Review Tour: Brave For You by Crystal Lacy (Excerpt + Giveaway)



Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Length: 86,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Jay Aheer

Blurb

Less than a year after moving to Hawaii, construction foreman Nate Ellison’s wife leaves him and their infant son for another man. Months into single-fatherhood, Nate meets Andrew “An” Hoang and is slowly drawn into An’s life. Through An’s friendship, he finds himself finally enjoying his new home in paradise.

An Hoang hasn’t had a real relationship in years. With his pediatrics practice and a niece to care for on his days off, he doesn’t have the headspace for more than a simple roll in the sack. But when he meets Nate—who just happens to be the gorgeous construction worker he encountered in the lobby of his apartment building—something about Nate makes it impossible for him not to care. When Nate needs An’s help with his son, An doesn’t refuse.

What happens when Nate’s past and An’s old-fashioned parents interfere just as the two men begin to fall for each other? Will they find the means to be brave and give their love a chance to flourish?

Excerpt

“I’ve had plenty of lovers, but they’ve mostly been one-night stands. People I meet on the internet who are well aware I don’t want anything more than a hook-up. I tried relationships once or twice, but they never got past the beginning stages. I couldn’t—” He stopped. He’d been staring at the lines on his palms and tracing them back and forth with his fingernail, until they turned pink, but now he looked up into Nate’s face. “I may as well still be in the closet. I don’t deserve to be called brave.”

“Hey,” Nate said, trying to stop his mind from fixating on An’s words, I don’t want anything more than a hook-up. He remembered the conversation from earlier. An had said he never brought guys around. “If you knew your parents would suspect any guy you were with of being involved with you, why didn’t we go somewhere else for lunch?”

It wasn’t what An was expecting to hear from him. He had that quizzical expression on his face, like he just didn’t understand. “You and Dai wanted dim sum.”

“We could’ve gone to another place even if that one was Dai’s favorite. Why’d you risk it? It worried you from the beginning, even before we left.”

A few moments of silence stretched out between them. An blinked, as if Nate’s words had surprised him. “I wanted to take you there. You and Dai. I didn’t want fear of my parents to stop me from doing that.”

Nate nodded. Pride and admiration for An welled up inside him. “That’s you being brave. I’m sorry if you don’t agree, but that’s what bravery is—having something you’re scared of and facing it head-on. You’re stronger than you think, An.” If he hadn’t grown up with Amy and with parents as understanding as his were, would Nate have been strong enough to do what An was doing every day?

“Don’t,” An said, and there was something in his voice. A soft tremor that Nate had never heard there before, which made him want to take An in his arms and— “You’re always so nice, and you shouldn’t be.”

“I’m just telling the truth. And why shouldn’t I be nice to you? You’re the nicest guy I’ve ever met.” The nicest, the bravest, the best.

An’s lips quirked into a tight smile. “Am I so very nice? It’s easy to be nice to someone like you. Nate… You don’t—you really should stop.”

Nate couldn't understand this. Not completely. But he knew it was important to resist. “No,” he said, and his heart beat faster as he spoke, “I don’t want to stop being nice. Why should I?”

An didn't answer for a moment. He had his eyes glued to the palm of his hand again and he was digging fingernails into the skin there. When his words came they were in a whisper: “If you don’t, you’ll make me fall for you.”

Nate reached over and grabbed the offending hand, held An’s fingers tight enough that An looked up at him again, startled. Nate could feel An’s pulse, frenetic beneath his skin. His own breath quickened, and his mouth was suddenly so dry he could barely get his words out. But he did anyway.

“Would it be such a bad thing if you did? Fall for me?”

4 stars 

I love An and Nate! Nate was endearing and charming in an unassuming way and An was sincere and friendly. This book did a great job of an authentic relationship evolution between Nate and An. We see them spending time together and getting to know one another on a friend level for a while before they turn it into a relationship. This is definitely a slow-burn book but it was great! There is just a little bit of angst towards the end of the book but I enjoyed it and it kept things interesting. This was a first-time author for me and I will definitely be reading from her in the future!

Lastly, I appreciated that this book had a person of color as a MC. There are so few MM romance novels that feature non-white MCs, so it was nice to see one in this book. An is Vietnamese and we get to see a little bit of that culture when the MCs are eating and spending time with An's family. I also liked that this book was set in Hawaii, it gave it a different flare because it is something that I have not read in a book before.

*** copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***

July 27 - Au Boudior Ecarlate, Kimmers' Erotic Book Banter, Valerie Ullmer, Nicole's Book Musings, July 28 - MM Good Book Reviews, July 30 - Cupcakes & Bookshelves, July 31 - Love Bytes, August 1 - Gay Media Reviews, August 2 - Gay Book Reviews, August 3 - Katie's Book Corner, Wicked Faerie's Tales & Reviews, Abbey's Fully Booked, Jim's Reading Room, Making It Happen, Wicked Reads, August 4 - My Fiction Nook, August 6 - Drops Of Ink, The Geekery Book Review, August 7 - Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, August 8 - Mirrigold, Engaging Secrets, Reading In Sarah's Corner, Bonkers About Books, Bayou Book Junkie

Crystal Lacy lives with her loving family in Hawaii, where it is always either drizzling or sunny and never snows—which is a shame, because she prefers being cold to being damp and hot unless it’s for Very Good Reasons. She writes queer romance, mainly M/M, but also some F/F. She has aspirations to one day write a YA novel about cats.

Crystal is a long-time fangirl and writes slash fanfiction for the Harry Potter and NBC Hannibal fandoms. She has a deep love for fandom culture, and can be frequently spotted on Twitter and Tumblr reblogging pretty fan art.

Join Crystal's readers group on FB for sneak peeks, bonus content, and ARC opportunities or subscribe her newsletter for monthly book giveaways, recs, news, and more! You can also follow Crystal on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. 

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