Hi guys, we have Annabeth Albert popping in today with the tour for her new release Trust With A Chaser, we have a fantastic guest post from Annabeth,  a great excerpt, Aerin’s review and a brilliant giveaway, so check out the post and click that giveaway link! <3 ~Pixie~

Trust With A Chaser

Annabeth Albert

One hot cop. One bar owner out for redemption. One smoking-hot summer fling destined to leave scorch marks…

Mason Hanks has returned to Rainbow Cove, Oregon with one goal in mind: turn the struggling coastal community into a thriving LGBTQ tourism destination. Step one is transforming an old bar and grill into a gay-friendly eatery. Step two? Don’t piss off Nash Flint, the very hot, very stern chief of police who’s not so sure he’s on board with Mason’s big plans.

Nash Flint just wants to keep his community safe and enjoy the occasional burger in peace. He’s not big on change nor is he a fan of Mason’s troublemaking family, especially his rowdy older brothers. But Mason slowly wins him over with fantastic cooking and the sort of friendship Nash has been starving for.

When their unlikely friendship takes a turn for the sexy, both men try to steer clear of trouble. Nash believes he’s too set in his ways for Mason, and Mason worries that his family’s reputation will ruin any future with Nash. Burning up the sheets in secret is a surefire way to crash and burn, and discovery forces a heart-wrenching decision—is love worth the risk of losing everything?

Trust with a Chaser is a 75,000 word stand-alone gay romance with a May/December theme, a hot law-enforcement hero, opposites attract, plenty of sexy times, and one hard-fought, guaranteed happy ending with no cliffhangers.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon DE

Annabeth Albert!

Capturing Summer in a Series

Hi! I’m so happy to be here today. I’m celebrating the release of TRUST WITH A CHASER, my summer romance featuring a May/December pairing between a hot cop and a younger bar owner.  I read in every season of the year. I look forward to the winter holiday books, the Valentine’s Day special novellas and boxed sets, the autumn books featuring sweaters and falling leaves, but I especially love summer books. I love books with summery settings—camp, lakeshores, the coast. That’s why I knew I wanted my new series to feature one of my all-time favorite places, the Oregon Coast. There’s something magical about a beach town, and I wanted to capture that.

I also love books with summer themes—coming home, traveling, road trips, exploring, reunions, groups of friends, seasonal romances. In TRUST WITH A CHASER, Mason is newly returned to his hometown and must struggle to adapt. Meanwhile, Nash never left, and he has his own set of challenges. I also wanted to make a friendship group at the heart of the series—some like Mason who were born in the area and others like the book #2 hero who are learning a new place while trying to make a go of their tavern.

In addition to our main characters, I really wanted a deep sense of place for the series. I love small towns. I was born and raised in a small town, and that’s something that never leaves you and inhabits a piece of your heart and soul forever. I wanted the small-town businesses to be a big part of the series—from the doughnut place to the bait shack to tourist traps.  I wanted to capture what life is like in a tourist town, the push-and-pull between locals and visitors, the strain on the local economy in the off months, and each book in the series is letting me explore different facets of the town.

I also tried to showcase the best of the season—Fourth of July fireworks, strawberry rhubarb pie, fishing on the river, mild weather—and use that to contrast with the challenges our heroes and their town face. Like towns all over America, this small town is struggling to adapt to new economic realities, changing markets, and demand for new services. And Nash, our cop hero, really embodies that struggle. He loves his town and isn’t so sure he wants to see it change, but at the same time, he wants what’s best for his residents and wants to see the town thrive.

How about you? Do you like small towns? Enjoy books set in small towns? Like summer settings? Discuss! Thank you for having me, and I hope you add TRUST WITH A CHASER to your summer reading pile.

Excerpt!

Chapter One

Mason

When Adam stepped inside the glorified closet I was using as an office, eyes all twitchy and hands wringing a bar towel, I knew I wasn’t going to like what came out of his mouth.

“Sheriff Sexy just walked in. He’s your problem.”

Fuck. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. “Please don’t call Police Chief Flint that. He might hear, and I’m pretty sure he’d find a citation for you. And I am not bailing your ass out.”

“You’re just worried that one of these days you’re going to slip up and call him that.” Adam grinned at me. This was an old argument—he’d been calling Flint that stupid nickname since we were in high school. The hard-nosed cop wasn’t one to cut teen drivers any slack—especially if they were in any way associated with the name “Hanks.” “Anyway, you know he freaks me out. I’ve got no idea what he wants—all our permits are in order, right?”

“Of course.” Standing, I grabbed the folder with the permitting paperwork. I prided myself in the organization I was bringing to the bar and grill that I co-owned with Adam and our friend, Logan. Flint wouldn’t find anything to complain about, not with me in charge. “I’ll go deal with him. You go back to the bar in case we get a rush.”

