Title: Flaunt
Author: E.Davies
Release Date: January 31st 2017
Genre: Contemporary MM Romance
BLURB
“He's waiting for me to ask, and I'm afraid.”
“I'm just one more gay guy here.”
Moving to the suburbs of L.A. was supposed to give Nic Montero a fresh start. After escaping his family, coming out as a gay trans man, and excelling in computer programming out of desperation to get financially stable or die, everything should be easy. But joining gay culture now, post-transition, feels impossible... until he runs into the force of nature that is Kyle. Everything Nic isn't, Kyle embodies. Green hair, garters and cut-off shorts, sports jerseys, and all, brash Kyle is the most gorgeous man he's ever laid eyes on, and he pulls Nic headlong into the center of his world. If only Nic felt like enough for a man like Kyle.
“One-night stands are my only option.”
Loud, loving, and too much for most men to handle, Kyle Everett catches eyes and occasionally scorn... even at his job at the local HIV charity, Plus. His days and nights are spent at work, his precious spare moments spent with his son, Kevin, when it's his turn to co-parent, or his best friend, drag queen River. He only has money or time for cheap flings, but the lanky otter who walks into his life makes Kyle want to hold him for longer than a night. He knows what it's like for Nic to be without a family, but he isn't brave enough to let this man into his life... until his charity is targeted by bigots, and Nic's there for him.
“I'll stay with you if you're brave enough to be you.”
Nic spent his twenties avoiding family and even his own femininity, but his yearning is impossible to ignore. Kyle's used to flying solo, but Nic offers him safety and fills gaps in his life he never realized existed and now can't stand. Living in close proximity, they can't run from their attraction, but they're each used to being rejected, with the emotional scars to prove it. Can two men who feel like they're not enough and too much find something just right?
Flaunt is a steamy, stand-alone gay romance novel with a HEA ending and no cliffhanger.
EXCERPT
“Welcome to our headquarters! Er, not that we have other locations. Not full-time, anyway. Don’t worry about being late. I’m not even ready. I’m so sorry.” This had to be Kyle— the voice on the intercom matched this peppy yet sibilant, rapid-fire speech.
“I— that’s fine,” Nic assured Kyle with a quiet laugh. He was relieved not to be in trouble for showing up late, nor for showing up in formalwear when everyone else was probably going casual. “GPS pointed me the wrong way.”
“Oh, they do that! Right this way, please.” Kyle scanned his card against a reader near the staircase door. When he twirled to hold the staircase door open, his skirt flared out a little.
Kyle was wearing a skirt, over men’s skinny jeans and boots, and a blouse, and chest hair peeked out from the top of the blouse, his biceps unmistakeable. And his suspenders reached under the skirt, presumably to his jeans waistband. It made Nic wonder if he was wearing garters, which was a wholly inappropriate thought for their first meeting.
He awkwardly stepped through the doorway and Kyle brushed past him to trot upstairs at top speed, already talking again.
*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.*
Kyle works at an HIV charity and is very out of the closet. He knows what he likes and he isn't afraid to go after it. He wears his hair and make-up how he wants, dresses how he wants and makes no apologies to anyone. Kyle's life revolves around his job and his son. When his best friend wanted to have a child and couldn't get approved due to her age, Kyle agreed to father her child. Kyle doesn't date or bring men around his son, so he has a long history of one night stands. When the charity he works for needs a software upgrade, he meets Nic, someone he's instantly attracted to.
Nic is the complete opposite of Kyle. He's quiet and tries to blend into the background and not draw attention to himself. Nic is transgender, has worked hard to get the successful life he's now living. He's attracted to Kyle but isn't willing to compromise his job by mixing business with pleasure. But then, since it's a small world, Nic agrees to go out one night with co-workers, only to find out that the co-worker that invited him is Kyle's best friend. He goes home with Kyle and they agree it will be one night. When the charity Kyle works at is attacked, Nic takes Kyle home with him and the men find out that there's more between them than a one night stand.
