Hi guys, we have Lee Brazil and Havan Fellows stopping by with the blog tour for their newest releases Heart of Clay (Lee) and Chance at Trust (Havan), Lee and Havan answer a couple of questions, we have some great excerpts, there’s a brilliant giveaway and we have Cat’s reviews. So enjoy the post and click that Rafflecopter link! <3 ~Pixie~ 

Heart of Clay

Lee Brazil

The ghost at the heart of the problem…       

Clayton Merk, accomplished, yet arrogant, businessman, has a reputation for one-night stands and being steadfastly anti-relationship. When he decides to return home—to the root of all his problems—he brings a co-worker with him as a buffer against the past. Even though he’s ready to lay old ghosts to rest, he certainly didn’t expect a literal ghost to lend a hand.

Brad Jorgensen, Clay’s former best friend, has also clung to the past in an unhealthy way. He resents Clay for a lot of things, not the least of which is his cousin’s death decades earlier. At one time they’d been closer than brothers, but blame and anger are powerful weapons of destruction, and they’ve left Brad in a wasteland of self-doubt, hatred, and loneliness.

The ghost at the heart of the problem has had enough. Bobby isn’t pleased with his cousin or his ex. Their refusal to let go of the past has kept him on a plane where he doesn’t belong and isn’t at home. He’s expended all his energy trying to get through to Brad, without success, but Clay’s return finally gives him a foot in the door…or out the door.

If he could just get the two stubborn men together.

Chance at Trust

Havan Fellows

The strength to walk away from an abusive long-term relationship proves Em is a survivor. But surviving isn’t necessarily living, and Em has created a life on a plateau of his own making, not even entertaining the idea of a new boyfriend. When he shows interest in a very sexy barista, his best friend sees a chance to open Em’s eyes to the possibilities in life.

Penn couldn’t help his double and triple take when the sexy man walked into his mother’s coffee shop. Priding himself on always remaining calm and collected in all situations, Penn is surprised by the strength of his attraction for this stranger. When the stranger’s loud-mouthed friend proposes a way for Penn to see Em again, he takes it.

While Em comes with baggage—his eyes tell a story of pain and distrust—Penn isn’t one to shy away from a challenge, especially when his heart is so quickly getting tied up in the equation, and he’s prepared to break through Em’s walls and give him a chance to trust.

Lee & Havan Interview!

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Lee: Well, that is kind of a tricky question. Havan here is the one who keeps me on the straight and narrow, writing and so on. We bounce ideas off each other, and she’s great at telling me when something doesn’t make sense. But as for mentors… Well, that’s different. When I need advice on publishing and contracts, I rely on seasoned professionals like Hank Edwards, Em Woods, and Laura Harner.

Havan: My Story Orgy and Pulp Friction family have been vital in mentoring me…and I’d like to think I’ve done the same for them. Because yeah, not everyone can know everything but when you have up to eight people to brain pick from, in this case more is better. 🙂

Name one thing (not person) you can’t live without.

Lee: Oxygen? Just kidding. Coffee, music, books… Eeny, meeny, miny mo because I just can’t choose.

Havan: I agree on the coffee and books comment…but since I’ve moved to a much drier climate I wanna say lotion right now…lol

What book are you reading now?

Lee: Shine Forever. It’s the latest book in Megan Derr’s Missing Butterfly series. If you like rock star stories? This is a series you should not miss!

Havan: Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris. I just love her Harper Connelly mysteries. She’s more known for her Sookie Stackhouse series, which I love, don’t get me wrong…but I feel people miss out on her less popular works and that’s sad because Charlaine Harris can write a mean mystery.

Favorite comfort food meal?

Lee: Grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. Always delicious.

Havan: Shepherd’s pie – talk about feeling all warm and toasty inside when I have this on my plate. 🙂

What are your current projects?

Lee: Right now, I’m finishing up the first draft of Like A Wolf, a Red Riding Hood inspired story for Story Orgy, and I’m halfway through Urbex, a story about two men who meet under unusual circumstances.

Havan: Oh, I’m working on the 2nd book in my Chance at Life series – more Em and Penn. 🙂 But I also have edits for my next Pulp Friction book releasing May 1st.

Bonus question:

If you could be a superhero what power would you want?

Lee: When I saw this question, I knew we had to answer it, not just for one of the blogs but for all of you. You see… our very next Story Orgy project… is a superhero story. The hero of my book has a pretty quirky talent, and despite his embarrassment over it, it does come in handy at times! As for me, if I had a talent, it would be something simple, like invisibility. Wouldn’t it be awesome to sit down and read a book, or write and not have anyone be able to see you? Because I tell you what, it seems like all people around here have to do is set eyes on me and whatever I’m doing gets set aside. Havan?

