Adriana Kraft

When it's time to heat things up...

Gay Romance

Out Now! Nice and Naughty by Lil DeVille #NewRelease #bisexual #m/m romance #polyamory #role playing

by

BOOK INFORMATION

Title: Nice and Naughty
Author: Lil DeVille
Genre: Gay Romance, Holiday Romance, M/M Romance, Romantic Comedy
Heat Level: 5 Flames
ASIN: ‎ B0CP9WP2DF
ISBN: 9798871986608
Publisher: ‎Naughty Netherworld Press
Publication date:  December 23, 2023
Length: 14,500 words (Novelette)

BLURB

Parsifal returns home to spend the Christmas holidays with his family. As he arrives at the airport, he is greeted by his brother Hart and his ex-boyfriend Bobby. Bobby is accompanied by his new boyfriend Seth. As they spend the day together, Parsifal notices something peculiar. Bobby seeks comfort from Hart rather than Seth after a minor accident at the park.

Meanwhile, Parsifal finds himself drawn to hot nerd Seth. The more time they spend together, the more Parsifal believes the feeling is mutual.

However, Parsifal’s Christmas holiday is about to get even crazier. His redneck relatives are coming over for Christmas Eve dinner, and Parsifal is dreading the chaos that is sure to ensue. Between his family’s quirky behavior and Seth’s enticing presence, Parsifal’s vacation is shaping up to be anything but relaxing.

This is the second book in The Shape Of Heat series. It can be read as a standalone, but the first book, Awakening, should be read first if you wish to know more about the background of Parsifal and his girlfriends Candi and Luisa.

EXCERPT

Over the summer, things heated beyond the boiling point between me and my longtime friends Candi and Luisa. We grew even closer as the fall that never looks like fall rolled into the Caribbean island where we work and play. Our boss had nothing but praise for us as resort workers, and we were popular writers at Climax Productions. Everyone needs to rest sometime, though, so I was glad to be heading home to Tennessee to reconnect with family and friends over the winter holidays.

I was especially looking forward to seeing my big brother Hart and my ex-boyfriend Bobby. Although Bobby and I broke up after I cheated on him, we remained close friends. Plus, I was looking forward to meeting Bobby’s new guy Seth.

Hart was waiting in the pickup zone in his beloved 1965 burgundy Mustang. He was a dark-haired, lanky drink of water who resembled the late, great Hank Williams. I’m a skinny beach bum with wavy, strawberry-blond hair. I think I look like a young Dennis Wilson. My girl Candi says I look like an elf. My little brothers say that Hart and I look like Beavis and Butthead. Well, what can you expect from little brothers? At least they have great taste in cartoons.

Hart gave me a great big bear hug and put my bags in the trunk. I settled in the passenger seat. Bobby and Seth, who had flown into Nashville from Los Angeles, were riding in the back.

Bobby reached around the seat to hug me. He was still the same golden-haired, freckle-faced ray of California sunshine that I remembered. Seth was quiet and had a brooding artist vibe about him. He had shaggy coffee-brown hair with long wedge bangs and a pale complexion. He smiled shyly when he shook my hand.

“Seth Dinapoli,” he said, his voice cool and whispery like the winds outside a haunted castle.

“Parsifal Matveev. Pleased to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Seth said, unaware of how he was killing me with his seductive gray eyes peeking from behind his dark curtain of hair.

“Don’t even think about it, Parsley,” I admonished myself as I felt a stirring in my loins when I gripped Seth’s pale, slender hand. “We’ll draft a nice Gothic story about a smolderingly seductive vampire who has his way with the innocent young prodigal son who just returned home to Ye Olde Manor after a year away. We will have naughty video chats with our sexy girlfriends. We will not, and I repeat, will not seduce our ex-boyfriend’s new man.”

BUY LINK

https://amzn.to/3T3srPF

Ebook: Just 99 cents.

Paperback: $4.20

ABOUT LIL

Lil DeVille is a former nurse who started writing erotica after becoming disabled in 2019. She enjoys imagining quirky characters involved in lusty encounters anywhere from a tropical paradise or a rustic mountain village in the present day to an all-male mining colony on an asteroid in the distant future.

