Hi guys, we have Lane Hayes stopping by with her new release  A Kind of Truth, we have a short interview with Lane, a great excerpt, a fantastic giveaway and Aerin’s & Prime’s reviews, so enjoy the post and click that giveaway link <3 ~Pixie~

A Kind of Truth

Lane Hayes

Rand O’Malley dreams of superstardom. He hopes to one day sing the blues like a rock god. Moving to New York City and hiring a new manager are steps to make his dreams a reality. But nothing moves as fast as Rand would like, and everyone has opinions, which include he keep certain pieces of himself quiet if he plans on making it in the Big Apple. Like his bisexuality.

Will Sanders is a gifted musician who dazzles Rand with his ability to coax gorgeous notes from an electric guitar one moment and play the piano like a professional the next. He’s a geek, but Rand isn’t concerned about Will’s pressed exterior clashing with his tattoos. His focus is music.  Yet there’s something about Will that makes Rand think there’s much more to the quiet college student than he lets on. As Rand’s dreams begin to materialize, he’s forced to reconsider his priorities and find his own kind of truth. One that might include Will.

Interview

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Lane Hayes, author of A Kind of Truth.

Hi Lane, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about your current book.

Thank you for having me here today to chat about A Kind of Truth. This is book one in my newest series. I’m very excited about it because this marks my first attempt at writing a rock and roll story with a bad boy MC who just can’t seem to help himself. Lol! If you’ve read Better Than Safe, you’ll remember Rand, Seth’s best friend. He’s stubborn, cocky and a bit of an egomaniac. As with all bad boys, there’s something very appealing about him. After writing BTS, I knew Rand’s story would be next. It’s very appropriate that he’s bridging the Better Than Stories books with the A Kind of Stories, which I suppose makes this my first official spin-off too.

How do you develop your plots and characters?

Every one is a little different. The only consistency for me is that I know my characters before I begin plotting the storyline. I’m better now about being flexible with the plot. What I initially plan may change a few times before I’m satisfied. It makes editing a hassle, but if it makes for a better read, it’s worth it.

Who doesn’t love a good hero? Tell us about your protagonist. Was there a real life inspiration behind them?

Rand O’Malley. Where do I begin… I didn’t have a real life inspiration. I just had a good feeling from the beginning about who this guy was. He’s an anti-hero in a way. He came to New York City with an improbable dream and a ton of ambition. Will is not his type of guy and there is no way he’s in the market for a man (or a woman) anyway. I think what ultimately makes Rand a hero is that he’s willing to admit his mistakes along the way and he takes great pains to make amends.

What real-life inspirations do you use when world building?

I use real-life places. It keeps things easy! Lol! I’m a city girl. All three of my series are set in major cities, DC, Los Angeles and New York. I usually make up restaurants, work places and shops but I try to say as true to the city grid as possible. It disconcerting to know a place well and have it described in a book so you hardly recognize it.

Did you learn anything from this book and what was it?

I learn from every book I write. Either I learn something about how to better craft my novels, how much angst I’m comfortable writing effectively or about pacing. In A Kind of Truth, there were many layers to the story, which was a challenge to keep track of, but ultimately, I think it made for a richer storyline. I also learned it is very possible to fall in love with your MC. (I adore Rand!)

It’s your last meal on earth. What do you choose?

Hmm. A greasy cheeseburger with a pile of French fries! (No greens necessary 🙂 )

Excerpt

Watching Will’s face turn pink then red was extraordinarily entertaining. I nudged his elbow playfully and tried to gain control of my smile before it threatened to take over my entire face.  When I couldn’t take the building pressure of emotion, I winked at the girls then leaned in and kissed his lips, loving that I took him by surprise.  The elevator doors slid open a moment later.  Will stepped into the empty corridor and gave me a wide-eyed incredulous stare.

“I cannot believe you just did that.”

“What? Kissed you on an elevator?  It’s not like farting, ya know.” 

Will huffed a sigh that clearly said he thought I was hopeless before turning to walk down the hall.  “I was talking about the underwear comment but yeah, the kissing part was awkward too.  No one wants to watch two people going at in a confined space.  And besides, we’re supposed to be playing this strictly straight while we’re in public.”

He stopped to unlock the door to the classroom then pushed it open, pausing to give me a perturbed look before he moved inside ahead of me. I barked a quick laugh as I set my guitar on the back table and shrugged my jacket off. 

“First of all, that was hardly going at it.  It was a peck. You were the one advertising I left my clothes at your place in front of a couple cute girls.  And who said anything about playing straight?”

