Thursday, January 31, 2019

New Release-Excerpt & Giveaway: THE OTHER BOOK by Roe Horvat



Buy Links: 


Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow with Kindle Unlimited

Length: 42,000 words approx.
Cover Design: Roe Horvat
Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing


Blurb

It was supposed to be just sex... Famous last words.

Tyler doesn't overthink pleasure and avoids complications. He knows it might be stupid to get involved with his closeted boss, but the temptation is too great. At first, the cold and beautiful Joel Sandstrom seems to loathe Tyler's guts.

Except one late night at the office, his reasons become clear...and his control breaks.

Every time they touch, Joel's stony face comes alive, harsh lines smooth out, and for a minute, he looks serene. Happy, even. Just sex - dirty, intense, spectacular sex.

During their covert encounters, Tyler discovers the power he has over the lonesome man, and it's a heady feeling. What if he could set Joel free and give him peace of mind? When Tyler realizes how much Joel needs him, he doesn't regret breaking his own rules.



Excerpt

(warning: adult language, but no explicit scenes)

Thursday was a long day.

I messaged Christoffer to say I wouldn’t be able to make it this weekend because my boss was a slave-driving ass.

At least it’s a good-looking ass, Christoffer replied.

Tina knocked on my booth at half past eleven.

“Tyler? Joel says he wants you in the conference room at one for the meeting with Mercury.”

I scowled, my mood getting worse by the second. “He could have emailed me, messaged me, or come down here to tell me himself. You’re not his secretary.”

Tina rolled her eyes. “Calm down, Avenger. I bumped into Joel in the kitchen. He mentioned you might need to be there. I told him I’d let you know.”

It took a me a while, but in the end, I had to admit I had no comeback to something so…normal. Damn it. He didn’t even give me valid reasons to hate on him.

“I’ll be there,” I mumbled, turning back to my screen.

“He’s a good guy, Tyler. Cut him some slack,” Tina said.

“Me?” I pivoted on my chair to face her. Joel was the one being a jerk. And he was the boss! How was I supposed to cut him slack?

“You know what I mean,” Tina threw over her shoulder, walking away toward her desk.

“What?” I called after her, but she didn’t reply.

Two hours later, I parked my butt in the conference room, opposite Joel. He was looking at his laptop screen intently, not acknowledging me. He never talked to me unless he absolutely had to.

“Nice tie. Matches the ice in your chest,” I commented.

“They will be here in three minutes. Please behave,” Joel said evenly, still not lifting his gaze from the laptop.

“You don’t like it when I behave,” I told him, leaning back.

His eyes flashed to me for an instant, and his lip twitched. Otherwise, expression Number One: immaculate control and contained rage. “Tyler, can you act professionally for ninety minutes?” he hissed.

That was it. How come I was suddenly the unprofessional one?

“How’s your throat today, Joel? Sore?” I asked loudly just as the door creaked open.

Joel sucked in a breath and clenched his jaw. Red stain crept up his neck, but he stood gracefully and offered his hand to the forty-something woman who entered the room. A tall young man in a lovely dark-blue suit followed her. He had high cheekbones and porcelain skin, and he blushed fiercely when he saw me. Nice. I made sure to smile at him when we shook hands. His eyelids fluttered. Matt, who held the door for the Mercury people, gave us a tight greeting and closed it.

We sat, and my attention shifted from the young beauty back to my boss. Joel’s stare became glacial. I smirked. This was going to be fun.

It wasn’t fun. At all. Their requirements were unspecific, their expectations exaggerated, and the pretty boy was a pretentious jerk. I suffered through the hour and a half trying not to let them know they had only wasted my time.

Joel accompanied the Mercury people to the hall and shook hands with both. I tried to slip past them back to my soundproof sanctuary, intent on closing myself in there for the rest of the day. I hated client meetings with a passion—even when they involved pretty young things. But Joel called after me, ruining my escape.

“Tyler? Can you wait in the conference room? It will only take a minute.”

I let out my frustration by making the face of a backstabbed warrior, and slowly turned around.

Back in the conference room, I sat down on the same chair, which was still warm from my butt. Hopefully, Joel would only want to go through the details of the meeting and then I could go hide again.