Lil likes to end her stories on a Happy for Now note with a promise of more good things to come. Although her writing sometimes addresses difficult subjects such as alcoholism or past abuse, she brings a note of love and support to scenes involving these issues.

Lil lives in a remote prairie town in Northeastern Colorado with her adult son and three cats. When she isn’t cooking up spicy stories, she enjoys baking and crafts.

Lil’s Links

Amazon Author Page: https://bit.ly/LilDevilleAmazonAuthor

Lil’s Latest: https://www.subscribepage.com/lildeville

Naughty Netherworld Press Blog: http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com

Naughty Netherworld Press Books: https://bit.ly/NNPBooks

Naughty Netherworld Press Start Page

https://naughtynetherworldpress.start.page

Naughty Netherworld Press Substack

https://naughtynetherworldpress.substack.com

Naughty Netherworld Press Tumblr

http://netherworldwritersguild.tumblr.com

Readers Roost Book Blog https://bit.ly/ReadersRoost

Readers Roost Twitter https://twitter.com/ReadersRoost

Book Blast! The Road to Montepulciano, by Garrick Jones @Gazrj01 #GayRomance #Thriller #HistoricalFiction #LGBTQ

by

BOOK BLAST

Book Title: The Road to Montepulciano

Author: Garrick Jones

Publisher: Moshpit Publications

Cover Artist: Garrick Jones

Release Date: September 19, 2023

Genre: Crime Thriller/Historical Fiction

Themes: Sowing one’s oats; Finding Mr. Right; Acceptance in community

Heat Rating: 5 flames

Length: 140 500 words/ 393 pages (paperback version)

It is a standalone book and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Smashwords

 

 

Blurb

Two years after finishing his tour of duty in the Occupational Forces in Japan, Damson O’Reilly arrives in Siena, Italy. Sight-unseen at a local auction, he buys an abandoned Tuscan farmhouse in which he aims to write, paint, and start a new life.

The house, passed over at auction, becomes an impulse buy when it’s put up for a final time. He’s prepared for a semi-ruin, happy to turn his hand to renovating the house—however, what he’s totally unprepared for are three dead bodies, one of which he stumbles over when he arrives at La Mensola, the name of his isolated farmhouse on the road between Siena and Montepulciano.

Against the backdrop of a series of grisly murders, The Road to Montepulciano is the story of a young man, still suffering the scars of war, who, despite betrayal of trust and surrounded by a complex web of lies, finds friendship, love and the warmth of community.

 

Excerpt

I was lying in bed listening to Donati potter around in the kitchen for a few minutes, trying to make up my mind whether or not to get out of bed. I checked my watch: half past five. It was still dark outside—it wouldn’t start getting light for another three-quarters of an hour.

He had to know, I thought, reflecting on the whole of last evening. He must have guessed that I was queer, otherwise what had happened wouldn’t have taken place. We’d have washed separately, each waiting in our rooms until the other had finished, then continued to drink, play cards and behave like kids, but with our clothes on … or at least our underwear.

Some people just seemed to know it about me, although I wasn’t aware that I’d ever telegraphed where my preferences lay. A few times during the war I’d found myself on the receiving end of some very not-so-subtle advances quite out of the blue, far more forthright than the almost imperceptible, ever-so-slightly charged evening I’d enjoyed last night. And as for him? Well, I wasn’t sure just yet. There was something though that made me wonder: a frequent holding of eye contact, as if he was trying to discover what I was thinking, always breaking away abruptly with a soft smile on his face.

I’d never been able to recognise who was one of the tribe like some of my bedfellows, although at the same time I’d never been shy to leap at an opportunity when it offered itself up. But I found it hard to initiate things. Usually I’d wait until the other person either made a move or gave me a sign that he was interested in more than passing the time of day.

I’d heard Italian men were basically open to anything—whether that was true or not, I had no idea. Maybe Donati was just a regular man who liked a bit of variety every so often—I’d met a few of those—or maybe he was just like me: lonely and looking for a friend.

