>Hi guys! We have Beth Laycock stopping by today with the tour for her new release Mad Guarding His Heart, we have a great excerpt, a brilliant $10 Amazon GC & ebook giveaway and my review, so check out the post and enter the giveaway! ❤️ ~Pixie~
Guarding His Heart
Beth Laycock
He’d risk his life to find his brother. But he never expected to risk his heart as well.
Three months since his brother, Jake, went MIA, Lane Matthews is tired of waiting for answers. With a little help, he arranges a posting to Jeddah for his first overseas deployment—the perfect opportunity to find his brother.
Life in a foreign land isn’t quite like he imagined and neither are his duties. But when he meets his housemate, Tristan, while it may be memorable, it’s not one of Lane’s finest moments.
Tristan threatens to throw him way off course, and falling for the hot straight soldier is definitely not in his plans. But as tensions rise and the truth about Jake is revealed, will Lane’s heart follow orders or will all be lost like grains of sand swept away in a desert?
Excerpt!
CHAPTER ONE
I pressed my nose to the aeroplane window. The miles of desert gave way to the city that sprawled as far as the eye could see with enough lights to rival London several times over. I leant back in my seat, letting out a deep breath. Jeddah. A world away from my small, rural Lancashire town of Sough where the only sand we saw was in a builder’s yard. But I reminded myself that I had requested this assignment. My first real assignment and I would be a soldier now—just like my brother.
Another glance out of the window revealed a web of orange-hued roads. My brother was down there, lost somewhere in the maze of city streets. At least I hoped he was because the alternative … I shivered at the thought of him out there alone, suffering? At the mercy of, who knew. The army weren’t forthcoming with answers, but I’d find him even if it killed me.
The wheels of the plane touched down with a thud, jerking me out of my thoughts before I could wander too far down that dark, windy path. As the plane taxied to a stop, I grabbed my rucksack and joined the queue of passengers already jostling for the exit.
When the door finally opened, the heat hit me like a physical force and made it hard to breathe. I knew it’d be hot, but the sun had set, and I’d hoped the temperature would have dropped. As my feet hit the tarmac I could feel the heat rising from it, and I regretted wearing jeans and a shirt as they both clung to my sweat-slicked skin. I hopped onto the waiting bus, grateful for the blast of the cold air from the vents, and it whisked me and the other passengers away from the plane.
Inside the airport a man waited for me. “Mr Matthews. Sir.”
He inclined his head and I had no idea how to respond, but I dipped my head. “Please, call me Lane.”
“Very good, sir. This way, I’ll get you straight through security.”
I hoisted my rucksack higher up my shoulder and followed him past the disorderly queue of waiting passengers. He was decked out in a pristine white thobe—it looked like a white button-down shirt but reached his ankles—and a ghutra covered his head and neck held in place by a black ring. The headpiece reminded me of the red-and-white-checked tea towels my mum had back home. He ushered me through security and then into the chaos of bag collection with suitcases piled everywhere. Men in blue trousers and white shirts shouted as they wheeled around empty trolleys. Women encased in black—abayas pooling on the floor so not an inch of skin showed—huddled off to the side out of the way.
Soldiers in khaki strolled around like they were out for a wander along the beach, apart from the rifles slung across their chests, their hands resting casually on the stock and barrel. The clunk and whine of machinery added to the cacophony of sounds and through it all wafted a smell that made my nose twitch, but I didn’t recognise it, the nearest I could describe it was a mix of stale sweat and a sweet, burnt wood aroma. Overwhelmed at the assault on my senses, I ran a shaky hand through my hair where it was still long enough on top to do. As per army regs I’d had the back and sides “well cut and trimmed.” But the longer strands were already plastered to my scalp, and a hank of them fell over my eyes. Darkened by sweat, it looked almost black, making me blend a little more with the locals, although there was nothing I could do about my pale skin compared to the other men wandering around.
I grabbed my suitcase off the top of a teetering pile stacked beside the conveyor belt, empty yet still in motion.
“This way, sir. I have a car waiting to take you to the compound.”
