Hi guys, we have R.J. Scott popping in today with the tour for her new re-releases The Fireman & the Cop, The Teacher & the Soldier and The Carpenter and the Actor, we have excerpts from each book, a brilliant giveaway and my reviews, so check out the post and click that giveaway link! <3 ~Pixie~
The Fireman and the Cop
R.J. Scott
Rescuing cop Finn Ryan from a burning precinct was easy; it’s keeping him alive Max Harrison finds difficult.
Firefighter, Max Harrison, is running from the city and finds peace in the sleepy Smoky Mountains town of Ellery. Finn Ryan is one of only three cops in Ellery, and someone is out to hurt him. Can Max find the arsonist, and keep Finn alive?
The Teacher and the Soldier
How can Daniel convince the man he loves, to stay with him in Ellery?
Luke Fitzgerald left Ellery Mountain for college and vowed never to return, but with his father murdered, he has no choice but to return. Luke only goes home to sell off his share of the Ellery Mountain Cabins, but everything changes when he meets the son of the other owner.
Daniel Skylar is an ex-soldier who lives every day to the limit and sees a future in Luke. It doesn’t matter what Daniel says, or how much he needs Luke; Luke isn’t staying once everything is sold off. Surely Daniel can understand that?
The Carpenter and the Actor
Jason McInnery, hounded by the paparazzi after his brother’s death, runs to the one place where he hopes people will not sell him out. The place where he was born.
Hiding in the tourist cabins at Ellery Mountain Resort out of season he thinks he finally has room to breathe.
If only Kieran Dexter, a man ten years his junior, would stop fixing stuff and causing ripples in Jason’s peaceful space.
Excerpt!
The Cop and the Fireman
Adrenaline pumped through Max’s body. The glow of a fully invested fire at the police precinct was obvious over downtown Ellery; the blaze well past being contained. Turning in a rough one-eighty, Max assessed the exposure factor, listening as the lieutenant issued orders.
The precinct was part of an older area of town. A jumble of empty gift shops, a couple of grocery stores, and the mayor’s building. Luckily, the precinct itself—a large two-story building—was separated from the other structures with fifty feet to spare. The only buildings in danger of the fire spreading to them were first on the list to be hosed down.
With well-oiled teamwork, the volunteer firefighters stood next to the full-timers and began their work.
“Do we have anyone inside?” Chief Quinn asked the gathered crowd. Max’s boss commanded respect. He was a lifer firefighter, and obviously, people listened to him. Max recognized a couple of people there but had no idea who might be left in the building.
A man fell out of the fire-ringed main door and onto his knees, disheveled and coughing.
Max was there in an instant, wrestling the guy away from danger and guiding him toward the paramedics who had arrived a few seconds after the engine.
“Finn…” A coughing fit overtook the man. “Inside,” he finished when he could catch his breath. He was pointing back the way he’d come.
Max stiffened. Was someone still inside? He focused on the chaos around him; on the shouting.
“Finn’s still in there,” someone yelled. A tall man was being held back by a group of onlookers as he struggled to get free, looking around him in horror, like he couldn’t believe this Finn guy was still inside.
Max didn’t even think before crossing to the struggling man.
“Where?” he snapped.
The guy blinked but didn’t falter. “Straight in. To the back and left rear. The lockup. He went in to get Fitz.”
“That’s Fitz?” Max asked, pointing at the old man who’d just walked out of the fire.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Going in,” Max confirmed into his mic.
Chief Quinn spun on his heel at the words to face Max, his expression one of “what the fuck” coupled with resignation. With a quick nod and no thought other than focusing on the job, Max ensured his face mask was secure and ran straight into the red and orange, through the only suitable ingress—a space formed by an iron beam holding up the remains of the ceiling in what he assumed was the reception area.
The flames reached for Max as he forced his way into a wide corridor. Fire licked the ceilings and walls. This had been fast—material in the walls and ceilings had fed the monster, and piles of folders and paperwork had provided more fuel.
