A Warm Love Bytes welcome to author Jeff Adams revisiting us on our blog this time to talk about his new release in the Hat Trick series, Hat Trick Overtime: Summer Camp!

There is also a giveaway in this post 😉

Welcome Jeff!!

I’m thrilled Dani’s having me on LoveBytes to talk about Hat Trick Overtime: Summer Camp! I hope you’ll all take a moment to say hello in the comments. I’ll stop back over periodically during the next couple days to answer any questions that you may have. One lucky commenter will get a free ebook: you’ll have the choice of either Hat Trick Overtime: Summer Camp or, in case you’re new to Hat Trick, you can opt to receive the original Hat Trick novel to start at the beginning.

For the new installment of Hat Trick I’ve sent Simon and Alex to camp. Long with their best friend Leo, the guys are coaching at a sleep-away summer camp for high school hockey players. This short story is the first time we’ve seen Simon and Alex outside of school, but they’re not far from the sport they love. Coaching youth hockey is something that’s been referenced before in the series, but seeing them actively doing it hasn’t been seen in the series before.

What’s new at hockey camp for Simon and Alex is that they’re being chased by a guy looking for as many hookups as he can get. They’ve never faced this sort of thing before. Simon and Alex only have eyes, and hearts, for each other. And, while it’s likely they’ve been hit on by guys who may not know they’re together, they’ve never had someone not take “no” for an answer. It creates some tensions as they figure out the best course of action to get Sergei, who’s another coach at the camp, to permanently eliminate them from his conquest list while ensuring the teen campers remain unaware of what’s happening.

Sergei was a good departure from some of the people Simon and Alex have encountered before. They’ve had a couple go arounds with people who have issues with them being gay and their relationship. In this case, however, the person causing trouble is approaching them with something very different for them. As a writer, of course, it’s great putting these characters into some new and uncomfortable situations. Luckily, as you’ll see from the story’s blurb, there’s a lot of great stuff happening at camp for the guys, too, so it’s not all about Sergei either.

Of course with the setting of the story at summer camp, it’s an ideal story to read now as we’re in the middle of winter, so I hope you’ll take the trip with Simon and Alex. There’ll be still more with the guys later this summer when Hat Trick 3 comes out.

The excerpt is a brief look at what happens after Alex’s initial run in with Sergei. Here Alex returns to the cabin where Simon is relaxing and keeping an eye on their campers who are enjoying free time.

 

BLURB:

Simon and Alex, now between their junior and senior years at The University of Michigan, decide to put their jobs on hold for a month and take the opportunity to coach hockey at a summer camp for teenagers.

They’ve got a cabin full of good players to work with and the focus is to get them ready to win the camp championship. One camper, sixteen-year-old Dylan, requests extra help because he needs to get a scholarship and the guys make it their mission to help him succeed.

With their best friend Leo along for the trip, Simon and Alex are setup for a great time at camp, until another coach tries to seduce them. How they respond to the unwanted advances, while  balancing commitments to their campers, will test them both.

 

BUY LINKS:

JMS BOOKS

AMAZON

 

“We need to talk,” he said. It was a controlled whisper and I knew he was on the verge of a meltdown.

I nodded and he stepped back so I could hop down. I looked around. The campers were tidying up their areas or getting ready to head out to the campfires. No one seemed to pay attention to us. I jerked my head towards the door, knowing that outside would be the best place to talk.

I followed him to the corner of the porch furthest from the door. I leaned against the railing watching him, waiting for him to calm down enough to talk. Behind me, the chatter of the campers was going as everyone enjoyed evening free time. Alex paced the narrow porch a few times. He finally stopped, looked at me, and took a couple deep breaths.

“I almost punched Sergei a few minutes ago.” He was quiet, not wanting our campers to hear. “He came on to me. Son of a bitch tried to kiss me.” I started to talk, but Alex held up his hand so he could continue. “He didn’t listen to me the first time I said no, so I shoved him back, hard. I told him no way. Not ever.”

He paused and paced a little more. I knew from experience he was giving it everything he had to calm down. He didn’t get mad often, and I hadn’t seen him this wound up in a long while.

“He had the gall to do it in the pantry, trying to trap me against the shelves. I’m sure the others on clean up duty are wondering why I stormed out before we were done.” Alex stopped pacing and was standing in front of me. His face relaxed as some of his anger drained away. “I didn’t even know he was into guys. Is my gaydar that bad?”

I tentatively reached for his hand. He let me take it and I squeezed it as I pulled him closer.

“The guy’s a dick,” I said, calmly, even though I wanted to go kick Sergei’s ass. “Sounds like you handled it. Now, if he does it again, I say deck him and let me know and I’ll do the same.” I gave him a smile, letting him know we could deal with this.

“I don’t think I’ve done anything that to lead him on. I hope you know…”

“Hey, hey, where’s that coming from?” I looked into his grey eyes and saw the conflict still brewing there. “I’ve never doubted that your heart is mine.”

He held my gaze for a few beats and relaxed further.

“Good.” He bumped up against me and laid his head on my shoulder. “I’ve never had this happen before. He knows we’re a couple, right?”

“Everything okay?” Leo called up. He was looking at us from ground level.

“Yeah. Just a little weirdness to add to the evening,” I said as Leo came up the stairs and join us.

I gave Leo the quick rundown and then went back to Alex’s thought. “And, if Sergei doesn’t know we’re together, he’s an idiot.”

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you, too.” I kissed the top of his head. “And if he does it again, we’ll both take him down.”

 

Jeff Adams caught the writing bug in middle school and finally became a novelist with the Hat Trick series. He’s currently working on the final novel in the series, Hat Trick 3: Penalty Shot, which is due out this summer. He’s also written a number of m/m romance shorts, including the recent re-release of Rivals. Jeff and his husband, Will, live in the peaceful, coastal beauty of Humboldt County, California. He also covers the Detroit Red Wings, as well reviews books that feature LGBT hockey players, for PuckBuddys.com. To learn more about Jeff, visit jeffadamswrites.com and follow him on Twitter at @hockeyguynyc. You can also sign up to receive email updates from Jeff (no more than two per month) at http://eepurl.com/7TJC9.

 

Find Jeff at:

Website: http://www.jeffadamswrites.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hockeyguynyc

Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/jeffadams

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/writerjeff

 

Did you spot the giveaway 😉