Adam snorted. Despite it being opening weekend, traffic had been embarrassingly light. We’d worked for weeks transforming the old tavern—a Rainbow Cove institution for decades—into the newly renamed Rainbow Tavern. The gay-friendly bar and grill was our vision for pulling our sleepy little coastal town into the twenty-first century. Logan had crafted a new menu of upscale bar food ready to go, and Adam had innovative drinks specials at the ready. All we needed were customers. And to not run afoul of Nash Flint on our first day of operation.

Flint was a Rainbow Cove institution himself—born and raised here, same as Adam and me, but unlike me, he’d never left, sliding into his father’s shoes as police chief and apparently fitting the role as easily as a pair of broken-in jeans. He’d been Officer Flint last time I’d seen him, almost ten years prior.

Guess I could have seen him had I come down for Freddy’s trial, something I still felt niggles of guilt over, and I told myself that was why my stomach fluttered on my way out to the tavern’s dining room. Unlike Adam, I’d never found Flint particularly…

Sexy. All my thoughts fled as I took in the man sitting in front of the plate-glass window. He dwarfed the small wooden chair, one of dozens that Adam and I had painted bright colors. Broad shoulders stretched the confines of his uniform shirt, biceps bulging under the short sleeves. His cut-glass jaw was firm as ever, as were those hard hazel eyes. But what had been frankly terrifying to my teenaged self made my twenty-seven-year-old libido sit up and take serious notice.

Flint blinked as I approached, head tilting to one side. I’d been getting a lot of that since I’d been back in town. “Mason…Hanks?”

“The one and only.” I stuck out my hand. “What can I do for you, Chief Flint?”

He returned my handshake with a sure grip, only a moment’s hesitation. I guessed he wasn’t all that used to shaking hands with a Hanks. Oh well. I was out to prove to the whole damn town that I wasn’t like my father and brothers, and if I had to start with Flint, so be it.

“Nice place you’ve got here.” His eyes swept around the renovated room—restored antique bar on the far wall where Adam wasn’t bothering to conceal his nosiness, dance floor beyond that, colorful tables and chairs in the front of the bar, only a handful occupied despite the dinner hour.

“Thanks. Our permits are all in order.” I held out my folder. “Liquor license is on top.”

He waved the folder off. “Not worried about that.”

No? Then why the heck was Flint in my establishment? “Good. We’re on the up-and-up. You won’t have trouble from us—”

“Glad to hear it,” he said levelly, eyes skeptical, reminding me that I was, after all, nothing more than a Hanks. “Cheeseburger?”

“Pardon?”

“That Ringer kid didn’t see fit to give me a menu, but I’m trusting you all offer something approximating a burger? Salad, no fries, and an iced tea.”

“You want to order?” I was still struggling to keep up with him.

“This is a food establishment, right?” He shook his head as if he hadn’t expected more from me, and that rankled.

“Of course.” I crossed the room in long strides, grabbed an order pad from the bar, ignoring Adam’s gaping. As soon as I returned to Flint’s table, I added, “Anything you want. On the house.”

“None of that.” He sighed like my very existence was tiring. “Got my meals from the old tavern for years. They kept a tab open for me.”

“We can do the same—”

“Let’s see if you can cook first,” he said, voice drier than yesterday’s toast. “I thought I’d come by, check the place out.”

“Appreciated,” I said and meant it. Business, any business, was good, but people in Rainbow Cove trusted Flint. If he gave us the seal of approval, more locals might give us a try, make us less dependent on the tourist trade that we were going after. Tourism took a while to build, and our grand plans of making Rainbow Cove an LGBTQ travel destination weren’t going to happen overnight. We needed every customer we could get, Flint included, even if he was the unlikeliest of allies.

“You still haven’t brought me a menu.” He shook his head. “But whatever you’ve got passing for a burger is fine. Nothing vegan though.”

“We’ve got local grass-fed beef, third-pound patty on a brioche bun with a pesto mayo and local gouda. Or—”

“I reckon that will do fine.” Flint always had a bit more country than coastal in his voice. Not Southern, but you could tell he was rural Oregon through and through, and I liked the slow, deep rumble of his words. What I didn’t like, however, was the implication in his tone that he wasn’t expecting much from us.

“Sure you don’t want fries? We have hand-cut sweet potato as an option with a chipotle dipping sauce. As far as salads, I’ve got side, Caesar, spring berry and pecan—”

“I’m on duty here. Kind of pressed for time. The burger and a side salad are fine. I don’t need anything fancy.”

Yeah, well, maybe I want to give it to you. I quashed that thought, same as I had the one about how hot he looked in his uniform. Wanting to impress Nash Flint wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

“I’ll put a rush on it.” I made a note on the order pad, not that it was really needed since Logan hardly had a packed house to worry about.

