Release Blitz ~ The Other Book by Roe Horvat (Excerpt + Giveaway)
Length: 42,000 words approx.
Cover Design:
Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing
Blurb
Tyler doesn't overthink pleasure and avoids complications. He knows it might be stupid to get involved with his closeted boss, but the temptation is too great. At first, the cold and beautiful Joel Sandstrom seems to loathe Tyler's guts.
Except one late night at the office, his reasons become clear...and his control breaks.
Every time they touch, Joel's stony face comes alive, harsh lines smooth out, and for a minute, he looks serene. Happy, even. Just sex - dirty, intense, spectacular sex.
During their covert encounters, Tyler discovers the power he has over the lonesome man, and it's a heady feeling. What if he could set Joel free and give him peace of mind? When Tyler realizes how much Joel needs him, he doesn't regret breaking his own rules.
Excerpt
(warning: adult language, but no explicit scenes)
Thursday was a long day.
I messaged Christoffer to say I wouldn’t be able to make it this weekend because my boss was a slave-driving ass.
At least it’s a good-looking ass, Christoffer replied.
Tina knocked on my booth at half past eleven.
“Tyler? Joel says he wants you in the conference room at one for the meeting with Mercury.”
I scowled, my mood getting worse by the second. “He could have emailed me, messaged me, or come down here to tell me himself. You’re not his secretary.”
Tina rolled her eyes. “Calm down, Avenger. I bumped into Joel in the kitchen. He mentioned you might need to be there. I told him I’d let you know.”
It took a me a while, but in the end, I had to admit I had no comeback to something so…normal. Damn it. He didn’t even give me valid reasons to hate on him.
“I’ll be there,” I mumbled, turning back to my screen.
“He’s a good guy, Tyler. Cut him some slack,” Tina said.
“Me?” I pivoted on my chair to face her. Joel was the one being a jerk. And he was the boss! How was I supposed to cut him slack?
“You know what I mean,” Tina threw over her shoulder, walking away toward her desk.
“What?” I called after her, but she didn’t reply.
Two hours later, I parked my butt in the conference room, opposite Joel. He was looking at his laptop screen intently, not acknowledging me. He never talked to me unless he absolutely had to.
“Nice tie. Matches the ice in your chest,” I commented.
“They will be here in three minutes. Please behave,” Joel said evenly, still not lifting his gaze from the laptop.
“You don’t like it when I behave,” I told him, leaning back.
His eyes flashed to me for an instant, and his lip twitched. Otherwise, expression Number One: immaculate control and contained rage. “Tyler, can you act professionally for ninety minutes?” he hissed.
That was it. How come I was suddenly the unprofessional one?
“How’s your throat today, Joel? Sore?” I asked loudly just as the door creaked open.
Joel sucked in a breath and clenched his jaw. Red stain crept up his neck, but he stood gracefully and offered his hand to the forty-something woman who entered the room. A tall young man in a lovely dark-blue suit followed her. He had high cheekbones and porcelain skin, and he blushed fiercely when he saw me. Nice. I made sure to smile at him when we shook hands. His eyelids fluttered. Matt, who held the door for the Mercury people, gave us a tight greeting and closed it.
We sat, and my attention shifted from the young beauty back to my boss. Joel’s stare became glacial. I smirked. This was going to be fun.
It wasn’t fun. At all. Their requirements were unspecific, their expectations exaggerated, and the pretty boy was a pretentious jerk. I suffered through the hour and a half trying not to let them know they had only wasted my time.
Joel accompanied the Mercury people to the hall and shook hands with both. I tried to slip past them back to my soundproof sanctuary, intent on closing myself in there for the rest of the day. I hated client meetings with a passion—even when they involved pretty young things. But Joel called after me, ruining my escape.
“Tyler? Can you wait in the conference room? It will only take a minute.”
I let out my frustration by making the face of a backstabbed warrior, and slowly turned around.
Back in the conference room, I sat down on the same chair, which was still warm from my butt. Hopefully, Joel would only want to go through the details of the meeting and then I could go hide again.
He stepped inside and closed the door.
