Book Review ~ Plaid versus Paisley by KC Burn (Guest Post and Giveaway)

Book Review ~ Plaid versus Paisley by KC Burn (Guest Post, Review and Giveaway)

 Title: Plaid versus Paisley

Series: Fabric Hearts

Author: KC Burn

Release Date: December 12, 2016

Category: Contemporary

Pages: 216

Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks. 

Blurb:

Two years after his life fell apart, Will Dawson moved to Florida to start over. His job in the tech department of Idyll Fling, a gay porn studio, is ideal for him. When his boss forces him to take on a new hire, the last person he expects is Dallas Greene—the man who cost him his job and his boyfriend back in Connecticut. He doesn’t know what’s on Dallas’s agenda, but he won’t be blindsided by a wolf masquerading as a runway model. Not again.

Dallas might have thrown himself on his brother’s mercy, but his skills are needed at Idyll Fling. Working with Will is a bonus, since Dallas has never forgotten the man. A good working relationship is only the beginning of what Dallas wants with Will.

But Dallas doesn’t realize how deep Will’s distrust runs, and Will doesn’t know that the man he’s torn between loving and hating is the boss’s brother. When all truths are revealed, how can a relationship built on lies still stand?

Hello! I’m KC Burn and I’m thrilled to be here, chatting about my new release, Plaid versus Paisley, the second in my Fabric Hearts series. You might be wondering why I chose to theme a series around fabrics. Well, let me tell you, it was almost entirely unintentional! For starters, I plan almost nothing when I write. I’ve certainly tried to plan but it just doesn’t come naturally to me.  

I also will admit to a serious love of men in kilts, and I do love me some plaid in just about any form. One day, a friend and I were at a romance authors conference. As you might imagine, the majority of attendees were women, but of the very few men who were in attendance, three of them were in kilts. That seemed rather improbable, and I said to my friend…”Three men in kilts?” And she said, “You should write that book.”

I kept that little idea in my head for years before something sort of gelled. In the first book Tartan Candy, Raven, an ex-porn star opens a business called Tartan Candy, where he gets booked for events as professional eye candy in a kilt. And since I don’t really do a lot of planning before I start writing, I’d expected all of the stories in the series to revolve around Tartan Candy.

But while I wrote the untitled book that became Plaid versus Paisley, everything changed. Forcing everything to revolve around Tartan Candy just wasn’t going to work. I was still able to incorporate Will’s love of kilts into the story, and Raven is his best friend so Tartan Candy is peripherally involved, but Dallas wasn’t going to bend. Dallas loves his paisley and the clash of patterns is a great representation for the path of his and Will’s relationship. 

However, I didn’t quite realize how engrained the whole fabric theme would be until I ended up with a repetitive strain injury in my arm. My chiropractor started taping up my arm with supportive tape, and the only pattern he had was this bright teal and navy argyle. Ridiculously unsubtle, and while I was discussing it with my book club, someone said at least it was a fun pattern. And I said, “Just add argyle, it makes everything better.” Suddenly, I had an idea and a title for the next book in the series – Just Add Argyle will be out next year! So the whole fabric theming was mostly organic and partly accidental… like just about everything I write!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy Will and Dallas. 

5 Stars!

I really enjoyed this story although I had a hard time liking Will through quite a bit of it. I understood he felt animosity towards Dallas, after all, his life basically fell apart after Dallas entered the picture. But there comes a point where you have to stop hating someone so much or it takes over your life. He was a miserable jerk throughout most of the book. His paranoia, low self-esteem, and controlling/territorial tendencies were very off putting. Luckily, his coldness gradually melts and he begins to see what he's doing, although it comes to a point where I wondered if it might actually be too late.

Dallas, oh sweet, loyal Dallas. He broke my heart, I cried for him. I honestly loved Dallas and if I could have climbed into my Kindle, I would've given him a huge hug. This guy has put up with so much, I couldn't help but side with him even when he was being less than forthcoming with Will. His horrible parents, jerk boyfriend and a job that took over his life. After everything he still keeps going and trying to achieve a life he can be happy with. While I didn't consider him a doormat, he definitely put up with more than I personally could have from Will. There are quite a few points where I'm not too sure Will even deserved Dallas *sighs* but that's not up to me.

No matter how I feel about Will and Dallas, Plaid versus Paisley is a wonderful story and I absolutely loved it. The writing is great and I was engaged from the very beginning. This isn't a light easy love story, it's a bit of an emotional roller coaster. There are fun and happy moments as well as sad and heartbreaking moments. It's sweet and sexy and there are times that might make you angry. Dallas and Will don't travel down an easy road. I find myself anxious to see what's next in this series and I hope we get to see more of Dallas and Will.

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*

Author Bio:

KC Burn has been writing for as long as she can remember and is a sucker for happy endings (of all kinds).  After moving from Toronto to Florida for her husband to take a dream job, she discovered a love of gay romance and fulfilled a dream of her own -- getting published.  After a few years of editing web content by day, and neglecting her supportive, understanding hubby and needy cat at night to write stories about men loving men, she was uprooted yet again and now resides in California. Writing is always fun and rewarding, but writing about her guys is the most fun she’s had in a long time, and she hopes you’ll enjoy them as much as she does. 

Visit KC at her website, on Twitter, on Facebook, or find out about new releases by signing up for her newsletter.

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