Category: M/M Contemporary Fiction

Cover Reveal for Broken by Colette Davison (excerpt)

COVER REVEAL

Book Title: Broken

Author: Colette Davison

Cover Artist: Colette Davison

Genre/s: MM Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating:  4 flames     

Release Date: March 5, 2019

Tagline

He was broken. His rules weren’t meant to be.

Blurb

Rule #1: Keep running.

Jag’s rules have kept him safe and free since he escaped conversion therapy, but that was before he walked into Heaven and Hell. A no-strings fling with the club owner, Michael, turns into so much more as Jag finds himself breaking one rule after another.

Michael hasn’t been able to commit to anyone since his partner died, until Jag walks into his club. Falling in lust with the elfin young dancer is easy, and his heart is quick to follow.

Michael gives Jag a reason to stay, but fear rules Jag’s heart more than love. Despite his deepening feelings for Michael, Jag knows he can’t stay. Can he?

**Contains adult themes, content, and language**

Excerpt

Jag started with a crucifix climb, gripping the pole between his knees, one thigh raised, his lifted foot neatly pointed. It was an easy enough starting position, but it got Michael’s attention. He sat a little straighter, sipping the scotch as Jag hooked his knee around the bar and leaned back, arms stretched, almost fully inverting himself. He raised his supporting leg, hooking his ankle around the pole, which he grasped with one hand, so he could pull his back closer to it. The fingertips of his opposite hand grazed the floor, completing the blade. From there he pulled himself up the pole, so he could arch his body into a rainbow, spinning slowly round the pole as he moved back down, into a bridged handstand. Every move was exact and the transitions were fluid.

It wasn’t the sexiest routine Michael had ever seen, but it was definitely sensual. Hell, he was getting turned on and Jag was fully dressed. His mind started to conjure up images of him in much less clothing, under low lighting, with sultry music playing. He could almost see the punters with their mouths hanging open, eyes wide as they ogled the elfin young man. It would be a crime not to put him on show. Maybe in a spotlight of his own. Michael shifted, adjusting his tracksuit a little. The club needed a new angel and Michael felt like he might have found him.

About the Author 

Colette’s personal love story began at university, where she met her future husband. An evening of flirting, in the shadow of Lancaster castle, eventually led to a fairytale wedding. She’s enjoying her own ‘happy ever after’ in the north of England with her husband, two beautiful children and her writing.

Author Links

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Facebook

Twitter

Facebook Group: Colette’s Cosy Corner

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A MelanieM Review: Wolff (Redemption #1) by J.J. Harper

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Twelve years ago, Wolff Mannheim was afraid. Afraid to admit he was gay but also in love. He broke up with his boyfriend, Gage Norton, in the most heinous of ways. When Wolff accepts his dream job, he finds out his ex not only works there but is also his superior. Memories of the last time he saw him come rushing back and bring a deep level of shame. Now, older, wiser, and definitely out and proud, Wolff reaches out, through social media, to explain to Gage. All he gets is a resounding “no.”

Gage can’t believe his ears. He is filled with happiness as he’s finally made partner. His joy is quashed, though, when he finds out the name of the person to fill his vacated position: Wolff Mannheim

The moment Gage accepts his friend request, he regrets it. He decides the best way to deal with his nemesis is to ignore him, to have nothing to do with him outside of work. So why does he want to seek Wolff out, to hear what he has to say, and to tell him about his own past? When did his hate turn into caring about him? And maybe more.

Wolff recognises he’s still in love with Gage, but how does Gage feel about him? There’s no way Gage could still have feelings for him. Not after what he did.
Wolff is the first book in the Redemption Series and is not a stand-alone novel. The story continues in book 2, Gage. Wolff takes place in England.

Redemption is a two-book series each named for one of the main characters, the first being Wolff, and the second Gage.  It’s a format I’ve seen before and used to wonderful effect.  Normally each book is told from that character’s point of view….which is why you have it titled after them.  So right off the bat I;m puzzled as to why J/J/ Harper has alternating pov from both Gage and Wolff in each story.  Starting in Wolff its as much Gage’s perspective as it’s Wolff’s so I’m totally perplexed as to the title and the format.  You might as well mixed the two together for one novel and have been done with it.

