seat 1A,” she said, handing him his ticket back. “You’ll get your bags back when we land, I promise. Enjoy your flight.”

After a brief conversation with the gate attendant, a male flight attendant shut the plane door behind Josiah. “Welcome aboard,” he said to Josiah in a tone that clearly meant, “thank you for pushing back our departure.” In fact, the plane was rolling away from the gate before Josiah almost tumbled into the empty aisle seat of the first row.

“You made it.” A warm chuckle eased past the pounding of Josiah’s heart.

“Wha—what?” he whipped his head over to the window seat—a farther distance than one might expect. The first-class seats were huge padded affairs and there was a thick console dividing the seats. And…hello, most gorgeous guy Josiah had ever seen.

Wide, mischievous smile. Sparkling hazel eyes. Unshaven jaw. Short dark brown hair. And holy hell, arm muscles for days. Bulging biceps with tats poking out of his T-shirt sleeves.

All of a sudden this flight started looking way up.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. I just meant I was beginning to think I’d get the row all to myself.” The guy’s voice was possibly even more attractive than his model-worthy face, deep and soothing, with an undercurrent of the sort of confidence that never failed to make Josiah shiver.

And he was all Josiah’s for the next five hours.

Well, except for the part where he seemed ready to take a nap and tune Josiah out—the guy had a pillow behind his head and a blanket on his lap. He yawned, revealing gleaming teeth worthy of a toothpaste ad.

“You’re not a model, are you?” As usual, Josiah’s tongue leaped into action before his brain could restrain it.

“What? No, not a model.” The guy laughed, more of that smoky chuckle that did things to Josiah’s insides.

“TV star? Athlete? Because it seems like I should know you from somewhere, and I don’t want to get to DC and people be like, hey, you were next to that Laker the whole flight…” He trailed off because his friends were right that he had absolutely no filter, and that was triple true around Muppet-flail-worthy hot guys.

“Nope, not famous.” The guy studied Josiah for a long moment, considering, the sort of are-you-for-real expression on his face that Josiah was well used to. Seeming to come to some sort of decision, the guy stuck his right arm across the console. “Lieutenant Ryan Orson, US Navy.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Josiah accepted the handshake. Navy made sense given the Navy-emblazoned T-shirt stretched tight over the guy’s aircraft-carrier-wide chest. Holy crap, the guy was big. Josiah was a skinny 6’2” with big hands and feet that always got in the way. But this guy’s hand made Josiah’s feel downright dainty. “I’m Josiah, Josiah Simmons.”

“Well, Josiah, want to know a secret?” Ryan asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

“Sure.” Josiah was down with whatever secrets this guy wanted to share.

“Not only am I not famous, I’m not even supposed to be in first class.”

“You’re not?”

“Nope.” Ryan winked at Josiah. He had a very disarming wink, all good humor and twinkly eyes.

“The check-in clerk bumped me into first.”

“You got the nice clerk.” Josiah was still a bit grumbly over the name hassle.

“She lost a brother over in Afghanistan.” There was a subtle hint of “grow up” in Ryan’s tone. Josiah straightened, remembering again who he was supposed to be. And here was this impossibly attractive guy to practice on. Sure, he might be Josiah the clueless geek back home, but here he was Josiah the new project manager. This Josiah knew the right way to act and speak and could impress even tough audiences.

“That’s so sad for her.” Josiah tried for sophisticated empathy, something he knew he kind of sucked at.

“Yeah, it is.” Something indecipherable passed over Ryan’s face, his eyes getting darker and cloudier and that wide smile flagging a bit. “Anyway, guess she saw…the Navy connection and had a spare seat to bump me into.”

“What do you do? In the Navy I mean?”

The guy went silent, considering, and Josiah was afraid he’d been too nosy again, but right when he was about to apologize, Ryan finally spoke. “I’m a SEAL. I do a little bit of everything, but mainly I make things go boom. You?”

