Book Title: Behind the Stick, The Speakeasy #3
Author: K. Evan Coles and Brigham Vaughn
Publisher: Pride Publishing/Totally Entwined Group
Release Date: August 20, 2019
Genre/s: Contemporary, MM, Romance, Interracial, Erotic Romance
Trope/s: Bad Breakup, Hurt/Comfort, Interracial Relationship, Sex Buddies Become Lovers, Found Family
Themes: Family, Friendship, Family Conflict, Racial Intolerance, Forgiveness
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 97 045 words/370 pages
Blurb
Kyle McKee lives a charmed life. He co-owns Under, an uptown speakeasy, where he is chief mixologist. Friends poke fun at Kyle’s tiny one-bed apartment in Chelsea, but they’re the best support system a man could ask for. Unfortunately, Kyle’s lackluster love life has led him to take a break from dating.
Harlem resident Luka Clarke is a lieutenant with Engine 47, the Pride of Morningside, where he carries on his father’s legacy with the FDNY. Luka, who is mixed race and bisexual, has his eye on Kyle, whom he met at a local burger joint and he just needs to make time to visit Kyle’s bar.
Before work one evening, Kyle is trapped inside the luncheonette when a fire breaks out. Luka’s firehouse answers the call and he connects with Kyle again under the most unexpected of circumstances. When Kyle gratefully invites Luka and the firehouse squad to Under, the flirting between the two men leads to a date.
Kyle and Luka quickly grow close, but Luka’s mother and sister distrust Kyle for being both white and gay. Luka believes his family will come around and accept Kyle in the end, but Kyle is not optimistic and hides his disquiet as attraction blossoms into love.
Kyle and Luka’s near-idyllic bubble is shattered one evening after a hate crime leaves them scarred, inside and out. Shaken, they put on a strong front but struggle inwardly against fear and personal demons. As the emotions seething beneath the surface finally come to a head, both men must decide if they have the strength to find love enough to conquer hate.
Reader advisory: This book contains references to non-nurturing parenting; homophobia; racism and racist slurs. There are references to recreational drug use. This book also contains scenes of mmmm ménage and characters caught in fire.
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On Being Plantsers
You might be wondering what the heck a plantser is but if you’re familiar with the terms ‘plotter’ and ‘pantser’ it might make sense.
A plotter is an author who plans out the story in meticulous detail before they begin writing.
A pantser is an author who flies by the seat of their pants and lets the story unfold as they go.
Many authors fall somewhere in between the two extremes.
As a writing duo, we seem to have landed firmly in the middle as ‘plantsers’. We do begin by writing a basic plot idea, plus where we want the characters to begin from where we want them to end up. We often plan out three to five chapters at a time as we go and revise as necessary.
And trust us, that revision to the plan is necessary. Because our characters have a habit of going a bit rogue. Presumably there are authors out there who can reign in their characters, but we like to give ours a little room to do their own thing. Often, they give us ideas of how to tell their story better than what we originally came up with!
Luka and Kyle are our main characters in Behind the Stick. Kyle has a history of threesomes with his friends Jesse and Cam, whose story we told in Extra Dirty. When Kyle and Luka meet, he is upfront about his sexual adventures with friends and Luka is quite curious about it.
The original plan was to have Luka simply watch the three of them together. But once things began to get hot and heavy … well, let’s just say Luka told us in no uncertain terms that he did not want to be left out of the fun. So we rolled with it. And, if we do say so ourselves, we’re quite pleased with how that scene turned out!
The other surprise was that Luka doesn’t mind wearing a bit of makeup from time to time. His roommate, Matías, works at a MAC counter and loves to wear makeup. Well, we didn’t plan on it but Matías just couldn’t resist giving Luka a bit of a makeover before the foursome takes place.
“I take it Matías had his way with you earlier?” Kyle asked as they stepped into a building on 29th Street that housed Jesse and Cam’s loft. He waved at the concierge at the desk and kept walking. “It’s subtle, but I can tell.”
Luka chuckled. “He did. I couldn’t argue his point that there is no time more appropriate to wear makeup than for an orgy. Or is this a foursome? I’m not sure I have the terminology down.”
Kyle appeared to consider the question while they waited for the elevator. “I’d go with foursome. More than that would be an orgy.”
“Well, I hope the makeup isn’t over the top then. I wasn’t sure of the etiquette.”
