Love Bytes says hello and welcome to author Brandon Witt, visiting our blog today on his blog tour for new release “Vodka & Handcuffs”, part two in his Mary’s Boys series.
Brandon talks about insta love and brought along a giveaway for our readers!
Welcome Brandon 🙂
Insta-Love. Some people love it. Some people hate it. Some people believe in, other’s not much.
Despite being a romance writer, I’m kind of a cynic. Especially around romance. And while my gut reaction is to say I don’t believe in insta-love, when looking at my own life, I have to admit, that I do.
My boyfriend and I have been together six years (in May). He chased on one of those gay ‘dating’ aps for awhile and I wasn’t having a bit of it. NOT A BIT. Talk about misleading profile pictures, and not in a good way.
Then I ran into him in public and we clicked. I said yes to the first date, and it was good date. Not great, not horrible. But good. Then we didn’t see each other again for a couple of weeks and on a spur of the moment thing, when I was planning on taking myself to the movies (yes, I’m one of those strange people who likes to do anything alone) I texted to see if he wanted to join. He did.
As I waited in my car, watching him walk down the sidewalk from his house, something in my brain went, ‘He’s the one!’ Now, I didn’t believe in The One. And I for sure no longer believed in insta-love. And I didn’t want a relationship. Neither did he. But, I felt that definitive declaration as loudly as if someone had shouted it in my ear.
We told each other we loved each other two days later, and promised to ‘hug it out’ when things got rough. And they have. They’ve gotten rough. Many, many times. Relationship suck, man. They suck. And we often look at each other and say, ‘I wouldn’t go through this for anyone else.’ To me, that’s love. And six year later, it still is.
Wow, haven’t talked about my novella yet, have I? Oh, well. You’ve got the rest of the blog tour to read about it, or, novel idea, just the book.
All this to say, that some people label Vodka & Handcuffs a case of insta-love. It is. Sort of. Novellas are ripe for those, and sometimes the story works, sometimes it doesn’t. Kinda like a real romance. And while Vodka & Handcuffs isn’t a fluffy little sex romp, it is on the lighter scale of angst. You won’t find cupid shooting arrows, but you will find Vahin and Marlon. Two men, neither wanting a relationship, but in the right place at the right time, with issues that collide and yet pull them together. You get inst-love, but from my experience, the kind of insta-love that promises a Happily Ever After.
Please join me at Divine Magazine for the next stop of the blog tour where you get an excerpt from one of my favorite scenes in the story.
April 19 – MM Good Book Reviews
April 24 – Joyfully Jay
April 25 – Open Skye Book Reviews
April 26- The Novel Approach
April 26 – Alpha Book Reviews
April 27 – Love Bytes
April 28 – Divine Magazine
April 28 – My Fiction Nook
May 1 – Two Chicks Obsessed
May 8 – Boy Meets Boy
Vodka & Handcuffs Blurb:
Vahin Arora, Hamburger Mary’s sexy bartender, plays the flirtatious role so well even his closest friends—his chosen family at Mary’s—don’t realize Vahin hasn’t had a hookup in months. Then Tall, Dark, and Handsome steps through the door, and Vahin’s libido races back to life.
Being a black cop on the Denver police force is no easy job—Marlon Barton can’t imagine adding being gay to the equation. And while Marlon loves his work as an officer, his life has taken a turn for the hellish because of his new partner, the nephew of a senator.
Fleeing his partner’s company one night, Marlon stumbles into Mary’s for the first time… and wakes up with a hangover in the bartender’s bed. The one-night stand heats up into a budding romance, but not without stress as Marlon’s partner’s actions threaten Vahin’s livelihood and Marlon’s future on the force. Can Vahin and Marlon face the challenges and hold on to the love, friendship, and family they’ve found?”
Vodka & Handcuffs Link:
Dreamspinner: http://bit.ly/2oiYXQv
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2oF6ZmI
Brandon Witt’s outlook on life is greatly impacted by his first eighteen years of growing up gay in a small town in the Ozarks, as well as fifteen years as a counselor and special education teacher for students with severe emotional disabilities. Add to that his obsession with corgis and mermaids, then factor in an unhealthy love affair with cheeseburgers, and you realize that with all those issues, he’s got plenty to write about….
Brandon’s Patreon Support page
Brandon brought with him a backlist copy for one lucky winner!
leave a comment to enter!
I’m loving these blog posts! Thanks for the insight into instalove Brandon!
Thank you for sharing your iwn experiences. I have to admit, I don’t mind reading insta-love, but have a similar state of mind about real life it in real life that you do. In general, I don’t believe in insta-love in real life, but my actions when I met my (now) husband suggests that I do.
I love that!!! Its whatever works for you & feels right!!!
That’s so sweet–best wishes to you both!
Thank you for sharing with us some of your love story…. And congratulations on the release. I love your books!
Thank you for sharing. I have to say I can relate. I’m all for doing stuff on my own. I don’t mind reading insta-love but I don’t think it’s one of those things that happen in RL…well not for me anyway or anywhere around me. I’m glad it worked for you though =D
Congrats and thanks for the post. I love the idea of your Hamburger Mary’s series, b/c that place is special for me. The day after I came out in DC, I went there were with my new friend :-). Couldn’t have been a better experience. – Purple Reader,
TheWrote [at] aol [dot] com
congrats jencw!