Summary:
Samuel Briggs moved to small-town Stratton, Pennsylvania, to escape his tragic past and try to start over. When he's not out walking his beat as a police officer, all he wants is peace, a manageable routine, and time to fix up his newly-purchased project home. And Samuel absolutely does not have room in his new routines for a relationship. Except a chance encounter with a handsome diner cook unexpectedly shakes his resolve.
Rey King lives for his work as a short-order cook, part-time hardware salesman, and full-time handyman. He’s in debt up to his eyeballs, so he isn’t looking for complications. And the gorgeous blond cop who comes to Rey’s rescue is a complication he definitely doesn’t need. Lucky for him, Samuel feels the same way.
But what starts as an afternoon of no-strings sex inevitably complicates itself, as the two men learn how deeply each other’s emotional damage goes. When Rey is seriously injured protecting a friend, their already shaky foundation cracks a little more. Samuel barely pulled his life back together after his first lover's death and falling in love again isn't part of his recovery plan. He knows renovations are always a gamble, but this one isn't about risking money—it's about Samuel risking his heart.
NOTE: This book was previously published under the same title. This new edition has been lightly edited to address minor continuity problems, but the overall story is the same.
Summary:
Reformed party animal Barrett McCall now takes life one day at a time, grateful for each new one that he has. His job as a short-order cook at Dixie's Cup pays the rent, and he likes living in small-town Stratton, Pennsylvania. When his apartment is destroyed in a fire, Barrett’s boss Dixie steps in with an offer to rent her finished basement, and he eagerly accepts—except this puts his solitary life on a collision course with Dixie’s nephew: arrogant high school art teacher Schuyler Rhodes.
Schuyler paid the reticent Dixie’s Cup cook little mind until Barrett moved into Aunt Dixie's basement apartment. Now they seem to run into each other everywhere, and the sexual attraction between them is undeniable—only Schuyler is protecting a tragic secret. Fifteen years ago, Schuyler's teenage cousin Matty drowned in a nearby lake. Everyone believes it was an accident, but Schuyler knows the truth—and so does the culprit.
Even though Barrett and Schuyler’s physical chemistry is explosive from their first kiss to more hands-on explorations, Schuyler’s guilt insists that he keep Barrett at arm's length. Barrett exercised his own personal demons years ago, and he wants to help Schuyler do the same so their fledgling relationship has a chance to thrive. But when the other witness to Matty's death unexpectedly shows up in town, Schuyler is forced into a deadly confrontation that may cost him his relationship with Barrett—and possibly even his own life.
NOTE: This work was previously published under the same title. The book has been lightly edited, with updated cover art, but no major parts of the story have been changed.
Summary:
Gavin Perez is fully aware that he's kind of a cliché. He works a dead-end job, shares a trailer with his waitress mom, has an abusive, absentee sperm donor, and he's poor. So color him shocked when middle-class, white-bread Jace Ramsey agrees to hang out with him. Granted, Gavin is trying to make it up to Junior McHottie for dumping a bowl of cranberry sauce on him at Thanksgiving dinner. And boy does Jace forgive him, over and over again…until he goes back to college and stops returning Gavin's calls. Oh well. Life goes on.
After living through the semester from hell, Jace Ramsey doesn't want to do anything more complicated than sleep through winter break. He has no idea how to come out to his family, never mind tell his parents he wants to quit college. He also has zero plans to socialize while he’s home, but Gavin's ready forgiveness draws them back together—both in and out of bed. But Gavin is out, and Jace knows he won't be able to stay in the closet much longer.
Gavin isn't good enough for Jace—at all—but Gavin simply can’t stay away from the younger, haunted man. Something happened to Jace during those weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Jace trusts Gavin with his body. He might even trust Gavin with his heart. But can he trust that a devastating secret that’s eating him up inside won’t destroy everything—and everyone—he loves?
NOTE: This book was previously published under the same title. It has updated cover art and has been re-edited. 3700 words of new content has been added, including a brand-new epilogue.
Original Review October 2013:
Such a well written story with characters that you really fall for. My heart just is so divested in both Sam and Rey's lives that it just pains when they find themselves at odds, usually from either miscommunication or no communication.
Color of Grace #2
Original Review October 2013:
I was having a hard time getting into this one at first because I couldn't stop thinking of Schylar as kind of a jerk he was in Cost of Repair and I was having a hard time letting go of Sam and Rey. But after about 3 ch. I was hooked and really cheering for Barrett and Sky.
Weight of Silence #3
Original Review October 2013:
You can't help but love both Jace and Gavin. They both seem so disheartened by life but in each other they find a little piece of what life could really be. But are they both too jaded to take a chance on love and each other?
RATING:
Author Bio:
No stranger to the writing world, A.M. Arthur has been creating stories in her head since she was a child, and scribbling them down nearly as long. When not writing, she can be found in her kitchen, pretending she's an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself with her cuisine experiments. A.M. Arthur was born and raised in the same kind of small town that she likes to write about, a stone's throw from both beach resorts and generational farmland. She's been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long, in a losing battle to make the fictional voices stop. She credits an early fascination with male friendships (bromance hadn't been coined yet back then) and "The Young Riders" with her later discovery of and subsequent love affair with m/m romance stories. When not exorcising the voices in her head, she toils away in a retail job that tests her patience and gives her lots of story fodder. She can also be found in her kitchen, pretending she's an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments.
If you were to ask her what gave her the courage to finally publish, she’d tell you it was her amazing family and friends. Support is vital in all things and when you’re afraid of your dreams, it will be your cheering section that will lift you up.
Original Review October 2013:
You can't help but love both Jace and Gavin. They both seem so disheartened by life but in each other they find a little piece of what life could really be. But are they both too jaded to take a chance on love and each other?
RATING:
No stranger to the writing world, A.M. Arthur has been creating stories in her head since she was a child, and scribbling them down nearly as long. When not writing, she can be found in her kitchen, pretending she's an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself with her cuisine experiments. A.M. Arthur was born and raised in the same kind of small town that she likes to write about, a stone's throw from both beach resorts and generational farmland. She's been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long, in a losing battle to make the fictional voices stop. She credits an early fascination with male friendships (bromance hadn't been coined yet back then) and "The Young Riders" with her later discovery of and subsequent love affair with m/m romance stories. When not exorcising the voices in her head, she toils away in a retail job that tests her patience and gives her lots of story fodder. She can also be found in her kitchen, pretending she's an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments.
If you were to ask her what gave her the courage to finally publish, she’d tell you it was her amazing family and friends. Support is vital in all things and when you’re afraid of your dreams, it will be your cheering section that will lift you up.
EMAIL: AM_Arthur@yahoo.com
Cost of Repairs #1
Color of Grace #2
