Hello everyone Love Bytes is excited & happy to invite you to the exclusive cover reveal of a special author duo!
The first book written by Jeff Adams , who we all know, and his husband Will Knauss.
Jeff and Will introduce us to the cover, share an exclusive excerpt and brought with them a giveaway for our readers.
Welcome Jeff and Will š
Thanks so much to Dani for having us on Love Bytes to reveal the cover for our first ever joint project. You may recognize our names as the hosts of Jeff & Will’s Big Gay Fiction Podcast and Jeff’s been writing gay romance and YA for a few years now. However, The Hockey Player’s Heart, which is Dreamspun Desires #50, is the first time we’ve written together.
We had a great time collaborating on this second chances story about Caleb Carter, pro hockey player, reconnecting with Aaron Price, who is now a third grade teacher. We love the cover Bree Archer created too. That’s Caleb with his picturesque upstate New York hometown in the background.
We’re looking forward to the book coming out January 16 from Dreamspinner Press!
Make sure you check out the excerpt below, as well as the giveaway for your chance to win a ebook copy of The Hockey Player’s Heart once it comes out in January along with a $5 Amazon gift card that we’ll send out right after the giveaway done. That way you can get an ebook of your choice this month and then our book in January..
Here we go !
Cover art designer:Ā Bree Archer (www.breearcher.com)
Blurb
Hometown hero. Hockey superstar. Perfect boyfriend?
When hockey star Caleb Carter returns to his hometown to recover from an injury, the only thing he’s interested in is a little R & R. He never expects to run into his onetime crush at a grade school fund-raiser . Seeing Aaron Price hits him hard, like being checked into the boards. The attraction is still there, even after all these years, and Caleb decides to make a play for the schoolteacher. You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take, right?
Aaron has been burned by love before and can’t imagine what a celebrity like Caleb could possibly see in a guy like him. Their differences are just too great. But as Aaron spends more time with Caleb, he begins to wonder if he might have what it takes to win the hockey player’s heart.
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Here’s your first look at The Hockey Player’s Heart with a brief excerpt of Aaron’s reaction to seeing Caleb again for the first time in years.
Aaron returned to his students to help them finish their booth setup.
Even though Pam had mentioned that Caleb would be making a special appearance at their small-town event, it hadn’t prepared him to see Caleb for the first time in years, standing in the gym. It was good talking to him again after so long. What had surprised him was the visceral reaction he had to being close to Pam’s kid brother like that.
One thing was for certain. Caleb Carter was no longer a kid.
What the hell was happening? Just standing close to Caleb had left Aaron unsettled. Examining those pictures, Aaron felt the heat coming off Caleb, not to mention the occasional bumps he had gotten as Caleb reached around to point at the images.
The candid picture captured the real Caleb, and it was sexy as hell too. Caleb’s sweaty face, a lock of blond hair peeking out from the helmet, showed the effort and intensity of the game. The subtle five o’clock shadow got Aaron’s full attention and drew him in. He wanted to see the photo come to life.
Thankfully Heath, intrepid fourth-grade reporter, had come up and broken the moment before Aaron’s body could noticeably react, no blushing, no sweaty palms, and thank God, no tent in his jeans. That would’ve been the worst.
Caleb looked amazing. Aaron had a pretty good idea about the physique underneath that oversized team jersey he was wearing. Caleb packed solid muscle from all the training he did. It’d been true in high school, he’d seen Caleb shirtless a couple times by accident, and it still had to be that way since he was a pro athlete.
He couldn’t think about that. After what had happened during his time in California, he’d had enough of jocks to last him a lifetime.
Jeff Adams has written stories since he was in middle school and became a gay romance writer in 2009 when his first short stories were published. Since then he’sĀ continued to create, often with a hockey player at the center of the story.
Jeff lives in northern California with his husband of more than twenty years, Will. Some of his favorite things include the musicals Rent and [title of show], the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins hockey teams, and the reality TV competition So You Think You Can Dance. If forced to pick his favorite book, it would be a tie between Michael Chabon’sĀ The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and David Levithan’s Every Day.
Jeff is the co-host of Jeff & Will’s Big Gay Fiction Podcast, a weekly show devoted to gay romance as well as pop culture. New episodes come out every Monday at biggayfictionpodcast.com.
You can learn more about Jeff at jeffadamswrites.com.
