Today I am so pleased to welcome A.J. Sherwood to Joyfully Jay. A.J. has come to share an exclusive excerpt from her latest release, Style of Love. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Excerpt

Shanice gave instructions as they moved the chair, staying behind her camera.

“Zar, for this, we’ll put Asher in the chair. You’ll have a knee next to his thigh, leaning over him as if moving in for a kiss. You don’t actually have to kiss him—although I won’t complain if you do—but hold that position so I can get a variety of shots from different angles.”

“Ah. Okay, sure.” I figured I understood those instructions fairly well. Asher could correct me if I was off in any way.

Asher dropped into the chair easily. I put a knee next to his thigh as I’d been instructed, a hand braced along the back of the chair, leaning in. The chair was the size of a chair-and-a-half, something we probably could have squeezed in together. I barely leaned in when a flash of discomfort passed over Asher’s face.

I stopped immediately. “What?”

“Sorry, thought this would be a comfortable position, but it’s not when I tilt backward like this.”

“Oh.” I saw the problem. His neck wasn’t quite hitting the back of the chair right. There was no support there.

Well, I could fix this. I slid a hand around his waist, catching the small of his back before pulling him down toward me. It brought his legs in so that they wrapped around my thigh. I caught his face gently with my hand, moving his head too, making sure he had the support he needed. Asher blinked up at me with this innocent, trusting expression, letting me maneuver him without a single sound of protest.

“Better?” I asked, my voice strangely husky.

“Yeah,” he answered, hands coming to rest lightly on my chest.

“Good.” I kept my hand cradling his head and leaned in as if going for that kiss.

That tingling awareness of Asher slammed back into me. I felt the way his breath shuddered against my lips, heard the catch in his throat. My hand tightened on him, wanting instinctively to pull him in closer. His lips looked soft, enticing me nearer. What would it be like to kiss him?

Asher sucked in a breath, the sound shaky, and it drew my eyes back up to his. They were a touch wide in his face, and I could see it now, the awareness of where I’d been staring. He wasn’t oblivious to the tension between us.

Ah.

Ah damn, this was lust. Wasn’t it?

Holy hell in a handbasket, was I actually feeling desire for Asher?

High-pitched squealing in the back of someone’s throat broke the moment.

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.” Ami sounded as if she was about to vibrate out of her own skin. “Shanice. Shanice, if you didn’t get every second of that, I will murder you!”

“Of course I did. God, that was hot. Zar. You’re our model with Asher from now on. I’m serious. He and Gage didn’t have this kind of chemistry.”

That pleased me for some reason. I couldn’t begin to explain why. I just liked that Asher was a better fit with me.

Asher’s hands on my chest firmed as he pushed me off. “Okay, good. Next pose?”

I kept getting broken out of the moment before I could figure it out. But dammit, I had three or four hours of being in suggestive poses with him ahead of me. Some of them shirtless. I would figure this out, one way or another. Was I honestly lusting for Asher? Or was it just the weird situation we were in?

Either way, I needed an answer.

Blurb

Asher’s dream job: Interior design – check.

His dream boyfriend: Park Bo Gum – not check. Sadly.

Straight as a board, childhood bff Zar: check

Zar becoming his boyfriend: che–wait, what?!

Tags:

Oh look a contemporary romance, GFY, Best friends to lovers, Dumbasses to lovers, not so much slowburn as two idiots standing around on fire, emotional baggage check, HGTV meets BL, family of choice, Asher needs a better family, Zar’s will adopt him, healthy choice making (and some impulsive ones), no angst here only cuddles, best friends giving The Talk, yes that one, Gage hates -coughlovescough- them, tropey tropes a lot, yaoi fangirls as co-workers leads to interesting situations, and sexy photoshoots, best supporting character goes to the dog, small town, Asher and Zar are so obvious there is a bet riding on them, Zar uses handcuffs for not sexy reasons, at least the first time, only one sledgehammer was sacrificed in the making of this book

Trigger warning: Toxic family members

Amazon: https://readerlinks.com/l/2340743

Bio

AJ Sherwood believes in happily ever afters, magic, dragons, good men, and dark chocolate. She’s often dreams at night of delectable men doing sexy things with each other. In between writing multiple books (often at the same time) she pets her cats, plays with her dogs, and attempts insane things like aerial yoga.

She currently resides in Michigan with aforementioned cats and dogs.

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