Hi peeps, we have A.M. Arthur popping in with her new release Say It Right, we have a great exclusive excerpt, a fantastic giveaway and Aerin’s review, so check out the post and click that giveaway link <3 ~Pixie~

Say It Right

A.M. Arthur

After his parents kicked him out for being gay, Marc Villegas lived on the streets before getting a second chance. Now he’s giving back by working at a shelter for LGBT teenagers—because helping fight their demons keeps his own at bay. Including his infatuation with the former best friend he’s sure is straight.

Anthony Romano hasn’t seen Marc since Marc left home eight years ago. In his confidant’s absence, Anthony turned to heroin. Now at rock bottom, he has an offer from Marc to help him get clean. Detox is hard and ugly, but not as hard as admitting the truth: he’s in love with Marc. Always has been.

Marc swore he’d never date an addict, but he never dreamed the one in question would be the man he’s always wanted to be with. As the two explore their feelings for each other, Marc faces a difficult choice. Say yes, and it could cost him his sobriety; say no, and it could cost him his heart.

Excerpt

Anthony was in hell. Actual, real hell, and it was one of his own making.

Medicated detox in rehab was one thing, but going cold turkey with nothing to wean him off?

H.E.L.L.

Knowing Marcos was there helped, though. Marcos never seemed to leave his side, tucking in blankets and wiping his face. Holding the barf bucket. Changing sheets a lot. Holding him down when he tried to leave because he really needed a hit right fucking now.

This was dope-sick times infinity, and it lasted forever, until Anthony really, truly wanted to die. And then he woke up and it wasn’t as awful. He napped a lot after that, between feeling sick and nibbling on crackers and dry toast. Always Marcos. Sometimes Maddy, but she was less important.

Marcos had come back.

Anthony woke again feeling less sick. Mostly exhausted. He stretched sore limbs and brushed something warm nearby. Glanced over.

Marcos was asleep on the other half of the bed. He was on his side, facing Anthony, and he looked amazing. Marcos had filled out, put on some muscle. His dark hair was cut short, and his chin and cheeks held a few days’ worth of scruff. As beautiful as he’d always been.

A knight in shining winter coat who’d strode into the mess Anthony had made of his life and saved him from it.

Once you’re on your feet, he’ll leave again.

And that was okay. Anthony didn’t deserve Marcos. Not anymore. Maybe he never had, because Marcos had been strong enough to stand up for himself and admit what he was to the world, while Anthony hid. He hid from the truth and ignored his own feelings, and when those feelings became toxic, he numbed them with drugs. He’d made a complete and utter disaster of his life, and once Marcos saw that, he’d tell Anthony to leave.

I should go. Save him the trouble.

Only, sitting up felt like too much of an impossibility, much less walking to the bedroom door. He was tired and shaky and kind of hungry, despite the rolling nausea deep in his gut. He did, however, have to piss something awful, and fuzzy memories of Marcos pushing his dick into a bottle so he could pee made his face flush hot.

Not again. He’d fucking crawl to the bathroom.

He glanced around the small bedroom, which had no real style or decorations. The water stains on the ceiling and faded wallpaper suggested old housing, and the half-drawn curtain blocked out a lot of light and the view of wherever he’d ended up. There were two doors. The room’s smaller, closed door was narrow and warped and probably a closet, which meant the bathroom was in the hall.

Anthony rolled onto his side, toward the edge of the bed. Marcos snuffled in his sleep. Fingers lightly brushed Anthony’s lower back. He wanted to press into that touch, to encourage Marcos to touch him anywhere he wanted to.

Don’t. He doesn’t want you, he’s probably dreaming.

His insides wobbled all over the place as he sat up, resettling into a vertical alignment after being horizontal for fuck knew how long. Days, at least. The wood floor was cold beneath his bare feet, which he got firmly situated before levering up. Up.

Standing. Standing was good.

The world tilted, went gray, and Anthony hit the ground in an ungraceful heap. His elbow cracked off the hard wood, sending a jolt straight to his shoulder, and he shouted a few choice words in Spanish.

“What?” Marcos was kneeling next to him in an instant, those familiar dark eyes wide with fright. “Tone? You okay?”

“Fell.” Like Marcos couldn’t see that for himself.

“Why were you getting up?”

“Have to piss.”

Marcos frowned. “You could have woken me.”

For some reason, that made Anthony’s rebellious side sit up and take notice. “I’m not a child.”

“No, you’re a fucking drug addict coming down from a hard detox. This isn’t the flu, okay? Your body is flushing out some pretty toxic shit, and you’re going to feel it for a while.”

He grunted at Marcos. “Thank you, Dr. Villegas. I’ve been here before, okay?”

“Yeah, Maddy told me.”

Great, his little sister told his former best friend all about the many times Anthony had fucked up his life and hurt his family. Perfect.

“Christ, you’re still as stubborn as you used to be,” Marcos said. “Will you stop pouting and let me help you to the bathroom?”