Will Knauss is a child of the seventies. When he wasn’t twirling around on the playground (like Lynda Carter from Wonder Woman), he wrote stories and performed plays for family members. Enthusiasm for his theatrical presentations varied. Before becoming an author, Will’s work experience ranged from hotel housekeeper to retail clerk. While living in New York, he even worked as a Wax Museum tour guide.
In 1995 he asked the man who would eventually become his husband on a date. No Netflix and chill for them, though, remember, this was the Dark Ages (aka the midnineties). They went to an actual theater to see the John Carpenter remake of Village of the Damned. They have been inseparable ever since.
Each week, Will shares his love of gay romance fiction with the listeners of the Big Gay Fiction Podcast, a show he co-created with his husband and fellow author, Jeff Adams.
Other random facts: He loves Jacqueline Susann – Valley of the Dolls and Armistead Maupin- Tales of the City. He can answer any question about Bette Davis (he’s that obsessed) and has an ever-growing collection of Wonder Woman ephemera (see Lynda Carter reference above).
You can keep up with Will at WillKnauss.com and check out the Big Gay Fiction Podcast at BigGayFictionPodcast.com
My favourite sports romance is Tigers and Devils, because it was my first one and one of my first M/M romances as well
That’s an excellent, classic choice! One of the first m/m sport romance I read too.
I always enjoy reading anything that has to do with sports and romance. I don’t have a favorite.
Good answer there as I know it can sometimes be difficult to pick a fave.
Congrats to you both on your upcoming release. One of my favorite sports romance is Out in the Field by Kate McMurray
Thanks! I haven’t read Kate’s book so I’m adding that to my TBR.
I’ve only recently started reading more sports based romances, but I enjoyed Avon Gale’s hockey series.
Avon Gale is a master of the hockey romance. I’ve devoured the “Scoring Chances” series.
As a hockey fan and can of m/m stories, I am looking forward to this release!!
I obviously need more coffee, hit enter too soon. Love Avon Gale’s Scoring Chances series!!
Hope you enjoy our book once it releases! And I couldn’t agree more about Avon’s series!
Congrats on the upcoming releasing your first joint project š
I recently read “The Ongoing Reformation of Micah Johnson” by Sean Kennedy. Enjoyed the book a lot. I liked that the focus wasn’t on romance, but on the problems the protagonist faced in his everyday life. Made it very realistic.
Thanks!
I’ve add that book on my TBR for a while–and actually own it. I need to get it read!
I don’t have a favorite sports romance, but I guess “Almost Like Being In Love” by Steve Kluger is close – it has baseball references, as well as musical theatre references, funny supporting characters, and a great romance.
That’s a book I haven’t heard of, but you’ve sold me on the idea of sports AND musicals. That can’t be a bad thing. š
Congrats on the book! I enjoy reading all kinds m/m sports romance. I really don’t have a favorite but hockey and football are my favorite types of books.
Thanks, Heather! I hope you enjoy ours when it comes out.
I have a couple of favorites. JM Snyderās Power Play and Jeff Adamsās Hat Trick series
Thanks for the shoutout there, Michael š
And I love “Power Play” too. I think that was my very first hockey romance.
This sounds great and would be the first book by both authors that I have read. So excited to put this on my TBR list!
Thanks for adding us to your TBR, Katie! And glad you’ve discovered us too.
Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy comes to my mind when I think about sports romance books. And Caught Running by Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux, thatās another favorite of mine. I think there are a lot more that I loved very much, but these were the first I thought of.
I need to check out “Caught Running.” Thanks for mentioning that one.
I don’t really have a favorite MM sports romance, I do enjoy them but it’s more for the storyline and characters than the sports aspect.
I totally understand the need for a good storyline. š
My favorite sports romance is the Kage series by Maris Black.
There are so many I have yet to read, but I loved Kay Simone’s The Game Changer.
Love sports love stories. Football is sexy and of course baseball.
Love Hockey too !
I’ve read some great football stories too–“Tight End” from Devon McCormack and “The Second Half” by Scott Pomfret
One of my favorite sports romances is “Dance with Me” by Heidi Cullinan.
This is one of those that’s been on my TBR forever that I soooo need to read.
Double Full by Kindle Alexander
congrats on the new release
And another that’s been on my TBR for a while. I need more time to read! š
Tigers and Devils is my favorite sports romance. Congrats on the release!
Love seeing this book show up so many times here.
