Love in the Balance (The Peachtree Series Book 2) by Brigham Vaughn ADULT title GBP

Love in the Balance
 The Peachtree Series Book 2
ADULT title

by
Brigham Vaughn

Publisher: Two Peninsulas Press (Indie/Self-Published)

Cover Artist: Brigham Vaughn

Release Date: August 24, 2020

Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance

Trope/s: May/December, age gap, hurt comfort, rich man poor man, workplace romance

Themes: Marriage equality, family acceptance/homophobia, exploring light kink, friends and chosen family, emotional baggage.

Heat Rating: 4 flames 

Length: 92 658 words/ 364 pages

Goodreads | BookBub 

 

Love isn’t always enough.

Blurb

Russ Bishop and Stephen Parker are in love. They’ve settled into their relationship and are both happy. But Russ wants more than what they have now, he wants forever.

To him that means marriage, but for Stephen that has never been an option. Marriage equality still isn't recognized in Georgia so why want what he can't have?

When Stephen’s ex re-appears, they’ll have to decide once and for all if they’re ready to commit to a lifetime together.


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Excerpt

He reached out and squeezed his thigh. “Speaking of commitment, I know we’ve talked about this before, but I’d like to make an appointment with a lawyer to draw up all the power of attorney and living will paperwork soon. If something happened to you … Well, I don’t want to find myself in the position I was in with Jeremy. Alan is wonderful, so I know he wouldn’t keep me away, but we might as well have all of the legal protection in place.”

Russ nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. We should do that soon.”

They had essentially already made the commitment to each other, so why not formalize it? Even if Stephen lost every penny or became sick or injured, Russ wasn’t going anywhere, and he knew Stephen felt the same. There was no question in his mind that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Stephen. And after meeting his mom, he no longer had the smallest doubt that he was capable of serious commitment. He wasn’t her, and he never had been. He was in this relationship for the long haul with Stephen, and the law should recognize that.

It seemed so cold and soulless to go to a lawyer’s office to draw up paperwork though. It felt like too big a moment to treat that way. He knew some couples had parties after, to celebrate, but that didn’t seem right. No, what he wanted was to publicly declare his feelings for his partner and show the rest of the world how much Stephen mattered to him.

He didn’t want to sign a few sheets of paper and pretend as if it weren’t one of the biggest moments in his life. He wanted more than that. He wanted … Russ stilled as it hit him what he truly desired. He wanted marriage. He blinked, trying to absorb the enormity of that realization. For a guy who’d struggled with the idea of long-term commitment, he knew he had come a long way. Maybe it was time he showed Stephen how serious he was about their relationship. Hell, he wouldn’t be surprised if Stephen had wanted it for a while and had been hesitating because he was worried Russ wasn’t ready.

He glanced over at Stephen and pictured standing in front of an officiant, their friends, and family and telling all of them that he wanted to spend the rest of his life making Stephen happy. He could picture it so clearly, and it felt right.

Maybe Georgia was light-years behind other states when it came to marriage equality and all it would legally recognize was signatures on a power of attorney form. But there was no reason they couldn’t go out of state to get married. And someday, when Georgia finally recognized it, they’d be married there too.

Husband. Russ tested the word out in his head, and something about it felt so right. He felt a surge of giddy elation as he imagined sliding a ring onto Stephen’s finger as they promised to spend the rest of their lives together.

He was going to do this. He was going to ask Stephen to marry him.





 

Buy Links - Available on Kindle Unlimited 

Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK

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About the Author 

Brigham Vaughn is on the adventure of a lifetime as a full-time author. She devours books at an alarming rate and hasn't let her short arms and long torso stop her from doing yoga. She makes a killer key lime pie, hates green peppers, and loves wine tasting tours. A collector of vintage Nancy Drew books and green glassware, she enjoys poking around in antique shops and refinishing thrift store furniture. An avid photographer, she dreams of traveling the world and she can't wait to discover everything else life has to offer her.

