Book Title: Now or Never
Author: Helena Stone
Publisher: Helena Stone
Cover Artist: Emmy Ellis
Release Date: August 23
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance
Trope/s: Hurt Comfort, Older Virgin, Distant (not quite enemies) to lovers
Themes Self acceptance
Length: approx. 69 000 words/ 192 pages
It is part of a series but can be read alone.
Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited
When the past intrudes, can two lost souls forge a future together?
Blurb
Karl’s carefully erected walls are crumbling. Giving up sex and relationships made perfect sense when he was eighteen. For a decade, he poured all his time and effort into his flourishing career. Doubts crept in the first time Karl met Leo and now, after two years of avoiding him, Karl is in charge of training Leo.
Leo loves his life in The Blowhole. Entertaining the guests during explicit shows under Roger’s guidance meets Leo’s needs and keeps his demons at bay. When Roger leaves, Leo’s job expands but he’s assigned to work with Karl, the General Manager who appears to detest him, and Leo’s anxiety blossoms. It wouldn’t be so bad if Leo hadn’t been attracted to Karl from the first moment he saw him.
Two men. A truck-load of insecurities and an attraction that can’t be denied. When the full horror of Leo’s past comes to light, will their fledgling connection be strong enough to weather the storm?
“Are you telling me…” Leo’s voice was so soft Karl had to strain to hear him. “Are you saying that you haven’t been with another person, male or female, for more than ten years?”
“Sixteen years, eight months, and eleven days.” Karl had made the calculation the night before.
Leo blinked at him, apparently lost for words. Karl sympathized. Leo was twenty-five years old. Sixteen years was more than half Leo’s life. Leo’s features softened, and a small smile played on his lips. Karl would have paid good money to know what Leo was thinking to bring that expression to his face. All such considerations fled his mind when Leo leaned forward, tilted his head, pressed his lips against Karl’s, and didn’t pull back.
Sweet Jaysus. He hadn’t missed it all those years, that much was true. But maybe the reason he hadn’t was because he’d never been kissed like this before. Leo’s left hand still held Karl’s while he cupped Karl’s chin with the fingers of his right hand and scratched through his stubble. Leo’s lips moved constantly, applying pressure to Karl’s mouth, caressing Karl’s lips. Karl didn’t know how long it lasted, only that he wasn’t ready for it to end when Leo pulled back, putting a little distance between their faces.
Leo’s gaze was heated, and his lips looked a little swollen. “Just one thing,” Leo said. “Please tell me I’m not some sort of experiment.”
Experiment? Rage flared in Karl, only to immediately die again. The question wasn’t unreasonable. Since Karl had never considered any form of relationship with anyone in the past, it was even fair to say that, in many ways, his involvement with Leo was an experiment. But Karl didn’t need to be a relationship expert to understand Leo hadn’t meant it that way.
“You’re not.” He raised his free hand and stroked a finger along Leo’s chin line. “Apart from anything else, I wouldn’t break the habit of a lifetime for something as frivolous as an experiment.”
Leo laughed softly and inclined his head. “True that. Do you even know how to do frivolous?”
Because Karl had no answer, since Leo was mostly right, he made what was probably his most frivolous move in years and claimed Leo’s mouth for another kiss. Strange how he couldn’t get enough of what he’d always told himself he didn’t miss.
It was a shock to discover that Leo’s lips were already familiar, that here, at the start of their second real kiss, Karl found it impossible to imagine not being able to taste them. It was as if he’d unleashed a beast from deep inside him, a creature he’d kept hidden so well, even he’d been unaware it existed.
When Leo’s tongue teased Karl’s lips, he parted them. The kiss was tentative, an exploration. There were no demands as their tongues danced together, teasing and gentle, familiarizing themselves with the other. Leo took the lead, and Karl followed, imitating the movements of Leo’s tongue in the hope that Leo’s actions were powered by his desires. It was heaven, and it was scary as fuck. Heat coursed through Karl’s veins as needs he’d denied and ignored for so long sprang to life. He was vaguely aware of somebody, probably Aidan, taking Leo’s empty pint glass from the table, and realized that before the night was out, the story of this kiss would have made its way to all who worked in The Blowhole. Karl discovered he didn’t care. Everything about this moment was perfect, and Karl wished it would never end.
Helena Stone can’t remember a life before words and reading. After growing up in a household where no holiday or festivity was complete without at least one new book, it’s hardly surprising she now owns more books than shelf space while her Kindle is about to explode.
The urge to write came as a surprise. The realisation that people might enjoy her words was a shock to say the least. Now that the writing bug has well and truly taken hold, Helena can no longer imagine not sharing the characters in her head and heart with the rest of the world.
Having left the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam for the peace and quiet of the Irish Country side she divides her time between reading, writing, long and often wet walks with the dog, her part-time job in a library, a grown-up daughter and her ever loving and patient husband.
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