A warm Love Bytes welcome to author A.M Arthur stopping by today on her Pride Promotions Blog Tour for her new release The Truth As He knows It.
She kindly answered some questions for us, shares an excerpt and there is a giveaway to participate in
Welcome A.M!
Book Name: The Truth As He Knows It
Author Name: A.M. Arthur
Release Date: February 10, 2015
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23358161-the-truth-as-he-knows-it
A.M. Arthur was born and raised in the same kind of small town that she likes to write about, a stone’s throw from both beach resorts and generational farmland. She’s been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long, in a losing battle to make the fictional voices stop. She credits an early fascination with male friendships (bromance hadn’t been coined yet back then) with her later discovery of and subsequent love affair with m/m romance stories.
When not exorcising the voices in her head, she toils away in a retail job that tests her patience and gives her lots of story fodder. She can also be found in her kitchen, pretending she’s an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments.
Where to find A.M. Arthur:
Contact her at [email protected] with your cooking tips (or book comments).
You can also find her online (http://amarthur.blogspot.com/), as well as on Twitter (http://twitter.com/am_arthur), Tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com/blog/am-arthur), and Facebook (A.m. Arthur).
A.M. Arthur’s work is available from Samhain Publishing, Carina Press, Dreamspinner Press, and Musa Publishing.
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Cover Artist: Lyn Taylor
Blurb:
Perspectives, Book 1
Officer Noel Carlson isn’t out to anyone in small-town Stratton, Pennsylvania, only to distant friends and family, so a relationship is out of the question. That doesn’t stop him from wanting one, though.
When a night-shift call brings him face to thonged butt with a hired stripper whose girl-party gig went terribly wrong, Noel takes pity on the guy and lets him go. But he can’t get the encounter out of his mind.
Shane has big-time debts to repay, especially to the brother who sacrificed nearly everything for him. His two jobs, in a deli and as a stripper, leave him no time for a social life. But a non-date of hot sex and takeout food with Noel? He can squeeze that in.
The bond they form is stronger than either expected or wanted. Especially since the step Shane’s about to take to put his brother—and his soul—back in the black isn’t quite legal. And he never calculated just how much his determination to make things right will cost him in the end.
Categories: Contemporary, M/M Romance
Buy Links:
Where did you come up with the idea for The Truth as He Knows It?
The Truth As He Knows It was inspired by a photograph I happened to see online, probably on Twitter or Tumblr. It’s been over a year, so I honestly don’t remember the feed, but that’s okay. The photo was of two young men hugging each other. Something about the tight embrace screamed “comfort” to me. The blond man was holding the dark-haired man in a way that made me think he really needed that hug. So my mind started wondering “who are they?” “What happened to inspire such a hug?” I figured out Shane pretty quickly. He had secrets and he was hurting from them. Everything else fell into place once I’d “met” Shane.
What was the hardest part about writing this book?
It’s hard to remember anything specifically that was too difficult, because I wrote it really, really quickly. The book is full of angst. So many secrets and hurts and lies and darkness. One of the challenges in writing this book was definitely balancing the angst with lighter moments, so the book didn’t wallow in melodrama. I wanted to stomp on your heart a little bit, but I also want readers to come away with a strong sense of hope for these young men. I hope I achieved that.
The easiest part?
Tristan. He’s Noel’s best friend, and every scene he was in was a blessing. I love him so much, and writing him was fun. And hard. But mostly fun, because he has such a unique perspective on life and the world around him. He was a great character to get to know.
Can you tell us about the next book in the series?
Definitely! The World As He Sees It will release in September 2015, and this is Tristan and Gabe’s book. You meet both of them in Truth. Gabe has an interesting challenge in Tristan, thanks to Tristan’s short term memory issues, but Gabe is a stubborn, sexy man. When he sees something (or someone) he wants, he doesn’t give up easily.
Where is your favorite summer travel place?
I love going to the mountains. I grew up and have lived most of my life near the seashore, surrounded by farmland. One of my favorite vacations was down in the mountains of North Carolina. Give me a lake to swim in, mountains to hike, and a river to white-water raft down, and I’m a happy girl. North Carolina, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania all have lovely areas for this.
“I want to see you again,” Shane said.
Noel grinned, flashing those dimples. “I’d like that too. My work schedule is pretty weird, though. I’m first shift, which is eleven at night to seven in the morning, five days, starting tomorrow.”
Shane worked that one around. It gave them daytime hours, and evenings on Wednesday and Thursday. He worked at the deli tomorrow, and Saturday was off the table. Probably Sunday too, for good measure. “When do you sleep?”
“Usually when I first get home, from about eight to two or three. Sometimes longer, depending on the night.”
“So you’re usually free dinnertime until like ten?”
“Pretty much.” Noel cracked an unexpected yawn. “Sorry, my schedule is a little off after spending the day with Tristan. I try to keep similar sleep times on my days off so I don’t get too screwed up.”
Shane stood, surprised. “How long have you been awake?”
“About thirty hours.”
“Shit, why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because I wanted to do this tonight. I’ve been thinking about you all week, and I’m glad I saw you at Mineo’s today. Really glad.”
“Me too.” Shane draped his arms around Noel’s waist. “And since this has been a fantastic night, I’m going to go before you pass out from exhaustion.”
“Do you want to get together tomorrow?”
He considered it for about two seconds. “My weekend’s pretty booked with work and stuff. Monday? We could maybe go out for real this time?”
“Sounds good. I’ll call you when I get up Monday and we can hammer out the details.”
“Okay.”
Shane collected his clothes and dressed, taking his time because Noel was watching. The opposite of a striptease, and Shane kind of loved the novelty of it. He meant his good-night kiss to be soft, quick, but Noel held him tight and devoured his mouth until Shane was breathless and half-hard. God, he could kiss Noel for hours and not get tired of it. But he saw the fatigue in Noel’s eyes, and it was time to leave.
“See you soon,” Shane said. “And thanks for dinner.”
“You’re welcome, cowboy.”
Shane strolled back to his car with a bounce in his step, positive he’d never be able to hear the word “cowboy” again without thinking of Noel Carlson.
Tour Dates/Tour Stops:
10-Feb
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
11-Feb
12-Feb
13-Feb
Because Two Men Are Better Than One
16-Feb
17-Feb
Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves
18-Feb
Book Reviews and More by Kathy
19-Feb
20-Feb
Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews
23-Feb
24-Feb
25-Feb
26-Feb
27-Feb
2-Mar
Rafflecopter Prize: E-book of ‘Truth As He Knows It’ plus an additional book from A.M. Arthur’s Backlist
The truth as I no it is that this sounds like it will be a very good book and I can’t wait to read it.
I think my heart was stomped more than a little. My nose was so stopped up I couldn’t sleep. I’m glad to hear that Tristan and Gabe end up together. Can’ t wait for the next one. 🙂
I had a hard time putting this one down! Definitely recommended 🙂
Sounds interesting, I like a story that has a few bumps in the road. And throw in strippers……..well that’s always going to be fun.