Straight along the corridor. His heavy boots weighed him down. Focus kicked him into high gear. He breathed heavily with a mix of fear and excitement that fed his veins and arteries—the normal-use sixty-minute SCBA was going to be empty in a third of that time. Didn’t matter, because the building was disintegrating around him in great big flaming chunks of hell.
Fire, that fucking mistress of his, was a killer, and he had every respect for her power. He reached a T-junction and took a left. The air thickened with smoke, and he prayed he wasn’t too late. Anyone trapped in this sort of environment would be overcome and close to being out of it. He needed to find out where the man was.
Finally, through the smoke and sparking flames, Max saw him trapped under a broken table. Max scrambled to him, dropping to his knees and heaved at the table without success. The guy was a cop, dressed in blues and semi-conscious. It looked like the table had been moved by the unseen force of an explosion and had pinned him to the wall by his arm and chest.
“Help me!” the cop shouted, although the words were slurred, and his eyes were slits against the smoke. Max wished unconsciousness could subdue the cop’s fear.
Using the axe in his hand as a lever, Max forced it against the table where it was embedded in the wall. He turned his back against falling debris and sheltered the trapped guy as much as he could as the entire ceiling descended a few feet with a sickening noise. Glancing back the way he’d come, he saw their way out was becoming blocked. More disturbing was the dark, black smoke that collected at high points. That wasn’t good—in any way. The heat was intense and the dense, superheated cloud of fuel too rich to ignite. It was only a matter of time before flashover, and then it was game over for him and the cop.
Pushing and pulling as hard as he could, Max finally had enough leverage to allow the cop to slide down the wall into a heap on the floor. Not stopping for anything, he scooped the heavy man up and over his shoulder and, with staggering steps, turned to face his nemesis. His muscles strained with the weight, heat, and lack of breath, and he went with his gut instinct. They needed out, and this was a dead end. They only had one option—to go back the way they’d come.
There was no freaking finesse in this plan. Training kicked in, and Max did the only thing he knew would work. He ran. Stumbling through debris and wincing as fire flicked at him, he forced his way through the ruins of fallen ceiling and was back in the main corridor. A dreadful crash behind them left him very aware the building was disintegrating around him.
The doorway was lit up like a hoop of fire he had to leap through, and with the last push of energy, he was through the entrance and out onto the street.
Hands were there helping him, relieving him of his burden, and he could only watch as the whole building imploded and a huge explosion of dust and debris rose into the night.
There was screaming and shouting, but in Max’s head, there was only peace. He had done his job.
The Teacher and the Soldier
The headlights shot intermittently through the spaces between the fir trees on each bend. Luke identified the vehicle on the last bend as a police car, the white standing out against the darkness of the trees. When it pulled onto the shoulder next to his car, Luke wasn’t surprised. Cops were far more attuned to cars parked off the main road.
The headlights meant he didn’t get a good look at the cop until he was less than four paces away. The new arrival stood loose-hipped, with his hand resting on the weapon in his holster. Peering through the gloom at the cop’s face, Luke knew that fate was fucking with him. Not only had an Ellery cop found his hiding place, but that Ellery cop was Corporal Finn Ryan.
Finn Ryan in the flesh. The man who’d been so closely involved in the death of Luke’s dad. Christ. Way to slap what Luke had hoped to avoid right up in his face.
“Is there a problem, sir?” Finn asked firmly.
Luke pushed his clenched fists into his pockets and stilled the anxiety rising inside him. “No problem, officer,” he said. “Just visiting the town and spending a little time clearing my head after a long drive.”
Finn took another step closer, and a look of recognition passed over his face. Luke remembered Finn as tall, dark, and rangy as hell, although his memories were of a boy of fifteen, not a man of… what would it be now?