Havan: Ah yes…our Story Orgy superhero’s are not gonna be your run-of-the-mill type of heroes. But me…hmmmm…I’d like to be able to teleport. Imagine all the time I’d save in a day if I didn’t have to physically travel places. Want to see family that lives thousands of miles away…blink I’m there. Want to visit the highest plateau at the Grand Canyon…not a problem. See someone falling off the Eiffel Tower…teleport into their downward spiralling path, snatch them in your arms, and teleport to the nearest Paris bistro in time for an espresso. (okay…that one might be stretching it but hey! I’m a superhero here.)

Excerpt for Heart of Clay

Seeing Clay there, sitting in the tall grass on the bench where they—he and his cousin Bobby—had first discovered him all those years earlier, sent Brad right over the edge. He’d been poised on that precipice all day, since he’d heard the rumors down at the gas station that not only had Clayton Merk come back to town to visit his grandparents at long last, but he’d brought a boyfriend with him.

Millie Atwatter seemed to take a great deal of venomous pleasure in sharing that little detail, even going so far as to describe the poor unfortunate soul—in her own words—though he couldn’t argue with that assessment. Anyone who loved Clay Merk was destined for misfortune.

His grip tightened on the hedge trimmers he’d planned to use to cut back low hanging branches of the old tree. If he didn’t make some effort with the ancient tree, this whole corner of his field would be full of rotting peaches half the summer. It was therapeutic when nostalgia overcame him to come down here and trim back the new growth. Usually he spent the time pretending that every twig he snipped was Clayton Merk’s neck…

Brad Jorgenson counseled teens against violence, against acting on the spur of the moment, but it was all he could do not to swing at the man with the heavy clippers.

“You still holding a grudge, Brad? I earned that slot as valedictorian. Not my fault you bombed the chem two final.”

The flippant, deliberate obfuscation was too much. As if having a GPA of one one hundredth of one percent less than this man fifteen years ago were the worst of the things that lay between them? If he were honest, seeing Clay was too much. He flung the clippers aside and launched himself over the fence, lunging to knock Clay off the bench. He couldn’t even claim he acted in the heat of the moment. “Fuck you!”

And still…after all these years Clay was capable of making him do things, say things he normally wouldn’t! His momentum carried them both over the back of the bench and into the tall grass, and Brad let his anger loose, the slow burning ember that had emerged from the ashes of his soul where he thought he’d buried it long ago.

Rolling and wrestling was tricky though, when Clay didn’t even bother to fight back. Eventually, his supposed opponent’s inertia sank through and Brad realized what he’d done. “I don’t give a damn about who graduated first in our class.” He lurched upright, propelling himself backward, glaring down at Clay, who pushed himself up on his elbows. “And that’s not what’s kept you from coming back here all these years either.”

A sneer twisted Clay’s full lips, “You think you kept me from coming back? Maybe you think I was afraid? You don’t know me, where I’ve been or what I’ve done. I had reason not to come around here, and it had nothing to do with you.”

The tiny kernel of truth in the barrage of lies stung. “Everyone in town knows what you’ve done and where you’ve gone, Clay.” And it wasn’t prison, which was where the majority of them thought he should have gone. “Your grandparents told us all of it. And I never presumed that your absence had anything to do with me, just as I knew your presence had nothing to do with me.”

His heart rate was slowing, cold sweat dampened his T-shirt. And with the fading of the heat, came the tangle of other emotions, disappointment, sorrow, grief. And lust, to his shame, reared its ugly head now as it had so long ago.

Clay Merk was even more sissified city boy now than he had been when he’d come out here all those years ago. His polo shirt had some kind of logo embroidered on it, but it stretched across broad shoulders and clung to thick muscles quite nicely, as did the knife-creased khaki shorts. He knew from their brief tussle that Clay was a little softer in the middle than he’d been as a high school athlete, but not enough to make him unattractive, not enough to counteract the effects of those deep blue eyes and that oh-so-tempting, lushly curved lower lip, damn it.

“You’re holding my grandparents’ gossip against me?” Clay sounded callous, scathing. “Well, the gossip goes two ways, you know.”

Excerpt for Chance at Trust

Em looked up and didn’t see Joss or the barista, Penn, anywhere. A pretty black-haired girl with streaks of platinum white running through her thick locks now manned the open cash register.

