(Long Pass Chronicles Series, #3)
By Tara Lain
Blurb:
Everyone wants the best for SCU student and tight end, Raven Nez—and they know exactly what that is. Enter the NFL draft, become a big football hero, promote his tribe’s casino, and make a lot of money to help people on the reservation. Just one problem. Raven really wants to work with gay kids, and while he loves his tribe and likes football, his visions for the future don’t mesh with theirs. Then the casino board hires a talented student filmmaker to create ads for the tribal business and asks Raven to work with him. But the filmmaker is Dennis Hascomb, a guy with so much to hide and a life so ugly it’s beyond Raven’s understanding. Still he’s drawn to Dennis's pain and incredible ability to survive. Captivated by Raven’s stories of the two-spirited and by the amazing joy of finally having a friend, Dennis knows he has to break free from everything he’s ever been taught was good—but that’s a struggle that could kill him and Raven, too. Is there a chance for “the great red hope” and the “whitest guy on earth”? A future for the serpent and the raven?
Available for purchase at
You can also order your copy at
Excerpt
Raven laid out paper plates with pizza, two Cokes, and a
bowl of potato chips on a box he used for a coffee table in front of the couch.
He set them up so that Dennis either had to sit on the floor—not too
comfortable, considering it was very worn carpet—or sit beside Raven. Maybe he
could get Dennis to relax a little.
The movie started, and Dennis took a bite of cheese and
artichoke hearts. He sighed and closed his eyes for a second.
Raven smiled. “Good?”
“Oh yeah. I always have dinner with my parents, which means
I never get to eat anything normal.”
“They must really have bought into all that crap about
eating together keeps the family together.”
“Yeah.” He pointed at the screen. “Okay, so you know this
was partly an homage to the old western serials, right?”
Raven wrote in the air as he said, “Cowboooooys in
Spaaaaaace.”
“Exactly. But it goes a lot deeper. It’s a real Biblical
epic battle of good versus evil. I mean Luke, right? This is the book of Luke.
And the Force. Interesting that most of the ordinary dumb bad guys make fun of
the ancient religion, but Darth Vader knows and uses the Force. That’s what
makes him so powerful. Darth, of course, is a play on Dark, and all the Darths
in the series are the most dangerous villains.”
“Vader is short for invader?”
“I think that’s where it came from, but did you know that vader means father in Dutch?” He
laughed. “They probably weren’t so surprised at the whole ‘Luke’s father’
revelation in the Netherlands.”
“No kidding?”
Dennis leaned forward for a piece of pepperoni pizza just as
Raven grabbed for the same one. Their hands touched as they both held the
crust. Raven grinned. “If they did this in a movie, you’d probably say it was
contrived, right? Could never happen. The director should get a more original
idea to get them together.”
“Yeah.” Raven heard Dennis swallow.
“So now that you have us here, director Hascomb, what do you
plan to do with us?”
Dennis swallowed again, lifted his thumb, and gently rubbed
Raven’s little finger.
Well damn, he’d had a fair amount of sex in his twenty-one
years, but nothing had ever dived straight to his dick quite as fast as that
gentle caress. “Man, you do it for me.”
“I-I do?”
“Yeah. That’s no demand or even request. I just want you to
know.”
“What’s it like to kiss a guy?”
Their fingers stroked and twined. Nothing else moved if he
didn’t count the expanding of cocks. “I don’t know. It’s great. Maybe not that
different from kissing a girl. More stubble, I guess.” Raven wiped his other
hand across his chin. “But not from me. No beard.”
“I’ve never kissed a girl. I tried to have sex a couple
times but skipped the kissing part.”
“Well, hell, man. That means—”
On the screen, the 3-D projection of Princess Leia popped
out of the communication device in R2-D2. Dennis stared at their linked hands.
“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi—”
Raven joined in. “You’re our only hope.” He reached a hand
around Dennis’s head and pulled him closer, then pressed half-open lips to
Dennis’s closed mouth. Stroking gently, he persuaded those full pink lips apart
and slipped his tongue slightly between. Dennis startled, but Raven held his
head just tight enough to keep them in contact, but not so tight as to scare
him.
Dennis shivered, made a little gurgling sound in his throat,
brought his hands up against Raven’s shoulders, and then—some dam gave way. He
dissolved in Raven’s arms, even wrapping his own around Raven’s chest, and oh
God, his mouth opened, accepting all of Raven’s tongue. Sweet. As Raven’s tongue slid in, Dennis sucked. Jesus, Raven
practically came just from the heat of that suction.
4.5 out of 5 stars
This book has a bit of a darker slant than previous books but don't let that chase you off from a well crafted story with solid characters. Raven and Dennis are struggling with choices and realities in their lives, that they are able to find each other ultimately helps both of them be stronger men. As their experiences would reveal a bit too much of the plot, I'll let you read the story and find that out for yourself.
Tackling the Tight End explores a bit inside the Native American culture and it's belief in the two-spirit. It uses the legend of the two-spirit to show the acceptance of those who are LGBT, like Raven and to explain that you love who you love. It's not the gender, appearance, or demeanor of the person that causes you to love them. It's simply that you love who you love for whatever reason is important to you.
This book also shows that our lives do not define who we are, who we are meant to be, or what path we walk in life. It shows how both Raven and Dennis become the men that they are destined to be due to their inner character and strength. Also that love CAN strengthen you enough to change the path that you are on to the path that you're meant to follow. While there are situations that might make you uncomfortable in this book, they were necessary to show what that character was facing, and how important it was for them to change.
I thoroughly fell head over heels for Raven from the start, and the story completely changed my viewpoint of Dennis from the first book. I highly recommend this one if you're a fan of the series or the author. Otherwise you should pick up the entire series and devour the goodness that is the Long Pass Chronicles.
The Long Pass Chronicles Series
About the Author
Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 23. Her bestselling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soulmate husband and her soulmate dog in Laguna Beach, California, a pretty seaside town where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!You can find Tara at
Giveaway
Presented By
Thank you so much for reading Tackling the Tight End! Raven loves you back. I'm delighted to be on the blog. : )
ReplyDeleteAwesome review!! I love this series :D
ReplyDelete