Both characters are appealing and at the center of the story is a traumatic event that occurred when both were young and one was about to leave for college.  One heinous act that left one shattered with devastating effects that would last years.

This is a second chance, lovers reunited trope which normally I love but the launching point for this couple is a hard one to take, even given their age and forgiveness.  I do like Gage and the manner in which he has worked hard through all his pain, the scars of which he carries daily.  The author does a terrific job of making the reader feel the impact of all those years it took to reach the growth he’s now attained.  Too good a job actually because within the story, all it take is one month to erase the hatred he carries for Wolff and the past.  Doesn’t exactly seem realistic actually.

Wolff also has forgotten about Gage and his actions until the job he wants makes it impossible.  Then he has to confront the actions of the past and the person he was and is.  Again, I thought it very believable both his roommate’s reactions to his revelations and wallowing to working through the truth about the damage he caused.  That all rang true.

The immediate rush to sex and “truelove”? That seemed to negate the authentic angst and realistic slow moves that went before.  The story seems to waver between gushing romance and a real relationship between adults that are working hard to overcome a betrayal of incredible magnitude that shattered another person, albeit in the past.  One that tooks years of therapy to work through.  No, don’t see that happening in a month, do you?

Given that the books are named one for each man, you would expect the first to be told entirely from Wolff’s perspective.  Again no. It’s a full mix  for both, as it is for the second which picks up directly after the first ends.  So why the titles?  Not a clue.  Especially since the first story feels much more about Gage than it does about Wolff.  Again odd.

It’s not as though I didn’t enjoy the story.  I did but given the quirks and the manner in which the story was carried out, I feel the story could have been so much better.  But that’s my opinion.

Cover art depicts Wolff during a scene and it works.

Sales Links: Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 129 pages
Published December 18th 2018
ASIN B07L8HL15P
Edition Language English
Series Redemption #1
Wolff
Gage

A Lucy Review: Shine (Uncorked #4) by Shea Balik

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Shine was over people thinking because he had a southern accent, and made moonshine, that he was a hillbilly redneck with no education. Sure, he occasionally liked to fuck with them and spout out his grandpappy’s sayings, like every dog should have a few fleas, but that didn’t make him dumber than a box of rocks. So, when he met a man who made his heart race and his mouth go dry with the thought of licking every inch of his body, then instantly put him down because he was making moonshine instead of wine, Shine dared him to try and drink with the big boys.

Montague knew better than to take the challenge to drink the moonshine Shine was offering, but he refused to be insulted by some hick from this small, backwater town. The fire that ignited in his stomach and burned a path up his throat, making him want to cry for his mommy, told him just how stupid he could be. Fucking pride. If Shine didn’t get that smirk off his face at Montague’s reaction to the battery acid he called alcohol, Montague was going to punch him in the mouth. Or kiss him. It was a tough call to make.

There is a fine line between love and hate, especially when alcohol is involved. Then again, it might take a little liquid courage to drop their defenses enough to discover their passion for each other.

Oh  my, the things this boy says. Shine (actual name Joshua but please don’t use it) is a treasure.  He is Southern, uses those colorful sayings and makes moonshine and is so awesome.  He’s worked hard to make Grandpappy’s Moonshine successful and he’s on his way.  He is used to people looking down on him as a hillbilly and he’s okay with that.  Just don’t insult the moonshine. He has had to fight the town council to be allowed to be part of the town’s wine tour and nothing is going to stand in his way.  Not even the snobby, pretentious guy in the parking lot who turns out to be the favorite wine tour guide.  Whoops.

His run in with the snobby wine expert, Montague, happens at the town council moonshine tasting. “He felt about as welcome as an outhouse breeze when he say the members of the Wine Touring Committee and several of the tour guides staring daggers at him the moment he entered.”  He brings most of them around because his product is good.  When the very judgy Montague has little good to say, Shine does challenge him to drink it.  That scene is funny and brings Montague down a bit. 

