The Boys of Brighton Series
by M. Tasia
Publisher:
Boroughs Publishing Group
Cover
Artist: Boroughs Publishing Group
Genre: M/M Romance
The Book Junkie Reads…. GUEST POST
from M. Tasia
Topic: What makes m/m romance so hot?
Typically,
my MCs are strong men. Going on the journey of them opening up and showing real
emotions, my fans - male and female – say is hot. As depicted in traditional
romance, men have been reluctant to share and show their emotions. While I
applaud those authors that have leveled the playing field and created female
characters that aren’t interested in sharing,
we have to acknowledge that the strong, silent type is still a draw. When you
have two (or more) men equally unwilling to demonstrate how they feel, that
tension makes finding their HEA that much sweeter.
I’ve
asked my fans what drew them to m/m romance and the answers varied. Some have
said reading about two men together is super hot, others have said they love
the romantic dynamic between two men, which is different from the male/female
dynamic. Others have told me that the storylines that involve alpha males draw
them in because men relate to each other differently than they relate to women.
Many of my readers have said they won’t return to m/f romances now that they’ve
become hooked on m/m romances.
My fans
represent every sexual orientation, and while they have preferences, ultimately
their attraction to a book comes down to the story. Build a solid story with a
strong romance, add a few hot men and a happy ending, what more could you ask
for?
The Book Junkie Reads . . . Review of . . .
The Boys of Brighton Series . . . This was one hot, sexy, steamy, set of alpha
males that knew themselves, what they wanted and how to get it. These were four
tantalizing reads that gave sexuality a boost on the good side. The romance was
sexy the encounters body melting and soul satisfying. There were fighters,
businessmen, nurses, military-men, librarian, business owner, widower and more.
This was a series that I consumed in one day. It was over five-hundred pages of
passion, chemistry, love, respect, and romance.
The Boys of Brighton, #1
by M. Tasia
Date of Publication: September 8th
2016
BLURB
Fifth-generation firefighter Gabe
Mason saves Johnny from the flames of an office building fire, and Johnny will
save Gabe from himself.
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Excerpt Gabe:
The
building was coming down, Gabe knew it. After the last explosion, he and his
partner, Lee, were able to grab one of the women huddled by the window and
carry her down the ladder. There were two more people in that room, and he
would be damned if he’d leave them behind. Seeing his cousin Josie hanging from
the window had almost paralyzed him with fear, but thanks to his years of
training Gabe didn’t miss a beat. He grabbed her out of the air from one of her
coworkers who held onto her, saving Josie from a three-story fall headfirst.
Another
explosion rocked the back of the building and Gabe raced back up the ladder. He
didn’t stop at the top. He jumped through the window instead, desperate to find
the trapped people. His turnout gear and oxygen tank protected him from the
worst of the heat and the thick black smoke that filled the room, obstructing
his vision as he scanned for anyone, hoping he wasn’t too late.
He heard
a loud scraping noise from the back corner. Easing his way closer, he was
finally able to make out the same shorter man that saved Josie trying to
leverage a filing cabinet off a trapped woman.
“Got the
last two, Lee. One trapped,” Gabe called into his radio.
“The
building’s coming down!” Lee answered. “I’m almost at the top of the ladder. Get
them out here now!”
Gabe
reached the man just as a loud whoosh sounded through the room and flames waved
across the ceiling. Time to go. The man with the pole looked up at the
flames…but instead of making a run for the window as Gabe had expected, he began
to desperately push on the cabinet.
Maybe I’m
jaded after all these years.
Gabe
grabbed the man’s shoulder. The guy cried out in pain before he turned to face
him. The smoke was so thick that it was difficult to make out his features, but
the burn marks on the guy’s shoulder from the steel pole he was using were easy
to see.
“You have
to get out!” Gabe called. “The ladder is outside the window. GO!”
