Hi guys! We have James Brock visiting today with the tour for his new release Dog Tagged, we have a brilliant guest post from James, a great excerpt, an awesome $20 Amazon GC giveaway, and my review so check out the post and enter the giveaway! ❤️ ~Pixie~
Dog Tagged
James Brock
Drill Sergeant Clay Norris has his military life running right on schedule. Career focused he appreciates that he joined up when his sexuality is at least acknowledged under Don’t Ask, Don’t tell, even if he doesn’t get to act on his urges as much as he likes.
In formation with his new trainee group he locks eyes with Chevrolet Banks and his life, their lives, are changed forever.
Dog Tagged is an insta love military romance based on real life incidents.
James Brock!
Gays and Lesbians are protected under the Uniform code of Military Justice.
We have the right to love who we love.
Now.
In the not so distant past we did not, in fact for the entire two hundred plus years since the founding of the US Military anyone thought to be GLBT were not allowed to be part of the service. Witch hunts ferreted gay service personnel out, anyone even going into a gay bar were thrown out no matter how perfect their service record.
DogTagged is a military love story set during the time when the military services were struggling with how they could continue with this discrimination and get away with it. For decades gay and lesbian service members had served proudly with honors and commendations only to be tossed out as security risks.
Until it was proven over and over that a threat like that simply did not exist.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell became the bridge, bringing the rigid world of the military slowly in the present. Service members could no longer be asked if they were gay or lesbian while at the same time they were asked not to tell, either. Not to admit who they really were, who they really loved, while living and working and often fighting under the same exact circumstances as our heterosexual brothers and sisters, who could openly receive letters from and give pubic hugs and kisses to their husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends.
Rights denied those who were gay and lesbian, men and women who had volunteered just like the heterosexuals they served with but did not have equal rights with.
DogTagged is the story of Drill Instructor Clay Norris who happily accepts who he is as a gay man, even if he has resolved to keep his sex life on hold until completing his terms of military service. Even if that means until he retires.
Clay does not question DADT as he has put that part of his life on hold, until he meets Chevrolet Banks, a magnetic trainee who brings laughter to the Company and without warning fills the young Sergeant’s heart in a way he never expected.
The pair are drawn together and ripped apart in this compelling love story, with Clay never giving up hope that someday the pair will be able to make a life together, happily and openly, despite the military contract of Don’t Ask, Don’t tell which they have each sworn to.
Excerpt!
What also became clear to me in my short time with the fun, cute guy was that I had fallen so hard for Private Chevy Banks that I couldn’t get him out of my head even standing next to this walking hard-on.
I did let the hot salesman give me a quick kiss on the cheek in the changing room and tried to forget the warmth of his lips as I headed out to the clubs and got some dance and further drink on, always bearing in mind that I was an officer now and had some decorum to maintain.
Okay, all that means is that I got pretty wasted.
And that I danced with all comers. I was quickly stripped out of that cute little shirt salesman Evan had put me in, my training ripped body giving me pick of the litter. Not last call litter, not still breathing and leftover litter. Porn star guys (REAL porn star guys) were fighting over me, actual pushing and shoving, it was quite the scene, the knot of men who had surrounded this former Drill Instructor.
At some point I looked up to see the smiling face of Evan the clerk from the clothing store next to me, an arm thrown protectively thrown around my shoulder. His sweet smile was the brightest of the lot, I latched onto him like an octopus gripping a clam.
I have no idea how long the revelry went on or how I got back to the hotel.
Let alone what might have happened there.
The next morning I woke not feeling well at all. Slick with sweat, sick to my stomach I rolled my head on the pillow slowly, not knowing what kind of guy I was going to find next to me. Thankfully the pillow was empty, as was the bed, although the blankets were mussed enough to let me know someone had recently nested there. Carefully lifting myself I checked the floor and was relieved to see no other bodies in the room.
But at that moment the bathroom door opened and a figure came out.
Evan, blond and sunny, cute as the night before in tattered jean and a faded green t shirt with a cracked and worn logo on it stepped into the darkened room.
“Hey buster, didn’t think you’d be up for a while,” he said with a giggle in his voice.
Flopping down onto the chair across the room he slipped his feet into athletic shoes and laced them. “Or should I be calling you Lieutenant Buster?” he added with a nod toward my dress uniform hanging neatly in the closet.
“Just call me a time machine man, I wanna go back about twelve hours and start over again.” I sighed from the bed. “What the fuck happened….”
“What didn’t happen is the better question,” Even said evenly. “you were wined and dined, if you count the bag of Dorito’s you were given to strap on like a feed bag dining, given drinks and very nearly given drugs and taken to other clubs and there was talk of taking you to that skeezy bath house connected to the dance club, but you wouldn’t go anywhere without me once I had been spotted. You seemed to be quite taken with modest little moi and since I refused to go to that bathhouse everyone was trying to get you to go to I finally got you back here where there were more drinks and salty snacks then there was some crying….” he trailed off. “I’ve ordered room service for you; hope you don’t mind.”
“Wait. Wait, wait.” I said using a nearly Drill Sergeant size voice as the handsome young man stood, “I need the whole story.”