Her books range from short stories to novellas to novels. They explore gay, bisexual, lesbian, and polyamorous romance in contemporary settings.

Author Links

Blog | Facebook Author Page | Twitter

Newsletter sign-up | Instagram | Pinterest | BookBub

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

 

Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts and reviews here

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My review:

3.75 stars

Love in the Balance by Brighan Vaughn continues where “Off-Balance” left off and depicts the evolving relationship between Stephen and Russ. Each man has found that the other is exactly what he needs, but there are still elements that need to be worked out, including guilt over the past, pain from family issues, and how each sees the future.

This adult contemporary gay romance continues ‘The Peachtree’ series, and it is recommended that the first book be read in order to orient oneself in the guys’ lives. It is lovely to see the evolution as these two men get more comfortable in their relationship and they start to expand their sexual boundaries. Although I appreciate seeing them work through the emotional landmines and some of the dysfunction that has haunted them, the story moved a little slowly for me, and I thought the conflict over the marriage proposal was a bit contrived. It was nice to see the setup for a couple of the secondary characters, and I look forward to reading their love story.

A copy of this title was provided for review

Off-Balance by Brigham Vaughn (Spotlight, excerpt, and review) GBP ADULT title

Off-Balance

by
Brigham Vaughn

Publisher: Two Peninsulas Press (Indie/Self-Published)

Cover Artist: Brigham Vaughn

Release Date: August 3, 2020

Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance

Trope/s: May/December, age gap, hurt comfort, rich man poor man, workplace romance

Themes: Grief, family acceptance/homophobia, exploring light kink, friends and chosen family, emotional baggage.

Heat Rating: 4 flames 

Length: 104 535 words/ 260 pages

It is the first book in a new series

Goodreads 

Love doesn’t always add up.

Blurb

Russell Bishop is a rising star at Vantage Marketing.

Stephen Parker is the company’s CFO.

A spilled cup of coffee gives them an opportunity to act on the mutual attraction they’ve both been trying to ignore. But attraction isn’t enough with an almost twenty-year age gap and clashing expectations about their relationship.

Fiercely independent, Russ isn't sure he's ready for long-term commitment and Stephen is afraid history is repeating itself.

Their relationship reaches a crossroads when the death of Stephen’s father forces them to visit his hometown in southern Georgia. Estranged from his family, Stephen must come to terms with his past and say goodbye to the father whose expectations he could never live up to. The small, conservative town provides its own challenges as Russ must find the strength to be the man Stephen desperately needs. 

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Excerpt

“Hopefully, I’m not keeping you from a hot date tonight or something.”

Stephen let out a small snort of amusement. “Russ, I can’t remember the last time I had a hot date. Frankly, it’s been months since I’ve had a date of any sort. And they were lukewarm at best. If you’re asking if I’m single, the answer is yes.”

Embarrassed, Russ cleared his throat. “I was curious.”

“Nothing wrong with curiosity.”

“I’m single too,” Russ said. He cringed internally. Jesus. He’d had game once. Okay, maybe not game because he’d never had time to really develop it, but he used to be at least slightly smooth. This … whatever this was, was truly pathetic.

But Stephen didn’t seem too put out by his awkwardness. “Haven’t met the right person or no time to date?”

“Maybe a little of both,” Russ admitted. “It can be hard to meet men when you’re working fifty, sixty hours a week.” There. He’d at least managed to work the fact that he was gay into the conversation without doing it in the most cringey way possible.

“Absolutely,” Stephen said. “Though, from what I hear, you’re doing very well at Vantage.”

Russ blinked. He had no idea Stephen had even known who he was, much less that he’d been paying attention to how he was doing. “I had no idea you’d noticed me at work.”

“Oh, I noticed.” Stephen gave him a slow smile. “You needn’t worry about proving your worth, if that’s why you’re working those kind of hours.”

“I like to be thorough,” Russ said.

“Thoroughness is good.”

Was it Russ’s imagination or was there a hint of heat in Stephen’s eyes now and a faint rasp to his voice? “I like to make sure I take my time and fully grasp a topic,” Russ countered. “Get a real grip on it.”