Boy, that was just perfect. Even if Em didn’t plan to trust a man again—ever, which meant no relationship with a sexy as hell barista—it would’ve been nice to at least not look like a complete ass. But god, that was the first man in forever to make his body stand up and take notice. The dull throb in his jeans proved his erection didn’t give a damn that he acted the moron, it just wanted a shot to climb that mountain.

He sighed to himself. A long time ago he made peace with the fact that he’d be single the remainder of his life. After his abusive relationship with David ended two years ago, he knew that was it. Taking solace in the fact that he never loved David and hadn’t suffered from physical abuse didn’t alleviate the pain he’d incurred on a regular basis.

Though physical abuse was horrible in and of itself, Em could attest that mental and verbal abuse could cripple a person just as surely as a destructive blow to one’s head…the only difference was that you didn’t have a pretty scar to prove to the nonbelievers that it ever happened.

Yeah, he faced the doubters when he first escaped from David’s clutches. There were no visible scars and no trips to the emergency room photographed and documented in a neat little manila folder somewhere—so he wasn’t really abused, right? Most people thought it probably just resided in his mind—he was too sensitive or touchy to deal with David’s strong personality.

Em snorted when he remembered how one therapist actually used air quotes when mentioning David’s “strong” personality. That was when he gave up on therapy altogether.

It didn’t matter that every time someone raised their voice around Em, he shuddered and flinched, or when someone looked at him funny, the first thought that would pop into his head was that they were making jokes about him, talking about him behind his back, laughing at the worthless being he was.

Who cared that he muttered apologies left and right for things that weren’t his fault? He’d been conditioned to immediately appease anyone he might’ve offended. It all came second nature to him. He didn’t even realize when he would do it.

But most people would say those scars weren’t real. They didn’t matter.

But they mattered to Em. They were real to him. They were debilitating in his everyday life.

And that was why he would never allow another man close to his heart again. He built up some good sturdy walls and he stayed safely locked behind them. No one would ever be in a position to hurt him again…because if you didn’t allow yourself to feel then the hurt couldn’t reach you.

About Lee & Havan

Lee Brazil

Somewhere in a small town in up-state New York are a librarian and a second grade teacher to whom I owe my life. That might be a touch dramatic, but it’s nevertheless one hundred percent true.

Because they taught me the joy of reading, of escaping into worlds crafted of words.

Have you ever been nine years old and sure of nothing so much as that you don’t belong? Looked at the world from behind glasses, and wondered why you don’t fit?

Someone hands you a book, and then you turn the page and see… There you are, running from Injun Joe in a dark graveyard; there you are fencing with Athos; there you are…beneath the deep blue sea- marveling at exotic creatures with Captain Nemo.

I found myself between the pages of books, and that is why I write now. It’s why I taught English and literature for so many years, and it’s why my house contains more pounds of books than furniture.

If I’d had my way, I’d have been a fencer…or a starship captain, or a lawyer, or a detective solving crimes. But instead, I am a writer, and I’ve come to realize that’s the best thing in the world to be, because as a writer, I can be all those things and more.

If I hadn’t learned to value the stories between the pages, who knows what would have happened? Certainly not college…teaching…or writing.

Havan Fellows

I annoy, love, respect, scare, seduce, hurt, anger, infatuate, frustrate, flatter, envy, amuse and tolerate everyone. I just do it better in writing thanks to a little thing called…edits.

Okay no, seriously…I’m a simpleminded person who enjoys the escape from real life through a book. I write with the group Story Orgy and hope to continue doing so for a long time. I also am privileged to be with the Pulp Friction writers, creating intermingling books in a world all our own.

I recently took the drastic step of quitting my EDJ (evil day job) and am now living in the gorgeous desert in Arizona making a go at this writing stuff full time…and I can’t see me regretting this decision ever.

Just like every other red-blooded human—I get a little bouncy when I get mail (any kind too…email, comments, private messages…you wanna do it, do it with me *winks*). So feel free to drop me a line—whether it’s on my blog, twitter, Pinterest, or you track me down on Facebook or Google +…it’s easy to catch someone who wants to be caught. 

Pulp Friction Love FB group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/369329926547263

Giveaway!

2 – $10 ARe gift cards 

Lee Havan & Havan Fellows Rafflecopter giveaway!