Twenty-four? He was five years younger than Luke, if he remembered correctly. Luke really didn’t want to remember anything about Ellery.
“Luke?” Finn looked momentarily taken aback before regaining his poise.
“Hi, Finn.”
They hadn’t been friends in school, just two people who’d known each other by sight. Luke had been in college while Finn was still a freshman. Of course Finn, being a resident, would have heard all the rumors about him and his dad. Hell, he probably knew everything that had happened. Familiar resentment built inside Luke. He was bigger than that—bigger than his dad’s abuse or his mom’s abandonment. Bigger than this town. He wouldn’t let this place drag him down again however hard it tried.
“You missed the funeral,” Finn offered. There was no accusation in his voice. He was simply making a statement, one that hung in the air with no possible answer Luke could give. Or at least not one that didn’t involve reiterating the contents of two years of counselling sessions and eight years of living his life.
“Busy,” was all Luke eventually offered in response.
Finn didn’t call him on the excuse. “You’ve been up here a while, Luke. Widow Jenn called it in. Said a stranger had been standing here for hours, just staring down at the town.”
Luke shrugged. He couldn’t deny that hours had passed as he’d gazed down at the town and the tiny, distant shapes of gravestones in the far churchyard of St Jeremiah’s. He’d deliberately stayed up here until darkness had begun to creep over the mountain. Call it self-preservation, but there was no way he was driving into Ellery in daylight.
“Widow Jenn is still alive?” he said.
Finn took the change of subject in his stride and nodded. “Ninety-eight and thriving on ten a day with a glass of whiskey,” he said.
Luke snorted a laugh. “Does she still have those binoculars?” Widow Jenn was one of the more colourful characters in town, and when he was younger she’d had her fingers in so many pies—evidently that hadn’t changed.
“You got somewhere to stay?” Finn asked.
“Is that cop-speak for what the fuck am I doing?”
Shit. That had been a gut reaction. Luke regretted the words as soon as they’d left his mouth. It wasn’t Finn’s fault, any of this. He hadn’t been a cop back when Luke had had to leave town.
“No,” Finn said evenly. “I assume you’re back to deal with the Ellery Resort issue.”
Luke narrowed his eyes and regarded the solid, calm presence of Finn Ryan in his uniform. Finn hadn’t once mentioned Luke visiting his dad’s grave, which meant inside the cop’s head he was filing away what he knew about Luke and making assumptions. Never mind that they might be the right ones. It pissed Luke off that people assumed he would do things a certain way because of who he used to be. Not this town, not his dad… not even his cheating ex had the right to get inside
Luke’s head and presume they knew what he was thinking.
“I am,” Luke said. He extended a hand for Finn to shake.
The cop didn’t hesitate. He shook Luke’s hand with a firm grip.
“We probably need to talk,” Finn began. “About what happened. About my part in it.”
“No need for talking. What’s done is done.”
“The man who wanted to kill me—”
“I said no.” Luke couldn’t stop the panic in his voice, and it scared him to be showing it to the very first person who’d crossed his path.
Finn held up a hand to indicate that it was okay.
“I need to get moving. I booked in at the hotel.”
“Nice to see you again.” Finn offered the few words with sincerity.
The whole sentence made Luke shudder inwardly. He didn’t need platitudes.
He didn’t answer. Not when his only answer could be, “Wish I could say the same.”
He climbed into his car and made it to the outskirts of town in a few minutes, with Finn not far behind.
The Carpenter and the Actor
Jason McInnery pulled another blanket from the pile at the bottom of his bed and used it to block up any small space around him that could let in the cold. When he’d gone for rustic he hadn’t realised he was getting the equivalent of sleeping in a tent. No heating that he could get to work, two in the morning and sleep had so far eluded him. The hot water bottle he’d found in the cupboard above the sink was still warm, but at this point it really needed to have the water replaced with steaming boiling heat. That would mean getting out of bed though and placing his feet on the icy cold wooden floor.