“Oh my God, you’re Special Forces. Do I ever have questions for you!” Josiah babbled again, only slowing down as Ryan’s easy smile morphed into grim line. “Sorry. I’m just excited because I’m a video game designer. And special ops is our new expansion pack.” And it happened to be the one Josiah was in charge of.

“You program games?” Ryan blinked, and Josiah wasn’t sure what he’d expected Josiah to do, but this clearly wasn’t it. “Anything I’ve heard of?”

Ah. That was it. He assumed Josiah was some sort of kid programming a dot matrix game in his basement. Josiah knew he looked too young for his job, because he was too young. At twenty-three, he was the youngest lead developer on the design team. Thus, he took no small amount of pride in saying, “Space Villager.”

“Oh wow, really?” There was a new note of respect in Ryan’s voice. “I love that game, especially the pod racer and first-person shooter expansion packs.” There was a hint of Texas or something else Southern in his voice, and Josiah could listen to him all day.

“Yeah? Well you’re going to love our special ops expansion pack even more.” Josiah projected far more confidence than he actually felt. He could make this project a success. He had to. The PR team had already hinted that the next expansion pack would revolve around special ops activities on a small war-torn planet, so Josiah didn’t worry too much about sharing this much with Ryan.

“I bet. My ex got me to back the crowdfunding drive, and I’ve been hooked ever since. My buddies were already teasing me about how much time I spent gaming, but there’s something particularly addictive about your game.”

Your game. Josiah liked the sound of that. He only knew a handful of women who played Space Villager, but the ones who did tended to be rabid fans. It was possible he might even know Ryan’s ex by her user handle, but Josiah had just enough self-control to not ask.

“Prepare for takeoff,” the pilot intoned over the PA. This was the part Josiah hated, the acceleration and stomach-dropping ascent. Today he hated it even more, knowing they might catch the edge of that storm. Focusing on turbulence that was probably hours away wasn’t logical, but then, Josiah’s brain seldom was.

“You always so antsy or are you a nervous flyer?” Ryan asked.

Oh crap. Guess he wasn’t doing such a bang-up job projecting the aura of a with-it project manager. He laughed nervously. “Both?”

“I promise we’re going to be okay.” Ryan gave him a quick friendly pat on the knee.

Oh. Josiah’s eyes went wide. Ryan was missing part of the pinky finger on his left hand and had some wicked scarring further up his forearm. Josiah tried not to stare, but knew he failed miserably.

“Mission gone wrong,” Ryan said gruffly. “Now back to flying, millions of people fly every day. It’s safer than car travel.” His tone made it clear further discussion of his hand was not on the table.

“I know flying’s safe. Knowing that’s not the same as believing it.”

Ryan’s answering laugh seemed to strip some of the tension from his face. “How well do I know that attitude. My ex got nervous before every flight, and his buddies used to razz him about it mercilessly.”

Man, two ex references in five minutes. Ryan must be totally hung up on his ex…wait. “His buddies”…What the hell?

“Your ex is a guy?”

“Yup.” Ryan’s smirk said he’d pegged Josiah ten minutes ago, probably when Josiah couldn’t peel his eyes away from those tasty biceps.

“Cool.” He was grinning, but he couldn’t make his facial muscles behave. Hot damn. Gorgeous, muscled, single, gamer, and gay. He ticked every last one of Josiah’s “perfect man” boxes. And if the gods were kind at all, Josiah could keep it together long enough to make a lasting impression.

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Meet the Author

Annabeth Albert grew up sneaking romance novels under the bed covers. Now, she devours all subgenres of romance out in the open—no flashlights required! When she’s not adding to her keeper shelf, she’s a multi-published Pacific Northwest romance writer.

Emotionally complex, sexy, and funny stories are her favorites both to read and to write. Annabeth loves finding happy endings for a variety of pairings and is a passionate gay rights supporter. In between searching out dark heroes to redeem, she works a rewarding day job and wrangles two children.

Represented by Saritza Hernandez of the Corvisiero Literary Agency

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