A warm welcome to author Jaime Samms joining us today to talk about her new release “Like You’ve Never Been Hurt”.
Jaime also brought along a giveaway to one Lucky reader !

Welcome Jaime 🙂

Everyone, I think, has a guilty pleasure or two. A television show you don’t really announce that you watch religiously, or a favorite re-read or the best secret treat ever that you keep stashed in your bedside drawer.

I tend to binge-watch TV shows. Lately, it’s been all the vet shows and Animal Cop shows. Pit Bulls and Parolees has long been a favourite of mine. I do like seeing the animals gat their happy endings. (I won’t lie. There’s something about that big blond Aussie pet vet that isn’t so very hard to look at, either.)

It’s something people often bond over, those little idiosyncrasies they think no one else in the world can possibly care about. It can also be fun to pick those little things out in characters and find out if it’s something that will draw them together, or set them apart.

For Adam and Peridot, Danny Kaye was a little secret pleasure they both enjoyed, and it gave them a chance to bond over silly old tap dance movies.

“I like this room second-best of all,” Peridot said, guiding him into a small, dark-paneled sitting room at the back of the house. It was very different from the rest of the bright, colorful spaces.
“This your den?”
“Watch.” Peridot picked up a remote and pointed it at a shelf heavily laden with more paperbacks. The shelf slid silently to one side, revealing a wide-screen television. Below the television were more shelves, these ones holding rows and rows of DVDs.

“Wow.” Adam freed himself again and moved to crouch in front of the extensive collection. “Do you have the entire Danny Kaye Show on DVD?”

To Adam’s delight, Peridot blushed. “My secret addiction. I have everything of Danny Kaye you can get on DVD.”

Adam folded himself onto the floor to see better, sitting cross- legged in front of the shelves. “White Christmas is my favorite,” he admitted. “I sort of love the way he’s the biggest goof ever and still gets his love, you know? And. Well. Christmas.”

“Would you like to watch it?”

Watching a Christmas movie out of season hadn’t been Adam’s primary intent when he’d wheedled his way to Peridot’s house, but when he glanced over his shoulder to see Peridot perched hopefully on the edge of the couch, his heart skittered and he gulped. The man’s adorable entreaty was impossible to refuse.

“Sure. That’d be cool.” He removed the DVD and handed it to

Peridot. “Got popcorn?”

And so for the next little while, they sprawled next to one another on the couch, hands clasped, Peridot’s arm over the back of the couch behind Adam’s shoulders and Adam’s leg draped over Peridot’s knees while Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby sang sappy, goofy songs to Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

There was no sex involved. Barely any light petting. They didn’t even talk much, though they both sang along to “Sisters” and laughed at their sorry attempts to carry a tune.

Adam settled comfortably, eventually, flopping around to put his head in Peridot’s lap. Peridot ran a continuous, random circuit of paths through his hair with his fingers, and quiet fell between them as the movie played.

Adam didn’t remember falling asleep, nor did he remember the end of the movie, so when Peridot gently shook him awake, it took him a moment to remember where he was.

“Hey.” The softness in Peridot’s voice made Adam shiver.

“I’m so sorry.”

“No.” Peridot combed Adam’s curls back from his face. “Don’t be at all. But the movie is over. It might be more comfortable for you in the bed?”

“In the—” Adam stared up at him. “Your bed?”

“Heh.” Peridot softly knuckled his scalp. “Who else’s?”

“I—okay.” Adam rolled clumsily to his feet. “Yeah. Okay.”

SERIES BLURB
To dance is to put one’s heart and soul on display for the world to see and judge. Conrad, Peridot, and Cobalt always knew this. For years, this small group of men has danced in and out of the spotlight and one another’s lives. Now, settling in one place, one studio, they all have to find a place on the stage—or behind the scenes—and find the even greater strength to once more dance like no one is watching. To love like they’ve never been hurt before. But most of all, to live their lives like they have found their heaven, both in the music and in the eyes of those who love them.

Blurb:

About to lose the only thing he ever loved, Adam Pittaluga is at a crossroads in a dancing career that has hardly begun. He has always wanted to be a ballet dancer, but now that it’s impossible, he turns to Peridot for comfort. Peridot has been rebuilding his life after losing his ability to dance professionally, his marriage, and very nearly his daughter. He has a lot of reasons to be leery of starting something new, especially with a man as young as Adam.

Adam and Peridot have to believe that starting again can lead to love and success and that sometimes, the strength needed to love like you’ve never been hurt can be borrowed from unexpected places for a while. But ultimately, they must find it inside themselves to be each other’s happy ending.

Buy Links:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

Jaime has been writing for various publishers since the fall of 2008, although she’s been writing for herself far longer. Often asked why men—what’s so fascinating about writing stories about men falling in love—she’s never come up with a clear answer. Just that these are the stories that she loves to read, so it seemed to make sense if she was going to write, they would also be the stories she wrote.
These days, you can find plenty of free reading on her website. She also writes for Freya’s Bower, Dreamspinner Press, Totally Bound, and now, Riptide Publishing.
Spare time, when it can be found rolled into a ball at the back of the dryer or cavorting with the dust bunnies in the corners, is spent crocheting, drawing, gardening (weather permitting, of course, since she is Canadian!), or watching movies. She has a day job, as well, which she loves, and two kids, but thankfully, also a wonderful husband who shoulders more than his fair share of household and child-care responsibilities.
She graduated some time ago from college with a fine arts diploma, and a major in textile arts, which basically qualifies her to draw pictures and create things with string and fabric. One always needs an official slip of paper to fall back on after all . . .

Find Jaime
Website: http://jaime-samms.net/
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000982219151&ref=tn_tnmn
Livejournal:http://dontkickmycane.livejournal.com/
Deviantart: http://dontkickmycane.deviantart.com/
Twitter:https://twitter.com/#!/JaimeSamms
Amazon Author page: amazon.com/author/jaimesamms

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