He stepped inside and closed the door.

“I have a request,” he began slowly. He stayed by the door, as far from me as possible.

I leaned forward and supported my chin in my palm, waiting.

“I can’t let the situation get out of hand,” Joel continued, suspiciously vague. “I have some serious private matters going on right now. I hope you will understand and help me to…handle this gracefully. I can’t afford any added complications.”

Oh, it was that kind of a request!

“Joel, I told you, I won’t out you. I’m not a complete sh*t,” I said with disgust. What the hell did he think of me?

Joel flashed me a disturbed look. “No, I know that. I only need us to…stop being personal.”

“You mean you won’t suck my d*ck anymore, boss?”

He had the grace to wince, yet he didn’t reply.



About the Author

Queer fiction author Roe Horvat was born in the post-communist wasteland of former Czechoslovakia. Equipped with a dark sense of sarcasm, Roe traveled Europe and finally settled in Sweden. He came out as transgender in 2017 and has been fabulous since. He loves Jane Austen, Douglas Adams, bad action movies, stand-up comedy, pale ale, and daiquiri, with equal passion. When not hiding in the studio doing graphics, he can be found trolling cafés in Gothenburg, writing, and people-watching.




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Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Cover Reveal: TOUCH OF A YELLOW SUN by V.L. Locey (Colors of Love #2)




Release Date: February 27 2019
Cover Design: Designs By Sloan
Length: 88,600 words approx.

Colors Of Love Series

Book #1 - Lost In Indigo - Amazon US | Amazon UK


Blurb

It's been a rough couple of years for Marek Hafer, roaming hockey protagonist and pugilistic expert. Ending up in Berger Lake, Pennsylvania, on a financially unstable minor league team might just be the ending his wretched career deserves. On the other side of thirty, Marek knows his time on skates is dwindling. His goal now is to spend a few quiet years playing for the Berger Lake Badgers, knock a few helmets together as needed, and then call it quits before his salty personality gets him booted out of hockey permanently.

After a bloody encounter his first night on the ice, the Badgers coach suggests that Marek find a way to lower his violent tendencies before he’s sent packing yet again. That decree leads Marek to knock on the door of his next-door neighbor, Shey Pierson, the owner of Sun Touch Yoga Studio. Shey ticks every box Marek has with his soft blue eyes, flowing golden hair, and long limber legs. The only problem is that Shey is yin to Marek’s yang.

Can a man famed for throwing punches find serenity in the arms of a man known for his tranquil ways?


About the Author

USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.

When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.



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Tuesday, January 29, 2019

New Release-Excerpt & Giveaway: THE CASE OF THE VORACIOUS VINTNER by Tara Lain (The Middlemark Mysteries Series #2)


The next installment to the 

The Middlemark Mysteries Series 

is now available!


The Case of the Voracious Vintner
(A Middlemark Mystery Series, Book 2) 
By Tara Lain 

Blurb

Where Bo Marchand comes from, gay men are just confirmed bachelors who never found the right girl. But now Bo’s a successful winemaker on the central coast of California, supporting his whole damned Georgia family, and all he really wants is the beautiful, slightly mysterious Jeremy Aames.

Jeremy’s vineyard is under threat from Ernest Ottersen, the voracious winemaker who seems to know all Jeremy’s blending secrets and manages to grab all his customers. Bo tries to help Jeremy and even provides a phony alibi for Jeremy when Ottersen turns up dead in Jeremy’s tasting room. But it’s clear Jeremy isn’t who he claims, and Bo must decide if it’s worth tossing over his established life for a man who doesn’t seem to trust anyone. When Jeremy gets kidnapped, some the conservative winemakers turn out to be kinky sex fiends, and the list of murderers keeps dwindling down to Jeremy. Bo has to choose between hopping on his white horse or climbing back in his peach-pie-lined closet.


Available for purchase at

Kindle | Amazon Paperback | Nook | Kobo | iTunes | Dreamspinner Press | BAM


Excerpt

“Shall we read the rest?”

