Hi peeps! We have J.M. Dabney stopping by today with the blog tour for her latest Brawlers release Hunter, we have a great excerpt, a brilliant giveaway and my review so check out the post and click that giveaway link! <3 ~Pixie~

Hunter

(Brawlers 04)

J.M. Dabney

WELCOME TO BRAWLERS BAR…

If there was a way to destroy his life, Hunter Black could do it. He was a catastrophe waiting to happen. Survival was his only priority and having to leave his old life behind meant a job of the legal variety. He’d found one as a bartender at Brawlers Bar and a safe place in a huge house with the rest of the bar crew who quickly became the family he’d never had. The one thing Hunter didn’t need was his old life tracking him down.

Deputy Wren Gramble hated his job and his weekend assignment of staking out a bar in the middle of nowhere waiting for drunks. Although he’d heard the homophobic and racist jokes going around about the crew and customers, he kept his head down and stuck to his job and nothing else. He despised being driven back into the closet, but he’d reached the end of the line, and he didn’t know what he’d do if he earned another transfer.

Linus Trenton was considered the normal one in his family and according to the weird ones that meant he should be punished daily. He never came out one way or another, if he found someone attractive, he was attracted. His life was complicated enough having a crush on the sweet and awkward Hunter, but now he had to throw Wren into the mix. Linus didn’t have time for dating or romance, most of the time he didn’t even think about having a sex life. Although, Wren and Hunter were ruining his calm.

Hunter was in lust with the handsome deputy the minute the man pulled him over, but a man like that wouldn’t give him the time of day. His friend, Linus, was another matter altogether. Hunter wanted both. His bosses made it work with their man, why couldn’t he? Could Hunter prove he wasn’t as much of a screw up as he appeared or would he have to call in backup to claim his men?

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Excerpt!

Hunter Black opened his calendar app and inputted his accident list of the day. His large hands quickly tapped the screen.

Accident 1: Stabbed himself with a corkscrew

Accident 2: Squirted lemon juice into my eye.

Accident 3: Possible concussion from tripping over air.

Fourth and Final: I walked into a brass knuckle enforced punch thrown by his coworker Psycho.

He was a fuck up, he knew it, and everyone else did too. He straddled his bike in the empty parking lot of Brawlers Bar where he worked. All he wanted was one damn day where he didn’t attempt to kill himself.

From the moment he took his first step it was downhill from there. By the time he was five, his medical record was an inch thick. Burns, broken bones, accidents big and small. Inside the manila folder didn’t always give the truth. Not all his wounds were accidents. His parents loathed the odd child they had been cursed with, and they showed him just how unwanted he was.

All he had wanted was their love. Instead, he received pain and fear. When his I.Q. was tested, he had become more of an oddity. At sixteen, he’d graduated from high school and headed to college, homeless.

He turned his phone off and slipped it into his jacket pocket. Hunter raised his hands and slipped his reading glasses off. He didn’t want to remember, that wasn’t this life anymore, and he had new family and friends. A home he wouldn’t have to worry about losing. Warm and never hungry. He shook his head and glanced around the parking lot.

Scary and Tank’s bikes were still parked in their reserved spots, their husband Elijah was inside with them. Everyone else already left for the night. He picked up his helmet where it was balanced between his thighs and lifted it to pull it on.

The Sheriff’s cruiser was still parked across the street. Local law enforcement loved to give them shit, but he’d noticed the same deputy assigned every weekend for at least the last year. Crave said the guy seemed cool and didn’t give them shit, the only people he’d pulled over were visibly drunk when they started their vehicles. He closed the visor and started his bike, he pulled out slowly and headed toward home.

He slowed even more as he passed the deputy. The interior of the car was dark so he couldn’t see what the guy looked like. He didn’t know why he cared. He had another two years of probation, he didn’t need to be fucking with cops—even friendly ones. Once he was far enough away, he accelerated, and the deep growl of his engine brought a smile to his face.