There is a scene from Blush (Uncorked #3), now from Shine’s point of view.  I thought it while reading Blush and I thought it again reading this – I want to try muffins made with apple-cherry moonshine. 

Shine lives with his daddy and grandpappy, who bicker and fight constantly.  They go at it, sometimes get hurt, but they are accepting of each other and Shine in a way you wish all families would be.  Montague, however, really doesn’t have any family to lean on and when he admits to Shine what he was doing previously it was sad.

There is a plot aspect regarding relatives and protesters that sort of went nowhere so I’m not sure why it was even present but it didn’t take me away from the story too much.   The issues with Topher, a member of the council, were a little over the top for me.  “I can open doors for you in this community.”  Ugh, the man is a sleezeball.

This isn’t a case of opposites attract because they have more in common than not.  It is more a case of judging someone before you know them and how well that doesn’t work.  I liked seeing Montague (who for some reason I thought seemed older than he was) have to face his prejudices and I liked getting to see Shine, well, shine. I love getting to see the other characters from previous books pop up throughout.   This was a great addition to the series and I’m still hoping that Andrew and Brogan get a turn.

Cover art, showing Montague, Shine and a bottle of moonshine, is simple but effective.

Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 193 pages
Published December 8th 2017 by Shea Balik (first published November 2017)
Original Title Shine
ISBN 139781370631797
Series Uncorked :

Bubbly

Full Bodied

Blush

Shine

Sweet

John Goode On Writing, Characters, and his new YA Release Jordan vs. All the Boys (author interview)

Jordan vs. All the Boys by John Goode

Harmony Ink Press
Cover Artist: Rissarare@Fiverr

Sales Links:  Harmony Ink Press

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have John Goode here today talking about his latest YA novel from Harmony Ink Press, Jordan vs. All the Boys.  Welcome, John.

 

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Interview with John Goode

 

 

How much of yourself goes into a character?  Very little if I am to be honest. I spent a lot of time finding my guys and rarely do they have anything in common with me. They have a lot I wish I possessed but most of the time they come from outside sources.

Does research play a role into choosing which genre you write?  Do you enjoy research or prefer making up your worlds and cultures? I research everything. Like everything, everything. I learned baseball for Tales From Foster High, I learned basketball for Going the Distance and for Jordan vs. All The Boys I researched surfing, non alcoholic drinks, gay dating apps and various video games. No matter how small the detail, I can spend hours on hours finding the exact fact for it.

For example, in 151 Days, the third book in the Foster Series, I literally went to the high school schedule for the school Foster High was based on, and literally counted the days from Christmas break to graduation to find how many days were left in the year, hence the title 151 Days. I am research crazy.

Has your choice of childhood or teenage reading genres carried into your own choices for writing? I grew up reading sci fi, fantasy and comic books mainly. So except for Lords of Arcadia I would have to say no, I never read YA fictional books except for Outsiders by SE Hinton.

Have you ever had to put an ‘in progress’ story aside because of the emotional ties with it?  You were hurting with the characters or didn’t know how to proceed?  I have more than once. I wrote the end of 151 Days months before I started the book because just the scene itself made me cry like a baby. I had to distance myself from it just to be able to approach it because it was just too much for me.

 Do you like HFN or HEA? And why? I like whatever fits the story more. I am not afraid to make an ending dark or unexpected because that was what the story asked for. Sure there should be some pay off for a reader to go through all of that emotion so I don’t throw dark or depressing stuff in unless it’s needed for a story point but I think making an ending happy just because is as bad as making bad things happen to people in the story for no reason. If there is a purpose, then everything is possible.

Who do you think is your major influence as a writer? Douglas Adams, SE Hinton, Peter David, John Byrne

How do you feel about the ebook format and where do you see it going? Love it, the ability to carry a library around with you in your pocket is right out of Star Trek and hope it continues to grow.

How do you choose your covers? I make them myself, I just look at the feeling I am trying to convey and then start crafting the image around it. It’s a completely different set of muscles and I love using them.

