Secret Admirer
by DJ Jamison
Publisher: DJ Jamison
Cover Artist: Cate Ashwood
Release Date: June 25, 2020
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance
Trope/s: Brother’s Best Friend, Secret Admirer
Themes: Bisexual awakening, friends to lovers themes
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 59 000 words
It is a standalone story.
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Blurb
You deserve all the kisses you want ...
Benji,
I just want you to know how amazing you are. You won't believe me, because I'm just your brother's best friend. But everything I feel is undeniable.
A few anonymous love tokens change everything, though. I finally have an outlet for all the things I can't say, and with each gift and note, you smile. For me. Not your brother's friend, but something new. Something more. Something that will change everything if we can both find the courage to believe.
All I have to do is confess who I really am:
Your Secret Admirer
Excerpt
ACE
“Is my brother a deal-breaker?” he asked.
I sucked in my bottom lip, feeling torn. I wanted him like crazy. I’d had plenty of time to feel attraction for guys, to get a bit curious and wonder... and my body was fully down to f*ck, regardless of the fact I’d never been with a guy. But f*cking Benji was a big deal. Jeremy expected me to protect his virtue, not throw him on the bed and ravish him.
“Ace?”
I let out an unsteady breath. “He should be. But f*ck, Benji, I really like you.”
“You can never lie to me again.”
“I won’t.”
“And you’ll let me handle my brother,” he said.
I parted my lips to object, but he was full of fire — not anger this time, but something else, something more enticing — and I couldn’t find the words. He must have seen the answer in my eyes. He tilted forward, and I met him for a long overdue kiss.
He was sweet, both tentative and eager as his lips parted under mine. Despite leading our conversation, he let me take over as soon as our mouths connected. I savored the soft feel of his lips, the hitch in his breathing as my tongue met his, the small sound of surrender as the kiss deepened.
“Whoa,” he said, voice filled with wonder, when I pulled back for a breath. His green eyes were bright, his cheeks rosy with a blush. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“Yeah?” I murmured, feeling a bit of my old ego restored at his reaction. “Just wait.”
I took his mouth again, and this time he met me with more confidence, pushing his tongue against mine, clutching at my shoulders.
The kiss grew wet and desperate.
I grabbed his head, holding him in place to better devour him, and he pushed his hands under my shirt, feeling up my stomach to my chest. When his fingers grazed my nipples, I shivered. When he raked his nails over my abs, I moaned and thrust my hips against his. I felt his hardness behind his zipper.
F*ck yes.
It sent a thrill through me. He wanted me, and I didn’t have to question it. He was hard, just like me. Male, just like me. It was strangely erotic, knowing he was aching in exactly the same way I was.
I pushed him onto the bed, loving the feel of him pinned under me. When we needed air, I moved my lips to the creamy skin of his neck. God, I loved his skin, so f*cking pale and soft.
His fingers were tangled in my hair, holding me against him, as he thrust his hips up. I could feel his c*ck jabbing my stomach, and I didn’t care one f*cking bit. I thought maybe I’d be weirded out, like maybe I’d need to adjust to having a guy under me instead of a girl, but it didn’t matter.
Benji felt right; he felt f*cking great.
Carra's Review
This is the perfect book to pick up if you’re looking for a new adult romance with a sweet-but-eventually-sexy virgin/bisexual awakening pairing. I tend to shy away from stories in the college setting since the maturity level of the characters can be hit or miss (in my experience), but here in Secret Admirer the author strikes a good balance so that the young main characters don’t come off as juvenile. While the brother’s best friend trope has been done many times before, Benji and Ace are adorable together both before and after they are a couple.
Benji is super sweet, talented, and also inexperienced. He’s also had a crush on Ace, his brother’s best friend, for a very long time. Ace does have the protective friend thing going on because hey—his best friend’s brother is away at college for the first time. But the more time he spends with Benji, the more his feelings morph into something more than just “sure, I’ll look out for you!”.
The secret admirer angle is cute; I mean come on—wouldn’t you like to get small gifts and notes from someone like that? The story is also relatively low angst, with only a very slight amount of drama from Ace’s family. It all makes for a fun read with a charming couple.
Secret Admirer was a 4-star read for me, and I’d recommend it to any M/M romance fan. Since the sweet does wind up giving way to some sexy and there’s adult language, this book is meant for readers 18+.
About the Author
DJ Jamison is the author of more than twenty m/m romances. She writes a variety of queer characters, from gay to bisexual to asexual. DJ grew up in the Midwest in a working-class family, and those influences can be found in her writing through characters coping with real-life problems: money troubles, workplace drama, family conflicts and, of course, falling in love. DJ spent more than a decade in the newspaper industry before chasing her first dream to write fiction. She spent a lifetime reading before that and continues to avidly devour her fellow authors’ books each night. She lives in Kansas with her husband, two sons, one snake, and a sadistic cat named Birdie.
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