Cover Reveal Blitz: Fool of Main Beach by Tara Lain

FOOL OF MAIN BEACH,
 the fifth book in the Love In Laguna Series arrives 
August 21, 2017! 

The unlikeliest of lovers. The sweetest of loves.

Fool of Main Beach

(Love of Laguna Series, Bk #5)

by Tara Lain

Blurb:

Merle Justice wants to reach for the stars, but it’s tough to get respect when playing a teenybopper vampire on TV. Then he meets a famous director anxious to give him all he thinks he wants—and maybe a bit more. Everything’s looking up until a life-threatening encounter with some homophobes on Main Beach puts Merle face-to-face with a Sasquatch-sized hero in a pink puffer coat. 

Tom Henry defies description. As unsophisticated and simple as an angel, he walks through life content with who he is and asking for very little except to care for his sister, Lily, and the dogs he loves. Then he meets Merle, the embodiment of dreams he barely knows he has. Merle knows the people who hold his future in their hands might love Tom—but they’ll never understand Merle and Tom together. Tom knows it too. With lives this far apart, who’s really the fool of Main Beach?

Pre-Order your copy now at 

Also available to pre-order in paperback

Release Date: 

August 21, 2017

Excerpt

Merle stretched out the measuring tape and got the dimensions of the huge family space, then paced it off into dining and living areas. Once he had enough measurements to buy rugs, he wandered past the big island into the kitchen and opened each cabinet. His mind filled in the spaces with dishes and pots and pans—yeah, a lot of stuff he didn’t have. His current apartment in Santa Monica was still a transition space from starving-actor digs to TV-star quarters. TV star? He snorted softly. More like vampire of the month. Of course, he’d been lucky enough to be vampire of the month for two years.

I’m killing time. Go down to Ru’s studio and take him to lunch.

“Want part of my sandwich, Merle?”

He looked up into the truly pretty face smiling at him from the other side of the island. “I don’t want to take your lunch, Tom. I’ll go get some.”

“It’s okay. I made two sandwiches, so there’s lots.”

I should go, but—“Sure, I’d love half of your sandwich. What kind is it?”

“I’ve got peanut butter and I’ve got avocado and cheese.”

“Which kind do you like best?”

“I like them both.”

“I’ll take avocado.” He looked around the big room still covered in drywall dust, nails, and wood shavings. “Where shall we sit?”

Tom made a waggling motion with his finger.

Merle cocked his head and walked around the island to where Tom stood, towering over him. Suddenly he was flying through the air and made a little gasping sound as Tom sat him on top of the island, then grinned and easily hopped up beside him. Merle laughed. “No fair.”

“Oh, didn’t you like it?” Tom looked serious.

“I’m teasing you. I just meant it’s funny that you’re so much bigger than me.”

He shrugged. “I’m much bigger than anybody—except Billy. I’m just a little bigger than him.” He handed over his half sandwich. It was on some kind of multigrain bread and appeared to have cheese that wasn’t American.

“This looks delicious.”

“Mrs. Allison taught me to make it.”

“Who’s that?” He took a bite and was very happy he did.

“The lady I live with.”

“Oh, you live with a lady?” Duh, Merle.

“She owns the house, and I rent a room from her.” He chewed his peanut butter, which also looked like it might have some organic roots. “I help her with stuff, and she helps me too. Like teaching me about food and water and how to feed the boys.”

“Boys?”

“My dogs.”

“How many dogs?”

“Two. Fluffy and Tigger. I got them from the shelter where I work sometimes.”

“Most landladies don’t let you have dogs.”

“Mrs. A. is really nice. She doesn’t want me to have big dogs, though. Wish I could.” He chewed thoughtfully.

“You could probably get an apartment or house with enough space for bigger dogs if you want them.”

He shook his head matter-of-factly. “No. Can’t afford it.”

“I guess rentals in Laguna are pretty high.”

“Yeah, but Billy pays me good. I just need the money for my folks to take care of Lily.”

“Your sister.”

“Right.” He grinned like he was happy Merle knew her name. They chewed companionably. “You’re on TV, right?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t see TV much, but I’m going to watch this week. Mrs. Allison said I can.”

