A warm Love Bytes welcome to author Jay Hogan who is joining us today to talk about new release , book 3 in the succesful Southern Lights series, Flat whites & Chocolate Fish.

Check out Jay’s post about this new release, the excerpt and have a chance to participate in the absolute fabulous giveaway Jay brought with them for our readers!

SOUTHERN LIGHTS SERIES

 

Flat Whites & Chocolate Fish is the third book in my Southern Lights series which follows a group of loosely connected friends residing in the world-famous Queenstown region of New Zealand. They have lots of feels, a lot of snark and humour, and can be read as standalones although the characters do pop up from previous books along the way.

 

The Queenstown area is one of my favourite places in the whole world to visit, and I unashamedly chose this setting for my books to both highlight the stories themselves, but also to showcase my country. The scenery on each cover is from this region. It is the place in NZ from where the Southern Lights are most visible and hence the name of the series. I can now say I have seen both northern and southern lights in my lifetime.

 

It is a stunningly beautiful region featuring our NZ Southern Alps, glaciers and glacial lakes, incredible fjords, gobsmackingly beautiful in every way. It hosts adventure tourism to die for (commercial bungy jumping started off here), world class ski fields that see many northern hemisphere ski teams come for their off-season training, and is a film makers dream. Lord of the Rings, Wolverine, X-men, The Hobbit, Vertical Limit, Chronicles of Narnia and others were all filmed in this region.

 

The scenery becomes an integral part of the story lines. In the first book, Powder and Pavlova, an age gap, hurt/comfort/ humour/ read, Ethan and Tanner’s story features the backdrop of Queenstown itself and its ski fields.

 

In the second book, Tamarillo Tart, an opposites attract/ fish out of water/ cowboy/forced proximity/humour read, Stef and Cassidy’s story takes place on a Lord of the Rings horse tour of film locations in Paradise Valley.

 

And in this third book, Flat Whites & Chocolate Fish, Adrian and Niall’s story is set on the shores of Lake Whakatipu.

 

All the book titles include particularly NZ associated foods, even though they may be found elsewhere The Aussies may argue about Pavlova, but they can argue all they like lol. Tamarillos or tree tomatoes as we also call them, are a love it or hate it fruit that grows particularly well in NZ.

 

In this latest release, Flat Whites & Chocolate Fish, the flat white coffee actually originated in NZ. And chocolate fish are a NZ candy in the shape of a fish. They are marshmallow on the inside and are covered in chocolate. In NZ you often find these given free with a cup of coffee. Adrian is a barista extraordinaire hence the title choice. And during the filming of Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson, and all the stars and crew regularly ate at a café in Wellington called The Chocolate Fish Café.

 

In Flat Whites & Chocolate Fish, Adrian, the grumpy, secretive barista from Powder and Pavlova, makes a reappearance. He is extremely private, and in book one of the series, he had had everyone guessing about his background and sexuality. The only thing we found out was that he actually wrote children’s stories on the side, which had made him financially secure enough to buy a gorgeous cottage on Lake Whakatipu, and invest in a brand-new coffee roasting venture with Ethan.

 

In this book Adrian’s privacy gets a rude shock. An equally grumpy, silver fox, property developer, buys and moves into the empty house right next door to Adrian, with plans to develop it. You can imagine his blunt reaction. They might like the look of each other but this was never going to be easy.

 

Add in the threatening reappearance of someone from Adrian’s well-hidden past, who promises to expose everything Adrian has worked so hard to forget, and you have the fixings for a bumpy ride to any HEA.

 

 

Blurb:

 

ADRIAN POWELL has a secret, a secret he’s guarded for 17 years. But it’s come at a cost—few friends, fewer lovers and a lifetime of loneliness. If he’s a bit grumpy and a tad pessimistic, who can blame him? So, exactly how he’s ended up with a bunch of nosy friends, a beautiful lakeside cottage and a successful business, is beyond him.

It’s a life he never imagined, and one that includes a problematic new neighbour, NIALL CARMICHAEL–an irritating, equally grumpy, sexy as hell silver fox, who kisses like a dream, shakes every one of Adrian’s walls, and who might just prove Adrian’s undoing.

But secrets have a way of catching up with you. And when Adrian’s past comes knocking, it might just threaten everything he’s built.

Amazon Buy Link

 

 

(Adrian has just told his business partner about Niall moving in next door)

 

“He’s not building a hotel, Ads. Six suites, you said. Six suites. It’s hardly the Hilton moving next door.”

 

Not yet. Adrian scowled.

