Re-Release Blitz, Excerpt & Giveaway
The Play Of His Life
by
Amy Aislin
Book Blurb:
The last person Christian wants to run into on a visit home to spend time with his mom over the holidays is his former best friend-turned-lover-turned-ex. But there Riley is, in all his tall, chiseled, blondness. The same guy who walked out on him six years ago, breaking his heart in the process. Who knew he's still in love with the jerk?
Two years ago, Riley was injured out of the NHL, but he's got his own bakery now and a quiet life selling quiches and cupcakes to his customers. Then Christian unexpectedly walks back into his life, forcing Riley to question his choices. Especially that one choice he made six years ago that walked him out of Christian's life. Now if only he had the courage to tell a boy how he really feels about him...
Thank you
for joining me to celebrate the rerelease of my second chance romance novella, The
Play of His Life, and thank you to The Reading Addict for having me today.
I’m sharing
an exclusive excerpt from The Play of His Life. Check it out below!
Everything, literally everything Christian had done since he’d walked back into
Riley’s life last week had served to prove to Riley that, despite how he’d left
things six years ago, Christian hadn’t forgotten him. And he was still taking
care of him. Christian helped out at Warm Glow, he fussed over Riley’s knee, he
gifted him with an amazing memory scrapbook, he made sure his Christmas wasn’t
spent alone with his TV. Now this. This tiny tattoo shouldn’t have meant so
much, not all these years later. But it all proved that Riley’s heart and soul
still belonged to Christian and always would.
97. Riley’s jersey number.
Remarkably, it was tattooed on the inside of Christian’s wrist.
It was also the year he and Christian met on the first day of second
grade. Had Christian ever made that connection? They’d both been transplants
from Quebec, neither knowing a lick of English. Their last names—Deschamps and
Dufresne—meant that, alphabetically, they sat next to each other in school.
Instant friendship. And the fact they lived in the same neighborhood? Even
better.
“One day,” Christian had said sometime in high school, when it became
clear that Riley was developing into a wickedly talented goalie, “you’re going
to be drafted into the NHL. And when you do, I’m going to get your jersey
number tattooed somewhere.”
Riley had snorted. “No, you’re not.”
“Am, too.”
“Yeah, right. Where?”
“Dunno.” Christian had shrugged. “Somewhere important.”
His wrist. The inside of his wrist. A place not easily hidden from
others. A place where he’d likely see his own tattoo every day for the rest of
his life. A reminder of the promise he’d made. A reminder of what they’d once
meant to each other, what they’d lost. The friendship they’d left behind.
Behind, but never forgotten and always treasured.
The ice pack slid off his knee when he shifted to his side so he could
face Christian. He didn’t bother blinking the wetness out of his eyes.
Christian deserved to know how important, how loved, how cherished the tattoo
made him feel. He pressed a closed-mouth kiss very gently to Christian’s lips.
“Thank you,” he said, heart too full for more.
Christian only smiled softly and used the arm around Riley’s waist to
pull him closer. Riley tucked his head underneath Christian’s chin and let
himself drift.
Excerpt:
When Riley screwed up an order because he was busy thinking about trying not to think about Christian, he pretended this day was the same as any other and that Christian was still in Vancouver and went about his business.
Christian’s gruff laughter from the back shot that plan to hell.
It was almost an hour later that the line disappeared, though a few people remained at the tables.
“Is it just me, or was that busier than normal?” his other part-timer, Henry, asked. Henry was a seventy-year-old retired army vet who only worked Tuesdays and Fridays because those were the days his wife hosted her knitting club and it was either get the hell out of the house or listen to them talk about the misadventures of their various grandkids.
“Everything’s crazier at the holidays,” Riley replied, wiping down the drinks counter.
Henry started wiping down the small counter that held the condiments. “Should’ve seen the fight that broke out over a parking spot at the Toys “R” Us yesterday. Thought I was going to have to use my army general’s voice.”
Riley had heard Henry’s army general voice. It was terrifying.
Speaking of terrifying voices, where was Christian? Not that his voice was terrifying, but his grumpiness had been known to scare a kid or two.
Riley turned and there Christian was, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, hands on his hips. He wore one of Warm Glow’s green aprons over jeans and a dark blue T-shirt. Just the sight of him made Riley’s heart flip.
Christian had always been a big guy, but Riley had forgotten just how imposing he could be when he scowled that way. And what was with his pouf hairstyle? A pompadour, was it? Riley had seen hairstyles like that on guys before and thought those men should be on the cover of cheesy romance novels. But Christian pulled it off, probably because he could scowl anybody into liking anything.
“Is it my turn to order now?” Christian asked.
It made Riley laugh and the tension drained from his shoulders. “Sure, what do you want?”
“What’s good?”
“Seriously? You’re asking me that in my own bakery? Everything’s good. The salad—”
“What guy likes salad?” Christian interrupted. He said “salad” like “peas”—which Riley knew Christian hated more than any food ever.
“I like salad,” Riley said, slightly offended. Warm Glow’s salads were good, damn it!
“Me, too,” Henry said, coming around the counter to grab a wet cloth. “Know why?”
“Because you’re turning over a new leaf?” Christian suggested.
Riley just looked at him.
“What?” Christian said. “That was funny.”
“That was as lame as ever.”
“I thought it was funny,” Henry said.
“Me, too,” piped in a customer adding milk to his coffee.
Christian raised an eyebrow at Riley like, see?
“Awww,” Riley gushed. “You have fans.”
That got Christian scowling again.
About Amy:
Amy's lived with her head in the clouds since she first picked up a book as a child, and being fluent in two languages means she's read a lot of books! She first picked up a pen on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class had to stay inside for recess. Tales of treasure hunts with her classmates eventually morphed into love stories between men, and she's been writing ever since. She writes evenings and weekends—or whenever she isn't at her full-time day job saving the planet at Canada's largest environmental non-profit.
An unapologetic introvert, Amy reads too much and socializes too little, with no regrets. She loves connecting with readers. Join her
Facebook Group, Amy Aislin’s Readers, to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on
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My review:
3.75 out of 5 stars
The Play of His Life by Amy Aislin features Christian
Dufresne who needs a push to reconnect with his ex-best friend and lover, former
pro-hockey player Riley Deschamps. Maybe it’s time to find out if what they had
is worth fighting for.
This adult contemporary gay romance has great elements—yummy
athlete, smart web marketer, a relationship that is comfortable and familiar,
and a meddling mom who knows more than her son is quite comfortable with. I
love some of the elements, especially the unique gifts that each presents the
other, the way they welcome the novice hockey player and make him feel
comfortable, and Christian’s mom pointing out that the front door works just
fine, lol. I didn’t quite feel that some of the other elements gelled, since
their connection is so strong that I really couldn’t see them not having
resolved their differences sooner. This is a sweet, feel-good story that gives
a glimpse of Canada and two lovely guys, and I recommend it to anyone in search
of a quick light romance.
A copy was provided for review
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