Jeremy nodded, all that fair hair rippling, and Bo plunged into his next line just for the distraction. “Indeed, you come near me now, Hal, for we that take purses go by the moon and the seven stars, and not by Phoebus, he, that wand’ring knight so fair.” His heart tripped. Knight so fair. He groped for his wineglass, hit it awkwardly, and tipped it right over onto Jeremy’s arm. “Damn! I’m so sorry.”

Bo grabbed the glass and hurried around the bar for a rag of some kind. He found a roll of paper towels and dabbed madly at Jeremy’s soaked shirt, the wine creeping up the cotton fabric toward his shoulder. “That was so careless of me.”

“No problem, really. I always keep a shirt close at hand for just such accidents because they seem to happen several times a day. The red’s the worst.” He walked behind the counter near where Bo stood, opened a narrow closet, and pulled a white shirt off a hanger. Then, as Bo tried to keep his tongue in his mouth, Jeremy proceeded to strip off his wet garment and drop it in a hamper, also in the closet. He pulled another shirt up from it and laughed at the huge red stain on the front. “See what I mean?”

Dear blessed God. His comparing Jeremy to Brad Pitt washed back into Bo’s brain, this time the lean, hard body of Fight Club. How did a normal person get abs like that, below shoulders and arms like that? Whoa.

With no apparent hurry, Jeremy sidled to the bar sink, took some towels and wet them, and began to wipe the wine off his glistening golden skin. Bo would gladly have volunteered his tongue for the job. Jeremy held out a fresh wet towel to Bo. “Would you mind? The wine seems to have seeped up onto my back a bit.”

Catatonic. For a second he thought he’d embarrass himself by being unable to move, but he managed to pull it together and take the towel from Jeremy. Jeremy turned and presented a masterpiece of shoulders and triceps for Bo’s careful inspection. Bo’s d*ck pronounced Jeremy flawless. “You’re very fit.”

Jeremy glanced over his shoulder abruptly, and for an odd second, he looked—what? Worried? Guilty? Why?

“Uh, yes, I used to be into working out.” He turned his head, but his shoulders had tensed a little.

Taking a breath, Bo wiped the wet towel over Jeremy’s smooth skin on his shoulder and down the side of his back. His hand faltered more than once at the heat penetrating the wet paper and the overwhelming desire to drop the towel and just touch that vanilla crème texture. Thank God Jeremy was turned backward because Bo’s erection threatened to take over the tasting room like Godzilla in Tokyo.

Okay, he couldn’t resist, and probably Jeremy couldn’t tell. Bo let his fingers slip off the side of the paper and slide across Jeremy’s back. Not perfectly smooth as it looked. There were little variations in texture here and there, tiny moles or freckles, like a living, breathing human. Oh dear God, that was more disturbing than perfection. The need to lean in and rest his cheek against all that strength flamed through him.

Suddenly Jeremy made a funny, snuffly sound, as if he was stifling a moan and a sigh at the same time.


      Bo froze. F*ckity frogs and fishes! Swiftly and efficiently, he wiped the last dregs of wine from Jeremy’s flesh, dropped the towel on the bar, and walked out toward the opposite wall, taking deep breaths so there was no chance of Jeremy spying his boner.


A Middlemark Mystery




The Case of the Sexy Shakespearean
Book 1 


Available for purchase at



About the Author

Tara Lain believes in happy ever afters – and magic. Same thing. In fact, she says, she doesn’t believe, she knows. Tara shares this passion in her best-selling stories that star her unique, charismatic heroes — the beautiful boys of romance —  and adventurous heroines. Quarterbacks and cops, werewolves and witches, blue collar or billionaires, Tara’s characters, readers say, love deeply, resolve seemingly insurmountable differences, and ultimately live their lives authentically. After many years living in southern California, Tara, her soulmate honey and her soulmate dog decided they wanted less cars and more trees, prompting a move to Ashland, Oregon where Tara’s creating new stories and loving living in a small town with big culture. Likely a Gryffindor but possessed of Parseltongue, Tara loves animals of all kinds, diversity, open minds, coconut crunch ice cream from Zoeys, and her readers. She also loves to hear from you. 


