SINGLE MALT (Agents Irish & Whiskey #1)
Releasing 02.27.17 from Carina Press
Writing an action scene.
Writing action scenes are a blessing and a curse. I love car chases and blowing stuff up in my stories, but I usually write dialogue first, which, aside from a lot of cursing, there isn’t much of in action sequences. Thankfully, I watch a lot of television, especially action and cop shows, and I worked on student television in college. So, when it comes time to write an action scene, I try to first think like a director. I need to understand the blocking—how the setting for the scene is laid out. I might sketch a diagram, bring up a floorplan, or, as I did for the car chase in Single Malt, open a street view map. For that scene, I had a very clear picture in my mind of alleys, buildings, obstructions, the port, and so on. Then, once I know exactly where my characters are in the scene, I re-engage the writer-brain and consider how to emotionally tie them into the action, helping to ground the scene more fully in the story. Going back to that same car chase scene, while told from Jamie’s point of view, because he’s the stunt-worthy driver and can better describe the action, Aidan’s panic at being in another car chase—another accident like the one that killed his husband and his former partner—is written all over his face and in his words. I wanted the reader inside that Rover with Aidan and Jamie – seeing what they saw, feeling what they felt, and praying they’d survive, same as they were. Later on, there’s a fight scene when Jamie faces off against [SPOILER] in a narrow hallway. Between the confined area and Jamie’s adrenaline rush, the fight scene is told (as would be filmed) really tight in on Jamie, as he struggles with his size, maneuvers and emotions in close quarters. For the last action sequence at the Port, major kudos are go to my editor, Deb Nemeth. While I had the blocking down, I needed to tie the scene more emotionally to Aidan, who had A LOT to lose in that scene. Deb encouraged me to add more internal emotional beats, and I did so using sports analogies and themes that tied Aidan to the scene, and more importantly, to Jamie, thus grounding the scene fully in the story and in their budding relationship. I love how each of these action sequences turned out, and I hope readers do too!
SINGLE MALT (Agents Irish & Whiskey) by Layla Reyne
The heart’s a resilient beast…
Widower Aidan Talley refuses to love again. Enter handsome younger cyberagent, Jameson Walker. As they investigate cybercrimes and his late husband’s murder, Aidan falls hard for Jamie, putting their jobs, lives and hearts on the line. SINGLE MALT is perfect for fans of Mr. & Mr. Smith by HelenKay Dimon and the Cut & Run series by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban.
Advanced praise for Single Malt:
A sexy, action-packed read that had me wanting the next book! –HelenKay Dimon, author of Mr. & Mr. Smith
With sharp writing, compelling characters, and an engaging plot, Single Malt is the M/M romantic suspense series I’ve been waiting for. – Santino Hassell, award-winning author of the FIVE BOROUGHS series
“Single Malt is full of explosive chemistry, captivating characters, and edge-of-your-seat suspense. A must read for any romantic suspense fan!” — Megan Erickson, USA Today Bestselling author
Follow the Release Celebration on February 27th – March 10th! Ten (10) grand prize winners will receive an Agents Irish & Whiskey Gift Set!
Follow the celebration for a different excerpt each week!
February 27th
Bookalicious Babes Blog – Review
Sinfully Gay Romance – Review + Guest Post
The Novel Approach – Review
February 28th
Joyfully Reviewed –Promotional Post
OMG Reads –Promotional Post
RoloPolo Book Blog – Promotional Post
The Silver Dagger Scriptorium –Promotional Post
March 1st
The Avid Reader – Promotional Post
Babbling About Books, and More – Review
Lisa’s Loves (Books Of Course) – Guest Post
Making it Happen Book Blog – Review
MM Good Book Reivews – Review
March 2nd
Joyfully Jay – Review + Guest Post
Love Bytes (Reviews) – Guest Post
Prism Book Alliance – Review + Interview
Smitten with Reading – Review
March 3rd
The Book Quarry – Review
Tangled Hearts Book Reviews – Promotional Post
See Laura Write – Review + Guest Post
Rhi Reading – Promotional Post
Sour Puss Reviews – Promotional Post
March 6th
Ellie Reads (all the books) – Interview
March 7th
Jen’s Reading Obsession – Review
Got Fiction? – Promotional Post
March 8th
Becky on Books & Quilt – Interview
Those Crazy Book Chicks – Promotional Post
Hike2Forty and Beyond – Promotional Post
March 9th
The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange – Review
Book Loving Pixies – Review
Dog-Eared Daydreams – Review
Reese’s Review – Review
March 10th
Alpha Book Club – Review
Boy Meets Boy Reviews – Review
Nadine’s Obsessed with Books – Promotional Post
About SINGLE MALT:
Title: Single Malt
Author: Layla Reyne
Series: Agents Irish & Whiskey
Genre: M/M Romantic Suspense
Release Date: February 27, 2017
Publisher: Carina Press
Synopsis:
Eight months after the car crash that changed everything, FBI agent Aidan Talley is back at work. New department, new case and a new partner. Smart, athletic and handsome, Jameson Walker is twelve years his junior. Even if Aidan was ready to move on—and he’s not—Jamie is off-limits.
