Two men suffering from visible and invisible wounds meet by chance circumstance.
Nick Traynor and Ian Donovan spend a lot of time and effort keeping it very hot, only physical, and purely superficial. But when their resolve starts to slip, a woman is tossed into their midst.
Hannah Williams wants nothing more than to do her job until something better comes along, but is forced to own up to her visceral reaction to Ian, her new boss, and later to Nick, his sometimes lover.
Lust has a funny way of turning into companionship, and eventually evolving into a deeper connection. Faced with the internal and external complications of their potential three-way relationship, they begin to heal and trust, to consider that it might work. Then life tosses them a hardball, forcing them back into their respective corners, where each must choose what is most important.
Three people determined not to commit, thrown together by fate and undeniable attraction--their nights heat up and emotions run high in spite of a claimed mutual desire to "keep it simple." In the process of honest self-discovery, can they learn that while love is never simple, it is definitely worth fighting for?
Preorder link from ARe - http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-honeyred-1008941-145.html
Honey Red is the latest offering by Liz Crowe who has made her mark in the world of erotic romance by telling it like it is, she writes "romance for real life" and I must say I like it.
In Honey Red we meet Ian Donovan self professed bad boy and bi-sexual. Ian thinks of himself as a bad boy but he proves he is a man of worth when he is needed by family he is there. When Ian meets Nick Traynor he has been celebrate for a while after the last woman he was in a relationship with threw him a curve ball.
Nick Traynor has been a Marine until he was wounded in combat and lost his sight, he is drawn to Ian but he refuses to complicate Ian's life any further by becoming involved in anything serious. With Ian's brother and Nick's sister involved it is hard to stay away from Ian, not that Nick wants to really.
If the dynamics of Nick and Ian's relationship wasn't difficult enough Hannah Williams is thrown into the mix when she takes a job she desperately needs working as the marketing and sales director for Ian and Gavin's microbrewery. Before she even meets Ian she is fantasizing about the man who belongs to the voice on the phone.
They have chemistry off the charts but what will Ian do about his feelings for Nick.
When the three of them engage in a threesome with the idea that its "just about the sex" what will happen when they start feeling things for each other. Will they ever be able to make something work out without one or more of them getting hurt?
Ms. Crowe does a fantastic job bringing you into the lives and the minds of her characters, she is able to let you feel the confusion, anger and resentment of being injured and made blind. She takes you into the hearts of her characters and you feel the emotions they have the good, the bad and the sexy.
I enjoyed the journey this threesome takes and give Honey Red a 4 out of 5 flower review.
Excerpt:
Alyssa knelt down beside him, took his hand. “We’re going to a movie. You okay here with Ian?” she whispered. He nodded but was very much not sure that he would be. The dog whimpered.
“Later brother,” Gavin called out. “Talk soon Nick. Good luck next week with the new job.”
Ian walked into the house with the couple, leaving Nick alone with his swirling thoughts and pounding skull. Brutus repositioned to Nick’s left, between him and the chair Ian had just vacated. He put his huge head on Nick’s hand. “Dude,” Nick said softly. “I think I just figured out why you’re upset. And let me just tell you now, it’s okay. I’m okay. I’m … agitated, but it’s normal.” He patted the dog’s nose, then leaned back and stretched his legs out in front of him, relieving the pressure building once more under his jeans.
He heard Ian rummaging around in the kitchen, opening and closing the fridge. Nick took a long, deep breath and made a decision. He smiled when Ian pressed the cold water bottle to his shoulder and took it, but then set it on the table that he knew was to his front right, where it always was. His mind kept roiling but he kept a lid on his urge to suck in a breath when he sensed Ian pulling a chair up on his other side, avoiding the guard dog. “I don’t think he likes me,” the man declared.
Nick put a hand on Ian’s leg.. He heard the other man’s breath hitch, and would swear on a stack of procedure manuals he heard his heartbeat increase. Don’t be ridiculous, you can’t hear a heartbeat. But he smiled, and leaned back, leaving his fingers trailing along the denim covering Ian’s thigh.
“Oh he’s fine. But I think I figured out how in tune to me he actually is.”
“Oh?” Ian touched his fingers, brushed the back of Nick’s hand once, then again, making him shiver.
“Yeah, I think he senses how god damned horny I am. Since he has no frame of reference for it, it’s making him nervous, protective.”
“Wow,” Ian leaned over and Nick could feel the other man’s lips near his throat. “Impressive,” He said, putting his hand over Nick’s erection.
“Yeah,” Nick croaked out, suddenly nervous. “So, I’m typically not…”
“Shh…” Ian’s hand left his cock, made its way up his torso, and wound around the back of his neck. “You are pretty amazing.”
“No, not really. Just blind. Without a real job. Living in my sister’s house.”
