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Snake Charmer
Sometimes it takes finding an opposite to show us the beauty within ourselves.
When security consultant and ex-mercenary, Gabrielo ‘Snake’ Barbas, thwarts an attack of one of his co-workers, Riley Banks, he takes it upon himself to keep the smaller man safe. His job is made harder when he discovers the attacker is actually Riley’s ex-boyfriend, a ruthless man from a very wealthy and powerful family.
After a night of passion, Snake decides to take Riley far away from Richmond, Virginia to a town in Wyoming for the annual Cattle Valley Days celebration. He should have known that sex with Riley wouldn’t be enough, but he feels he has nothing else to give such a nice guy. Riley is the sexiest man Snake’s ever taken to his bed despite Riley’s claim otherwise.
Riley knows he’s average-looking at best, so why does Snake continue to flatter him? It’s obvious he’s not going to kick Snake out of bed, even after Snake informs him that sex is all he has to give. Why does Snake see him so differently than the rest of the world?
While Riley is busy trying to figure out the man who touches him like no other has before, Snake is busy trying to protect him from a monster in a business suit.
Journey to Lobster Cove
Spreading acceptance one town at a time.
When the town of Cattle Valley runs out of room for new construction, Asa Montgomery begins to look into alternative locations. He discovers a picturesque fishing village in Maine for sale and begins to make plans to purchase Lobster Cove. Unfortunately, setting up a new community takes him away from his partner, Mario, who isn’t pleased about being left behind.
Meanwhile, after years of dancing around their mutual attraction, Cullen Bryant decides the time has come to lay his feelings for Joseph Allenbrand on the line. Unfortunately, his plan is cut short when Joseph sends him away with no other explanation than he should move on.
Joseph knows sending Cullen away is the kindest thing to do for the younger man, but when he hears Cullen truly may be moving on, he realizes it’s time to reevaluate his life. Will he work out his issues in time to save what he’s spent years denying?
General Release Date: 13th March 2015
Excerpt from Snake Charmer
Gabrielo ‘Snake’ Barbas pushed his jaw to the side, cracking his neck, as he continued to stare at the surveillance monitor. Training hadn’t been part of his job as a recruiter for Tisdale Security, but he hadn’t been happy with the shoddy work performed recently in the control room. He spotted a shiny red car parked in the back of the employee parking lot and waited for Brian, the technician, to take notice.
When Brian switched the feed to a different camera, showing the back of the building, Snake crossed his arms over his chest and groaned. “Go back,” he ordered.
“To what?” Brian asked.
“The parking lot.” A good technician was worth his weight in gold if you could find one, and Snake had a feeling he needed to keep looking. Brian was a nice enough guy but didn’t have the passion necessary for the work. Watching surveillance footage all day could be boring as fuck if you didn’t have the drive for it.
“What am I supposed to see?” Brian pulled the parking lot up on three different monitors, giving himself three separate angles to study.
With a resigned sigh, Snake leaned forward and tapped the glass. “What’s that?”
“A car.” Brian glanced at Snake. “There are a lot of cars. It’s a parking lot.”
“How many cars do you see with people in them?” Hell. It was like trying to teach a newborn to walk.
“None, but maybe he’s just waiting for someone or taking a call or something.”
“Possibly,” Snake agreed. “But it’s your job to make sure he poses no threat.”
“How do I do that? I’m not supposed to leave the command center,” Brian blustered.
“You fucking watch him. It’s your goddamn job!” Snake was losing his patience, which didn’t bode well for poor Brian. He was beginning to rethink his decision to settle down and give up the mercenary career that had netted him a bundle of cash. Lifting his hands, he started to run his fingers through his hair, only to remember he’d cut it off, skull short, only the day before. Fuck!
* * * *
“It’s only four-thirty. Where’re you going?” a co-worker asked.
“I have an appointment.” Riley Banks took a moment to clean his desk, locking all financial documents away securely before shutting down his computer. He usually stayed until at least six, but he’d received a disturbing call from his ex’s parole officer that morning.
“Did you clear it with Steven?”
“Yeah.” Riley shrugged into his suit jacket. No one at Tisdale Security knew about his past, and he hoped to keep it that way. Cal was used to him leaving much later in the work day, so if he could get out and get home before Cal came looking, it could very well save his life. It was worth pissing off a co-worker.
“See ya tomorrow,” Riley called out before leaving his cubicle. His job in the accounting office wasn’t exciting, but he felt safe working for the security company. Just because he didn’t want his co-workers to know what he’d been through didn’t mean he wanted history to repeat itself.
When the elevator doors opened, Riley stepped inside and stood in front of two muscular men. He didn’t know any of the specialists by name, but there were a few he recognised. The two behind him must be new, because neither looked familiar.
“Did you see that blonde in supplies?” one of the men asked. He groaned. “Man, she has the best tits in the whole building.”
Riley rolled his eyes. No wonder women thought men were pigs. “Her name’s Rachel,” he added to the conversation. “She’s married with a fourteen-month-old son named Ben.” He stared at the men’s reflections in the shiny elevator doors. It was obvious by the way they sneered down at the top of his head they hadn’t appreciated him butting in.
The moment the doors opened, Riley shot out of the elevator and headed to the side door that would lead him to the parking lot. Although he hadn’t approved of the way the two specialists had talked about Rachel, he wasn’t dumb enough to stick around for the fallout.
