Welcome to our first week of celebrations for the amazing
Our first post is all about Will and Patrick, a serial co-written with Alice Griffiths, so settle in and enjoy the ride. We also have Leta's favorite things plus a chance to win one of her books.
First up, Will And Patrick Wake Up Married
Blurb:After a drunken night of hot sex in Vegas, strangers Will Patterson and Dr. Patrick McCloud wake up married. A quickie divorce is the most obvious way out—unless you’re the heir of a staunchly Catholic mafia boss with a draconian position on the sanctity of marriage.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Will and Patrick don't like it, or each other, but they have to make the best of it until they can find another way out of their marriage. To ensure the trust fund Will's charitable foundation relies on isn't revoked by his mobster grandfather, he and Patrick travel to Will’s hometown of Healing, South Dakota, posing as a newlywed couple in the throes of true love at first sight.
Complicating their scheme are Will’s unresolved feelings for his all-too-recent ex-boyfriend Ryan, and Patrick’s desire to get back to the only thing that really matters to him in life: neurosurgery. Will they fool everyone? Or will the mafia get wind that their marriage is a fake? Throw their simmering attraction into the mix and all bets are off!
Excerpt:
Patrick sits down beside Will and rubs his hands together in anticipation. “So, what did Granny say? Can she free me from the shackles of our loveless union?”
Will puts his head in his hands. “It’s not going to be as easy as I hoped initially. It might take some time.”
“We knew that. How much time? A week? Two?”
“Maybe a month?”
“What?” Patrick’s voice is loud.
“Maybe more than a month? Possibly up to a year?”
Patrick’s eyes grow dark with anger. "Don’t tell me the all-powerful Eleanora Molinaro you were going on about so enthusiastically when you were convincing me of this half-baked scheme can’t make a little inadvertent marriage disappear.”
“Could you hold it down?” Will whispers. "Or do you want someone to hear?”
“Oooh, right, the Molinaro spies. Might have the place bugged. Guess I shouldn’t yell then? I’m not your toy, Will. I want a divorce and I want one now,” Patrick hollers.
Will glares at him. He raises his own voice, saying, “Don’t be so dramatic, baby!” He stares Patrick down, daring him to say something else. "You know I love you more than life!”
Patrick looks daggers at him. "Who do you think you’re fooling, Will? The bellhops? The maids?” He wipes a hand across his face and rises. "You know, no. I can’t believe I’ve let your paranoia and insanity drag me across the country into this hornet’s nest of absurdity and—”
Patrick rants on, but Will’s not paying attention anymore, because Patrick’s tossing his new clothes onto the bed, and getting out his suitcases.
“Wait,” Will says, putting his hands on Patrick’s arms. "Wait, don’t.”
Patrick throws a shirt into the bag and sighs. "What do you want from me? I gave your plan a chance, but there is no way in hell I’m going to hang around this town for a year. Not when I could be at the Mayo Clinic or Cedars-Sinai or Vandy. Not when I can be honing my skills and expanding my practice. I am not small-town material, Will. I’m the big-time. I have absolutely no desire to play your loving spouse indefinitely and if your grandmother can’t get us out of this mess? Well, I sure as hell can.”
“Look,” Will says. "I know you can. I just need you...no, no, stop that. You’re not going anywhere.” Will pushes Patrick, trying to move him away from the bags.
Patrick lurches toward him, gripping his forearms and shoving him back with surprising strength. "I’ve been pushed around enough in my life, Will. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m going to take care of this my way.”
Will breathes in hard. Terror and attraction jolts through him at once. He swallows and backs away from Patrick, his hands shaking, and his throat dry. Blood rushes in his ears.
Patrick picks up his bag and heads for the door. Will tries to block Patrick from getting it open.
“Really? It’s come to this? Holding me against my will?”
Will pushes the barely open door shut with a hard slam. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Patrick. This is just our first lover’s spat. That’s all. The first of many to come in our long, wonderfully happy marriage.”
