Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway:
Our Radiant Embers by Zarah Detand
Their rivalry? Explosive. Their chemistry? Magical.
When a regrettable drunken hookup becomes your partner in a high-stakes magical project, sparks are bound to fly—just not the kind Liam Morgan was hoping for. Teaming up with Adam Harrington, the golden boy of a legendary magical lineage, was not on his to-do list.
Adam, the epitome of tailored perfection, has accepted the need to lock his true self in the closet. Liam, on the other hand, wears his nonconformity like a badge of honour, challenging the elite’s silken norms with every step he takes.
Tasked with revolutionising urban development in an eco-friendly manner, their forced collaboration is marked by snark, resentment, and a magnetic undercurrent of attraction. But as their reluctant partnership turns into a bond that’s hard to deny, a plot for power simmers, threatening to unleash chaos that could sweep the city into a maelstrom of uncontrolled magic.
This contemporary MM romance is a romp through a magically infused London. It interweaves snappy banter, enemies to lovers, and political intrigue with a slow-burn kind of love that can save a city.
Universal Link
Amazon
Buy Direct from the author
Add on Goodreads
We’d done it. We’d fucking done it.
The Green Horizon Initiative—one of the biggest urban development projects London had seen in the last decade, and my family was likely to be involved. We could pay off the house, maybe even renovate the kitchen. Add a second floor on top of the workshop, with an actual office for me. Order pizza twice a month.
I couldn’t have done it without Adam.
“Let me buy you a pint.” I’d made the offer before I could compose a mental list of why that was a bad idea—backseat hookups came to mind. Too late, though. “Unless you only drink to drown your sorrows?”
And I’d just made it worse. Go me.
“I don’t, no. Just…” Adam tugged at his tie, eyes darting away. “You want to buy me a drink?”
“That’s what I just said.” I paused, frowning. “It’s not code for blowjobs, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m not,” he said quickly.
“Then what’s the big deal?”
“No one’s ever bought me a drink before.”
“No one?” Wow, okay. Learn something new. “Excuse me, but that’s a bit hard to believe. I mean, look at you.”
“I’m rich. People expect me to buy them drinks, not the other way around.”
“I was thinking strangers, more like.”
He shot me a look tinged with cynicism. “Not exactly a regular at gay bars, am I? And women still want guys to buy them drinks, not the other way around.”
Yeah, that made sense. It also made me wonder about what else he’d missed while I’d enjoyed the freedom of being out and proud at university. Not just sex—that too—but flirting, catching someone’s appreciative glance and responding in kind. I could count my short-lived relationships on two fingers because hiding the whole magic thing wasn’t conducive to building trust, but I’d gone on a good number of dates. It had been nice.
When had I last gone on a date?
But that was not the point. No, the point was that no one had ever bought Adam a drink, and for all that I’d have sworn I disliked him up until that garden walk two days ago…Well, that just didn’t seem right.
“Let me fix that,” I told him. “Not gender expectations—afraid I’m quite powerless in that respect—but the other thing. Let me buy you a drink, even if it’s just as, you know…” Um. Friends? No. Mates? “Even if it’s just as business partners.”
Adam dipped his head, waiting until a tourist group and their loudly chattering guide had passed before he responded. “You know you don’t have to, right?”
“I know. I want to.”
“Why?” He sounded genuinely confused, and I wasn’t sure why it made my stomach give an unpleasant twist.
“Because it pains me to admit it, but I couldn’t have done this without you.”
His face brightened, like flicking on a stadium-level group of spotlights. “Damn right.”
I bit my cheek to hold back a smile. “Don’t ruin it.”
“No, seriously—a compliment from you is like a four-leaf clover. I’ve got to milk this while it lasts.” He leaned forward to send me a coy glance, the faint indentation of a dimple pressing into his cheek. “What else?”
The smile won.
“Upon closer inspection,” I said, “you’re not half-bad—and I don’t mean that in a sexual way.” Although that, too. But I had better ditch any notions of a repeat arrangement since Adam couldn’t offer anything real, and I was no one’s secret.
“Like an acquired taste?” he suggested.
“Yeah. And not for the faint of heart.”
“Oh, I know this one!” He snapped his fingers. “What is black pudding?”
I hit an invisible buzzer. “Wrong. Because the actual answer is haggis.”
“And me, apparently.” The words came without the edge of irritation they might have held a week ago. It was still Adam—classically handsome and clad in a suit designed to accentuate his wealth and privilege. But maybe I saw him more clearly now.
To celebrate the release of Our Radiant Embers, Zarah is giving away a paperback or eBook of the release!
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!
Connect with Zarah:
https://zarahdetand.com/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/zarahszarlings
https://www.instagram.com/zarahdetand/
https://www.tiktok.com/@zarahdetand