“Were we not in the same room two mornings ago talking about this?”

“We were.  In fact, we were naked in your bed.  Decidedly un-straight. But the way I remember it, I was one who was holding back the gay while you were the one going for it.  But let’s go back to the elevator. I think you purposefully blew my cover back there with those girls.  Were you jealous?”

He snorted and rolled his eyes.  “You’re unbelievable.”

“Thanks.”

“It wasn’t a compliment,” he quipped as he made his way to the piano. 

“Well, the next time you announce you’re holding my underwear hostage in a crowd, all bets are off, baby.” I gave him a lascivious once-over and waggled my eyebrows before tightening the strap on my guitar.

Will chuckled.  “I’ll keep that in mind. But I’m pretty sure your tighty-whities never came up. My comment was perfectly innocent. There’s a big difference between hats and underwear.” 

“I’m on to you, Will.  You wanted those girls to know something’s going on between us.  They’re probably talking right now.  Bet they’re wondering if we’re in here having sex.  Hell, they could be outside that door listening.  Maybe we should give ‘em something to talk about.” I made a show of unbuckling my belt and the top button on my 501s.  “Is there a camera in this room?” 

“Keep your pants on. I’ve got two months left till graduation and I’d prefer not to get kicked out of school, please,” Will said primly, smacking my hand away.

“You won’t get kicked out.  I doubt we’d be the first anyway.” 

I rezipped my jeans and started to back up, but at the last second, I reached out to cup his chin between my thumb and forefinger.  I traced his jaw and let my thumb roam higher to caress his cheekbone just under his glasses. His eyes fluttered shut.  I loved the contrast of his fair skin and darker lashes and eyebrows.  He was so damn pretty.  And those lips.  They were sensuous.  That was the word. I leaned in and brushed my nose against his.  I could feel his breath on my lips.  The urge to plunge my tongue inside and take what I was very sure we both wanted was strong, but I waited for his permission.

When he didn’t respond, I let my hand fall to my side and started to pull back.  Maybe he really was serious about propriety in the classroom. I wasn’t used to curbing my impulses to suit someone’s else’s sensibilities. I’d spent twenty-five years doing only what I wanted.  Screw anyone else.  Now here I was, attempting to hide my gay side publicly while trying to follow Will’s lead in private. It felt strange, I thought, just as Will launched himself at me. 

I grunted in surprise when he wrapped his arms around my neck and crashed his mouth over mine. He softened the connection and tilted his head as he raked his fingers through my hair.  I responded but let him control the tempo. Until he tentatively licked my lips. Fuck, he tasted sweeter than I remembered. Like peppermint candy or hot chocolate.  I pulled him flush against my chest and slid my tongue alongside his, twisting and colliding in a passionate fusion.  When he gasped for air I pulled back only to have him grind his hips into mine and lick my jaw. He swayed into me with a moan and lost his footing. 

“Steady there.”

Will was sexier than he knew, which spelled potential danger for me.  It was better to let the music take over for now.

About Lane

Lane Hayes is grateful to finally be doing what she loves best. Writing full-time!  It’s no secret Lane loves a good romance novel.  An avid reader from an early age, she has always been drawn to well-told love story with beautifully written characters.  These days she prefers the leading roles to both be men.  Lane discovered the M/M genre a few years ago and was instantly hooked.  Her debut novel was a 2013 Rainbow Award finalist and subsequent books have received Honorable Mentions in the 2014 and 2015 Rainbow Awards.  She loves red wine, chocolate and travel (in no particular order). Lane lives in Southern California with her amazing husband and the coolest yellow Lab ever in an almost empty nest. 

Where to find the author:

Facebook | Facebook Author Page | Twitter

Giveaway!

Win a $20 gift card from retailer of choice and choice of book from Lane’s backlist!

Lane Hayes Rafflecopter giveaway!

Review

Title: A Kind of Truth

Series: A Kind of 01

Author: Lane Hayes

Genre: Contemporary, Arts

Length: Novel (230 pages)

ISBN: 9781634768047

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 8th 2016)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts (Combined)

Reviewers: Aerin & Prime

Blurb: Rand O’Malley dreams of superstardom. He hopes to one day sing the blues like a rock god. Moving to New York City and hiring a new manager are steps to make his dreams a reality. But nothing moves as fast as Rand would like, and everyone has opinions, which include he keep certain pieces of himself quiet if he plans on making it in the Big Apple. Like his bisexuality.