Deciding to finally get up, I’d barely thrown back the sheet and sat up, my feet drawn up and knees splayed while I leaned over, searching for my cigarettes—which for some strange reason I’d thrown into my haversack last night—when Renzo walked into the room with a demitasse in each hand. The smell of the coffee made my stomach grumble.

He was naked too. It seemed that clothing was to be an optional extra during my stay … I returned his smile.

“Buongiorno, Damson,” he said, handing one of the cups to me, then sat in the middle of the bed, one of his legs at an angle, the knee resting on my foot.

“Buongiorno, Renzo. You. Sleep. Good?”

“Hai dormito bene?” he corrected my Italian, saying the words slowly, twirling his finger in the air to encourage me to repeat the correct version.

“In English?” Renzo asked after I’d got it right.

“Did you sleep well?”

When he repeated the words, he made a pretty good fist of it, so I held out my hand. The shake happened directly over my crotch, mainly because having finished his coffee he’d stretched out over the bed. It was obvious that my genitals were right in front of his face, but his eyes hadn’t flicked away from my own, despite his Cheshire cat grin. This time I was the first to break eye contact, playfully nudging his shoulder with my foot, then reaching for my cigarettes once more.

We chatted for a while, trying out words with each other while smoking, Renzo idly playing with the hair trail below his navel while we traded vocabulary for items in the room. Then, after we’d given each other a lesson on conjugating the present tense of the verb “to be” in our own languages, I checked my watch. “Is that the time?” I said in English. I jumped out of bed, pulling on my only pair of slacks and grabbing a white American T-shirt from my haversack. It was wrinkled, but there was nothing I could do about it.

“No …?” he asked, making a plucking gesture at his waist with his thumb.

Damn, I’d been so distracted that I’d forgotten. Pulling off my trousers, I rummaged in my backpack again and found a pair of Y-fronts—they were a French brand and fairly new on the market. I usually washed my smalls every night, but there’d been too much going on and it had slipped my mind

Renzo whistled as I pulled them on, watching as I put my hand down inside the front of the waistband and adjusted myself in the pouch before pulling on my trousers once more.

“You. Like?” I asked.

He nodded, so I found another pair, still in its packet, and threw them to him. “Go ahead,” I said, while pulling on my socks, then lacing my canvas shoes.

He undid the packet, swung his legs off the bed, put both feet in the underpants, then, as he stood up, pulled them up, turning to look at his arse in the mirror of the wardrobe. “Che bel culo,” he said, winking over his shoulder at me.

I laughed. That phrase I did understand, and he did have a very nice arse.

 

About the Author

From the outback to the opera.

After a thirty-year career as a professional opera singer, performing as a soloist in opera houses and in concert halls all over the world, I took up a position as lecturer in music in Australia in 1999, at the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music, which is now part of CQ University.

Brought up in Australia, between the bush and the beaches of the Eastern suburbs, I retired in 2015 and now live in the tropics, writing, gardening, and finally finding time to enjoy life and to re-establish a connection with who I am after a very busy career on the stage and as an academic.

 

 

Author Links

Blog/Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Pinterest | Newsletter Sign-up

 

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

Release Blitz: Footwork, by TA Moore @tamoorewrites #Giveaway #LGBTQ #GayRomance @GayBookPromos

by

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Footwork

Author: TA Moore

Publisher: Rogue Firebird Press

Cover Artist: Tammy Moore

Release Date: September 10, 2023

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: First Love, Second Chance, Bad Boy, Grumpy One and Sunshine One

Themes: Forgiveness, second chances, family, redemption

Length: 57 000 words/ 90 pages

Heat Rating: 3 flames

It is a standalone book set in the same world/town as the Dirty Deeds series

It does not end on a cliffhanger

Goodreads

 

Buy Links

Universal Link

 

When your ex-boyfriend finally has the life he always wanted, it would take a real asshole to interfere with that…but not like Bode’s ever said he’s not an asshole.

 

Blurb

Bode Harlan has never claimed to be a good guy, but he’s trying to keep his nose clean and his head down these days.

After a year in prison for assault–and to be fair, he did it–he isn’t looking to go back. Admittedly, his pretty face being the star attraction in an illegal underground fighting ring seems to run counter to that goal, but he’s gotta pay the bills and there ain’t much else he’s good at.