“Traits like that will certainly allow you to get far at whatever you choose to do.”

Including with you? Russ wondered. “I’m trying to get ahead.”

The corner of Stephen’s mouth curved up even further. “That much is clear.”

“Think I’ll succeed?”

“I suppose it depends on what you’re trying to succeed at.”

“You don’t know?”

“I try not to make any assumptions about anything until I’m sure.”

Goddamn it. They were talking in circles and getting nowhere. Maybe Russ needed to try a different approach.

“I appreciate all of your help today,” Russ said. “I seriously can’t thank you enough.”

Stephen looked away from the TV again and shook his head, glancing at Russ with a small smile. “It’s the least I could do. I feel responsible for what happened.”

Russ smiled back, Stephen’s earnestness relaxing him. “Let’s call it even then, I guess. Or we could be up all night with this.”

Stephen quirked an eyebrow up at him, eyes crinkling at the corners with amusement. Fuck, what a turn on. Why older men were such an attraction for him, Russ would never be sure, but he’d realized it in college. He’d had a brief fling with a professor named Jack Burns after the semester was over. It wasn’t the forbidden aspect of it—they’d both waited until after Russ was no longer his student—but he liked the age difference.

A man with a fit body, handsome face, graying hair, and a killer smile always got Russ going. Hell, his head and ankle ached and he was still thinking about what Stephen would be like in bed. And was he flirting? God, Russ hoped so. “Well, being up all night isn’t always a bad thing.”

Stephen’s lips turned up at the corners in amusement. “You don’t think so?”

Russ shrugged. “It depends on the reason, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, I suppose it does,” Stephen murmured. He shifted to face Russ. “I’m afraid all of the best reasons are off the table at the moment though, aren’t they?”

“Too bad.”

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

About the Author

Brigham Vaughn is on the adventure of a lifetime as a full-time author. She devours books at an alarming rate and hasn’t let her short arms and long torso stop her from doing yoga. She makes a killer key lime pie, hates green peppers, and loves wine tasting tours. A collector of vintage Nancy Drew books and green glassware, she enjoys poking around in antique shops and refinishing thrift store furniture. An avid photographer, she dreams of traveling the world and she can’t wait to discover everything else life has to offer her.

Her books range from short stories to novellas to novels. They explore gay, bisexual, lesbian, and polyamorous romance in contemporary settings.

Author Links

Blog | Facebook Author Page | Twitter

Newsletter sign-up | Instagram | Pinterest | BookBub

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

 

Follow the tour and check out the other blog posts and reviews here

***********************

My review:

3.75 out of 5 stars

Off-Balance by Brigham Vaughn features Russell Bishop and CFO Stephen Parker from the same marketing firm. Their unexpected attraction requires adjustment, both at work and in their personal lives, especially since there is an age gap, and each man must learn to keep past experiences from ruining a potential future together.

This contemporary gay romance is the first story in ‘The Peachtree’ series and features a couple of men who have quite a few potential obstacles to overcome. I love stories that reaffirm that there is someone for everyone, and these guys have quite a few disparities in their lives to deal with. The gap in their ages plays into the difference in their positions in the company, their residences, and their financial status. Although I like that they took their time getting to know each other, I found it frustrating that they didn’t communicate as well as they could have about their respective triggers and past histories and that caused a lot of unnecessary angst, as far as I was concerned. There is a very slow burn, although they do work through that eventually, but I was more impatient for them to actually sit down and express themselves and deepen the relationship.

There is an emotional evolution that takes place in the second half of the story, and I was touched by the interactions with Ms. Esther while aching at her backstory as well. Given the mutual love and respect, I was a little surprised that better contact wasn’t maintained. There are several very thorny issues touched upon that play out in today’s headlines, and I was saddened to be reminded that progress comes slowly, even in modern society. This is a gently unfolding and thought-provoking story that is aptly titled, as both main characters are often a little off-kilter.

A copy of this title was provided for review