Let’s
strip and get uncovered…
Whistle
Blower
Dev
Bentham
Release date: February 5, 2016
Money
can’t buy happiness. Jacob Nussbaum knows this better than anyone. He's a
corporate lawyer deep inside a huge New York firm, where he works overtime,
sacrifices any chance at a personal life, and has been selling his soul for
years. With a secretary as his only friend, he trudges on, until his whole
world is blown apart by a manila envelope of photos—evidence that one of the
firm’s partners is the dirtiest lawyer in one hell of a filthy
business.
In
search of the truth, Jacob travels to a small northern Wisconsin fishing
resort. There he meets Ben Anderson, a brutally lonely man, who knocks him
off his feet. Ben prompts Jacob to reevaluate his life. He’s a dozen years
older than Jacob, still recovering from the death of his long time love, and
doesn’t want to leave anyone a widower. But a jaded New Yorker on a
soul-searching mission might be just the man to convince the grieving Ben that
it's never too late to begin again.
Categories: Contemporary, M/M
Romance, Romance
214 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner
Press
Cover Artist: Catt Ford
Excerpt:
Ben
got waylaid by a bunch of little things, so it took him longer than he’d
expected to get back to the dock for Nussbaum’s—Jacob’s rowing lesson. As Ben
approached the dock, Jacob was facing away, staring out over the lake. Which
was good, since he was naked except for a skim of bright red Lycra that barely
covered his ass. And what an ass. What a body in general. It had been a long
time since Ben had seen a muscular olive-skinned back on which dark hair grew
in such fascinating patterns. Manny had a back like that. Ben had loved to run
his tongue along the thin lines of fur along his lower back. Manny hadn’t been
hairy, really, just never quite naked. Jacob had that same look, except he was
younger, stronger, and better built.
Feeling
uncomfortable with that comparison, Ben tore his eyes away from Jacob’s body.
Aside from leaving him feeling unfaithful to Manny’s memory, this was neither
the time nor the place and, in all probability, not the man to indulge that
kind of fantasy. Ben cleared his throat, and Jacob turned around. Jesus. Who’d
have thought under all those clothes, there’d be this—high definition, perfect
tone, and all that gorgeous skin. Ben forced himself to meet Jacob’s eyes. He
reached into the boathouse, pulled out one of the clean tee shirts he kept for
changing after rowing, and handed it to Jacob.
“It’s
easy to get sunburned out here.” For the love of God, he had to cover up the
guy if he was going to teach him anything, other than…. He cleared his throat
again. “The beginner scull is up here.” He walked back up the dock to the boat
rack, yelling at himself the whole way for unprofessional thoughts.
As
Ben uncovered the practice scull, he was hit by an unexpected wave of memory.
Manny had bought it for him their first summer in the Northwoods. It had taken
Ben two years to outgrow the added stability and another to decide to try
Manny’s MAAS. He ran a finger over the fiberglass patch from when he’d run the
boat into the shore. Manny, from his own scull twenty feet away, had
admonished, “Never get in a fight with a rock. The rock always wins.”
From
behind him, Jacob asked, “Need any help?”
Ben
straightened and walked to the far side of the boat. “Get the stern, would
you?”
Jacob
picked up his side of the boat, and in a monkey-see-monkey-do motion, lifted it
onto his shoulder. Ben turned around, settling the bow onto his left shoulder,
and led the way back down to the dock. On three they flipped the scull into the
water. Ben squatted beside the boat, pointing and describing the various parts
until he felt comfortable enough in his role as teacher that he could glance
over at Jacob, who knelt beside him. Jacob was focused on the boat, taking in
Ben’s instructions. Ben exhaled. Jacob covered up and concentrating on the boat
was easier to deal with than he was as a just-about-naked man basking in the
sun at the end of the dock.
Ben
noticed Jacob’s shoes for the first time. No shorts, no water shoes. Evidently
Mr. Nussbaum had been expecting an entirely different resort vacation, probably
involving mai tais on the beach and plenty of bikini-clad young women. If he
tipped over in the scull, which he was going to do, everyone did when they were
starting out, those shoes would take a long time to dry. Ben had an extra pair
of water shoes. Maybe they’d fit.
“What
size feet do you have?” he asked.
Jacob
glanced up. “Ten. Why? Does it matter for the stirrups?”
Of
course he wore tens, because otherwise the physical comparison wouldn’t be
perfect. “Your shoes will be awkward as hell in the stirrups. You need
something lighter and better in the water. Don’t worry. I’ve got some you can
borrow.”
Jacob
wouldn’t fit in Ben’s nine and a halfs, but Manny’s old tens were still where
they’d always been, on the top shelf in the boathouse. Ben found them. He
brushed off the dust and cobwebs. The shoes weren’t sacred, and it wasn’t
disloyal to let Jacob wear them. They were just old water shoes with cracks in
the soles. Ben grabbed a pair of oars and stepped back onto the dock, dropping
the shoes by Jacob. “Try these. I’ll get the oars set up.”
Ben
fixed each oar in its oarlock, concentrating hard so he wouldn’t have to watch
another man put on Manny’s shoes. Then he set about teaching Jacob Nussbaum the
rudiments of rowing.
Buy the book:
Dev
Bentham writes soulful m/m romance. Her characters are flawed and damaged adult
men who may not even know what they are missing, but whose lives are
transformed by true love.
…and maybe spy on them too?
Twitter @DevBentham
Cover
Reveal date: 1/20/16
**Don't forget to hop around to the
other blogs and up your chance of winning!
Parker Williams, BFD Book Blog, KathyMac Reviews, Love Bytes, Bayou Book Junkie, Happily Ever Chapter, The Hat Party, The Jena Wade, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Wicked Faerie's Tales and
Reviews, Charley Descoteaux, Scattered Thoughts &
Rogue Words, MM Good Book Reviews, Unquietly Me, Fangirl Moments and My Two
Cents, Gay Book Reviews, Making It Happen, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews, Molly Lolly, Alpha Book Club, My Fiction Nook, Havan Fellows, V's Reads, Divine Magazine,
Kirsty Loves Books
Rafflecopter
And all this fabulousness is brought to you by
Pride Promotions…they take pride in making you squirm in your seat.
No comments:
Post a Comment