Insight by Santino Hassell Blog Tour, Excerpt, Review & Giveaway!

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Hi peeps, we have Santino Hassell stopping by today with his new release Insight, we have a great excerpt, a fantastic giveaway and Aerin’s review, so check out the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! <3 ~Pixie~

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Insight

(The Community 01)
by

Santino Hassell

Growing up the outcast in an infamous family of psychics, Nate Black never learned how to control his empath abilities. Then after five years without contact, his estranged twin turns up dead in New York City. The claim of suicide doesn’t ring true, especially when a mysterious vision tells Nate it was murder. Now his long-hated gift is his only tool to investigate. 

Hitching from his tiny Texas town, Nate is picked up by Trent, a gorgeous engineer who thrives on sarcasm and skepticism. The heat that sparks between them is instant and intense, and Nate ends up trusting Trent with his secrets—something he’s never done before. But once they arrive in the city, the secrets multiply when Nate discovers an underground supernatural community, more missing psychics, and frightening information about his own talent.

Nate is left questioning his connection with Trent. Are their feelings real, or are they being propelled by abilities Nate didn’t realize he had? His fear of his power grows, but Nate must overcome it to find his brother’s killer and trust himself with Trent’s heart.

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Excerpt

Words were nothing. Words were harmless. They didn’t compare to fists and kicks. Nothing compared to physical pain. Nate had known that since high school, since being jumped multiple times, since bloodied noses and the clatter of lockers every time they’d slammed his face into one. But knowing that didn’t stop the anger. Or the desire to tell the truth.

It wasn’t Nate who’d given them a cue. It wasn’t Nate they’d taken turns on.

“This is sort of a weird-ass convo for a liquor store, don’t you think?”

Nate’s stare jerked over Eric’s shoulder to see a really hot dark-haired guy watching them. His warm blue eyes were cut sideways at Eric, and his mouth was twisted down. Nate had almost forgotten there was another customer in the store.

“Oh. Hi.” Smooth, Black. “Sorry. My stalker was just leaving.”

Eric glared. “Seriously, Nate?”

“Seriously, Eric. Get the fuck out and let me do my job.”

Eric looked like he wanted to argue, but he glanced over his shoulder to take stock of the newcomer and seemed to think better of it. They were the same height, but while Eric was brawnier, the stranger seemed . . . tougher. Maybe the way he held himself, the curl of his lips as he stared Eric down, or the fact that he clearly wasn’t intimidated. At all. Which usually meant a person could hold their own.

“Come on, bro. You’re slowing me down.”

Eric sneered but kept his mouth shut through the rest of the transaction. It was only when he grabbed his bag, and their fingertips brushed, did his animosity seep into Nate through the mental channel he couldn’t close no matter how hard he tried. The vibes were so strong it roiled Nate’s stomach. He jerked his hand away, shuddering and cursing himself for not knowing how to control his own gift.

“Bye now, Eric.”

“Fuck you, fag.”

Nate said nothing and watched his tormenter storm out of the store. The stranger approached the counter and thumped down two bottles of white wine. Usually Nate could peg people’s drinking preferences based on their appearances, so he was surprised that this tall, broad man with the l33t-speak gamer T-shirt was planning to spend his Sunday night with two bottles of sauvignon blanc.

“Want me to kick his ass?”

A startled bark of a laugh escaped Nate. “No, that’s okay.”

“You sure? I like knocking around rednecks.”

“You do it a lot?”

“Mmm.” The guy made a seesaw motion with his hand. “I don’t usually get the chance, but I enjoy it when it happens.”

“You should get a new hobby.”

“Like listening to Dir en Grey?”

Surprised, Nate looked down at his own T-shirt. “You know who Dir en Grey is?”

“Sure. I saw them play when they came to New York a few years ago.”

“Oh.”

So that explained the accent. Nate tried to think of something else to say, maybe something about the Big Apple, but failed. He didn’t even know why he wanted to keep this conversation going. Maybe because the guy had pretty eyes and a cute smile, or maybe . . . because he was exuding vibes that felt like sunshine on a beach. Nate had never felt anything like it. Usually he had to touch someone to get an impression, but this guy was like a beacon of warmth.

Dropping his eyes, Nate grabbed the first bottle and scanned it.

“That’s a good book too.”

“You read paranormal romance?”

