Today I am so pleased to welcome Amy Aislin to Joyfully Jay. Amy has come to talk to us about her latest release, Risking the Shot. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

 

Thank you for joining me to celebrate the release of my newest m/m romance, Risking the Shot, the fourth book in my Stick Side series. If you like hockey romances, be sure to check it out. Risking the Shot has an age gap romance, a single dad, and a hockey player falling for a cake decorator.

Joyfully Jay has allowed me to briefly take over the blog today, and I’m sharing an exclusive excerpt. Check it out below!

 

Excerpt

Dakota skated backward, gaze over his shoulder so he didn’t hit anyone, and stopped just beyond the face-off circle. Seemed like he was giving himself a bigger challenge.

Never in his life had Tay been turned on by watching his teammates play or practice. Watching Dakota set up a shot? Knees slightly flexed, torso held straight? Drawing his stick back, his leather jacket pulling tight across the shoulders? Concentration lines furrowing his brow, pink lips set in a determined line? Tay was much more turned on than the situation warranted, but fuck. Why did Dakota have to be so damn sexy?

Dakota’s next shot joined the first. The grin that lit up his face did way more than warm Tay’s belly.

Get your mind out of the gutter, Cunningham. There are kids present.

Speaking of kids . . .

“What do you think, And—?” Dakota cut himself off when he noticed Andy making snow angels on the ice. “Yeah, that looks about right.”

Chuckling, Tay left Andy to his new game and went over to Dakota. “Told you it was like riding a bike. Looks like your high school skills didn’t fail you.”

“It could’ve gone worse,” Dakota joked. “High school was a long time ago. You’re much closer to it than I am.”

“Maybe so, but my high school years are a blur of hockey and homework.” Unable to help himself—they were on the ice, after all, one of Tay’s favorite places—he reached for one of Andy’s discarded pucks with his stick and moved several feet away from Dakota before sending it to him. “Actually, now that I think about it, that’s pretty much what it’s like now too.” Nothing much had changed except that he made more money and people had to pay to watch one of his games.

“Really?” Dakota caught the puck, stickhandling it briefly as if to test his old skills. “You’re in school right now?”

The puck came back Tay’s way. “Mm-hmm. Two years into a specialist program in paramedicine.” He’d started late; after high school, he’d been seriously done with studying for a while. “It’s a joint program between the University of Toronto and Centennial College.”

Dakota’s eyebrows flew up as the puck sailed his way again. “Paramedicine, huh? What makes it a specialist program?”

“Not sure. It’s just what U of T calls it. Maybe because it’s a four-year degree? Other colleges offer a paramedic diploma in two years.”

“Why not do one of those then?”

Because he’d never hear the end of it from his sisters.

The kid can’t cut it in a four-year degree. Especially not at U of T. Even the smartest students fail out of there and Tay’s never been strong in academics.

Actual conversation he’d accidentally overheard between his sisters during family brunch at his parents’ a couple years ago while the two of them had been washing dishes, and Mom and Dad had been relaxing with their coffees in the living room. The words had curdled in his stomach, seeping upwards into his heart until all he felt was shame and unworthiness. He still remembered how his neck had burned as he’d slunk off to the bathroom, quietly locking the door behind him, and gave himself a mental pep talk that basically amounted to Get over yourself. You’re a professional hockey player. How many people can say that?

Well.

He had not gotten over himself, but he couldn’t exactly tell Dakota that he’d chosen the four-year degree to prove something to his siblings. Instead, he pointed to his left and deflected. “Andy seems to be having a good time.”


Blurb

Time for distractions? Hardly.

A chance at making the playoffs? It’s a dream for NHL forward Taylor Cunningham that just might come true. If he can keep his eyes on the ball—ahem, puck. And study for midterms. Dakota Cotton, eleven years his senior, isn’t just a distraction, though—he’s everything Tay’s ever wanted.

Dakota has no interest in introducing someone who might not stick around to his four-year-old son. Been there, done that, with the divorce to prove it. But there’s something about Tay that hits all of the right buttons and has him wanting to take a chance.

As things heat up between them, and the pressure to succeed hits an all-time high, will they risk a shot at happiness or choke?


Bio

Amy’s lived with her head in the clouds since she first picked up a book as a child, and being fluent in two languages means she’s read a lot of books! She first picked up a pen on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class had to stay inside for recess. Tales of treasure hunts with her classmates eventually morphed into love stories between men, and she’s been writing ever since. She writes evenings and weekends—or whenever she isn’t at her full-time day job saving the planet at Canada’s largest environmental non-profit.

An unapologetic introvert, Amy reads too much and socializes too little, with no regrets. She loves connecting with readers. Join her Facebook Group, Amy Aislin’s Readers, to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on Instagram and Twitter, or sign up for her newsletter.

Connect with Amy: 


Giveaway

Amy has brought two winners a signed paperback copy of Risking the Shot, plus author swag.Open internationally. Follow the Rafflecopter below to enter. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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