Category: M/M Contemporary Fiction

Review Tour and Giveaway for Center Of Gravity (Nook Island #1) by Neve Wilder (excerpt)

 

Buy Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2DTNP55

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2Rln8sB

 
Length: 98,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Jay Aheer
 
Blurb

When life comes apart at the seams, love is the only thread that can repair it.


Accountant Rob Macomb has a stable job that he’s good at and… that’s about it. A year of nothing but heartache leaves him seeking refuge from loneliness and grief behind spreadsheets, punishing daily runs, and the occasional anonymous tryst. He wants only to bury the past and focus on his career, but he has one last task to complete: pack up his parent’s quaint beachside house and put it on the market.Alex Andrews is a budding artist with a penchant for Converse, Cracker Jack, and piercings. Family turmoil sidelines his dreams of finishing art school and building a career in three-dimensional design, and now he’s doing whatever he can to keep everyone afloat.When Alex shows up as a part of the moving crew hired to help Rob clean out the house, what should be a simple move becomes far more complex. Because it’s not the first time they’ve met, and their last encounter was memorable for all the wrong reasons.The attraction between them is undeniable and intense, but Rob’s hell-bent on pushing everyone away, and Alex is on the verge of spinning out of control. Can a grumpy accountant and a bootstrapping artist find their center of gravity together, or are they on a collision course to heartbreak?*An emotionally-charged, slow burn m/m romance featuring an age gap, hurt/comfort themes, and a hard-won happily ever after. This is the standalone first in the Nook Island, Georgia series.*

October 4 – Bike Book Reviews, OMG Reads, October 5 – Love Bytes Reviews, October 6 – Amy’s MM Romance Reviews, October 8 – Sexy Erotic Xciting, October 9 – Mirrigold – Mutterings & Musings, October 10 – Megan’s Media Melange, October 11 – Jessie G Books, October 12 – The Novel Approach, Lillian Francis, Bayou Book Junkie, October 13 – Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, October 16 – Joyfully Jay

Read Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 5 star review here.
Excerpt
In this excerpt, Rob is on the phone arguing with his sister, who oh-so-helpfully set up the impending move with a company called College Buffs Hauling Stuff. Rob is not pleased to begin with. As the truck arrives and the two movers get out, Rob has a moment of awkward realization:

Another door slammed and a guy with short, dark hair ambled around the front of the truck. Cracker Jack opened the door and leaned back inside, soon emerging with a silver clipboard in one hand that he checked before saying something to his coworker. In contrast to the stupid caricature on the side of the truck, Cracker Jack met all the qualifications of college buff from what I could see of his profile. He was an endless summer kind of golden blond, and lean, a bit of leftover sunburn on his cheeks laying over the warm, cabana boy tan beneath. He looked as if he should be holding the handle of a pool net rather than the dolly he deposited at the front gate. “Two Men and a Truck would have worked just fine. Or 1-800-Junk,” I argued.

“The Buffs get five stars on Yelp. Don’t be a stick in the mud,” she replied, knowing it’d get me right in the accountant’s tender spot.

Cracker Jack glanced up at the front door of the house and for the first time I saw his face in full, the dangerously carved cheekbones, the sensually bowed mouth, a bit of silver—incongruous against the golden backdrop of his face—ringed through his lower lip. I froze, first trying to place him, then in frazzled denial. But it was too late: my gut already knew and had twisted up like a pretzel. The memory came in saturated fragments that exploded behind my eyelids.

I narrowly missed being speared by the coat hook as my shoulder slammed shut the faux wood door of the stall. I fumbled the lock with one hand, pulled him to me with the other, fingers spanning and raking the damp sheen of sweat gathered low on his back. A hot wash of breath across my throat, his lips dragging over the curve of my jaw, the tickle of his lip ring against my stubble. He smiled against my teeth and murmured, “A guy who knows what he wants. I like it.”