“Thanks.”
The guide shepherded me into a waiting black SUV with tinted windows, then deposited my suitcase in the boot, and the evening took on a surreal note like I had accidentally wandered onto the set of a film or something. Sat alone on the back seat, I stared out of the window as we left the airport behind. The rules of the road were more like guidelines than mandatory. More of a free-for-all than giving way. Every man for himself unless you cared about not denting your bodywork. Vehicles blocked the roundabout by queueing around it and pushing their way through, helped along by who could rest on the horn the loudest or longest.
We left the four-lane road for a potholed single-lane one and drove past shacks that looked like a strong wind would blow them down and take their wooden roofs that were barely clinging to the walls. Washing hung limply between the shacks in the still air, and I realised people actually lived there. We were </span>clearly in the poor area of the city and it was a stark reminder I was basically in a third-world country. The working-class towns that surrounded my hometown had nothing on this place. At least the houses back home had brick walls and roofs firmly attached.
But the car carried on until the houses became larger and farther apart, only partially hidden behind walls. Above them, round turrets reminded me of fairy-tale castles with tiled roofs and marble-mounted windows. Kings and princes locked safely away behind their gates to avoid being tainted by the poverty of their neighbours.
We turned the corner, and my compound came into view with a huge garish neon blue sign that announced Homes of Arabia and looked like none of the houses I had just passed. Instead, we were greeted by barbed wire and speed bumps, and what had once been white walls that were now yellowed with sand. My driver pulled up slowly to the guard station where they passed a mirror on a stick under our car; we were being checked for bombs? Jesus, what had I signed up for? Another man checked the boot, slammed the door and then on we went. We passed the second guard station, which was empty except for the mounted machine gun complete with ammo dangling from it in a loop. If that was supposed to make me feel safer, it really didn’t. Any fucker could just wander in and start shooting.
We drove on and waited as a steel-reinforced gate slowly rolled aside, and then we were inside the compound.
Palm trees and villas encased in six-foot-high barbed wire walls.
Welcome to your new home, Lane.
~~~
The driver parked up, and I clambered out of the car like waking from a dream—the heat a slap in the face after the blast of the AC. My CO, or who I assumed was my commanding officer, strode my way, every inch the army man with the stiff walk and straight back.
“Matthews?” He thrust a meaty hand at me, and I shook it as he crushed my hand in his.
“Yes, sir. Lane, Lane Matthews. The Duke of Lancaster’s regiment.”
“Major Tibbins. Glad to have you here. I won’t lie; we struggled to cover the last guard’s shifts when he left, so happy to have you here.”
Guard? What guard? He released my hand and clapped me on the back. I staggered under the weight, catching myself before I stumbled.
“We’ll start you on gate duty in the hut you just drove past, but you’ll probably be able to rotate with the others soon. Anyway, I just wanted to welcome you, but I’ll let you get settled in. Reception has your accommodation details and duty roster. You’re not on until tomorrow afternoon, but I’ll swing by before then. Any questions, just let me know. I’m here to help you settle in.”
He waited a beat, but when all I could do was nod in response, he strode off, leaving me to stare after him more than a little shell-shocked.
I shuffled into reception and waited as the man behind the counter spoke to a woman with a kid propped on her hip about the nursery. Army wife? Another woman popped up behind the desk before I could give it more consideration.
“Hi, can I help you?”
After a whirlwind of paperwork, I left with a set of keys and a folder of documents. I grabbed the map and followed the tarmac path slash road into a housing complex. I wound my way through the houses until I found mine in the corner and fumbled the key into the lock as I finished reading my roster.
After more years than I wanted to consider in the reserves, my first proper assignment would be as a guard. A glorified fucking babysitter. What the fuck? This was not how I imagined my first overseas posting with the army. Not leaving the compound all day. I wouldn’t be a soldier like my brother. This wasn’t how I’d envisioned my grand plan. How the hell was I going to find out what happened to my brother—if he was even alive still—if I would be stuck in a hut all alone? I needed to find the soldiers he served with, question them, find out what they were doing to locate my brother. I couldn’t just wander onto their base, and I knew none of his teammates to ask. I was screwed. And I couldn’t help but wonder if Steve, my CO back home, and possibly my dad seeing as he went way back with Steve, had a hand in this.
