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Release Blitz: Austin by Con Riley

Posted on May 28, 2022 by Mirrigold

Austin | Con Riley

Learning To Love #4

Austin RB

Release Date: May 26th, 2022

Cover Design: Natasha Snow

Universal Link: https://bit.ly/3H9YpQJ

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60489800-austin

READ MY REVIEW

Austin-f

Blurb

Can Austin learn to love the opposite who attracts him?

Austin Russell doesn’t belong at a small school like Glynn Harber. He’s meant to be a high flyer in finance not a book-keeping bursar. Now there’s only one renovation project left to budget, it’s time he toughened his soft heart and got back to climbing the corporate ladder.

The truth is he’d rather climb Maisie Dymond’s father.

That urge doesn’t add up—Dom Dymond is his polar opposite—but when a near-miss brings them together, Austin discovers there’s more below his laid-back surface, especially as Dom’s determined to win the bid for the school’s last rebuilding project.

Working in proximity means Austin can’t deny that they’re opposites who don’t only attract, they combust whenever they’re close. Telling himself it’s only a fling doesn’t ring true when Dom opens up about what keeps him in Cornwall. He’s there to heal his fractured family, and he wants Austin as part of it.

That openness makes Austin want to share too, but will Dom still feel the same attraction once he knows what drives Austin to keep climbing his ladder?

♥ Austin is the fourth standalone novel in the Learning to Love series. Set in England’s glorious county of Cornwall, each book has a fulfilling happily ever after. ♥

Excerpt

Charles continued undaunted, still pointing his phone at Austin’s naked torso. “You know what they say . . . There’s someone out there for everybody, even a ghost-white body like yours. You really should consider ditching your suit and tie if you’re taking some time off. How about you borrow a pair of my shorts to sunbathe with me tomorrow? Got a pair that would suit you, covered in crabs.”

He made a pincer with his free hand.

“Snippy, just like you. I’ll be in the garden all afternoon, going through the learning journeys for my new class of kids. Make sure I know all about them so I can plan the classroom for them.”

“No. I’ll need to . . .” Austin almost said tie up loose ends before leaving. He stopped himself, nowhere near ready to have that don’t leave conversation with Charles again. “I’ll need to get back to work tomorrow.”

“That sounds a chore.” Charles tugged at the sheet, drawing it lower. “Would you at least consider getting a spray tan? Might help you look a bit less consumptive.”

He teased but he peered closely. At least he dropped his phone. He also finally dropped his teasing.

“Hugo and I said we’d take it in turns to check on your noggin, remember? Make sure your brains didn’t actually leak out of your ears after that nasty bump to your head. Although, I could take a few headless torso shots while I’m here for anyone looking for a small yet perfectly formed power bottom with a ferocious temper.”

Start the Series

learning-to-love-series-3

Charles – https://bit.ly/CharlesCR

Sol – https://bit.ly/3jUfMeE

Luke – https://bit.ly/3qi6SvV

Pre-Order: Out September 29th, 2022

Heppel Ever After – https://bit.ly/3GaxV2R

Copy of con riley avi copy

About The Author

CON RILEY lives on the wild and wonderful Welsh coast, with her head in the clouds and her feet in the ocean.

Injury curtailed her enjoyment of outdoor pursuits, so writing fiction now fills her free time. Love, loss, and redemption shape her romance stories, and her characters are flawed in ways that make them live and breathe.

When not people-watching or reading, she spends time staring at the sea from her kitchen window. If you see her, don’t disturb her — she’s probably thinking up new plots.

Social Media

FACEBOOK GROUP: facebook.com/groups/458421868222590

TWITTER: twitter.com/con_riley

INSTA: instagram.com/con_riley

BOOKBUB: bookbub.com/authors/con-riley

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: amazon.com/Con-Riley/e/B00F8GT35O

Giveaway

Win an eBook from Con’s backlist

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Austin-ON

Release Publicity: LGBTQ+

Con saves the best for last as Austin and Dom fall head over heels

Posted on May 21, 2022 by Mirrigold

Austin Cover Austin by Con Riley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dom Dymond is my absolute favourite character Con Riley has created and we don’t even get his PoV in this book.

Anyone who’s familiar with Con’s expanded world will have seen Dom’s name crop up in Be My Best Man or True Brit, Jude and Rob also cross paths with him in the Bonus Scene for His Horizon.

But, until now, he’s been a nebulous figure, our most common interactions with him have been in Luke’s book as Austin repeatedly tells him off for always being late to pick up his delightful daughter Maisie.

So, what happens when a prickly school bursar with a secret guilt that stops him from forming attachments crashes headlong into Dom’s orbit?

We get this book, the very best in what has been a quite outstanding series, and a love story which is all about learning not only to love someone else, but learning how to forgive too. For Austin, it’s learning to let go of an incident in his past which has basically hung a noose around his neck for many years.

When their paths cross, it sends both men on a journey which is delivered in inimitable Con Riley style, filled with wonderful snappy dialogue, smoking hot sexy times, emotional feels all over the spectrum from rage to grief, guilt to passion and a whole big load of love.

This is the least angsty book in the series but Con still brings enough tension into the narrative as we slowly find out what causes Austin’s caustic nature and why Dom’s been late to pick up Maisie from school.

We get to discover that the snappy and terrierlike Austin, with his determination that Glynn Harber isn’t the place for him, is actually a man desperately trying to make amends for an accident that wasn’t even his fault.

