UNQUIETLY ME

Tartan Candy
By: K.C. Burns
Release Date: February 26, 2016
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Finlay McIntyre (aka Raven) is a successful adult film star with a penchant for kilts, until an accident cuts short his stardom and leaves him with reduced sex appeal, lowered self-esteem, and no job. He knew his porn career wouldn’t last forever, but he wasn’t prepared for retirement at twenty-eight. While trying to figure out the rest of his life, Raven attends a high school reunion. That’s when a malfunctioning AC unit in his hotel room changes everything.

Caleb Sanderson, an entrepreneur with his own HVAC business, has no idea what to expect when he steps into Raven’s hotel room to fix his AC unit. They’re attracted to each other, but Caleb, closeted, can’t afford a gay relationship, not with his mom pressuring him to produce grandchildren. If he wants to keep Raven—who no closet could hold—he’ll need to tell his family the truth. But Raven has a few secrets of his own. He refuses to reveal his porn past to Caleb, a past that might be the final obstacle to Caleb and Raven having any kind of relationship.

Review:

Tartan Candy is a sweet, sexy, sometimes funny, at times angsty, interracial MM romance. I sympathized with the couple and rooted for their happy ending.

I liked how they took things slow. When Caleb found out about Raven’s injuries and insecurities, he didn’t pressure Raven into having sex but had the patience and caring to take the time to get to know him and woo him. Raven is admittedly vain and loves the attention he gets from his looks, so his shyness toward Caleb was a sincere and sweet contrast, and all the cuddling and wooing was so very cute and romantic. It all works out a little too neatly but satisfyingly in the end, with a bit of heartbreak, some groveling, and hot make-up sex. Though Caleb and Raven weren’t perfect for keeping their secrets too long, they were perfect sweethearts.

Caleb’s best friend and cousin Jaime provided brazen comic relief and would make an interesting character perhaps for a future book.

Excerpt:

Caleb Sanderson slumped against the wall, heart pounding. By some stroke of luck, he kept a firm grip on his toolbox, because the last thing he needed was for the occupant of room 305 to come out, wondering what the commotion was.

Holy shit, that never happened. Not to him.

Since his company had a contract for a number of resorts and businesses in the area, he’d been to the hotel more than once. After all, the A/C units were quite elderly, and Caleb suspected the resort was planning to replace them all soon. Until then, though, Caleb was a regular fixture.

He’d been in a number of hotel rooms, most of them empty. When they weren’t, though, he’d seen several things he couldn’t unsee. Sometimes, it was hard to believe anyone would be okay letting complete strangers see them naked, live and in person. He’d even had a few women try to hit on him. But never, not once, had he wanted to stay longer than it took to get the job done. Caleb took one look at 305 and a billion questions leaped to the tip of his tongue. Dark hair with red streaks, along with wide blue eyes and creamy skin made the man look like an anime character.

But the rest of him induced an overwhelming desire to forgo talking because he wanted to use his tongue for more carnal ventures. He’d start at the guy’s prominent collarbone, then head down between the shadows of a six-pack to the hint of a black treasure trail. Desire had swept over Caleb so fast it left him light-headed and buzzed. The fates had been laughing when they saw fit to have him answer the call of a man so stunning he had to be a model. Or maybe an up-and-coming actor.

So many desires and ideas crowded Caleb’s mind it was a wonder he’d been able to speak at all. Amazingly, he hadn’t sounded like a complete dork; he’d even managed confident. Even more amazingly, he hadn’t said anything inappropriate, no matter how much he’d wanted to. After all, Caleb was nothing but the epitome of control, despite 305 stretching that self-control to the limit. But he’d reined in his baser impulses. Last thing he needed was a sexual harassment complaint from one of the hotel patrons. Not only could that fuck up the comfortable, steady work the resort provided, it could get him in serious trouble.

The effort to keep his desire bottled up and interact as a normal human being instead of a slavering beast in the grips of a monstrous lust left Caleb sweating and panting as if he’d run a whole marathon in the past few minutes. With an erection to rival any other. Thank the saints for new jeans and boxer briefs that fit properly.

His cheeks heated and he glanced down at his standard “uniform” of jeans and polo shirt. The outfit didn’t exactly make him look like a stud. With a rueful chuckle, he adjusted his burgeoning erection. Even if 305 was gay, there was no way he’d go for some blue-collar grunt. Especially one who was clearly older. Caleb was only thirty-two, but if 305 was a day over twenty-one, Caleb would shit rainbows. Caleb did all right for himself, got laid regularly, if not as often as he’d like. A guy that hot wouldn’t have the time of day for Caleb, but he sure as shit would be starring in Caleb’s fantasies during his evening shower, and likely for the next several days. 305, hot water, shower gel, and Caleb’s right hand might be the best date he’d had in while.

Buy Link: Dreamspinner Press

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About the Author:

KC Burn has been writing for as long as she can remember and is a sucker for happy endings (of all kinds). After moving from Toronto to Florida for her husband to take a dream job, she discovered a love of gay romance and fulfilled a dream of her own—getting published. After a few years of editing web content by day, and neglecting her supportive, understanding hubby and needy cat at night to write stories about men loving men, she was uprooted yet again and now resides in California. Writing is always fun and rewarding, but writing about her guys is the most fun she’s had in a long time, and she hopes you’ll enjoy them as much as she does.

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