And it keeps his parole officer off his back…since she runs the place.

Then his mom skips town and her boyfriend kicks Bode’s 14 year old brother out on the street. Bode grew up in and out of foster care, he doesn’t want that for Danny. It’s not like he can take the kid in, though. He’s an ex-con who gets beat up twice a month for money. That’s how he ends up on his good-natured ex-boyfriend’s doorstep. Sonny is a soft touch. At least he always was for Bode. All he wants is somewhere to crash for a couple of nights, nothing more. Sonny’s got his life together now–a home, a boyfriend, even a dog–and it would take a real asshole to want to blow that up.

…of course, Bode’s never said he wasn’t an asshole.

 

Excerpt

SONNY SLAMMED THE door. Or tried to. Before it closed, Bode shoved his boot into the gap, and the heavy wood bounced off leather and bone.

Bode winced and had the balls to look put out. The cooking show Sonny had been halfway through rattled on in the background. It wasn’t the soundtrack that Sonny had imagined for his first reunion with his sort-of ex. That had either been Driver’s License or Bad Guy, depending on his mood.

“Why do you assume I want something?” Bode asked. His hair was shorter than it used to be—making it look darker, more red than ginger—and a bruise had just started to bloom around one of his eyes. At some point, Sonny knew it would fade down to a marshy green that nearly matched Bode’s eyes. He’d seen that happen before.

Back when Bode’s bruises had been Sonny’s business. That had been a while ago.

“Why else would you be here?” Sonny asked. He could hear it in his voice—the dredged-up hurt, the once-broken heart—but he doubted Bode would notice. It wasn’t the sort of thing he cared about. Other people and how what he did affected them were not Bode’s area of expertise. Sonny checked the time. “At nearly midnight.”

Bode shrugged, one-sided and laconic. “Maybe I wanted to tell you I’m out.”

“You’ve been out for three months,” Sonny said.

“Keeping tabs?” Bode asked with a slow, smug smile. It probably hurt as it creased along the edges of the bruise, but he didn’t let that stop him. “I didn’t know you still cared.”

“I don’t,” Sonny said. It wasn’t true. He cared, but that didn’t have to mean anything. It didn’t mean anything. “Just pointing out you’ve had plenty of time to drop by, yet this is the first time I’ve seen you. What happened? We keep missing each other?”

“You always got up too early for me.”

Sonny was surprised at how angry that made him. He wasn’t stupid. Bode knew that. So why stick to his stupid lie when they both knew Bode wouldn’t cross the street to see Sonny, not unless he had an ulterior motive. His temper felt like a head cold, the pressure of it at the back of his eyes. Usually it took him a long, grudging time to get mad about something, but Bode had been an asshole for years, so that pump was about ready to blow.

Except Sonny didn’t like it when he lost his temper. He didn’t like being out of control. It never ended well. He bit the inside of his cheek, a knot of old scar tissue from the habit gritty between his teeth, and throttled the hot emotion back.

“Right, well,” he said. “Whatever. If that was the only reason you’re here, job done. Now I know. I’m glad for you.”

He opened the door. Bode had the balls to look smug, as if he’d known that Sonny would come round. More fool him. Sonny braced his hands flat against Bode’s chest and gave him a shove that made him stagger backward.

“You can still fuck off,” Sonny repeated and slammed the door.

He turned around and leaned back against the door while he waited. On the TV screen, a woman in a white chef’s coat was trying to do something to a side of beef with a coat hanger. The dog had taken the opportunity to crawl up onto the couch and bury her head under a cushion, as if there was no way Sonny would see her whole ass sticking out.

Five.

Four.

Three.

The idea that he might have gotten it wrong—that Bode might have actually fucked off—had just started to nibble at the back of Sonny’s mind. He hated—really, honestly hated—that it would bother him if Bode had.

It wasn’t that he deluded himself that Bode couldn’t leave things unsaid with him—that was how Bode preferred to leave things. It was just that they’d known each other since they were kids, and Bode didn’t easily give up on anything he wanted. It would be weird if that changed now. No, the reason Bode was here was because he wanted something.