What’s next for you as an author? I continue to write Foster High on my Patreon and am working on a couple of things for Harmony Ink.

Blurb

Everyone has that one summer, the summer where you take your first steps into adulthood. The nights are longer, the songs are better, and the friends you make are forever. For Jordan, Brandon, Ethan, and Dominic, that summer is now. This pack of self-proclaimed nerds set out on an adventure that defines every young man’s life—the search for love, or at least what they think love is. As with all great quests there are pitfalls and challenges ahead of them and they will have to overcome their greatest enemy, their own egos. But the power of true friendship could give them the strength they need to complete their quest and win their prize.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Details:

ebook, 1st edition, 180 pages
Expected publication: February 19th 2019 by Harmony Ink Press

Release Blitz for Milo (A Finding Home Novel) by Lily Morton (excerpt)

Mile RDB Banner

MILO

A FINDING HOME NOVEL

LILY MORTON

M/M ROMANCE

RELEASE DATE: 02.15.19

Milo Cover 

COVER DESIGN: Natasha Snow Designs 

BLURB

Once upon a time a brave knight rescued a young man. Unfortunately, he then spent the next few years bossing the young man around and treating him like a child.

Milo has been burying himself at Chi an Mor, hiding from the wreckage of his once promising career and running from a bad relationship that destroyed what little confidence he had. Niall, his big brother’s best friend, has been there for him that entire time. An arrogant and funny man, Niall couldn’t be any more different from the shy and occasionally stuttering Milo, which has never stopped Milo from crushing wildly on the man who saved him.

However, just as Milo makes the decision to move on from his hopeless crush, he and Niall are thrown into close contact, and for the first time ever Niall seems to be returning his interest. But it can never work. How can it when Milo always needs rescuing?

From the bestselling author of the Mixed Messages series comes a story about a man who needs to write his own happily ever after.

This is the second book in the Finding Home series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Content warning: There are descriptions of domestic abuse in this book.

 

AMAZON US: https://amzn.to/2SwBnPz

AMAZON UK: https://amzn.to/2ImhlCy

 

Milo Teaser 1

Milo Teaser 2

EXCERPT

“Bloody hell, is that a relation of my husband or a suspect in the Jack the Ripper case?”

I laugh and Cora startles slightly. I shush her and kiss the tiny fingers she holds up to my face. Moving next to him, I stare down at the picture. “He is a bit grim, isn’t he?”

“Grim? Caligula was grim. This is a new and previously undiscovered level of malevolence.” He cocks his head to one side. “Is it my imagination or do his eyes follow you when you move?”

I shake my head. “My remit isn’t to judge. Instead, I reveal what has been previously hidden.”

“While I’m sure that sounds romantic in your head, let’s be realistic. You’ve actually just wiped dirt off a grumpy old git’s face.”

I laugh. “I’m so glad my time at art college wasn’t wasted.”

He looks searchingly at me and opens his mouth but then closes it again. I stare at him. “Oh my God, what were you going to say? It must be bad if it’s made Oz Gallagher shut up.”

He laughs, and I look affectionately at him. I know he’s going to tell me the truth. Oz doesn’t ever shy away from that. He’s my best friend in the world and it comes as a shock to realise that I’ve only known him for a couple of years. He came here to Chi an Mor in all his wisecracking, sassy glory and proceeded to turn everyone’s lives upside down. Footloose and fancy-free, he only intended to stay for a few months and ease the old house into opening to the general public. The best-laid plans always go wrong – or right – and now he’s settled with his husband Silas, the current earl, and they have a beautiful seven-month-old daughter.

He clears his throat and looks at me, and I straighten from kissing Cora’s forehead. “What?”

“I just think that you’re actually a bit wasted here, Milo.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re so bloody talented. People from all over the country are starting to come here to consult with you, and rather than enjoying it you’re stuck in a small, cold room wearing ugly gloves and hunched over a hideous painting. It’s like something from a Dickens novel.”

He pauses for breath and I try to relax my instinctive defensive shield. I don’t need it with him.