I felt the color fleeing my face in humiliating mutiny as Cracker Jack stared at the door. I took a backward step. Summer droned on about how she’d just been picking the best option and it was hard to do from far away, that she’d not wanted to interrupt me with something so insignificant during tax season and on and on and on, but it hardly registered.

A rush of cool air over my cock—how had he gotten my zipper undone so fast?—and then the warmth of his touch. The brush of his thumb over my crown. “Fuck, you’re already slick,” he groaned, biting his lip. His forehead bumped my cheek as he looked down at his hand, watching as he stroked me. He paused long enough to spit on his palm then stroked faster, the noise obscene cutting through the piped in music of the club, but the feel of him on me was pure velvet bliss. When I reached for his waistband, he brushed my hand away. “Not yet. I like to concentrate. I’ll get mine in a minute.” He licked at the side of my neck where my pulse was hammering, then tightened his fingers around my shaft, pulling a moan from me. I just wanted him to shut up. Just wanted him to shut up and get me off.

Except he never got his.

And I couldn’t remember his name.

Neve Wilder lives in the dirty South, where the summers are hot and the winters are…sometimes cold. She is a mom to three rambunctious weebeasts who have joined forces in a mission to carpet the family home with toys and small items that really suck to step on at six in the morning.


She reads promiscuously, across multiple genres, but her favorite stories always contain an element of romance. Incidentally, this is also what she likes to write. Slow-burners with delicious tension? Yes. Whiplash-inducing page-turners, also yes. Down and dirty scorchers? Yes. And every flavor in between.


She believes David Bowie was the sexiest musician to ever live, and she’s always game to nerd out on anything from music to writing.


And finally, she believes that love conquers all. Except the heat index in July. Nothing can conquer that bastard.

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Release Blitz – Love’s Trials (Revolutionary Heart #2) by Janice Jarrell (excerpt and giveaway)

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Love’s Trials (Revolutionary Heart, Book 2)

Author:  Janice Jarrell

Publisher: Janice Jarrell 

Release Date: October 12, 2018

Length: 78,333 words/224 pages

Genre/s: Contemporary Gay Romance

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Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US 

Amazon UK

Blurb

After half a lifetime spent in short-term liaisons that allowed no intimacy, charismatic Irish police officer, Colin Campbell, found the love of his life. Dark-eyed, steady Joshua Abrams burned through Colin’s emotional barriers and taught him to look at life through new eyes, eyes that made room for the love and closeness he had always denied himself. Deeply in love and completely happy, their life together remains idyllic and their fiery passion for each other seems limitless.

They survive the Charlottesville ‘Unite the Right’ riots, though not without scars. But later that month Colin’s position with the campus police force places him in charge of an informant program designed to crack a dangerous drug ring. Fully aware of the risks, he swears to Joshua that he will oversee the program without becoming directly involved. But Colin’s promise begins to crumble when he becomes the only one who can save a young Nigerian exchange student from a deadly drug lord.

Excerpt

Colin drew in a breath. He released Joshua, then took his hand and drew him toward the couch. “Sit with me a minute. I need to tell you something.”

Joshua shook his head as he fell onto the couch beside Colin. “You’re going to do it,” he said. “You’re going to be part of the drug investigation.”

Colin’s eyes widened. “Lenny! That jackass called you?”

Joshua chuckled and shook his head. “No,” he said. “C’mon! Lenny would never do that. No. I was expecting it.” His fingers tightening on Colin’s. “I knew you couldn’t say ‘no’ to them. Once they started waving the students in front of you it was a done deal.”

“You mad at me?”

“Oh, hell no! Are you serious? Why would I be?”

“I know this whole operation worries you.”

Joshua looked past Colin to the windows of their house, past which the Rivanna river flowed. “You can’t base the way you do your job on what might or might not make me nervous,” he said. “You have to do what you think is right.” He turned back to Colin. “And I know you always will.”