It was the one place he felt free. He wasn’t Hunter Black the fuck up ex-con. When he’d been sixteen, a crew approached him. It was a simple hack job. They just needed a few alarm systems deactivated. He could do that shit in his sleep. The money was easy, and he never went inside, just shut down the systems, and the crew took care of the rest. Except for the last job that went from bad to worse.

First degree Grand Theft charge on his eighteenth birthday. He’d taken one step into the building, one, Hunter hadn’t touched anything, and nothing was found on him except his laptop and phone. None of that mattered when the crew removed almost two hundred thousand in diamonds from a safe.

It was an old fucking cliché, eighteen and in his third year of college. Kid from a bad neighborhood making good, but his scholarship only went so far, and he had to live. The full academic ride didn’t pay for a place to live or food. He fucked up like he always had and he’d paid for it with five years and another five years’ probation.

He liked the Brawlers Crew. He had a nice room and a job that paid well. Hunter wanted more, but what that was he didn’t know.

His headlight hit a set of eyes in the middle of the road, so he swerved to avoid hitting whatever it was. Which he learned was a mistake as flashing lights, and a siren rose above the sound of his engine.

Shit, his stomach had started twisting as he slowly pulled to the side. He kicked down the stand and removed his helmet. Just stay cool, Hunter, just explain—holy fuck, he turned his upper body almost completely around as he’d caught sight of the deputy. His compact body shown off in the uniform. The shirt strained across a broad muscled chest, and the short sleeves barely contained the mass of large biceps.

He must live in a gym. Hunter was big but genetics attributed to that, and he also sported a bit of a belly. His arms were covered in hair, but the deputy’s skin was smooth. The few men he’d hooked up with since his release complained about his hairy body. Why the fuck was he thinking about that? He was probably getting ready to be arrested.

“Sir, do you know why I pulled you over,” the deputy’s voice a soothing baritone.

Really, was that in the handbook to ask at every traffic stop? Don’t say it, Hunter, he ordered himself.

“I swerved.” He kept his answer short and to the point. If he learned one thing over his life, it was to keep his mouth shut around anyone with a badge.

“And why did you swerve?”

“My headlight caught on eyes in the middle of the road. I tried to avoid it.”

“Have you been drinking tonight, sir?”

“No, I was working, and I don’t drink.”

The deputy stepped closer and strong, broad features came into view. If not for the beard the guy looked young, maybe a few years older than his twenty-six.

“Can I see your license and registration?”

“Sure, I gotta reach into my backpack.”

“Go ahead.”

He tensed as he noticed the subtle move of the deputy repositioning his left hand on his sidearm.

Hunter swung his pack off his shoulders and pulled it around to his lap. He opened the zipper and reached inside for his wallet. He took out the cards and handed them to the deputy. The man used the flashlight to check the information.

“Mr. Black, I’m going to let you go, but be careful. These back roads aren’t exactly safe this late.”

He was surprised the deputy didn’t call it in, but he wasn’t going to complain. The man would look closer at him if the deputy knew his background.

“Thank you.” He reached out to take his cards back and slid them back into his wallet then his bag.

Hunter zipped it and slipped his arms back into the straps.

“Have a good night, Mr. Black.”

“You too, be safe.” He didn’t know what made him say it, but it was already out, and he restarted his bike.

Hunter took off, speeding up to the limit and hoped to get home without another stop. Next time by a cop who wasn’t as friendly as the one he’d just pulled away from.

Brawlers series!

Crave (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK

Psycho (Book #2) Amazon US | Amazon UK

Bull (Book #3) Amazon US | Amazon UK

About J.M.!

J.M. Dabney is a multi-genre author who writes mainly LGBT romance and fiction. She lives with a constant diverse cast of characters in her head. No matter their size, shape, race, etc. she lives for one purpose alone, and that’s to make sure she does them justice and give them the happily ever after they deserve. J.M. is dysfunction at its finest and she makes sure her characters are a beautiful kaleidoscope of crazy. There is nothing more she wants from telling her stories than to show that no matter the package the characters come in or the damage their pasts have done, that love is love. That normal is never normal and sometimes the so-called broken can still be amazing.

