Release Blitz: Starting From Zero by Lane Hayes

Title: Starting From Zero

Series: Starting From Series, Book 1

Author: Lane Hayes

Publisher: Lane Hayes

Release Date: April 15

Heat Level: 4 - Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 68000

Genre: Romance, Rock star, May/December romance, Bisexual, LA, Humor, New beginning

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Synopsis

Justin Cuevas is going through a rough patch. A broken relationship, a scandal, and the demise of his band have shaken the aspiring rock star’s confidence. Working two jobs and sleeping on his friend’s sofa isn’t ideal, but Justin isn’t ready to give up yet. With a little luck, he’s hoping to re-launch his music career in LA with his new band, Zero. The key is to stay focused, and not get distracted by his past…or the sexy songwriter he can’t get out of his head.


Gray Robertson has written dozens of hits and worked with some of the biggest names in the industry. But he’s never met anyone like Justin. The younger man is fiery, passionate, and smart. A powerful voice for a new generation. Other than an unforgettable one-night stand and a passion for music, the two men have nothing in common. Or do they? Justin knows the out-of-the-blue challenge to write a quintessential love song is a huge opportunity. And it’s the ultimate test for someone who’s doesn’t believe in happily ever after. When sparks fly, Justin and Gray realize they have a shot something special if they start from zero together. Maybe even love.

Excerpt

Justin turned to me with a fiery expression and gestured toward the glittering lights below. “Everyone here wants more than what they have. And I guess I’m the same. I don’t need recognition and I sure as fuck don’t want love, but I wouldn’t say no to a few bucks,” he commented with a laugh. “What about you?”

I did a double take. I was two steps behind, struggling to keep up, and if possible, memorize every word he’d said. I hadn’t been around anyone so raw or so honest in a long time. He made rules and broke them with at whim, letting me in and then shutting me out. He had a way of revealing himself that made me feel as though he was holding a mirror to me, daring me to acknowledge my broken pieces too. He was either slightly insane or incredibly gifted. I suspected it was the latter. The cadence of his speech lured me in...and made me want more. I’d tell him anything he wanted to know, just to be near him and this intense spark of...newness, creativity, and wonder.

“What about me?” I asked in a low raspy voice.

“What do you want to accomplish before you leave the planet?”

“I want to write the perfect song,” I replied unthinking.

“There’s no such thing.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But it would be nice to leave something that felt special.”

Justin held my gaze then inclined his head in agreement. “Yeah. I want that too.”

We stared at each other. Whispers of conversation floated from the far corners of the rooftop deck. We weren’t alone, but we might as well be. I couldn’t remember ever feeling so intimately connected to someone I’d never really touched. It was puzzling and enchanting at the same time.

He shivered when the breeze kicked up. I took it as a sign from above and pulled him against me. I had to feel him. I studied the sexy indentation in his bottom lip before giving into impulse and resting my hands on his hip. Justin gave me a funny look but he didn’t push me away.

“You shouldn’t be anonymous. You have too much to share. Too much to say,” I said.

“What are you doing?”

“I...I’m not sure. Is this okay?”

Author Of The Month - BA Tortuga - Week Three

Welcome to our third week of celebrations for the amazing

In our third post, we'll look at the Border Crossing series, plus a personal story the author has chosen to share. There's also a chance to win one of her books!



First up, Bombs and Guacamole

Blurb:

ER doctor Dusty Lowry grew up in a conservative rural Texas family that has never quite forgiven him for staying in New Mexico after his stint in the Army. Paramedic Nate Miller, Dusty’s best friend since their early Army days, has a hippie momma, a tiny apartment, and is in lust with his buddy. When their other Army friend, Kyle, gets married, they start thinking about settling down. In fact, they both know what they want: each other. Too bad they’ve never shared that goofy little fact.

A trip to visit Dusty’s family in Texas changes everything, and Dusty and Nate aren’t sure where to go from there. Good thing they’re smart guys, and between a series of bombings that target first responders, their friend Kyle’s wife getting pregnant, and more than one bowl of guacamole, they begin to figure out how to have a relationship.