 

“And you don’t know he’s an arrogant arsehole.” Ethan fired Adrian a grin. “He might just be a regular arsehole. And besides, he’s only your neighbour. You’re not married to the guy. Plus, you said he’s building a separate driveway access. You’ll likely never run into each other when that’s done.”

 

Adrian huffed. “His manager will still use it as his private access. And knowing my luck, whoever that is will probably put John Cleese to shame. I have a bad feeling about the whole business.” He ducked in time to avoid the balled-up barista apron Ethan fired his way.

 

“You always say that. I’m not sure you ever have a good feeling about anything.”

 

“I did about our business, about you and I working well together.”

 

Ethan gave him a shining look. “You did, didn’t you. I’d almost forgotten. But about this? I think you’re talking yourself into a whole doom-and-gloom scenario. This could be good for you.”

 

Adrian’s eyes popped. “How could this possibly be good for me? I know you have this ridiculously optimistic take on life, Ethan, no small thanks to the man in your bed, but you of all people must realise things rarely work out as we hope. Shit can change in an instant, and even you and Tanner can’t be sure what you have will last—” Crap. He caught the sting of hurt in Ethan’s eyes and was immediately crushed with guilt.

 

“I’m going to pretend you never said that.” Ethan ran a hand over his mouth and Adrian could almost hear him counting to ten. “For a number of reasons, all of which would challenge this shiny new frontier of our relationship. So, I’m going to put that thoughtless comment down to your woeful lack of experience in friendship etiquette.”

 

Adrian reached out a hand, then withdrew it. “I’m sorry. That was . . . unforgivable.”

Ethan stared at Adrian for a second, then took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Apology accepted. And not unforgivable, just . . . unkind.”

 

“I know.”

 

“And for your information, what Tanner and I have isn’t going to change or go anywhere but into a long future together.”

 

“I know. I know. I believe that too. I do. I’m an arsehole friend.”

Ethan smiled. “But you’re my arsehole friend.”

 

An undeserving one.

 

“So, back to this neighbour. What am I missing here?”

 

Adrian fired Ethan a grateful smile for both the forgiveness and the subject change. “You didn’t see him, Ethan. He was soooo damn full of himself, smug and . . . bossy. All fucking corporate, like it was going to be his way or not at all. Like I was simply gonna roll over because he happened to be hot.”

 

Ethan’s eyebrows popped. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back the truck up. Did you just say he was hot?”

 

Damn. “I said nothing of the sort. A clot. I said he was a clot.”

 

“Nope. You said he was hot. Ooooh, now I understand.”

 

Adrian balled up the empty bean bag and threw it in the bin. “You understand nothing.”

 

“So, exactly how hot are we talking? Matt Bomer scorching hot, or maybe more the Chris Hemsworth, slow-burn varietal?”

 

Adrian pursed his lips. “What are we, twelve?”

 

“Absolutely, now answer the question.”

 

“I regret ever telling you I’m gay,” Adrian grumbled.

 

“No you don’t. ’Cause now we’re besties.”

 

“Who even uses that word? And we are not besties. I’m eleven years older than you.”

“Everyone uses that word. And we are, we are, we are. No backsies. Pinky swear. Now cough up. How hot was he?”

 

Adrian sighed in defeat. “Well, if you’re gonna be puerile about it.”

 

Ethan smirked and waggled his eyebrows.

 

“Whatever. Okay, I’d say he was more George Clooney than anything else, with maybe a bit of Clint Eastwood in there, Dirty Harry, not Space Cowboys, but hotter.”

Ethan’s eyes widened comically. “Ooh, so older, huh? Damn. That’s serious, right there. And I can see you’ve really thought about this.”

 

I had. “I haven’t.”

 

“Hey, no judgement.” Ethan raised his hands. “Big arse age gap talking, right here, remember. I can dig the whole silver-fox thing.”

 

I am a New Zealand author writing in m/m romance, and romantic suspense. I have traveled extensively and lived in the US, Canada, France, Australia and South Korea. In a past life I have been an Intensive Care Nurse, Counselor, and a Nursing Lecturer.

I’m a cat aficionado especially of Maine Coons, and an avid dog lover (but don’t tell the cat). I love to cook, pretty damn good, love to sing, pretty damn average, and as for loving full-time writing, absolutely… depending of course on the day, the word count, the deadline, how obliging my characters are, the ambient temperature in the Western Sahara, whether Jupiter is rising, the size of the ozone hole over New Zealand and how much coffee I’ve had.

Welcome to my world.

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Jay brought a fabulous giveaway for our readers!

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