You can find Tara Lain at:

Monday, January 28, 2019

Review & Excerpt: STAY by K.M. Neuhold (A Working Out the Kinks Novel)

stay tour banner

STAY
K.M. NEUHOLD
M/M PUPPY PLAY ROMANCE
RELEASE DATE: 01.11.19

stay puppy play romance version 2

BLURB

What happens to a couple when one of them discovers a new kink that he’s not sure his partner will be into?

Dear Art,

I’m sure you get messages like this all the time, but I feel like I don’t even know who I am anymore. I suppose I should start from the beginning… Three weeks ago, I saw puppy play for the first time, and now I can’t stop thinking about it. Wait, no, that’s not really the beginning… Ten years ago, my best friend who I’d been in love with my entire life told me he loved me too.

For ten years, I’ve been living in complete bliss with Lars, the man of my dreams. Don’t get me wrong, we have our fights and disagreements (mostly because I do irritating shit, and every once in a while, he reaches the end of his patience), but he is my other half in every way. I didn’t know I could love someone the way I love him.

Then, the puppy thing happened. It’s not so different from when I realized I was gay; there was a moment where everything sort of clicked into place, and my whole body was like “Yes, that’s what we’ve been trying to figure out all this time.” At first, I thought maybe I should just let it go because it’s not the kind of thing I can imagine my partner being into. But last week I went into a kink shop and ended up walking out with a puppy hood. I stashed it in our guest bedroom closet and haven’t even had the courage to take it out and try it on again, let alone show it to Lars. I don’t know what to do. How do I bring this up to him? And what if he isn’t into it? I feel like I don’t recognize myself anymore, and I don’t know where to turn. Please help.

Sincerely,
One Lost Puppy




stay teaser 4

EXCERPT

Jonah stumbles a little on the way to our bedroom, letting me know he had too much to drink as well. When we reach the bedroom, he struggles to get his pants undone, so I bat his hands away and do it for him, carefully unzipping them and then lowering them, along with his underwear.

“Step out,” I instruct, kneeling at his feet to get his pants off without letting him trip over himself, his half hard c*ck swaying near my face.

“Mmm,” he hums, running his hands through my hair, his hazy, drunk eyes fixed on me.

“Hey, JJ?”

“Yeah?”

“Why haven’t you been sleeping well this week?”

As soon as the words are out, his warm, happy expression shutters, and he frowns at me. I can see the wheels turning behind his eyes, see him trying to come up with an answer. My stomach lurches with the realization that he’s planning on lying to me, again. Is this related to the porn thing earlier in the week or has he decided, after all these years, to make a habit out of lying to me?

“Come on, JJ, step out of your pants,” I repeat soberly when I realize he’s not going to answer. This time he does as I say with my help. By the time I stand up, he’s tugging his shirt off and tossing it in the pile of dirty clothes, and I follow suit, the two of us climbing into bed silently.

For the first time in our lives, there’s something Jonah isn’t telling me.


Carra's Review

This is the first book I’ve read by this author that’s not written with someone else, and I have to wonder why I haven’t picked any of her solo books up previously.  The writing here was solid, and I loved the characters—and I’m usually just so-so on established couple books.  But this story just worked really well for me, and I’m now looking forward to more stories in the series.

Jonah is really sweet.  He can take charge and handle the emergency room no sweat, but just wants to drop back and let Lars take control once he’s home.  I totally get why he felt so timid and unsure when he was discovering puppy play, not wanting to ruin the amazing relationship he and Lars already have if Lars is totally repulsed by the kink.  Lars though just wants to take care of Jonah and make sure he’s happy.  I love that even though he fills the dominant role in the relationship, he’s physically smaller—the juxtaposition is refreshing.  

Lars and Jonah have been joined at the hip since they were born, and together in a relationship for ten years.  The love and dedication between them is immediately apparent, and since they both seem content it’s easy to see why Jonah was worried about asking to try puppy play.  But let their situation be a lesson to all—never be afraid to try something new.  You might find that it takes you from your already blissful, satisfied state to absolutely stratospheric heights.