“Uh-huh.” He was starting to look amused. “Why are you so surprised?”

Because it was about gay psychics. He’d picked it out for purely narcissistic reasons, but it was well-written and kind of nice to read about people like him even if they were fake. And even if their powers were awesome and his was pathetically useless.

“It’s not exactly mainstream,” Nate said finally. “So most people don’t know about it.”

“Guess I’m cooler than most people.”

“Maybe.”

Nate finished scanning and bagging the bottles. He mumbled out a request for the guy’s credit card and ID, and tried to ignore the increased warmth flooding into him when their fingers grazed while passing the cards. It was rare to get good vibes from strangers. Often they were annoyed, impatient, angry, or anxious. For whatever reason, customers rarely gave off feelings that were healthy to absorb. It was part of what made this job so inconvenient. But this guy? Trenton Castille according to his ID? Nate felt nothing from him but curiosity, humor, and the buoyancy of a good mood. It was addictive. It made Nate want to touch him again so he could absorb more. Suck it in and make it his own. The very idea caught him off guard.

“Have a nice day, Nate.” Trenton grabbed the bag and flashed another cute smile. “If that dude’s still in the parking lot, I’m totally kicking his ass.”

If Eric was still in the parking lot, Nate was screwed.

“Thanks for trying to defend my honor.”

“No prob.”

Trenton looked at him a moment longer, then tapped his knuckles on the counter before walking out of the store. As soon as the bell rang to signal his exit, loss slammed into Nate. He didn’t know anything about Trenton except for the fact that he’d completely overshadowed Eric’s negative vibes. It was an oddity, and the first time Nate had ever benefitted from his empath talent. Normally he had more interest in shutting people out than inviting them in.

Flipping the counter up, he walked to the other side and hoped no other familiar faces showed up before the end of his shift. The idea of running into any one else from high school, or Eric coming back again with his overpowering feelings of loathing, made Nate want to vomit. Or break down and finally get someone in his family to teach him how to stop being a third-rate psychic.

Growing up, Nate’s mother had kept him and his twin brother away from the rest of the Blacks. It wasn’t until she’d vanished, and they’d been taken in by her brother and sister, had Nate realized the strange phenomena he and his twin shared—feeling emotions that didn’t belong to them, and Theo’s intuitiveness that went far beyond good instincts—weren’t unique to them, but were hereditary. It should have been exciting to learn they not only shared these traits with their family, but that their family was special. For Theo, it had been. But Aunt Eveline had had little interest in Nate’s piddly empath abilities, and her obsession with Theo becoming a powerful multitalented psychic had made Nate uncomfortable. Especially since that was what had started changing Theo into a manipulative asshole.

But now Nate was in his twenties and slowly being driven to reclusiveness by his inability to block the impressions he absorbed from others. Maybe it was time for things to change.

Maybe.

Nate popped in his second earbud and began facing the store. At the end of the first aisle, he reached for a toppled Captain Morgan display, but a wave of vertigo hit him. He threw out a hand to catch his balance and knocked over several bottles, sending them crashing to the floor. The sound of breaking glass filled the store and pain blazed up in an arc from his hand.

The spinning sensation intensified and the store swam around him as color drained from his vision. Time slowed, and his surroundings darkened further before winking out of existence entirely.

He knew he was blacking out, and he knew, somehow, that it wasn’t natural.

Nate’s knees weakened, and he felt himself falling. The darkness swallowed him, but only for a second. When it ended, and his eyes opened, his confusion and alarm turned into terror.

The liquor store was gone. Everything was gone.

He was outside and standing in the middle of a road. Above him was a night sky with no stars. Across the road, a murky body of water stretched out to distant, twinkling lights. To his left were concrete piers, and a mammoth gray ship was anchored further down. The air was cool, much cooler than the humid Texas climate would allow in June, and a sharp wind cut through his clothes.

He realized then that he wasn’t just standing on a road—it was a wide highway. The lanes were split by a broad, granite divider and dozens of cars rushed past on the opposite side. The breeze gusted again, briny and damp, stinging his eyes. Narrowing them against the wind, Nate looked around in awe. When he half turned to see over his shoulder, he shouted in alarm.

Headlights assaulted his vision, and Nate leaped out of the way. The side of the vehicle brushed his side, and he fell, knees slamming against the blacktop and teeth clicking together from the impact. With his palms pressed flat against the ground and breath coming in violent bursts, Nate looked up and around.

