Thank you for hosting me on my first ever blog tour!
Although I have put out five previous books and three short stories, I have never done a blog tour before where I am visiting a different blog every day. I am quite excited! Be sure to follow me on social media to see where I will be each day!
PIECES OF US
“Into the lake?”
“Into the lake.”
For Jesse Stetson, a boy who knows he is different and Dylan Sterling, Jesse’s best friend, Sander’s Lake has served as a sort of scrapbook for them with sentimental items being dropped into the lake from their dock after significant events in their lives.
Life in 1988 was different from today. A boy and a girl being best friends were uncommon. Not that Jesse or Dylan cared, they had each other and that’s all that mattered. Or so Jesse wished. While Dylan has been meeting and dating guys, Jesse has yet to find the same connection with a girl. The closest he’s come is Dylan, but she’s a girl and a friend not a girlfriend. Jesse is struggling with his feelings and trying his hardest to be normal.
Dylan and Jesse are growing up and possibly growing apart. Dylan has a new boyfriend and is now splitting her time between him and Jesse. To further complicate things, Jesse meets Orion, a new boy in town. Jesse knows that his feelings towards Orion must be wrong, yet it feels so right. Even if Orion feels about Jesse the same way that Jesse feels about him, should they act on their attraction?
This story is a journey of friendship and discovery, finding out who you are as a person, and then being okay with who you are.
Title: Awakenings Series: Part of the Goodreads M/M Romance Group ‘Love Landscapes’ Author: Jayson James Genre: Coming of Age/Gay for You Length: Novella (45 pages) Publisher: Goodreads M/M Romance Group (June 2nd, 2014) Heat Level: Mild Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 hearts Reviewer: Tams Blurb:Dear Author,
I’d always considered myself sort of asexual up until now. In high school, no one interested me and I was too busy with schoolwork to date anyway. I figured I didn’t have a big sex drive or I just hadn’t met the right girl. However, the more time I spend with my roommate, Ben, the more I’m reconsidering everything.
The more he walks around half-dressed the more I keep noticing him. Even if I am attracted to him, who I’m not sure that I am, I don’t think he would be into me. He seems like the type of guy that girls flock to. He couldn’t be interested in me, could he?
Requests: Clearly, I’m angling for a gay-for-you here, folks! It can be a double or single GFY, lots of sexual tension (please!), slow build romance, lots of heat. I would rather no BDSM but some light stuff wouldn’t bother me.
Photo Description:
The photo is of a muscular guy in his early 20’s with smooth tan skin and dark brown hair that is combed back to spike up. He is standing behind a vacuum cleaner in a pair of blue boxer briefs with a grin on his face in what appears to be a bedroom and the picture seems to be candid.
This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s “Love’s Landscapes” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo, prompt that spoke to them, and wrote a short story.
This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.
Review: Solomon, Solo, has never really identified himself as being gay. He’s never had a boyfriend, or a girlfriend for that matter. He has dated girls, held hands, and even kissed one once. But more so to fit in with what his friends in school were doing. When he gets to college, he and his roommate instantly click and become best friends. Just normal guy stuff at the start. But then Solo finds himself noticing Ben more and more, little things, like the fact that Ben prefers being naked to clothed.
Ben is an exhibitionist of sorts. At least, where his roommate is concerned. I don’t think he intentionally tried to get a rise out of Solo. He’s just not ashamed of his body and enjoys the attention that people pay it. Over time, though something grows inside him. He finds himself attracted to Solo. Where the two have always been very flirtatious by nature, it’s never been a serious attraction or invitation to Solo to pursue. But late night mutual jack off sessions and some pretty sexy dreams are about to change all that.
I’m not entirely convinced that this is a GFY story. I think this is more of a story of two young men that identify as being attracted to each other, and that coupled with the strong bond of friendship, love and trust that they have for each other already just make that next step a no brainer.
Jayson James writing style is not for everyone. It’s very raw, realistic and young at heart. While there were a few things lacking here and there throughout the story, overall I loved the way these characters were portrayed. And for the reviewers complaining about the lack of sex, you do realize that James writes Gay YA, don’t you? Not every book in the genre has to be full of lust and passion. Sometimes young men are just getting their footing and wrapping their brain around their attraction to another guy.
Great job Jayson! Loved the story, loved the cover and I can’t wait to see more from these two young men.
Hey guys, Jayson James has joined us today to give us a brief flash of his newest release T.E.D. He is having a release weekend party so check it out, visit the links and click away for chances to win some great prizes 🙂 ~Pixie~
Click for Giveaway: http://jaysonjamesbooks.blogspot.co.uk/p/giveaway.html
From the author of the Finding Our Way series comes a new story.
Tim is being bullied. No one in high school wants to be known as a tattle-tale and to do so would only make things rougher for him. The repercussions would most likely make him an outcast, and without any friends.
Eric is frustrated with life. His parents are overbearing and if they ever knew the person he really was, they would throw him out of their house. His friends are not much better, they only like him when he is who they expect him to be.
Delsin is gay and ready to come out. Unfortunately, life at home is on the brink of falling apart with his parents constant fighting. Admitting the truth could bring his whole world crashing down around him.
Each of these three needs to decide whether the risks of being honest about who they are outweighs the importance of being true to themselves. This could mean ruining life as each of them knows it. Maybe it is better to remain miserable in order to play it safe. On the other hand, doing nothing doesn’t seem to work either.
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc. (January 27th, 2013)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥4.5Hearts
Blurb: Justin and Derrick have a secret that they revealed only to their closest friends. They are gay and are now a couple. The story of Justin and Derrick continues as they learn more about being a gay couple in their senior year of high school and the complications that arise from it. Some friends will have their backs while others simply stand on the sidelines. Other friends will be accepting and others will ridicule them.
Sometimes love is almost not enough to save a relationship and both Derrick and Justin begin to have their doubts as they watch relationships around them rise and fall. Justin and Derrick both want to have new experiences, new choices and make new friends, which leads to them questioning their own relationship. They soon discover that some of the people they consider friends have their own secrets, some darker than others. The couple begins to see how people react towards homosexuality and just how people want to deal with it and them.
Will Justin and Derrick be able to hold onto each other while their lives and secrets spiral around them?
Or will they decide to step back and give up on themselves and each other?
Review: Oh no! Oh yes! I loved this novel. This story is told in three points of view, Hayden’s Derrick’s and Justin’s. To some, that might be a little confusing, but it’s not. When there is a skip of one point of view to the other, the story flows smoothly. It does not go back and retell what you just read. At first, I found it hard to know in whose point of view I was, but when I catch on, I loved the story from beginning to end.
My favorite character was Hayden. I loved the little kid. He was straight and friends with the gay guys in school. His best friend Ryan has a little crush on him. A little? He falls for the guy! Who wouldn’t? He was awesome! At first, Hayden freaks. Name a straight guy that wouldn’t, right? After he calms down, he seeks Ryan and tries to fix their friendship which he does. Those two stay as friend and I liked that.
Derrick and Justin were awesome. I liked their love story, but Hayden stole the show. I hated Kristian. He was mean and unlikeable. I hope he gets what he deserves in book three. The plot was good, but the story was a little too long for me. I liked the fact that I felt like a fly on the wall throughout the novel. I truly felt like if I was eavesdropping on their conversation and a part of the gang by the end of the book.
In a nutshell, the story and characters were great and likeable. I recommend this novel to anyone who wants to read about a group of friends as they make their way through life.