And thanks for the congrats š
looking forward to some hockey..
like your cover
Thanks, Lola. Hope you enjoy the book when it releases.
I don’t have one, as the genre is new to me. Congrats on the new release!
Thanks, Piroska. Hopefully you’ll find some good recommends in all these comments. I know I’ve picked up a few.
I second “Dance with Me” and “Scoring Chances”.. One of my favorite books about a sport is Helen Brenna’s “From the Outside:, a m/f Harlequin NASCAR romance. I am not a NASCAR fan, it was the relationship that I enjoyed.
Thanks for the comment, regencyfan! I’ll have to look at Helen’s book, I sometimes read Harlequin and your endorsement means I need to check it out.
I have to have this book after listening to these two guys talk about it. Glad I subscribe the Dreamspun Desires.
Thanks, Karen. Hope you enjoy this one.
We subscribe to Dreamspuns too and it’s going to be very cool when the paperback shipment shows up at the end of the month and we get to see ours. š
Well I don’t have one really or at least one isn’t coming to mind at the moment.
That is okay š
Since so many of my favorites are already mentioned, I’ll go for a more obscure favorite: Hunted By Liz Powell. It’s not linear, so it seems people love it or hate it.
I’ll have to look this one up because I enjoy non linear sometimes. Thanks for mentioning it.
Football-Plan B, Baseball-Caught Running, Hockey-Hat Trick and Him/Us, LaCrosse-Unnecessary Roughness. Iām sure thereās more but a few anyway.
Thanks for the “Hat Trick” shout out, Katie! And since you mentioned Sarina & Elle’s “Him” and “Us,” I have to throw out there “Understatement of the Year” from Sarina Bowen. One of my favorite all time books.
My favorite sports romance so far is Illegal Contact by Santino Hassell, but this one sounds like a good read too!
I’ve heard good things about Santino’s book. I’m adding it to my TBR!
I absolutely love “Still Water” from Ruthie Luhnow because it is just super sweet and I really enjoyed reading about a not so common sport
I’ll have to check into this one! Thanks for adding it to this list.
Even tho I hate sport in real life I do enjoy a sports romance. Right now I’m loving the Harrisburg Railers by Rj Scott and VL Locey. So good!
Can’t wait to read The Hockey Player’s Heart
Yes!!!! RJ and V.L.’s books. So good!
Hope you enjoy Hockey Player’s Heart when it releases!
I’m one of those people that like to read sport romance but actually don’t watch sports, lol. One of my favorite series that I follow is Scoring Chances by Avon Gale.
Nothing wrong with that at all. š
I read books too that around sports I don’t watch at all (like football).
“Scoring Chances”….yay!!!!
Reading the Signs by Keira Andrews
I’ll have to check that one out!
Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy, one of my very faves!
One of my faves too. I love their books together and Sarina’s solo work too.
I was not a big fan of sports romances until I read a hockey story and now I love hockey romances!
The power of hockey š
Welcome to the group of hockey romance lovers š
I definitely was spinning around playing Wonder Woman! š Looking forward to reading this book!
Oops! I was signed in under the wrong account! LOL!
Thanks, Matt
Hopefully you still spin around sometimes š
My first thought was “Caught Running,” a book that a couple of other commenters mentioned. Even though it has point of view violations (head-hopping), I was able to kind of block that out and enjoy the story.
I also enjoyed “Dance with Me.” One of the protagonists is an ex-semi-pro football player, but the character interactions and the dancing seemed to take more of the focus. Some of the protagonists’ interactions are hilarious, as at first they find each other super-annoying, and then think, “Maybe he’s not so bad after all.”
I’m looking forward to reading your jointly-written book. š
Thanks, neyronrose. Hope you enjoy our book when it comes out.
I enjoy quite a few: Isa K’s HOW TO QUIT PLAYING HOCKEY, Avon Gale’s POWER PLAY and EMPTY NET, RIley Shane’s IN THE PENALTY BOX, and your Hat Trick series to name but a few!
Thanks for the “Hat Trick” shout out, Trix!
I need to check out Riley Shane’s book. That’s not on my hockey list.
I enjoyed Reading the Signs by Keira Andrews
I probably read more sport romances than I watch the sports that the play. Just a few of the titles/authors books that I enjoy reading are: Training Season by Leta Blake, Out in the Field by Kate McMurray, Offside by Ryan Loveless and many of those mentioned above including the Hat Trick series š