Watching the effect puppy play had on both men was satisfying as a reader.  It really did take their relationship to another level (yes, I know that sounds cliche but it’s true), and took their already great sex life and turned the heat up to positively blistering levels…and opened their minds up to some other interesting aspects of a D/s pairing.

There are some strong secondary characters—Addie, Jonah’s best friend; Seb, Lars’s co-worker and friend; and Adrian, who helps guide Jonah when he first checks out puppy play and later becomes a friend to both Jonah and Lars.  It seems that Seb, Adrian, along with Vale (a side character that plays a role in Lars and Jonah’s learning experience) will be getting stories in the series, and I’ll definitely be checking them out!


Stay is a great example of a lighter kink read, and the author does a good job of delving into puppy play so the reader understands what it’s all about without sounding like a tutorial.  It’s definitely sweet and playful, while still being hot and passionate at the same time.  It absolutely deserves the 5-star rating I’m giving it, and if you’re looking to check out a new kink with your M/M romance stories, this is a great place to start.  This book is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and sexual content.


About the Author


KM Neuhold Logo 2
Author K.M. Neuhold is a complete romance junkie, a total sap in every way. She started her journey as an author in new adult, MF romance, but after a chance reading of an MM book she was completely hooked on everything about lovely- and sometimes damaged- men finding their Happily Ever After together.


She has a strong passion for writing characters with a lot of heart and soul, and a bit of humor as well. And she fully admits that her OCD tendencies of making sure every side character has a full backstory will likely always lead to every book having a spin-off or series.

When she's not writing she's a lion tamer, an astronaut, and a superhero...just kidding, she's likely watching Netflix and snuggling with her husky while her amazing husband brings her coffee.


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Saturday, January 26, 2019

New Release-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway: ACTS OF SERVICE by Jessie Pinkham



Buy Links: 


Length: 22,000 words approx.
Publisher: JMS Books


Blurb

Tom can’t catch a break when it comes to his love life. He’s not good with romance, as his exes told him in uncharitable terms, and he’s starting to wonder if there’s something wrong with him. So when he finds himself attracted to his temporary roommate, he’s afraid of being called inadequate all over again.

Alex has serious anxiety which make his life a challenge and his dating prospects slim to nonexistent. He assumes Tom isn’t interested in him because men never are. It’s a pleasant surprise to start a friends with benefits relationship, so Alex goes out on a limb in an attempt to impress Tom. When it backfires spectacularly, he thinks all hope is lost.

Both men are held back by past rejections. Will a minor crisis bring them together ... or tear them apart?


Excerpt

This is undoubtedly the stupidest thing I’ve ever done to impress a guy.

“Go ahead, start it up,” said Tom.

Alex took a deep breath and turned the key. Tom’s truck roared to life. No such luck as a fortuitously-timed engine malfunction. Though he shouldn’t think such things, as Tom was only being nice and wishing expensive repairs on him was hardly fair.

He looked around trepidatiously. The parking lot really was almost deserted, with only a few vehicles parked and those much closer to the doors. He wondered what role those people played in the postal service that required them to work on Sundays, then realized the line of thought was just a mental delay.

“You’re not going to cause any damage,” said Tom. If he was impatient, it didn’t come across in his voice.

“Your brakes are in good order, right?”

“Yes. The truck just passed inspection last month with no problems at all.”

It was a valiant attempt to make Alex feel better, and he appreciated the intent even though it failed.

The brake pedal went down smoothly under his foot. Such a small little piece of metal, and it could be a matter of life or death. Did people who worked at brake factories realize how much trust was being placed in them every single day?

Once he had that all-important device pressed firmly against the floor, he reached for the gear shift. The first notch down put the truck in neutral, the second in drive.

“Now ease up on the brake,” Tom said, remarkably cavalier about putting his safety, not to mention his vehicle, in the hands of a man who couldn’t drive.

Nothing happened when he lightened his touch on the brake as instructed. Maybe it was a sign. Alex had never believed in such things, but he was willing to consider the possibility.

“Wow, you had it stomped all the way down, huh? Okay, let it go. Take your time so you’re comfortable.”

As if that will ever happen.

“How about less terrified? I believe in setting realistic goals.”