“No! I
won’t leave her! She’s unconscious. I’ll pull her out”—cough, cough—“if you can
lift this damn thing.”
Gabe
could tell the man was serious about not leaving without the woman. He figured
it must be his wife or someone he loved.
To have
someone love you that much… You would never be left behind. He longed for just
that.
He put
both hands under the edge of the cabinet while the other man dropped the pole
and grabbed onto the woman’s arms. With one great heave, the cabinet was
raised. The man screamed in pain but managed to pull the woman out before
falling to the ground himself and coughing violently.
Gabe
quickly lifted the woman into his arms and carried her to the window, handing
her off to Lee before turning to pick up the last survivor who was still
coughing on the floor. Gabe removed his oxygen mask and placed it over the
man’s face before stepping onto the ladder and heading down to the waiting
EMTs. Now that they were away from the smoke, Gabe looked down at the man in
his arms to find stunning moss-green eyes staring up at him.
Wow…just
wow.
Desperate
for something to clear away the sucker punch that one look had delivered, Gabe
could only come up with the other woman in the fire. “Your wife is going to be
okay. We got her out thanks to your help.”
Gabe
gently placed the man down on the waiting gurney. Within moments, one of the
EMTs removed the oxygen mask Gabe had given him and replaced it with one from a
tank in their rig. Gabe noticed more burns on the man’s hands and chest as well
as bleeding across his abdomen.
The
green-eyed man quickly pushed the mask away from his face. “Wife?”
“Building’s
clear, Gabe. Now we just need to keep it contained,” Lee stated through Gabe’s
headset.
“Copy, on
my way.”
“Wife?”
the man asked again, looking adorably confused, eyes squinting, leaving a cute
little wrinkle between his eyebrows.
“Yes, the
lady under the cabinet is already being transported to the hospital,” Gabe
replied, doing his best to not look into those beautiful eyes or at the
tempting bottom lip that was currently between the other man’s teeth. The man
looked confused for a moment, and then his face lit up in happiness. It was
like the clouds parted with just that one look.
Where the
hell did that cliché come from?
“Janice?
She’s safe?”
“Yes,
she’s on her way to the hospital. You can meet her there when you’re
transported.” Gabe began to back a few feet away; he had to get back to the
fire and stop staring at the poor man.
Damn,
I’ve been alone too long when I’m lusting after a married, heterosexual man.
Being a
gay firefighter, it wasn’t easy for Gabe to find the right partner. Sure, easy
sex was always available, but he wanted a commitment. Men might think it was
hot to date a fireman, but they soon found the hours he worked and the dangers
he faced to be too much, and they would eventually leave.
“Wait,
wife? Janice? No…I’m gay. She’s my friend—” The man began coughing so violently
he was gagging over the side of the gurney.
“We’re
outta here, Gabe,” said Royce, his friend and one of the EMTs, before replacing
the oxygen mask.
Gabe ran
back over, catching the gurney before it went into the rear of the ambulance.
“Wait,
what’s your name?”
“Johnny
Jeffrey.”
Gabe and
Royce shared a look before Royce gave a slight nod and smiled. Then the doors
closed and the ambulance sped away, leaving Gabe and the rest of the
firefighters to battle the blaze into the late afternoon. Royce would keep an
eye on the guy for Gabe as best he could. After all, the man had saved his
young cousin’s life, and he couldn’t just ignore these intense feelings of
attraction, could he?
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Sam’s Soldiers,
The Boys of Brighton, #2
by M. Tasia
Date of Publication: December 30th
2016
BLURB
Emergency room nurse Samuel Mason
is offered a ménage a trois with two ex-miltary men and discovers a love more
dangerous—and more exquisite—than he anticipated.
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Excerpt Sam’s Soldiers:
As soon
as Spider heard the water running in the shower, he turned to Dante. “We
shouldn’t do this. We can’t leave him.”
Dante
came forward and wrapped his arms around Spider. “It was part of the deal we
made, Jack. We can’t back out now.”