But as the bombings get closer to home, Nate and Dusty must navigate love and commitment before they lose their chance.

Excerpt:

A rooster crowed somewhere nearby, which meant it was time to get up. It also meant there was either another illegal cockfighting operation springing up in downtown Las Cruces, or that Dusty was home in East Texas. He knew it was inhumane, but right now he was really hoping for gallos duking it out.
He cracked an eye open—faded quilt wrapped around him and a box just across the way labeled “Momma’s Afghans.”

East Texas it was. At least he was warm and comfy, his back pressed up against something really hot and solid. Something that was breathing on the back of his neck. Now he knew his people had some dogs big enough to spoon with, but they didn’t have gorillas or anything this big, so that meant Nate was there. Snuggling.

Dusty closed his eyes, so tempted to just stay there, but that wasn’t fair. Nate would no doubt be mortified if he woke up all close and personal with Dusty’s ass. The guy really did need to find a nice girl and settle down if he needed physical touch this much, though. Right?

He took a deep breath before easing out of Nate’s range, slipping out of the bed to head for the bathroom. Dusty was used to sleeping two, maybe three hours. Nate required at least six.

After he peed, he padded down to the kitchen, smelling coffee and some kind of baked goods. That alone would be worth the price of him coming home for the big party. His mom’s cooking made him happy, deep down.

There she stood in front of the stove too, pulling on oven mitts.

“Am I just in time, and do you need me to make bacon?”

“Dustin.” She smiled at him over her shoulder. “Hi, baby boy. I need to get these out, and then you can start frying bacon.”

“It’s better for you if you bake it, Momma. Less fat.”

“Bah.” She pulled out the muffins, her robe the same old chintz that she always wore, familiar as a Norman Rockwell painting. “I like it fried. That way I can reuse the grease.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. I thought y’all were gonna go on a cruise.”

“Oh, your daddy chickened out.” She straightened before turning to face him, her blue eyes proving where he’d gotten his. “He was worried about the flu, or his cows, or blah-blah. You know him.”

“I do.” Like the back of his hand.

“So, who came with you? Austin said you were bringing an Army friend.”

He was not gonna roll his eyes. Not, notty-not. He knew the “when are you bringing us a girl” would start before he even had breakfast. “I did. I’m not dating, just working, and Nate needed to get out of town for a few days. He works too hard.”

“Is he a doctor too? I thought he was an EMT or something.”

“He’s a paramedic. Damned good one.”

She stared at him, hands on her hips. “Don’t cuss at me.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Dusty sighed. “Sorry, Momma. I’m so tired, and I don’t want to have to defend my choices right now.”

Her gaze softened, sympathy in her eyes. “Is that what you feel like we need? We just worry about you.”

“So why does every conversation come back to who I’m dating?”

“Grandbabies,” she said without a pause. “For mothers, it’s always about grandbabies. I would be an exceptional granny.”

“Talk to Austin. He’s at the right age.”

“You’re a cruel son.” She came to him and put a hand on his arm, though, belying the words. “I love you no matter what, Son. I can’t help but hope.”

Get the book:

Book 2 in the series, Ammo and Enchiladas, coming in June 2019

Blurb:

After a night at the movies in Albuquerque, NM, Brantley’s best friend, Matt, is shot right in front him during a robbery. Stunned and devastated, Brant tries to help Matt’s husband, Travis, deal with the funeral details even as he struggles with his own grief and Travis’s blame. When Travis’s best friend arrives, Brant is both annoyed and grateful, because he is so darn tired and can use the help.

Lex Espana is ashamed to admit he hasn’t seen his childhood best friend since Travis’s wedding. He’s even more amazed that he barely remembers Brant from that wedding, because he’s sure interested now. While it’s weird to fall for someone at a funeral, his feelings for Brant are real and make him long for a life he didn’t realize he was missing.

Neither Lex nor Brant knows how to be part of an us, though, and they both have a lot to work through before they can settle in. To become a real couple, Brant and Lex will have to dig deep to get past the roadblocks in their relationship.

