by
Tara Lain
ADULT title
Blurb:
Romance on Aisle Sixteen—opposites attract amid the hammers and screws of the home improvement store.
Gabe Mason became a father at seventeen, and his daughter, Ellie, is the most important thing in his life. But being the parent the courts demand means Gabe has given up most of his dreams—education, making furniture, a gay social life—to be a model dad with a steady, reliable job in a home improvement store. Life’s predictable until Jerry, a shy, eccentric guy in a hat and sunglasses, begs Gabe to oversee the renovation of his run-down mansion.
Gabe loves the house and the work, and Jerry's pretty lovable too, but when Gabe discovers Jerry’s secret identity, he fears their passion could overturn both their lives forever.
Excerpt
Jerry
pretty much smiled all the way through the unloading, which was damned hard and
took an hour of trying to maneuver the huge pieces of furniture across the lawn
and up the stairs to the nearest door. Once inside, they placed the credenza at
one end of the dining room that looked over the pool. The gleaming wood of the
cabinet glowed against the Saltillo tile floors and gave the room—which still
needed paint, rugs, and a table—some promise.
When
they’d wrangled the coffee table into place in the middle of the huge great
room, Gabe laughed. “I guess we can call it a start.”
Jerry
threw his arms out and spun. “But it’s sooooo beautiful.” He kept swooping and
twirling around the room until his head spun and the floor of the room and the
wood ceiling far above kind of blended together. He threw his head back and
laughed, his foot hit one of the rough places on the tile, and he staggered.
“Whoa!” He slid and teetered toward the floor.
Before
he could hit, Gabe snatched him into a full-body grab. “Hang on.”
Jerry
took him at his word. Wrapping his arms tightly around Gabe’s neck, he hung on
like crazy. Truthfully, he was too dizzy to stand up—
—and
the Captain America arms didn’t help that dizziness one bit.
Before
he could really analyze his situation, he’d pressed himself full length against
Gabe’s tall, sturdy body, laughing tipsily.
Yes,
the contact was pretty wriggly, and if he’d asked himself a hundred times
whether Gabe might, just might, like guys since he seemed to look at Jerry like
an hors d’oeuvre sometimes, he now got his answer. One formidable protuberance
rose in the middle of the embrace and seemed to be matched in his own pants.
Gabe’s heartbeat pounded against Jerry’s chest.
Oh fuck! Just one taste. Jerry slid the arm that was tightly
wrapped around Gabe’s neck up a couple inches and yanked Gabe’s head down so he
could lock their lips together.
The
first touch produced an electric spark that slammed straight to Jerry’s balls
so hard, for a second he had to hold his breath to keep from embarrassing
himself with wet sweats. As the first gasp came under control, a tsunami of
heat washed through him, and he slid his fingers tightly into Gabe’s shaggy,
silken hair, as he pressed closer from lips to hips.
Gabe
had been holding Jerry around the waist. His strong hands slid down and grasped
Jerry’s butt and squeezed. Jerry gasped at the amazing pressure, and everything
in him wanted to climb Gabe like a tree and then plant that evergreen where it
would do the most good.
Before
Jerry could anchor a leg around Gabe’s hips, he was gone, and Jerry was
staggering backward to keep from falling.
Gabe
gasped, “Oh God, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I hope you enjoy the furniture. Let
me know if you change your mind about the other pieces. Otherwise I’ll make
sure they get here while you’re gone.” With that he turned, hurried from the
house, and before Jerry even made it to the front door, had disappeared out of
sight.
Jerry
slammed the front door, leaned against it, then slowly collapsed to the floor. Fuck-a-doodle-doo.
Good job, asshole. Find somebody you actually like and enjoy being around and
screw it up by being you.
He
dropped his head onto his bent knees.
Available for purchase at
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About the Author
You can find Tara Lain at
Presented By
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My review:
4.25 out of 5 stars
Home Improvement by Tara Lain features single father Gabe
Mason, who is content to devote his life to providing for his soon-to-be
seventeen-year-old daughter. His life gets complicated when an unusual customer
at the home improvement store hires him for a home renovation that is going to
be life-changing for both of them.
This lovely adult contemporary gay romance reminds me of why
I adore this author’s stories so much—I’m always smiling by the end, and the
angst is relatively low-key even as it enriches the story. I am always glad to
“meet” her characters because they are folks I would like to get to know in
real life because they seem like such genuine people. I enjoyed the maturity of
Gabe’s daughter and wallowed in the warmth of their father-daughter
relationship even as I chuckled when she went into fangirl mode and reverted to
being a squealing teen. The evolution of the relationship between Gabe and his
mystery guy was fun to watch and had a great balance of heat and romance. As
usual, the overall theme of “be true to yourself” is artfully presented with
plenty of “aw” moments. I did think some folks got off a little too lightly
(*cough* Tiffany) but I guess it shows what a generous heart Gabe has.
Adding to the fun is the wonderful house that has a
character of its own, and I can’t help but wonder what actually did or will
happen to the real property. I can only hope that it was given a similar new
lease on life.
For a new perspective on the “glamorous” life of a music
icon and an entertaining story about making a house a home and finding love
along the way, be sure to enjoy this fun story.
A copy of this title was provided to me for review
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