What the hell was happening?

Across the highway and beyond the squat buildings were enormous high-rises. They shot up into the starless sky, towering sentinels that dominated a place that was nothing like Brookside or Houston; nowhere Nate had never been to. Even so, there was something familiar about it . . .

Forcing himself to his feet, Nate rubbed his stinging hands together. He wanted to wake himself from this dream, but he started walking, destination unknown, through the night. Each footstep echoed in the darkness. It drew his attention downward, and Nate saw that his shorts and Chuck Taylors had been replaced by combat boots and skinny, black pants.

Breath coming faster, Nate started to jog down the sidewalk. When traffic halted beside him, he glanced at the line of cars. The tinted windows of a Dodge Charger showed his reflection clearly, and Nate froze, unable to immediately process what he was seeing.

The customary Black family features—blond hair and steel-gray eyes—were there, but the face, as much as it looked like him, wasn’t his. The jawline was identical to his, as were the broad shoulders and lanky build, but where Nate had built up muscle, his reflection was narrow and waifish. It also had much longer hair and lacked his tan and the scar.

It wasn’t his face staring back at him. It was Theo’s.

He reached out to touch his reflection just as a voice shouted in his head: Run.

Adrenaline jolted through his veins, but before Nate could move, the world blinked again.

Read more at: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/insight (just click the excerpt tab)

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About Santino!

Santino was raised by a conservative family, but he was anything but traditional. He grew up to be a smart-mouthed grunge kid, then a transient twentysomething, and eventually transformed into a guy who spends his days and nights writing romance with an edge.

Santino is a dedicated gamer, a former fanfic writer, an ASoIaF mega nerd, a Grindr enthusiast, but most of all he is a writer of LGBT fiction that is heavily influenced by the gritty, urban landscape of New York City, his belief that human relationships are complex and flawed, and his own life experiences.

Connect with Santino:

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Giveaway!

To celebrate the release of Insight, one lucky winner will receive $20 in Riptide credit!

(Just leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest.)
Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
(Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on March 18, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.)

Review

Santino Hassell - Insight CoverTitle: Insight

Series: The Community #1

Author: Santino Hassell

Genre: Paranormal, Mystery

Length: Novel (331pgs)

Publisher: Riptide Publishing (March 13th 2017)

Heat Level: HOT

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 hearts

Blurb: Growing up the outcast in an infamous family of psychics, Nate Black never learned how to control his empath abilities. Then after five years without contact, his estranged twin turns up dead in New York City. The claim of suicide doesn’t ring true, especially when a mysterious vision tells Nate it was murder. Now his long-hated gift is his only tool to investigate.

Hitching from his tiny Texas town, Nate is picked up by Trent, a gorgeous engineer who thrives on sarcasm and skepticism. The heat that sparks between them is instant and intense, and Nate ends up trusting Trent with his secrets—something he’s never done before. But once they arrive in the city, the secrets multiply when Nate discovers an underground supernatural community, more missing psychics, and frightening information about his own talent.

Nate is left questioning his connection with Trent. Are their feelings real, or are they being propelled by abilities Nate didn’t realize he had? His fear of his power grows, but Nate must overcome it to find his brother’s killer and trust himself with Trent’s heart.

ISBN: 9781626495067

Product Link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/insight

Reviewer: Aerin

Review: Holy shit, this book was EVERYTHING I could hope for and worlds more than I expected. I love a good mystery book, and while I’m very picky when it comes to the paranormal genre, Psy stuff is right up my alley! It’s like Santino read my mind and wrote the PERFECT book just for me! (Let me be delusional a little while longer!)

Nate Black came from a family of inbred psychics with a long history of mental illness and suicidal tendencies. When Nate’s estranged twin is found dead and his death is rules as a suicide, Nate has a hard time believing it. Sudden ‘dreams’ that allow him to see and feel his brother’s murder make Nate determined to go to New York and try to find his brother’s killer. Hitch-hiking is not a good idea and Nate rapidly realizes that his poorly developed empath abilities can be a blessing as much as a curse.