Excerpt:

Brantley sat staring at his hands. His fingernails were filthy.

He’d cleaned his hands up, but he’d missed his nails. You’d think after all the years of scrubbing he’d never miss his nails.

“Can I get you anything, sir? Coffee? Anything?” The cop’s voice was sympathetic, soft, like he was fixin’ to shatter into a thousand pieces, which he reckoned he was.

Brant stared up at the detective, his vision swimming. “I…. Coffee? Please?”

“You got it. We got a K-cup thing. Coffee has been better around here.” The detective moved away, and Brant wasn’t sure he could remember how to breathe.

Matty. What the actual fuck? It had happened so fucking fast. The guy hadn’t even given Matt a chance to give over his wallet, his keys, anything, before the motherfucker shot. The asshole panicked and ran then, or Brant had a feeling he would be dead too. Christ, how was he gonna tell Travis?

Had someone already told Travis? He closed his eyes, nausea rising up. His nails had Matt’s blood under them.

As soon as the asshole had taken off, he’d been there, trying to do triage, but the shot had gone right into Matty’s temple. It was over before it had begun.

He hiccupped, and the cop handed him a paper cup.

“We’ll be getting you home soon. We appreciate your patience.”

“What else do you need from me?”

Blog Tour: Galen’s Redemption (Links in the Chain #2) by Parker Williams

Galen’s Redemption 

(Links in the Chain #2)

Author: Parker Williams

Good day, Fiction Nookers! Thank you to Sandra at My Fiction Nook for once again allowing me to visit. I was asked what my inspiration was for the series, and what else is in store for the characters. So, let’s get to that, shall we?

Like a lot of my stories, it started out as a dream. In Lincoln’s Park, a young man in need of help walks into a diner and changes both his and the owner’s life forever. In that story Noel, one of the main characters, asks Robert, the owner of the homeless shelter, what he wants out of life. Robert tells him he gave up on wanting anything, because there was no way he could have it all.

Which leads us to book two where Robert is about ready to lose everything. He’s out of money, out of options, and sees no way to dig himself out of the morass he’s mired in. Noel gave him a check that he’d received from Lincoln’s father for a quarter million dollars. That would go a long way toward helping the residents, but… Robert knows that the money isn’t without strings. He fully realizes that one day someone is going to come and demand it back. That person is Lincoln’s brother, Galen.

Now, at the end of book one, Noel makes note that Galen seemed uncomfortable when his father offered Noel the money, but Noel couldn’t figure out why. In this book, the answer is given, and it will lead Galen on a quest for redemption that he’s not sure he deserves.

There were only supposed to be two books in the series, but another idea that I had demanded attention, and I started writing about a man whose husband was dying of cancer. The story was supposed to be a standalone book but, out of the blue, the main character, Tom, decides that he's related to Robert from the shelter. Well, that changed everything, including a part of Galen’s Redemption where Galen meets Tom and his husband, Brian Chen. So I had to write to Dreamspinner and ask permission to make it a trilogy. Fortunately they said yes.

If you get book two, in the back of the book you’ll find the first chapter of book three. Now, books one and two were written in third person. Book three is in first. Why? Because to me, Tom’s story was a lot more personal and needed to be told from his viewpoint. Who will be the new love in Tom’s life? Well, I’m not going to say anything more than if you read book two, you might see him there.

That will end the Links in the Chain series, and allow me to move on to new things. But this was the first time I’ve written a series where all the books were done back to back to back because these boys wanted everyone to meet them. I hope you’ll read them and enjoy them!

Parker

About the book:

A Links in the Chain Story

A rich man is about to set foot into an unknown world, while a Good Samaritan fears he’ll have to close the charity he’s spent his life building. Poised to lose it all, they might find what they need most in each other.

Son of a wealthy importer, Galen Merriweather lives to broker deals, and he’s damn good at it. But it’s getting harder to ignore the kind of man his father is—a man who would pay Galen’s brother’s lover to leave… a man who’d demand Galen retrieve a quarter-million-dollar check from a struggling homeless shelter.