“Sure. Whatever works. Just remember, there’s nobody around us, so you can’t do much damage.”

“I could drive into a light pole,” countered Alex, not because he was trying to be ornery, but suddenly concerned about damaging Tom’s truck. Those poles were stuck into cement, a material not known for being kind to vehicles.

“I’m not worried.”

Well, that made one of them. Alex eased up on the brake a bit more, but nothing happened aside from a vague sense of power waiting to be unleashed, though that could have been his imagination.

“Good,” said Tom. “Now give it some gas.”

If I crash into a light pole, he can’t say I didn’t warn him.

Of course he knew the truck was an inanimate object and thus had no feelings. All the same, it seemed as though the massive beast was eager to move, and it lurched forward when he pressed on the gas pedal just the slightest bit. He wasted no time in going back to the nice, safe brake.

“Not bad. Try again, and let it go a little more.”

Alex tried to ignore the churning in his stomach and nervous sweat rolling down the back of his neck, and he depressed the gas pedal again.

This time, the truck moved a good six feet forward before he threw down the brake. The parking lot was beginning to spin around him, something which hadn’t happened in years, and suddenly the truck’s ventilation system seemed entirely insufficient.

“That was good,” said Tom. “A little jerky on the brake, but with practice ...”

He was still talking, but Alex didn’t hear a word because he was trying to get his traitorous body to obey him for once. It wasn’t working.

Five years since he’d last had a panic attack, half a decade, and he recognized the oncoming storm as though it had been five days. His heart raced, he struggled to breath, and if he’d eaten recently he’d probably be on the verge of throwing up. Most of all, the whole world raged around him, out of his control while he couldn’t even manage his own physiological response to stress.

Never mind driving, at this point he’d have happily settled for not breaking down in front of Tom, but he knew it was too late for that. Once a panic attack started, there was no cutting it off.

So much for making a good impression.


Carra's Review

Quite often in romance stories the phrase “meant for each other” is brought up when referring to the main couple in a book.  Tom and Alex fit that sentiment perfectly, though not how you might expect.

Tom is an exceedingly practical and pragmatic person, giving infinitely more weight to changing the oil in a boyfriend’s car than to buying him flowers and chocolate to show he cares.  I actually understand and appreciate that viewpoint—personally, I don’t care if someone gives me “things” to express their feelings, I’d rather get something useful than something pretty myself.  As for Alex, the poor guy is so consumed by his anxieties that he is constantly analyzing everything and everyone for potential problems, sometimes to the point where he pushes himself into a panic attack—just from the thought of what could go wrong.  I can’t imagine living life like he does…and he’s actually better now than he was when he was younger.  He takes into account every angle, and makes sure he’s prepared for any eventuality.

Tom thinks most of the measures Alex takes to be prepared are just fine if it makes Alex feel more secure.  And Alex doesn’t need sappy romantic gestures to know Tom cares.  While that might not sound sweet and passionate, not everyone needs that to be happy in a relationship—it’s all about what each person in that relationship values most.  So yes, Tom and Alex are absolutely meant for each other.

The thing about that though?  I think many readers of romance will feel kind of “meh” about this kind of relationship, even though for Tom and Alex they have their happy ending and it works for them.  As for me, though I do appreciate Tom’s practicality, I also want the passion, sweetness, and romance when it comes to the physical intimacy side…but the two of them approach that rather clinically as well.  At least their excellent compatibility allows for some good banter between them.


Acts of Service gets 3.5 stars from me—it’s the matter-of-fact, more clinical aspect of their relationship that is so prominent in the story leaving me without the *sigh* moments that I expect in a romance that impacted my rating.  As practical and clinical as Tom and Alex are, the bit of adult language and sexual content still makes this book one for readers 18+.


About the Author

Some kids have imaginary friends. Not content with that, I dreamed up an imaginary village, and I never stopped, though these days my stories feature a lot more hot men.

I love a rich fictional universe as much as a happy ending, and I have a tendency to get so lost in worlds of my own creation that I have to rush out at the door the last minute in a panic, desperately hoping I don't hit too many red lights.

