Author Name: Cate Ashwood
Book Name: Tasting Notes
Series: Canyon Creek
Book: One
Goodreads
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26785563-tasting-notes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover
Artist: Anna Sikorska
Release
Date: October 26, 2015
Blurb:
West, a venture capitalist, has paid for his wealth
and success with long hours at the office and no personal life to speak of.
Meetings, conference calls, and paperwork dominate his waking hours and have
kept him from honoring the promise he made to his late grandfather years
before.
After leaving the Marines, Rush returns to his
hometown and settled in as a Christmas Tree farmer. His life is quiet and
simple, and he likes it that way. When West arrives in town and buys Rush’s
parent’s vineyard on a whim, that simple life is turned upside down. The
animosity between them is palpable, but Rush shelves his preconceived notions
in order to protect his parents’ legacy. He agrees to help West learn how to
run the vineyard, and Rush soon realizes that love doesn't necessarily come in
the package he expected.
Pages or Words: 64,000 words
Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Gay
Fiction, M/M Romance
Excerpt:
The
drive over felt the same as it always did. Rush thought his truck probably
could have found its way anywhere in town, but the trip to Lennox Hill was one
he’d made at least a few thousand times. It was weird to think the property no
longer belonged to his family. Enough of his sweat had soaked into the soil
that a part of him lived in that land.
He
parked his truck in the same place as always and opened the door, calling to
Casper to jump out before closing the door behind him. The door to the main
structure was closed and locked. Rush peered through the windows of the wine
room as he walked past, but the lights were off and the space was abandoned.
Rush and Casper followed the pathway toward the house. Casper sat down as Rush
knocked, waiting patiently for an answer. When none came, he knocked again with
a little more force. West’s car was parked in the driveway, so unless he had
decided to walk somewhere, he should be here.
A moment
later, the door swung open and West stood there, naked from the waist up, his
hair disheveled and his cheeks pink.
“What
the fuck?” he asked.
Rush saw
red, which was a blessing because it kept him from seeing the way West’s body
looked beneath his clothes. The guy was sleeping, and it was nearly noon. He’d
owned the vineyard for less than a week, and he was already slacking off.
“Can I
come in? I want to talk to you.”
West
stepped to the side to let Rush enter. He looked around. Everything was the
same as he remembered it. The house was warm and comfortable, begging you to
come in and stay a while. Rush had always loved this house. He peered into the
living room, noting the two empty wine bottles on the coffee table.
“Is that
a fucking wolf?” West demanded, breaking Rush out of his train of thought.
“What?
No. That’s Casper. My dog.”
With a
subtle nod from Rush, Casper sat next to his master, his eyes glued to West,
but quiet.
West
narrowed his eyes. “Why are you here?”
“I came
to offer my help. You said you needed help, and my mom told me you didn’t know
a fucking thing about running this place, so I figured I’d bail you out.”
“Why?”
West looked awfully mistrustful. Rush couldn’t blame him. He didn’t trust West
either.
“Because
they’re my family, and you’re the dickhead who bought the place they poured
their hearts and souls into. I’m not going to let you run it into the ground
because you have some romantic fucking idea about being all sophisticated and
worldly, owning your own vineyard. Not going to happen.”
“Look,
what is your fucking problem with me?” West asked, crowding Rush’s space.
“You’ve been nothing but a complete bastard to me since the moment you laid
eyes on me. I haven’t done shit to you, and you’re giving me a rough time for
no goddamn reason.”
Casper
growled, but Rush calmed him with a gentle pat to the head. “Sue me if I don’t
like spoiled little rich kids. You blow into town in your tricked-out sports
car and think you can do whatever you want here because you have a shit ton of
money. You take what you want without any regard for the people around you.”
“You
don’t know a thing about me, but you think you’ve got my number. Well, you can
go fuck yourself. You saw my car, and you made a snap decision about me. You
didn’t bother talking to me or getting to know me at all before you rushed to
judgment. Maybe you should give me the benefit of the doubt before you tell me
who I am.”
“I don’t
need to. I know exactly who you are. I’ve met guys like you. You’re arrogant,
spoiled, and selfish. You put on a good front, pretending to be this
philanthropic nice guy, but when it comes down to it, you’ll choose your money
over everything else.”
“Oh, for
fuck sakes. You storm in here, waking me up and screaming at me. In case you
missed the memo, this is my home now. You’re on my property. What gives you the
right to show up and give me shit about something you know nothing about?”
“Your
name may be on the deed, but that’s as far as it goes, asshole. Lennox Hill is
in my blood, and the last thing I want is for you to completely destroy it out
of sheer ignorance.”
“Well,
then there’s something we agree on. It’s why I came to your house in the first
place, in case you need reminding about that. I don’t want this place to fail
any more than you do, so how about you get your head out of your ass, stop
being such a fucking prick, and help me?”
Rush
stared at him, not saying a word. He hadn’t anticipated the conversation taking
this turn. Hell, he hadn’t anticipated this conversation period. There was
something there, behind West’s eyes, a kind of rawness Rush hadn’t expected. He
stepped forward, his eyes locked on West’s. He felt drawn to him like a compass
to north, locking onto that flicker of something unnamable.
He was
not in control of his body. He pulled a quick intake of breath as the space
between them evaporated. He was close enough that he could feel the crackle of
electricity between them, as tangible as if West was statically charged.
“Fine,
I’ll help,” Rush said, knowing West could feel his breath as he spoke.
“But
this doesn’t mean I like you,” Rush growled.
“Understood,”
West replied. “I don’t like you either.”
“As long as we’re clear.”
Buy the book:
Meet the author:
Cate Ashwood
wrote her very first story in a hot-pink binder when she was in the second
grade and found her passion for writing. Her first successful foray into
romance writing came five years later when she wrote her best friend, who was
experiencing a case of unrequited love, her own happily ever after.
Cate’s life
has taken a number of different and adventurous roads. She now lives a stone’s
throw from the ocean, just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia with her
husband, her little boy, and their two cats. Her life is filled with family and
friends, travel, and, of course, books.
Where to find the author:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cate.ashwood
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cate-Ashwood-Author/288329491267435?fref=ts
Twitter: @cateashwood
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/cateashwood/
Tour Dates & Stops: October 26, 2015
Parker Williams, Divine Magazine, Happily Ever Chapter, Just Love Romance, Sinfully Addicted to All Male
Romance,
Wicked Faerie's Tales and Reviews, MM Good Book Reviews, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews, Louise Lyons, Jessie G. Books, BFD
Book Blog,
Iyana Jenna, 3
Chicks After Dark,
The Jena Wade, V's
Reads,
Havan Fellows, Bike Book Reviews, Molly Lolly, Two
Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy,
Andrew Q. Gordon, Sassygirl
Books,
Bayou Book Junkie, Unquietly
Me, Inked
Rainbow Reads,
The Hat Party, Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies,
Oh My,
QUEERcentric
Books,
Open Skye Book Reviews,
S.A.
McAuley
Rafflecopter
Prize: E-copy of 'Tasting Notes' by Cate Ashwood
I haven't found a wine that I like so I stick with sweet tea. Congratulations on the release and looking forward to reading it!
ReplyDelete