Patrick stares at him like he’s kind of impressed by this level of insanity. “Good God, you’re drinking your own Kool-Aid.”
“Yeah, well, it’s a very, very expensive drink.”
“You think you’re so clever don’t you?”
Will shrugs. "I think I don’t know what else to do.”
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Secondly, Will And Patrick Meet The Family
Meeting the family is challenging for every new couple. But for Will and Patrick, the awkward family moments only grow more hilarious—and painful—when they must hide the truth of their predicament from the people they care about most.
Throw in the sexual tension flaring between them, uncomfortable run ins with Will’s all-too-recent ex-boyfriend, an overprotective mobster father, and a mafia spy tailing them around Healing, South Dakota, and you’ve got a recipe for madcap laughs and surprisingly heartwarming feels.
Excerpt:
Keying open the door to their hotel room, Will tries to fake some cheer. “Honey, I’m home! And I brought dinner!” He stops and grips the bags more firmly as his cock rushes with a sudden influx of blood.
“Just put it over there.” Patrick’s ass is in the air, his hands flat on the floor, and he’s wearing nothing but his black boxer-brief underwear. “I’ll eat it when I’m done.”
Will stares as Patrick swivels, his body moving fluidly and his legs flexing in strong, limber movements.
“What are you doing?”
“This is downward dog. And this—” Patrick moves down with careful, slow strength. “Is plank position.” The muscles in his arms, back, and thighs are like bundles of wires, and Will’s mouth goes dry, remembering clearly how they felt under his hands.
“Looks hard.”
Patrick doesn’t answer. Will turns to put the food on the table, because if he keeps watching, something else is going to be hard too.
He clears his throat, glancing over his shoulder at the flexing muscles in Patrick’s back. “When we met, I wouldn’t have pegged you as a yoga kind of guy.”
Patrick grunts. He’s in a position now that Will can’t even imagine twisting himself into.
“I mean, you don’t seem like an ‘om’ type.”
“Yoga, and meditation for that matter, are legitimate, effective, and scientifically proven means to an end: physical health and reduction of mental stress. In other words, it helps keep me sane.” Patrick moves into an upright position, sweeps his arms over his head, and brings them back to a prayerful place at his chest. “Sanity is something you could stand to try. And none of that spiritual mumbo jumbo has anything to do with it.”
“So says the guy who believes in astrology.”
“Sure, be a Libra about it.”
Will feels heat in his cheeks. “The yoga doesn’t seem to hurt as far as keeping the rest of you in shape either.”
Patrick’s lips turn up into a smirk.
Will clears his throat, turning to the bags of food. He keeps his back to Patrick as he unpacks the takeout packages onto the small dining table. “So, do you want the gyros or the mac ‘n’ joes, because I can go either way.”
Patrick’s breath is tingly in Will’s ear and his body heat warm along Will’s back. “I go both ways too. It’s your call.” He reaches around and plucks up one of the Styrofoam boxes without looking inside.
Will swallows and gestures at the box still on the table. “This will be fine.”
He doesn’t know for sure which it is, but it will be fine, so long as his dick stops acting like a traitor and his mind stops supplying him with images of Patrick bent over, taking Will’s fingers into his tight, hot—God!
He shakes himself.
“Mmm, gyros,” Patrick murmurs from his perch on the bed. “So good.”
Will’s eyes flutter closed as he sits at the table and spreads a napkin over his crotch. No matter how good Patrick looks almost naked, they aren’t doing that again. It would be wrong. Because Will loves Ryan.
Who are you trying to convince?
He sighs and begins to eat. Mac ‘n’ joe is always tasty. Though at the moment it seems hard to choke down.
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Thirdly, Will And Patrick Do The Holidays
A couple’s first holiday season is always a special time. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve are magical when you’re in love. Too bad Will and Patrick’s marriage is a sham and they’re only faking their affection for each other. Or are they?
Sparks fly in this episode of the Wake Up Married serial. Will the sexual tension between Will and Patrick finally explode in a needy night of passion? Or will they continue to deny their feelings?