“It just
doesn’t feel right to me, it’s Sam.” Spider knew it was part of their initial
arrangement with Sam, but things had changed, hadn’t they?
“We’ve
got another mission. We have to head a security detail in two days. Besides,
Sam hasn’t asked us to stay. We can’t make that decision for him.” Dante backed
away and returned to preparing their final meal together. Spider’s heart raced,
knowing this was the wrong decision.
“But I
know he cares about us. I can feel it. He was meant to be a part of our team,”
Spider said, trying to explain what he felt to his core, he knew Sam loved them
on some level. They’d spent the last five weeks living together, acting every
bit like a family, and it had been plain to see how each of them felt, or maybe
he was simply seeing what he wanted. The two went on to work silently on supper
for several minutes until they both heard the water turn off in the shower.
“Sweetheart,
look at me,” Dante said, and Spider finally met Dante’s eyes. Spider knew he
was the one more likely to show emotions out of the two of them, but the pain
he saw in Dante’s eyes confirmed he felt the same way about Sam. “We have to
carry on with our lives and let Sam carry on with his. It’s selfish to force
ourselves on him.”
“But,
Major, I don’t believe we are. Do we really have to leave like this?” Spider
still fell back on his military training when stressed.
“Leave?”
Sam spoke softly from the doorway, a towel hanging low on his hips. His
beautiful tattoos stood in vibrant contrast against his creamy white skin and
lean muscle. His red hair was wet and standing up in odd angles and his
beautiful brown eyes shone slightly.
“Leave?”
Sam repeated, his face becoming a mask, showing nothing. “Is it time for the
two of you to go back already?”
Dante
released Spider, who stepped forward and held out his hand. Sam immediately
took it, and Spider pulled him in close so both he and Dante could surround
him. “Yes, Sam, we have another assignment.” Spider thought the words seemed
like a physical blow to Sam even as he tried to hide his response from them.
“When?”
Sam asked in a strangled voice.
“Tomorrow
morning.”
“So this
is my farewell supper?” Sam stepped back out of their reach and took a deep
breath. “I should have guessed with all my favorites on the menu.”
Sam was
smiling now, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Spider was desperate to touch him
again, but didn’t know if Sam would allow it. “We wanted to make the night
special.”
Sam
looked around at the table set with wineglasses and his grandmother’s good
china. “It looks beautiful, thank you. I’ll go finish getting dressed and we
can start our last evening together.” Sam stepped forward, gave both Spider and
Dante a quick kiss on their cheeks, and went back to their master bedroom.
“Dante?”
Dante
stood straighter and squared his shoulders, the same stance he always took when
the hard decisions needed to be made. “We have to go, Jack. We both knew this
couldn’t last forever, and all three of us went into this knowing it would
eventually have to end. Now is that time.”
“Don’t
you feel it? The pull to him, the need to keep him with us?” Spider couldn’t
understand why Dante was fighting so hard to not allow himself to fall in love
with Sam.
“Of
course I do. But again, soldier, that’s not our decision to make.”
Buy Links:
Rick’s Bear
The Boys of Brighton, #3
by M. Tasia
Date of Publication: March
3rd 2017
BLURB
Two reclusive gay men—Brighton’s
local librarian and its grumpy bear, former motorcycle gang member turned diner
owner—find each other and love.
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Excerpt Rick’s Bear:
Rick just
knew he was going to ruin this evening somehow. Heck, he’d already started by
causing those three men to notice him. He’d planned to stand behind them,
hopefully going unseen, until Bear had called his name and he had to walk
through the group. Now his anxiety level was rising like a toxic tide.
“Easy.
Look at me. Breathe…” When Rick looked up, everything looked fuzzy, and he
noticed they were in Bear’s office instead of at the table. “Breathe in and
out. That’s it.”
After
several minutes, Bear’s handsome face came into focus, and Rick could finally
speak. “S-s-sorry” was all he could manage to say.