Robert Kotke knows the money is too good to be true, but it’s a godsend that could help so many people. Still, he hands it over when Galen shows up. But he isn’t done with Galen yet, and he’s going to challenge everything Galen ever believed.

Galen will face an impossible decision: the redemption he’s come to realize he wants, or the life he’d always dreamed of.

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Genre/s: Contemporary MM Romance

Trope/s: Hurt/comfort, learning to love

Themes: Forgiveness for oneself and for others

Heat Rating: 3 flames 

Length: 92 660 words

Release Date: April 16, 2019

Buy Links

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Add on Goodreads

Excerpt

LATE JUNE 2018

THE PEOPLE milling around at the coffeepot scattered when Galen Merriweather stormed into Primal Imports and headed for his office. He’d gone to see his brother, Lincoln, at Park View, the diner he owned, to tell him about the betrayal of Noel Simmons, Lincoln’s lover. When his father had offered Noel a quarter of a million dollars to walk away so Lincoln would be forced to come back to the family business, Galen had been incensed. Their old man had pulled some shady crap over the years, but this was a new low, even for him.

His personal assistant, Olivia, greeted him with a warm smile when he stepped through the door. “Good afternoon, Mr. Merriweather.”

Galen sneered at her and stomped into his office, slamming the door as he did. He dropped into the stylish leather chair that sat behind the imposingly large oak desk, wondering why the hell he’d bothered to talk to Lincoln at all. His feelings about Galen had been made perfectly clear when he chose that… person over his own family.

Plus, what was up with their father? His private investigator had somehow acquired pictures of Lincoln from a BDSM club he’d frequented at some point in his storied past. They showed Lincoln and some of the submissives he’d played with at the clubs. It turned Galen’s stomach to see. Not that he had a problem with BDSM. The problem was how his father had gone about it. The guys in the pictures were innocent, but anyone could clearly see who they were. Galen had to wonder if the PI had stolen the pictures or had worked out a deal with a club owner.

Either way, the whole thing stunk, and Galen hated the thought that he’d done nothing but sit there as his father rode roughshod over Noel. He had to admit, the way Noel had played his father was masterful, and there wasn’t a doubt in Galen’s mind that when he found out, his father’s retribution would be swift.

Galen didn’t like Noel, but he had to respect the ginormous set of balls he obviously had.

Still, what the fuck was up with his father? He’d seen the man pull some awful shit, but this? It went way beyond the pale, even for him. Galen’s ire rose as he thought about how any hope of Lincoln coming back to Primal had now been dashed, and all because their father was a total asshole.

When his phone rang, Galen took a moment to compose himself, then answered it without checking to see who it was.

Big mistake.

“Primal Imports, this is Galen. How can I help you?”

Blogtour: Kyle's Reveal by Royal Blue

Please say hello to Royal Blue and 

Kyle's Reveal 

Hey! I’m Blue Saffire writing as Royal Blue. I’m probably best known for my Brothers Black Series, under my Blue Saffire pen name. However, I’m coming to you with my debut novel as Royal Blue, and I’m so freaking excited about it! If you know me then it’s the same pen game just a different lane. I’m still bringing that Alpha goodness with all of the feels and plenty of heat. I’ve got you on all fronts.

This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster that I loved. Kyle is a professional basketball player, struggling with past abuse, raising his nephew, and dodging a manipulative ex. Andy is a schoolteacher, self-conscious after a botched surgery. But together, two scarred souls can find love and healing.

Here’s a little taste! Have a peek. I promise you’ll want more.

Blurb:

Some scars are on the body, while others exist only on the heart. But together, two scarred souls can find healing, love, and family.

Professional basketball player Kyle Tyson is suffocating beneath the weight of his responsibilities and his past. Childhood abuse left its mark, as did Kyle’s guilt over his sister’s death. Now, he’s trying to raise his young nephew, pursue his career, and dodge a narcissistic and manipulative ex who wants to out Kyle before he’s ready.