Kyle grinned. “Whatever it is, I think you look incredible.”
Matías had applied concealer on Luka’s face, as well as mascara and lip gloss, and spritzed everything with setting spray. ‘You don’t want it all to rub off in the middle of things,’ he’d said, and Luka couldn’t argue with that logic either.
It’s always a little bit of a risk, springing a surprise on your co-author like that and hoping they’re in a good mood! But thankfully we’ve learned to roll with each other’s (and our character’s) plot twists.
And sometimes, a bit of the unexpected is exactly what a scene needs.
Kyle McKee set down his gym bag and yoga mat and pulled up a seat at his gym’s juice bar. The class he’d taken had warmed his skin and stretched his muscles and joints to their limits. He felt like the world’s most relaxed slab of single New York man, which was good for Kyle’s state of mind. He’d been stressed lately, about his love life in particular. Because damn if every guy he’d been out with in the last two months hadn’t turned out to be a shitheel of epic proportions. So much so, Kyle had decided to stop dating entirely.
Eyes closed, Kyle forced away thoughts of dating catastrophes. He rolled his neck from side to side but peeled his lids open again when the chair on his left slid back and his friend Malcolm Elliot dropped into the seat. Malcolm gave Kyle a lazy grin. At six-three, he stood a few inches taller than Kyle, and he looked rosy-cheeked and loose limbed, his blue-gray eyes shining.
“I am a man-sized untwisted pretzel,” Malcolm said. “I’m not sure what that means, so don’t ask.”
“You’re yoga-stoned, dude.” Kyle smiled at Malcolm’s laugh.
“Is that a thing?”
“Totally a thing.”
Malcolm narrowed his eyes at Kyle. “You’re the one with the bloodshot eyes—what did you do after class?”
“Ugh, nothing but itch from allergies. Ragweed is my kryptonite.” Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, then nodded at the menu on the wall behind the counter. “What are you drinking?”
“I’ll do a Kale Storm with protein,” Malcolm said.
Kyle held up a hand when Malcolm reached for his wallet. “I’ll grab these—you paid last week.” He smiled at the barista who’d stepped up to take their order. “A Kale Storm with a protein powder shot and a Peanut Butter Baby with chia, please. You headed home after this?” he asked Malcolm.
Malcolm shook his head. “I’ve got errands to run. My kitchen has mysteriously emptied itself of food since my brother and his girlfriend came back to town. What about you?”
“I’m opening tonight, so I’ll just head to the bar. I have extra clothes at the office I can change into.” Kyle co-owned a speakeasy called Under with his friend Jesse Murtagh and, while he loved his job, the commute uptown from Chelsea to Morningside Heights could be a pain in the ass. He welcomed the option to skip extra stops when he could.
Malcolm ran his gaze over Kyle’s gray Henley and dark jeans. “You could always serve in what you’re wearing, you know. You’d blow Jesse’s mind.”
Kyle covered a theatrical gasp with one hand. “I would never!” His preference for black or dark gray clothing while working was a source of gentle teasing among his friends. “Seriously, I don’t feel like I’m working unless I’ve got my blacks on. I’ve done it for so long it’s just part of how I do my job.”
K. Evan Coles
K. Evan Coles is a mother and tech pirate by day and a writer by night. She is a dreamer who, with a little hard work and a lot of good coffee, coaxes words out of her head and onto paper.
K. lives in the northeast United States, where she complains bitterly about the winters, but truly loves the region and its diverse, tenacious and deceptively compassionate people. You’ll usually find K. nerding out over books, movies and television with friends and family. She’s especially proud to be raising her son as part of a new generation of unabashed geeks.
K.’s books explore LGBTQ+ romance in contemporary settings.
K. Evan Coles
Brigham Vaughn
Brigham Vaughn is on the adventure of a lifetime as a full-time writer. She devours books at an alarming rate and hasn’t let her short arms and long torso stop her from doing yoga. She makes a killer key lime pie, hates green peppers, and loves wine tasting tours. A collector of vintage Nancy Drew books and green glassware, she enjoys poking around in antique shops and refinishing thrift store furniture. An avid photographer, she dreams of traveling the world and she can’t wait to discover everything else life has to offer her.
Her books range from short stories to novellas. They explore gay, bisexual, lesbian, and polyamorous romance in contemporary settings.
Brigham Vaughn
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