“No, that
was my fault. I should have never called their attention to you or made you
walk through them with your anxiety. I’m the one who’s sorry,” Bear replied
with a guilty look on his handsome face. “I won’t ever do that again unless
it’s an emergency. I’ll come to you instead, I swear.”
Rick
realized a while ago that Bear was aware of Rick’s “little quirks” but had
never brought them up so openly before. He felt a bit embarrassed and found
himself unable to meet Bear’s eyes. “It’s okay, and it’s not your fault that
I’m this way.” That responsibility belonged to someone else entirely, a man so
vicious it had taken four officers to take him down.
“This
way?” Bear gently cupped both of Rick’s cheeks so he couldn’t look away again.
“The way you are is perfect to me, never doubt that.”
He looked
so serious that Rick had no other choice but to nod his head in agreement.
“Okay,
now are we ready to have dinner and apple pie?” Bear’s smile brought out that
one dimple he had on his left cheek.
“Oh
yeah,” Rick replied. “Did you know an average nine-inch pie holds roughly six
medium apples?” He hung his head so quickly that Rick was surprised he hadn’t
given himself whiplash. Damn nervous useless information, he’ll think I’m a
freak.
“Yeah, we
use around five or six depending on the size of the apple,” Bear answered and
carried on toward the front without one word of censure or even a strange look
for Rick’s “info drop” as he liked to call his freaky behavior. It wasn’t like
he could namedrop, but boy he could spit out useless information like a pro.
Maybe for a little while, Rick would be able to act as if his idiosyncrasies
didn’t matter and not have to worry about how he appeared to others.
Bear led
Rick to their table by keeping a possessive hand on the small of Rick’s back,
and Rick had no idea why it felt so good there. How can I be attracted to
another giant of a man? Didn’t I learn my lesson the last time? Rick honestly
didn’t quite understand why Bear wanted to spend time with him, but Rick wasn’t
going to complain. He felt safe when he was with Bear, which was an odd feeling
for him to begin with.
Over the
next hour, Rick learned more about the man that occupied every dream he’d had
over the past year. He knew Bear had been in a motorcycle club back in Chicago
but had left it to “find a new life,” as Bear put it, but he wouldn’t elaborate
further. What he did know still amazed Rick, who’d never left Brighton. All the
places Bear had seen were a world away from Rick’s reality.
“Here you
go, sweetie, your apple pie.” Rick looked up and smiled at Sarah. The older
woman was an absolute angel to everyone.
“Thank
you, Sarah. I absolutely love your apple pie,” Rick stated as his mouth watered
for a bite.
“We know,
honey,” Sarah responded.
“Hey!
What the hell? You told me you didn’t have any more apple pie, you old crone,”
yelled one of the three men who’d made Rick feel nervous when he’d come in.
“What do I have to do, go in the back and give the boss a blowjob like little
Mr. Bookworm here did?”
Rick
immediately pulled his messenger bag off the table and placed it safely on the
bench seat—Bear’s gift was in that bag after all. He slid across the bench,
putting some distance between himself and the irate man. The man’s two friends
were desperately clawing at the third man’s jacket, trying to pull him back.
Rick’s
anxiety began to rise, and of course, he knew what was coming next. “In a
recent survey, it was found that four out of ten people have dated someone from
work. But in this case, you are completely mistaken. We’re friends.”
The drunk
man stopped and just stared at Rick like he’d grown a second head. “What do I
care? Are you some kind of idiot?”
Rick
witnessed the change in Bear and sat fascinated as he went from attentive,
charming dinner date to a hulking man who, with one look, could make most
people shake. But the truly bizarre thing was that, instead of feeling fear,
Rick felt excited.
What’s
wrong with me?
Buy Links:
Jesse
The Boys of Brighton, #4
by M. Tasia
Date of Publication: June 2nd
2017
BLURB
A widower and a man who fled his
past find love in Brighton, TX, despite the violence of one’s homophobic family.