Narrowly escaping climbing into the wrong car, Nate is fortunate enough to be offered a ride by Trent, a young engineer whose honesty and sarcasm comes across as brash and somewhat insulting. The heat and chemistry that sparks between them is unlike anything I’ve ever encountered before. Can you imagine what happens when a psychic empath finds his soul mate, the one and only person who he can trust with his feelings and his secrets? Delve into this story and you’ll find a chemistry unlike any other, sex so hot it’s hard to wrap your head around it; a circuit of emotions and lust and pleasure that feeds off both men and loops from Nate to Trent and back until explosive orgasms will blow the reader’s mind right off. I’ve never felt dizzy after a sex scene before but I’m happy this book was my first.

Once arrived to New York, Nate discovers the existence of the Community and meets other people with psychic powers of all kinds. Elijah is a very flirty young man who used to be very good friends with Nate’s twin brother; Holden is a very lonely club owner who’s a good man at heart but who doesn’t think twice about using his persuasive powers to try to get into Nate’s pants; Chase is the most powerful of them all and my absolute favorite secondary character. I suspected Beck wasn’t as close to a void as she led them all to believe, and she was my least favorite of them all (that Bitch!).

This book is full of mystery and suspense and will most certainly keep you on edge. There’s never a dull moment, but the series of events never become overwhelming, they just flow naturally until this beautiful, crazy, suspenseful story is created. I loved everything about it!!! THAT EPILOGUE THOUGH… I loved seeing Trent and Nate happily together in California, but setup for the next book made me lose my damn mind. I need the second book right NOW!

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Check out the other blogs on the blog tour!

March 13, 2017 – Alpha Book Club
March 13, 2017 – Bayou Book Junkie
March 13, 2017 – Diverse Reader
March 13, 2017 – The Novel Approach
March 13, 2017 – Dog-Eared Daydreams
March 14, 2017 – Prism Book Alliance
March 14, 2017 – My Fiction Nook
March 14, 2017 – Keysmash Blog
March 15, 2017 – Joyfully Jay
March 15, 2017 – We Three Queens
March 15, 2017 – Two Chicks Obsessed
March 15, 2017 – Butterfly-O-Meter
March 15, 2017 – MM Good Book Reviews
March 16, 2017 – The Jeep Diva
March 16, 2017 – Love Bytes Reviews
March 16, 2017 – Erotica for All
March 16, 2017 – Booklover Sue
March 17, 2017 – Book Reviews and More by Kathy
March 17, 2017 – Boy Meets Boy Reviews
March 17, 2017 – Sinfully Gay Romance
March 17, 2017 – On Top Down Under
March 17, 2017 – OMG Reads

15 thoughts on “Insight by Santino Hassell Blog Tour, Excerpt, Review & Giveaway!

  1. Congrats on the new release, Santino. I love paranormal novels. Empaths is not you read about very often. The book sounds amazing.
    tankie44 at gmail dot com

  2. I liked the excerpt. Makes you want to read more.
    debby236 at gmail dot com

  3. This is an AMAZING novel and deffo one worth checking out for readers who like plot and romance.

    Mazingergirlie (at) gmail (dot) com

  4. thank you for the excerpt and the review. I love Santino’s books and I love paranormal genre, so Insight is a must read for me!
    susanaperez7140(at)gmail(dot)com

  5. I loved the excerpt! Thank you so much for sharing!
    ree.dee.2014 (at) gmail (dot) com

  6. Just finished Stygian, and now I am eager to read Insight (sort of related characters in both stories). creative {at} bymasselyn {dot} com

  7. Congrats and thanks for the post. The book sounds great, and I love gay mysteries and paranormal romances. Like Nate, I’m a transplanted Texan and root for the outcast/underdog as well. The only problem, more often than not, the underdog loses, but when he wins, yay!
    – TheWrote [at] aol [dot] com

  8. I love that the excerpt keeps getting bigger and better! Gotta admit, I’m a loser and had to lookup “i33t-speak”; a gamer I am not, lol. Weird because I use it in things like “$h¡t”, so I can swear and not get caught! Enjoying this tour immensely, and hope to catch up before it ends. Congrats to Santino on what looks to be another award-winning trilogy.

    nick442.nrs@gmail.com

  9. I’m reading Insight right now. I love everything Santino writes. 🙂
    lkbherring64(at)gmail(dot)com

  10. Sounds amazing! Would love to give it a try.
    psshepherd(at)earthlink(dot)net

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