Book Title: Grabbing My Slyce! (Some Like It Haute! Gay Romance Series)
Author: Dann Hazel
Publisher: The Original Press
Cover Artist: Joshua Fippen
Release Date: June 24, 2024
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Tropes: Forced Proximity; Hurt/Comfort; Slow Burn; Age-Stratified or May/December Romance
Themes: Family Strife; Loss of a partner/spouse; dealing with internalized homophobia
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 138 829 words/ 360 pages
It can be read as a standalone, but is part of a series.
It does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
How do you find your true love when the other business of life has always gotten in the way—until now?
Blurb
As an only child, Frank Slyce is an independent, self-reliant gay man with a huge creative streak.
Now, at thirty-two, he feels thrown off-kilter by a proverbial “urge to merge.”
But how does a man like Frank find love when he has always related best to people older than he is?
Enter David Hawkins, a Unitarian minister who’s similar in age to Frank. At first, they seem to hit it off. But in their steamy pursuit of a relationship, they discover individual differences that feel insurmountable.
Then, Frank seeks a business loan to open Slyce! Pies and Pasta. The hot, charming banker who works with him, Nicolas Beaumont, is eleven years older than Frank.
Age is not a problem for Frank.
But what is it about Nicolas’ history or personality that causes the banker to retreat into silence when Frank, for the first time in his life, feels certainty about love?
A slow-burn, age-stratified, HEA gay romance.
Reeling, Frank stared at him. It was one thing to break up, but quite another to have a man disappear from his life. “Really? Wow! Mom and Dad will hate to see you go. They are quite fond of you, you know.”
David smiled. “As I am of them. There are quite a few people I’ll miss. And others I won’t. But I’ve made a lot of mistakes here in Juniper. Not only with my congregation. Not only with you. But also with myself. I came here and mucked things up, really. Because of what I’d heard about the South, I willingly returned to the closet. Out of fear. And I hated myself for it. I hated myself for giving so few people a real chance to know me. And maybe even loving me.”
Tears pooled in David’s eyes. Frank wanted to comfort him, but something held him back.
Instead, he asked the obvious question, which came across as insensitive. “Where is your new church located?”
“Providence, Rhode Island. I’ve accepted an offer at the First Unitarian Church there.”
Frank studied David’s face carefully. A shield of suspicious defensiveness rose. “Providence,” he repeated simply. “I attended culinary school there. Do you remember my telling you that?”
David nodded nervously.
Awkward silence filled the moment.
Finally, Frank spoke again. “But there’s something else, I gather?”
“Yes. There is.” David cleared his throat, then swept his fingers through his silky hair. “Logan Brown.”
Frank squinted suspiciously. The muscles in his neck clinched. His head began to hurt in response. “How do you know about Logan?”
David took a deep breath and held it before he dove into the uncomfortable story. “I should have told you when it happened. During some of my idle time, I did a search on Google. I used your name as my keyword. There was nothing nefarious in my impulse. Other than feeling a little bored, a little lonely. The idea just popped into my mind.”
Frank smiled. It was a tight smile and not altogether friendly. “Did you discover all of my deep, dark secrets?”
David took a sip of his Sprite, then crossed his legs. He began to bounce his uncrossed leg nervously. The superfluous, annoying movement compelled a desire in Frank to punch him. “Nothing like that. But I was able to view a couple of YouTube videos that, as business partners, you and Logan produced.”
“What did you think?” Frank asked. “Two thumbs up?”
David ignored Frank’s caustic sarcasm. “I discovered that I was attracted to Logan. Remember, this was a time when you and I were not in synch with one another. I really, really wanted to contact Logan, but it just didn’t seem right. It took me three days before I finally composed the message. I told Logan of my attraction. How I was not happy where I was currently living. That I was looking for another pastoral position. Over the following weeks, we Facetimed a few times. We seemed to hit it off.”
“You do realize, don’t you, that Logan and I were more than business partners. Right?”
Dann Hazel has been writing both fiction and nonfiction for more than twenty years.
Besides writing romance, he has taught high school English and journalism, college psychology and human sexuality, directed federal grants and worked as a therapist in a psychiatric hospital. His fiction genre interests include thrillers, horror, literary and gay romance. He has published the Some Like It Haute Gay Romance Series, including Room for Dessert, My Own Private Biscuit and Lonely Diner.
Nonfiction works include Witness: Gay and Lesbian Clergy Report from the Front and Moving On: The Gay Man’s Guide for Coping When a Relationship Ends.
Dann’s personal interests include reading and writing, cinema, jogging, Broadway, keeping abreast of current events and travel.
Currently, Dann lives in Central Florida with his husband, Josh, and their American Eskimo canine, Flurry.
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