Will Sanders is a gifted musician who dazzles Rand with his ability to coax gorgeous notes from an electric guitar one moment and play the piano like a professional the next. He’s a geek, but Rand isn’t concerned about Will’s pressed exterior clashing with his tattoos. His focus is music. Yet there’s something about Will that makes Rand think there’s much more to the quiet college student than he lets on. As Rand’s dreams begin to materialize, he’s forced to reconsider his priorities and find his own kind of truth. One that might include Will.

Product Link: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7250

Aerin’s Review: ♥♥♥♥♥ 4.5 Hearts

OMFG, did I love this book!!! I adored it, it was the perfect mix of kinky and sensual and hot! I admit I have a weakness when it comes to MM books… geeky guys who have a kinky, sexy side in the bedroom, musicians- especially rock stars (aspiring rock stars fall under this category as well) and rock-stars and geeks in the bedroom…together…having hot, kinky, passionate sex…where fishnet stockings might and might not be involved.

William is a music prodigy, a geek who dresses the part and who’s wicked talented when it comes to any types of instruments that happen to fall in his hands. He’s very shy, uncomfortable with himself and attention from others, and would like nothing more than to make music away from the public eye. But there’s more to William than meets the eye; his true self comes to play only when he’s transformed by make-up, wings, glitter, and heels (not to mention those incredibly wicked fishnet stockings.

Rand’s dream is to become a popular rock band along with his very good friends and band members, even if that means keeping his bisexuality a secret and not giving in to his desire for men. Rand swore off any type of relationship/hook-up with men, and it worked, until he met Will. William is everything Rand doesn’t want, but can’t help but need; Rand senses there’s more to Will than he lets on, and is determined to get to know the real Will because Rand can’t help but be fascinated by him.

Even though Rand and William couldn’t be more different from each other, they are a perfect match, and once Rand decides to give in to his attraction towards Will, he’s supportive, faithful, solid and respectful. I really liked that about Rand, because I’ve come to dread the typical rock-star whore-ish behavior that’s become a standard in most books, so to me, Rand was like a breath of fresh air.

There are quite a few things that come between Rand and William, like political dramas, jealousy, secrets and a manipulative bitch who I hated with a passion. Leah, the blogger and sometime publicist got on my nerves worse than any female character did in a very long time; there was nothing more I wanted than to reach into the book and slap her around. I wanted Rand to tell her to go to hell a lot sooner than he did, maybe even the first time she came on to him, but in the end I appreciated the he did.

This was an amazing book; there was music, friendship, drama, controlling parents, incredibly hot sex (only between Rand and Will, so don’t worry) and love. I loved the characters and how well they were written, and the beautiful HEA made me smile like a fool.

Great start to a series!

Prime’s Review: ♥♥♥♥ 3 1/2 Hearts

A Kind of Truth is the first book in Lane Hayes’ A Kind of Stories series. The beginning of the book is fantastic and pretty much flawless (beside things dragging along slowly a couple times).

This is the story of rock musician, Rand, who like many before him has dreams of fame and fortune. He and his band play gigs and are just doing what they need to in order to find fame – and that includes Rand having to hide the fact that he is bisexual. In need of a guitar teacher, he meets college student Will, who tutors guitar on the side to make extra money. Will’s in debt and will do whatever it takes to get rid of his student loans and whatnot. Quickly, it’s obvious that Will is keeping all kinds of secrets. It’s almost as if this book is essentially an unravelling of Will. The story is generally a very sweet romance, and starts off rather light hearted and at about the halfway point there is a major shift to a more serious frame of mind.

The entire story is told from Rand’s perspective. Sometimes it just felt, throughout the book, that Rand is just doing a lot of “telling” rather than guiding us through some action. In fact, once we get to the halfway point, the story was a little light on action. I think that Will’s complexity as a character was lost a bit because this book was entirely from Rand’s POV. However, Rand has a real fun, relaxed type of character and despite my misgivings it’s difficult not to like the guy – even relate to him – at least a little bit.

Will is a positively wonderful character and one that many of us, including myself, could relate to. Will is a fantastic guy and he has so many hidden layers. I just wished that there could have been more from him. Part of me finds that Will’s character is infinitely more interesting than Rand and I think part of that has to do with the fact that Will’s character developed far more than Rand’s. Yet at the same time I was supremely frustrated by Will wanting to go back into the closet so he could go back to his family, I’m not sure if it was just how this was written. As I said, he’s complex. With Rand what you see is what you get, so no odd little surprises.

I think this one will appeal to people who are into a good old melodrama – as well as those who like their up and coming rock gods to find love.

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