And two…

“I need somewhere to crash,” Bode said through the door. “Just for a couple of nights, until I sort something out.”

 

About the Author

TA Moore is a Northern Irish writer of romantic suspense, urban fantasy, and contemporary romance novels. A childhood in a rural, seaside town fostered in her a suspicious nature, a love of mystery, and a streak of black humour a mile wide.

Coffee, Doc Marten boots, and good friends are the essential things in life. Spiders, mayo, and heels are to be avoided.

 

 

Author Links

Blog/Website | Facebook | Twitter

Instagram | Newsletter Sign-up | TikTok

 

Giveaway

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win

a choice of backlist ebook (5 winners)

or

a $40 Amazon Gift Card (1 winner)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions



On Tour ~ Out Now! Roustabout, by Morgan Brice #Giveaway #LGBTQ #Paranormal #GayRomance @GayBookPromos

by

BLOG TOUR

Book Title: Roustabout: A Carnival of Mysteries book

Author: Morgan Brice

Publisher: Darkwind Press

Cover Artist: Dianne Thies

Release Date: August 23, 2023

Genre: Paranormal MM romance

Tropes: adversaries-to-lovers, hurt/comfort, forced proximity, rogue with a heart of gold, secret agent/con man, redemption arc

Themes: overcoming the past, settling old wrongs, second chances

Length: 230 pages

Heat Rating: 4 flames

It is a standalone book, but also part of the shared-world, multi-author Carnival of Mysteries series and is connected to Morgan’s Kings of the Mountain series.

It does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

A con man and a government agent walk into a carnival…

Blurb

Bartlett Gibson is a necromancer and an agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Supernatural Investigation. He’s hot on the trail of RJ Tucker, a psychic con man who has eluded him at every turn and led him on a merry chase. Pursuit leads to grudging respect in their game of cat and mouse, which becomes a high-stakes game of seduction. Bart chases RJ to the Carnival of Mysteries and realizes that nothing is as it seems. A dark witch’s curse ups the ante, creating a deadline for revenge and redemption, and the clock is ticking.

Falling in love breaks all the rules. Can Bart and RJ stop the witch, break the curse, and find a way around RJ’s spot on the “most wanted” list before time runs out?

Roustabout is a fast-paced MM paranormal romance filled with supernatural suspense, snarky humor, crafty carnival workers, sarcastic ghosts, midway magic, hurt/comfort angst, adversaries-to-lovers tension, and a very happy ending!

Part of the multi-author, shared-world Carnival of Mysteries series. Can be read as a stand-alone.

Excerpt

But first, reckless as it might be, RJ had a date.

He knew he was fussing too much over his hair—manicuring his stubble and manscaping— but it had been a long time since there’d been anyone to notice, and he was going to make the most of it.

RJ wore his best shirt, a russet one that complemented his hair and warmed his pale complexion. Together with a new pair of jeans and a pair of Timberlands that were a rare splurge, he knew he cleaned up well.

He drove to Rosco’s Barbecue and parked, then realized his palms were sweating as he gripped the steering wheel.

It’s just dinner, he told himself. But nobody had ever made him feel like Bart did.

He grew up fast on the circuit surrounded by roustabouts and wranglers who didn’t follow convention and largely lived outside the restrictions of polite society. RJ had plenty of boyfriends and lovers over the years. Those in the carnival life rarely expected permanence, and relationships seldom lasted more than a season.

Moving from place to place had been a necessary distraction in those years. He hadn’t wanted more than temporary connections since he still mourned the people he had loved and lost. The dream of vengeance had sustained him, and for a long time, that was enough.

But now, with the end of his quest in sight, RJ found himself wanting more. Maybe he could never tell a partner everything about his old life and the recompense he had dealt out, but perhaps he didn’t need to live in self-imposed solitude.

After all, people in WITSEC get married. This isn’t too much different.

God, I’ve got the cart before the horse. We haven’t even fucked properly, and I’m picking out china patterns. It’s just dinner. And maybe a blow job if I play my cards right.

He went inside and looked for Bart. When he didn’t see the tall man waiting, his stomach tightened, fearing he had been stood up.

Bart came in a moment later, looking harried. “Sorry. Work ran over. Have you been here long?” He looked like he really cared whether RJ had been worried.