“So not going there,” he muttered to himself. The new blanket helped and finally he had a cocoon that at least meant he wasn’t shivering. No wonder the cabin had been cheap to rent if it didn’t come with working heat. He knew he should have stopped at the chain motel he’d seen just outside Ellery. But no, his idea of hiding was self-imposed isolation halfway up the mountain and twenty minutes’ drive from the town he’d been born in. He should have gone to his parents’ house in Las Vegas and got some of that desert sun.
Freaking paparazzi. They knew where his parents lived, and would assume it was one of the places he would go. Hell, he was lucky they hadn’t followed him to Ellery, or had any inkling he would go back to the town he’d left before he was old enough to remember it. His cell phone sounded and he rooted around under the covers where he’d pushed his only link to his other life. The life where he was a popular, successful, openly gay actor who had charmed his way into millions of hearts on a successful TV comedy and in two kids’ films. The actor with the brother who had died. The screen lit brightly and the name wasn’t a surprise.
“Hey, Mom,” he answered. The cell was warm from where it had been wrapped in the quilt. Midnight at his mom’s place meant his dad snoring in bed and his night-owl mom watching recorded shows. “It’s two a.m., you know.”
“There was a show on, and I was thinking about you.”
“You need to stop watching those gossip shows, Mom,” he said patiently.
“I can’t help it, J. It’s everywhere.”
Jason shifted deeper under the covers and sighed inwardly. He’d grown a thicker skin now. Having his private life plastered over magazines and TV shows was part and parcel of the whole celebrity lifestyle. That didn’t mean it had got any easier over the last seven years since the small comedy show he starred in had gone ballistic. And hell, it wasn’t ever going to get any easier for his poor mom. Not only had Ben died with too many secrets and too many lies twisted around him, but Jason had been smacked around the face with the fallout of his brother’s actions and his own subsequent arrest.
“I’m fine, Mom,” he said gently.
“I just wanted to…” She didn’t finish the sentence. Jason’s throat tightened with emotion. He didn’t call her on phoning him this late—she’d wanted to hear his voice. Losing Ben had destroyed his parents. Maybe he should have gone home to Vegas and forgotten the fact that doing so would have put his mom and dad in the spotlight. They were struggling as it was.
“I can be home by tomorrow,” Jason offered. He could get tickets and be on a plane in a few hours. Hell, it would probably be warmer on a plane anyway.
“No, Jason, we talked about this. I love you—I just wanted to tell you.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
With the call finished, he clutched the cell to his chest and pulled the blankets up and over his head. Grief balled in his chest and not for the first time since he’d left LA, he wondered what the hell had made him come to Ellery. He may as well have stuck a pin in a map as a way of deciding where to hide out.
He had three weeks. Three weeks until the next season started filming. Ellery was as good a place as any.
* * * *
Loud noises woke him to bright sunlight streaming through the large windows and he glanced at his cell phone. The screen showed it was just after seven a.m. He’d banked five hours’ sleep, but he still felt like complete shit. His dreams had been filled with Ben and a scene that was something like a film, with him and Ben running. He hated the running dream—it never failed to leave him frustrated and tired beyond reason and had occurred on too many occasions recently. Rolling onto his side, away from the window, he screwed his eyes tight shut and willed sleep to happen.
The knocking on his door was part of a dream—it had to be. No one would be knocking on the door of this remote cabin at ass o’clock in the morning for any reason he could imagine.
Groaning, he shifted until he could listen with both ears. The knocking wasn’t stopping. This wasn’t the short, sharp knock of someone at the door. This was repetitive and noisy and…hell, right outside his window. What the fuck was happening? Pulling the blankets back over his head, he attempted to sleep. When that didn’t block out the banging, he searched on his phone for an app that could produce white noise. When that didn’t work either, he gave up sleeping as a bad thing.
About R.J.
RJ Scott is the bestselling romance author of over 100 romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men and women who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.