Nearing his two-year-old white Toyota Camry, Riley fished his keys out of his pocket. The hair on the back of his neck began to prickle when he heard a noise off to his left. Don’t look. Just get in the fucking car, he told himself.
“We need to talk.”
Excerpt from Journey to Lobster Cove
Vigorously brushing his teeth, Asa Montgomery stepped out of the bathroom to stare at the handsome man who still refused to get out of bed.
Mario Benta glanced up from his iPad and grinned. “Don’t look at me like that. How many times have we waited for Nate, Ryan and Rio to get to a council meeting? It’s my turn to make them wait.”
With a shake of his head, Asa strode back to the sink and spit out the minty foam. “We’ve got over a hundred applications to go through before we can call an end to the meeting. The sooner we get there, the faster we can get back to doing better things,” he said over his shoulder.
“I found an entire town that’s being auctioned off,” Mario replied from the bedroom.
Chuckling, Asa leaned against the doorframe. He crossed his arms and stared pointedly at Mario, hoping to get his partner up and moving. “Tired of Cattle Valley already?”
“Hell no.” Mario held out his iPad. “Stop being a smart ass and look at it while I wash my cock and put on clothes.”
Asa strode to the bed and took the device from Mario. He’d heard of towns being auctioned off, but he also knew it wasn’t the actual town being bought but the expenses involved in running a town. “Buying a town is a poor business decision. Vanity, pure and simple.”
“Just read the goddamn thing and watch the video,” Mario said moments before the shower turned on.
With a sigh of exasperation, Asa sat on the edge of the mattress and looked at the iPad. “Charming oceanside town Lobster Cove to be auctioned,” he read aloud. He tapped on the attached video that showcased the small but picturesque town on the coast of Maine. At only three minutes and twenty seconds long, the video did a good job of highlighting the town and surrounding landscape. He turned his attention to the written article. Lobster Cove had been a thriving New England town until the local economy suffered a devastating blow when the boatyard located at the edge of town had gone bankrupt. According to the article, more than two-thirds of the community’s houses were currently empty.
“Shit,” Asa cursed. He played the video again.
“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” Mario asked, running the towel over his short black hair.
“Yeah.” Asa set the iPad aside before reaching for his shoes. It hadn’t been an easy choice to sell his various businesses and concentrate solely on Montgomery Enterprises, but he’d done it in an attempt to carve out a more peaceful life. His gaze slid to Mario. Yeah, being able to spend each night in bed with his partner had definitely been worth the changes to his portfolio. He’d be crazy to consider taking on another project that would take him away from the man he loved.
* * * *
Mario Benta sat between Asa and Hearn Sutherland at the long city council table. The special meeting had been called to weed through the incoming applications. The final phase of housing was near completion, signaling the need to handpick the future residents of Cattle Valley. He was silently pleased he hadn’t been put through the rigorous application process when he’d decided to pull up stakes and move to the small Wyoming town.
Mario read through the application in front of him. He was impressed by the guy on paper, but he also knew the final thirty residents selected would also have to go through a short interview. “Hey, Ryan, do you have openings at the sheriff’s department?”
Ryan Blackfeather, sheriff of Cattle Valley, glanced up and shook his head. “No, why, you got someone good?”
“Yeah.” Mario passed the manila folder to Ryan. “Mick Hennessey. Originally from a small town outside Allentown, Pennsylvania, he took a job with the NYPD right after graduation. Worked his way up to detective by the time he was twenty-eight. Says in his application that he needs out of the city and is willing to do damn near anything we need for a spot.”
“Sounds like a good man.” Ryan put Mick’s folder on top of the stack of finalists before turning his attention to his partner, Nate. “There room in the budget for another deputy?”
Nate shook his head. “We barely squeezed out funding for the last two we hired. Sorry, babe, but we can’t do it.”
Mario glanced at the folder on top of the stack. He hated this whole fucking process. So far, there hadn’t been a single application that he’d put on the no pile. “Does anyone else feel like we’re playing God or something?”
Several men around the table nodded, including Asa. “Unfortunately, it can’t be helped. Housing’s at capacity and we’re out of room to add more.”
Frustrated, Mario shoved his pile toward the center of the table. “We’ve been at this for hours and we’re not getting anywhere.” He stood and stretched his arms over his head. “Can we call it a night and work on these later?” He wasn’t one to shirk his council duties, but he was tired and out of sorts. All he wanted was to get back into bed with Asa and fuck out his mood.
An avid reader for years, one day Carol Lynne decided to write her own brand of erotic romance. While writing her first novel, Branded by Gold, Carol fell in love with the M/M genre. Carol juggles between being a full-time mother and a full-time writer. With well over one hundred releases, one thing is certain, Carol loves to keep busy writing sexy cowboys, shifters, bodyguards, vampires and everything in between. Although series books are her passion, Carol enjoys penning the occasional stand-alone title.
As founder and President of GRL Retreat, Inc., Carol helps organize the annual GayRomLit Retreat. Now in its sixth year, GayRomLit is an annual retreat that brings together the people who create and celebrate LGBT romance for a one-of-a-kind, must-attend gathering of dynamic, informal, and diverse fun.
Carol loves to hear from her readers. You can take a look at her Website and follow her on Facebook. She also has a Website dedicated to her Cattle Valley Series.
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