Synopsis: Murder in the country. 
A one-night-stand that refuses to end. 
Ghosts from the past that return to haunt. 

Special Agent Ben Diggs can't stand what has become of his life, so much so that he hits the road one night, maybe to crash his bike, maybe to drive off into the night and never be heard from again. But he meets Tanner Bagley, a rancher from rural Pennsylvania in a hick dive bar, and sparks fly. For the first time since everything went to hell, he feels alive again. 

Ben runs from his emotions as a rule, and he flees in the middle of the night, trudging back to his dreary life in Baltimore and his failing job as an FBI agent. But then he's assigned with his team to investigate a murder in that same backwater township in Pennsylvania where he met Tanner, and it's a different set of sparks that fly when he has to face Tanner again. 

As the bodies start to pile up, tensions flare, and Ben is stuck between teammates that question his every move and a devastatingly handsome rancher whose heart he bruised. The lies keep piling up, and Ben is forced to stake his career - and his very life - on the trembling hopes of his wounded heart. 

Deep in the countryside, someone is hunting gay men in Middle Creek, Pennsylvania... Gay men all with ties to Special Agent Diggs' one-night-stand... 


*** This novel is intended for mature audiences only and contains romantic and sexual material, including male/male romance and sexual situations, and is suitable only for audiences who have attained the age of legal majority. ***

Review: I have to say, I loved this story. These were very realistic characters. Ben is a closet case and has extremely low self esteem. He's been in the Navy and seen hard times in the Middle East. He's not really that into his job because of the frustration level. When he meets Tanner, he intends it to be a one night stand, something left in the middle of nowhere even after Tanner is very tender and sweet with him, a glimpse of what he's convinced he doesn't deserve. His issues aren't solely related to the war, though he does seem to have some PTSD. He's insecure, and his early actions are hurtful to Tanner. Tanner seems to be emotional in his own right. He's not closeted at all, but he has his hangups, mainly the desire for a true partner. They reunite under less than favorable circumstances and their journey to each other isn't easy. I love the realism of their situation and it has some very sweet moments, and some heartbreaking ones. I would love to read more from this author.

Those who have followed faithfully have probably noticed I have mainly been reviewing M/M romance books lately. If you followed my original blog site on wordpress, you know I used to review plenty of paranormal/fantasy, and hetero romance books. I'm still willing to do so, but M/M is more of the life I lead, so I flock to it. But here's how I make my choices on books to review.

1. Is it Christian fiction? So, let me be clear, I'm not anti-Christian. However, most Christian fiction comes off too preachy to me. It is very rare that I will choose to read one, though I have in the past.

2. Is it erotica or porn? There is a clear difference. If the title of your book looks like something I'd find on Pornhub, men.com, Blacks on boys, etc, I will not review it. That's a porn script that you threw under the label of erotica. If you can't be sure if your book is porn or erotica, it's porn.

3. Does it take on a taboo subject? So, to be clear, if it glorifies rape, molestation, or pedophilia, I'm not reading it. Neither of those things are hot. If, however, a person endures these things en route to becoming an adult or something, i will consider it. Long as it isn't something that makes it seem like these things are appealing. 

4. I glance at reviews if there are any. However, I understand that some people are assholes. Sometimes an author will review another author's book and rate it low because they write in the same genre and like to kick their competition down. I'm not one of those. I can tell the difference between false reviews and real ones.

5. Ultimately, I have to like the premise of the story. I think that should be self explanatory. If the story sounds good, I'll read it.

Just another answer to a question here. Keep them coming.

So, I'm addressing another question I get often. It's a two pronged question. The first part, which may be more obvious, is that I'm a guy. More directly, I'm a black guy. Most male authors aren't really known for writing romance or erotica. Even in the M/M genre, it's predominantly a woman's game. It's more common for guys to write thrillers or sci-fi and fantasy novels without much of a romantic element, let alone erotica. It's even less common among black authors. 

The answer: I'm a sucker for romance and have a love for erotica. Yes, I write fantasy, because I need those paranormal fantasy moments, but I need love stories. I don't like the stereotype that one has to be a certain race or gender to write a certain story. Just because I'm a black male doesn't mean I have to write hood stories about drug, sex, and illegal activity. I don't need to write about the type of things I see on a daily basis. I write for the same reason I read, to escape reality. At the same time, I am still a guy, and I write like one. I don't do fluffy romance. 

The second part of this question comes from a personal level. People that know me sometimes wonder why I write such love stories when I myself am single. The answer to that is simple. I write the type of romance I dream of. Each relationship I write for characters is ideal, though if I had to pick the relationship that has most of what I want, it's Brandon and Phil. Yeah, they struggled, scratched, and clawed through hell to end up together. They nearly lost each other due to their own fighting against what was meant to be. But they love each other and when they finally wound up together I breathed a sigh of relief after spending two years wanting to choke the hell out of them. What they went through made them stronger though, and when I write their scenes now I just love it. 

Just thought I'd address that briefly, since I do get asked so often. If you have other questions, you should email them to me and I'll make a post on them.