RJ relaxed and gave a broad smile. “Just got here myself.” His stomach growled. “It smells so good in here, and I’m starving.”

They followed the hostess to a table. RJ saw Bart slip her a twenty to get a spot out of the thick of the fray. Rosco’s did a booming business, with food that deserved the buzz.

“Did you have a good day?” Bart asked after they had ordered. RJ thought it was charming that Bart seemed flustered.

Maybe he’s as out of practice as I am.

About the Author

Morgan Brice is the romance pen name of bestselling author Gail Z. Martin. Morgan writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance, with plenty of action, adventure and supernatural thrills to go with the happily ever after. Gail writes epic and urban fantasy, with less romance, more explosions.

All of the modern-day Morgan Brice and Gail Z. Martin series crossover, so characters from one series appear in cameos and on page in important secondary roles in books from other series. Each book can be read as a standalone, but the more you read the more the expanded universe of friendships and connections becomes clear.

Morgan and Gail believe that paranormal elements make any story even better, and her worlds are full of ghosts, psychics, shifters, creatures, vampires, monster hunters, and magic.

She’s also a huge fan of the TV show Supernatural. (Chibi art by Kamidiox)

 

Author Links

Website | Audible Profile | Amazon profile

Facebook Group | Facebook Page

Pinterest (for Morgan and Gail) | Twitter

BookBub | Instagram

Sign up for my newsletter and never miss a new release

Read a copy of my Badlands short story Restless Nights here for free

 

 

Giveaway

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win

a $10 Amazon gift card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions


Release Blitz: Inhale, by D.P. Denman #Contemporary #GayRomance #LGBTQ @GayBookPromo

by

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Inhale

Author: D.P. Denman

Cover Artist: AJ Corza

Release Date: July 20, 2023

Genre: Contemporary Gay Romance

Tropes: damaged lead finds love, professional model, learning to love again, blackmail, voyeur, private investigator stories

Heat Rating: 3 flames

Length: 75 000 words/ 300 pages

It is a standalone book and does not end on a cliffhanger

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

What can you do when love takes you by surprise? Just breathe.

 

Blurb

Cole Rinne is a model with an impossible problem. An invasion of his privacy ends up in the hands of a blackmailer and the details could go public any day. His only hope is to ditch the spotlight and hide in the shadows. Then he meets someone with a solution.

Gage Marx is a PI who specializes in impossible problems. He’s used to solving the unsolvable. The only thing he’s ever declared a lost cause is himself.

From the start, Cole’s case holds more surprises than Gage expects. The most shocking is that for the first time in over a year, Gage’s broken heart is showing signs of life.

Their plan to wade slowly into love comes apart when an unexpected opportunity threatens to turn it all into a long-distance relationship. Will occasional reunions be enough to keep them together or will their separate careers tear them apart?

 

Excerpt

Gage woke to the jostling of his mattress. The shadowed figure at the end of the bed had him up from his pillow in an instant. He fumbled for the light on the nightstand, his heart hammering. One hundred watts burst into the room and Gage dropped his head back, breathing to the ceiling.

Cole sat at the end of the bed, still in his rumpled clothes.

“You scared the shit out of me,” Gage told him.

“Sorry.” Cole slumped.

The misery on his face silenced the rest of Gage’s lecture. “It’s okay.”

“I couldn’t sleep. I keep thinking about everything. I feel so….” Cole’s face twisted into a smudge of anger and sadness.

“Violated?” Gage supplied when it was apparent Cole couldn’t come up with the words.

“That.” Cole nodded.

“Betrayed? Pissed?”

Cole kept nodding until the last word. “Oh, I passed pissed an hour ago. I’m whatever you are when you reach the molten lava stage. If I thought it would make me feel any better, I’d ask for a meeting so I could spit in his face.”

“I don’t blame you.” Gage leaned against the headboard.

“I also don’t want to be alone.” Cole looked at him, sad green eyes and crooked eyebrows asking permission.

Gage stared back, searching Cole’s face for a lust-inspired ploy to get into his bed. He didn’t find one.

“Why don’t you sleep in here?” Gage offered.

