Blog Tour: Kiss and Ride by Teodora Kostova (Exclusive Excerpt, Reviews + Giveaway)
Title: Kiss & Ride
Author: Teodora Kostova
Genre: Gay Romance, Contemporary, Christmas/Holiday Romance
Synopsis
What happens when you meet the right guy at the wrong time?When Vincent Alesi’s estranged father dies, he gets on the first plane from New York city to Rome to be at the memorial service. Even if he has to max out his credit card. Even if he hates the man for leaving him. Even if it’s a day before Christmas.
Everything that can go wrong does go wrong, and Vin ends up trusting a complete stranger with all his secrets, even the ones he didn’t know he had.
Luca Romano’s job as a flight attendant takes him all over the world. But a jet-setting lifestyle is not what he wants. His dream of opening his own restaurant is being placed on hold over circumstances beyond his control.
Timing is everything…
When Vin bursts into Luca’s life, both men fall fast and hard. But their lives, their dreams, even the cities they live in couldn’t be more different.
Their few days together in Rome are romantic, emotionally intense, and leave them both wanting more.
Can a fleeting love affair change their lives forever?
Buy Links
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N054R33/Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N054R33/
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01N054R33/
Exclusive Excerpt:
After they got tired showing off their ice skating skills, Vin and Marco joined Luca outside and together they went to have dinner. Marco’s favorite place was close to the rink, so they headed that way and were soon seated in the warm, cosy restaurant. Luca had been right – Marco'd been telling Vin stories about him. Greatly embellished stories. He kept doing so at dinner, making them both laugh. Luca had forgotten how much fun his best friend was – he rarely saw him anymore. He rarely saw anyone or did anything but work anymore.
“So then, the lead singer runs off to the toilet and starts puking his guts out! It’s obvious he can’t go on performing and we still have five songs left in our set. The whole pub is full of people, staring at us, whispering to each other, speculating what’s going on,” Marco said, taking a sip of his wine. Vin watched him with hooded eyes, twinkling from the two glasses of wine he’d already had. “Enter my knight in shining armor!” He said with flourish, gesturing to Luca. “Just as I was thinking of pulling the microphone to my piano and singing the rest of the fucking set, Luca jumps on stage, apologizes for the unexpected events and waves at us to start the next song!”
“What was I supposed to do? You were all frozen in place, staring at each other with these wide, unblinking eyes, it was embarrassing!” Luca said, shaking his head at the memory. “It was one of your first gigs, I had to do something or nobody would have ever invited you again.”
“Were you any good?” Vin asked, raising an eyebrow in challenge.
“Oh my god, he was incredible!” Marco exclaimed, making both Luca and Vin laugh. “He took off his leather jacket and was wearing a tight white t-shirt underneath. All the women started making bedroom eyes at him even before he started singing.”
“He’s lying,” Luca said with a sigh.
“I’m not! You totally did that on purpose so that they’d like you even if you sounded bad!” Luca shook his head again and grinned at Vin.
Book Trailer
*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by the author for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*
Vin maxes out his credit card and travels to Rome the day before Christmas to be at his estranged father's memorial. The same father who left him and his mother when he was barely five years old and who refused to take him in when his mother died when Vin was fourteen. Getting stuck in an elevator is just the straw that broke the camel's back and Vin finds himself telling some of his troubles to the stranger locked in with him.
Luca is a flight-attendant just back from his latest trip. When Vin breaks down in front of him, he comforts him the best he can and ends up taking him to the church where the memorial is held. From there, he simply can't remain aloof and let a grieving Vin on his own, so he invites him to stay with him for the remainder of his visit.
Neither Vin nor Luca can fight the attraction that sizzles between them, even if they know that with their lives being so different, any relationship between them has an expiration date, one that is coming closer and closer.
I loved both Luca and Vin, and while this was a bit of insta-love, well, it definitely worked in this case. The connection between both men and having them bond through what they were going through, Vin with all his conflicting emotions regarding the father he never knew and Luca with having to fight against his parents who were contesting his grandma's will, coupled with their electric chemistry, made their relationship more intense. There's no denying that Teodora Kostova is a master at writing sex scenes that are hotter than hot, but that go deeper than just a casual hookup, and damn, if I couldn't feel the heat rising from my kindle with some of the scenes.
The writing was amazing as always, Teodora can effortlessly transport her readers to the places where her books are set making the experience even more vivid, Vin and Luca were fantastic and their love story was one that will remain in my heart for years to come. Highly recommendable!
Rating: 5+ Stars!!!
*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by the author for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*
Let me get this out of the way from the start, but Teodora Kostova can write a romance! She takes two men who are in a sad and difficult place in life, force them to see outside of their own misery, weaves their lives and love together and ends it with the most amazingly beautiful HEA! Just when you (ok, I) was done with Christmas stories for the year and ready to move on, I get this delicious little nugget and can't help but fall in love! There were no magical happily ever afters for Vin and Luca, they both worked hard to do what was necessary to have a life together and I could do nothing but sigh in happiness!
Vin has traveled to Rome with no money because his absentee father died. He's a ball of anger, grief, confusion and distress about the death of a man he hadn't seen since he was a child; a man who had him put into foster care instead of taking him when Vin's mother died. He meets Luca, a flight attendant, who has the holidays off and is spending some much needed time at home. Luca has lost his family due to being gay and is continuing to defend his inheritance from his grandmother in court against his parents who want him to have nothing. When both men are stuck in an elevator together, Luca provides comfort and support to Vin. They have an instant connection and once out of the elevator, Luca gets Vin to the funeral in a hurry, staying to provide a shoulder.
Luca ends up inviting Vin to spend the holidays with him and they become friends and lovers as they both work through the ups and downs in their lives over the holidays. It comes time for Vin to head back to New York but both men want a future together. Do they have what it takes to make this work long-term?
I absolutely loved this story and Vin and Luca! This was just everything I want to read in a romance story!
Rating: 5 +++ stars!
Giveaway
Prizes
Rating: 5 +++ stars!
Giveaway
- Kindle Fire 7″ WiFi 8GB tablet
- 2 x 10$ Amazon gift cards
- 2 x Signed paperbacks of Snowed In
- 3 x Swag packs, including pens, bookmarks, bracelets, and van Gogh themed items from the National Gallery in London
- 2 x audio books, winners choice. (requires an account with Audible to claim prize)
About the author
Hi, my name is Teodora and I live in London with my husband and my son. I’ve been writing ever since I can remember, but it became my full time job a few years ago when I decided that everything else I’ve tried bores me to death and I have to do what I’ve always wanted to do, but never had the guts to fully embrace. I’ve been a journalist, an editor, a personal assistant and an interior designer among other things, but as soon as the novelty of the new, exciting job wears off, I always go back to writing. Being twitchy, impatient, loud and hasty are not qualities that help a writer, because I have to sit alone, preferably still, and write for most of the day, but I absolutely love it. It’s the only time that I’m truly at peace and the only thing I can do for more than ten minutes at a time – my son has a bigger attention span than me.
When I’m procrastinating, I like to go to the gym, cook Italian meals (and eat them), read, listen to rock music, watch indie movies and True Blood re-runs. Or, in the worst case scenario, get beaten at every Nintendo Wii game by a very inventive kid.
Don’t be shy and get in touch – I love connecting with my readers.
Blog: www.teodorakostova.blogspot.com
Twitter: @Teodora_Kostova
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teodorakostovaauthor
E-mail: t.t.kostova@gmail.com
Instagram: teodorika1
No comments:
Post a Comment