Monday, March 20, 2017

Review & Excerpt: BETWEEN THE SECRETS by S. Ferguson

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Between the Secrets 

by S. Ferguson

Release Date: March 16th, 2017
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Between the Secrets, an all-new M/M romance by S. Ferguson is available now!!




Sometimes the past won’t let you escape no matter how much your future wants you to.

Jake James lives in the shadows of his shame. The guilt for what he’s done, for what was done to him, has left him hollow and haunted.

Greg Bissen just wants Jake to let him in, having accepted who he is a long time ago, he is desperate to break through Jake's defenses.

When danger and an agonizing loss threatens to tear them apart, will Jake let the burdens of his past crush him?

Or can love really conquer all, even if it’s hiding in between the secrets?


Excerpt

I hear a clatter, pulling me out of my own head, as Jake tries to yank the dusty cloth off the stove. That’s enough of that sh*t. I don’t know if the stove is still connected to the gas and I don’t feel like dying in a giant fireball tonight.

Marching up to Jake, I grab his shoulders and try to steer him toward the back door, but he isn’t having it. Spinning around, he puts us chest to chest. I swallow the sudden lump in my throat. Does he know? Of course he doesn’t.

The tension between us has been rising to a boiling point. Our chemistry is so much deeper than just friendship. Jake’s walls come down when he drinks, but I have never dared to hope for a moment like this.

“There isn’t any food,”Jake pouts, his baby face making him look like an adorable child—a child I want to smack and kiss, in no particular order. I’m tired too and ready to go home. But I know Jake won’t drop his hunt for food. We’ve been down this road before.

I sigh in defeat. “I’ll take you to Waffle House,” I whisper. I’ll push aside my tiredness for Jake. I would do almost anything for him. This moment feels intimate, being in the dark alone with him in my arms. It’s pretty much every dream I’ve ever had come true.

“Greg…” Jake’s voice trails off. I can just barely see in the dim light, but it looks like his eyes are focused on my lips.

“F*ck, don’t look at me like that.” It’s only a half-hearted protest. More of me wants this than not. And that’s the problem.

Jake doesn’t speak. He just leans forward and then, after a brief hesitation, pushes his lips to mine.

My entire body stiffens, afraid to move. God I hope this isn’t some drunken mistake on his part. My hands lock into their position resting on his shoulders. I’m so nervous I’ll spook him. I know his history, probably better than most. I don’t know if he realizes what he’s doing. I know I’m a bastard for not pushing him away, and despite all these thoughts, about ninety percent of the blood in my body is rushing south.

Jake ignores the fact that I’ve frozen on my feet. Slanting his head, his tongue teases my bottom lip, asking me to open up.

And I do. Oh my God, I do.

He wraps his arms around the back of my neck, pulling us even closer. I can feel I’m not the only one aroused by this, his erection pushing against mine through our dress pants. He moans when he feels my hard-on pushing back, and that’s all I need to thaw. I move my left hand up to the back of his head and take control of the kiss. I don’t even think about it; I lower my right hand to rub him through his pants. Despite the material between us, I can feel how hard he is. I feel the heat coming off of him. He moans long and low into my mouth, thrusting himself into my hand.

I curse as I manage to undo his button and fly with one hand, mentally high-fiving myself for the coordination, and reach past the layers of fabric to grip him. He’s just as big as I thought he would be. Smooth skin over something hard enough to hammer nails. I run my hand from his base to tip. I had already known from plenty of times in the men’s room together that he was uncut, but feeling it like this makes me want to do so many dangerous things to him. I wonder how he would feel about me nibbling on…

A sudden crash scares the sh*t out of us. I rip my mouth from Jake’s and we both turn our heads to our left at the same time.

Ron is standing in the doorway. Despite the sh*tty lighting, I can see his heaving chest. His eyes are wide and he's holding his gun.

This is not good. This is so not f*cking good.

BTS-AN

Read Today!




Carra's Review


This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and while organized crime is not usually my thing, M/M definitely is so I decided to give this one a go.  I was interested to see how things would play out, since this kind of setting-like any other hyper-masculine setting-makes an M/M relationship pretty dicey.  This is the author’s second book, and while technically it stands alone, there are characters from the first book and some of their backstory that I would have preferred to have up front.  It was mostly revealed as this book went on, but at times I did feel a bit adrift until I got that information.

I really, really liked Greg.  Yes, he might go around busting up kneecaps and do other unsavory things as an enforcer for a crime boss, but underneath it all he really is a good guy (you know, the bad boy but with a heart of gold type).  Jake is the unpredictable, kind of unbalanced one, and while he’s the absolute definition of a bad boy, there’s horrible things in his past that have shaped who he has become today.  Greg and Jake are a perfect fit-best friends, roommates, work partners, and possibly more—if they can overcome Jake’s past and keep themselves alive when someone wants them dead.

Between the Secrets is high on the action, suspense and tension, and when Greg and Jake do come together it’s also hot, intimate and raw.  Each would do anything for the other, and at times things between them can be quite intense.  This story does touch on the difficult topics of sexual and physical abuse, so may be disturbing for some readers.  It does leave you wanting to tuck Jake away in your heart for everything he’s been through.  

There’s a lot of buildup as the two try to figure out who is out to get rid of them, and because of that the ending seemed a bit anti-climactic to me.  We’re also left with a bit of a cliffhanger involving their boss, Ron, which is meant to hook you for the next book.  In the end, Between the Secrets was a 3.5-star read for me, and it’s the relationship between Greg and Jake with its intensity and emotion that earned it each of those stars.  This book is meant strictly for readers 18+ for adult language and topics, and M/M sexual content.


About the Author

Ferguson is a military wife and mother of three. She loves to find beauty in the flawed and broken.

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