Hi guys! We have the brilliant Lynn Lorenz stopping by today with her upcoming re-release David’s Dilemma, we have a fantastic guest post and a great excerpt so check out the post and enjoy! <3 ~Pixie~
David’s Dilemma
Lynn Lorenz
When is it the wrong time to find Mr. Right? For David, that time is now. He’s caring for his homophobic father, who has Alzheimer’s, and his personal life is the last thing he has time to focus on. But when his father wanders off, David is forced to reach out to the police, in the person of Detective Travis Hart. Travis is gay, tired of the club life and twinks he can’t keep up with, and longs for a real relationship with a man who wants the same—maybe someone remarkable like David. In fact, David is exactly who he has been looking for, but Travis isn’t sure he can be the man David needs during this difficult time.
Because as David’s father sinks deeper into the disease that’s robbing him of his memories, David really needs a friend, not a lover. Though Travis is determined to support David in whatever way he can, David’s decision could lead both men into a situation with no possibility of a happy resolution.
First Edition published by Amber Quill Press, 2009.
Lynn Lorenz!
Hi and thanks to the folks at MM Good Book Reviews for letting me talk about my release, David’s Dilemma. And I’d like to thank the folks at Dreamspinner Press for taking on me and my homeless books. They’re giving David a second chance, and I’m so grateful.
I wrote this book in 2008, when I first realized my father was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. When I told my then-publisher I was writing a gay romance centered around a man caring for his father who had Alzheimer’s, they were skeptical.
I don’t blame them. It’s a horrible disease, and I can attest to that first hand. How can that be romantic?
But I started thinking…when is it the wrong time to meet Mr. Right?
And I knew it had to be a gay man struggling with his homophobic in midst of Alzheimer’s disease.
See, the symptoms, early on, come and go. Sometimes, you just think, it’s old age. Getting forgetful. At a loss for words. Then you start hearing the same limited conversation, repeated, sometimes in the same week, or day or even hours. It’s insidious, as it creeps along, eating away a person’s memories or leaving them locked in a time and place where reality isn’t current.
For my dad, it had been creeping up. I didn’t notice it because we only see each other a few times a year. He lived in New Orleans, and I lived in Katy, Tx. But we talked on the phone at least once a month. Not enough for me to notice any repetition of stories or inconsistencies. His long-time girlfriend/wife (common law in Louisiana) never mentioned anything to me, if she saw it.
Maybe being there every day and just taking the little changes as part of the person’s aging process is normal. How it overtakes everyone involved like slow moving sludge.
So, being a romance writer, I thought, how do you meet someone when you’re caring for this person? You can’t leave them alone for long, if at all. You begin to fear they’ll do something dangerous, like leave the stove on or take a walk and get lost. And many sufferers become angry, scared, cantankerous, or just flat out paranoid.
And that’s where we meet David. He returns home from work and his father is gone. Missing. David searches the house, the neighborhood, driving around looking for his dad, but nothing. He’s just gone. So David does the only thing left to do – he goes to the police to report his father missing.
And that’s where he meets Mr. Right.
What David needs most isn’t a lover. He needs a friend. He’s cut off from others, due to his caretaking. Bars? No way. David is in his early 40’s and the bar scene isn’t his style. He needs someone he can talk to about his father, the frustrations of caring for a man who hates who and what David is, who is becoming a person David doesn’t know anymore.
And what about Mr. Right? How is he going to deal with this situation? He knows he wants David, knows what he’s missing in his life and David looks like he could be it. But David needs a friend and if he really cares for David, Mr. Right might have to be Mr. Strong Shoulder.
I love writing about situations, taken from real life, and throwing my heroes into the frying pan. These aren’t necessarily situations only gay men find themselves in. Especially this disease. It hits a lot of people and it’s not easy to deal with. And boy, are David and Travis (Mr. Right) dancing in the heat of the fire.
There’s only one thing standing between them – David’s father.
I hope you’ll enjoy this book. It’s a bit different, but if you’ve ever read one of my books, you’ll know, I guarantee a happy ending. But I also guarantee my guys will have to move heaven and earth to reach it.
A shout-out to my editors at Dreamspinner and to my cover artist, AngstyG for the gorgeous cover. It was lovely working with everyone there.
And thanks, again, to MM Good Book Reviews!
Excerpt
Travis let a few days go by before he pulled out David’s card and looked at it. His knee bounced as he tapped the card on his metal desk, spinning it over and over.
No time like the present.
Better call before the guy forgot who Travis Hart was or how they met.
Maybe he should do this from his apartment. More private. Yeah, that would work. Travis put the card back in his wallet and cleared off his desk. His shift was over, and it was time to clear out before the phone rang and he caught another case.
Travis headed home. The bar on the corner flashed its lights at him, beckoning. If he wanted liquid courage, he had it at home—a fine blended malt whiskey, a birthday gift from his lieutenant this year.
Besides, what would David think if he called him from a bar?