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In the fourth spot, Will And Patrick Fight Their Feelings
Will and Patrick have embraced adding hot sexy-times to their fake marriage, but as their emotions deepen, they confront whether or not they want to be more than friends-with-benefits. Freshly free of a restrictive relationship, Will’s not ready for more than exploratory fun. And no matter how Patrick feels about Will, his own difficult past has left him wary of love.
The heat is high (and occasionally kinky) in this episode of the Wake Up Married serial, but Will and Patrick struggle to accept their mutual affection, much less confess it. How long will they fight their feelings?
Excerpt:
Wrung out after the long night, Patrick shovels in the eggs and toast he ordered from room service. His mind drifts lazily as he eats, but when he hears the shower turn off, his stomach churns. He hates that his brain can ruin a perfectly good moment with memories that make him twitchy.
“About last night…” Will’s voice cracks slightly.
Patrick’s heart stops.
“Maybe it shouldn’t happen again?”
A sharp, deep pain lances into Patrick and he can’t breathe. It’s so unexpected, this horrible feeling, and he can’t think of anything to say. But hope and lust surge together as Will shoves away from the door. He grabs Patrick so hard it hurts and kisses him until the world shifts under their feet.
Yep, it had happened again. Had it ever. God, their second night in a row of sex had been—
Patrick jerks back to the present as the bathroom door swings open and Will strides out fully dressed in a pair of trousers and a button-up shirt. The eggs churn faster in Patrick’s stomach.
Will sits at the breakfast table. He tests, calculates, and injects his insulin before starting on his cottage cheese on toast. He looks up, fixing Patrick with a resolute gaze.
Patrick dodges the look and pokes his eggs with his fork. “Do we have to talk about it?”
Will takes another bite and chews deliberately.
“Because I don’t want to talk about it.” Patrick’s much more interested in a “don’t think, just do” policy when it comes to sex with Will. He’ll take that over revisiting the surprising pain of Will’s near-rejection the night before.
Will’s brows draw low and he chews for a long, tense moment. Patrick’s heart lurches like a skipping record until Will speaks. “Really? So you think there’s nothing to talk about?”
“Nope.” Patrick’s fork scrapes against his plate. “I don’t see why there would be.”
Will, of course, has other ideas. Like that’s anything new. “Patrick, we had sex again last night. Three times.”
“I know what we did, Will.”
“And?”
“And I liked it. And I don’t regret it.”
Will pulls his lower lip between his teeth. “You really liked it?”
“Puddin’-pop, you were there. Do you doubt you’re the best lay I’ve ever had?”
“The best?”
“Unequivocally.”
Will grins and eats some more of his cottage cheese on toast, joy rising up like the sun on his face. “You too. I mean, you’re the best I’ve had.”
Shocking. Patrick wants an award for not saying that out loud. He reaches out and takes hold of Will’s fingers. “I like being with you. I like what we’re doing and I don’t want to talk about it.”
Will pulls his hand away and scratches his ear uncertainly. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want us to stop.” He clenches his fist on the table and summons the strength to say, “Unless you want to stop?”
Will shakes his head and studies the food. After putting some eggs on his plate and compiling another cottage cheese and whole-wheat toast sandwich, he clears his throat and tentatively meets Patrick’s eye again. “So you think it’s okay if we—”
“Screw without professing our undying love first?”
Will flushes but nods.
“We’re having sex, not committing a crime. Of course it’s okay. Why make it into something it’s not?”
Will butters his toast and carefully doesn’t meet Patrick’s gaze again. This. This is why Patrick doesn’t want to talk about things. “What did I say wrong now?”
Will shrugs and takes a bite of toast. He finishes chewing and swallows. “What would we make it into that it’s not?”
“That’s what I don’t want to talk about.”
“Because you think I’ll say we can’t have sex anymore if there’s no hope of us really falling in love and making a little family together?”
Patrick breaks into a fine sweat. “Won’t you?”
