COMING SOON!
SAVOR ME
Kitchen Gods #3
by Beth Bolden
Release date: October 2, 2018
Blurb
When Chef Xander Bridges leaves the warmth and safety of his car on a cold, stormy night and approaches a stranger, the last thing he expects to find is a future. He’s wanted to leave his job for awhile, but with no good opportunities on the horizon, he’s been stuck in a long, painful rut. But when he befriends the stranger viciously tearing up his own vineyard, Xander discovers something inexplicable. Maybe he’s not the bitter, sarcastic man that everyone, including himself, has endured for years.
Maybe, with someone like Damon in his life, he could be something more. Something better.
Damon Hess doesn’t just want more, he demands it. With his alcoholic past, there are no gray areas for him. Only black and white. In love or not. Sober or drunk. But the chance meeting with Xander opens Damon’s eyes, and gives him a vision full of something he hasn’t experienced in years: hope.
Hope that he can expect companionship and affection, hope that he doesn’t have to grapple with his family’s questionable Napa legacy any longer, and most importantly, hope that there’s a future worth believing in. But the longer he and Xander spend cultivating that future, the more Damon realizes that the key is so much simpler than he ever imagined--it’s Xander.
Maybe, with someone like Damon in his life, he could be something more. Something better.
Damon Hess doesn’t just want more, he demands it. With his alcoholic past, there are no gray areas for him. Only black and white. In love or not. Sober or drunk. But the chance meeting with Xander opens Damon’s eyes, and gives him a vision full of something he hasn’t experienced in years: hope.
Hope that he can expect companionship and affection, hope that he doesn’t have to grapple with his family’s questionable Napa legacy any longer, and most importantly, hope that there’s a future worth believing in. But the longer he and Xander spend cultivating that future, the more Damon realizes that the key is so much simpler than he ever imagined--it’s Xander.
Savor Me is an 80,000 word contemporary m/m romance starring an irascible man with a soft, gooey marshmallow center and another who knows he likes men, but has never been with one before. It is third in the Kitchen Gods series, but can be read as a standalone.
Exclusive Excerpt!
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to go read through the contract,” Xander said.
“Sure. I’ll just clean up.” Xander looked like he was about to protest, but Damon held up a hand. “I’m no good in the kitchen, but I can use a sink and a dishwasher.”
“If you insist, I’m not going to stop you,” Xander conceded with a smile. He’d relaxed again, and Damon found himself hoping that Xander let whatever issue he had with his family go for good this time.
He gathered up the rest of the dishes, and when he let himself in the sliding back door, Xander was at the counter, absorbed in the printed pages of the contract.
“Dry reading?” Damon asked as he flipped on the sink, filling it with hot soapy water.
It was obvious that Xander was a professional cook, because even though he had used a number of pans and utensils to prepare the meal, they were all neatly piled next to the sink, and the counter and stove had all been carefully wiped down.
“It could be more interesting,” Xander admitted. “Do you mind if I take this with me?”
“Sure, but if you’d like I can email you an electronic copy to take to a lawyer,” Damon said steadily. It was the right thing to do, but his heart had wanted Xander to sign tonight. Before he could figure out that Damon wasn’t as good of a bet as he appeared.
“That would be nice, but I’m not taking it to a lawyer. I just want a copy for myself.”
Xander had gotten a real nice sear on the salmon filets, and the pan needed to be soaked. Filling it with hot water, Damon set it aside. “I don’t want you to look back on this conversation and wish you’d done things differently,” he said.
“It’s a straightforward contract, and anyway, I trust you.”
Damon glanced over, and was surprised to see in Xander’s expression that he really meant it. “I know we just met,” Xander rambled, “I know we also met under . . .extraordinary circumstances. But I choose to believe that we can make something extraordinary with those circumstances.”
It was inevitable that it would happen one day. Damon had known since he was twelve that he was attracted to both sexes. But he’d met his ex-wife so young, there had never been an opportunity to explore that attraction with men.
Until now.
He kept his trembling hands submerged in the sink, holding like a lifeline onto the pot he was scrubbing. He didn’t want Xander to see how affected he was—and he definitely wasn’t ready to approach Xander yet. If he was ever going to feel ready.
Also just because Xander was gay didn’t mean he was interested in Damon. After all, Xander knew he was a recovering alcoholic, and Damon had always imagined that not many people would ever chose to take that sort of burden on in a romantic partner.
Still, the possibility existing at all, even in a nebulous future, made Damon swallow hard.
“That’s a lot of trust to give,” Damon said, voice raw. He didn’t have to add, to someone who you personally witnessed falling apart only a year ago.
Xander shot him a quicksilver grin, and went back to reading the contract.
He finished washing and drying the dishes, putting them away, but Damon felt shaken to the core by Xander’s words, and his own reaction to them.
Whether Xander acknowledged it or not, he was taking a chance, and there was definitely a part of Damon that didn’t feel worthy of it, especially when he heard Xander scrawling his signature on the contract, the pen scratching across the paper.
“There,” Xander said with finality. “All it needs is your signature.”
He could have slid it over the counter. Damon’s hands were still a little damp, but he could have leaned over the prep counter and signed.
Instead, Xander left it next to him. Right next to him. Like he was inviting Damon into his personal bubble.
Damon hesitated, almost definitely for a second too long, because Xander chuckled, low and a little rough, and it did all sorts of things to Damon’s stomach.
The truth was, Xander had a supernatural effect on Damon’s stomach. He fed it incredible food while giving it the sort of nervous, hungry butterflies Damon hadn’t felt since he was a teenager.
“Come on, I don’t bite,” Xander said, flashing another one of those bright smiles. “Hard.”
About the Author
Beth Bolden lives in Portland, Oregon with her supportive husband. She wholly believes in Keeping Portland Weird, but wishes she didn’t have to make the yearly pilgrimage up to Seattle to watch her Boston Red Sox play baseball. She’s a fan of fandoms, and spends too much of her free time on tumblr.
Beth has been writing practically since she learned the alphabet. Unfortunately, her first foray into novel writing, titled Big Bear with Sparkly Earrings, wasn’t a bestseller, but hope springs eternal. She’s published nine novels and two novellas, with Savor Me, the next novel in the Kitchen Gods series, releasing in fall 2018.
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