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Giveaway!

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Review

Title: Hunter

Series: Brawlers 04

Author: J.M. Dabney

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Novella (160pgs)

ISBN: 978-0-9988203-9-2

Publisher: Hostile Whispers Press (13^th June 2017)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 3 ½ Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Welcome to Brawlers Bar…

If there was a way to destroy his life, Hunter Black could do it. He was a catastrophe waiting to happen. Survival was his only priority and having to leave his old life behind that meant a job of the legal variety. He’d found one as a bartender at Brawlers Bar and a safe place in a huge house with the rest of the bar crew who quickly became the family he’d never had. The one thing Hunter didn’t need was his old life tracking him down.

Deputy Wren Gramble hated his job and his weekend assignment of staking out a bar in the middle of nowhere waiting for drunks. Although he’d heard the homophobic and racist jokes going around about the crew and customers, he kept his head down and stuck to his job and nothing else. He despised being driven back into the closet, but he’d reached the end of the line and what he’d do if he earned another transfer he didn’t know.

Linus Trenton was considered the normal one in his family and according to the weird ones that meant he should be punished daily. He never came out one way or another, if he found someone attractive he was attracted. His life was complicated enough having a crush on the sweet and awkward Hunter but now he had to throw Wren into the mix. Linus didn’t have time for dating or romance, most of the time he didn’t even think about having a sex life, although, Wren and Hunter were ruining his calm.

Purchase Link: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Review: This book is part of a series and is best read in order.

Hunter is quiet, he doesn’t think much of himself and he is very accident prone so when Wren shows an interest in him he hasn’t got a clue what he should do. Wren has been watching Hunter from afar, he plucks up the courage to ask Hunter out and he discovers that there’s another man who has his eye on Hunter. Linus has wanted Hunter for a couple of years but has held off approaching him, now with the deputy sniffing around Hunter Linus needs a dash of Dutch courage to break the cycle of just being friends with Hunter.

This is a great story that has a dash of danger. Hunter is a really sweet character who has no confidence in himself and thinks of himself as a fuck-up. Wren seems like a stand up type of guy, he likes being a deputy but could live without some of his colleagues. Linus is the more normal one in his family, he doesn’t believe in monogamy but he’s wanted Hunter for some time he’s hidden his interest thinking that Hunter isn’t interested in him.

What we have with this story is three men who desperately need to be loved, finding each other and forming a relationship between the three of them. They all have their own worries especially with Linus’ really dangerous job (you’d think the deputy’s job would be more dangerous but you’d be sadly mistaken). Their relationship sparks quite quickly once they get over that there are three of them interested in each other, but insecurity still plagues Hunter.

Danger comes in the form of the Sheriff, who has a hard-on for the Brawlers; the Sheriff is a bigot and hates the rough Brawlers and targets them as much as he can. We get a bit of excitement when Linus is asked to work his magic and help the State police investigate the corrupt Sheriff.

This story really should be read after reading the Twirled World Ink series and the other Brawlers stories believe me, this is the first book that I’ve read by J.M. Dabney and for the first couple of chapters I felt kind of lost as there were a lot of characters from the first three books and then in later chapters from the Twirled World Ink series so I felt really lost because I didn’t have a clue who these people were of what connection they had to each other.

The actual story is interesting; we get some danger and a touch of action. We also have a great ménage romance between Hunter, Linus and Wren which is pretty hot. I must admit that there wasn’t a great deal of relationship building but it was still good. While the title is Hunter, I actually felt it was more about Linus. I mean while we get a general overview of Hunter we actually find out more about Linus and seem to spend more time in Linus’ view point than Hunter’s.

I recommend this to those who love characters who need hard loving, a great storyline and a really happy ending.