Colin leaned in and kissed him. “I didn’t tell you the best part! David’s going to partner with me. They want us to develop a set of prerequisites for the students’ participation. It’s…,” he shrugged and wrinkled his nose, “it’s paperwork. It’s grunt work. It’s no big deal.”

“I see,” Joshua said. “So there’s absolutely no chance that you’ll end up involved on a deeper level. Zero. None. Nada.”

Colin lifted Joshua’s hand to his lips. “Josh…,” he began, then stopped. It no longer surprised him when Joshua seemed to read his thoughts and often even his fears, and since he couldn’t bring himself to lie, Colin was now left with little choice. He sighed and looked somewhat sheepishly into Joshua’s dark eyes. “Well…,” he began.

“Yeah,” Joshua interrupted. “That’s what I figured.”

“I promise you this,” Colin said, pulling him closer. “I swear to you that I will resist any attempt to get me into the field. I will absolutely handcuff myself to my desk.”

Joshua’s face twisted with doubt, as he returned Colin’s gaze, then he shook his head in resignation. “Colin, I believe you. And I truly believe you’ll hold to that—”

Colin nodded.

“—right up to the moment when one of them says the words ‘student in danger’.”

Colin’s eyes fell.

“And thirty seconds after that,” Joshua said, “there’ll be a white streak where Colin used to be.”

“Josh—”

“Don’t bother denying it,” Joshua said. He leaned in to press his lips to Colin’s then sat back, his eyes locking, once again, with the honey-green eyes of his lover. “You’re the Man of La Mancha, Colin. You hear the call of glory and off you go. You don’t even think about consequences to yourself. You never have. You only care about doing what’s right.” As he spoke this last his dark brown eyes closed and his head dropped.

“Josh, please..,”

“You are who you are, Colin,” Joshua continued. “That’s why you’re the man I love.”

Colin touched his cheek.

“And no matter how this thing turns out,” Joshua continued, “I would never, ever want that man to change.”

About the Author

My name is Janice Jarrell. I am a retired grandmother who lives in Seattle, WA. I have two children and three grandsons. I’ve been writing gay romance since I was twelve years old, only back then it wasn’t called ‘gay romance’. In fact, it had no name at all. It was the fifties, and it was worth your life to admit to being gay, let alone confess to being a girl who constantly fantasized about relationships between gay men. Hell, I didn’t even know what a homosexual was. I lived on a farm out in the sticks in a tiny Michigan village and I’d never, to my knowledge, even heard the word. I just knew I loved the thought of boy on boy romance. I just knew that there was something hot going on between Tom Corbett and his Space Cadets and all those guys on ‘Combat’.

I wrote slash fanfiction for 30 years, writing over 337 stories, some as short as 100 words (a drabble) some as long as a series which was over 119,012 words. I enjoy writing my stories. I enjoyed the feedback I received from my readers. It was a creative release I’d been searching for my entire life and I blessed the Internet for leading me to this artistic oasis for my spirit.

Love’s Magic was my very first step into writing my own characters. I will always be grateful the slash fanfiction community for nurturing the budding author until she was ready to blossom into a fully realized novelist. It’s been an amazing thing to watch the gay community’s growth over these past twenty years. My own journey has echoed theirs in many ways, and I’m grateful to all those gay activists who fought to give the gay community the rights and privileges they always deserved.

I’m also grateful to the gay romance community, readers, authors, publishers and promoters, who are making these, my retirement years, the most creative ones of my life. When I’m not writing, I’m traveling, walking, hiking, knitting, crocheting, and weaving.

I’m very excited about the upcoming release of my second contemporary gay romance novel, Love’s Trials. Those of you who fell in love with Joshua and Colin in Love’s Magic are in for a treat because they are the STARS of Love’s Trials, though they may not thank me for it given the very difficult ‘trials’ they are about to face.