I slammed the front door shut with my foot, still staring at the goddamned piece of paper, and flung my rucksack onto the floor. It knocked into the console table and rattled a can of pens. I slapped the handle of my suitcase down so hard the case fell over and crashed against the wall. A groan of frustration slipped out as I slumped against the wall and buried my hands in my hair.
“You quite finished taking your tantrum out on my home?”
About Beth!
Beth Laycock’s books are influenced by her time living overseas as well as the gritty, urban landscape of the north of England where she grew up.
She has been reading romance since she was old enough to tell herself that line every book lover does—just one more chapter.
As a teenager she attempted to write her first novel, and many more since then that are still gathering dust on her bookshelf. It wasn’t until she discovered the M/M genre that her muse showed up and refused to quit telling her stories about beautiful men finding love together. She hasn’t stopped scribbling them down since. Beth’s muse usually shows up when she is in the shower, is allergic to cleaning, rarely lets Beth watch TV, and insists she drinks copious amounts of coffee so she can turn caffeine into words.
When not writing or reading Beth can be found procrastinating on social media or being dragged around the English countryside by her dog.
Beth loves to chat about books on social media or you can email her at beth@bethlaycock.com
Giveaway!
Win a $10 Amazon gift card + choice of any ebook of Beth’s!
Title: Guarding His Heart
Author: Beth Laycock
Genre: Contemporary, Military
Length: Novella (118pgs)
ISBN: B07YDL17L5
Publisher: Rainbow Romance Press (9th October 2019)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: 💖💖💖 3 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: He’d risk his life to find his brother. But he never expected to risk his heart as well.
Three months since his brother, Jake, went MIA, Lane Matthews is tired of waiting for answers. With a little help, he arranges a posting to Jeddah for his first overseas deployment—the perfect opportunity to find his brother.
Life in a foreign land isn’t quite like he imagined and neither are his duties. But when he meets his housemate, Tristan, while it may be memorable, it’s not one of Lane’s finest moments.
Tristan threatens to throw him way off course, and falling for the hot straight soldier is definitely not in his plans. But as tensions rise and the truth about Jake is revealed, will Lane’s heart follow orders or will all be lost like grains of sand swept away in a desert?
Purchase Link: Amazon US | Amazon UK
Review: Lane wants the truth about his brother’s disappearance in Jeddah; he manages to get assigned to the base when he applies to sign up as a full soldier after serving in the reserves for years. On meeting his housemate, Tristan, sparks fly and Lane quickly falls for him, but his burning desire is to find out what happened to his brother.
This story really didn’t strike any sparks for me, because while I do enjoy military stories even those where it’s just base based I was expecting it to have more military structure rather than ‘here’s your job, that’s where you’ll live, get on with it’.
While the military part fell far short for me, I enjoyed the relationship between Lane and Tristan, they come together quite quickly and mesh well but it did seem to be very rushed. Lane’s insecurities also seemed a little forced rather than a genuine reaction to events happening, and he came across as immature for someone who had been in the reserves for years.
I can’t say too much about Tristan as the entire story is from Lane’s POV so I didn’t get to know him as well I’d have liked. While Tristan comes across as a man of the world and is level headed, Lane comes off as childish and prone to temper tantrums, more like a teenager than a twenty-five year old which was disappointing as he had great potential.
The whole mystery about the brother was good but very rushed at the end, I thought it could have been much more fleshed out, it just seemed to go from asking questions about his brother to suddenly having the truth revealed it was just too quickly discovered.
I really think this story was too short; it could have been so much more as it had great potential. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good story, it just needed more of it. While Lane’s and Tristan’s relationship is spot on if rather quick it was the rest of the story needed more to hold my attention.
I recommend this to those who love hot military men, sexy times, a loose background story and a happy ending.
