Book Title: Third Time Lucky
Author and Publisher: Aurora Crane
Cover Artist: Cormar Covers
Release Date: January 28, 2023
Genre: Contemporary MM romance
Tropes: Friends to lovers, bi-awakening
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 80 000 words
It is part of the Chain Reaction universe but can be read as a standalone. It is a HEA
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Blurb
Trust didn’t always go both ways, and Grady Donehue learned that the hard way. He hadn’t learned better after the first betrayal, but he wasn’t going to make the same mistake a third time. Striking up a strange friendship with the equally strange—and straight—soldier, Lake, who had sunshine in his eyes? Grady could do that. He could even handle helping Lake figure out he might not be so straight after all, in a very hands-on way. But falling in love? No, thanks.
Lake McKenna has spent his whole life absolutely confident in who he is and what he wants. Even when the picture-perfect future he’d always envisioned seemed further away than ever, none of his plans included another man. But the more time Lake spends with his new friend: grumpy and sneaky-sexy detective, Grady, the more he thinks that maybe what he really needs is something different to what he always imagined.
Neither man was prepared for the other, but Lake is nothing if not flexible. Doubt isn’t part of his make-up. He knows how much more incredible they could be together; if only Grady could see it too. Grady has to decide if Lake is worth risking his heart again, and whether he’s brave enough to see if it really is third time lucky.
Third Time Lucky is an 80,000-word MM romance. It is a bi-awakening, friends to lovers romance with low angst and high feels. It is set in the Chain Reaction universe but can be read as a standalone.
Lake flung the front door open and couldn’t help but stare at the picture that Grady presented. He was in jeans and a T-shirt. The T-shirt was a deep burgundy, with a low collar and three-quarter-length sleeves. He had a black band around his left wrist just above his thick watch. His sneakers were scuffed and worn and looked comfortable. Based on the fresh smell of soap and shampoo, he must have showered too. He smelled nice.
“Relaxed Grady,” was interesting. Like a whole other persona from “suit Grady.” Even his beard looked different, which couldn’t be true, because how could a beard look different? Maybe he’d brushed it. It looked long enough to brush. Not like biker length; it wasn’t really something someone could grab hold of exactly, but it was long enough that it looked like it could possibly get unruly.
Grady glanced down at Lake’s naked chest. “You don’t own another shirt? I could have brought mine back.”
Lake laughed. “Clothes are so restricting,” he said. He opened the door wider to let Grady through. “You should get a necklace,” he said, the thought falling out of his mouth before his brain had even finished thinking it.
Grady frowned. “Why?” he asked gruffly.
“Aves wears them, and Zach and Felix seem to like that,” Lake said, shrugging. “Like sexually,” he stage-whispered.
“If you’re trying to give me sex tips, just don’t,” Grady said. “I have no problem in that department, thanks. Shoes?”
“Just kick ’em anywhere,” Lake said, still stuck on the sex tips comment. Grady was a big guy, with a lot of muscle and bulk. He bet that guys liked that. Women liked it, so it made sense that men did too, right? Despite the fact that his brother and both his best friends were gay—all for each other—Lake probably should know more about being gay than he did.
He had to ask because he couldn’t stop staring and wondering. “Do you brush it?”
“Excuse me?” Grady asked, glancing up at him as he moved his shoes out of the way. Probably a good call. Lake could trip over nothing; he didn’t need help.
“Your beard. Do you brush it? Do you have a little brush for it? Like a mini brush.” He let out a laugh as he imagined Grady brushing it with a doll’s brush.
“Sometimes I want to know what goes through your head, and then I decide that it’s not a good idea to spread that around.”
“My thoughts are incredible, I’ll have you know. And you didn’t answer the question.”
“I brush it with a normal-sized brush, and I put beard oil in it so it doesn’t feel like bristles scratching my face. Anything else you want to know?”
“Not right now, but if I think of anything, I’ll let you know.”
“You’ve never grown a beard?” Grady asked, glancing down to Lake’s lips.
“I can’t,” Lake said.
“You physically can’t?”
It was a fair question; some guys couldn’t. Lake had been in the military since he was seventeen years old, so he… wasn’t actually sure if he could grow a nice one like Grady’s. But probably not. It wasn’t long, but there was a lot of coverage, and it was nice and thick. “No, like, it’s against regulations, and I’m not allowed to grow a beard.” It was only allowed for very specific reasons, and Lake didn’t tick any of those boxes, so no beard for him. A real shame. He couldn’t grow his hair out much longer than it was for the same reason. It was probably a touch too long, but no one had sent him to the barber yet, so he would continue straddling the line until they did. As an officer, he got away with a little more than he probably should have. “Guys like the beard burn, right?”
Aurora Crane is an Australian author with a particular love for books featuring poly relationships. You can always find a healthy serving of banter, snark and heat in her books, along with impossible men falling in love, even if sometimes it takes them a little while to get there! She has an appreciation for men in suits and frequently spreads that love in the Facebook group she shares with her muse, fellow Aussie, and co-writer Briar Kearney. When not in the writing cave—a rarity to see this author out of her natural habitat—she can be found playing video games, building Lego sets, or hanging out with her fiancé and their menagerie of animals.
Social Media Links
Facebook Profile | Facebook Group | Instagram
Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win
one of three ebooks from the author’s backlist
