UNQUIETLY ME

Author Name: Pat Henshaw

Book Name: When Adam Fell

Release Date: February 24, 2016

Blurb:

When his lover Jason’s drug addiction spiraled out of control, TV celebrity chef and cookbook author Adam de Leon walked away from him. Adam also abandoned his renowned restaurant in San Francisco to start a small bistro in the Sierra Foothills.

Five years later Adam is battling the conservative leaders of Stone Acres, California, to open a new restaurant in historic Old Town when Jason turns up on his doorstep—a recovered Jason, now going by the name David and claiming he’s overcome his addictions. What’s more, he begs Adam to take him back and says he’s ready for their happily ever after.

Adam has enough on his plate with problems plaguing the opening of his restaurant. And now he’s having a hard time deciding which to follow—his head or his heart.

Pages or Words: 29,800 words

Categories: Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

Review:

I enjoyed this quaint, adult, second chance MM romance. It was a quick, easy read-low on angst, honest, and heartfelt.

When David shows up at Adam’s bistro five years after their breakup to plead for a second chance and prove that he has changed, though Adam doesn’t know what to do, it’s clear that the love between them hasn’t died. Adam and David had been boyfriends since high school, when the tougher, burly Adam used to protect Jason, his “pretty boy,” from small hometown bullies. David has to prove that he is not a codependent but recovering addict, not a “pretty boy” but a grown, independent man, who can be an equal partner.

David’s return also prompts Adam to examine his own actions and their relationship through David’s eyes. Adam learns that David isn’t the only person who has to change if he wants his happy ever after with his first and only love. The sex scenes aren’t shown but are private and intimate, and their first kiss reuniting them and reaffirming their love was truly something special. I liked how David and Adam complemented each other, how they ultimately worked together to defeat the town bullies threatening Adam’s new restaurant, and how their love matured.

Excerpt:

I watched Jason rise from the stoop.

He looked good. His golden hair sparkled in the day’s first light. A happy smile tinged with nervousness spread across his lips. He was wearing a silver-gray Bogner jacket, some sort of expensive pants, and sturdy boots. Hanging from his shirt collar, his sunglasses looked like those high-priced titanium ones. All in all, the guy standing in front of me could easily have fit into the young, hip app crowd now flooding the valley. Too much money and no idea where to spend it. He looked like a guy who’d eat at the Bistro and then fucking strut up to me after dinner, put a wad of Franklins in my pocket, and whisper, “Quit this job and come cook for me.”

Nothing tempted me, especially not the hundred-dollar bills I’d thought were Monopoly money the first time I’d seen them. Nothing had moved me like this, seeing Jason rise straight up in front of me like a fucking miracle.

Standing there in my scuffed clogs, beat-up jeans, and ratty Stanford Cardinal T-shirt, I felt underdressed for this particular dream. Shouldn’t I at least be wearing my chef’s regalia, toque and all? Shouldn’t I have a Henckel in one hand and a Wüsthof in the other? Or maybe clutching a shield made of my cooking classics, which I’d written with an angry, tormented mind but a clear eye to royalties?

“Cat got your tongue?” the vision asked.

“Fucking A, man. Is it really you, Jason?”

“Sorta. Who else would come knocking at your door looking like me?” He flung his arms out like he wanted me to hug him or some shit.

I backed away and kept my hands to myself, though my dick perked up immediately. Did Jason have a twin or a younger brother, somebody who resembled him? I didn’t think so. All I’d thought for five years was nobody—and I mean nobody—could ever have come back from where my Jason had buried himself. At least I never thought so.

There’ve been moments in my life when I was sure I was losing my mind. When I knew whatever tenuous grasp on reality I thought I had was really smoke up my ass. This moment smacked of those. As the legendary John Fogerty sang and the great Yogi Berra is supposed to have said, it was like déjà vu all over again. Only not.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked. Suspicion tasted bitter on my tongue.

Slowly his arms came down, and he gave me a pained but understanding look.

“Yeah, well, it was too much to hope we’d just kiss and make up.” His husky croak had once made me roll over and do anything he asked, but not now. “Can I come in? It’s a little chilly out here.”

I wasn’t cold, but then I’m tall and stout, a real cliché chef image. Fuck, I guess somebody’s got to be the cliché, right? It’s how clichés are born.

I shrugged at his question, swiped at the sweat rolling from my forehead, and moved aside. “Kitchen’s downstairs.” I gestured to the steps.

He walked past me, letting his hand trail over my groin. Once I would have nearly come at the gesture. Now I ignored my dick because my mind was numb and had been for years. He might think he could reawaken my love and lust, but I was pretty fucking sure that ship had sailed and gotten lost at sea.

Buy the book:

Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7452

Meet the author:

Pat Henshaw, author of the Foothills Pride Stories, was born and raised in Nebraska where she promptly left the cold and snow after college, living at various times in Texas, Colorado, Northern Virginia, and Northern California. Pat enjoys travel, having visited Mexico, Canada, Europe, Nicaragua, Thailand, and Egypt, and Europe, including a cruise down the Danube.

Now retired, Pat has spent her life surrounded by words: Teaching English composition at the junior college level; writing book reviews for newspapers, magazines, and websites; helping students find information as a librarian; and promoting PBS television programs.

Her triumphs are raising two incredible daughters who daily amaze her with their power and compassion. Fortunately, her incredibly supportive husband keeps her grounded in reality when she threatens to drift away while writing fiction.

Where to find the author:

Website: http://patbooked.blogspot.com

Series website: http://foothillspride.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pat.henshaw.10

Twitter: https://twitter.com/phenshaw

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Pat-Henshaw/e/B00BPDEDEA/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1436131610&sr=8-1

Email: [email protected]

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6998437.Pat_Henshaw

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: AngstyG

Tour Stops:

Parker Williams, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Divine Magazine, The Hat Party, Happily Ever Chapter. BFD Book Blog, Bayou Book Junkie, KathyMac Reviews, Velvet Panic, Unquietly Me, 3 Chicks After Dark, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Tasty Wordgasms, My Fiction Nook, Making It Happen, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Molly Lolly, MM Good Book Reviews, Kirsty Loves Books

Rafflecopter Giveaway:

Giveaway Link: One of three $10 Starbucks Gift Cards