Buy Links:
Excerpt Jesse:
Royce
heard the deep rumbling and knew his hopes that they could work this out had disappeared.
The roar of Jesse’s bike as it pulled out of the driveway and away from their
house felt like a stab to his chest. Was it still “their” house? Was he coming
back? Was he safe? Royce didn’t have the answers and a sick feeling began to
spread through his body. Jesse had left him. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so
hard on him. But Jesse was keeping things from him and Royce was frustrated.
He’d spent the last few weeks afraid Jesse would be hurt or leave. Well, he
left.
The pain
was starting to set in. Jesse left. The realization hit home like a
sledgehammer. He left me. Royce couldn’t understand why Jesse hadn’t taken his
things with him. Maybe he’s coming back? Royce didn’t know what to think. He
never thought Jesse would just take off like this because they’d always found
it easy to talk things out up until now.
Royce
wandered through his empty house room by room…rooms he’d hoped and prayed would
be filled with children someday. He’d always dreamt of giving children with
special needs a good home and viewed adoption as the option for him. But when
Daniel had died, so had that dream, until Jesse came along. Now Royce’s pain
was becoming intense, and he knew unless you’d suffered through the loss of the
person you love, there was no way of properly describing it. But the closest he
could imagine was paralyzing, painful emptiness creeping into his heart and
soul.
Should he
go look for Jesse or wait here? What would Royce do if Jesse didn’t come back?
That one thought alone kept Royce pacing the floors. He stopped by the kitchen
and grabbed himself a beer before continuing with his silent vigil. The more he
thought about everything that had happened, the more worked up he got. Hell,
he’d already lost one man he’d loved. Royce couldn’t help but wonder how he’d
pissed off fate so badly that this was happening to him again.
Hours
crawled by and Royce sat waiting. At two in the morning he surrendered to the
fact that Jesse wasn’t likely to be coming back. He’d been gone over twelve
hours. Royce had already called Dante, one of the leaders of the Sentinels, to
let him know Jesse had left. That had been hours ago, and Royce wondered if the
Sentinels were still out looking for Jesse. Royce would still pay to have Jesse
safe even if it was without Royce at his side.
He walked
slowly to their bedroom, taking his shirt off and dropping it on the floor in
the hallway, not caring where it landed. He continued on, leaving his pants at
the bedroom door, boxers at the foot of the bed. By the time he crawled up onto
the mattress, he couldn’t hold back his sorrow and loss any longer. The last
time he’d cried was at Daniel’s graveside. Royce had thought he’d be impervious
to that kind of pain again, but he’d been sorely mistaken.
Royce
laid his head down, praying sleep would take him away into blissful
nothingness. He hoped against all odds that this had all just been some sort of
cruel nightmare and he would wake up at any moment with Jesse in his arms. But
all the while knowing full well his reality had changed yet again and his
future was uncertain.
Royce
awoke hours later. He hadn’t even realized he’d fallen asleep and had no idea
what woke him, but something was different. Slowly, he opened his eyes; the
room was dark but he could make out the outline of a large figure standing in
the doorway. There was just enough light coming down the hallway to confirm
that it was indeed Jesse. Royce sat up in bed, conflicting emotions running
through his mind and heart. He was overjoyed that Jesse came back but Royce
felt betrayed at being left in the first place. Those two emotions kept him on
the bed, silent. If Jesse came back for his things, Royce wasn’t about to beg.
No matter how much he wanted Jesse to stay, the man had to want to stay first.
Buy Links:
Author
Info
M.
Tasia is a paralegal and author who lives in Ontario, Canada. A member of the
RWA and its chapter RRW, she is a dedicated people watcher, and a lover of
romance, 80’s rock, and happy endings. Mother of two wonderful girls, she is
also a servant to two spoiled furry children.
Author Links:
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