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Giveaway

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A Stella Review: All He Ever Needed by Cate Ashwood:

RATING 2,75 out of 5 stars

Some secrets are too heavy to hold on to forever.

For Ethan, pretending has become second nature. After all, he’s spent the last decade pretending to be straight, pretending to be happy, and pretending he isn’t desperately in love with his best friend. But in a single moment of raw honesty, all those lies come crashing down around him and he’s left wondering what to do next.

When Jase learns his best friend is going through a breakup, his first instinct is to come to Ethan’s rescue, and he knows just the thing to help. The cabin where they spent summers as kids is sitting vacant, and a week there is the perfect remedy to start healing a broken heart.

In the seclusion of the mountains, long-buried fears and emotions take their friendship into unexplored territory that will either bring them closer together… or tear everything apart.

I’m very sorry to write this review, Cate Ashwood is one of my favorite authors and I always loved her stories, often I find comfort in rereading some of them. So each time she has a new book out, I am over the moon. The problem is this time, All He Ever Needed was a big flop to me. Still I didn’t give it a lower rating because the writing was perfect and the idea, although simple, was interesting and delivered quite well.  But it didn’t work for me.

First of all, I wasn’t able to like the main characters, I couldn’t connect with Jase and Ethan, couldn’t understand their thoughts and acts. Everything that happened between them felt  so rushed it seemed unreal and unfair to Ethan’s ex girlfriend. I knew Ethan was in love with his best friend since forever but it was unbelievable how Jace started feeling attraction for him once he knew Ethan was gay. It was like a couple of chapters were deleted in the original edition and I missed something. One more thing that bothered me a lot was the sex, really too much, and I was bothered because one more time I was left speechless, too easy, too light, never a little doubt or confusion about what was happening.

I love the friends-to-lovers trope but only when it is believable, All He Ever Needed wasn’t at all.

The cover art by Cate Ashwood is awesome, she is really talented and the smiles of the models on it are so sweet.

SALE LINKS    Amazon       

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 178 pages

Published September 19th 2018

ASIN B07HJF52KH

Edition Language English

A MelanieM Review: Grasmere Cottage Mystery Trilogy by Dahlia Donovan

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

A Romantic Cosy Mystery Trilogy by  author Dahlia Donovan on a cosy mystery adventure in Grasmere Cottage. With love, wit, and a murder to solve, life for Valor and Bishan is about to get bloomin’ complicated in this sweet gay romance that covers three stories and will leave you wanting more. 

The stories appear together under one cover in paperback format at Hot Tree Publishing, also separately in all eBook formats wherein lies the rub for me.  See, I was lucky to read it as one story (still not sure how the author and publisher gave me the paperback version in e format).  Cal them.  Because read in one flowing story?  The best thing ever!!

I didn’t realize they were actual separate stories until I went back to the author to beg her to write more Grasmere Cottage cosies. That’s when I found out these were three stories not one and this couple was, at least, temporarily on hold for more.  But after reading these amazing tales you will see why I’m holding out  for the trilogy to   turn into a series.  Why Valor and Bish have captured my imagination along with my heart.

Especially when the author hooks them up with one really ugly serial killer intent on destroying their hard won love and  sanctuary in Grasmere Cottage. Oh what a marvelous couple Dahlia Donovan has created here.  Unusual and perfect for each other, each with their own fascinating back histories and personalities that when mixed together become a complex, highly intelligent, loving, and absolutely unique crime fighting couple.

Talk about your layers!  Valor Tarquin Scott, tossed out of the family (for being gay) highly bred society son, now running a niche bakery and living happily with Bish in what his family refers to as his grubby little cottage.  Bishan Tambol, autistic, has been able to turn his love of music into a career with the London Symphony Orchestra. That together with their cat, and a love of the stories of the detective Poirot given them a contented and lovely life together.  Plus the support of Bish’s huge family too.

Then the killer strikes in their garden and nothing is the same.