He rubs my arm affectionately. “You’re so clever and talented and no one sees it here apart from us, and you need more than that. You should be living it up and going to exotic parties. Mixing with artists and the bohemian crowd.”

I swallow hard at the thought of the people that used to surround Thomas. “I don’t think I’m cut out for a bohemian crowd. They sound quite noisy and tiring,” I manage to say.

“Well, maybe look for a sub-branch. The whispering bohemians or something.”

Lily Morton Logo

Lily writes contemporary romance novels, and specialises in hot love stories with a good dose of humour.

Lily lives in sunny England with her husband and two children, all of whom claim that they haven’t had a proper conversation with her since she bought her first Kindle.

She has spent her life with her head full of daydreams and decided one day to just sit down and start writing about them. In the process she discovered that she actually loved writing, because how else could she get to spend her time with hot, funny men!

She loves chocolate and Baileys and the best of all creations – chocolate Baileys! Her lifetime’s ambition is to have a bath in peace without being shouted by one of her family.

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A MelanieM Review: Hat Trick (Harrisburg Railers #8) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey

Rating:  5 stars out of 5

Stan Lyamin has seen many of his dreams come true. He’s found his soulmate, loves Noah like his own, hoisted the Cup, and has his Mama living with him in his new country. But his fantasies of a loud, loving, madcap home overflowing with childish laughter linger. When a distant family member passes, Stan and Erik immediately agree to take in the two orphaned children, but that means a trip back to Russia for Stan, an idea that both exhilarates and terrifies him.

Erik’s world tilts on its axis when a phone call wakes him and Stan in the middle of the night. Abruptly, Stan is returning to Russia, making deals, working with people who know people, and fully intending to bring two orphaned children home. The red tape is overwhelming, and Erik is alone in Harrisburg with the nearly impossible task of finding a nanny who can speak fluent Russian. Being on his own is one thing, but add in fears about Stan’s safety and team issues, and Erik is finding everything hard to balance; not least of which is spending quality time with Noah.

When their family expands from three to five, the journey won’t be easy, but love can always find a way.

Sometimes, especially now, you just need a story, that makes you laugh, feel absolutely wonderful down to your toes,  and makes your heart feel all shmoopy. That would be the latest in the Harrisburg Railers series, Hat Trick (Harrisburg Railers #8) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey.

This story has every element that’s guaranteed to make your face ache because it’s smiling so hard with the love and warmth that is overflowing from the characters and plot here. Yes, it feels that good.  Children, dogs, a grandmother, Elvis, well, not him exactly, but glitter, red tuxedos and so much more.  Plus you get Stan!!! Who I have to admit is my favorite Railer, he just is, fractured English and all.

Goalies, real and fictional, are just that special breed of human.  They take quirkiness to a whole new level and these two authors have always been able to bring that to the goalies they have created for their different hockey romances, Harrisburg Railers included.  But meeting him, heart to heart, is his soul mate Erik, another Railer.  Their relationship and deep love as well as  family is here, and it’s beautiful.

I love how the authors treat the expansion of Stan and Erik’s family, the careful consideration of the child already there, the patience and care with the new children coming into the fold.  It’s loving and endearing.  Plus we get the madcap too.

In the end, as usual, I’m left wanting so much more.  I can never get enough of Stan and Erik. I’m clearly obsessed here.  They make me feel great and just when I needed it the most.  I’ll probably be rereading it again instead of the news.

I love this series.  Such a variety in couples and plots.  Drama, suspense, hilarity, and romance.  And love of course, so much love.  I highly recommend them all.

 

Cover art: Meredith Russell.  I just love this cover.  It’s pertinent to the story and so clean and adorable.  Perfect!

Sales Links:

Amazon US | UK | CA | AU | FR |DE (and other territories)

Apple Books | KOBO | Smashwords |Barnes & Noble

Book Details:

ebook
Published February 10th 2019 by Love Lane Books Limited (first published 2019)
ISBN 139781785641466
Edition Language English
Series Harrisburg Railers #8

Harrisburg Railers Series:

Changing Lines | First Season | Deep Edge | Poke Check | Last Defense | Goal Line | Neutral Zone | Hat Trick | Save The Date (30 June)

A MelanieM Review: Little (Trenton Security #2) by J.M. Dabney

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Insanity was in the eye of the beholder.