“But you look damn good doing all that, trust me.”
“You make a point of seducing blind guys you just met?”
“I didn’t just meet you. I remember you from a few months…before.”
Nick shivered again. This whole thing was somehow right and wrong at the same time. He needed a physical connection, bad, but was unsure if it should be with Ian Donovan. This, of course coming from his now humming and thankfully pain-free brain while his body screeched at him to grab the guy and kiss him.
Nick sighed when Ian’s fingers twined in his newly grown hair. He hadn’t had hair this long in over ten years. He’d forgotten what color it was. He sighed, raised his face to the cooling night breeze when Ian’s lips found his jaw and made their slow way down his neck, then up. “You are…very attractive.” Ian’s words made their presence known, curling in and around Nick’s amped up libido and making him grit his teeth.
Excerpt NC17:
“Hey,” she said, smiling and scratching the seeing-eye dog between the ears. She looked up, letting her gaze take in the full Marine dress uniform of the man attached to the animal. The crisp, formal clothes seemed to hang on him, even though he was fit, but it was obvious at one time he had been even bigger. His classical, masculine V-shape was breathtaking. His shoulders were broad but not bulky, his jaw firm, clean and the rest of his face at that moment showed stress that marred its model-like perfection. His golden yellow hair was thick, and touched the color of the uniform jacket. She bit her lip and dispelled the sudden erotic loop of imagery—Ian and this man, together. “Hi,” she said, holding out a hand. “I’m Hannah.”
His face turned to hers, and his smile was so incredibly sexy and innocent at the same time her heart started pounding. He held onto her a few seconds longer than was polite. She tugged but he wouldn’t let her go. “I hear your heart,” he said, quietly.
“Oh, wow, that’s…um, cool.” She had no idea what to do with her arms, hands, or heartbeat. Jamie was all over the dog and Brutus was panting and wagging his tail like mad. The party flowed around them, getting louder by the minute. Suddenly, Hannah wanted to be alone. Or more precisely she wanted to be alone with the man in front of her. He wore his emotional pain like a medal on his uniform. And something about him compelled her to want to help—or possibly it was because Ian still loved him. Wow. This could get messy. She squared her shoulder and decided to stick with usually worked best for—brutally direct. “You must be Nick.”
His grin faded slightly. “Yeah, I guess I am the only blind ex-Marine with a dog date here, huh?”
She leaned into him, determined to keep to the path of directness. “It’s okay. I know about you and Ian”
He stiffened. “Really. Well, tell me something then, Hannah.” He put his lips near her ear. The overwhelming compulsion to put hands on him made her knees wobbly. She gripped the chair back. The party noises kept ramping up. But she barely heard them, too mesmerized by Nick’s face, voice, and the warm hand in the small of her back. “Tell me what you think you know about me. And Ian.” His lips tickled, making her break out in goose bumps. She turned her head, saw Ian, caught his eye. And it gave her strength.
“I know he loves you.” She said, then took Jamie’s hand and was about to lead him away before she said or did anything she couldn’t take back with the sad-faced, ridiculously handsome blind man in the Marine uniform.
But Nick gripped her arm lighting a small fire on her skin. The dog snuffled around her leg, whining as if sensing his master’s distress. “The hell you say.” He said, his jaw tight. “Besides, he has the smell of you all over him right now. I don’t know if it’s your perfume or shampoo or what, but you smell like rich, sweet honey. And I can tell he’s been dipping into it—into you. Not that I blame him.”
“I don’t wear perfume and use unscented shampoo.” Her knees shook at his innocuous yet sexy words. She ran a fingertip down his face, unable to resist.
“Don’t,” he flinched away. “I’m not interested in your type.” But his low voice said otherwise.
Grand prize is one random winner will be picked from Blog Tour to win an ebook copy of Honey Red and the Stewart Realty Boxed Set Volume 1 which includes Floor Time, Sweat Equity and Closing Costs
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About the Author:
Microbrewery owner, best-selling author, beer blogger and journalist, mom of three teenagers, and soccer fan, Liz lives in the great Midwest, in a major college town. Years of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as an ex-pat trailing spouse, plus making her way in a world of men (i.e. the beer industry), has prepped her for life as erotic romance author.
When she isn't sweating inventory and sales figures for the brewery, she can be found writing, editing or sweating promotional efforts for her latest publications.
Her groundbreaking romance subgenre, “Romance for Real Life,” has gained thousands of fans and followers who are interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”)
Her beer blog a2beerwench.com is nationally recognized for its insider yet outsider views on the craft beer industry. Her books are set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch and in high-powered real estate offices. Don’t ask her for anything “like” a Budweiser or risk painful injury.
www.lizcrowe.com
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www.facebook.com/groups/romanceforreallife
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www.brewingpasssion.com
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