Donovan’s character of Bish, his struggles with his autism, especially once his routine’s are destroyed when the killer infiltrates their lives is incredibly realistic and often painful.  You’ve come to care so quickly for this pair and Bish.  And to see how shattered Bish becomes at points just hurts.  And how amazing when he finds his strength and methods to cope to work the puzzles to help find the killer.  And Valor too is just that splendid bundle of depth and determination that makes you to just cheer him on, him and Bish naturally.  To push through all the vile threats of not just a murderer but that of Valor’s family also intent on derailing his life for their own purposes as well.

This book, oops, these books truly have everything to keep you glued to the pages.  A plot that will keep you guessing right up until the end, so many twists and turns that the suspense is a white knuckle read all the way, so much heart and love because the relationship is just so  endearing. And  finally, because these are people/characters you may never have met before, loving each other, and succeeding to vanquish evil and live happily, we assume, ever after in Grasmere Cottage.  Fighting the righteous gnome/frog wars!

Really, Dahlia Donovan!  If for no other reason.  I need more gnome/frog wars!

So pick these up.  They will do great things for your heart.  Stupendous characters who love each other in a cottage complete with cat and crazy neighbor.    The plots are terrific, the writing marvelous, and all things combined…makes these the cosies of your heart.  Don’t miss out.  I highly recommend them one and all.

 

___________________________________________________

 

Book Covers:  Claire Smith.  I love the covers for the whole series.  Fun, out of the box for an english cozie but this artist has always surprised me and continues to do so.  I like it.Grasmere Cottage Mystery Trilogy by Dahlia Donovan  Paperback     Hot Tree Publishing 

 

Dead in the Garden (Grasmere Mystery #1):

Dead body in the garden? Check.

Mystery to solve? Check.

Police focused on the wrong person? Not good.
All grown up and graduated, Valor Tarquin Scott, son to Earl and Countess Scott, owns The Ginger’s Bread, a biscuit shop, in Grasmere in the Lake District. The love of his life, Bishan Tamboli, has turned his music studies into a successful career playing with the London Symphony Orchestra. It’s a perfect life with their cat, spending evenings watching Poirot on the television.

The nightmare begins with one dead former schoolmate, leading police to believe Bishan is responsible.

Valor struggles to solve the cryptic puzzles left behind in a race to prove Bishan’s innocence.

He can’t help wondering how far the body count will rise before they manage to stop the killer.

 

Sales Links:   Hot Tree Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 128 pages
Published October 6th 2018 by Hot Tree Publishing
ASIN B07FLVZR68
Edition Language English
Series Grasmere Cottage Mystery #1

Dead in the Pond (Grasmere Cottage Mystery #2)

Killer on the loose? Check.

Frogs in the garden? Check.

Playing a twisted game with a killer? Not good.

Bishan Tamboli struggles to recover from his false arrest. He worries the police still aren’t as convinced about his innocence. With his longtime boyfriend, Valor, at his side, he intends to solve the puzzles and catch the murderer amongst their former schoolmates.

He’s fought hard for his independence as an autistic and refuses to throw it all away because of a nameless monster. With friends and family in the killer’s crosshairs, Bishan fears the mystery will bring the end of everything and everyone he loves.

 

 

Sales Links:  Hot Tree Publishing | Amazon

Book Details: Kindle Edition, 120 pages
Expected publication: October 13th 2018 by Hot Tree Publishing
ASINB07FM3FL2V
Edition LanguageEnglish
Series Grasmere Cottage Mystery #2

Dead in the Shop (Grasmere Cottage Mystery #3) :

Deadly fire? Check.

Fear-induced heart attack imminent? Check.

Time running out on them? Not good.

Valor Scott wants nothing more than to enjoy life in his little cottage with his boyfriend. The shadows of a serial killer continue to haunt him, though. He only wants the living nightmare to end. He battles one catastrophic event after the other, intent on bringing his loved ones through to the other side safely.

