Hi guys, we have Sue Brown popping in today with the tour for her new release Alpha Barman, we have a brilliant guest post where Sue chats about her cover, we have a great excerpt, a fantastic giveaway and Lisa’s review, so check out the post and click that giveaway link! <3 ~Pixie~

Alpha Barman

Sue Brown

Jake Tyler walked out of Special Ops two years ago, a devastated, broken man after he discovered his sister brutally murdered by her husband, Riley. Since then he’s found a kind of peace running a rural bar. The last thing Jake Tyler expects is his former team to turn up with grim news. Jake’s ex-brother-in-law has escaped from prison and is heading Jake’s way. The team is here to protect Jake, whether he likes it or not – a decision reluctantly shared by their leader, Jake’s ex-lover Mitch Mitchelson.

Mitch is angry and hurting. The man he trusted – the man he adored more than anything – abandoned both his team and Mitch. Jake never gave Mitch a chance to help or come to terms with his desertion. Regardless of mission protocols, Mitch isn’t about to open his heart again to that kind of pain.

But the strong attraction between them can’t be denied. How are they ever going to work together when Mitch still resents Jake’s disappearance, and to Jake, the team represents everything that destroyed him in the first place? And meantime they wait for Riley to find them… and to settle the threat once and for all.

Sue Brown!

Visualisation 

I work in the art department of a publisher. An administrator, not an artist. It grieves me to say I haven’t got an artistic bone in my body. One of the biggest jokes I have with my artists it that I can guarantee whichever cover I like best of the drafts offered, the author will pick another one. I also don’t have much of an eye for what sells. Fortunately, no one is relying on me. The publisher, my boss and the artists have a much better understanding on what is eye-catching in a very competitive market. 

For my own covers I tend to pick something simple; a couple or a single man. I’m no good at designing the perfect cover with this bit here, and that bit there. When it comes to self-publishing covers I rely on talented artists like Garrett Leigh, Meredith Russell and Alex Corza to help me. 

I knew I wanted Garrett for this cover. She has a simple, yet really strong style that was perfect for this story and fortunately she said yes. I picked out a number of dudes and she gave me this cover. Now, as I’ve said elsewhere, most of my men are middle-class, somewhere in the Home Counties English men. They wear shirts and ties, not T-shirts and rippling muscles. My first thought was find me another man! I found one and she gave me another draft with a comment that rippling muscle dude worked better. She was right. Number 2 man was nice, more my style, but he didn’t fit at all. 

This is where two years of working in the art department definitely helped. I listened to my artist and went back to muscles. He is my Alpha Barman. This is my cover.

Excerpt!

Jake shook his head. He didn’t want to think about Riley like that. He’d murdered his sister. That’s all he needed to remember. His beautiful, precious baby sister. “Even if he does come here I can take care of myself,” he said.

Mitch huffed impatiently, a sure sign he was still angry. “We’re not having this argument again, are we? Lukas told the unit to protect you and that’s what we’re doing.”

“Why you? Why this unit?” Jake’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“Because he thinks you’re still one of us.” Mitch shrugged. “And so do they.” He made a stabbing gesture with his finger toward the door.

“And you?”

“You stopped being one of us the second you walked away,” Mitch said, the sneer still plastered to his face, but the hurt in his eyes told a different tale. You walked away from me.

At least Jake knew where he stood now. Mitch didn’t want anything to do with him. Jake bit back the disappointment in his gut as he stood. It was for the best. He was the one who’d left without a word. “Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not running away. You want to catch the fucker. You do it here.”

“But—”

“He’s not driving me out of my home.” 

Mitch shook his head. “You’re not safe here. If we take you to a safe house until we catch him…. J.T., be reasonable.”

Jake got into Mitch’s space, relishing the anger and uncertainty he saw on his face. Oh yeah, he’d missed this; missed the sparks between them that had flown every day as they lived, loved, worked and fucked together. “I am staying here in my bar. End of. And it’s Jake.”

His expression dark and stormy, Mitch stared down at him, so close his muscled chest brushed Jake’s. Jake watched the tic jump under Mitch’s left eye, a sure sign he was angry. “You know the risks. Why are you being so damn stupid?”

“He stole everything from me,” Jake said. “He’s not having my bar, too.”

The tic jumped uncontrollably for a few seconds. “He didn’t steal me… us. You were the one who threw that away.”

About Sue

Sue Brown is owned by her dog and two children. When she isn’t following their orders, she can be found plotting at her laptop. In fact she hides so she can plot and has gotten expert at ignoring the orders.

Sue discovered M/M erotica at the time she woke up to find two men kissing on her favorite television series. The series was boring; the kissing was not. She may be late to the party, but she’s made up for it since, writing fan fiction until she was brave enough to venture out into the world of original fiction.

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Giveaway!

Win a $15 Amazon or ARe Giftcard! 

Win an ebook from Sue Brown’s Backlist!

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Review

Title: Alpha Barman

Series: J.T.’s Bar  #1

Author: Sue Brown

Genre: Contemporary 

Length: Novella (140 Pages)

Publisher: Sue Brown’s Stories (November 24, 2016)

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Blurb: Jake Tyler walked out of Covert Ops two years ago, a devastated, broken man after he discovered his sister brutally murdered by her husband, Riley. Since then he’s found a kind of peace running a rural bar. The last thing Jake Tyler expects is his former team to turn up with grim news. Jake’s ex-brother-in-law has escaped from prison and is heading Jake’s way. The team is here to protect Jake, whether he likes it or not – a decision reluctantly shared by their leader, Jake’s ex-lover Mitch Mitchelson.

Mitch is angry and hurting. The man he trusted – the man he adored more than anything – abandoned both his team and Mitch. Jake never gave Mitch a chance to help or come to terms with his desertion. Regardless of mission protocols, Mitch isn’t about to open his heart again to that kind of pain.

But the strong attraction between them can’t be denied. How are they ever going to work together when Mitch still resents Jake’s disappearance, and to Jake, the team represents everything that destroyed him in the first place? And meantime they wait for Riley to find them… and to settle the threat once and for all. 

ISBN: 978-1-4874-0968-5

Product Link: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Reviewer: Lisa

Review:  When I was first given this story, I wasn’t too sure if I was going to like it or not.  There are some minor problems that I can see in the story, but other than that it was an enjoyable read.  I always did love a man who carried a gun and who could kill when needed.  This book gave me that.

Jake was a damn good soldier until his best friend murdered his sister.  The problem was he just couldn’t get over losing them both.  He left and opened a bar, to live his life grieving.  He left the man he loved behind as well.  However Riley swore that he did not kill his wife, Jake’s sister.  Now he has escaped from prison and is heading Jakes way.   So when the team walks into the bar, let’s just say things are not getting any easier.

Mitch is indeed angry at Jake, but his heart is still beating for the man he loves.  He believes Riley is innocent, but he will protect Jake with everything in him.  There are so many twists to this story that I enjoyed it.  

There were a few issues with this story.  It felt like it wasn’t finished and I am not talking about the ending.  There were certain parts of the story that fell flat and thrown in there for word count.  I felt bad for Riley, but there was not a lot of him in there yet he was the one that was considered dangerous.  What really caught my eye, was these guys are some big badasses, yet all they did was sit at the bar waiting.  There was no real action but a small part.  The blurb gave me a promise, but the story fell flat.  It had great potential and I did enjoy reading it.  I can’t wait to see what the next book will be like.