Jamie’s lusted after Aidan for three years, and the chance to work with San Francisco’s top agent directly is too good to pass up. Aidan is prickly—to put it mildly—but a growing cyber threat soon proves Jamie’s skills invaluable.
Jamie’s talents paint a target on his back, and Aidan is determined to protect him. But with hack after hack threatening a high-security bio-containment facility, time is running out to thwart a deadly terrorist attack. They’ll have to filter out distractions, on the case and in their partnership, to identify the real enemy, solve the case and save thousands of lives, including their own.
Find out more at: Carina Press | Amazon | Google Play | Kobo | iTunes| B&N| Goodreads
Excerpt from SINGLE MALT
Wrenching the steering wheel, Jamie fought the skid, stopping them from spinning out and aiming them down the next alley instead. “We’ve got company.” He kept one eye on the road ahead and one on the rearview mirror. The SUV on their tail accelerated, gaining faster in the path Jamie cleared for them. Impact was inevitable. “Shit, hold on!”
The other car rammed them again, hurtling the Rover forward, he and Aidan straining their seat belts. He switched the LR4 into manual and tapped the shifter paddles, gaining some separation from their pursuer.
He cleared the alley, finding they’d been diverted away from the Port.
“What the fuck is going on?” Aidan was white-knuckling the oh-shit handle above his door, torso twisted to look behind them, his face paler than Jamie had ever seen it.
“Someone doesn’t want us at the Port.” Pulling a hard right, Jamie aimed them down another street leading right back there.
And into the path of a second oncoming SUV.
A horrified “Oh God, no” escaped from his partner just as Jamie saw an under-construction on-ramp ahead on the left, orange-and-white-striped barrels blocking the entrance. He pressed the gas pedal to the floor and headed straight for the oncoming truck.
“Whiskey!” Aidan cried, head spinning forward and back. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Their pursuers were closing in on either side, as bypassed alleys flew by left and right.
“You’re headed straight for them. Turn, goddammit!”
But turning down one of those alleys would leave them cornered. There was only one path to escape.
Jamie grabbed the back of Aidan’s head and pushed it toward his knees, screaming, “Hold on!”
At the last possible second, he veered left, out of the path of the oncoming SUVs and into the barrels. The SUVs in front and behind plowed into each other, exploding in their wake, the blast momentum propelling the Rover farther than Jamie had intended.
Through the barrels and past the unfinished on-ramp.
Through the guardrail.
And down the cliff on the other side.
Coming May 1, 2017 – CASK STRENGTH (Agents Irish & Whiskey):
Professionally, the FBI team of Aidan “Irish” Talley and Jameson “Whiskey” Walker is as good as it gets, closing cases faster than any team at the Bureau. Personally, it’s a different story. Aidan’s feelings for Jamie scare the hell out of him: he won’t risk losing another love no matter how heart-tripping the intimacy between them. And loss is a grim reality with the terrorist Renaud still on their trail, leaving a pile of bodies in his wake.
Going undercover on a new case gets them out of town and off the killer’s radar. They’re assigned to investigate an identity theft ring involving a college basketball team in Jamie’s home state, where Jamie’s past makes him perfect for the role of coach. But returning to the court brings more than old memories.
As secrets and shocking betrayals abound, none may be more dangerous than the one Jamie’s been keeping: a secret about the death of Aidan’s husband that could blow his partner’s world apart and destroy forever the fragile bonds of trust and love building between them.
Preorder now: Amazon| iTunes | Kobo | Google Play
2016 RWA® Golden Heart® Finalist, Layla Reyne, was raised in North Carolina but now calls San Francisco home. She enjoys weaving her bi-coastal experiences into her stories, along with adrenaline fueled suspense and heart pounding romance. When she’s not writing stories to excite her readers, she downloads too many books, watches too much television, and cooks too much food with her scientist husband, much to the delight of their smushed-face, leftover-loving dogs.
You can find her online at http://www.laylareyne.com/.
Connect with Layla: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads
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Great scene, looks like this is going to be a thrill ride of a story!
Thanks so much for hosting us this week 🙂