Gabe
The Boys of Brighton
Book One
M. Tasia
Genre: m/m romance
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Date of Publication: 8 September 2016,
Number of pages: Print - 123
Word Count: 41,410
Cover Artist: Boroughs Publishing Group
Book Description
Fifth-generation firefighter Gabe Mason saves Johnny from the flames of an office building fire, and Johnny will save Gabe from himself.
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Excerpt
The building was coming down, Gabe knew it. After the last explosion, he and his partner, Lee, were able to grab one of the women huddled by the window and carry her down the ladder. There were two more people in that room, and he would be damned if he’d leave them behind. Seeing his cousin Josie hanging from the window had almost paralyzed him with fear, but thanks to his years of training Gabe didn’t miss a beat. He grabbed her out of the air from one of her coworkers who held onto her, saving Josie from a three-story fall headfirst.
Another explosion rocked the back of the building and Gabe raced back up the ladder. He didn’t stop at the top. He jumped through the window instead, desperate to find the trapped people. His turnout gear and oxygen tank protected him from the worst of the heat and the thick black smoke that filled the room, obstructing his vision as he scanned for anyone, hoping he wasn’t too late.
He heard a loud scraping noise from the back corner. Easing his way closer, he was finally able to make out the same shorter man that saved Josie trying to leverage a filing cabinet off a trapped woman.
“Got the last two, Lee. One trapped,” Gabe called into his radio.
“The building’s coming down!” Lee answered. “I’m almost at the top of the ladder. Get them out here now!”
Gabe reached the man just as a loud whoosh sounded through the room and flames waved across the ceiling. Time to go. The man with the pole looked up at the flames…but instead of making a run for the window as Gabe had expected, he began to desperately push on the cabinet.
Maybe I’m jaded after all these years.
Gabe grabbed the man’s shoulder. The guy cried out in pain before he turned to face him. The smoke was so thick that it was difficult to make out his features, but the burn marks on the guy’s shoulder from the steel pole he was using were easy to see.
“You have to get out!” Gabe called. “The ladder is outside the window. GO!”
“No! I won’t leave her! She’s unconscious. I’ll pull her out”—cough, cough—“if you can lift this damn thing.”
Gabe could tell the man was serious about not leaving without the woman. He figured it must be his wife or someone he loved.
To have someone love you that much… You would never be left behind. He longed for just that.
He put both hands under the edge of the cabinet while the other man dropped the pole and grabbed onto the woman’s arms. With one great heave, the cabinet was raised. The man screamed in pain but managed to pull the woman out before falling to the ground himself and coughing violently.
Gabe quickly lifted the woman into his arms and carried her to the window, handing her off to Lee before turning to pick up the last survivor who was still coughing on the floor. Gabe removed his oxygen mask and placed it over the man’s face before stepping onto the ladder and heading down to the waiting EMTs. Now that they were away from the smoke, Gabe looked down at the man in his arms to find stunning moss-green eyes staring up at him.
Wow…just wow.
Desperate for something to clear away the sucker punch that one look had delivered, Gabe could only come up with the other woman in the fire. “Your wife is going to be okay. We got her out thanks to your help.”
Gabe gently placed the man down on the waiting gurney. Within moments, one of the EMTs removed the oxygen mask Gabe had given him and replaced it with one from a tank in their rig. Gabe noticed more burns on the man’s hands and chest as well as bleeding across his abdomen.
The green-eyed man quickly pushed the mask away from his face. “Wife?”
“Building’s clear, Gabe. Now we just need to keep it contained,” Lee stated through Gabe’s headset.
“Copy, on my way.”
“Wife?” the man asked again, looking adorably confused, eyes squinting, leaving a cute little wrinkle between his eyebrows.
“Yes, the lady under the cabinet is already being transported to the hospital,” Gabe replied, doing his best to not look into those beautiful eyes or at the tempting bottom lip that was currently between the other man’s teeth. The man looked confused for a moment, and then his face lit up in happiness. It was like the clouds parted with just that one look.
Where the hell did that cliché come from?
“Janice? She’s safe?”
“Yes, she’s on her way to the hospital. You can meet her there when you’re transported.” Gabe began to back a few feet away; he had to get back to the fire and stop staring at the poor man.
Damn, I’ve been alone too long when I’m lusting after a married, heterosexual man.
Being a gay firefighter, it wasn’t easy for Gabe to find the right partner. Sure, easy sex was always available, but he wanted a commitment. Men might think it was hot to date a fireman, but they soon found the hours he worked and the dangers he faced to be too much, and they would eventually leave.
“Wait, wife? Janice? No…I’m gay. She’s my friend—” The man began coughing so violently he was gagging over the side of the gurney.
“We’re outta here, Gabe,” said Royce, his friend and one of the EMTs, before replacing the oxygen mask.
Gabe ran back over, catching the gurney before it went into the rear of the ambulance.
“Wait, what’s your name?”
“Johnny Jeffrey.”
Gabe and Royce shared a look before Royce gave a slight nod and smiled. Then the doors closed and the ambulance sped away, leaving Gabe and the rest of the firefighters to battle the blaze into the late afternoon. Royce would keep an eye on the guy for Gabe as best he could. After all, the man had saved his young cousin’s life, and he couldn’t just ignore these intense feelings of attraction, could he?
Carra's Review
For all the fans of insta-love out there, this story was meant for you. The story starts off with a bit of suspense and drama, and amongst it all Gabe sees Johnny and feels an instant connection...one that he immediately latches on to and refuses to let go. Gabe is very alpha, extremely protective and needs to be in control so he knows Johnny is taken care of.