“Fine.” Anthony didn’t have the energy to argue that he wasn’t pouting, or that his bladder was a few minutes away from releasing, no matter where Anthony was parked.

About A.M. Arthur

A.M. Arthur was born and raised in the same kind of small town that she likes to write about, a stone’s throw from both beach resorts and generational farmland.  She’s been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long, in a losing battle to make the fictional voices stop.  She credits an early fascination with male friendships (bromance hadn’t been coined yet back then) with her later discovery of and subsequent love affair with m/m romance stories. 

When not exorcising the voices in her head, she toils away in a retail job that tests her patience and gives her lots of story fodder.  She can also be found in her kitchen, pretending she’s an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments. 

Contact her at am_arthur@yahoo.com with your cooking tips (or book comments).

Where to find the author:

Facebook Author Page |  Twitter |  Pinterest |  Tumblr | Blog

Giveaway!

Win ebook copies of Come What May and Say It Right!

A.M. Arthur Rafflecopter giveaway!

Review

Title: Say It Right

Series: All Saints #2

Author: A.M. Arthur

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Novel (260pgs)

Publisher: Carina Press (September 12th 2016)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 hearts

Blurb: After his parents kicked him out for being gay, Marc Villegas lived on the streets before getting a second chance. Now he’s giving back by working at a shelter for LGBT teenagers—because helping fight their demons keeps his own at bay. Including his infatuation with the former best friend he’s sure is straight.

Anthony Romano hasn’t seen Marc since Marc left home eight years ago. In his confidant’s absence, Anthony turned to heroin. Now at rock bottom, he has an offer from Marc to help him get clean. Detox is hard and ugly, but not as hard as admitting the truth: he’s in love with Marc. Always has been.

Marc swore he’d never date an addict, but he never dreamed the one in question would be the man he’s always wanted to be with. As the two explore their feelings for each other, Marc faces a difficult choice. Say yes, and it could cost him his sobriety; say no, and it could cost him his heart.

Book two of the All Saints series

ISBN: B01ERP4IKQ

Product Link: http://www.carinapress.com/shop/books/9781459294363_say-it-right.html

Reviewer: Aerin

Review: Say It Right is a dark, heavy, gritty book, exactly what you’d expect from characters who are both drug addicts. This book wasn’t easy to read, and the struggles the characters face are heart wrenching, but it’s so, so worth it! I loved this book for everything that it had the potential to be, but wasn’t… it wasn’t too angsty, the characters were not tortured or made to face hard to believe struggles, and it wasn’t dramatic.

We met Mark in the first book in this series; along with Tate and a third partner, they opened All Saints LGBT shelter that helps keep homeless LGBT teens off the streets. Mark has a dark past that was hinted to and we know he is HIV positive, but Mark is a very closed-off individual, and not much was revealed about him. Mark became a homeless teen after his parents kicked him out for being gay; this seems to be a frequent topic in MM books and something that unfortunately happens too often in real life. Mark lost his family, his safety and his best friend Anthony (Tone) who’s very straight and who Mark has been crushing on for years.

After a couple of years spent on the streets doing whatever he needed to keep himself fed and alive, Mark got a second chance. He stopped using drugs, stopped drinking and bettered his life the best he could, but the scars run deep and certain things are hard to forget.

Anthony hasn’t seen or heard from Mark since he left home over 8 years ago. Mark’s absence was something Anthony couldn’t deal with, because Mark was the most important person in Anthony’s life, and without him the truths he had to face were too harsh. Anthony turned to heroin to forget and numb the pain, and became an addict that two stunts in rehab couldn’t help. Now Mark and Anthony’s sister find him on the streets and Anthony gets a second chance he intends to grab with both hands and never let go. Being with the man he’s always wanted is not going to be easy, and Mark makes it clear that Anthony needs to prove himself worthy of his trust and has to stay clean of drugs.

I loved how the characters interacted with each other; their relationship takes a long time to flow from friends to lovers, and that’s so understandable all things considered; I truly expected nothing else because anything else wouldn’t have worked. Both Mark and Anthony are flawed and each has a ton of baggage from the past, but they’re written so beautifully and seem so real, you can’t help but be fully invested in their relationship and lives, and root for them all the way to the end.

What I love most about this series is the awareness it brings to the situation homeless LGBT teens face every day, how many struggles they go through, and how much even a little bit of our contributions can help. This book makes you want to do something to help, reach out to others, contribute in whatever means you can, be it by volunteering or donations. There’s this feeling of hope that I’m not used to getting from Arthur’s books; little things that happen, like Anthony beating his addiction and bettering himself, a homeless teen being accepted back into his family, friends helping each other and having each other’s backs, make this book light and hopeful even during the dark and heavy times.

I stand by my statement I’ve made after reading Come What May that this is the best series Arthur has written so far. I’m looking forward to the next book, I think it’s going to be amazing!