He has no idea what thoughts the tiny hamsters on the wheels in Will’s mind are cranking out, but he can imagine they’re racing overtime as Will gazes at him silently. He feels like he might puke.
Will’s mouth tilts up at the corner. “No.”
“What?” Patrick chokes on his toast and has to grab a swallow of water.
“No, I won’t say we have to stop. We’ll keep on…you know.”
“Having sex.”
Will’s eyes go hot with lust. “Yeah. We’ll keep having sex.”
“I knew you liked it.” He leans forward, smirking. “Now, tell me what you liked best. In detail.”
Will adjusts his napkin in his lap. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about it.”
“I didn’t want to talk about ‘Oh, woe, it was wrong, and I’m still hurting over Ryan, and we’re getting divorced as soon as possible,’ because I know all that.”
Will finishes off his cottage cheese sandwich. “I get it.”
“Tell me all the dirty stuff. I want to hear how much you loved it.”
Will’s smile is soft. “Oh, I loved it.”
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Episode 5, Will And Patrick Meet The Mob
Patrick has finally accepted that he's in love with Will, but his newfound determination to do something about that runs up against his father-in-law's mobster plans. Though just what those plans are have as yet to be determined. As far as Will and Patrick can tell, they consist of blowing through town, wreaking small havoc, and turning the Patterson family's lives on end.
Will must face the truth about his family before he can fully come to terms with his feelings for Patrick. And Patrick has to decide if this whackadoodle world is something he truly wants to be part of forever.
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And finally, Will And Patrick's Happy Ending
Sure, Will and Patrick are in love now, but they weren’t when they got married in Vegas. For Patrick, that’s no problem, but Will can’t shake his doubts that a relationship started through coercion can ever become the real deal.
Since the Molinaro crime family has reversed their position on divorce, Will and Patrick have a chance to rectify their drunken mistake. But is divorce the solution? Find out in this final installment of the much-beloved Wake up Married serial.
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Bonus episode, Will And Patrick's Endless Honeymoon
Genius brain surgeon Patrick McCloud never thought he'd fall in love, let alone get married. He and Will Patterson are two years overdue for their honeymoon, and although romance doesn't come naturally to Patrick, he's determined to make it perfect.
Will works himself to the bone helping others and dealing with his family, who bring the drama nonstop. A tropical getaway without the usual shenanigans is just what the doctor ordered. But can Will's family leave them in peace? Knowing the Patterson-Molinaro clan, it's not likely...
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Leta's Favorite Things
- My husband and kid
- My three sweet, dumb dogs
- Yoga
- Tori Amos concerts, closely followed by Florence + the Machine concerts
- Christmastime
- Fort de Soto’s North Beach in Florida
- The Netherlands’ countryside
- French Butter (it’s seriously so much better than American butter)
- Oahu, Hawaii (my fave Hawaiian island and I’ve been to four of them)
- Trains (the sound of the whistle, the rumble, the works)
- Aiden Turner (so handsome!)
- Climbing red rose bushes
- Baby’s cheeks
- The sound of the marching band drifting over to my house from the local high school
- Laughter – mine, yours, everyone’s
- Friends, Readers, the human family
More about Leta Blake:
Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.
If you’d like to be among the first to know about new releases, you can sign up for Leta’s newsletter HERE.
Find her online at her website, on Facebook, or on Twitter.
Giveaway:
Thanks for joining us to celebrate this fabulous author. Come back next week for more of Leta's books, five little-known facts, and another chance to win.
Until then, happy reading!
Congrats on AotM and thanks for the post. I'm half way through Will & Patrick series and loving it so far. Loved some of your other ones, too.
ReplyDelete- Purple Reader, TheWrote [at] aol [dot] com
Hi Leta Congratulations on being AOTM! I enjoyed the post and your favourite things it great to get to know authors.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post. Congrats on being AOTM!
ReplyDeleteAngelaVR
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post and sharing your favorite things, and being from the Netherlands (a small village in the south) myself i also like The Netherlands’ countryside ;)