Today I am so pleased to welcome Mia Monroe to Joyfully Jay. Mia has come to talk to us about her release, Damage. She has also brought along an exclusive excerpt.  \Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Excerpt

The next morning, after a shitty night of sleep, I’m on a mission. Assuming he made it back from the city, I’m pretty sure I know where to find him. I open the door to Brooks and step inside. Several people mill around, setting up tables with dishes and filling water glasses as they prepare for lunch service. I glance around for Nolan, twisting around when I hear his voice. He walks out from the kitchen door, looking like nothing unusual happened last night, and stops in his tracks.

“What are you doing here?”

“After last night you need to ask? I came to see you.”

His eyes narrow as he grabs my arm and pulls me through a door into a side dining room. “For fuck’s sake, Seppe, why can’t you just let me go? You had me and you didn’t give a shit. Why now? Because you’re back? Because you have nothing better to do but troll me? If you think you’re just gonna wear me down, you’re fucking wrong.”

“Am I?”

“Is it working?”

Gazing at Nolan with his arms packed tightly across his chest, his eyes narrowed into a nice fuck off, and his mouth a flat line, I consider my options. I could leave. That would be the smart thing to do. But…

“We need to talk about the things you said last night.”

“No, we don’t. I was drunk.”

“Exactly. I was up half the fucking night worrying about you.”

“That’s your bad. Rinaldo told you I was fine.”

I tilt my head, giving him a hard look. “Yes, some guy named Rinaldo answers your phone after you tell me off in drunk texts and I’m supposed to be calm after that?”

He shakes his head. “I made a mistake. Okay? Can you just let it go? I have so much work to do, and I don’t have time for this.”

We glare at each other for several tense seconds. “I just need to know for sure, Nolan. I need to know.”

“Know what?”

I gaze down at the floor. It doesn’t matter. I need to just go. I twist around to leave, but his voice makes me pause.

“Know what, Seppe?”

When I turn around again, his arms have dropped to his side as he studies my face. Fuck it. I approach quickly, pressing my chest against his as we fall back to the wall. Before I can overthink it, my lips are on his, my fingers are in his hair, and my body is desperately trying to become one with his. But he resists.

Pushing me back, he looks incredulous. “The fuck, Seppe.”

“Tell me you don’t want my kiss. Say it to my face, Nolan.”

He rubs his forehead. “I can’t keep doing this with you.”

I step forward again, placing my hand on the wall beside his face. “Say you never want my lips on yours again. Tell me you never want to taste my mouth. Tell me you don’t like it that I’m so close. Say it doesn’t feel good. Tell me, Nolan, and I’ll go.”

“I don’t like…” His words are a whisper, trailing off as his eyes soften and settle on mine.

“You wanted me to come last night, didn’t you?”

He shakes his head. “No.” It’s so soft it’s a whisper.

As I feel his body relax into me, I lean in and kiss him again, softly, savoring the moment. He opens up to me, his tongue tangling with mine, but he makes no other movement. He’s restraining himself, but we both wanted this. I know it. I moan against his lips, nibbling the bottom one, before twisting my face to allow a deeper kiss. Up against this wall, his body reacts to mine, his growing bulge pressing into my hips. A door loudly banging from the back reminds us we’re not alone. I back away slightly, leaving small, lingering kisses before tearing my mouth from his.

Blurb

Everyone deserves a second chance. Even someone like me.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life.

I would travel the world, share what I knew, and write my stories. Everything I did was designed to bring me closer to that goal. So when a dream opportunity landed in my lap, I had to take it, no matter who I had to leave behind in the process.

Three years have passed since I made that decision, and I quickly learned reality doesn’t always match up with vision. Home is exactly where I need to be, but when I see the man I pushed aside to follow my chosen path, the true cost of my decision hits me like a ton of bricks. I don’t deserve it, but I’ll do anything to get him back.

All I want is a second chance at the future we should have had, but first I have to fix what I left behind… damage.

Love in the City is a collection of standalone MM romances focused on the lives of men in and around New York City. Damage is book 2 in the series. It is intended for mature readers.

Bio

Mia has long been an avid romance reader and writer. As someone who identifies as part of the LGBTQ community, Mia feels a special connection to these sometimes complicated stories. Once she read her first MM romance, she was hooked, and now wants to bring those stories to you. She’s a hopeless romantic so she guarantees a happy ever after in all her stories, but she does not guarantee they will be without complications.

Mia describes her writing style as angsty, emotional, and kinky and just lets her imagination take her where it wants to go. No filters, no restraint, no apologies. She hopes you enjoy the ride and come back for more.

People will tell you Mia is funny in the most sarcastic of ways, fluent in inappropriate memes, loosely moral’d, a lover of words, and fueled by coffee and tacos- but not at the same time. She has some standards.