As their killer finally comes out into the open, Valor finds himself face-to-face with an obsessed murderer intent on destroying everyone in their path.

 

 

 

Sales Links:  Hot Tree Publishing  |  Amazon

Book Details:Kindle

Edition, 121 pages
Expected publication: October 20th 2018 by Hot Tree Publishing
ASINB07FW12FR8
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesGrasmere Cottage Mystery #3

 

 

Release Blitz – Take It All – Steamy Encounters Collection by Quin Perin (excerpt and giveaway)

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Take It All – Steamy Encounters Collection

Author: Quin Perin

Publisher: Self-Published

Cover Artist: X Potion Designs

Genre/s: Gay Erotica

Length: 15 000 words/65-70 pages – three short stories

Release Date: October 11, 2018

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link

Amazon US 

Amazon UK 

Amazon AU 

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Blurb

From the bestselling authors’ of Meik&Sebastian – Obsessed come three steamy encounters of twisted, forbidden lust…

What do lust-driven men do when they think no one is watching? Find out now. Be a fly on the wall in a seedy motel room, a gym shower and the heart of suburbia, where three torrid pairings nurture the beasts inside of them.

Featuring:

Carter&Dave – The one with Daddy

Gordon&Jett – The one with the Politician

Josh&Graham – The one with the Jock

They can hardly handle it, can you?

Excerpt

Blue eyes narrowed, and when Graham was about to push him again, Josh’s hands darted out, fingers wrapping around his wrists. When he shoved, Graham stumbled back, landing against the hard wall of the shower. “Lemme go.” He huffed, twisting under Josh’s grasp.

“Only if you stop being an ass,” Josh shot back. His fingers flexed, tightening as he took a step closer. Eyes fixed on Graham.

“Pot meet fucking kettle,” Graham ground out dryly.

“God, you’re so frustrating.”

Mere inches apart now, Josh’s breath warm as blue and grey eyes connected. Tense silence crackled, electrifying the air between them. Josh’s eyes dropped to trembling lips. Graham took a breath but before he could tell Josh to not even think about it, Josh did it. He slammed forward, clashing their lips together. Graham’s wrists were still grasped in Josh’s strong fingers; hips forced back against the wall by the jock’s.

Graham bucked forward, trying to throw Josh off of him. He jerked his head back from the kiss. “Don’t.” He hated how breathy his voice sounded. Hated the way his cock started to stiffen. Hated how much he wanted Josh.

Soft lips brushed over his throat, warm breath tickling across his Adam’s apple. The kiss was far better than the last—and the first—time they’d kissed. Though he supposed they both had more experience now than when they were sixteen. “You want this.” Josh’s voice vibrated against his heated skin.

“N-No.” God, he did want it.

Josh chuckled low, husky. “Liar,” he murmured, dropping Graham’s wrists. He pulled back, a smug smirk spreading across his cheeks, exposing those too perfect dimples that made Josh want to punch him.

Graham didn’t move. Water soaked the back of his shirt, weighing down his pants. Blood rushed through his ears, heart pounding like a bird’s wings against his ribs, desperate to escape. The air between them was too thick to inhale, too loaded with testosterone that Graham held his breath, gaze skipping lower. A faint flush spread over the center of Josh’s chest, and a bulge, large and obvious, rose beneath his damp towel. “You are the biggest fucking asshole.”

Words barely managed to form before Graham launched towards Josh and reunited their lips in a smoldering kiss. Colliding desperately and with burning fervor, Graham’s hands scrambled to yank the towel down so he could grab both of the jock’s tight ass cheeks. Josh’s palm slapped against the wall next to Graham’s head, deepening the kiss. Reckless and oh, so fucking stupid.

About the Authors

This is Quin&Perin. We are a team of Sultry Gay Romance writers who focus on detailed, toe-curling, and realistic smut scenes with a fair share of dirty talking (Oh, boy). Unlike other authors in the genre, we write without the goal of publishing anything. Publishing is just the cherry on top of a cream-covered bubble butt.

