Book Title: Finding Our Love
Author: Amy Tasukada
Publisher: Macarons & Tea Publishing
Cover Artist: Natasha Snow
Release Date: September 1, 2020
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance
Trope/s: Forbidden love, opposites attract
Themes: What is art, family
Length: 28 000 words/ 146 pages
It is a standalone story.
Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited
A struggling artist. A devoted son.
Will they sacrifice everything for forbidden desire?
Blurb
Kyoto, Japan. Iroha is sick of his boyfriends only dating him to get closer to his famous artistic sister. Shelving his own creative ambitions to run a mafia-funded gallery, he seeks comfort in a fake relationship at an exclusive host club. But when he sets eyes on the outlandishly dressed Kenta, something real stirs in his heart.
Kenta works hard to keep his place as a top-five host at the exclusive Aphrodite’s Castle club. Though it’s put a damper on his love life, the lucrative gig earns him more than enough to support his elderly parents. But when he breaks the rules and falls for the enigmatic Iroha, his income plummets and jeopardizes his family’s welfare.
Heedless of the consequences, Iroha and Kenta plunge into a passionate affair. But the shadow of Iroha’s creative failures threatens to break them apart. And when trouble pulls Kenta back home, the rift between them becomes a chasm.
Can Iroha and Kenta find a common canvas to paint their perfect picture of devotion?
Finding Our Love is the delightful first novel in the Aphrodite’s Castle Host Club MM contemporary romance series. If you like caring men, Japanese culture, and the quest for happiness, you’ll adore Amy Tasukada’s heartwarming tale.
Buy Finding Our Love to enjoy passion’s delicate brush today!
Aoi’s fingers curled around the index cards. In the months he’d worked for the variety show, the producer had never asked him to go solo on an interview. Sure, even Aoi thought it sounded perfect considering the guest’s occupation, but being the center of attention sent Aoi’s stomach flapping against his sides like an overturned bookshelf.
Skimming over the typed questions, Aoi wished he’d doodled his goldfish beside the questions to remind him of the pointers the main hosts had rattled at him between sips of coffee.
The audience had never looked more menacing.
“Our next guest came all the way from Kyoto,” Aoi said. “Please, everyone, give a warm welcome to Kenta.”
The audience clapped, and as Kenta emerged from behind the curtains, more cheers erupted. Aoi could see why. Kenta looked like he’d stepped out of FineBoys magazine. His black hair swirled around his head with a few red highlights to give dimension. His clothes drew Aki in like a run just before sunrise. Red jeans scuffed around the knees, a floral button-down shirt in soft blues, and a bright yellow scarf hugging his neck and thrown over his shoulder. Alone each piece would’ve been too eccentric to pick up, but they worked on Kenta like an editorial shoot.
The closer Kenta got, the taller he got, until he needed to awkwardly look down at Aoi as they stood next to each other. Aoi didn’t have to strain his neck like he had to with Sato. So Aoi stuck him at average height.
They sat. The plush chairs swallowed Aoi. He looked up at Kenta then sat on his legs so he wouldn’t look like he needed a highchair next to him. It got a chuckle form both Kenta and the audience.
“It’s a pleasure to be here. Thanks for extending the invitation.” Kenta crossed his leg over his knee, giving the audience a smile that sent them swooning.
Aoi playfully scowled at them. “You never do that for me.”
Another smile from Kenta turned into a small chuckle.
“Can you tell us about your work before these ladies stop breathing from your charms?” Aoi asked.
“I’m a host at Aphrodite’s Castle in Kyoto.”
“You have to be stylish to compete with all the other hosts there. Would you rank yourself number one?”
So maybe Aoi’s questions weren’t exactly how they were written on the card, but Kenta exuded an infectious aurora of ease. Still, Kenta laughed at the lame joke, but deep down it felt sincere.
“We all have our own style. Hopefully, our clients can find someone with a look they enjoy,” Kenta said.
“I think half of the ladies in our audience already have their phones out to book you while the other half are still seeing cherry blossoms behind you.”
“Aphrodite’s Castle Host Club only serves men who are interested in the company of other men.”
A collective groan came from the audience, and Aoi gave an evil laugh turning their disappointment into chuckles.
Kenta gave a reassuring smile. “We work hard to create an environment so our clients feel comfortable. All of the hosts are interested in men. Even the front house staff is men only.”
“You have some pictures to show us to break the hearts of these women even more, right?”
Kenta tugged at his scarf and smiled. “You keep talking like that and they’ll start hating me.”
“You’re too cool for them to hate you. Besides shouldn’t you be trying to impress me?”
They showed a few pictures of the inside of rooms. A golden dance floor with a long bar like out of a spy movie. The other one was of a black room with high stuffed booths, each one with an elegant chandelier dangling in the center.
