Hiya guys, we have Annabelle Jacobs popping in today with the tour for her new holiday release A Kiss for Christmas, we have a great excerpt, a brilliant giveaway and Shorty’s review, so check out the post and click that giveaway link! <3 ~Pixie~
A Christmas Kiss
Annabelle Jacobs
Keeping secrets from your best friend isn’t right, but it’s easier than admitting you’ve fallen in love with him.
Sharing a late-night kiss with his best friend, Alex, is Riley’s dream come true. Waking up to discover Alex was too drunk to remember anything is more like a nightmare. Scared the truth could destroy their friendship, Riley keeps quiet and pretends nothing happened.
Alex can’t shake the feeling that he said or did something stupid on their group’s drunken weekend away—why else would Riley be avoiding him? Although the explanation he finally gets sounds plausible, Riley’s still acting strange, and trying to figure out why that is unearths emotions Alex has worked hard to bury.
Riley knows not telling Alex how he feels is probably selfish, but he wants one last normal Christmas before he has to come clean and face the potential fallout.
He should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.
Excerpt
The next time Riley opened his eyes, he had a bit of a headache.
And he was alone.
Maybe Alex had just gone to the loo? He wouldn’t have got up if there was the promise of sex, no matter if he had a bit of a hangover. Alex loved morning sex—he banged on about it often enough whenever he was in a relationship. Reaching out his hand, Riley discovered the other side of the bed was cold, dashing any hope he had of getting some action before they left for home.
Just as he debated getting up or going back to sleep, the door burst open and Alex popped his head in. “Morning.” He grinned, looking a little pale, but far too bright and bushy-tailed considering the state of him the night before.
Riley’s stomach fluttered and he smiled back. “Morning. You look better than I was expecting.”
Alex immediately put a hand to his head. “Felt like shit when I woke up, but some painkillers and a bacon sarnie have taken the edge off. Yours is just cooking, so get your lazy arse up and come downstairs.”
Then he was gone, leaving Riley staring after him, feeling somewhat confused.
Okay, so he hadn’t expected hearts and flowers, but was a good-morning kiss too much to ask for? They were going to have words about proper morning etiquette.
After yawning, stretching, and giving a wistful stroke to his morning wood, Riley shoved back the quilt. “Fucking hell.”
The heating was no doubt on, but after being cocooned in bed, the room was bloody freezing. He couldn’t get into his clothes quickly enough.
He was still tugging his jeans up as he stumbled out through the door and nearly ran smack bang into Jake. “Shit, sorry.”
Jake looked back at the bedroom Riley had just come out of, and then he rolled his eyes. “I told you you’d end up kipping with Alex. For fuck’s sake, Ri. You could have let me have your room instead of being stuck with Dylan. He snores like a train!” Jake pointed back over his shoulder. “He also eats like a horse, as you well know, so I’d get downstairs before he finishes off your brekkie.”
Jake didn’t add anything else. No piss-taking for getting off with his best mate, or how they’d all known it would happen, considering how codependent he and Alex were. Nothing.
Okaaay. So Alex hasn’t said anything.
That was fine. Riley wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to announce it yet either. Unless, of course, Alex thought it was just a one-time thing? No, no way. Alex probably wanted to see how things panned out, and keeping it to themselves for a while might be kind of nice too. Their own little secret.
Riley smiled to himself as he walked down the stairs, feeling happier than he had in a long while.
Everyone else was downstairs, he discovered. Abi and Nick sat on one side of the kitchen table. Abi had her head on Nick’s shoulder, and Riley smiled at what a cute couple they still made. Dylan sat opposite them, and Alex leaned against the worktop, mug of tea in hand.
“Morning, sunshine.” Abi grinned at Riley, then gestured to Alex, and Riley froze midstep. “You look a lot better than he did first thing.” She shook her head and pointed at the rows of empty bottles lined up next to the sink. “How much did you lot drink after we went to bed?”
Christ, that was a shitload of beer they’d got through, not to mention the nearly empty bottle of whisky that stood next to the beer bottles. No wonder they hadn’t managed to get up to anything last night.
Riley shrugged, an uncomfortable feeling growing in the pit of his stomach, though he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. “A fair bit, I guess.”
He stole a glance at Alex, wondering if they maybe should say something, after all. These were their best friends, and they didn’t tend to keep secrets from one another, no matter how embarrassing. Even though this thing with Alex was new and private, Riley felt sort of dishonest not telling them.
Abi scoffed. “A fair bit? Considering Alex here has no recollection of us even saying goodnight, I’d say it was more than that.”
Wait… what?
The uncomfortable feeling blossomed into something big and heavy, weighing him down enough that Riley had to pull out a chair and sit. He forced himself to look at Alex and asked, “You don’t remember?”
Alex laughed. “Not a fucking thing after the whisky, and even that part’s hazy. I remember drinking it, but not how much we had.”
“More than enough, apparently.” It came out sharp, cutting through the warm, easy atmosphere like a gust of icy wind. All pairs of eyes focused on him, and Riley shuffled in his seat, wanting to dash back upstairs and start the morning all over again.
This cannot be happening.
He ran a hand through his hair and met Alex’s gaze. He knew every tell his best friend possessed. If Alex was lying, Riley would see it. “So, you don’t remember anything at all after drinking whisky with Dylan?”
The others were still watching them, probably wondering what was going on, but Riley didn’t care about that.
Alex shook his head. Apart from a faint blush on his cheeks, nothing about his posture or his facial expression looked out of the ordinary.
He isn’t lying.
Well, fuck. Fuck it all.
About Annabelle
Annabelle Jacobs lives in the South West of England with three rowdy children, and two cats.
An avid reader of fantasy herself for many years, Annabelle now spends her days writing her own stories. They’re usually either fantasy or paranormal fiction, because she loves building worlds filled with magical creatures, and creating stories full of action and adventure. Her characters may have a tough time of it—fighting enemies and adversity—but they always find love in the end.
Where to find the author:
Twitter | Website | Facebook | Facebook Author page | Email – ajacobsfiction@gmail.com
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Review
Title: A Christmas Kiss
Author: Annabelle Jacobs
Genre: Romance, Holidays
Length: Short (77 pages)
Publisher: Annabelle Jacobs (November 18, 2016)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Blurb: Keeping secrets from your best friend isn’t right, but it’s easier than admitting you’ve fallen in love with him.
Sharing a late-night kiss with his best friend, Alex, is Riley’s dream come true. Waking up to discover Alex was too drunk to remember anything is more like a nightmare. Scared the truth could destroy their friendship, Riley keeps quiet and pretends nothing happened.
Alex can’t shake the feeling that he said or did something stupid on their group’s drunken weekend away—why else would Riley be avoiding him? Although the explanation he finally gets sounds plausible, Riley’s still acting strange, and trying to figure out why that is unearths emotions Alex has worked hard to bury.
Riley knows not telling Alex how he feels is probably selfish, but he wants one last normal Christmas before he has to come clean and face the potential fallout
ISBN: B01N9259SC
Product Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N9259SC
Reviewer: Shorty
Review: A short endearing read about two best friends. One, Riley, has feelings for the other, Alex. One night while drinking with the help of alcohol, Riley kisses Alex. The next day Alex remembers nothing.
I understood Riley’s disappointment the next day and Alex’s bewilderment as it seemed there was a rift between the too. But with the help of friends things come to light and all is revealed. Charming and sweet. This is a light read with the right elements in time for Christmas.
Great read.
