Joyful approach badgeHi guys! Today I am super excited to welcome back author Jacob Z. Flores and to kick off the Joyful Approach Countdown to GRL!  For the next seven weeks or so we will have a house full of guests, all authors featured at GRL, and they are all bringing goodies.  (For full details on the hop, be sure to check out our kick off post with the entire schedule.)  And now please join me in welcoming Jacob!


Hey there, everyone! I’m Jacob Z. Flores, and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be back here at Joyfully Jay for my third visit. To be honest, I’m surprised that Jay let me in the door. The last time I was here, I took off with her favorite manservant. What was I to do? He was to cater to my every whim, and he hadn’t finished catering yet! So, I just had to take him home.

Thankfully all is forgiven now that he’s been safely returned, a bit dehydrated, but returned nonetheless.

Now, just why am I here? Well, Jay has graciously agreed to be a part of my blog tour promoting my latest release, When Love Takes Over, from Dreamspinner Press. But that’s not it! I’m also here as part of the Joyful Approach Blog Hop, which is a Joyfully Jay and The Novel Approach cosponsored event to get readers familiar with authors who will be attending Gay Romance Lit. And let me tell you, I’m over-the-moon about heading back to GRL. I had so much fun in Albuquerque that I can’t wait to repeat the drinking, um, the experience from last year.

But that isn’t until October. Boo!

Today, let’s talk about the cover for When Love Takes Over. The artwork is absolutely stunning. Michael Breyette is the artist, and if you’re unfamiliar with his work, you need to head on over to his site and take a gander. Here’s the link. (Go ahead. I’ll be here when you get back.)

I told you I’d still be here. But did you really need to be gone an hour? Jeez! But I totally understand; he does amazing work. I found his work so spectacular that Michael’s artwork will grace the covers of all the books in the Provincetown Series. How awesome is that?

Yeah, I think so too.

When Love Takes OverSo why did I choose Michael Breyette’s artwork for When Love Takes Over and the rest of the Provincetown Series? Well, besides the fact that his works are jaw dropping, the artwork captured the essence of Provincetown as well as the books themselves.

They are lighthearted, sexy, and fun, which sums up all the books in the series. For me, it’s very important that the cover and the story mesh well together, and in this case, I couldn’t have asked for better covers.

The title of the work that graces the cover of When Love Takes Over is called “Dunes.” I chose this work because it captures a scene in the book perfectly.

One of the beaches in Provincetown is called Herring Cove, and there are dunes that separate the marshes from the ocean. In these dunes, men have been known to gather, get naked, and go at it like it horny pigs. How would I know that? Well, that’s not terribly important right now. The fact is that I’m aware of what goes on in the dunes, and that’s actually what happens in one of the scenes in the book.

Zach and Van, the two main characters in the novel, go on a forty-eight hour non-date. Why? Because both men are interested in each other, but their weary hearts prevent them from admitting it. So they say they are just hanging out and having fun. And one of the places they have fun is in the dunes at Herring Cove.

While Van is applying sunscreen to Zach’s easily sunburned body, a situation arises that needs to be taken care of. Immediately. So they dash off into the dunes, bring out the Banana Boat, and then Zach puts his banana in Van’s boat. It’s just one of the public sex scenes that occurs in the novel, but though this is a hot scene, with spectators, the connection between Zach and Van becomes stronger.

The problem though is that it scares the crap out of both of them.

And that is the reason I chose “Dunes” for the cover of When Love Takes Over.

 

Before I go, I want to thank everyone who joined me here at Joyfully Jay today. It’s been fun. I also want to thank Jay for allowing me to return. Hopefully, she won’t be too upset to find not one but two of her manservants missing this time! I promise to return them both. [Um hmm.  Not sure I believe you this time. I want manservants and chocolate!]

For those interested, I have included the blurb and an excerpt below. Additionally, as part of my blog tour I’m holding a contest. All you have to do is leave a comment by following the Rafflecopter link here or at the end of the post and your name is entered to win a free copy of When Love Takes Over. At the end of the tour, a winner will be chosen and announced.


Blurb

Zach Kelly’s life is a shambles. His boyfriend of three years dumped him, and his writing career is going nowhere. On a whim, he heads to Provincetown, Massachusetts, to nurse his broken heart and figure out his next step. He’s expecting to find rest and relaxation on the sandy beaches of Cape Cod. Instead, Zach meets a hunky porn star during a chance encounter at a leather shop he mistakes as a place to buy a belt that is definitely not for whipping.

