Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Book Blast: Delivered Fast by Annabeth Albert ~ (ARC Review, Excerpt + Giveaway)

Book Blast: Delivered Fast by Annabeth Albert ~ (ARC Review, Excerpt + Giveaway)
Book Information:
Author Name: Annabeth Albert
Book Name: Delivered Fast
Series: Portland Heat
Book: Three
Standalone: Yes! Each book is connected by the city, and are all standalone
Release Date: May 26, 2015
Publisher: Kensington/Lyrical
Cover Artist: Fiona Jayde

Buy The Book:


Blurb: 

Portland, Oregon, aka Hotlandia, where the coffee shops, restaurants, and bakeries are ready to serve everything piping hot, fresh, and ready to go—like the hard-working, hard-bodied men behind the counters—with no reservations…

Sure, Chris O’Neal has problems. His restaurant is still co-owned by his ex. His flannel-and-tattoos style is making him accidentally trendy. He can’t remember the last time he went out and had fun. But he’s not lonely, he’s driven. And the hot bakery delivery boy is not his problem, no matter how sweet his buns.

Chris is old enough to know Lance Degrassi’s sculpted good looks and clever double entendres spell nothing but trouble. Lance is still in college—he should be hitting the clubs and the books, chasing guys his own age, not pursuing some gruff motorcycle-riding workaholic. Especially when he’ll be leaving for grad school in a few months. But Lance keeps hanging around, lending a hand, charming Chris to distraction. Maybe some steaming hot no-strings indulgence won’t hurt.

Then again, maybe it will…

Pages or Words: 45,000 words
Categories: Contemporary, Erotica, Fiction, Gay fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

Excerpt:


From Chapter One of Delivered Fast

The delivery boy had sweet buns. Not to mention prize-winning rolls. He wore a pair of those fancy over-the-ear headphones and shimmied around the white bakery truck, his hips and ass working in time to what was apparently a killer beat. Even the way he climbed into the back of the truck was a choreographed dance. I wasn’t usually one to get distracted by eye candy, but that ass . . .

I’d propped open the service door at the rear of my coffee shop about fifteen minutes earlier, hoping to coax a cool breeze into the stuffy storeroom where I’d been working. I leaned against the door frame, appreciating the unexpectedly fine view in the alley.

When the guy emerged from the truck—headphones around his neck, carrying a stack of pink boxes—I pushed away from the door and met him at the edge of the concrete steps. I tried to play it cool, like I hadn’t spent the last five minutes perving on his world-class bubble butt.

“You’re not Vic,” I said as I ushered him into the hallway that led back to the kitchen and storeroom.

“Nope. I’m Lance, Vic’s cousin. I’ll be handling your deliveries from here on out.” His smile—a wide, toothy grin—was almost as adorable as his butt. The only resemblance he had to my usual beefy delivery guy was in the chiseled facial features and light olive skin. He looked like he’d be right at home playing World Cup soccer for Italy with his wide shoulders, lean torso, muscular thighs and legs. And that ass.

Which I was going to stop thinking about right the hell now. He was too young—I could see that even more clearly under the fluorescent lights of my kitchen. Early twenties, if that. His gelled-up black hair fell across his forehead in artfully bleached strands. Too high maintenance for my taste.

“I’m Chris O’Neal. Here, let me help you with those.” Taking part of the stack from him, I showed him the metal racks where I stashed recent deliveries.

“Nice setup you’ve got here.” Lance looked around the cramped but efficient kitchen area.

“Thanks.” Most of The People’s Cup square footage was devoted to the coffee bar and seating area in the front, so I made do in the back with my organization system, which bordered on the obsessive. I’d installed floor-to-ceiling shelving on every wall, including over the cooktop and counters. The center prep table was where most of the action happened, and its broad expanse was covered with the beginnings of several dishes for tomorrow’s Sunday brunch.

“I’ve been here before with friends from PSU—for your Sunday thing. And during the week once or twice to study.”

I made a noncommittal noise. Great. A college kid. As if I needed to feel like more of an old, cranky perv.

“Let’s get the rest of the boxes.” I herded him back out to the alley. I was eager to get him and his distracting ass on his way. I had several more hours of staging work ahead of me to prepare for Sunday’s buffet. During the week we were just another coffeehouse, but we were known all over Portland for our Sunday brunch.

“So are you the owner? This all yours?” Lance asked as he got another load of boxes from the truck.

“Yeah. Mine and my partner’s. Business partner.” I fumbled the stack of boxes he handed me. Why had it felt so necessary to make that qualification? Like the kid would be in any way interested in my messed-up business relationship with my stubborn bastard of an ex.

Despite his pretty-boy looks, the kid was probably straight; he had a confident swagger girls his age likely found irresistible.

“I’ve been to your other place, too—the one in Northwest. Did the delivery there earlier. I like this location better.”

“Me too,” I said, my voice drier than gin. “Randy give you any issues?”

Randy had his location; I had mine. Our relationship had turned into something out of a bad chick flick, except there wasn’t any cute ending coming.

“Randy? Nah. It was some girl named Becky, with a nose ring and huge gauges.”

I nodded. That sounded about right for Randy’s taste. And I was not going to care whether he was banging her or how long she’d last as an employee. His shitty employee turnover wasn’t my problem. I’d washed my hands of what happened at the 23rd Street store.

“You want a cup of coffee for the road?” I asked before I could stop myself. It was the same courtesy I’d always extended to his cousin and to most of our other delivery people, but somehow my offer felt tinged with more than politeness.

“What do you have on offer today?” His grin was more than a little wicked.

Wouldn’t you like to know? I bit back the flirtatious retort. And what the hell was up with that? I did not flirt. Hell, anything other than bitter and grumpy hadn’t been my MO for months now.

*****

Can Lance bring out the softer side of this cranky chef? Find out in DELIVERED FAST! 

Mari's Review:

*Copy provided by author/publisher via Pride Promotions in exchange for an honest review*

I enjoyed this book, perhaps not as much as I have enjoyed the rest of the series, but it was still a nice addition to it.

Chris runs a restaurant, he's buried himself in his work so he doesn't have to notice how lonely he is. Enter Lance, flirty, young and very into Chris. He doesn't have time for many things, since he's busy getting his degree, but he makes time for Chris and they sort of fell into a very steamy sort of relationship that slowly turns into more. Even if there is a big age gap between the two, they work well as a couple. Lance's family is very accepting and Chris allows himself to fall for Lance, even if he has this weird idea that they will never work in the long run.

The problem for me, basically, was that while I think Chris and Lance had amazing chemistry and they were great together, Chris kind of ruined it for me with as whiny as he was regarding their age difference. I felt at times that Lance was more mature than Chris, who at least he was more willing to put himself on the line for Chris.

Despite these issues, as always, Annabeth Albert delivered a fantastic story, beautifully written, very engaging. She made me care for her characters and root for them, even if I really would've loved to slap some sense into Chris more than a couple of times, but at least he more than made up for everything in the end.

Rating: 4.5 Stars.



About the author:
Annabeth Albert grew up sneaking romance novels under the bed covers. Now, she devours all subgenres of romance out in the open—no flashlights required! When she’s not adding to her keeper shelf, she’s a multi-published Pacific Northwest romance writer.

Emotionally complex, sexy, and funny stories are her favorites both to read and to write. Annabeth loves finding happy endings for a variety of pairings and is a passionate gay rights supporter. In between searching out dark heroes to redeem, she works a rewarding day job and wrangles two toddlers.

Represented by Saritza Hernandez of the Corvisiero Literary Agency

Where to find the author:

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