The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.
rj@rjscott.co.uk | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Librarything | Tumblr (some NSFW (not safe for work) photos) Pinterest | Full list of all books and works in progress | List of all print books | Reviews for RJ’s books
Giveaway!
Win an $10 Amazon Giftcard!
R.J. Scott Rafflecopter giveaway!
Review
Title: The Fireman and the Cop (2nd Edition)
Series: Ellery Mountain 01
Author: R.J. Scott
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novella (125pgs)
Publisher: Love Lane Books (10th May 2017)
ISBN: 9781785640667
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Rescuing a cop from a burning precinct is in Max’s job description; falling in love was never part of the deal.
Max Harrison moved from the city to take up a role as assistant to the mayor, while also a volunteer firefighter. When he meets Finn Ryan in Ellery, he falls in lust that burns as hot as the fires being set in town.
Finn Ryan is a cop, and somehow he’s attracted trouble. Going back into a fire to rescue the town drunk is just the start. Now he has to rely on the man he’s falling for to make sure it doesn’t end with him dying.
Purchase Link: Kobo
Review: Max is starting over in a new town. He’s working at the Mayor’s office and as a volunteer firefighter. Running into a burning police station leads to him meeting Finn, a cop who always seems to be in danger. Finn is delighted to meet firefighter Max. Of course, it would have been better if he wasn’t half unconscious at the time, but he gets the chance to know the sexy man better as Max investigates the fire.
This is a cute book that starts off a great new series. Max first meets Finn while rescuing him from a burning building. Finn catches Max’s attention when in his confused state he talks about firemen’s ‘hoses’. They have an instant attraction between them that sparks, but they have misunderstandings about how they are treating each other, and it isn’t helped by the fact that all the evidence points to Finn being in danger from an unknown foe.
I really liked Max and Finn they were both great characters. Although, they had a slight communication problem they seemed well suited and certainly sparks fly in the attraction department. The plot is fast-paced and you never know what will happen next, although you get a slight idea as to who the baddie is by a throwaway comment made by Finn. The supporting characters are great and it will be interesting to see Daniel’s and Kieran’s stories.
I recommend this book to those who love cops and firefighters, fast-paced danger and mystery, a good storyline, some hot sex and a happy ending.
Title: The Teacher and the Soldier (2nd Edition)
Series: Ellery Mountain 02
Author: R.J. Scott
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novella (125pgs)
Publisher: Love Lane Books (10th May 2017)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: How can Daniel convince the man he loves, to stay with him in Ellery?
Luke Fitzgerald left Ellery Mountain for college and vowed never to return, but with his father murdered, he has no choice but to return. Luke only goes home to sell off his share of the Ellery Mountain Cabins, but everything changes when he meets the son of the other owner.
Daniel Skylar is an ex-soldier who lives every day to the limit and sees a future in Luke. It doesn’t matter what Daniel says, or how much he needs Luke; Luke isn’t staying once everything is sold off. Surely Daniel can understand that?
Purchase Link: Kobo
Review: This story is part of a series and is best read in order.
Luke left Ellery Mountain ten years ago and vowed never to return. But, when his father is murdered and leaves Luke his half of the cabins, Luke feels it’s time to face the past before he continues his life. But, meeting Daniel, the son of the other owner of the cabins, throws him for a loop. But, there is no way he will be able to stay in Ellery with the ghosts that haunt him, can he? Daniel is frustrated to be unable to get hold of Luke to find out what the man plans to do with his share of the cabins. Meeting the man and getting to know him makes him want more, but even he can see that the past haunts Luke. Is what they have enough to chase away the ghosts?
