Hiya guys, we have Karen Stivali stopping by again with her latest release Moment of Impact, we have a great excerpt, a fantastic giveaway and Tams review for you to enjoy, so enjoy the post and click that Rafflecopter link <3 ~Pixie~
Moment of Impact
Karen Stivali
Outside Collin Fitzpatrick’s dorm room is a dangerous place. Beyond his door the students of his small, conservative college think he’s straight, as does his Catholic family who’d disown him if they learned the truth. Inside, he’s safe with his incredibly sexy roommate Tanner D’Amico. Their room makes a perfect place to hide away and fall in love. The moment they cross the line from roommates to lovers, Collin becomes caught between their heavenly passionate encounters and the hellish reality that someone might find out and destroy everything. Tanner’s not used to being so confined, and wants to show the world how much he loves Collin. But Collin’s not sure he’s ready for the impact stepping outside will make.
Excerpt
I was still fiddling with the power button when I saw Tanner. Well, I saw his shoes. Before I rounded the corner, I spotted them through the empty row on the bottom bookcase. Navy blue Chucks, no laces, crossed over each other. My heart beat double time as he came into full view. He was half leaning, half sitting on the edge of my table, arms behind him in a way that made every vein and muscle in his forearms stand out. I could barely swallow my mouthful of Sprite.
“Hey,” I whispered, even though there was no one at any of the nearby tables.
“Hey.”
“What’s up?”
He shrugged, shoulders bunching up to his ears, hair falling over one eye. “Had to return a book. Figured you’d be up here.”
“Yeah. I’ve got—” What? What have I got? No reason whatsoever to have spent half the night in the library other than the fact that I was avoiding going home. “—stuff due soon.”
Tanner nodded.
I tried to keep my voice casual. “I thought you and Wendy might have wanted some time alone too.”
One dark brow popped high on his forehead. “Why’d you think that?”
My cheeks heated—I’d blushed more in the past day than in the past six months. “She didn’t come over last night. You know… every Monday… I figured since you skipped a night you might want to, I don’t know, make up for it.”
Tanner raked a hand through his hair, then braced his arm behind himself again. “She left a few minutes after you did.”
“She did?”
“Yep. The only reason she came over was to help me get the room clean for your mom.”
My jaw dropped. “What do you mean?”
“She stopped by the book store and said she’d run into you on the bus and that you looked frazzled. Her word.”
“Wait, you worked today?”
“Yeah, we all switched our shifts around because of midterms last week.”
“Oh.” So he hadn’t left our room to avoid me. I felt like an ass.
“Anyway, she said you’d locked your keys in the room, and I remembered you said your mom was coming. Then I got home, and the place was still trashed, so I called for backup. I threw all the laundry in the wash, and she helped me straighten up.”
“You did my laundry?”
“Just the bed stuff.”
“Wow.” I can’t believe he did all that.
“After the stuff you told me last night, I figured it was probably kind of important to you.”
“It was. It is. Thank you.”
“I owe you at least a load of laundry for all the food you bring me.”
A smile tugged at my lips, but something still nagged at me. “What about Wendy?”
“She said it was worth it for those cookies.”
“No, I mean did she, like, ask anything? Like why….” I was too scared to complete the question.
“Don’t freak out, okay?” Tanner’s eyes scanned mine.
Of course I started freaking out. My heart drummed in my ears again. “What?”
“Wendy kind of knows what happened. With us.”
Every bit of oxygen left my body. If there hadn’t been a bookcase for me to lean on, I probably would’ve fallen over. “Knows….”
Tanner looked at the floor for what felt like a decade, then looked up at me through his dark hair. “She didn’t come over last night because I’d told her I was into someone else.”
He might as well have punched me in the gut. Someone else? So it’s not Wendy I have to worry about, it’s someone else? “You are?”
His eyes met mine, and I forced myself not to look away. “You. I told her I was into you.”
About Karen
Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies, and fictional British men. She’s also the multiple award-winning author of contemporary and erotic romances. Her lifelong fascination with people has led her to careers ranging from hand-drawn animator, to party planner, to marriage and family counselor, but writing has always been her passion. Karen enjoys nothing more than following her characters on their journey toward love. Whether the couples are m/f or m/m, it’s guaranteed that Karen’s novels are filled with food, friendship, love, and smoking hot sex—all the best things in life.
When Karen isn’t writing (and often when she is), she can be found on Twitter attempting witty banter and detailing the antics of her fruit-loving cat, BadKitteh. She loves to hear from readers (and other writers), so don’t hesitate to contact/follow/like her at:
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Review
Title: Moment of Impact
Series: Moments in Time 01
Author: Karen Stivali
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult
Length: Novella (110 pages)
ISBN: 978-1-63216-478-0
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 7th 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Reviewer: Tams
Blurb: Outside Collin Fitzpatrick’s dorm room is a dangerous place. Beyond his door the students of his small, conservative college think he’s straight, as does his Catholic family who’d disown him if they learned the truth. Inside, he’s safe with his incredibly sexy roommate Tanner D’Amico. Their room makes a perfect place to hide away and fall in love. The moment they cross the line from roommates to lovers, Collin becomes caught between their heavenly passionate encounters and the hellish reality that someone might find out and destroy everything. Tanner’s not used to being so confined, and wants to show the world how much he loves Collin. But Collin’s not sure he’s ready for the impact stepping outside will make.
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5855
Review: Collin Fitzpatrick was raised by a devoutly Catholic mother with some odd rules on how to keep her kids on the straight and narrow. Even away from his mom, his family and the church, Collin still feels strange expressing himself in certain ways. He never really thought about another guy in that way until he watches his roommate and best friend Tanner one night, alone in their dorm room, in the dark.
In just one night, everything changes, and while Collin knows how he feels about Tanner, he doesn’t want to share it with anyone outside the confines of their safe space in their room. Collin’s fear of what their friends and his family will think and unwillingness to acknowledge what Tanner is to him causes strife between them, and just when Collin figures out Tanner is worth it, worth whatever the outcome may be, an accident forces his hand.
I was quickly engrossed in this story, the characters were thankfully flawed and relatable. There was a lot of content, just the right balance of tension and angst, and a whole lot of passion. I especially enjoyed the awkwardness Collin displayed in the beginning. Between his upbringing and his inexperience you would expect him to fumble his way through early on, and that is exactly what he did. Stivali is a new Author for me but I was really amazed with her writing chops. She has this ability to draw you into the story and the lives of these characters, get you rooting for Collin and Tanner, hoping they learn to navigate their new found romance.
Definitely a must read… short, sexy and steamy, too short! But thankfully, the next two books are teased at the end so I know there is more to come, just not soon enough.