Harmon Little was a surveillance expert. He lived in the shadows, and he liked it there. There wasn’t a place he couldn’t get in and out of without detection. As usual with his mischievous nature, his current assignment went south, and he ran. He thought he was free and clear until he knocked someone over in a grocery store aisle.

Sanity wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Solomon “Solo” Poe was counting calories. Working out until he fell into bed hungry and exhausted. He was plain and pudgy, plus he couldn’t remember when he’d last gone on a date. He wanted more than the occasional, lights out, one-night stand. So, he was going to lose the weight and find himself a man. At least that was the plan, then a big man with a huge smile tried to kill him in a store aisle. There was one thing he was sure of, Harmon was his.

There is something just a little bit….softer, an air of gentle humor combined with poignancy that somehow lessens the bleakness that lies just under the surface of much of this story.  There is always a truck ton of darkness in a J.M. Dabney story, especially those associated with any of these interconnected series. But in   Little (Trenton Security #2) by J.M. Dabney, the author gives us an element of lightness, a fun tenderness, if that makes any sense, that could be at odds with the horrendous details of Little’s backhistory, Trenton Security’s jobs, or the hardness of the men around him.  But no, here is translates into a story about a man’s overwhelming need to be loved, to be touched…to be claimed by a very special man in a bowtie. What an incredible journey J.M Dabney gives us!

Solomon “Solo” Poe is having body image issues.  But the solution and acceptance of who is he is about to barrel into him in a grocery aisle.  Poe is such a special character here.  I adored him and the relationship dynamics that developed between himself and Harmon.  The acceptance flowed both ways, the acknowledgement and realization of who they are as people and then their acceptance.  It was funny, heartwarming, heartbreaking in parts, and downright, moving.

If the journey is Harmon’s, then there are many people helping him to find his way.  As I have mentioned before in my reviews of these series, they are very much a community of stories.  The same important characters are intimately connected to one another and so it makes sense for them to appear at important moments in novel after novel.  As they do here.  Lily especially as she is Harmon’s “mother”.  She may not be his biological one but she is in every other way and her scenes, while not long, are great in their impact.  Each person showing up to shore up Harmon and give their “familial” support to the man their consider theirs.

There will be drama and suspense, because….well J.M. Dabney and Trenton Security.  It’s hard not to believe that this part of the storyline won’t have reverberations down the line.  I’m anxious to see if that occurs.

The resolution and the relationship, however, is everything I could ask for.  Moving, fulfilling, and heartwarming.  I just loved this.  This may be my favorite book of this series.  Harmon and Poe…I can’t wait to see more of them in the books to come.

Yes, I highly recommend this story and all the series connected to them.

Cover Art:  Reese Dante.  What splendid covers by Reese Dante.  That is Harmon for me!

Sales Link:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 1 edition, 188 pages
Published May 8th 2018 by Hostile Whispers Press, LLC
Original Title Little
ASINB07CL4C5W7
Edition Language English
Series Trenton Security #2

Trenton Security – fourth series

A Lucy Review: Blush (Uncorked #3) by Shea Balik

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Fifteen years ago, Kadyn Bellamy and Valor Lee had blown any chance of building a future together. Valor had joined the CIA to hunt down terrorists and Kadyn abhorred violence. At the time, their differences had seemed insurmountable. 

When Valor shows up in Dahlonia looking as hot as ever, Kadyn needs to decide if he can reconcile their divergent viewpoints. The choice wasn’t as easy as it might seem. If only the love he’d felt for Valor had diminished, he could easily walk away. It didn’t seem fair that he might have to give up the love of his life, twice. 

All Valor wanted was the future he and Kadyn had dreamed. For fifteen years, his love for Kadyn had only grown. He’d known when he’d walked away from Kadyn all those years ago, it would be a challenge to convince Kadyn they could still make their dreams come true. 