Reviews

Title: Heart of Clay

Series: A Story Orgy Single

Author: Lee Brazil

Genre: Contemporary, Drama, Short Story, supernatural

Length: Novella (86pgs)

ISBN: LBRZL0201506

Publisher: Lime Time Press (April 1^st 2015)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Reviewer: Cat

Blurb: The ghost at the heart of the problem…

Clayton Merk, accomplished, yet arrogant, businessman, has a reputation for one-night stands and being steadfastly anti-relationship. When he decides to return home—to the root of all his problems—he brings a co-worker with him as a buffer against the past. Even though he’s ready to lay old ghosts to rest, he certainly didn’t expect a literal ghost to lend a hand.

Brad Jorgensen, Clay’s former best friend, has also clung to the past in an unhealthy way. He resents Clay for a lot of things, not the least of which is his cousin’s death decades earlier. At one time they’d been closer than brothers, but blame and anger are powerful weapons of destruction, and they’ve left Brad in a wasteland of self-doubt, hatred, and loneliness.

The ghost at the heart of the problem has had enough. Bobby isn’t pleased with his cousin or his ex. Their refusal to let go of the past has kept him on a plane where he doesn’t belong and isn’t at home. He’s expended all his energy trying to get through to Brad, without success, but Clay’s return finally gives him a foot in the door…or out the door.

If he could just get the two stubborn men together.

Product Link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-heartofclay-1774233-148.html

Review: Clay has come back to his Grandmothers and Grandfather’s to lay some ghosts to rest or at least make peace with himself.  He has decided he had to visit them as they aren’t getting any younger and they had practically raised him.  He dreads yet deep down years to see his old best friend Brad that lives in the adjoin farm.

Brad heard Lay was back visiting and has mixed feelings. Now he has to struggle harder with his own demons.  Being an alcoholic but dry so many years, this will be his test of strength.

I really liked this story though I felt it could’ve been better if it had been stretched out a little longer. I would have like to known more about both Brad and Clay and especially more of the visits form Bobby. But for a very short story it was easy to follow, intriguing and sexy.

I did have a slight issue. I didn’t see any reason really for Augie, the friend that Clay brought along and if Brad was an alcoholic why he had so much booze in his home.  Having said that I still thoroughly enjoyed the story. It’s a short fast read and it made me grave fried chicken and biscuits and gravy I could just see and smell all the yummy food Nan made!

If you like mild angst, sweet romance with a happy ending, ghosts and some hot man-sex this is for you.

Title: Chance at Trust

Series: A Chance at Life Trilogy 01

Author: Havan Fellows

Genre: Romance, Drama

Length: Short (55pgs)

ISBN: 9781311253316

Publisher: Appleton Publishing Avenue (Apr 07, 2015)

Heat Level: moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥ 3 Hearts

Reviewer: Cat

Blurb: The strength to walk away from an abusive long-term relationship proves Em is a survivor. But surviving isn’t necessarily living, and Em has created a life on a plateau of his own making, not even entertaining the idea of a new boyfriend. When he shows interest in a very sexy barista, his best friend sees a chance to open Em’s eyes to the possibilities in life.

Penn couldn’t help his double and triple take when the sexy man walked into his mother’s coffee shop. Priding himself on always remaining calm and collected in all situations, Penn is surprised by the strength of his attraction for this stranger. When the stranger’s loud-mouthed friend proposes a way for Penn to see Em again, he takes it.

While Em comes with baggage—his eyes tell a story of pain and distrust—Penn isn’t one to shy away from a challenge, especially when his heart is so quickly getting tied up in the equation, and he’s prepared to break through Em’s walls and give him a chance to trust.

Product Link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-chanceattrust-1777720-149.html

Review: Chance at Trust started out very good. I loved all the characters. I really related with Em and his distrust after being in a very emotional abusive relationship for five year’s. Havan showed us deep inside that not all abuse has to be physical. I adored Joss, Em’s bossy, snarky best friend and hope to see his story someday as well.  I loved Penn and how he was so gentle yet insistent with Em to get him out of his shell.

My problem was the ending.  Just when things got really heated…bam! To be continued part two of Chance at Trust coming in June.

 Part two? I went back to the cover to Goodreads and everywhere to see if this was a serial. All I found was it’s a trilogy of A Chance of Life. In my opinion that means three different stories. If it’s said trilogy Chance of Trust then I may have understood that I wasn’t getting this full story so I was just left hanging and not like a cliffhanger. Now having said that I am not putting down serials or continuations…I would just like to know ahead of time. It felt so incomplete and left me wondering if this is a serial or what.  I would have still read the story. I am looking forward to see how things go with Em and Penn.

If you like stories with continuations, a touch of angst, stories with a deep message(emotional abuse), sexy men, snarky best friends, a touch of humor and some sweet yet spicy man-sex this is for you.

Check out the other blogs on the blog tour