Hi guys! We have Anna Martin popping in today with the tour for her new release The Color Of Summer, we have a great new excerpt and a fantastic giveaway so check out the post and enter the giveaway! ❤ ~Pixie~ p.s. keep an eye out for our review coming soon!

The Color of Summer

Anna Martin

Tattoo artist Max Marshall rushes into his hometown of Sweetwater, West Virginia—and is promptly pulled over for speeding. Max’s luck isn’t all bad, though, because he recognizes the deputy, Tyler Reed, Max’s childhood best friend’s older brother.

Reconnecting with Tyler helps Max settle back in, and it also leads to attraction. But when he tries to explore that connection at the grand opening of his tattoo studio—by kissing Tyler—awkwardness ensues. Max wants more, but has he misread Tyler’s signals?

As a single father raising a six-year-old daughter, Tyler doesn’t have much time to date. He’s ignored his attraction to men for years, but he can’t stop thinking about the kiss he shared with Max. If he can handle the complications of dating in a small town and the possible consequences to his career, this romance could blossom with all the colors of summer.

Excerpt!

“JUNIPER, WE are leaving this house in five minutes,” Tyler yelled. “Put your shoes on right now!”

Instead of any verbal answer, he got a loud thud from the top of the stairs. Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to ten. Then he went back into the kitchen to finish packing their lunches and at the last minute remembered to grab a packet of chicken from the freezer to defrost so they’d have something to eat for dinner. He didn’t know what he was going to do with the chicken yet; that was a dilemma for later.

“Juniper!” he yelled again as he exited the kitchen.

“I’m right here, Dad.”

“Oh,” he said, practically stumbling to a stop.

His daughter had taken to dressing herself now she was in first grade, with varying levels of success. Today she was wearing gray leggings with pink cats on them and a pink sweater with a giant sequined heart. He was pretty sure his sister, Dana, had bought her the outfit.

“Brushed your teeth?”

She grinned at him, baring her teeth.

“Hair?”

“I’ll do it in the car.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Mornings were a struggle.

At least his daughter still thought it was cool that she got dropped off for school in her dad’s squad car. Tyler was pretty sure the day would come where she considered it painfully embarrassing.

There were all sorts of different hair accessories in the car, which often caused interesting conversations when Tyler was transporting someone in the back of it. If it meant one of their morning chores got done, though, Tyler didn’t care.

“Here,” he said when he pulled into the drop-off lane. There was a line, so he had a few seconds. “Scoot around.”

June had done a good job of brushing her hair; it was long and thick, like his own. Tyler scraped it up into a ponytail and secured it with a pink sparkly elastic band.

“Good job,” he told her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Have a good day today. You have grape jelly sandwiches for lunch.”

“No crusts?”

“No crusts,” he confirmed. “And cucumber.”

“Grape jelly, no crusts, and cucumber is my favorite,” she said.

This week it is, he thought, then kissed her again before leaning over to open the door.

“Love you, June,” he called after her as she skipped into the school entrance.

Watching her go always made his heart ache. She was growing up so fast.

Sheriff Coleman had been decent in making sure Tyler’s shifts aligned to either drop June off at school or pick her up. He traded with his sister, Dana, on the afternoon school runs since they both had school-age kids.

He took the long route to work so he could stop by Starbucks and get his team’s order in. If this was his punishment for starting later than everyone else, he was okay with that. They all contributed to the coffee jar in the staff room, so Tyler just took a fistful of bills when he needed to and kept his team stocked with caffeine. It was a good deal.

He knew everyone’s order by heart now, but even more importantly, the team at Starbucks did too. Tyler only needed to pull into the drive-thru window for someone to recite his order back at him. It was a blessing.

“No charge today, Deputy Reed,” Esme said. “It was paid for earlier by a good Samaritan.”

“That’s sweet,” Tyler said and stuffed a few of the dollar bills into the tip jar instead. “Have a good day, Esme.”

“You too, Deputy Reed.”

He thought she might have a crush on him, not that he’d ever, ever tell anyone his suspicions. Esme was right out of high school and definitely too young for him, if he was even interested. Which he wasn’t. He was almost old enough to be her father, and that was a terrifying thought.

The order was waiting for him when he got to the window, and Tyler carefully strapped the take-out containers into the passenger seat before heading over to the station.

Being a small-town sheriff’s deputy was never Tyler’s ambition. It wasn’t even on his radar, not until he needed a job fast in the community he grew up in. There was an opening at the station, and Tyler had the freedom to put himself through the training. His degree in criminology came in helpful, and at least he got to use it these days. Sort of.

The job meant security for himself and his daughter, and that was more important than anything else.

As he headed back to the station, he mulled over what would surely be the hot gossip for the day… if not the rest of the week. Max Marshall and his tattoo studio.

Max had changed a lot since the last time Tyler had seen him. He was still tall and slim, but instead of an awkward, gangly teenager, he now looked like a guy who was comfortable in his own skin. Especially since his skin was liberally covered in tattoos.

Tyler had only seen his arms, of course, but they were decorated all the way to the wrist in black and gray designs. Tyler wanted to see more of them but wasn’t entirely sure how to ask.

Sweetwater had a relatively small sheriff’s office, with six deputies working various shifts under Sheriff Coleman, who had just been reelected for his second term. Tyler liked working for Ted Coleman; he was a good guy.

Since he’d joined the department, Tyler had mostly been on community policing duties, which was just fine by him. The rest of the team had long since divided up other duties between them, and Tyler’s position was only open since Mike Pryor retired. Tyler vividly remembered Deputy Pryor coming into his elementary school to hand out warnings and advice, year after year. They were big shoes to step into.

Mostly, Sweetwater was quiet. At first Tyler had found it irritating, desperate for something to do, something to fill his time and make his life exciting. But life with Juniper was exciting enough, and Tyler had grown to love the steady rhythm he’d developed in the community. People knew who he was. He was trusted, respected, and there wasn’t much more he could ask from his job. He’d take peaceful over exciting if it meant everyone was safe.

He pulled into his assigned parking space and grabbed the tray of drinks, balancing them carefully as he slung his backpack over one shoulder and tipped his sunglasses down on his nose.

The office was quiet when he walked in. Tyler’s first stop was Shelby, who worked the front desk.

“Disgusting strawberry something something,” Tyler said, dumping the iced drink down in front of her.

“Thank you, Deputy Reed,” she said sweetly. Tyler rolled his eyes.

Sheriff Coleman wasn’t at his desk, but the jacket on the back of his chair told Tyler he was in the building somewhere. Tyler left Coleman’s black coffee on his desk and made his way around the rest of the office, playing up to the role of coffee fairy.

“Heard you got signed on for the school visits,” Miguel said, plucking his coffee from Tyler’s tray.

Tyler grinned at him. “Don’t say that like it’s a bad thing. I like visiting the kids.”

“That’s why we hired you.” Miguel slapped Tyler on the shoulder. “You pick up all the donkey work.”

Tyler just laughed and headed to his desk.

About Anna!

Anna Martin is from a picturesque seaside village in the southwest of England and now lives in the Bristol, a city that embraces her love for the arts. After spending most of her childhood making up stories, she studied English literature at university before attempting to turn her hand as a professional writer.

Apart from being physically dependent on her laptop, Anna is enthusiastic about writing and producing local grassroots theater (especially at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she can be found every summer), going to visit friends in other countries, and reading anything thatís put under her nose.

Anna claims her entire career is due to the love, support, prereading, and creative ass kicking provided by her best friend Jennifer. Jennifer refuses to accept responsibility for anything Anna has written.

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Giveaway!

Win an Ebook of The Color of Summer!