Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Release Blitz: Cameron & Rylan by Valerie Ullmer

Title: Cameron & Rylan
Author: Valerie Ullmar
Series: Chance Meeting #1
Genre: M/M Romance
Release Date: March 26, 2019

Summary:
Cameron Hayes believed himself to be a dedicated friend and a good son but destined to be alone.  Because in his twenty-one years, he’d never fallen for anyone. Dating never appealed to him when he would rather spend a night at home.  Despite his friend’s best intentions for Cameron to find a hookup for the night, he stayed at the bar as he nursed a beer. And that’s when Cameron spotted him and everything he knew evaporated with one look.

Rylan Ellis wanted one night out without complications.  To forget about his overwhelming responsibilities and stress at home.  He loved to lose himself in the music and ignore everyone around him. But when he happened a glance at the bar and spotted the tall, broad, and sexy-as-sin man, he felt drawn to him.

Soon, Cameron and Rylan learn about each other and establish their lives together.  They also have to deal with a group of well-meaning friends, loving parents, and unexpected friendships.  But most of all, a dangerous threat that could tear their lives apart.

Will a chance meeting turn into something more?

This novel contains heavy attraction at first sight and first-time gay sex between two men.  There is no cheating or cliffhangers and ends with a happily ever after.

💡Contains a brief mention of a prior sexual assault and violence in later scenes.💡


#1
This wasn’t his scene.  Along with the loud music came the dancing bodies, sharp and piercing howls of laughter, but most of all the flirting.  He’d known what the night held when his friends insisted on going out and despite his hesitation, Cameron had agreed.

He wouldn’t say he was lonely since he was the one who quit the football team the year before and secluded himself using any excuse he thought of to avoid social interactions.  But from time to time, he missed his friends.

The music blared from the various speakers around the crowded club, but it had a good beat as it blended from one track to another.  He nodded toward the bartender as he handed him a new beer before he turned toward the crowd, scanning the dance floor.

Cameron didn’t hold in a laugh as he spotted Tim, one of his best friends, dance up to a girl with a huge smile on his face.  When she rolled her eyes, he reversed the other way with a friendly a wave. That was Tim. He let nothing get to him, even such an obvious rejection.

Unlike his friends, Cameron had no interest in finding a date for the night.  But he watched his friends as they maneuvered around the bar amongst the gyrating bodies having a great time.

As his gaze landed on Aaron, who had a blonde wrapped around him as they swayed back and forth, a small hand landed on his chest before a compact body pressed up to his side.  Cameron blinked down at the beautiful woman who smiled at him. Her eyes traveled over him, down and back up again, unable to keep her predatory gaze from his body.

Cameron sighed.  She wasn’t the first person who thought he was available for a good time, but she was the first to touch him without permission.

Attraction was fleeting.  At this point in his life, Cameron had no desire to pursue a physical relationship with anyone.  Temporary attachments made his skin crawl for a reason he never understood, and he knew as she spoke she wouldn’t be more than that.

“Wanna head to my place?  It’s quiet and we can talk.”

“No, thanks.”

He supposed people thought he was a typical jock, looking to score around every corner.  Although he’d been told he was attractive, he knew attraction was subjective. His six foot three height, wide shoulders, and lean muscles resulted from years of conditioning and training.  His parents gifted him with great genes, his light brown hair, and hazel eyes completed the package. But for him, he wanted something substantial.


#2
“Would you like to dance, Cameron?”

He couldn’t help his pause at the question.  “I would love to, but I’ve never had a lot of rhythm and I’ll trample you.”

Rylan laughed and Cameron liked the scratchy, tinkling sound.  He gifted him with something precious and rare because Cameron smiled as he realized Rylan’s laugh matched his soft, masculine voice.

“Don’t worry.  I’ve got you.” Rylan slid his hand into Cameron’s bigger one and he allowed Rylan to pull him onto the dance floor.

As the other man led the way, Cameron’s gaze roamed over Rylan’s form.  He loved how his hair, even when damp from the exertion of dancing, looked soft.  He wanted to run his hands through it to see if it was as downy as it looked. The blond of Rylan’s hair was a little darker than his own, but it brought out the color in his eyes.

Rylan’s skin shimmered under the lights and Cameron had the strong urge to lean down and lick a swath along his delectable neck, tasting him.  Because of his thoughts, he flushed when Rylan turned back to him and moved his hands to Cameron’s hips.

“Close your eyes.”

Cameron, trusting this man he’d met, he complied with his request.  Cut off from one of his senses, sensations thrummed through him when Rylan tapped out a beat with his fingers against his waist.  He’d somehow burrowed his hand underneath his tee and Cameron could the pads of his fingers on his bare skin.

“Are you paying attention?”  Rylan laughed when Cameron’s head jerked up and caught his gaze.

Author Bio:
Valerie writes romances.

Contemporary, Paranormal, Erotic, and Gay.

She lives in Denver, Colorado with her wonderfully supportive husband and their funny and wise black lab, Maddie.  Valerie is addicted to coffee, crime shows, and reading and writing character-driven romances.

As a voracious reader, she’s believes that all writers are rock stars, and she hopes that people enjoy her stories as much as she loves the romance novels she’s devoured over the years!