Social Media Links

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Giveaway

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A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Any Given Lifetime by Leta Blake

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Who’s to say reincarnation can’t happen? Not this author, who gives us a heartwarming, gut-churning tale of one couple’s love for all time.

In the first half we meet Joshua, a young college man who was raised in a strict Christian household and is struggling to admit he’s gay and act on his attraction to his neighbor, Neil.  Neil is a brilliant scientist specializing in nanite research.  His dedication to his work and his perfectionism make him difficult to be around as he says what he means and doesn’t soften the blow.  But he and Joshua, nevertheless, fall in love.  Unfortunately, a disaster occurs and Joshua loses him before they even have a chance to have sex, something Joshua later deeply regrets. 

Months after Neil’s death, a baby is born—a strange baby named Neil, who seems too serious by far. As he ages, it’s evident he’s a genius and his maturity level is off the boards.  When he admits to his mother that he knows he’s lived before and shows her videos of Joshua on their laptop, she’s shocked but has already come to believe there’s something different about her baby.  Joshua now heads a nanite research foundation, begun with funds he inherited when Neil passed. Since he’s in the spotlight so often it’s easy for young Neil to follow his activities and he’s gutted when Joshua marries a man named Lee. 

A year or two after Neil had passed, Joshua met Lee, a man with major burn damage who was the recipient of Neil’s skin donation when he died.  After Lee relocates to Joshua’s small town, the two become close and within a few years, Joshua falls in love and marries Lee. He still dreams of Neil but knows there’s room in his heart for his past love and his new one.

Without revealing what happens, I will say that the first half of the story was bittersweet. Joshua had one blow after another. Young Neil was frustrated with his young body and his old brain. He still held memories from the time before and his inability to reach out to Joshua was frustrating.  I was most definitely caught up in the angst and action and didn’t know who to feel sorriest for.  And I shared Neil’s frustration with the slow passage of time.

In the second half, Joshua and the young Neil finally meet.  Neil allows his nerves and his acerbic tongue to push Joshua away, while Joshua can’t seem to recover from being stunned speechless by how much this Neil looks like the love of his life.  It’s fun, it’s heartbreaking, it’s frustrating, and it’s amazing to watch these two men finally get past all the hurdles and come together.   

But then… If I had any one complaint, it’s that there was too much sex in the second half. Granted, they finally got to have sex, but not only are they constantly at it, much of it is on page, and after a while, I was done. So done. It’s a wonder either man could walk, never mind how they kept from being dehydrated.  It distracted me from the rest of the story and it took my rating down a notch. 

If you are looking for a romance that spans time, this one is ideal. It’s heartwarming and heartbreaking with sweet, wonderful characters and a few that are somewhat prickly, but still endearing.  A wonderful way to spend a day or two of your leisure time, I definitely recommend this one.

The cover by Dar Albert features a photo of two men embracing and kissing, superimposed over a skyline that could easily be Atlanta, the major city featured in this story.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 1st edition, 215 pages
Published September 13th 2018 by Leta Blake Books
ASINB07H4SC7V8
Edition Language English

New Release Blitz for Out in the End (Out in College #2) Zone by Lane Hayes (excerpt and giveaway)

Title: Out in the End Zone

Series: Out in College #2

Author: Lane Hayes

Publisher: Lane Hayes

Release Date: October 10

Heat Level: 4 – Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 44000

Genre: Romance, New Adult, Bisexual, College romance, Football, Coming out

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Synopsis

Evan di Angelo is an upbeat, good-natured goofball who loves his friends and family… and football. A traumatic accident may have ended his hopes of playing professionally, but he’s made the most of his four years on the field at a small Southern California college. He’s learned the hard way to embrace change, take chances and try things outside of his comfort zone…like agreeing to play fake boyfriends for someone else’s senior project.