Van Pierce is smitten when shy and inexperienced Zach crashes through a shelf of fetish gear. Though Van’s got an insatiable appetite for men on and off the set, his porn persona, Hart Throb, hides a broken heart. He’s struggling to find the reality the porno set doesn’t offer, and Zach is fighting to find the fantasy that will set his writing on fire. The odd goofball and the suave beefcake may either find love amid Provincetown’s colorful pageantry where summer never seems to end—or more heartbreak than either can imagine.


Excerpt

“Are you happy with the way your life turned out?”

Good question. Van wasn’t the happiest he could be. At least not yet. But he was a lot closer today than he was yesterday and certainly closer than last year. He might have bounced from job to job and from man to man after he left home, but his life was his own. He had no regrets, and if given the choice, he’d do it all over again. “I’m content with my choices so far,” he finally replied. “They haven’t always worked out for the best, but they’ve been my decisions. That makes me happy.”

He sat next to Zach and watched him stare off into the dunes. His usually happy brown eyes looked dark and contemplative, as if he were peeling the layers of his life apart and inspecting each section. “What about you?” he asked.

Zach snorted. “Not even a little bit. I used to be a completely different person when I was younger. I tried to live life my way, and I remember being that little shit who challenged everything. God, my father hated that. And when I think about how far I’ve fallen from that person I used to be, it makes me sad.”

Having finished thoroughly coating Zach’s back, he slapped his shoulder. Zach immediately turned over. He interpreted exactly what Van wanted him to do. Van liked that, but not as much as he enjoyed now squatting on Zach’s crotch. The pressure of his bulge against Van’s ass made Van instantly hard.

“You can be that person again,” he told Zach as he squirmed on Zach’s cock, which hardened underneath him. “You can be whoever you want.”

“I’m beginning to realize that,” Zach replied. “Being here in P-town. The people I’ve met. They’ve opened my eyes to a lot of things. To possibilities I thought had long since passed me by.”

While the meaning of Zach’s words was a mystery to Van, the spirit they expressed made him smile. “Like what?” he asked as he finished rubbing the sunscreen all over Zach’s chest and stomach. He teasingly allowed his fingers to slip beneath the waistband of Zach’s trunks and stimulate the head of Zach’s cock.

Zach grabbed him by the shoulders and in one quick motion had Van pinned underneath his body. He then forced his hardness against the firmness growing in Van’s suit. “Like maybe heading into the dunes with the hottest man on this planet and using the Banana Boat to help put my banana in his boat.”

Van giggled. Even though he couldn’t believe he was laughing like a kid again, he didn’t stop. He embraced the joy Zach brought to his life. It was better than clinging to the sorrow of the past year.

“What do you say?” Zach asked as he reached between their bodies and squeezed Van’s stiff prick. “You up for it?”

“That sounds like a challenge.”

“You bet your sweet ass it is.”

He rolled over on his side, causing Zach to slip off him. He then sprung to his feet and ran for the dunes. “Challenge accepted,” he yelled back over his shoulder as Zach chased after him.


About the Author

Jacob Z Flores bio picJacob Z. Flores lives a double life. During the day, he is a respected college English professor and mid-level administrator. At night and during his summer vacation, he loosens the tie and tosses aside the trendy sports coat to write man on man fiction, where the hard ass assessor of freshmen level composition turns his attention to the firm posteriors and other rigid appendages of the characters in his fictional world.

Summers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, provide Jacob with inspiration for his fiction. The abundance of barely clothed man flesh and daily debauchery stimulates his personal muse. When he isn’t stroking the keyboard, Jacob spends time with his husband, Bruce, their three children, and two dogs, who represent a bright blue blip in an otherwise predominantly red swath in south Texas.

You can follow Jacob’s musings on his blog at http://jacobzflores.com or become a part of his social media network by visiting http://www.facebook.com/jacob.flores2, http://twitter.com/#!/JacobZFlores, or http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5142501.Jacob_Z_Flores.


Giveaway

Jacob is giving away a copy of his book When Love Takes Over to one lucky winner at the end of the tour. Please be sure to enter via the Rafflecopter link and not by commenting below.  The contest ends August 29th. Thanks!

Rafflecopter giveaway