Hi everyone! Today I am very excited to welcome back author K-lee Klein to Joyfully Jay! K-lee is here to talk to us more about her newest release, Unbreak My Heart.  She has also brought multiple opportunities to win a copy, so be sure to check out the giveaway details at the end of the post.

Welcome K-lee!


Hi everyone. Thanks for dropping by Joyfully Jay for the first stop of my book tour for Unbreak My Heart. The official release date is August 25, and this will be my first from Amber Allure. Thanks for having me Jay.

Here’s the blurb…

Unbreak my heartBrett Taylor has been doing just fine living in his own little world for the past three years, thank you very much.  Losing someone special is life changing, and Brett doesn’t understand why everyone and their damn dog thinks they can get all up in his business about him needing to move on. He managed to make the transition from musician to rancher without relying on anyone else’s opinion or help, and he certainly doesn’t need some city kid coming into his life to disrupt his routine–one that involves grief, isolation, and a whole lot of Jack Daniels.

Moving from one meaningless job to the next, JT Campbell is on a quest to escape his old life and figure out who he is and where he belongs.  He’s not looking to save anyone, let alone a secretive, hotter-than-hell rancher who wears his heart on his sleeve.  JT likes working for Brett, but Brett’s made it perfectly clear that any relationship between them other than a professional one will never see the light of day.

But when JT’s lust turns to love, and he gives in to his desire to find out what makes Brett tick, will his interest push Brett away?  Or will he, through his patience and support, be the one who can finally unbreak Brett’s heart?

Buy Link: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/UnbreakMyHeart.html


Unbreak My Heart revolves around one of my favorite tropes—hurt/comfort. I’ve always loved to watch, read or write any sort of characters with a lot of angst and drama swishing around in their heads. Hurt/comfort doesn’t have to involve actual physical pain, and to be honest, I prefer the psychological kind of torment, especially in my writing.

To date, Brett Taylor stands as the most emotionally damaged or tormented character I’ve written, and I love him dearly. He embodies the best kind of emotional trauma—the kind that’s mostly put there by the workings of his own mind and not by anyone else’s hand or suggestions.

Brett is his harshest critic, his best choice in emotional prison guards, and the most likely person to hold him back from moving on with his life. His story centers on the aftermath of a traumatic loss that’s left him spending too much time with his best friend, Jack Daniels, rather than allowing anyone else into his life. The only exceptions are his foreman, who’s always been more friend and father figure than employee, and his stubborn mama, who’s always got his back whether he likes it or not.

I guess physical hurt/comfort has its own elements of psychological healing, but when you start with a broken mind encased in an able body, things are immediately put into a different perspective. In Unbreak My Heart, the one who steps up to take on the challenge that is Brett Taylor is JT Campbell.

Against his better judgment—because of the employee/boss relationship—JT finds himself attracted to Brett, and he wants nothing more than to help him heal, and figuratively bring him back to life. If Brett was struggling with some sort of physical injury or ailment, JT could have tried some standard TLC remedies—bandages, pain pills, or even chicken soup. But because it’s Brett’s heart and mind that need tender care, JT is forced to use different means of reviving a man he barely knows, but immediately falls for. In Unbreak My Heart, JT’s biggest ally is patience as Brett slowly allows him into his life and heart.

One of the things I love most about hurt/comfort is the possibility of having two heroes in one story—the standard good guy entering messed-up guy’s life (JT), and the messed-up guy himself (Brett). JT can definitely be considered the hero of this book by making Brett see the goodness of life again, and making him aware of the love Brett can both offer and receive if he gives JT—and himself—a chance.

But in my mind, Brett is also the hero of his own story because unless he digs deep and allows himself to trust in something other than whiskey and solitude, he can’t and won’t be healed at all. His strength and courage in allowing himself to be drawn out of the confines of his wounded heart and soul, coupled with JT’s affection and patience, are what make both of them heroes in my eyes.


Excerpt

The first shot went down like he was gargling with glass. The second burned just as bad, but by the fifth, the whiskey was smooth as silk. Brett pushed the bottle to the corner of the desk as he scrubbed his hand over his face. He should have gone to bed, or cranked up the hot tub and spent the rest of the night looking at the stars. Instead, the yellow pad of paper sat in front of him—the page still blank.

He knew he had something to say, but the words wouldn’t come. Usually the alcohol helped. Usually the fog in his head cleared and he was able to concentrate by the third shot, but he still felt stuck, still felt like there was something hidden in the gray of his brain—something important.

He picked up the pen, letting it hover over the page, twisting it between his fingers, willing the damn thing to write on its own. He didn’t know why he was so wound up. He’d even dropped his goddamn beer bottle in the sink because he couldn’t control the shaking of his hands or the force of the need to shut himself away in his office with a different bottle altogether, the photo in the frame, and his words on the page. He studied the happy couple staring back at him in the frame, barely recognizing himself as he purposely drew his gaze to Walt.