It was only when tragedy struck, that Kadyn was forced to come to grips with the past. With eyes wide open, he was ready to take a step into the future. He just needed to decide if Valor would be a part of it or not 

We got to know Kadyn in Nolan’s book, Full Bodied, and I loved him there.  Blush is Kadyn’s book and actually begins with a scene from Full Bodied, this time from Kadyn’s point of view.  This was incredibly interesting to me because it was such a great example of how much you can fool people into believing you are doing great.  Even your best friend. 

Kadyn owns Sugar Daddys, a popular bakery in Dahlonia.  He is best friends with Nolan and has a great group of other friends there but he goes through men like popcorn.  No one ever lasts long and in his words, “…he used men to try and fill a void he wasn’t sure would ever be complete again.”  To others, it appears he is always happy and cheerful and just likes to date.  Fifteen years ago the man he loved beyond measure left him to take a job with the CIA, hunting terrorists after his father died in a plane on 9/11.  Kadyn, very anti-violence, couldn’t be with someone who was willing and able to do that. Valor walked away without a backwards glance.  “Desperately wanting to make those responsible pay for killing his father, Valor had left Kadyn behind, determined to never look back.”  Those were Valor’s thoughts.

Now, however, he’s in Dahlonia and looking to win Kadyn back.  He’s been back for a while but just now runs into Kadyn at the grocery story. When Valor goes for a kiss, I was ready to quit reading if Kadyn just melted and magically everything was roses.  Luckily, that didn’t happen.  Kadyn is rightfully angry and shows it.   While Valor claims to have loved Kadyn all this time, I had a hard time believing that for fifteen years he didn’t contact Kadyn at all and it wasn’t until he was dissatisfied with the CIA that he made any effort to contact Kadyn, who may be anti-violence but was shattered by the thought Valor might die. But I digress.

“Valor had chosen hate over Kadyn’s love.”   This seems to be what happened and Valor himself, “Look, Kadyn, I know I hurt you, but…” has that same attitude. I really appreciated that Kayden had to think it over and weight it out on whether he could do this.  “And you’re right, there are some in this world who probably should be killed.  I just don’t know that I can be with someone who is willing to be with that person.”

As the story progresses, however, it’s like someone else started writing because now it’s Kadyn’s fault they were torn apart.  That somehow the dark side of Valor, the side willing to hurt and kill, was always there and Kadyn just didn’t want to see it and was asking Valor to change who he was.  Which I didn’t understand because by asking Kadyn to accept the violence, which Valor freely admits if he needs to he would go right back to the CIA and do this work, Valor is asking Kadyn to change who he is.  Kadyn is very upfront, “If you are even thinking of rejoining the CIA, or in any way hunting down terrorists, I can’t be a part of your life.  I couldn’t take it.”  The response after fifteen years?  “Then you don’t love me, Kadyn.  Maybe you never did.”   My rating went down because it was so hypocritical for Valor to demand Kadyn change his views and stance, while not honoring that Kadyn do the same.

I may be in the minority on this but I did NOT think Kadyn was the one in the wrong here.  The story sort of heads that way and that was irritating me.  I was really interested in how they were going to work this out, how to come to some sort of compromise that would make this possible and it seems they were slowly trying to.  Then a plot device was thrown in that made things too simplistic for me.  I wanted them to work things out intellectually between them, not because of some outside happening forcing a change.  The conversations surrounding this, however, were powerful and necessary.

I really wanted to know the story of Chet and Leo, who are an established couple here, because they are lovely together.  I’m not sure if their story has been told but I am very happy that the next in the series is Shine because he is such an interesting character and his “Southernisms” were actually some of the ones my own grandfather used to say!

This was another solid addition to the Uncorked series.  My wish right now is to know – what in the world is going on with Andrew and Brogan?

Cover art instantly grabs your attention with the striking models and informs with the blush wine. Great job.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 184 pages
Published November 29th 2017 (first published August 2017)
Original Title Blush
ASINB077PVX6MD
Edition Language English
Series Uncorked #3