Why did his saying things like that wring Merle’s heart? “Do you like movies?”

“Oh yes. I go to movies sometimes.”

“What kind do you like?”

“All kinds. Except the ones with the words. I’m not so good at that.”

Merle’s glance snapped to Tom’s face, but Tom didn’t seem to be complaining or confessing. Just stating a fact. “Do you have trouble reading?” He tried to ask it with great nonchalance.

“Yes. That’s how Billy and I got to be friends. He doesn’t read so good either.” He grinned. “But we’re better now.”

“May I ask you a personal question? You don’t have to tell me.”

“Sure, Merle. You’re my friend.”

Again, that thump on his heart. “I know you passed the electrician’s exam. Billy tells me that’s really hard. If you have trouble reading, how were you able to do it?”

“Mrs. A. read it to me.”

He looked up from licking his fingers clean of avocado. “What?”

“I gave her the tests that were like samples, and she read them to me. And she read all the handbooks too. Then a nice guy named Burt read me the questions on the test, and I said the answers out loud.”

“So you learned everything when Mrs., uh, A. read it to you?”

“Um-hm. I remember really good.” He finished the last bite of his avocado. “Most people don’t, you know?”

Merle grinned. “Yes, I do know.”

“Do you like being on TV?”

“Yes. It’s a good job. Long hours, but I get time off sometimes. Like now.” Funny. He wanted to tell Tom. “I might have a chance to make a movie.”

Tom’s whole face lit up. “That would be really good, right? Would you like that?”

“Yes, it’d be a step up in my career. And the guy directing the movie is very well-known and respected.” He glanced over. Did Tom have the slightest idea what he just said?

“Do you like him?”

Merle smiled. Leave it to Tom to get to the heart of the matter.

Love in Laguna Series

Bk #1

Available for purchase at 

                   

Bk #2

Available for purchase at 

                    

Bk #3

Available for purchase at 

                      

Bk #4

Available for purchase at 

               

Pre-order your copy now!

About the Author

Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in gay romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 40. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Paranormal Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, Best Romantic Suspense, and more. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soul-mate husband and her soul-mate dog near the sea in California where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!

You can find Tara at Lain

               

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Spotlight & Giveaway: Fire Danger by Claire Davon

Fire Danger

(Elemental’s Challenge Series, #1)
by Claire Davon

All her life, a faint memory of her parents and fire has glowed at the back of Rachel Quinn’s mind. With her parents long dead, there is no one to clarify what it means.

When a gorgeous winged man rescues her from a pack of werewolves, something flares to life inside Rachel. Suddenly she can see the paranormal world around her, a world unseen by mortals. And far more complicated.

When Phoenix’s massive orange-and-red wings erupt from his back, he knows his Challenge-an age-old battle against his Demonos counterpart-is upon him. Heeding Rachel’s cry for help adds a layer of complexity never seen in any previous Challenge.

Rachel, they discover, isn’t entirely human. Like Phoenix, she commands fire. Fire calls to fire, and soon they are succumbing to a fierce attraction. As the Challenge bears down on them, though, Phoenix must discover what the Demonos has in store for mankind. If he doesn’t succeed, the entire world will be swallowed up in darkness-and Rachel along with it.

Available for purchase at

        

Excerpt

“I could drown in his eyes,” he heard her say, and he chuckled. Rachel flushed. “That is still taking some getting used to.”

“Yes.” His fingers laced through hers and his grip firmed, squeezing gently. He kissed her, his lips grazing hers, and pulled her against him, tucking her head against his shoulder.

He could hear his heartbeat, slow and steady, in her mind. She radiated uncertainty, fear.

“It’s crazy to let someone see who I am,” she said. “You’re going to see my ugly side and never want to know me again.”

“I am not those people. I am not one of your mortals to be so easily scared by a few dark secrets. I have more than my share.”

She sighed and relaxed a little bit more. The scent of fear and adrenaline was acrid in his nostrils. A part of him that hadn’t felt anything for a long time surged to life.