Mitch Peterson knows that being his authentic self is the path to true happiness. He’s grown from a shy, quiet kid from a broken home to an out and proud budding internet sensation bound for grad school. An awesome senior project is the key. It’s unlikely anyone will believe the hunky, straight athlete is Mitch’s new lover, but it’s worth a shot. However, as their tentative friendship blossoms into unexpected attraction, the lines between reality and fiction blur for both men. Evan is forced to face old demons and decide if he has the courage to take the next step and come out in the end zone.

Excerpt

Mitch scoffed. “Cooperate, please. This is your intro. Maybe you should put your arm around me and kiss my cheek.”

“Now?”

“Yes. This is a rehearsal, so…go for it.”

I moved to his side, slipped my arm around his waist, and kissed his cheek. His scruff threw me off stride. It wasn’t noticeable because his facial hair was blond, but I could feel it. He smelled and felt different from anyone I’d ever kissed before. Sure, I’d kissed male relatives. I was part Italian. No one in my family shied from physical contact. But a hug and kiss on each cheek from my Uncle Gianni was different from kissing an attractive man. I caressed his cheek impulsively and then leaned in to sniff him the way I’d wanted to since the party. “Mmm.”

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“You smell good. I’ve never kissed a guy I wasn’t related to who had a five o’clock shadow.”

Mitch gave me a funny look. “You kissed me yesterday at lunch.”

“Yeah, but you haven’t shaved since this morning, right? The texture is like sandpaper but in a good way. I like it,” I assured him.

He looked flustered for a second but recovered quickly. “Well, that’ll make the real kiss easier then.”

“Right. When do we kiss, and what’s the intensity level supposed to be? G, PG, PG-13? Or are we going straight to the nasty?” I teased.

“Ha. G is peck on the cheek, which we just covered. PG is peck on the lips. So somewhere in between that and PG-13 works.”

“Got it. Maybe we should practice first,” I said.

“Um…sure.” Mitch turned around and gestured toward the bar stools at the island. “We can sit there, and I’ll set up the tripod a foot or so from where you’re standing now.”

“We don’t have to be in exact position. I just need to get used to touching you. It would be the same with anyone. Guy or girl.”

Okay, fine. I wanted to do it again. I’d thought about him nonstop since the party last weekend. And that throwaway kiss yesterday at the restaurant had opened a Pandora’s box. I was consumed now. I didn’t want to practice kissing him. I had to or I’d go crazy.

“Maybe you’re right. Um…okay. You can kiss me,” he said in a low voice.

“Well, you have to participate,” I chided as I stepped into his space.

“I’m…yes. Do you want to go first? Like…” Mitch set his hand on my hip and inched closer still. “This?”

I lifted my right hand and hovered it above his ear for a moment before threading my fingers through his hair. He suddenly looked nervous, which somehow worked in my favor. I held his gaze, then moved forward and gently pressed my lips to his. And fuck, it felt amazing to be here again. I tilted my head slightly, loving the intoxicating contrast of his soft lips and scratchy chin. Mitch closed his eyes and hooked his arms around my neck so we stood toe to toe and chest to chest. All the ways this felt different no longer applied. I knew what to do here. I was practically a fucking expert.

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Meet the Author

Lane Hayes is grateful to finally be doing what she loves best. Writing full-time! It’s no secret Lane loves a good romance novel. An avid reader from an early age, she has always been drawn to well-told love story with beautifully written characters. These days she prefers the leading roles to both be men. Lane discovered the M/M genre a few years ago and was instantly hooked. Her debut novel was a 2013 Rainbow Award finalist and subsequent books have received Honorable Mentions, and won First Prize in the 2016 and 2017 Rainbow Awards. She loves red wine, chocolate and travel (in no particular order). Lane lives in Southern California with her amazing husband in a newly empty nest.

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