We find out Dom isn’t a feckless father, but a man who’s given up everything to be there for Maisie whenever she needs him.

And we see that, together, these two men are a force as bright as a supernova, absolutely perfect for each other and both willing to take a chance at a lifetime of happiness.

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review

Disclaimer: As ever, I alpha read this book for Con.

View all my reviews

Reviews: LGBTQ+

Release Blitz: The Harder We Fall by Rebecca Raine

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Mirrigold

The Harder We Fall | Rebecca Raine

Release Date:

Universal link

Add to Goodreads

THWF - Final Cover

Blurb

For years, I’ve been bound by sleeplessness and sorrow.
His voice threatens to set me free.

Insomnia. It’s part of the penance I pay for my greatest mistake. But when an ill-timed doze behind the wheel of my car nearly introduces me to a pole, I know something has to change.

Sleep with Me, a locally made meditation app, promises a cure. I don’t expect it to work. Nor do I expect to become enthralled by the voice of its creator, Sam Stephenson. His ability to coax forth my nightly surrender is unnerving. I have to meet this man and learn the secret behind his techniques, so I can evict him from my head—and still get a good night’s sleep.

In person, the quiet and reclusive Sam is his own kind of complicated. He needs my business skills as much as I need his meditation skills and we forge an unlikely partnership. But the attraction between us soon flares into passion and, as we grow closer, I start to long for more than my guilty conscience will allow.

I have no right to love, not after the damage I’ve done. How can I give Sam all he deserves, when our chance at a happy ending was ruined before we even met?

Excerpt

“You know, openly gay men don’t usually spend so much time in a closet.”

He grins, glancing at the walls surrounding us. “It never occurred to me to spend time in the metaphorical closet. Mum accepted me, I assumed others would, too. Which hasn’t always been the case, but I have no regrets there.” His eyebrows lift in question. “What about you?”

“For a while,” I say with a shrug. “Then I got caught kissing a boy while drunk at a high school party. There wasn’t much point denying it after that?”

“Did the other students give you a hard time?”

A bitter laugh bubbles up through my chest but I tamp it down. “Sometimes. But they had better reasons to hate me. I was used to people talking behind my back, staring when I walked past. Being out didn’t change my life overly much.”

Sam frowns as he puts a hand over mine on my knee. The questions are there in his eyes. Why did people hate you? What happened? What did you do?

His mouth opens, but I beat him to the punch. “You use this place for more than recording now?”

He stops, and then a barely perceptible nod acknowledges my right to keep my past to myself. “I do,” he says, looking around the room. “There’s so much I struggle to do. Talking to new people, going out, doing stuff. It’s tiring, always having to work so hard to do things other people do without thought. When I’m in here, I can just be.” He smiles, and there’s an ease to it I’ve never seen before.

“When you’re leading your class, you make it seem so easy. Sitting there, being you. Like nothing can touch you.”

He watches me for a long moment. “Your thoughts can’t hurt you, Tristan. Not by themselves.” He’s said those words to me before, but apparently I need reminding.

“My thoughts could,” I whisper. “If I let them. I’m not brave like you.”

Both our hands are joined now, our fingers threaded together over my knees. This time, the tremor isn’t coming from his side. Why am I saying these things? He brought me here to show me his sanctuary, and I’m treating it like a confessional.

“You are brave,” he says with quiet insistence. “I know you’re scared. But you’re here, asking for help when you need it. That’s brave.” A new depth has crept into his tone as we’ve talked. A commanding gentleness I recognise.

“Your voice…” I take a shaky breath, my mouth twitching at the corners. “My siren has arrived.”

His expression turns bashful as he ducks his head. “I didn’t mean to.”

“No, don’t stop.” My grip on him tightens. “Please.”

Meeting my gaze, he nods. “It doesn’t usually happen spontaneously. Only when I’m recording or teaching a class. It’s this place, I suppose. I feel safe here.” As he speaks, his thumbs stroke my palms and I shiver.

“Having me here doesn’t spoil the feeling?”

“No.” A touch of awe glints in the blue. “I think, maybe, I feel safe with you, too.”

I don’t move when he lets go of my hands and raises up off the cushion so he can scoot closer. I don’t move when he extends his legs over my still folded ones, so his calves bracket my hips and his feet touch down behind me. He’s not actually in my lap, his arse is still on the floor in front of me, but it’s a close thing.

I don’t move as he reaches out to touch my cheeks, stroking his thumbs over them. My own hands remain on my knees, my fingers digging in there. I don’t move, but my heart is a wild thing in my chest and my breathing is laboured. Shudders rack my body as he brushes his nose against mine. When his breath fans across my lips, I still don’t move. But I close my eyes, and I wait.

His closed lips touch mine. They’re soft and tentative. Barely pressing against me. They’re hopeful lips, in search of a response.

I move to give him one.

THWF Teaser3 - Exist

About the Author

Rebecca Raine - Original - new edit

Rebecca is a long-time lover of all things romance. Whether it’s a book, movie, or real life, she will always have more fun if there’s a love interest thrown into the mix. She lives in Queensland, Australia with her very own hero husband, two quirky kids and one big, black dog.

Other than reading and writing books, her favourite things include loud music, enjoying a glass of wine on the patio, organising everything in existence, and spending too much time on the Internet.

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