Schoolteacher Andy Connor found a shield in food as a boy, but that shield nearly took his life. He now bears the marks of a botched skin-tightening surgery following the dramatic weight loss that saved his life. Unfortunately, Andy’s scars have left him insecure about his body, causing him to find a shield in his shyness. Andy can scarcely believe someone like Kyle could be interested in him. But as they get to know each other, Andy starts to see himself through new eyes. Now if he can just help Kyle learn to love himself as much as Andy is growing to love him.

Excerpt:

“Mason, do you want to tell me what happened?” I say gently.

I asked the principal to allow me to have a chat with Mason, before his guardian arrived, given that the boy had shut down and wouldn’t speak to anyone.

I care about all of my students, but this little boy has taken up a special place in my heart. He has been through so much in a short lifetime. He did well in the beginning. I’ve talked to Beth Ann, his teacher from last year. I remember him being a bright, outgoing student from the after-school program, but after the death of his mother he started to pull into himself, which is totally understandable. He’s five and has had such great loss. My heart bleeds for him.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he pouts.

“Your uncle will be here soon. It would be helpful if I understood so I can explain things to him from your side.”

He turns his dark brown eyes up to me. His expression is almost pleading. He nods. I wait him out. Mason speaks so carefully for a small child, intent on selecting all the right words.

“Sean pushed me on the playground. My… my mommy wouldn’t like if I got in trouble for fighting. I need to be good. If I am, then maybe heaven will let her come back,” he explains, hope blooming in his voice.

It’s like someone just punched me through the heart. What do I say to that? I’d give anything to make this better for this sweet child, but I can’t help him with his ultimate wish. In my moment of silence, trying to find the right words, he continues instead.

“I tried to be the bigger man, like Uncle Beau taught me. But Sean pushed me again and started calling me names.” He shrugs his small shoulders. “So I put the brakes to him like Uncle Kyle would do.”

I bite my lip to keep from laughing. This is not the time to let my professionalism slip. Mason indeed put the brakes to Sean Novak. That little kid is a troublemaker and deserved the beatdown Mason gave him.

I’ve been trying to get Sean’s parents up here to the school for months. It’s funny how they appeared once their son became the victim. I don’t doubt that Mason’s uncle being Kyle Tyson had something to do with their sudden interest.

A loud groan sounds, pulling my attention. I lift my eyes to see the Kyle Tyson standing in the doorway of my classroom. I hadn’t thought about the chance of Kyle coming here, to my little classroom. I thought I’d have Mason back to the front office by the time of his arrival.

I’ve seen the man in passing a few times. Even at this distance his presence seems all-consuming. That deep, rich brown skin and those dark brown eyes are something to admire. The way his brows and lashes frame the windows to his soul displays something else entirely.

I feel like I’m being invited into a secret. Something dark and mysterious that only a precious few are able to get a glimpse of. I lower my eyes to his lips and have to keep myself from licking my own.

I’m five nine, but I’ve always been a sucker for taller men. Kyle has to be six five, maybe even six seven. His body reads every bit of the story of an athlete. Even the slight gaps to his stance send my pulse racing.

I shake my head clear. Kyle Tyson is like Jason Momoa—I’ll always have fantasies of him, but I’ll never have a shot.

Kyle moves into the room, squatting beside his nephew’s desk. His cologne is the second thing to engulf me, after his overwhelming presence. I watch silently, as Mason jumps into his uncle’s arms.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mess things up,” Mason sobs into Kyle’s neck.

“You didn’t mess anything up. I’m proud of you for trying to be the bigger man. You did what you needed to defend yourself in the end,” Kyle says softly.

“She’s not going to come back. I was a bad boy,” Mason whimpers.

Kyle’s dark eyes lift to meet mine, his thick brows knit. I can feel my eyes soften. Clearly he didn’t hear the beginning of our conversation. I place a soothing hand on Mason’s small back, as he sobs on his uncle.

I’ll explain, I mouth, not wanting to repeat the conversation in front of Mason. I think it’s something Kyle should have time to digest.

“Hey, buddy, I want to talk to Mr. Connor,” Kyle says. “Emma’s out in the hallway. Why don’t you go and say hi?”