Other ways to describe me: avid reader; chocoholic; historian; sci-fi geek; proud New Englander; koala lover; travel enthusiast.




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Friday, January 25, 2019

New Release-Review & Giveaway: HIS UPTOWN GUY by Felice Stevens (The Landmarks Series)



His Uptown Guy
(The Landmarks Series) 
Author: Felice Stevens 
Genre: M/M Romance
Release Date: January 24, 2019 




When Jesse Grace-Martin loses his father on 9/11, his charmed life is gone forever. People look menacing, and the streets no longer seem safe. After experiencing a brutal mugging, Jesse retreats to his apartment in the landmark Dakota building. Five years later, his first attempt to walk outside those famous gates again is a disaster—except for meeting the gorgeous maintenance worker who helps him through his crushing panic attack. Jesse can’t stop thinking about the guy but hesitates to reach out, knowing he has little to offer.

Dashamir Sadiko has big dreams. Money in the bank tops his list, and his peek into the life of the uber-wealthy at his job at the Dakota is all the incentive he needs. Struggling to work full-time and go to college, Dash desperately wants to break the cycle of poverty his parents had hoped to leave behind in Albania. When the two men become friends, Dash isn’t sure what to expect but can’t help his growing attraction to sweet and sexy Jesse. It’s nice to see how the other side lives, but his affections can’t be bought; Dash wants to be his own man.

Defying the Dakota’s co-op rules, the two share lunches, their hopes and dreams, and ultimately their hearts. Jesse slowly regains his courage, but he’s worried he’ll never be the person he once was and that he’s not good enough for Dash. And Dash isn’t convinced the son of poor immigrants’ has a place at the table with a blue-blood, trust-fund man. Jesse needs to realize that money can’t buy happiness and love, while Dash must learn to trust that what they have is real, that he’s more than Jesse’s walk on the wild side with an uptown guy.--






Carra's Review

His Uptown Guy features main characters with a class difference (rich/poor), something that doesn’t matter to Jesse but does become a bone of contention with Dash later on in the story.  Their meet-cute was more of an awkward introduction as Jesse—who suffers from agoraphobia—isn’t coping too well with a short trip outside, and it’s Dash who comes to his rescue.  But that winds up being the start of a great friendship which eventually turns into more.

This has a hurt/comfort/healing aspect to it as Dash helps Jesse face, cope with, and eventually begin to overcome his condition.  It’s definitely a bit of a journey for Jesse, who I found to be sweet if a bit oblivious to what others might think of things he does or his matter-of-fact outlook.  Jesse’s character gets to go through a lot of growth not just by conquering his agoraphobia, but also by realizing the issue that money and privilege creates between him and Dash.

Dash and Jesse fit wonderfully together, and nothing felt rushed about their relationship.  The physical chemistry is absolutely present—these two guys are scorching between the sheets.  There is plenty of passion between them, but they also have a good emotional connection as well.  

There are some really good secondary characters in Dash’s mother and Jesse’s assistant, both of whom offer their own opinions on love.  Miranda is a great support for Jesse, and her interpretation of the conflict that arises between Dash and Jesse is spot-on—as is her advice.


Overall, I thought His Uptown Guy was a solid 4-star read, and I really liked Dash and Jesse together.  Though I knew nothing about the famed Dakota building in which much of the story is set before I read this book, I’m still intrigued by the series and my interest is piqued to see which landmark comes next.  This story is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and sexual content.






Felice Stevens has always been a romantic at heart. She believes that while life is tough, there is always a happy ending around the corner, Her characters have to work for it, however. Like life in NYC, nothing comes easy and that includes love.

Felice has written over twenty books in the gay romance genre. Her books been translated into German, French and Italian. Her novel. One Call Away, part of her Soulmates series, was mentioned in Buzzfeed as one of the best “Out for You” gay romances of 2017.

Felice lives in New York City with her husband and two children. Her day begins with a lot of caffeine and ends with a glass or two of red wine. She recently retired from the practice law and now daydreams of a time when she can sit by a beach somewhere and write beautiful stories of men falling in love. Although there are bound to be a few bumps along the way, a Happily Ever After is always guaranteed.



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