Blog Tour: Heart Knot Mine by Lily Velden ~ (ARC Review, Except + Giveaway)
Book Information:
Title: Heart Knot Mine
Author: Lily Velden
Genre: gay romance, contemporary
Length: novel
Publisher: DreamSpinner Press
Blurb:
Despite a successful college teaching career, Noah Daniels has become depressed. He feels he’s leading a monochromatic life: love has eluded him. When he’s offered a chance to teach in London as part of an exchange program, he accepts, hoping a change of scenery will do him good. But once he’s there, his outlook on love and sexuality changes in ways he never expected.
Robert Callinan is Noah’s English counterpart in the program. The men exchange not only their jobs, but also their homes, and it is what Noah stumbles across while staying at Robert’s house that sends him on a journey of self-discovery — both mentally and physically. A journey that puts color back into his life… just not in the way he expected. When the exchange program ends, Noah has to go home, but he doesn’t know if he wants to return to the life he left behind.
Excerpt
SITTING WITH my ass parked on my favorite barstool, at my favorite bar—the Redhead Piano Bar on Ontario—I nursed my bourbon and silently asked myself the usual questions. Well, actually, it was really only the one question phrased a hundred different ways. That’s what happened when you went the route of academia—you learned how to complicate the shit out of things and use fancy-schmancy words. If you thought about it, it was a bit ridiculous to be using three-plus-syllable words to ask a question, when most of us were usually seeking a simple one- or two-syllable word answer. Yes. No. And, if we’d really lucked out: maybe.
I snorted into my drink, remembering the words of my most admired college professor, Ross Whedon: Noah Daniels, how many times have I told you? An academic will always take a whole paragraph for what could have been said in one sentence. Christ, even my thoughts were long-winded.
What was my question again?
Oh, yeah.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I mean, really, what the hell was wrong with me? She was gorgeous. Tall and willowy, with long, flowing mahogany hair that still managed to look sleek and glossy under the dim lights of the bar. Big brown eyes, clear skin, an impressive rack, and when she walked away from me, I saw she had a great peach-shaped ass.
That’s right, she walked away. Why?
Because I gave her the brush-off. That’s why.
Hence my question. What the hell is wrong with me?
She wasn’t irritating. Her voice didn’t grate. Quite the contrary. She was charming and friendly. In fact, I’d go so far as to say she was interesting and articulate—she was in PR. Surely that meant she could string together a sentence?—and yet, I’d passed on her not so subtle come-on. I looked at her again, knowing I could have her if I wanted her, but try as I might, I couldn’t muster even the slightest bit of enthusiasm for the idea.
And that was the problem.
Me and enthusiasm didn’t seem to be on speaking terms anymore. All the color had seeped out of my life. I was living a monochromatic, black-and-white photograph of a life where everything was a shade of tedious.
I wasn’t sure how it happened, or even when it happened.
It just had.
It crept up on me, like a slow-spreading parasitic vine, gradually sapping the vibrancy from my life. One day I woke up and everything was gray, dull, and lifeless.
And it had been that way for a while.
Mari's Review:
**Copy provided by author/publisher via Eyes on Books in exchange for an honest review**
This was such a fantastic read! Emotional and detailed. The first part might have dragged a little, but I loved the way the author made Noah slowly come to terms into his sexuality, especially since he hadn’t been aware of being gay before moving to London and finding Robert’s DVDs.
I just adored Noah, although I have to admit that at first I wasn’t too sure about him. As I got to know him, and read his journey into self-discovery, he grew on me. And when he met Robert in person, damn, he just about stole my heart! His reactions, the way he handled everything thrown his way were just perfectly in tune with all that happened and I loved that he stood his ground, even if it was killing him to do so.
On the other hand, I wanted to strangle Roberto during the last third of the story. I understood his motivations, but he broke my heart along with Noah’s and I ended up crying with everything that transpired between them. He did make it all better in the end, though, and that's what counts.
The book made me laugh, cry and root for the characters to get their HEA, and even if not everything was resolved in the end, it was still so satisfying.
This is a story to be savored, and read several times, it’s that good. Definitely a 5 star read for me!
Buy Links:
Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K2NT2MW
Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00K2NT2MW
Amazon AU http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00K2NT2MW
Amazon DE http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00K2NT2MW
Giveaway
3x DSP Gift Vouchers for any Lily Velden Title – $6.99 each
About the author
Lily Velden lives on the east coast of Australia, her family having emigrated from Holland when she was a child.She’s both a left and right brain person, holding qualifications in both Finance and Fine Arts. She tells her friends that her way with numbers will make her a profitable artist and writer… one day.
Lily has always had a love of language and a beautifully crafted sentence, and admits to having a fetish for collecting quotes, poems, and song lyrics. What she won’t admit to is how many notebooks she’s filled with those quotes… Her fascination carries on into her artworks where she often incorporates text. When a shoulder injury slowed down her art practice she decided to explore her love of the written word more fully and began writing. “I’ll paint my pictures with words.”
Not that she’s abandoned artmaking in its entirety—Lily collaborates on the designs for all her book covers.
There are many things Lily loves, here are just a few of the PG rated ones: a good laugh (all the better if caused by a naughty joke), the smell of freshly baked goods and mown grass, a smile from a stranger, rainbows after the rain, and witnessing a promise kept.
Lily Velden can be found at:
Website: http://lilyvelden.wordpress.com/
Email: lilyvelden@live.com.au
Twitter Name: @LilyVelden
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lily.velden
Tumblr: http://lilyvelden.tumblr.com/
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