Friday, December 14, 2012

Christmas Blog Hop 14-17 December

Christmas Blog Hop

A happy Christmas to all! From today until 17 December, I'm taking part in the Christmas Blog Hop along with a range of other authors, and there are prizes galore to be won.

To keep in line with the season, I'm offering a FREE ecopy of gay romance Two Christmases to one lucky commenter on this post. The blurb is:

Danny Brigson makes a serious mistake when he sleeps with Marty, an old boyfriend, one Christmas. He tries to cover it up, but Marty tells all, and the love of Danny's life, Jake, throws him out.
Over the next year, Danny tries to sort his life out with the hopes that when the next Christmas comes around, Jake will give him the chance to put things right ...


Here's an extract of the scene where Danny first meets Jake at a business party he's helping to arrange. Hope it gets you in the mood!


I’d only just finished sorting out the crisis when the first of the guests started arriving, all management, out and ready to party. Couldn’t say I blamed them. A day’s worth of high‐maintenance team building would be a day’s worth too long for me. I clocked Jake at once, appreciating his long lithe body and that swept‐back hair. Eyes to sink into as well, I remember thinking, if I ever got close enough. I allowed myself the privilege of a few more glances on my way out and, to my surprise, at the last of them his eyes caught mine and he gave me a slight but unmissable smile. The heat flared in my skin and my heart beat faster. I didn’t pursue it though, not in front of a roomful of strangers and when attempting to look professional in front of a client. The boss would have killed me otherwise.

At the door though, my luck proved to be in. One of the waiters came racing toward me, his bow‐tie askew and his hair looking like it would need a good comb before the evening was out.

“Danny? Danny Brigson?”

“Yeah? That’s me. What’s up?”

“Chef says we’re still short of staff. Would you mind giving the barman a hand with the drinks? We’ve got two parties in tonight. We’ll pay you.”

I nodded. Frankly I could do with the cash and, even then, the chance to see a little more of Jake had brought the smile to my face.

I worked like a dog that evening. The crowd were eager to celebrate, and the empty glasses kept on coming back. And back. Every now and again, I saw Jake and, once, our hands touched when I refreshed his wine. A good Pinot Noir, which made me smile. He didn’t strike me as a Chardonnay man.

It was way past midnight when he finally gave me the eye. God knew I’d been making what I wanted obvious enough—serving him first when I could, even though that was a real no‐no in the secret Barman’s Code. Anyway, at a quarter past midnight, I looked across at my fellow barman, a bloke called Arnie who seemed like he’d been around the block a few times. And some.

“Is it okay if I...?”

He grinned. “Sure. It’s easing off now. I think I can cope. Besides, it looks as if you’ve got business to attend to.


I smiled back. “Yeah, if I’m lucky, but for God’s sake, keep it quiet.”

“My lips are sealed. Not my bag, but live and let live, eh?”

I made my way out of the bar, only needing to glance back once to make sure Jake was following. I wondered how long it would take him to talk to me and what he might do or say, whether I would need to take charge to get things moving.

I needn’t have worried.

In the corridor between the hall and the Gents’, I found myself being pushed back against the wall, and then warm fingers on my face, and Jake’s tongue in my mouth. He tasted of wine and lemons. I kissed him back. No, I did more. I pulled his shirt free and ran my hand up his spine, desperately seeking skin. I groaned into his mouth as if I’d been waiting for this for a lifetime and had almost given up hope it would ever happen, even though I’d only seen him for the first time tonight. I pulled his body toward mine and pressed my straining dick against his legs, feeling his answering hardness against my own.

I swear it was the best kiss I’d ever had up until that point. Better than any sex I’d had or even dreamed of. It lasted forever. It was way too short.

When we finally pulled apart, we were both gasping. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. While I wiped my mouth, my fingers trembling, still relishing the taste of him on my lips, he recovered enough to speak.

“Jesus,” he said, and his voice was shaking too. 



Don't forget - leave a comment here between now and December 17th and you're in with a chance of winning. Good luck!

Meanwhile, there are lots of other prizes to be won in the rest of the blog hop. Happy reading!

Anne Brooke
Gay Reads UK



26 comments:

katsrus said...

Sounds really good. Thanks for the giveaway. Happy Holidays.
Sue B
katsrus(at)gmail(dot)com

KimberlyFDR said...

Thanks for doing the hop!

kimberlyFDR@yahoo.com

Cornelia said...

Please count me in thank you.
cvsimpkins@msn.com

Urb said...

Wow, great excerpt!(~fans self~) Please count me in and thank you!

brendurbanist at gmail dot com

Erica Pike said...

Very interesting. I should be able to handle the cheating.

Erica Pike
eripike at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

Thanks for doing the hop!

~Beth
JPadawan11@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Steamy excerpt. Really like second chance stories. Thanks for the hop and Happy Holidays!

strive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com

lily sawyer said...

please enter me in your contest

yinyang1062 @ Yahoo.com

lily sawyer said...

please put my name in the hat.

yinyang1062@Yahoo.com

Kassandra said...

thank you for the excerpt!

Kassandra
sionedkla@gmail.com

nancy said...

Sounds good, count me in.

ocanana@gmail.com

Loveless3173 said...

Thanks for being a part of this blog hop~~ whoo!! lol.. Happy Holidays! :D

Judi
arella3173_loveless@yahoo(dot)com

Unknown said...

thanks for the excerpt sound good
kaholgate at ymail dot com

Cargo said...

Wow! Love the excerpt. I have accidentally discovered you because you are a friend of a friend on Facebook and I wanted your purple (women bishops)ribbon!!! Why have I never heard of you before? Will be checking through all your ebooks now to decide which one (or two) I am going to download first.

The vicsmate aka Carole said...

Love the excerpt! I have only just discovered you because you are a friend of a friend on Facebook and I wanted your purple ribbon pic. Now I am going to have to look through all your ebooks to choose which one I am going to buy first. Why have I never heard of you before?

Anonymous said...

This one sounds really lovely! Merry Christmas...

vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

Rush said...

Ack! That was Hawt!!! (Sweating Now)
Happy Holidays!

~Rush~
taina1959@yahoo.com

Rush said...

Hmmm... I don't believe my entry went through. I'll try it again.
Happy Holidays!

~Rush~
taina1959@yahoo.com

Ashley Applebee said...

Sounds yummy!! Thanks for joining in on the hop and Merry Christmas!
Ashley A
ash_app(at)hotmail(dot)com

Penumbra said...

Nice excerpt. Count me in and Happy Holidays! :)

penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com

Jennifer Mathis said...

great excerpt :)
merry christmas
meandi09@Yahoo.com

ceagles said...

Looks like a great story. Thanks for the chance to win.

Happy Holidays!

Chris
ceagles48218@yahoo.com

Julie Lynn Hayes said...

Wow, that excerpt was incredibly hot. Thanks for sharing, and for taking part in the blog!

Julie
shelley_runyon@yahoo.com

Julie Lynn Hayes said...

Wow, that excerpt was really hot, loved it!

Thanks for taking part in the blog hop!

Julie
shelley_runyon@yahoo.com

Rissa said...

Sounds great!

Thanks for the chance to win :)

Anne Brooke said...

Many thanks indeed for all your lovely comments, and thanks so much for taking part in the blog hop.

I have now made the draw and the lucky winner is:

Ashley Applebee!!

Well done, Ashley, and I'll be in touch right now with your prize. Congratulations to you!

Anne
xxx