It was a mistake, and he knew it. There would be no way to maintain any kind of boundary after a night together, even if all they did was sleep. The alternative was to send Cole back to the couch alone, where he would sit in the dark, ruminating over the betrayal. Gage would stare at the ceiling over his bed, imagining him doing it. He’d end up back on the couch, holding Cole and watching infomercials until one of them fell asleep again.

“Thank you.” Cole climbed under the covers and nestled into the empty pillow.

Gage turned off the light and settled back where he’d been, pretending he could see Cole on the other half of the bed until his eyes adjusted and Cole returned to a shadowed form beside him.

They stared at each other for a moment.

“I know you have your rules,” Cole said quietly, “and I still want you working my case. I also think I want you as something more than that.”

“Are you sure it’s not because you’re feeling vulnerable? I don’t want to take advantage of you not having anyone else to talk to.”

Cole reached out and rested a hand on his arm. “I’m not sure of anything, but I know what I’m starting to feel, and I’m pretty sure I know why. It’s more than the case.”

Gage covered Cole’s hand, caressing his knuckles, using touch to mask the silence. It was more than the goal of maintaining a professional distance. He didn’t think he was ready for a physical relationship. Not yet. Not in that house with a room full of similar memories right across the hall.

“Is there a way to make that happen?” Cole asked. “Assuming you want to.”

The question wasn’t new. Gage had already wasted hours thinking about what he would do if Cole kissed him again, digging for loopholes he could bend his ethics around. His only solution was to hand the investigation off to someone who would let him stick his nose back in it at will. No one could fault him for keeping an eye on a situation that affected a man he was dating.

“I could let the law firm take over. They’ll be doing most of the work on it from now on, anyway.”

“I don’t want to take money away from you just so I can date you.”

“I have other clients.”

“People put lawyers on retainer, right? What if I do that with you?”

“I would hope you don’t have things like this happening often enough to be worth that.”

“This would be so much easier if you were a bodyguard or something.”

“They aren’t supposed to get involved with clients either.”

“FBI agent?”

“Nope.”

“Federal Marshall?”

“Sorry.”

“Bounty hunter?”

“Sure, if you didn’t mind me hauling you in for skipping bail anyway. Otherwise, I’d be aiding a fugitive.”

“This is much sexier in the movies.”

Gage smiled. “That’s why they call it fiction.”

 

About the Author

Award-winning author DP Denman wrote her first short story when she was eight and has been crafting fictional adventures ever since! You can usually find her with a cup of coffee in hand, contemplating her next story.

A covert romantic, she writes addictive, character-driven gay romance about damaged people who find the strength to put their lives back together. Her stories are gripping and dramatic — guaranteed to hold you hostage to the last word!

 

Social Media Links

Blog/Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Newsletter Sign-Up

Instagram | BookBub | Lemon8 | Amazon Page

 

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions



Out Now! A Little More Hope, by Pauley J Ray #Giveaway #LGBTQ @GayBookPromo #GayRomance #excerpt

by

RELEASE BLITZ

 

Book Title: A Little More Hope (Hot Property, Book Two)

Author: Pauley J Ray

Publisher: NineStar Press

Cover Artist: Jaycee DeLorenzo

Release Date: July 18, 2023

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Bi awakening, Emotional scars

Themes: Overcoming adversity, loss, rejection

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 87 900 words/525 pages

This is book two of a four-book series. Each book concentrates on a different main character from the four owners of a successful construction company. Successive books will include spoilers from the previous ones if the books are not read in order.

This story does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads – Book 1

 

Buy Links

NineStar Press | Amazon UK Author Page | Amazon US Author Page

 

Your heart must believe there is hope before you can believe there is love

 

Blurb

After a vicious assault leaves him a virtual recluse, businessman Mason Wilder escapes to his friend’s beach house in the small seaside town of Melrose Bay to heal and come to terms with the shadow of the man he has become.

When Ashton Michaels, wanderer, surfer, loner, unexpectedly inherits a rundown shack of a house, he must decide: keep running from his disastrous past relationships or return to the place he loves, finally put down some roots, and learn to live life with all its consequences.