He neared the bar. Sure, inside he might find something else, maybe even someone else. He’d been down that road a few too many times. The neon lights from the bar’s sign blinked, but he shook his head as the idea of someone who wasn’t David didn’t sit right with him. Not tonight. Tonight, Travis knew what he wanted. Who he wanted.
Travis passed the bar, drove down the avenue, and turned at his street. He pulled into the gated complex, parked, and then trotted up the steps to his second-floor apartment. His heart beat faster, either from the jog up the stairs or the idea of calling David. After going in, he locked the door, set the alarm, and then stripped off his jacket and shoulder holster, hanging them off the back of a chair.
Travis poured a shot of whiskey. He threw back the liquor and put down the glass. Fortified, he pulled out the card and his cell phone, then poured another drink and sat on the couch.
Took a deep breath.
Punched in the numbers.
It rang.
Two rings.
Four rings.
“Hello.”
“David? Is that you? It’s Travis.” Damn. His throat had gone dry.
“Detective Hart?” Might there have been a smile with that greeting? Travis hoped so.
“Just call me Travis, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Is this a bad time? Is it too late? I just got home. I can call back another time, if you want. I can—”
“It’s fine. Relax. Really.” David chuckled and warmth spread through Travis.
Travis exhaled. “I wanted to call sooner, but I wasn’t sure if it would be too soon. I never know about these things. How much time to let go by. What to say.” Christ, he was babbling like some junior high schoolkid calling his first girl.
“I know. I hate all those pseudo-rules. Who makes them up, huh?”
They laughed.
“I have no idea.” Travis shook his head. “But if it’s a rule, I’m liable to break it.”
“Are you? Good to know.”
“So. How’s your week been? No more problems?” Travis took a sip of his whiskey, enjoying the way it seared his throat, sending warmth radiating through his body, relaxing him.
“Not bad. I’m hanging in there.”
“Have you decided what to do about your dad?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking about getting a caregiver. To cook meals, maybe, and watch Dad.”
“Won’t that be expensive?”
“Well, with Dad’s social security, I think I can swing it. I’m going to look for someone through his church, St. Mary’s. You know it?”
“Sure. Down where Heights makes that dogleg? They have people who do that?”
“No, but they have some outreach programs for elders. I called, and I’m going to meet with them in a few days.”
“That’s good. Now, how are you doing?”
“Me? I’m fine.”
Travis knew what “fine” meant. He used it all the time when people asked him the same thing. It meant, life was complicated and no one wants to hear about it.
Travis hadn’t had a real friend in ages, not counting a few of his fellow detectives, but they never talked about anything deep. David made Travis want to talk deep, to share.
“Right. Come on, man. Spill it. I said I’d listen. So talk.”
David sighed. “And I appreciate that. I haven’t had someone to talk to, a friend, for a long time.”
“Now you do.” Travis paused. “If you want it.”
“I want it,” David whispered. “I need it.” He exhaled. “I’m just going to warn you. If I get too needy, if it’s too much, I won’t be upset if you can’t deal with it.”
“I can deal.” Why did David’s voice make Travis’s chest hurt?
“Don’t make any promises you can’t keep, Travis.”
“I intend on keeping them.”
“I know you mean to, really. But as time passes….”
“Look. I’ll let you know if it starts to get to be too much, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And you let me know when you want to take this to another level.”
There was silence on the other end.
“I need a friend more than I need a lover, Travis.”
“Right now. Yes, I know that. But later. If you find that you want more, I want you to let me be the one.”
More silence.
“Am I asking too much, too soon?”
“No. Not at all.” David cleared his throat. “I’d like that. I’d like for this to develop into something good, you know.”
“I know. I want it too. Been wanting something more for a while.”
“I haven’t been with anyone in almost a year. You?”
“Caught my boyfriend cheating on me two months ago. Broke it off.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
“He was a slut. I was an old fool.” Travis gave a short laugh and rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t talked about Billy to anyone or told anyone about Billy’s cheating.
“He’s younger?”
“Yeah. Fifteen years.”
David whistled. “Bet the sex was hot.”
“You have no idea.” Travis rolled his eyes.
“He’s gone, right? Out of the picture for good?”
“Jealous?”
“Yeah. I am. Don’t know why, but I am. Shit. I shouldn’t have told you that. I shouldn’t care. Not so soon.”
“He’s gone. You have nothing to worry about, baby.”
More silence. He’d fucked up, using baby on David, but it had just slipped out.
“You can call me baby, Travis. I kind of like it.”
Travis laughed. “Good. I kind of liked saying it. Felt natural.”
“Sounded good.”
For a moment, they were both quiet. It was comfortable, this thing between him and David, and he liked it. Liked it a lot.
About Lynn
Lynn Lorenz is an award-winning and bestselling author who grew up in New Orleans but currently lives in Texas, where she’s a fan of all things Texan, like Longhorns, big hair, and cowboys in tight jeans. She’s never met a comma she didn’t like, and enjoys editing and brainstorming with other writers. Lynn spends most of her time writing about hot sex with even hotter heroes, plot twists, werewolves, and medieval swashbucklers. She’s currently at work on her latest book, making herself giggle and blush, and avoiding all the housework.
