Today I am so pleased to welcome Sam E. Kraemer to Joyfully Jay. Sam has come to talk to us about a new release, ImaGINation. Sam has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving a big welcome!

imagination teaser

 

Excerpt

Cam

Early on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I drove out to South Padre Island to check on the demolition of the patio behind On the Rocks. Jess had Archie for the long weekend, and Grayson was going to spend the holiday with her, needing to return to school on Friday for a basketball tournament to support his team.

Grayson had been redshirted for his freshman year, being relegated to the practice squad and the bench during games, which had pissed him off. I’d explained to him that not many freshmen played in games that first year and being redshirted would afford him the opportunity to extend his playing time to a fifth year, giving him an extra year of his scholarship to get his masters if he so desired. He’d finally seen my logic and was taking it in stride—not happily at all.

With the boys gone, I saw no reason to be home alone for the holiday, so I rented a beach place for the weekend. I picked up the key for the duplex, finding the address included in the envelope through the GPS. I was happy to see it wasn’t too far from the beach, so after I unloaded my things, I decided to drive out to the bar. Tanner and Kelso were great guys, and the staff were friendly. Hell, I was lonely, and I needed some familiar company.

I turned into the lot and saw it was full, so I drove around to the back, finding a spot near an industrial-sized dumpster. Apparently, the demo was going well. I walked around the back of the building to see the patio covering and the tiki bar were both gone, which was sort of sad. They’d had a lot of character.

I could see footings had been set. There was a vacant lot next to the space, and a sold sign in front of the property made me wonder if my brother was right. Was Leo Anderson planning a distillery next door?

I was standing in the sand when I felt paws on my leg. I looked down to see Whiskey, Kelso’s dog, panting next to me. “Hey, bud,” I greeted, ruffling his ears. He seemed happy to see me, too.

A shrill whistle caught my attention, and when I looked up, expecting to see Tanner, I saw Leo standing on the beach. My breath caught in my chest. I was completely awestruck at how much I’d missed him.

Whiskey stayed with me, frolicking around as I trudged through the sand to the two steps leading from the beach to the deck where Leo stood, handsome as ever. “Hey, stranger,” I greeted, my heart ticking up at the sight of him.

He looked at me, not smiling. “Hello, Cameron. Whiskey, get up here.”

The dog looked at me, his tail going a million miles an hour as it scraped the sand back and forth in snow angel fashion, before he finally succumbed to Leo’s order and walked up the two stairs to Leo, sitting on the deck and leaning against Leo’s leg in hopes of getting a little affection. I envied the dog, wishing I could do the same damn thing.

“You, uh, you went on vacation,” I remarked, trying not to sound too eager for details. Cordial but detached seemed like the best approach.

Leo chuckled. “Yeah, and I was lucky enough to meet your brother. That was a mind-fuck because I didn’t know there was another you out there. Thankfully, he didn’t throw me out of his place.”

His comment was like an arrow through my heart, but he wasn’t lying. I’d been a stupid prick that day when he’d shown up at the office in Brownsville, and there was really no excuse for my overreaction. He was there to put down the deposit for the project, which really wasn’t a big deal. I’d completely panicked because I was attracted to him and Grayson was hanging out at the office to wait for me to take him home that Friday. I was afraid my son would see my attraction for another man and judge me for it—he was half his mother’s son.

“Yeah, uh, I’m sorry for that. I freaked out for a ridiculous reason, and I took my panic out on you,” I offered as a weak excuse for bad behavior.

Leo sighed. “Let’s just forget it. Come on inside. We had to make a temporary bar in here to get us through the renovation. Lan’s pretty creative,” he replied.

I followed him through the messy outside and inside the former bar/restaurant area, seeing a temporary bar top had been created in the dining room where people used to sit to look out the window.

The entire bar had been ripped out, the space taken down to the studs and temporary framing put in place with heavy-duty plastic tarps to keep the wind out. Lan had set up a makeshift bar with some Formica remnants he had in the warehouse and built a temporary frame for it. He’d created some shelves in the window after covering the panes with blackout film so the liquor wouldn’t be ruined by the sunlight, and he’d even put up the cute sign that was originally over the tiki bar. My friend had outdone himself, and I planned to quiz him about it the next time I saw him.


Blurb

ImaGINation coverOn The Rocks, Book 2

Can an architect and a bar owner build a strong relationship? Not without a strong foundation and ImaGINation!

Leo Anderson is about as confused as a guy of twenty-eight can be. All his life he’s been denying a part of himself, and now, with the appearance of a dashing architect in Leo’s simple life as a bar and restaurant owner, that side of him—the side that is attracted to men—comes exploding from the closet like a battering ram.

Cameron March, a forty-something architect, discovers his attraction to men and women—after he’s married with a family. Being a responsible father, he buries those feelings deep inside himself for the sake of his two sons until one-day, his wife decides she’s done with the marriage… nearly fifteen years later.

When Leo contacts Cam about expanding On the Rocks, the beach bar Leo owns with his singer-brother and best friend, Cameron’s immediately attracted to the barman—and the timing couldn’t be worse. Cam’s divorce is final, but he’s still fighting his ex-wife to keep her from taking his younger son to live in the Pacific Northwest where she wants to begin her new life.

How can Cam and Leo explore the possibility of a relationship without Cam losing his son?

It’ll take a lot of ImaGINation…


Bio

I grew up in the rural Midwest before moving to the East Coast with a dashing young man who swept me off my feet, and we’ve now settled in the desert of Nevada. I write M/M contemporary romance, subgenres: sweet low angst, age-gap, cowboys, mysteries, and military/mercenary to name a few. I am a firm believer in “Love is Love” regardless of how it presents itself, and I’m a staunch ally of the LGBTQIA+ community.

I have a loving, supportive family, and I feel blessed by the universe and thankful every day for all I have been given. I’m old enough to know how to have fun, but too old to care what others think about my definition of a good time. In my heart and soul, I believe I hit the cosmic jackpot. Cheers!

Catch up with Sam:


Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Ima-GIN-ation, Sam is giving you the chance to win a $20 Amazon Voucher or 1 of 2 paperbacks (US Winner) by Sam! Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!

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