Today we have author Wade Kelly visting Love Bytes on her Misplaced Affection Blog Tour!

She talked to us about cliffhangers and shares an excerpt of her new release also she is graciously offering a gc to one of our Lucky readers!!

Welcome Wade!

 

Cliffhangers

 

There is a general consensus that romance should not end with a cliffhanger. For the most part I can understand and agree with it. Most romance readers want a HEA or at least a HFN. It is a romance after all. But what about cliffhangers in the middle of the book? This could cause an issue for some I suppose.

 

In Dan Mitton’s review last week, he mentioned his frustration briefly over the “cliffhanger” I dropped in there. Part of the reason why I chose to release a very long book instead of two shorter ones was because I would have to end the first book with that cliffhanger. MAYBE I could have gotten away with it, but after seeing how upset Dan got even if only for a minute or two, I am glad I did not. I think I added in enough suspense for the readers to begin with.

 

For those out there who have read some of my books, you will know I normally include POV shifts. So combine that with a cliffhanger and yes I built the suspense. Take heart, dear readers, I do not leave you hanging long and I probably throw more suspense in there as you weave through Zach’s POV of the situation.

 

Cliffhangers are meant to hold you right there on the edge and make you feel the terror. I guess in a romance some want an easier read and don’t expect the trauma. Sorry, I bring on the trauma. Ya see, I like to be unpredictable. I don’t want to waltz along, la la la, and deliver a story that follows a mold. I want to stand out. I want to make the reader question, speculate, and then be thrown. I want my stories to make the reader laugh, cry, shake their fists, scream in frustration, and then make them sigh in relief because the roller coaster came to a lovely end. Or maybe even get upset again because it DID end!

 

I want to take life circumstances and weave them into a story so real you think you lived it. Cliffhangers are a part of real life. You take a test and you have to wait for the grade. You ask someone to marry you and sometimes there is a gravid pause. Or, sadly, you get that call that someone you know was flown to the hospital and you have to wait to find out if they are even alive. Cliffhangers happen and not always in good ways. In my book, I leave you hanging, but only for a tiny bit. And I also think that the “why” gets explained after you turn a few pages.

 

Dan at Love Bytes Reviews liked my book and I thank him for his review. But what about you all out there? What do you think? Are you for a little suspense or not? Do you like a roller coaster? My books are romance driven, and I promise a HEA or at least a HFN. Will you take a chance on crying over my characters? I’d like to think the experience will be a good one. Maybe even change your view of cliffhangers and the occasional need for them.

 

In the excerpt I bring you, as with every excerpt on my blog tour, you only get a taste. In a sense, all of you who have read my blog tour posts and excerpts MUST get frustrated because they are all like mini cliffhangers. They are meant to tempt and tease you into buying the book! LOL This portion is the flashback after the cliffhanger. What I hope is that you will agree it is too tasty to skip and therefore will forgive me when you get to it and have to wait for the “what happens next”. Enjoy!

 

He stared a couple minutes and then turned, maneuvering his body across my bed and crawling up to plop his head on my pillow, face down.

“You’re gonna get my pillow wet,” I joked, referring to the fact his hair was still wet from the pool.

He shoved the pillow away and let his cheek fall flat onto the mattress. He looked pathetic.

“I was joking, buddy. It’s fine.” I tossed the pillow on top of his head and he readjusted, encircling it with his arms and testing its comfort with a couple nudges of his face. He closed his eyes.

I allowed my wandering eyes to move along his skin, over his bare shoulder, down his bare arm, along his bare ribs, and stop at his bare waist. I licked my lips and then moved so I could lie next to him on my side. We had done this before, for years, it was no big deal to share a bed. I used one arm for my pillow, folding it under my left ear, and reached out with my right hand to touch his back. I’ve done this before, I rationalized. I had patted his shoulder, rubbed his neck, or hugged him on many occasions when he had been feeling down about his mom and brother. Some days were worse than others, but I had been there for him as best as I could for the past four years.

Very gently I caressed his skin, still cool from his dip in the pool, hoping he wouldn’t notice how much I enjoyed it this time. I could feel each bone down his spine. He’s so thin, I thought. I bet I could count every bone in his body. I trailed my massaging fingers up to his neck.

“That feels nice,” Flynn murmured, eyes still closed, arms still clutching my pillow.

“Yeah?”