“Gonna help me out here, Darlin’? Don’t seem to have the mind to help myself tonight so I sure could use the assistance.”

Pulling the bottle so it sat smack dab in the middle of the daunting yellow page, Brett caressed the shape, fingers running the full length, then down again. He’d never even liked the damn stuff until Walt died. The first bottle he’d finished had been Walt’s, and he’d downed it in an attempt to feel closer to him—like drinking the damn stuff would somehow make Walt stick to his insides. But all it had done was send him running into town the next day to get another bottle, and only The Good Lord himself knew how many more there’d been after that.

His anniversary blues didn’t generally last more than the day itself, but today had been different. He’d already assured himself he’d been productive so it hadn’t been a complete waste, and he’d even made that damn phone call he’d been fretting about for over a week. Supper had gone better than he’d expected, too, and talking to the kid afterward had been pleasant enough, but something still felt unsettled inside him.

Maybe he’d revealed too much about himself when he’d actually been planning on saying as little as possible. But the kid was comfortable to be around, and the conversation hadn’t been one-sided by any means. They’d both talked and listened, and it had been nice.

Nice. Familiar. Safe. All those things were good, but there was still a leftover confusion in his head. He was generally a forthcoming type of man, not hemming and hawing about things that could be said outright, but now he couldn’t remember a time when he’d blatantly told someone he barely knew that he was gay. He didn’t consider it to be a secret or anything to be hidden…at least not anymore, but once JT started stealing glances at him, he’d suddenly felt like a trapped animal.

The last thing he wanted was for the kid to get some weird idea in his head about seducing his boss, and Brett definitely didn’t want to lead him on. Not that JT looked the type to be interested in forty-year-old ranchers with bad dispositions. The idea would have been funny if it weren’t so damn nice to think about holding someone close again. Brett knew that person was not JT though, and he’d have to nip any ideas to the contrary in the bud before they flowered up into something neither of them could handle.

By the time JT had run his eyes over him for the fourth time, Brett hadn’t been able to get the damn bottle in his hand fast enough. It just wasn’t right—not JT’s interest, not the alcohol, not the stir of warmth in his groin, and not the pang of guilt in his heart. It wasn’t something he’d given into with such determination in a while. Yet there he was with five shots under his belt, his mind still reeling and not a goddamn word written on the page.

He forewent the tumbler for his sixth and seventh swallows, the amber liquid finally warming his belly and washing away the fog in his brain. Unfortunately, it didn’t cloud the shame in his heart so once he’d screwed on the cap and shoved the bottle away again, he put the frame back in the drawer.


Bio

K-lee Klein has lived in one part of Western Canada or another for her entire life. She’s a doting mother of three now-grown kids, and has had characters and plots running around her head for as long as she can remember.

She lives with a patient husband who totally does not get her thing for gay men, two spoiled but wonderful sons (who don’t get it either), and two also spoiled but beautiful cats. Her days are filled with texts and phone calls with her daughter who has already left the nest, and an abundance of fabulous gay men, large and small, bouncing off the walls of her skull, competing for their turns to tell their stories.

Once K-lee finally threw caution to the wind, her first story was accepted and published in December of 2011, and since then she’s been lucky enough to be picked up by several amazing publishers. She’s thrilled to be substituting her previous jobs as a hockey manager/coach, school band volunteer and overall chauffeur with her passion for writing beautiful, emotional men.

Among her favorite sub-genres to read and write are rock stars, cowboys, shifters, and opposites-attract relationships. But to be honest, she’s open to almost anything if it involves messing around in the heads of her characters. She’s also big on series—because she has a hard time letting her characters go—and is usually working on a handful of stories in various stages of completion all at the same time.

You can find all of K-lee’s books on her website:

http://www.kleeklein.com

And K-lee herself at:


Giveaway

Thanks for stopping by. Unbreak My Heart will be available in all ebook formats on Sunday, August 25, then in print some time in the middle of September. I’ll have a few copies with me at GRL if anyone is interested in having me sign one. *blushes*

Now for the good part. There are two chances to win!

Number 1: Fill out my Rafflecopter form by following the link below and you’ll be entered to win one of three prizes–two ebook copies of Unbreak My Heart, and one print copy.  The Rafflecopter giveaway ends on September 1st.

Rafflecopter giveaway

You can also follow the full tour for additional chances to enter.  Full details are on my blog.

Number 2: Enter to win by leaving a comment below for a chance to win an ebook copy of Unbreak My Heart.  I’d love to hear what trope or theme do you gravitate to most when you choose a book. The Joyfully Jay contest will close on Saturday, August 24th at 11:59 pm EST.

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
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  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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