FACEBOOK  /  TWITTER  /  WEBSITE
BOOKBUB  /  AMAZON  /  GOODREADS




Book Blitz: The Handyman's History by Nick Poff

Title: The Handyman's History
Author: Nick Poff
Series: Handyman #4
Genre: M/M Romance
Release Date: February 6, 2019

Summary:
Handyman Ed Stephens is back, exploring the past to build a future with his partner Rick in The Handyman’s History.

“Sometimes I feel like it’s their world, and we’re allowed to live in it.”
--Gordy Smith in The Handyman’s History

The year since the death of their beloved benefactress Hilda Penfield has been a busy and sometimes stressful one for Handyman Ed Stephens and his partner, Rick Benton. They hope some peace and quiet will return to Penfield Manor after they host the wedding of Rick’s sister Claire to Matt Croasdale. Instead, Ed and Rick both find themselves involved in new activities.

As Rick’s boss, Realtor Vince Cummings, becomes aware of the opportunities available in the sudden expansion of Porterfield, he and Rick become the guiding forces for a major redevelopment project. Meanwhile, Ed’s innocent suggestions regarding the revival of a local festival leads to him becoming a member of the Porterfield Days Association, and the acceptance of additional responsibilities.

It’s Rick’s discovery of a tombstone in a disused town cemetery that sparks Ed’s curiosity about the background of his father’s family. Ed begins to question the relationship he had with his deceased father, and hopes learning some of the Stephens family secrets will enable him to make peace with his unresolved feelings.

The usual cast of suspects is back to both enrich and complicate Ed’s life: His sharp-tongued but supportive mother Norma, his sister Laurie, and housekeeper Effie Maude, who maintains her position at Penfield Manor, and provides amusement for Ed and Rick with her observations and pronouncements. Their best bud Gordy is on the scene as well, struggling to build a relationship in the early years of AIDS. Even Ed gets a taste of the hostility becoming more common as fear of the disease spreads. As Ed deals with the realities of being a gay man in a small town in 1985, he unexpectedly finds support from two unlikely sources, a visually impaired client, and a clergyman new to the town.

The Handyman’s History, with its soundtrack of classic oldies, will take its readers both forward and backward in the continuing saga of Ed and Rick, as their relationship strengthens, matures, and endures.


Ed looked at him, not really seeing him, thinking back to those Saturday nights spent in the bleachers of the Porterfield gym, hooting and hollering for those perennial losers, the Bobcats. There he was – shy, skinny Ed Stephens, along with Fat Ted, Science Nerd Greg, and Four Eyes Steve, all pretending to be part of the crowd, but knowing the minute they left the Bobcat cheer block they’d be ignored by the cool kids, as usual.

Ed remembered what Gordy had said last weekend: Sometimes I feel as though it’s their world and we’re allowed to live in it.

He had certainly felt that way in high school. He wondered if his friends back then felt the same way. Perhaps they did, but Ed was sure it was harder on him because he was toting a secret burden that the others didn’t have. He was trying his best to pretend he wasn’t a homosexual.

“I lied,” he said abruptly. “About those nights at Chef’s Inn; they weren’t a blast. They sucked.”

Rick looked at him seriously. “Oh?”

“Yeah. I never felt comfortable. Not really. I guess I just want to remember them as being a blast, you know?”

“High school,” Rick sighed. “Baby, you’re preaching to the choir, remember? I was so alone back then, so miserable. I don’t even want to think how many times I contemplated suicide. I’m just grateful it’s over with.”

“But don’t you sometimes wish,” Ed persisted, “that it was a blast? We had the best music ever, the cars were cool, and so were the movies and TV shows. It seems like it should have been fun.”

“The music was great,” Rick admitted. “The people at Broad Ripple High, however, were not. I hated it, and I don’t think that makes you or me any different from all those other guys like us. In fact, if there is a homosexual out there who was really happy in high school I hope I never met him, ‘cause I’d probably have to kill him.”

Ed chuckled.

“And about the music, well, we’ve got it. I mean, you’ve still got all your records, and we listen to them all the time because we still love those songs so much. It belongs to us. It’s one thing we were able to salvage from those years. And I think music kind of helps to wash away some of the sadness, you know; kind of like putting rose colored glass on the memories to make them prettier.”

Ed thought about Rick’s words. “That’s pretty good,” he said in admiration.

Rick grinned. “Yeah, it is, isn’t it? Anyway,” he said dropping the newspaper and picking up the book he was currently reading, “I guess that’s how I can compromise the whole thing in my head and not go crazy.”

Ed stood up and stretched, feeling restless. Arnie came into the room, looking for him. Ed picked up the cat and headed for the stairs.

“I thought you’d be going to the den to drool over the guy Solid Gold dancers,” Rick said.

“Eeh. I’m not in the mood for drooling. I think I’ll go upstairs and find something to read.

“Besides,” he said with a leer at Rick. “If I’m patient I still get to have you all to myself tomorrow night.”

Rick’s smile for him was as warm and tender as it ever had been. “It’s a date, baby. Count on it.”

Ed slowly walked upstairs, cradling the cat more for his own comfort than Arnie’s. He was suddenly very tired, but also incredibly grateful that Rick was in his life. 



Author Bio:
Nick Poff lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Handyman’s History is his fourth novel. Learn more about his work at his website, on Facebook at “Nick Poff Author,” and on Amazon’s Author Central. You can also find him at Patreon.  His short story, Lucky, is available on Amazon Kindle.


FACEBOOK  /  TWITTER  /  WEBSITE
PATREON  /  AMAZON  /  GOODREADS



The Handyman's History #4

Series