Crashing Waves by C.J. Baty Blog Tour, Excerpt, Review & Giveaway!

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Hi peeps, we have C.J. Baty popping in today with her newest release Crashing Waves, we have a great excerpt, a brilliant giveaway and Lisa’s review, so check out the post and click that giveaway link <3 ~Pixie~

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Crashing Waves

(The Warfield Hotel Mysteries 02)
by

C.J. Baty

Justin Warfield ran away to Italy to put the events of last summer and a certain dark-haired private eye behind him, to no avail. If anything, he can’t help but rehash what happened over and over. When he finally returns to South Carolina, the hotel he runs with his brother has suffered a series of incidents that are starting to look less accidental after a death threat is received.

Not satisfied that Moses Lee and his local police will find the culprit, Peter Warfield calls in the services of his good friend Marcus Drummond to help. Marcus is torn. He wants to help his friend, but he also knows that if Justin has moved on after their failed flirtation last summer, he will be devastated.

Tensions mount as danger seems to follow them at every turn, stalking them as they get closer to solving the mystery of who is behind the sabotage of the hotel.

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Excerpt

JUSTIN WARFIELD WRAPPED the blanket tighter around his body. Though the ocean didn’t quite reach the dune where he sat this early in the morning, the air was chilly and damp. It was mid-October, and the beach was deserted. Even the locals didn’t spend much time here at this time of the year. Waves crashed and pummeled the tiny shells and rocks into submission along the shoreline. Seaweed and driftwood littered the sandy beach going north and south as far as the eye could see.

The sky was overcast, gray. Dark clouds sure to bring a heavy rain storm later in the day matched Justin’s mood and his thoughts. Not for the first time, Justin realized this place—the ocean, the beach, the dunes—were a part of him. At any given time, he could come here and see his life played out in nature. He picked up a nearby stick and began to draw circles in the sand by his feet. His shoulder ached, a constant reminder of the events from the past summer. His thoughts drifted exactly where he knew they would. He didn’t want them to go there, but it was no use to try to stop them.

Marcus Drummond had been gone for three months, but Justin had been unable to get him out of his mind for a single day. If he wasn’t in his thoughts, then he dreamed of him. Going to Italy for a much-needed vacation should have helped, but if he was honest with himself, he’d been hiding. He had run away after being forced to come out publicly and the fear of what an open relationship with Marcus meant. Of course, now that he was home, he thought of Marcus even more.

It was beginning to be ridiculous. After all, he’d pushed the man out of his life, driven him away. Marcus had done exactly what Justin had wanted him to do. He’d left Beaufort and moved on. At least that was what Justin told everyone he wanted. The truth was a lot more complicated. He was afraid. Afraid of failing Marcus on every level. As foolish as everyone thought he was, suddenly being thrust from the safety of his locked-tight closet after so many years was not an easy thing for Justin. His younger brother, Peter, had hounded him for weeks to contact Marcus, to go after him, but had finally dropped it after he saw just how much pain it caused Justin to keep bringing up his best friend now that he was gone.

He didn’t want to think about Marcus. It only added to the maelstrom of conflict that he was still riding. Justin’s emotions ran the gambit on a daily basis. One minute, sure of who he was and what he wanted. The next moment he would plunge into despair and sadness so deep he physically ached from it. When he’d returned from Europe two months ago, he moved out of the hotel into the family home and that had helped. Surrounded by the loving support of the Manor’s caretakers, Michaels and Winnie had helped even more. They were more like parents than his actual parents had ever been. The sweet couple was helping him to restore the Manor. They never asked about his personal affairs or lack thereof. The only thing they wanted to do was make him feel comfortable and take care of his needs. He’d been able to work through his own messed up thoughts as he worked to restore the Warfield Manor to its glory days. More importantly, the Manor had no memories of the brief time he and Marcus had shared together. The hotel was filled with them.

The cell phone inside Justin’s pocket vibrated and pulled him away from his thoughts. One look at the incoming text message had him on his feet.

Come to the bar. Hurry!

Peter needed him.

He made his way back across the dunes to the flat sandy field sparsely covered in grass between the beach and the Warfield Hotel. He entered through the door on the left side of the back veranda and quickly made his way up the hall to enter the bar from the back.

