The Way to a Man’s Heart by Ann Marie James
Book1 in the Kingdom of Corazón series
General Release Date: 22nd June 2021
Word Count: 33,982
Book Length: SHORT NOVEL
Pages: 135
Genres:
CONTEMPORARY, EROTIC ROMANCE, FRIENDS TO LOVERS, GAY, GLBTQI, ROYALS, THRILLERS AND SUSPENSE
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Book Description
The heart wants what the heart wants…
Christian Diaz grew up as the best friend and unofficial bodyguard to the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Corazón. After an incident left him questioning his place in the castle, Christian joined the military and didn’t return for ten long years.
Now he’s been assigned to the castle as Royal Military Liaison to investigate the source of some recent threats against the crown. The annual Midsummer’s Ball is the perfect place for the anti-monarchy group to make their next move, so that’s where Christian will be too. If it gives him a chance to reconnect with his friends in the castle and make a play for the man he has compared all others to, it’s even better.
Max Ramirez is now the head chef for the castle. He started as a sous chef at age twenty when Christian was just an awkward teen. Now that Christian’s back at the castle, all grown up and interested in Max, the chef is determined not to let an opportunity with Christian pass him by.
When someone tries to sabotage the Midsummer’s Ball, Max and Christian need to work together to track down the people determined to make this event their last.
Reader advisory: This book contains mentions of drug use, obsession, references to parental abuse, drink spiking, violence, attempted rape, and attempted murder.
Max woke to the sound of an alarm going off and the unfamiliar feel of someone snuggled up behind him—a very hard someone. It took him a moment to remember everything that had happened the day before, but when he did, he turned over to watch as the sleepy man in his bed moaned and rolled away from him to grab his phone and shut off the alarm. Christian lay back on the bed and groaned again, throwing an arm over his eyes as he did so. The man really was too sexy for Max’s peace of mind. “Morning,” Max croaked.
Christian raised his arm enough to peek at Max. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Eh. I knew you had to get up early when I invited you. If I had a problem with it, I would have banished you to the guest room.”
“True. Come snuggle for a minute.” Christian opened his arms for him, and Max wasted no time taking him up on the invitation, settling in with his head on Christian’s chest. He enjoyed the feeling of it rising and falling as he breathed, and of Christian running his hand up and down his back in slow, even strokes.
“This is nice. It’s not very often I’m with a guy close enough in size to me to be able to hold me and me not feel like I’m crushing him. I never would have taken you for a snuggler, though.”
Christian’s chest shook as he laughed. “I haven’t had a lot of opportunities, if I’m being honest, but I’ve always liked to be touched. My therapist says I have skin hunger.”
“Skin hunger? That’s really a thing?”
“Yep. I usually get a massage at least once a month and sometimes more to try to combat it.”
“Well maybe you will be able to save yourself some money now. I like to cuddle a lot.”
“My massage therapist will be disappointed, but I’m definitely on board.”
A second alarm went off on the phone, just as Max was about to make a move to stroke all the naked skin under him. With a sigh, Christian rolled Max to his back and gave him a peck on the lips before moving to sit on the edge of the bed in order to snag his phone and turn off the alarm again. Christian wiped both hands over his face before looking at Max over his shoulder.
“I don’t want to go anywhere, but I really do need to get to this meeting, so maybe we can figure out who is behind all this.”
“I understand. Listen… I have to work today to get things cleaned up from the ball, but then I have the next couple of days off. Keep the key to my apartment. Come see me when you can.”
“I like that plan.”
“I thought you would.”
“Smartass. Are you sure about all this?” Christian waved a hand between the two of them.
“By this, do you mean starting a relationship?” Max yawned as he waited for Christian’s nod before continuing. “I’m thirty-six. I can’t say I’ve wanted you since I met you. That would be a lie. You were still a teenager, albeit an older one. I was an adult and you were still a kid to me, but I always liked you. You made me laugh and we shared a lot of great conversations. I watched as you grew into an amazing twenty-year-old. As I told you, I had decided to see if we could be something and ask you out when you went away. I’ve thought of you often, wondering what had happened to you.” Max took a moment to swallow hard. “I’ve dated other men over these last ten years. I certainly haven’t been waiting, but I have compared all of them to you. I thought ‘Christian would have gotten this joke’ or ‘Christian would have understood what I was talking about’. Now I want to see if my dreams match reality. If our kiss last night was any indication, our chemistry is off the charts.”
“Yeah. Definitely. I’ve done the same, you know. You were my first crush—and man, did I crush hard—but I thought nothing would ever come of it. I’ve had a few relationships of my own since I left, but none of them lasted more than six months.” He gave a self-deprecating huff. “Part of that was because I was gone all the time and part was that most of them bored me once I really got to know them.”
“I get that.”
“You have never bored me, Max. Hell. I could probably listen to you read from a phone book and not be bored.”
Max snorted out a laugh at that. “Yeah, well, we will see how it goes when you are around me more frequently. I’m really not that exciting.”
Christian stood and bent over to give Max another peck on the lips. “I look forward to it, but right now I really do have to go or I’m going to be late. Go back to sleep. You still look exhausted. I’m assuming you have your own alarm set for later?”
“Yep,” Max said with a yawn as he turned and snuggled into the pillow Christian had used, sighing when he smelled Christian’s unique scent on it. “Please come back tonight.” He wasn’t sure Christian had been able to hear him at first, since he had mumbled it into the pillow, but Christian’s hearing must have been excellent.
“Plan on it.”
Christian placed another kiss on the top of his head then Max let himself fall back asleep.
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Ann Marie James
Ann Marie James is fluent in two languages, English and sarcasm. She believes that you will never learn anything new if you don’t read as much as you can, and/or talk to every stranger you meet. She always looks for the best in people and to treat people the way she wants to be treated. Above all Ann Marie believes in love, whatever form it takes. Relationships are hard, love is the glue that keeps it together.
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