SOMEONE TO CALL MY OWN
Road to Blissville Series, Book 2
AIMEE NICOLE WALKER
M/M ROMANCE
RELEASE DATE: 09.05.17
PHOTOGRAPHER: Wander Aguiar
COVER ARTIST: Jay Aheer/Simply Defined Art
BLURB
Psychic Emory Jackson and former black ops specialist Jonathon Silver are men from two completely different worlds with one thing in common: heartbreak. Emory still mourns the loss of his husband five years prior, and Jon is reeling with grief from the recent death of his twin brother.
Sparks fly when mutual friends introduce them, but it’s so much more than basic attraction. There’s an undeniable awareness and a sense of belonging that neither man can deny. Despite Emory’s premonition of a future with Jon, he has vowed never to love again. Jon is convinced that his tainted soul is the reason he will never have someone to call his own. What if they’re both wrong?
Maybe these broken men with their jagged edges could somehow align perfectly to form something whole and beautiful. But will that realization come too late for them?
EXCERPT
“There’s nothing to clear,” I countered. “I’m nothing to you; you’re nothing to me.”
“You think it’s that simple?” Jonathon took two steps toward me. I took three steps back. Jon jerked to a stop when he saw my reaction. “Emory…” He broke off and ran both his hands through his hair. “I know you felt it the night we met. I saw your eyes widen in surprise when the electricity shot through our bodies.”
“So.” Denying it existed wasn’t working. It was time to change tactics. “That doesn’t mean I want or will act on it.” I ran my hand over the infinity tattoo I had inked over my heart. It felt like River’s name was burning my skin like he knew the truth and was calling me a liar. Or, maybe it was anxiety that gripped my heart in its tight fist. Whatever the reason, I felt lightheaded and dizzy. Suddenly, my body felt cold and hot at the same time, and tiny little needles pricked my skin from head to toe. I licked my lips that had suddenly gone dry and numb.
“Emory?” I heard Jonathon’s voice, but it sounded like he was calling to me at the end of a very long tunnel instead of five feet away. He walked toward me, but I kept backing away. I hoped he would stop, but I saw the determination in his eyes. “Emory, I just want to help you.”
“Then leave,” I wheezed between gasps.
“I’d never leave anyone alone in this condition,” Jonathon said angrily. “Now be quiet and let me help you.” He gripped my bicep firmly, but not painfully, and guided me to a kitchen chair. He gently set me in the chair then placed his hand on my stomach beneath the center of my ribs and the other on my chest. I burned beneath his touch. I wrapped my hands around his thick wrists and tried to push his hands off of me. “Stop it, Emory,” he said firmly. “You’re hyperventilating, and I can help you. I. Will. Not. Hurt. You.”
Hot tears of humiliation flowed freely down my face. No one had ever seen me in the midst of a panic attack and I’d always been able to pull myself out of them on my own. That one was different, and I knew I needed help.
“Ignore my hands on your body, but look into my eyes and listen to me.” His demanding, deep voice was nearly hypnotic. “Inhale deeply through your nose, Emory. Hold it for a count of three and release it slowly. When you do, you’ll feel my hands moving up and down with your lungs, and your brain will recognize you’re breathing even before the fresh oxygen pushes the carbon dioxide out of your body. Do it with me, Emory.”
I breathed in slowly, held it for three seconds, and released it. I focused on the way his hands moved up and down with my breathing and pretended that I expelled all the bad energy with every exhale. I repeated the process ten or twelve times before I was completely calm again.
Jonathon pulled his hands off of me and balled them into fists. He didn’t look angry or like he wanted to hit me. It looked like he needed to do something with his hands but wasn’t sure what. He lowered himself into a chair beside me.
“What caused your panic attack?”
“You,” I replied sullenly.
“Emory, I haven’t done anything to you so why would the sight of me cause you to panic?” Jonathon sounded truly baffled and a little insulted.
I knew it would take drastic measures to push him away, so I let him have it with both barrels. “I had a psychic vision about you—well. Us.”
Carra's Review
So, when an author rips my heart out within the first several pages of a story and a box of tissues is needed at the very start, I can usually expect to have an emotional read on my hands—and Someone to Call My Own did not disappoint. I can’t imagine the heartbreaking pain Emory went through losing his husband when and how he did, and I was immediately attached to him from the very start of this book.
Jonathan’s own loss of his twin brother is similarly tragic, though where Emory is more emotional in his grief thanks to the psychic gift he seemed to gain around the same time he lost his husband, Jon is more concentrated on finding out who killed his brother and getting resolution and closure to his case.
For me, I didn’t quite feel the connection between the two men when they first met…but as time went on my opinion changed as I felt their link grow and develop. There’s no denying that once Emory gives in to the desire that’s been growing within him for Jon, the two of them are scorching hot together. It was just getting to that point that left me feeling a bit frustrated at times. Emory’s tenuous bond to his late husband via his psychic gift just kept him too entrenched in his past and unable to let go and truly move on, which is from where the root of my frustration evolved.
I did love the full cast of characters in this story, and especially how Gabe and Josh pulled both Emory and Jon into their circle of friends so easily. It was great to see characters from previous stories here, like coming home while reading.
Someone to Call My Own was a solid 4-star read for me, and is a story I would definitely recommend to any M/M romance fan. Even though at times I grew a tad weary of the psychic angle, it really did provide the mechanism for Emory’s grief and healing and added a bit of a paranormal touch to the book. This story is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and sexual content.
I am a wife and mother to three kids, three dogs, and a cat. When I’m not dreaming up stories, I like to lose myself in a good book, cook or bake. I'm a girly tomboy who paints her fingernails while watching sports and yelling at the referees.
I will always choose the book over the movie. I believe in happily-ever-after. Love inspires everything that I do. Music keeps me sane.
GIVEAWAY!
Emory and Jonathon! I wanna know what happens
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