As I walked over to the window to put in Flint’s order, I noticed more than one table giving him curious glances. Hell, maybe I was wrong about any business being good business. Last thing I needed was Flint scaring away what few customers we had. Not that he was known as a gossip or anything like that, but he was awfully…old school. Traditional. The last kind of guy you’d expect to find at a gay bar, that was for sure, and even though we were attempting to attract a mixed clientele, he stood out.

About Annabeth!

Annabeth Albert grew up sneaking romance novels under the bed covers. Now, she devours all subgenres of romance out in the open—no flashlights required! When she’s not adding to her keeper shelf, she’s a multi-published Pacific Northwest romance writer.

Emotionally complex, sexy, and funny stories are her favorites both to read and to write. Annabeth loves finding happy endings for a variety of pairings and is a passionate gay rights supporter.  In between searching out dark heroes to redeem, she works a rewarding day job and wrangles two toddlers.

Represented by Saritza Hernandez of the Corvisiero Literary Agency

Where to find the author:

Facebook |  Facebook Author Page | Twitter | Tumblr | Facebook Fan group Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/Nb9yv

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Review

Title: Trust with a Chaser

Series: Rainbow Cove #1

Author: Annabeth Albert

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Novel (255 pages)

Publisher: Annabeth Albert (August 1 2017)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Blurb: One hot cop. One bar owner out for redemption. One smoking-hot summer fling destined to leave scorch marks…

Mason Hanks has returned to Rainbow Cove, Oregon with one goal in mind: turn the struggling coastal community into a thriving LGBTQ tourism destination. Step one is transforming an old bar and grill into a gay-friendly eatery. Step two? Don’t piss off Nash Flint, the very hot, very stern chief of police who’s not so sure he’s on board with Mason’s big plans.

Nash Flint just wants to keep his community safe and enjoy the occasional burger in peace. He’s not big on change nor is he a fan of Mason’s troublemaking family, especially his rowdy older brothers. But Mason slowly wins him over with fantastic cooking and the sort of friendship Nash has been starving for.

When their unlikely friendship takes a turn for the sexy, both men try to steer clear of trouble. Nash believes he’s too set in his ways for Mason, and Mason worries that his family’s reputation will ruin any future with Nash. Burning up the sheets in secret is a surefire way to crash and burn, and discovery forces a heart-wrenching decision—is love worth the risk of losing everything?

Trust with a Chaser is a 75,000 word stand-alone gay romance with a May/December theme, a hot law-enforcement hero, opposites attract, plenty of sexy times, and one hard-fought, guaranteed happy ending with no cliffhangers.

ISBN: B073VPJX56

Product Link: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon DE

Reviewer: Aerin

Review: This new series from Annabeth Albert is going to be great judging by this first book, which I liked A LOT! In fact, if it wasn’t for some little niggling sore spots that bothered me at times, I might’ve loved this book!

Nash Flint, aka ‘Sherriff Sexy’, is the 40 year old town sheriff who followed in his late father’s footsteps to become the lawman in their little town. Everyone respects Nash, but that’s because they don’t know Nash’s closet is deeper than anyone else’s, and he loves hiding his true self in there. Nash is so afraid of discovery that he’s paranoid and constantly on guard about hiding his sexuality. Aside from his two closest friends and his mother, nobody knows the true Nash.

Mason Hanks has returned to his little town of Rainbow Cove and opened a LGBT-friendly eatery with the hopes of making the little town more progressive and turn the community into a coveted LGBT destination. Rainbow Cove is in desperate need of a boost in tourism, but the citizens are not know to be very progressive in thinking, so Mason knows the road ahead is a bumpy one.

I loved Mason so much because he’s such a hardworking man who’s trying to show everyone that being a Hanks does not mean he’s just like his family. The Hanks are trouble and have a long and rich history of getting in trouble with the law, and Mason’s deadbeat brother makes things very complicated for Mason.

I loved the romance and chemistry between Mason and Nash, I thought the age difference was done well, and their relationship was sweet and CUTE! But Nash’s constant paranoia about being found out and his total refusal to come out of the closet was ridiculous. I understand people have reasons to not come out and this whole process is very personal, so I was trying not be too judgy. I think I failed a little bit at the judgy part.

The other thing that bothered me is the stigma that is attached to the Hanks name; I get that Mason’s father and his brothers have done nothing but get in trouble with the law their whole lives, but Mason has NEVER gotten in any trouble at all, so shouldn’t he get the benefit of the doubt? I hated how people refused to see his true potential and didn’t appreciate this hardworking young man just because of his last name. But even old dogs can learn new tricks, so I loved how they all came together at the end to support Mason when he needed it most.

Aside from those two sore points, I liked everything about this book and I’m looking forward to the next one. I can’t wait!

Check out the other blogs on the tour!