Now, I have to admit--if I was Johnny, I personally would have been more than a bit unnerved with the immediate attention and acceptance of inevitability Gabe exhibited, not to mention Gabe's family's overbearing intrusion into his life. But Johnny seems fine with it all, his own feelings of attachment pretty clear as well.
While this story is a bit heavy on the insta-love aspect for my taste, I did like the way Gabe's family all came together to support him and Johnny. The additional drama brought in thanks to Gabe's ex felt a bit much; between the fire at Johnny's work building, his recovery, and Gabe's ex poor Johnny never seems to be able to catch a break.
Insta-love fans and those who like having that strong alpha-male presence will enjoy this book. It is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and sexual content.
Sam’s Soldiers
Boys of Brighton
Book Two
M. Tasia
Genre: m/m romance
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Date of Publication: 30 December 2016
Number of pages: Print – 116
Word Count: 40,560
Cover Artist: Boroughs Publishing Group
Book Description
Emergency room nurse Samuel Mason is offered a ménage a trois with two ex-miltary men and discovers a love more dangerous—and more exquisite—than he anticipated.
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Excerpt
As soon as Spider heard the water running in the shower, he turned to Dante. “We shouldn’t do this. We can’t leave him.”
Dante came forward and wrapped his arms around Spider. “It was part of the deal we made, Jack. We can’t back out now.”
“It just doesn’t feel right to me, it’s Sam.” Spider knew it was part of their initial arrangement with Sam, but things had changed, hadn’t they?
“We’ve got another mission. We have to head a security detail in two days. Besides, Sam hasn’t asked us to stay. We can’t make that decision for him.” Dante backed away and returned to preparing their final meal together. Spider’s heart raced, knowing this was the wrong decision.
“But I know he cares about us. I can feel it. He was meant to be a part of our team,” Spider said, trying to explain what he felt to his core, he knew Sam loved them on some level. They’d spent the last five weeks living together, acting every bit like a family, and it had been plain to see how each of them felt, or maybe he was simply seeing what he wanted. The two went on to work silently on supper for several minutes until they both heard the water turn off in the shower.
“Sweetheart, look at me,” Dante said, and Spider finally met Dante’s eyes. Spider knew he was the one more likely to show emotions out of the two of them, but the pain he saw in Dante’s eyes confirmed he felt the same way about Sam. “We have to carry on with our lives and let Sam carry on with his. It’s selfish to force ourselves on him.”
“But, Major, I don’t believe we are. Do we really have to leave like this?” Spider still fell back on his military training when stressed.
“Leave?” Sam spoke softly from the doorway, a towel hanging low on his hips. His beautiful tattoos stood in vibrant contrast against his creamy white skin and lean muscle. His red hair was wet and standing up in odd angles and his beautiful brown eyes shone slightly.
“Leave?” Sam repeated, his face becoming a mask, showing nothing. “Is it time for the two of you to go back already?”
Dante released Spider, who stepped forward and held out his hand. Sam immediately took it, and Spider pulled him in close so both he and Dante could surround him. “Yes, Sam, we have another assignment.” Spider thought the words seemed like a physical blow to Sam even as he tried to hide his response from them.
“When?” Sam asked in a strangled voice.
“Tomorrow morning.”
“So this is my farewell supper?” Sam stepped back out of their reach and took a deep breath. “I should have guessed with all my favorites on the menu.”
Sam was smiling now, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Spider was desperate to touch him again, but didn’t know if Sam would allow it. “We wanted to make the night special.”
Sam looked around at the table set with wineglasses and his grandmother’s good china. “It looks beautiful, thank you. I’ll go finish getting dressed and we can start our last evening together.” Sam stepped forward, gave both Spider and Dante a quick kiss on their cheeks, and went back to their master bedroom.
“Dante?”
Dante stood straighter and squared his shoulders, the same stance he always took when the hard decisions needed to be made. “We have to go, Jack. We both knew this couldn’t last forever, and all three of us went into this knowing it would eventually have to end. Now is that time.”
“Don’t you feel it? The pull to him, the need to keep him with us?” Spider couldn’t understand why Dante was fighting so hard to not allow himself to fall in love with Sam.
“Of course I do. But again, soldier, that’s not our decision to make.”
Carra's Review
We met Sam in the first book of this series and I enjoyed his character in that story, so between that and knowing this book would be M/M/M I was looking forward to reading Sam's Soldiers. This story does pick up five weeks into Sam, Dante, and Spider's relationship--one of the things about this story that left me wanting more. I really would have liked to know how their threesome came about and developed instead of coming into the story after they had already gotten together.
I liked the dynamics between the three men when they were together, and the chemistry between them was obvious. One of my pet peeves did rear its head...lack of communication between the main characters, though by the end that does get resolved.
The drama did feel a bit over the top, and I did have a difficult time accepting that Sam would have made some of the irresponsible decisions that he did before going camping. The bit of kink introduced into the physical part of their relationship did spice things up a bit. I just wish we could have had more about the relationship beginnings and development between the three men.
While this is the second book in the series, it could be read as a standalone without any issues. The story is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and sexual content.
About the Author
M. Tasia is a paralegal and author who lives in Ontario, Canada. A member of the RWA and its chapter RRW, she is a dedicated people watcher, and a lover of romance, 80’s rock, and happy endings. Mother of two wonderful girls, she is also a servant to two spoiled furry children.
Giveaway!
3 Prize packs- ecopy of Gabe + $15 Boroughs Bucks
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