“There’s too much of a coincidence. All of these accidents happening within the last few months. Peter, someone is sabotaging the hotel. It’s the only explanation. I’ll be right back.”

Robert Wyler sounded agitated, so Justin quickened his pace to see what had happened now, only to find Robert had left the bar through the main doorway and was heading down the hall toward the offices. As he took another step into the room, broken glass crackled under his shoes and wetness seeped into the canvas.

“What the hell?”

Peter was standing in front of the back wall of the bar but swiveled around at the sound of Justin’s voice. As he moved, Justin caught sight of red paint scrawled across the glass mirror.

Get out before it all comes falling down around you and someone dies.

Shivering, Justin briefly wondered if this had anything to do with Caroline and the other deaths last summer. It didn’t seem likely. Caroline was dead now, and even though he didn’t like to think it true, his wife had admitted to killing his former lovers. This must be something entirely different. He just couldn’t think of who would want to do this.

“Peter,” Justin said as he clasped his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I don’t know who is doing this, or why, but now that I’m back, we’ll figure this out together.”

“Why would anyone want to destroy the Warfield? It just doesn’t make any sense. Who could hate us this much?”

Justin had hardly ever seen his younger brother this troubled. He was usually the happy go lucky one of the two of them. It hurt to think that he had somehow let his brother down . . . again, by not being here when Peter had needed him.

“I don’t know, but I do know we’re going to get to the bottom of this,” Justin assured Peter.

Their conversation quickly came to a halt when a familiar voice caught both brothers off guard.

“Goddamn, can’t you Warfield boys stay out of trouble for more than a day or two,” Chief Moses Lee said, clearly not expecting an answer.

“Who the hell called you?” Justin asked as he glared at the big black man. This was the last person on earth he wanted to see in his hotel again.

“I called him, Justin. We all know someone is causing this shit, and he needs to do something about it,” Robert answered, joining the group gathered in the bar.

Robert looked toward Justin. A subtle grin spread across his face. Justin felt his cheeks flush, and he turned away quickly to face Chief Lee.

Moses Lee took out a notebook and walked around the room. His boots made squishy sounds as they tramped across the damp carpet. He stopped in front of the large plate glass mirror behind the bar. He made a few more marks in his notebook then closed it.

“I’ve got a forensic crew on the way, though I doubt we’ll find any prints. Don’t start your clean up until they’ve finished. I’ll have them take several shots of the message,” he said as he pointed his notebook at the mirror. “Seems like you’ve made yourselves an enemy.” He smiled and added, “Two of my deputies will be taking your statements and talking to a couple of the guests. I’ve got to see to another matter. See you boys later.” Then he left as quickly as he had appeared.

“I get the feeling that he isn’t taking these accidents seriously,” Robert growled as the police chief exited the building. “Why send deputies to question us when he’s right here?”

“What can we do about it? He is the Chief of Police,” Peter replied.

Justin shrugged and turned to survey the mess again.

“There’s going to be a lot of cleanup work to do. Let me know as soon as the deputies and forensic team get here. I’ll call and rent some equipment to help clean up this mess. Then I’ll call Joe and have him and Alexander go by Duke’s Hardware to pick it up. I’ll be in the office if you need me.”

Two hours later, all three of them had given their statements to the deputies and the forensic team had finished and gone. Justin had finally reached Joe, and he was on his way to pick up the needed equipment. Justin needed Peter or Robert to take a complete inventory of the stock that was destroyed, and he’d forgotten to mention it earlier. He left his office and headed back to the lounge. He hadn’t meant to overhear their conversation, but Peter’s words stopped him as he rounded the corner.

“So how have the dates been going?” Peter asked between the sounds of glass shattering in a trashcan.

“Dates?” Another bottle landed in the trashcan.

“Dinner dates. You know those couple of times you and Justin . . .” Peter trailed off.

“I wouldn’t exactly call them dates. We’ve shared a meal twice and one of them was lunch in the hotel. It’s pretty clear Justin isn’t ready for any kind of relationship, other than friendship at this point.” Robert’s voice quieted before he added, “I’m not going to push him, Peter.”

“Have you told him how you feel,” Peter asked between more glass shattering.

“No, and I don’t plan on it, so can we just let it go?”