“Mm-hmm.”

I lifted up onto my elbow instead of laying flat next to his side. The position allowed for better reach. I used a circular motion as I moved my fingers from one spot on his neck, across his shoulder, over his clavicle, down his ribcage, and almost to his hip before he jerked his body sideways. “Ticklish?”

“Yeah,” he said.

He hadn’t opened his eyes. Flynn merely wiggled out of my reach and then settled again once I stopped touching his ribs that far down his side. He looked peaceful. He enjoyed my touch. I moved my fingers back up his spine and I scooted my body closer to his. When my fingers reached his hair I lifted my hand and fingered the wet strands. I liked the highlights. They suited him. I circled the outer rim of his ear, over both small silver hoops, and grazed his cheek with the backs of my fingers. I caressed his neck again and moved my hand back over his shoulder and down his back. His breathing had increased, his ribs rising and falling quicker than they had been moments before. I pressed closer still, my groin now against his hip and my chest inches from him.

I nudged my dick against him. I couldn’t resist. I was so hard by this point I needed friction and his smooth body was right there, adding to my aggravation as well as my titillation. Why did he have to be so pretty? Just as I ran my fingers across his lower back I glanced up to find his eyes open this time. Flynn was watching me. Our eyes locked.

Then Flynn rolled onto his side, inviting me in with his hungry eyes and heaving chest.

I hesitated. This was wrong. He was so young. I felt his hand touch my arm and logic fled. I moved closer and he rolled onto his back, watching me intently. I touched his stomach and watched my fingers as if they belonged to someone else, tentatively making their way north over his ribs to stop at his nipple. I touched the flat brown area with certain fascination and then looked at Flynn’s expression. He was breathing rapidly, lips parted, eyes glazed. I moved closer. Now my body was fully against his, all the way down our lengths. I curled my knee over his and rocked my hips slightly.

Flynn closed his eyes and swallowed.

I leaned down, ghosting my fingers along his jaw before stopping within an inch or two of his lips. I felt his breath coming in puffs against my face. His lips were dry. I felt his hand on my back. He opened his eyes again, probably wondering why I continued hesitating. Only, I had to hesitate. This was Flynn. If I kissed him, I would cross that line between friend and… what? Something other than friend. How would I handle that?

Flynn blinked lazily, making his hungry eyes appear drunk. Was I making him drunk as he lay beneath me? Why did Flynn have to look so gosh darn beautiful staring back at me? I licked my lips and Flynn shut his eyes as I closed the slight gap between us.

 

See, another cliffhanger…. Lol!

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Blurb:

Misplaced Affection

Clichés are overrated and loving the boy next door may not be as genuine as the love Flynn sacrifices along the way.

 

Knowing he’s gay and acting on it were two separate notions to Flynn Brewer until he’d met Keith, his first boyfriend, in high school. Before then, being gay wasn’t as real as the pain of living day-to-day. Flynn’s fear of coming out to his religious best friend Zach in their conservative community destroyed his relationship with Keith, but Flynn rationalized his avoidance and bottled up the truth until it was regrettably too late.

 

Zachary Mitchell was the perfect son and role model as far as the outside world could tell. Active in his church while attending college, Zach had a personality that could sell anything, do anything, or be anything. Except, he couldn’t sell the truth to himself. Just when he was ready to reveal his internal conflict to Flynn and expose the darkness lurking in his heart, and in his “perfect” family, Zach met a girl and got sucked deeper into his chasm of deception.

 

Caught in a living Newton’s Cradle of his own design, Flynn must choose between idealistic childhood fantasy, or a tempestuous passion that could ignite the very air he breathes.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Amazon.UK

Read Dan’s review HERE!

 

Wade Kelly lives and writes in conservative, small-town America on the east coast where it’s not easy to live free and open in one’s beliefs. Wade writes passionately about controversial issues and strives to make a difference by making people think. Wade does not have a background in writing or philosophy, but still draws from personal experience to ponder contentious subjects on paper. There is a lot of pain in the world and people need hope. When not writing, she is thinking about writing, and more than likely scribbling ideas on sticky notes in the car while playing “taxi driver” for her three children. She likes snakes, can’t spell, and has a tendency to make people cry.

 

Visit Wade Kelly at www.writerwadekelly.com, writerwadekelly.blogspot.com, or follow her on Twitter.

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