This is the first book I've read with a transgender character, and though I have no experience, I thought the author did a great job in the storytelling. He allowed the reader to understand the experiences Nic has faced and the decisions that Nic still has to face. And, I really enjoyed the social normative behaviors that were focused on, for example, Nic had worked hard to be masculine and it was a real struggle for him to wear a pink shirt, even though he wanted to, as he didn't want to come across as not being masculine. I also really enjoyed Kyle's reaction to finding out Nic was transgender, there wasn't one. Kyle is open minded and non-judgemental, which is really refreshing.
Something that I was taken aback by was Kyle and Nic having unprotected sex the first time they were together, and then follow that up with the second time and how Kyle says that protected sex is a habit. It made no sense to me that he would pick Nic up at a bar and have unprotected sex, but then when they get to know each other better, protection is a habit. Plus, Kyle works for an HIV charity providing education to others, he should know better! Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable story that discussed a lot of important topics, and a great start to a new series.
*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.*
Kyle works at an HIV charity and is very out of the closet. He knows what he likes and he isn't afraid to go after it. He wears his hair and make-up how he wants, dresses how he wants and makes no apologies to anyone. Kyle's life revolves around his job and his son. When his best friend wanted to have a child and couldn't get approved due to her age, Kyle agreed to father her child. Kyle doesn't date or bring men around his son, so he has a long history of one night stands. When the charity he works for needs a software upgrade, he meets Nic, someone he's instantly attracted to.
Nic is the complete opposite of Kyle. He's quiet and tries to blend into the background and not draw attention to himself. Nic is transgender, has worked hard to get the successful life he's now living. He's attracted to Kyle but isn't willing to compromise his job by mixing business with pleasure. But then, since it's a small world, Nic agrees to go out one night with co-workers, only to find out that the co-worker that invited him is Kyle's best friend. He goes home with Kyle and they agree it will be one night. When the charity Kyle works at is attacked, Nic takes Kyle home with him and the men find out that there's more between them than a one night stand.
This is the first book I've read with a transgender character, and though I have no experience, I thought the author did a great job in the storytelling. He allowed the reader to understand the experiences Nic has faced and the decisions that Nic still has to face. And, I really enjoyed the social normative behaviors that were focused on, for example, Nic had worked hard to be masculine and it was a real struggle for him to wear a pink shirt, even though he wanted to, as he didn't want to come across as not being masculine. I also really enjoyed Kyle's reaction to finding out Nic was transgender, there wasn't one. Kyle is open minded and non-judgemental, which is really refreshing.
Something that I was taken aback by was Kyle and Nic having unprotected sex the first time they were together, and then follow that up with the second time and how Kyle says that protected sex is a habit. It made no sense to me that he would pick Nic up at a bar and have unprotected sex, but then when they get to know each other better, protection is a habit. Plus, Kyle works for an HIV charity providing education to others, he should know better! Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable story that discussed a lot of important topics, and a great start to a new series.
Rating: 4 stars
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About the Author
E. Davies was proficient in real estate ad shorthand (the old-fashioned newspaper kind) by the age of nine. Growing up moving constantly taught him what people have in common, the ways relationships are formed, and the dangers of “miscellaneous” boxes.
As a teen, he tore through a stack of found romance novels, wishing someone had written similar for M/M, though he could never find anything at Chapters or the library. Just after graduating university in 2013, semi-out and clutching his English B.A. for dear life, he stumbled on an Amazon M/M short story. It was a whole new... phrase he dares not repeat for fear of lawyers. It shone and shimmered splendidly, though.
After failing forty times to avoid crafting happily-ever-after endings for steamy short stories, he plunged into romance novels and hasn't looked back. As a young gay author whose formative gay fictional role models were characters punished for their sexuality, Ed prefers his stories lightly dramatic, full of optimism and hope.
Now out and proud, he writes full-time, goes on long nature walks, tries to fill his passport, drinks piña coladas on the beach, flees from cute guys, coos over fuzzy animals (especially bees), and is liable to tilt his head and click his tongue if you don't use your turn signal.
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