Love Bytes says hello and welcome to author Sean Michael who is joining us here today 🙂

Thank you to Love Bytes for hosting me today!

 

The Iron Eagle Gym is a fictional gym that is set in downtown Toronto. I love setting books here in Canada, and if it’s a place I’ve been to, all the better. One of the things that I love to do is throw in real places here and there. I love knowing that the place I’m talking about in my book, really does exists.

 

In The Gentle Dom, the guys go a restaurant called Swiss Chalet. This is based on a real Swiss Chalet, a Canadian chain that serves, you guessed it, chicken. Rotisserie chicken to be specific. I remember going to Swiss Chalet when I was a kid in Montreal. Back then, all they had on the menu was their rotisserie chicken and it was a special occasion to go have supper there.

 

Nowadays, they have all sorts of different flavored chicken, usually on a limited time basis – I’m still mourning the fact that they no longer have the Tuscan chicken, it was amazing. They have also added beef to their menu as well as all sort of appetizers (most of which but not all of which involve chicken.)

 

I have been to the Swiss Chalet in downtown Toronto where the Gentle Dom characters eat, and if you’re ever downtown in Toronto, you can to! (I’m assuming they haven’t closed or moved, of course.) As their a chain, you can also find them across the rest of Canada, too.

 

I’ve included a snippet below, where the guys eat at Swiss Chalet.

 

Sean Michael

smut fixes everything

 

“Let’s go have lunch. Talk. Do something normal, you know?”

“Why?” He blinked at himself. Jesus, Barclay. Don’t be a fucker. You love making friends, meeting people. At least he had up until fifteen fucking months ago. “God, that was rude. I’m sorry. If we can go somewhere super casual, I’d be happy to. I swear I’m not bad company, as a rule.”

Rec laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “No problem. It’s maybe been a while since you did something normal like go to a restaurant, eh? There’s a Swiss Chalet just around the corner. You like chicken?”

“Chicken is fine with me.” Although he could murder a smoothie. He loved the quick energy spike he got from them. They felt good going down too.

“Cool. You want to take a shower first or you want to just go? I’m easy either way.”

“Let’s just go. I’m passable, and this is a gym, right?” He wasn’t going to mention that he had yet to use the gym’s showers.

“You’re totally passable. Let’s go. I’m starving.”

“Yeah.” Barclay wheeled himself out, focusing on steady and sure, on control. He ignored how tired his muscles were. A meal and a bit of time would have him right as rain before he had to get himself home.

They went right out of the gym, and sure enough, the Swiss Chalet was half a block down. It took them all of a minute to get to it. Rec held the door open for him.

“Thanks.”

They found a table, and he stayed in his chair instead of trying to switch. No way was he going to risk looking like a fool.

They’d barely even opened their menus when their waitress showed up. “Hey, guys. Can I get you something to drink?”

“I’ll just have water, please,” Rec answered.

“Uh.” He wanted juice or a smoothie, but that wasn’t here. “Do you have lemonade?”

“Sure thing, hon. I’ll give you guys a few minutes with the menu, and I’ll bring your rolls with the drinks.”

“Thank you.” Rec met his gaze when she left. “We should probably look so we’re ready when she comes back.”

“Right.” Barclay stared at the menu.

“I know I should order the breast, but I really like the leg.” Rec looked torn. “Although, as I’m going to be eating all the skin—because yes, yum!—I suppose it doesn’t matter whether I have the dark or the light meat after that.”

“I’m going for the pasta.”

“I’ve never had the pasta here,” Rec admitted as he put aside his menu. “So are you a pasta fan because you like it or because you need the carbs?”

“Because I need the carbs. I mean, I like pasta better than rice, and I’m hungry.”

“That’s cool.” Rec pointed at the chair. “So how long ago did it happen?”

“Fourteen months, two weeks, three days, fifteen hours.”

“Over a year? No wonder you’re chomping at the bit to get into the gym.”

“Yeah. I was in the hospital a while.” And then at his folks’. Finally he was on his own. It wasn’t pretty, but it had felt good to get out of his folks’ place. He loved them, but he was an adult; they weren’t supposed to be taking care of him anymore.

“You’ve come for my guidance now, though. And you made it past the first and second session and actually showed up for the third. That’s how you know you’re really on the mend.”

 

Blurb:

 

When one of their own is threatened, the men of the Iron Eagle Gym will stand together and prove they are stronger as a family.

 

Stuntman Barclay Drambor suspects his fall from a roof was no accident. He believes his abusive ex was responsible, but he can’t prove it. Fortunately, a year has gone by with no word from Duncan, letting Barclay move on with his life—and that means dealing with the aftermath of his injuries. He finds personal trainer Reece “Rec” Gordon through a member of the gym, and it’s not long before their workouts together become much more intimate. Rec is gentle and goes out of his way to make Barclay comfortable, and in no time there’s talk of moving in together….

 

But just as Barclay is healing and finding a place to belong, Duncan returns to destroy his happiness. Though Duncan will learn he’s messing with the wrong group of men, in the end, Barclay must face him. Will Rec’s love and the friendship of the others at the gym give him the confidence to stand up for himself?

 

Buy links:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

 

Best-selling author Sean Michael is a maple leaf–loving Canadian who spends hours hiding out in used book stores. With far more ideas than time, Sean keeps several documents open at all times. From romance to fantasy, paranormal and sci-fi, Sean is limited only by the need for sleep—and the periodic Beaver Tail.

Sean fantasizes about one day retiring on a secluded island populated entirely by horseshoe crabs after inventing a brain-to-computer dictation system. Until then, Sean will continue to write the old-fashioned way.

 

Sean Michael on the web:

WEBSITE: http://www.seanmichaelwrites.com

BLOG: http://seanmichaelwrites.blogspot.ca

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TWITTER: seanmichael09

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