(Balls To the Walls Series, #5)
by Tara Lain
Blurb:
Can two men with skewed self-images see their true reflections in each other’s eyes?
Jerry Wallender—firefighter, surfer, and occasional nude model—knows he’s no rocket scientist. So why does he keep choosing intellectual guys who make him feel dumber? He worked his buns off to overcome his reading disability and pass the firefighter’s test, and he loves everything about the job. Well, except for Mick Cassidy, the big, blond, hunky homophobe who harasses Jerry for being gay. But Jerry is smart enough to realize it’s not hate driving Mick, but the pain of a very unhappy upbringing.
Mick Cassidy, Firefighter Assist and Search Team, fights fires, but he can’t fight his attraction to the kindest, most generous—and sexiest—guy he’s ever met. Does that make him gay? If it does, he just might get himself killed by his gay-hating preacher father—and take Jerry down with him.
A Dynasty of Balls!
Hi everyone. I’m Tara Lain and I write the Beautiful Boys of Romance. Today, I’m celebrating the re-release of my firefighter romance, FAST Balls. FAST Balls is the fourth book in the Balls to the Wall series (although each book stands alone.) The first book in the series is called Volley Balls and when I wrote it, I had no idea I was about to create a dynasty! A friend invited me to submit a novella for a beach-oriented anthology. I was honored to be asked and leaped right on the assignment. The only requirement was that the book be set at the beach, and since I live near the beach, I decided to set it in my fave town, Laguna Beach, California. So Volley Balls tells the tale of a gay art gallery owner in Laguna who get involved with two big, hunky Australian volleyball players. I published the book and thought that was that.
But there was this very memorable character in Volley Balls named Rodney. He’s the hero’s best friend. Small and very feisty, Rodney only has a couple scenes in Volley Balls, but he’s hard to forget, and suddenly he was demanding his own book. It turns out that Rodney is an artist and he has a black belt in karate. He’s a fire ball, if there ever was one and, of course, Fire Balls was born. The title suggested that Rodney’s love would be a fireman. Readers started asking for more Balls and I already had an idea yelling at me. A land development dispute in a neighboring city suggested an enemies-to-lovers story and that became Beach Balls.
Then Balls stories began to take on a life of their own. Readers would send me messages suggesting new Balls titles and other readers asked that favorite characters get their own books. So Snow Balls leaped out of my head when a minor character from the first book stepped out and claimed the day. But certainly one of the most popular characters from any Balls book is Jerry Wallender from Fire Balls, the laid-back surfer dude who becomes a firefighter. People yelled and screamed for Jerry to have his HEA. FAST Balls is that story. FAST stands for Firefighter Assist and Search Team. Yes, this is a firefighter story through and through. Both my heroes are –well, heroes!
But when Dreamspinner Press wanted to re-publish the 5-book series, I decided new books were in order. So the Balls to the Wall series will be 7 books – with two brand new titles coming soon. High Balls will be here in October and Bleu Balls in January 2018. Meanwhile, check out my firefighters in the latest re-edition in the dynasty – FAST Balls.
Mick wrenched the bag from Straight’s hands. The guy tried to pull back, but he was so off base. No one, certainly not this pipsqueak white trash, was keeping Mick Cassidy from trying to save the kindest, best man he knew.
Mick threw an arm toward Straight, and the guy fell backward on his ass. Get out of my way.
He crouched, focused, breathed deeply, and hurled himself through the flames. It felt like a mountain of fire. Please God, let there be another side.
And there was. The solid wall of burning hell thinned, and Mick fell through.
Jerry.
Quiet, still, broken like a rag doll. One of his long legs lay at an odd angle.
No. No. No.
He scrambled to Jerry’s side, pulled the respirator from the bag, and pressed it over his face.
“Breathe. Breathe, Jerry.”
A new hot spot flared up beside him. Damn!
He looked over his shoulder, back the way he’d come. Wall of flame. No exit. Embers rained and a chunk of the ceiling fell a foot away. He leaned over Jerry’s still body to shield him and felt the heat closing in. So this is it.
He stared down at the closed eyes of the man he had rushed to save. No question. No hesitation. Funny. It felt like a choice. A choice that had been no choice.
He looked up. Was God up? Up in that flaming ceiling? Up in the roof that now opened to the sky?
He took a deep breath and bowed his head. Okay, God, I spent my whole life hearing what you love and what you hate. According to my father, you hate the man who’s lying here, and I should hate him too, and leave him here to die. If he’s not already dead.
He looked up, and sparks lit up a disintegrating beam. It would fall real soon.
The thing is, God, if you hate this man and love my father, your priorities are screwed up. And if that’s true, I guess I don’t care so much about dying because I’ll be going to hell, and I know it will be full of people I like. People like Jerry.
I sure wish I could have saved him, though. The world is better with him in it.
He looked down at the man who had said he cared about him. That and being a firefighter were about the only things he could think of that amounted to much in his life, but they were a lot. He lowered his head to Jerry’s chest.
Bk #3
Prefer paperback?
The first and second book are now available in paperback!
Congrats on the republishing of your series with the addition of two more books into the new edition. Thank you for sharing excerpt from your book.
Thank you, Didi! Hope you enjoyed a little peek at my Balls guys! LOL
I have been a Tara fan for awhile now. I loved reading the excerpt. I enjoy everything Tara writes.
Thank you dear. You made my day!!
Congratulations on your re-release Tara I enjoyed the excerpt, the book sounds fab and is on my wish list.
Thank you, Shirley Ann. Hope you enjoy it. : )
I loved the first edition of this one, and can’t wait to see what’s new!
Hey Trix, it’s been polished up a bit but the story is much the same. All the new will come in the 2 new books — first one is High Balls in October. : )
Congrats on the re-release. I have the older version but am glad to hear that you will be adding two new books to the series.
Hi Jen — Yes, High Balls and Bleu Balls. Had such fun writing them. They’ll be out in Oct and Jan. : )
Congrats and from the blurb this has become a must read for me.
Thank you! Hope you like it. : )
I’ve read so many of Tara’s book I feel like the characters are good friends. I’m really excited you’ve got 2 new books in this series. Love them!
Thank you, dear. I have a friend who lives in Laguna who says he expects to see my guys on the street! LOL. I hope you love the new books. : )
Congrats on the new book release in the series. It sounds fantastic.
Thank you so much, HB! : )
Hey Love Bytes! Giant hugs for having me on the blog today! Always a special treat. : )
Congrats! Didn’t read this first time around but it sounds great. Added to my TBR list now
I haven’t read any books from this series yet, but the blurb and excerpt for this story let’s me know that I’ve been missing out. I’m looking forward to getting to know these characters. Thanks so much for posting.