“I have a request,” he began slowly. He stayed by the door, as far from me as possible.
I leaned forward and supported my chin in my palm, waiting.
“I can’t let the situation get out of hand,” Joel continued, suspiciously vague. “I have some serious private matters going on right now. I hope you will understand and help me to…handle this gracefully. I can’t afford any added complications.”
Oh, it was that kind of a request!
“Joel, I told you, I won’t out you. I’m not a complete shit,” I said with disgust. What the hell did he think of me?
Joel flashed me a disturbed look. “No, I know that. I only need us to…stop being personal.”
“You mean you won’t suck my dick anymore, boss?”
He had the grace to wince, yet he didn’t reply.
4* Not what I was expecting, despite the blurb. Not everyone's cup of tea, but it's a quality read from RH.
There's quite a long intro to this tale, which I suggest you read via a sample if you're buying this on Kindle. It's a bit of an insight into Roe Horvat, explains why he's written this tale and makes it clear about content, and that this is erotica, not an out-and-out romantic novel. I read the blurb, read the author's personal intro and went for it. I'm glad I read it, because for what it is, it is well written, but also in a way, it's kind of vanilla erotica, as there's nothing hugely down and dirty, no humiliation, no pain, no kink, no debasement, etc., simply consensual sex and voyeurism between different guys.
There's, of course, the main couple as described in the blurb, but there's also their friends who are in a committed relationship, but who feel the need to play. There's not a ton of play, but there are scenes that you wouldn't perhaps expect in a traditional romance. Did they put me off? No, because I had my eyes opened from the start, but had I gone into this expecting more of The Layover, I might have wondered what I'd stumbled across. And, if you're hoping for a traditional, monogamous HEA for these guys, be warned that you'll get the HEA (at least, I think so, because as it ends, there's no mention of how solid they are, but to bare oneself like this, to go share what these guys have shared, makes me think they're it), but not the traditional or monogamous.
Did I like the guys? No, because there wasn't time to really get to know them and understand their need for more than a HEA involving 2 people (not that one involving more isn't fine; it depends on the dynamics) that occasionally means that more join the party for one-offs. I think I'd have gotten a committed threesome, foursome, even, but that's not what we got here. We got the main couple and their friends, and in the future, possibly more casual friends for one-offs.
Maybe that's truer to gay guys? The author admits he's trans and that he didn't have this sort of reading material when he was at an age to explore his self and his sexuality, so maybe that's his experience of relationships? I think I needed/wanted a little more of the closeted guy, Josh. We're told he's closeted and later there's a reveal, but we don't see the torment it's caused him - well, we do, but not in enough detail, though he himself says he'll enter counselling, which yes, he needed. I think I wanted to know more about him and the whys, and how the trigger for this affected his earlier years. As the tale ended, I think he drew strength from outing himself, and he drew strength from his now-lover, Tyler, and from the guy's mother, and I think he'll end up in a healthy place. But, he still has some demons to conquer, and I think that Ty was right to put the brakes on, as group sex as a cure for being closeted, was not the right route for Josh (soooo glad the author didn't go with that trope, a la BDSM cures all).
What was unusual and interesting in this, as an aside to the tale, is that we're told that Ty's mother is a divorced 50-something woman who's decided to live for herself, not for convention and not necessarily seeking a HEA following her divorce from Ty's dad. I found that refreshing, and that she was open about her relationships, about the sex, about kicking one guy out when yes the sex was OK, but he wasn't fulfilling her in other ways. I thought it something that you don't normally see in novels - once you're past your late 40s, seemingly you're dead from the waist down. Well done to the author for liberating older women! And, I enjoyed the openness and frankness of the relationship that mum and son shared.
I won't say, because I can't, that I enjoyed the read, as it wasn't my cup of tea, but I respect this author and his work, and I am glad I read it, because I did end up appreciating another side to his talents.
ARC courtesy of the author/Beaten Track Publishing and SignalBoost Promotions, for my reading pleasure.
Author Bio
More about the author:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roe.horvat.98
Twitter: @roehorvat
Website: roehorvat.com
Publisher: http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/?n1=authors&id=107
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