A warm welcome to author Lane Hayes joining us today to talk about her newest release “Leaning into the Fall”, part of the Leaning into stories.
Lane talks to us about Weirdo’s , shares an excerpt and there is a giveaway to participate in!
Welcome Lane 🙂
Title: Leaning Into the Fall
Series: Leaning Into Stories, #2
Author: Lane Hayes
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: March 10
Length: Approximately 77K words
Genre: Romance, Erotica, Bisexual, humor, San Francisco, May to December romance
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Blurb:
Nick Jorgensen is a quirky genius. He’s made a fortune in the competitive high tech field with his quick mind and attention to detail. He believes in hard work and trusting his gut. And he believes in karma. It’s the only thing that makes sense. People are difficult, but numbers never lie. In the disastrous wake of a broken engagement to an investor’s daughter, Nick is more certain than ever he isn’t relationship material.
Wes Conrad owns a thriving winery in Napa Valley. The relaxed atmosphere is a welcome departure from his former career as a high-rolling businessman. Wes’s laid-back nature is laced with a fierceness that appeals to Nick. In spite of his best intention to steer clear of complications, Nick can’t fight his growing attraction to the sexy older man who seems to understand him. Even the broken parts he doesn’t get himself. However, when Wes’s past collides with Nick’s present, both men will have to have to decide if they’re ready to lean into the ultimate fall.
“Weirdos”
To be weird is to be uncanny, strange, bizarre or inducing a sense of alienation or disbelief in others. At least that’s what Merriam-Webster says. The definition is as subjective as the word itself, but we all recognize weird when we see it. Sometimes it hits you immediately in the form of the proverbial square peg in a round hole. Like sitting next to someone wearing a ball gown at a baseball game. There’s nothing wrong with either. It’s just…different. Then there’s the not-so-obvious kind of weird. The people who look perfectly “normal” but once you spend some time with them you realize they’re a little…odd. They’re the ones who show affection by calling you a name they love from an esoteric book you’ll never read. It can be hard to find common ground with them because they’re always thinking outside of the box.
I have a kid like this. He’s a twenty-two year old recent college graduate who lives, works and thrives in a large metropolis area. However, a dozen years ago, I was frightened for him. My son is a quirky guy with mild Aspergers traits. He’s crazy smart in an uber-intellectual way that can be off-putting. It certainly was to other kids when he was growing up. He was ostracized and bullied and it had nothing to do with being gay. It was because he was unusual. Or weird. It’s true. He did funny things. When he was six, he memorized the presidents of the US. In order. He was a budding ornithologist at seven. And he liked watching foreign movies with German subtitles when he was thirteen. Of course, I thought he was fabulous. However, I realized not everyone would think so.
As a parent, I was challenged to change my perspective about the child I was raising. I couldn’t mold him to be what I wanted, I had to listen carefully, take his lead, and offer guidance along the way. As an author, I feel compelled now to share and work through some of the more personal aspects of my life through my stories. And one of those is raising a son who grappled with social miscues and awkwardness daily.
In Leaning Into the Fall, you’ll meet Nick. If you’ve read Leaning Into Love, book 1 in my new series, you may think you know Nick already and perhaps have already decided he’s kind of an asshole. LOL. By his own admission, he’s different and a little broken. The way I see it, he has a lot in common with my son. He has flashes of unbridled confidence followed by anxiety-ridden episodes that leave him shaky and unsure. He’s extraordinarily intuitive and yet painfully unable to connect. His greatest fear is losing his sense of control. And any avid romance reader knows love is a leap of faith. Nick risks more than most people imagine when he finally risks his heart for the ultimate fall.
Thank you for having me on your blog today! Happy Reading!
Lane Hayes xo
*This thing some people call weird, others recognize as a sort of genius. New eyes to see what others simply cannot. These are the visionaries. The true voices of the future. Weirdos rock!
Wes led me to a small room at the opposite end of the building filled with barrels. The temperature dipped at least ten degrees here and the strong scent of fermenting wine was offset by the smell of oak. I moved toward the round table in the middle and glanced up at the tower of barrels. Each was labeled and dated, but as far as I could tell, the order wasn’t chronological. I categorized and filed the numbers in my mind in an attempt to solve a mystery that probably wasn’t so mysterious after all.
“These are special reserve wines. The best of the best. Theoretically anyway,” Wes said, picking up the long-sleeved plaid shirt draped over one of the chairs at the table.
“What do the numbers mean?” I asked, running my fingers over the printed tag on the barrel.
“It’s an internal code that basically tells us exactly which vines yielded the harvest. Some have information about soil disruption or weather flux. Of course, once the wine is fermenting that information is no longer significant but—”
“Where are the dates on these labels? Isn’t timing everything in the wine business?”
“Some might argue timing is everything in every facet of life.” Wes regarded me curiously before pointing out the dates in the middle of the tag. “It’s all here. See?”
“I don’t understand your system,” I said, stuffing my hands in my back pocket and staring up at the barrels.
“It’s an internal system. You’re not meant to understand. It’s for us only. The same way you wouldn’t explain the science behind how an advanced operating system works to one of your clients. They might say they’re fascinated but they aren’t really interested in the details. Same goes for wine. People come to tour the winery every day. They want to know about grape varietals and blends and some even ask about topography, weather and the fermentation process. But the true science of wine making confounds them. At the end of the day, truth is in the bottle.”
“In vino veritas.”
Wes smiled as he pulled his shirt on. “’In wine, truth’,” he translated. “Different context, but yes… truth. Are you going to tell me why you’re here or do I have to break out a bottle of Pinot to get the real story?”
Wes’s wolfish grin spread slowly across his handsome face as he closed the distance between us. He tilted my chin with his forefinger and stared deep into my eyes as though he was trying to read my mind. Or devour me whole.
“You look like you want to eat me,” I said before I could stop myself.
“I do. I want to do lots of things to you. Is that why you’re here? You want me to eat you, Nicky?”
“You invited me.” My eyes drifted shut when he ran his fingers along my jaw then splayed his hand behind my head and tugged my hair.
“I did. I’m glad you came.”
“Well, we were in the middle of listing our all-time favorite bands or artists by decade. That’s not the kind of thing you can leave for a whole week. It’s important.”
“You’re right. What were we thinking?” He licked my bottom lip in a sensual line from one corner of my mouth to the other. “We’ll have to continue that discussion later. I want to do other things first.”
Purchase
Lane Hayes Website | Amazon | Kobo
Lane Hayes is grateful to finally be doing what she loves best. Writing full-time! It’s no secret Lane loves a good romance novel. An avid reader from an early age, she has always been drawn to well-told love story with beautifully written characters. These days she prefers the leading roles to both be men. Lane discovered the M/M genre a few years ago and was instantly hooked. Her debut novel was a 2013 Rainbow Award finalist and subsequent books have received Honorable Mentions, and were winners in the 2016 Rainbow Awards. She loves red wine, chocolate and travel (in no particular order). Lane lives in Southern California with her amazing husband in an almost empty nest.
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