“This looks like it comes with a price tag,” Aoi said.
“We have a lot of clients who want to make sure their privacy is kept. Everything is done by reservations with staggered times so more than one client wouldn’t come in at a time. All the precautions are in place to make everyone comfortable so that discretion comes with some extra cost, but none of our clients ever regrets the experience.”
“Let’s move on to some more personal topics.” Aoi raised an eyebrow. “Do you have any pets? I’m super fond of my goldfish.”
Kenta laughed, but he fell right into Aoi’s trap. He’d start off asking the easy personal questions before diving into what everyone really wanted to know.
“My hours are too odd to keep a pet, and on weekends I go visit my parents.”
“What a good son.” Aoi bit down his own anger for his parents. “You didn’t keep any pets when you were younger?”
“I would hunt bugs all the time as a kid.” Kenta’s bronze colored eyes lit up. “I was the envy of everyone at school because I had an extensive rhinoceros beetle collection during the summer.”
“How fun.”
“I grew up in a really small village so there wasn’t too much to do. Did you collect any?”
“Na. My parents probably preferred that I read about rhinoceros beetles than keep them.”
“That’s too bad. They’re easier to take care of than a goldfish.”
The producer pointed to the cards in Aoi’s hand. He must’ve gotten off topic too much. He glanced back down at the list.
“What made you want to become a host?” he read, even if it dulled compared to what he wanted to ask.
Kenta smiled. “I really enjoyed talking to people. You’re a voice actor, right?”
“I do boys’ love stuff. So we’re both surrounded my men.”
“Do you get to play both roles or do they always stick you…” Kenta trailed off. “Am I allowed to say that in TV?”
Aoi laughed. “They keep the height rule with me even if it’s just my voice.”
Kenta leaned forward like he was sharing a secret. “You have to be a master at moaning. Can you teach me some?”
Aoi’s cheeks grew hot, and he understood exactly why Kenta worked for such an exclusive host club. If he could get Aoi flustered about money, he could get anyone to buy the most expensive bottle of champagne with a well-placed smile and a dizzying display of bright clothes.
“Teach you?” Aoi repeated.
“You know, to moan.” Kenta winked.
“Well when you do it, you have to first think of what kind of moan you’re after.”
“Really? There’s different types?”
“Some of them are more like a purr and others are more from the pit of your stomach. I always focus more on the character I’m playing. What kind of moans they’d use.”
“You put so much thought into it. It must be so hard to work out different ones for each character.”
Aoi knew it was the kind of fake flattery a host would say. Still it made him feel good.
“You’re being too generous.” Aoi brushed off the compliments.
“What kind of moaning do you think a host would have.” Kenta didn’t let up.
“The good ones would be more thinking of the other person’s pleasure. They would try a few different ones and look into their client’s eyes to see the best reaction.”
“Something like this maybe.” Kenta moaned. Deep in his throat but quick like a grunt with a deep thrust.
Aoi laughed. “That’s sounds very deliberate.”
“What about this?”
Kenta’s moaned a little more from the chest with a longer lasting groan. It was pretty good and far from what the producer thought they should be talking about. Aoi pretended to not see the ‘get back on topic’ look he shot. The audience loved it and, if they did the ratings would show it too.
“Can you give me any pointers?” Kenta’s asked.
“It depends. I think more of a…” Aoi gave a quick moan focusing on the difference between the pitch low to high.
“Oh my. That was awesome. Can you do it again?”
“You keep this up and you’re going to make my boyfriend jealous.”
“I wouldn’t want that.” Kenta smiled. “That can be the end of my lesson.”
“You seeing anyone?”
“Hosting is a full-time thing. It’s hard to see people outside the club, and Aphrodite’s Castle has a strict no dating client rule.”
“Keep moaning on national T.V. and that’s not going to be an issue.”
As an only child, Best Selling Author Amy Tasukada began putting her daydreams to paper at the young age of ten. She was inspired by Japanese literature, works from French classic authors like Marcel Proust, as well as tons and tons of yaoi/boys’ love manga. However, there were only so many books that piqued her interest. Fueled by an obvious lack of books she wanted to read, Amy decided to write them herself.
Amy found her niche in the LGBT genre with Japanese influenced gay fiction. Though her works span a wide range — from gritty mafia thrillers to fluffy, contemporary romance, Amy uses her deadly, but delicate writing style to weave exciting tales of suspense, love, and gore, all under the supervision of her amazing editor (and calico cat), O’Hara.
While crafting her novels, Amy researches each setting extensively to paint the most colorful picture for her readers. She creates each story’s setting in a way that has been described as “crisp and lyrical” by fans.
When she’s not penning a new installment of her mafia series or attending a writing workshop, the North Texas author can be found drinking tea, reading, or filming J-fashion hauls on her YouTube channel.
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