Neither man said another word. Only the sounds of their continued clean up of the bar could be heard. Justin swallowed the breath he’d been holding and slipped down the corridor to the manager’s office and closed the door quietly behind him.

Sitting at the large oak desk in the middle of the room, Justin studied the view from the office window. Robert’s words came floating back. Was he ready to move on? Was he ready to become involved openly with another man? An image of Marcus, his hair dripping with water from a rain shower they’d been caught in, formed before his eyes. His heart ached for what never had a chance to begin between them.

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About C.J.

C.J. Baty lives in southwest Ohio. Her heart, however, lives in the mountains of Tennessee where she hopes to retire some day. The mountains have always provided her with inspiration and a soothing balm to the stresses of everyday life.

The dream of writing her own stories started in high school but was left on the back burner of life until her son introduced her to fan fiction and encouraged her to give it a try. She found that her passion for telling a story was still there and writing them down to share with others was much more thrilling than she had ever expected.

She has a loving and supportive family who don’t mind fixing their own meals when she is in the middle of a story, and a network of friends who have encouraged and cheered her on in her quest of being an author.

One thing she has learned from life and she is often heard to say is: “You are never too old to follow your dream!”

 C.J. BATY can be found at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

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Giveaway!

Win a $10 Amazon Giftcard & Ebook of Drifting Sands!

(Just click the link below)

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(Ends 26th October 2016)

Review

c-j-baty-crashing-waves-cover-mTitle: Crashing Waves

Series: The Warfield Hotel Mysteries #2

Author: C.J. Baty

Genre: Gay Romance, Mystery

Length: Novel (242pgs)

Publisher: Bottom Drawer Publications (September 18, 2016)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts

Blurb: Justin Warfield ran away to Italy to put the events of last summer and a certain dark-haired private eye behind him, to no avail. If anything, he can’t help but rehash what happened over and over. When he finally returns to South Carolina, the hotel he runs with his brother has suffered a series of incidents that are starting to look less accidental after a death threat is received.

Not satisfied that Moses Lee and his local police will find the culprit, Peter Warfield calls in the services of his good friend Marcus Drummond to help. Marcus is torn. He wants to help his friend, but he also knows that if Justin has moved on after their failed flirtation last summer, he will be devastated.

Tensions mount as danger seems to follow them at every turn, stalking them as they get closer to solving the mystery of who is behind the sabotage of the hotel.

ISBN: 978-1-92529-630-3 

Product Link: Amazon US Amazon UK | AllRomance | Smashwords | KOBO | B&N

Reviewer: Lisa

Review: I am afraid that I read this one first and let me tell you that as soon as I finished this one, I went back and read the first book. C.J. Baty is a new author for me and I can tell you that if these series is anything to go by, that I will become a regular buyer of these books. Damn they were fascinating and downright amazing to read. Although I hate to say that one automatically knows who the killer is, and well I figured out the reason before I got the middle of the story. However it did not take away from the story at all.

Justin’s wife was murdered in the first book and we learned just how evil she was. She had murdered Justin’s lovers until the sheriff killed her. However the one man he truly loved he had sent away when he was forced by his father to marry the bitch. He missed him so very much. It was not until the hotel was being involved in some mysterious trouble. His little brother decided to call Marcus to help. Marcus was the one man he loved.

Marcus had been hurt when Justin sent him away but now there was a chance to start fresh. But first they had to find out who was behind the damage and who killed Joe. A woman and a man separated, a child given away, a cruel man whose hand was in it all and love at the end. It would seem danger was all around them, and Marcus was going to keep Justin safe.

Now Justin is the mystery to me. You get to know a bit about Marcus but Justin not so much, even though he is the main guy in this story. The connection between these two you hear about and can see, but you don’t really get the whole feeling about them which is a bit disconcerting. However it also doesn’t take away from the story itself. 

The mystery was easy to figure out, but the way this author went about it was pretty entertaining to me. I enjoyed reading it so much that I can see myself reading it more than once. I actually liked this one better then the first one, but then again I am a sucker for love. I am glad to see the guys together.

I had a fun time reading this and would recommend it to all. I can’t wait to see if there is going to be another story soon.

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Check out the other blogs on the blog tour!

October 17 – BooksLaidBareBoys
October 18 – My Fiction Nook
October 24 – Bayou Book Junkie
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