About that time there was a knock at the door; Evan let room service in, signing the check. “You are a good tipper, just so you know,” he grinned while pushing the tray of food over toward me on the bed then pouring coffee. He motioned for me to eat then sat back down. “I was going out anyway so when I closed up I came over to the club and there you were, gaily lit as a Christmas tree and surrounded by faeries more headstrong and stubborn than Tinkerbell all out to get a piece of the hottest man in the city. Not the bar, the city. And I’m not just saying that because I am the one who ended up sleeping with you.”
I guess I looked up at him like a deer in head lights.
“Stop, don’t flatter me. I’ve got it going on but I’m not ripped like you. Word was out that there was a military hottie on the hoof in the club and every muscle queen and gym bunny in town showed up to audition as your hook-up for the night. I think guys were flying in from LA and San Francisco trying to get to you,” the blond smiled.
“So you brought me back here and we….” I said, mouth full of egg. The food was going down smoother than I expected it would.
“I didn’t get in the way of your fun too much, I just kept an eye on you. Until they started to undress you and began offering you pills, powders and potions.”
I felt myself shudder and freeze.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t let them. I just brought you back here, where you insisted on another drink or ten. Then you got weepy and I held you and let you talk about a car until you fell asleep. I dunno, everyone has a kink or two, but I’ve never heard anyone rhapsodize about a vehicle the way you went on and on about your Chevy last night.”
I was really embarrassed then.
I let a silence settle between us before taking a sip of scalding hot coffee and replying.
“Not a car, a guy,” I whispered.
“I fell off a turnip truck but that was a long time ago,” he smirked while reaching over and snagging a crisp piece of bacon off my plate and began chewing on it, “I figured as much.” Evan said with true kindness in his voice. “I had a brother in the Army and knew you were just blowing off some steam. Those wolves would have eaten you and I like to think someone would have looked after my brother the same way. Nothing happened between us.”
“That would have been the best part of the night it sounds like,” I managed, no longer interested in the food.
“You were a hot mess, but I am very glad you are alright. Now I’ve gotta go to work. If you are in town for a while here is my card.” With that Evan produced a business card with his name, number and e mail on it. “Use it at will.” he slipped the card on the breakfast tray then slid his arms around my body, giving me a very nice hug.
“Leaving tomorrow, but some other time without question.”
Stopping at the closet on his way out he reached in and touched the sleeve of my dress uniform.
“Are you going over?”
“Soon.”
There was a slight pause before he broke his eyes form the uniform.
“Be safe. E mail and let me know how you are. Promise?”
“Promise, and thanks. Is your brother back?” there was a pause before Evan answered Yes in such a quiet way that I knew the way his brother had come home.
“I’m sorry,” was all I had time to say before the cute blond turned and gave me a wan smile and slipped out of the room.
About James!
James Brock is an Amazon number one best selling author, with fifteen M/M romance novels published and two family autobiographies.
Once upon a time he sold comedy to Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller, was published in every gay men’s magazine on the market (when there was a market, those dinosaurs were killed off by DVD, which were in turn eaten by streaming and on demand…), the Seattle Gay News and Seattle Standard and essays with the late great Alyson Publications.
James lives in Seattle.
Giveaway!
Win a $20 Amazon GC!
Review
Title: Dog Tagged
Author: James Brock
Genre: Military Romance
Length: Novella (147pgs)
ISBN: 9780463073025
Publisher: James Brock (13th August 2019)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖 5 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Drill Sergeant Clay Norris has his military life running right on schedule. Career focused he appreciates that he joined up when his sexuality is at least acknowledged under Don’t Ask, Don’t tell, even if he doesn’t get to act on his urges as much as he likes.
In formation with his new trainee group he locks eyes with Chevrolet Banks and his life, their lives, are changed forever.
Dog Tagged is an insta love military romance based on real life incidents.
Purchase Link: Amazon US | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo | iTunes
Review: Clay has his world turned upside down when he sets eyes on Chevy, for the first time he’s met someone who consumes his thoughts but they are both in the Army during the time of DADT and Clay has some hard choices to make when he is confronted by his commanding officer.
I loved this story, absolutely loved it. James Brock has written a realistic hard story about life in a military under DADT, it’s not sugar-coated and it’s not a gentle romance, it’s a story written with truth in every line.
The story is all from Clay’s POV, his thoughts, his feelings and his wants. We don’t really get a chance to know Chevy, only what Clay discovers about Chevy. Both characters are wonderful though and Evan, who becomes Clay’s best friend, is a fantastic character.
There is a hell of a lot of military detail in this story which I just adored, you get fully immersed in the life of Clay because of this and understand the pressure that these guys are under to keep their feelings to themselves. And while you do wish that Clay could have fought against his commanding officers actions you know that if he did then the story would have finished just as it was getting started.
For the length of this book there is a lot that goes on, homophobia, near death experiences, break ups, going wild on the town, capture, rescue, and make ups. I also want to say a thank you to James Brock for not having his MC’s be unrealistic heroic Marines or Special Forces, which many military stories focus on, as this gives us a chance to get a realistic view of normal grunts moving up the ranks.
Readers if you are looking for a sweet soft military romance then this isn’t for you because this story might have insta love but it isn’t an easy ride, and there are other men being sexed up by Clay (but no cheating).
I recommend this to those who love military stories which are immersed in military life, who love stories of hope, great friendships and an eventual happy endings.
