Today I am so pleased to welcome Silvia Violet to Joyfully Jay. Silvia has come to share an exclusive excerpt from her latest release, Tied To Home (Ames Bridge #3). She has also brought along a great tourwide giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

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Excerpt

After he closed down the stall at the market, Luke texted his mom and let her know he wasn’t planning to be there for dinner.

Then he ignored the passive-aggressive texts she continued to send for the next half hour while he picked up an order from the Ames Garden Supply and chatted with his cousin Dale.

After one more text assuring his mother that he appreciated her making his favorite pie, but he really wasn’t in the mood for company, he drove to his aunt Trish’s diner.

“Luke, I thought you were having dinner with Miss Julianne.”

“My parents are and probably my siblings, but I’m having dinner with you.”

tiedtohome2“Well, I’m flattered. What would you like? I’ve got chicken ’n dumplings today.”

“That sounds great.”

“You want tea or a beer?” she asked.

“Wow, another person who remembers I’m actually twenty-one.”

“One of those days, was it?”

“Yeah, it was, but actually I just want tea.”

Thankfully, she didn’t tease him, just added his food order to the queue and then got him a sweet tea with extra lemon exactly the way he liked it.

“Have you thought more about going to school?” she asked as she put his drink in front of him.

“A little.” A lot. He’d figured out the classes he would need and considered programs at GTCC and UNC-G. He’d even searched for apartments in Greensboro and looked at job listings.

“You could start after the holidays.”

“I could, but—”

She laid a hand on his arm. “I know how your mama feels.”

“She’ll do everything she can to stop me.”

“I love my sister, but she’s got to accept that you’re grown up, healthier than most people around here—probably herself included—and you need a chance to go out on your own.”

“I…” Cal and Beck walked in, and Luke couldn’t help but watch as they approached the register. They were two of the most gorgeous men he’d ever seen, and they were living exactly as they chose. Sure it had been a struggle at first, but they were happy, and they had plans to get married in the spring. Would he ever have something like that?

When he turned back to Trish, she raised a brow, and he realized how obvious he’d been.

“I think maybe you have more to tell your mama than your plans for going to school.”

He choked on the tea he’d been trying to swallow. “Aunt Trish!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t say anything; it’s your secret to tell.”

Was he fooling himself that he’d kept his sexuality a secret? “How many other people know?”

She shrugged. “Anybody who would actually consider the idea, which means almost no one.”

That made him smile.

“Maybe them.” She tilted her head toward Beck and Cal.

Oh God, had they seen him staring at them? “I didn’t mean—”

“Men who look like that get stared at all the time, honey. People can’t help it.”

At least Cal and Beck would understand, and they’d never out him. Wouldn’t it be nice if he didn’t have to hide, though?

“I can’t tell Mama. She’s got enough to worry about without adding that to the mix.”

Trish snorted. “She’d do better to put the energy to something more productive.”

“Yeah. Do you think that’s actually going to happen?”

“Not likely.” Trish laid a hand over his. “Hate the situation all you want—the bigotry, the way you feel penned in here where most of the town won’t admit that the sick baby they prayed for is all grown up and healthy—but don’t hate who you are. God made you the way he did, and he doesn’t make mistakes.”

“You really believe that, Aunt Trish?”

“I do.”

“I’ll think about it, okay? School and…the rest of it.”

She nodded. “You do that. I better see to the Baptist women before they start raising a fuss about the service.”

He snickered. “That’s the last thing you need.”

Luke’s order came up, and Trish set his food in front of him. Then she picked up a pitcher of tea and walked over to where the ladies, who’d probably just left a Bible study, were pushing two tables together.

Luke blew on a bite of chicken and dumplings to cool it down as he contemplated what Trish had said. He wanted to go to school so he could have a career he’d actually chosen. He didn’t hate working on the farm, but he’d done it his whole life, and he was itching for something new. He’d been saving, and there was no reason he couldn’t get a job in Greensboro to help out more. He’d go to school part-time if he had to. He was a slow reader, and writing could be difficult, lingering effects from the heart defect that had deprived him of oxygen after birth, but he’d made excellent grades in high school.

As a kid, he’d never let his medical problems or his learning issues hold him back, but as much as he wanted to get a degree, he was also scared. He’d never admit it to his parents, but what if something awful did happen while he was away from his family? Or, what if, with no one to watch over him and take care of him, he failed, not because of his heart, but because of a lack of self-discipline. Maybe he wasn’t as independent as he thought.

Thinking of independence made him think about his other big secret. It would be one thing to tell his family he was gay. And with Trish as the head of the family, his parents would have a damn hard time doing anything but accepting it. Even without Trish’s influence, he knew they’d never throw him out or stop loving him. But if his mother knew what he fantasized about, she might be the one whose heart gave out.


Blurb

Tied To Home (Ames Bridge #3)Tied to Home is a kinky age-gap romance which can be read as a stand-alone or as Book 3 of the Ames Bridge series.

Luke Sumner has spent his whole life being coddled, after nearly dying as an infant. At twenty-one, he is more than ready to break free from his restricted world. He hasn’t told anyone he’s gay, and he’s only just admitted his kinkier needs to himself, but he hopes to work up the courage to say something to the older man who has captured his attention.

Since moving back to Ames Bridge, Jack Lawrence has been consumed with running a successful bed-and-breakfast. He hasn’t considered making time for relationships until he starts flirting with Luke each week at the farmers’ market. By the end of the summer, Jack is wondering where the spark between them could go.

When Luke finally ventures into a club where he can fulfill his desires, he unexpectedly runs into Jack, and they discover they’re a perfect match in the bedroom. With each hot encounter, more tender feelings surface, but between the age gap, not being out in Ames Bridge, and Luke’s need to come into his own, do they dare be more to each other?


Bio

Silvia Violet writes fun, sexy stories that will leave you smiling and satisfied. She has a thing for characters who are in need of comfort and enjoys helping them surrender to love even when they doubt it exists. Silvia’s stories include sizzling contemporaries, paranormals, and historicals. When she needs a break from listening to the voices in her head, she spends time baking, taking long walks, curling up with her favorite books, and spending time with her family.


Giveaway

Silvia has brought along a giveaway for a reader on her tour. Just follow the Rafflecopter below to enter. 

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