Ahhh. Sexy Daniel’s story. hmmm *drool*. Luke returns to a place he hates. He swore never to return, but he believes that he can settle his father’s will and get out of town without losing it. But, he never counted on crossing paths with Daniel. Daniel has plans to help other soldiers like himself who return home needing help. But, first he has to sort out what is happening with the cabins. Meeting Luke he recognizes a wounded soul and they begin a hot affair. But, when it’s time for Luke to leave, Daniel doesn’t want him to go. Will love win or are Luke’s fears driving him too hard?
This is an excellent story that delves into the long standing repercussions of childhood abuse. Luke is an excellent character. Although, he has had therapy, the abuse he suffered while the town seemed to turn a blind eye affected him deeply. He is a strong man, but facing Ellery Mountain again shakes him to the core. Finding love there scares him and he has to work through his feelings, before he loses love. Daniel is a wonderful man. He wants to do something good for those affected by war and he also wants to keep a tight hold of the love he has found in the man who is perfect for him. But, he knows that he can’t force Luke to stay.
This story is really well written and it does tug at your heartstrings for what Luke had to face alone and also the effect it is still having on him. Daniel and Luke are an excellent pairing and are very hot together. They have a strong connection that goes further than a physical attraction and they make a great couple. The storyline is very good and I liked how Luke seemed to overcome his obstacles to accept the love he is offered and I liked how Daniel didn’t pressure Luke to recount his past. We see Max and Finn (from The Fireman and the Cop) again and Kieran and Liam and I can honestly say that I am looking forward to both their stories (The Carpenter and the Actor, and The Doctor and the Bad Boy).
I will recommend this to those who love facing the past stories, fighting for love, hot sex, great characters, a good storyline and a happy ending.
Title: The Carpenter and the Actor (2nd Edition)
Series: Ellery Mountain 03
Author: R.J. Scott
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novella (96pgs)
Publisher: Love Lane Books (10th May 2017)
Heat Level: Moderate – Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Jason McInnery, hounded by the paparazzi after his brother’s death, runs to the one place where he hopes people will not sell him out. The place where he was born.
Hiding in the tourist cabins at Ellery Mountain Resort out of season he thinks he finally has room to breathe.
If only Kieran Dexter, a man ten years his junior, would stop fixing stuff and causing ripples in Jason’s peaceful space.
Purchase Link: Kobo
Review: This story is part of a series and is best read in order.
Jason is a popular actor who suffered the loss of his younger brother, nearing the anniversary he flees to Ellery Mountain for the anonymity and peace he hopes to find. Hiding out in the cabins he comes across sexy handyman Kieran, who disturbs him more than he should, taking a chance he acts on his attraction. But, he’s an actor from LA while Kieran is a carpenter from Ellery, can he really hope for more than a fling? Kieran wants more than just a fling but will take what he can get, helping Jason deal with his past shows him Jason is more than just an actor, but can long distance work?
This third installment to Ellery Mountain is cute Kieran’s story, and what a little spitfire he is. Jason is an actor who lost his brother to a car crash, he feels guilty and blames himself, Jason is hounded by the press as secrets about his brother come out and now with the anniversary of his death looming Jason flees to the one place where the press will never look; Ellery. Kieran is surprised to discover a guest in one of the cabins, but it isn’t long before he hits it off with Jason.
Kieran and Jason are a fantastic couple, even with them both knowing that Jason is only around for a short time, they embrace what they can in the short time they have together. Kieran has a slight complex, he’s short blond and his mouth runs away with itself. Jason is perfect for Kieran although he makes a couple of mistakes, Kieran helps Jason through a hard time and they have to admit what they really want before they both make a mistake. The sex between them is really hot and Kieran really shows us his true self in those moments, both men are incredible together.
The storyline moves swiftly and smoothly, there’s no real angst except two men refusing to acknowledge what they want from each other and I thought it was really well written, I liked how they resolved their relationship and that they gave it a go even though they are both from different worlds.
I will recommend this to those who love stories of finding love in unexpected places, different worlds coming together, hot men having hot sex and a very happily ever after.
Check out the other blogs on the blog tour!