“I want to know,” she said. “I can feel something shifting inside me, like a dam breaking. I don’t understand who or what happened, but I want to know.”

He swallowed, cupping her face in his hands. “Let me in and let me see if I can discover what you really are.”

Her reluctance was plain in a fearful look in her eyes. He hated that she wasn’t meeting his gaze. He hated that she was afraid. But there was no way to avoid the process. They needed to do this.

“Okay.” Her voice was tremulous. When she met his gaze, to his relief there was strength lurking in the blue depths.

He took both her hands in his. Then he opened his mind to hers all the way, leaving himself bare to her. Her shields went down, the small ones she had erected only recently, and the deeper, instinctive ones she had carefully locked around her innermost self.

Images. Her parents at the water. He saw the world through Rachel’s child eyes, and he worked on orienting himself. That memory was only a fragment, and he went deeper, searching her mind for the answers there.

Dark memories. Images of petty crimes. Stealing a candy bar as a child. Taking toilet paper from her employer when she was so low on money she didn’t know how she was going to eat after she had fed JT. Deep sexual needs, hard, fast, more than her partners could give her. A horrifying loneliness, soul deep, when she realized that nobody loved her. Nobody but the cat she had rescued from death in a dumpster, anyway.

Before he could think, he mind spoke. “You are not alone anymore.”

She shuddered.

He went deeper. There it was. A thread, something not human. Phoenix followed it. He sensed something deeply buried, a power banked that had not yet been revealed. It licked at him like flames, like his own ability to manipulate fire under certain circumstances, but different. Very different. This was focused, somehow feminine. There was no question her gift came from the maternal side.

Images. Her mother bathed in the flames from a campfire, out in the Sierra Nevadas. Her father enjoying the view of his woman, seeing but not seeing the glow of the red fire.

Images. Lightning sparking and touching down near them, not as close as it seemed but feeling close enough to touch. Her mother laughing while her father looked on with fear, watching her reach out to the energy.

Images. A small Rachel looking up at a furious father, who was holding a scorched teddy bear.

Images. A dream this time, Rachel tossing and turning in a stormy night, dreaming, dreaming, dreaming of revenge on all the children who mocked and pointed at her. Of the foster family who only took her in because of the money, and made sure she knew that every meal she ate was begrudged. The dream took the form of the movie Carrie, with Rachel sending fire down the hallways and corridors of the school and into the master bedroom at home, setting everyone ablaze.

That fateful night. A ten-year-old Rachel running from the car as it erupted in flames. There was a large…something…behind them, and it spat fire at them.

Memory jumbled and she was away from the burning car, her overnight bag in one clammy hand. Inside she could see the skeletons of her immolated parents. A big winged figure, like a page from the Arabian Nights, was hovering out of sight of another, smaller one. She wasn’t sure how he managed to be unseen, but he did. The large person spared her a look, and she heard, “Run, Rachel, run. Now, granddaughter.”

Her feet were moving before she was aware of it. In the distance there were sirens, their sounds indicating they were getting closer. Someone must have seen the fire. She could stay, she could go back…maybe her parents were still alive…

“They are not. Run.”

It was the only thing to do. Tears on her cheeks, Rachel had run. As she did so a blanket descended over her mind, something that protected her even while it took her memories.

She came out of it with a cry, still clinging to Phoenix.

About The Author

 Claire can’t remember a time when writing wasn’t part of her life. From the time she was a pre-teen, she wrote stories, most of them romances. She used to write stories with her friends, with each of them choosing a famous person or a character from their favorite TV series, and model the novels around that. One of her earliest stories, unfortunately lost to time, centered around the 1970s series Starsky and Hutch (she was partial to Starsky).Although she read primarily fantasy and science fiction as a teenager, it didn’t take long for Claire to discover Harlequin romances and their happily-ever-after endings.

Claire has many irons in the fire, including short stories across a multitude of genres to go along with her romances, from contemporary to paranormal. Originally from Brookline, Massachusetts, Claire now lives in Los Angeles. In addition to writing she has an office job she loves, does animal rescue, reads, and goes to movies. She loves to hear from fans, so feel free to drop her a line.

You can find Claire at 

        

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