After a chance encounter with his elusive next-door neighbor, Ash can see Mason is hurting and it releases his protective, caring side and he knows he’ll do anything he can to aid the handsome, broken man in such desperate need of help.

Mason initially resists the offer of help from Ash, but the guy is persistent and for reasons he can’t figure out, Mason feels drawn to him. When Ash decides to keep and renovate his new home, impulsively Mason joins him and in the process of rebuilding the house, Mason begins to rebuild his life and confront his fears.
He must also learn to come to terms with his unexpected attraction to a man for the first time in his life. Ash is a solid, comforting, and caring presence and offers Mason everything he’s been searching for since his brutal attack.

Ash is falling hard for the quiet and troubled man he’s spending all his time with but is worried the past will only repeat itself and Mason will leave him all alone like everyone else.

Can Mason finally put his demons to rest to move forward with his life and will Ash be able prevent his fear of being left behind from ruining his chance at love?

 

Excerpt

Mason

“It’s late. I should go, and you need to rest,” he stuttered, his eyes looking anywhere but at me.

I hastily stood, then gripped him around the upper arm. Not restrictive, but enough to keep him from moving. He stiffened but didn’t pull away. “Please don’t go.” I placed my other hand on the side of his neck. His eyelids fluttered briefly shut and a light tremor ran through his body under my palm.

“I’m sorry if I unsettled you. It’s just— I’ve— It’s—” I sighed, trying to explain. “I haven’t let anyone hold me since the attack. Not friends or family. I haven’t wanted to.” I waited until his eyes opened and stormy green focused on my own. “You’re the first I’ve allowed.”

He stared at me for the longest time before whispering, “Why?”

I thought about his question, trying to work the answer out in my head, why Ash’s touch and only his didn’t make my skin crawl. I’d attributed my repulsion to being touched to the associated feeling of terror when my assailants dragged me into the filthy dark alley. I knew the difference, obviously, but couldn’t get past the feeling whenever someone tried to put their hands on me.

I shrugged. “I’m not sure I understand why,” I admitted, “but your touch is different. It calms me, grounds me, makes everything okay, and I haven’t felt that way in a very long time.”

If ever.

I lowered my eyes at revealing that last piece of information, but I’d spoken the truth, nonetheless. “I don’t want you to stop.” I almost begged him, not wanting to relinquish this small piece of comfort I had in my life, the single ray of light in the never-ending darkness.

The shy grin crossing Ash’s face at my words lit me up inside like a beacon. Releasing himself from my hold, his hands moved to rest lightly on my waist as he stepped closer, making our bodies touch.

“This okay?” he asked, his voice gravelly.

Strong arms circled around my lower back to pull me closer, and a shudder shook my whole body as I reveled in the feel of him, of being in his embrace. My own arms mirrored his, sliding up and over his shoulder blades, his taut muscles rippling under my fingers.

“Yeah,” I managed, as he hugged me tighter, yet remaining careful of putting any pressure on my ribs.

He shifted slightly, and my crotch rubbed against his thigh, sending ripples of pleasure straight to my cock, now thickening rapidly in my shorts and shocking the hell out of me. I hadn’t been able to get hard once since the attack, and I was unprepared for the suddenness of getting an erection. Being so close to someone after all this time must be overloading my senses, as I couldn’t find any other explanation for what was happening to me.

Unable to stop, I pushed my hips against his leg, the pressure of his firm thigh on my hardening dick sending my pulse rocketing, bombarding me with sparks of desire.

 

About the Author

Pauley J Ray writes contemporary MM romantic fiction. His books contain sexy yet complicated and flawed characters searching for their own happily ever after.

When not writing, he can’t wait to get outdoors, and with his husband, go hiking, camping, and travel everywhere they can, as often as they can.

With his husband’s job taking them all over the world, he now gets to write all day, every day, and he’s never happier than when sat at his laptop creating new stories about gorgeous and sexy men.

Except when there’s coffee…ooh and chocolate…yes, he’s way happier when there’s coffee and chocolate!

 

Social Media Links

Blog/Website | Facebook

Twitter | Instagram

 

Giveaway

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win

a $20 Amazon eGift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions