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

Excerpt

“What’s up?” Rory joined him at the window, still wearing the throw as a cape.

Kris grunted, nodding in the direction of the news vans.

“Oh.” Rory leaned closer to the glass, cursing when he bumped the edge of his thick glasses against it. “Maybe they’re not here for you? First preseason game is tomorrow, after all. Maybe they’re just here for that.”

Shooting him a sympathetic smile, Rory patted his shoulder and sat on the bed. “Don’t worry. The attention won’t last forever.”

“How do you stand it?” Sinking into an armchair, Kris scrubbed both hands down his face, wincing when he accidentally prodded his bruised jaw.

“Stand what?”

“The attention. As professional athletes, we’re in the public eye. That’s inevitable. But you . . . You purposefully put yourself further into it when you came out.” It had been a couple of years since Rory had done so and they were still calling him Toronto’s gay hockey player. In fact, he wasn’t even the first NHL player to come out over the last several years, yet whenever a new one did, they still ended up in the spotlight for a long time. “Why would you do that to yourself?”

Rory pursed his lips and pulled both legs onto the bed. The material of his slacks stretched over his pelvis. Kris resolutely dragged his gaze back upward.

“It was my way of getting in front of it,” Rory said, all teasing from earlier nowhere to be found. “If I met someone I was genuinely interested in, I didn’t want to have to hide. What Grey and Dean are doing seems to work for them, and that’s great. But that’s not what I want. And can you imagine if I wasn’t careful enough and ended up outed without my consent?” He shook his head, lips flattening. “That would be even worse. At least by coming out on my own terms, I controlled when and how.”

“But you put yourself out there to be . . .”

Rory cocked his head. “To be what?”

“Bullied,” Kris carried on. “By the press, by fans, blog writers and sportscasters and other players. Why?”

“After the kind of childhood I had, you mean?” A wry smile twisted Rory’s lips. “Like I said, this was my way of getting in front of it. This way I was prepared for the backlash. To be caught unaware if I was outed? That would’ve been worse. Besides, it’s like you said. We’re public figures. People are going to talk shit about us no matter what. I’m tough. I can take it. So can you.”

Blurb

Stick Side, Book 5

One wrongful arrest ruined Kris Xappa’s image—and made his NHL team look bad. Now, with orders to keep his head down, the last thing he needs is to develop feelings for his younger teammate—and best friend’s brother. The fact that he can’t stop thinking about their one illicit kiss doesn’t mean anything.

Rory Stanton is perfectly capable of taking care of himself and doesn’t need his brother’s best friend keeping an eye on him. Sure, he likes having Kris’s attention, but he’d rather have it for entirely different reasons. Too bad that one kiss they shared wasn’t enough to convince Kris to take a chance on him.

When an injury lands Rory in Kris’s care, will these teammates be able to see past the obstacles to become a two-man team?

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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:

• Website: amyaislin.com
• Newsletter: https://bit.ly/AmyAislinNewsletter
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyaislin/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.aislin
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/amyaislin/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/amy_aislin
• Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/amy-aislin
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16693566.Amy_Aislin

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Two-Man Team, Amy is giving away 2 signed copies of the release! Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!

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