REBEL
BALLSY BOOK 1
K.M. NEUHOLD & NORA PHOENIX
M/M ROMANCE
RELEASE DATE: 01.31.18
COVER DESIGN: K.M. NEUHOLD
BLURB
"I don't do relationships, I break them." ~ Troy
If there’s one thing life has taught me it’s that everyone eventually leaves. But that's okay because I have a strategy: no friends, no boyfriends, limit repeat hook-ups, no sleep overs, and above all leave them before they leave me. I’ve put my break-up skills to work doing others’ dirty work for them.
The last thing I expected when I agreed to do an embarrassing breakup song and dance was to end up on the doorstep of the very recognizable—and stupidly sexy—Rebel. When you meet a man like Rebel you'd be insane not to make a move. And just because he has me tossing out every single one of my rules doesn't mean I'm in trouble, right?
“I’m everyone’s friend, but no one’s everything.” ~ Rebel
I love working for Ballsy Boys, but when you make the kind of videos I do relationships are pretty damn impossible. Besides, guys find me sexy and want to either be with me or be me, but no one has ever cared enough to see the real me.
Until I meet Troy. He has no problem whatsoever with my job, but he’s determined to keep me at a distance. For the first time, a hook-up alone is not enough. I want more with him. Hell, I want everything. But he resists at every step until I’m about ready to give up. What do I need to do to show him that this is real and worth fighting for?
***Rebel is the first book in the Ballsy Boys Series and is a super sexy MM romance with plenty of good times. While this book and this series do contain some instances of sex outside of the main relationships, they DO NOT contain cheating.
EXCERPT
“I don’t give a sh*t.”
I scoff and shake my head but don’t argue further. If we keep hanging out without f*cking around, what does that make us? Friends? Something else?
In my apartment, I cringe inwardly, imagining what Rebel must be thinking as he steps into the one room that holds my whole life. Usually when I have a guy in here, we’re too busy getting naked for me to worry what they think of my living space. And, beyond that, I can’t imagine I’d care what any of those randoms think anyway.
“If you don’t have tea, how about I make you some soup or something?”
“Why are you doing this?” I eye him skeptically.
“What? Do you want something more substantial? I can make a sandwich.”
“No, I mean why are you being so nice?”
Rebel’s eyebrows furrow, and the corners of his lips tug down in a frown. There’s a sharp sadness in his striking blue eyes that makes me want to shove him away or crawl into bed and hide for a week, anything to get away from the pity.
“We’re friends, right?” Rebel asks.
“You’ve had your d*ck in both my mouth and my ass.”
“So...best friends?”
I want to laugh, but the pain meds are starting to wear off, and my nose is starting to throb. “I’m not usually friends with guys I f*ck around with,” I explain for what I feel like is the hundredth time since meeting Rebel.
“Then who are you usually friends with?”
My mouth opens and closes like a dumbass fish. I’m not sure if he was trying to throw shade, but damn if he didn’t get me. “I don’t have friends,” I finally admit with a little bite in my tone. I don’t want friends, and I don’t need friends.
“We’re friends; deal with it. Now, soup?” He skirts around me into my kitchen, leaving me at a loss for words. “Why don’t you lay down on the couch and find something for us to watch? I’ll bring you some food, and we’ll get a dose of the painkillers the ER prescribed into you, and you can sleep through the worst of the pain.”
I almost ask again why he’s doing this, but decide that whatever his motivation, it feels nice to be taken care of for a change. I settle onto the couch and put on the second season of Stranger Things.
It’s not long before Rebel brings me a bowl of soup, a second dose of the painkillers, and a glass of water.
“Thank you.”
Carra's Review
If you’re looking for a book that is on the high end of the spectrum for physical intimate contact, it’s safe to say that Rebel will fit the bill. That’s not because Rebel is a porn star, but because once he and Troy hook up they just can’t stop themselves from keeping their hands off each other. Neither are looking for an emotional connection—especially Troy thanks to his unstable childhood—yet those connections are the ones that seem to sneak up on you when you least expect it…even when you’re fighting like hell to keep it from happening.
Rebel’s had a very open upbringing with his total hippie parents who are one hundred percent supportive of his choices, including his job. He’s never had a relationship last thanks to that job, but he’s just find doing casual for now. Troy’s life was quite the opposite, and he’s walled off his emotions not wanting to get attached to anyone since sooner or later everyone leaves him. There’s no question these two have physical chemistry, and then wind up becoming…friends. With benefits. Lots and lots of benefits. It’s when things turn more than friendly that the tension starts, and Troy starts to panic.
The first quarter to third of the story I did find my attention wandering a bit; I found that I became more engaged further into the book as the emotional side started to develop. There’s a lot of heat between Troy and Rebel, which translates to a large amount of on-page sex…not necessarily a bad thing, but as often as they were going at it, it started to feel like they were too much about the physical. With as well as the emotional side of their relationship was written, several of the physical scenes could have been done without and it wouldn’t have affected the impact of the story as a whole.
There’s some great supporting characters with the rest of the Ballsy Boys group, and this book was a good introduction to them for the rest of the series without taking away from Rebel and Troy’s story. I also liked Troy’s new friend Mason’s character, and hope to see him again soon in another book.
Rebel was somewhere between a 3.5 and 4 star read for me, with most of the impact being in the second half of the book. This one is definitely only for readers 18+ for adult language, explicit sexual content (and a lot of it), and casual drug use (the one thing I was truly not at all on board with in the story).
When she was a little tot, Nora’s mom got a library subscription for her. That, as they say, was that, and a lifelong love for books was born. Nora never stopped reading and doesn’t exaggerate when she says she devours books, rather than plain reads them. She started writing stories as soon as she could hold a pen, and wrote her first full book as a teen (on a typewriter!). It took her waaaay too long to follow her dream to become a romance author.
Nora writes M/M romance, because hello, sexy boys, and likes her men flawed, strong, and a tad broken. She appreciates a little kink, but insists on a happy ever after.
I'm an author of m/m and new adult romance. I have a strong passion for writing characters with a lot of heart and soul, and a bit of humor as well.
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