Author Name: Heloise West
Book Name: Send Lawyers, Guns, and Roses
Series: Heart and Haven
Book: Two
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8188216.Heloise_West
Publisher: Loose ID
Cover Artist: Syneca Featherstone
Release
Date: April 19, 2016
Blurb:
When Hunter and Alex are given the vacation of a lifetime,
it’s a chance for them to pay attention to romance and get out of the path of
danger. The tiny Caribbean island of Saba is gorgeous, the first to have
marriage equality, and the Sabans are the nicest people on earth.
There’s lots of rum poolside for relaxing and a room with a
mirror on the ceiling for passion. Hot karaoke nights, cold beer, and new
friends.
But their new friends Orfeo and Max, and Max’s sister
Talisha, share a troubling secret. Alex and Hunter want to help. As a hurricane
bears down on them, a dead body surfaces, and a purple backpack loaded with
stolen jewels leads a pair of dangerous men to the island.
Alex would rather poke his own eyes out with a pointy stick
than call on his old enemy Nick Truman for help; he’d also do anything to keep
Hunter out of danger. But even his nemesis can’t reach them now.
Once again, they only have each other to depend on as their
paradise is about to become hell on earth.
Pages or Words: 83,000 words
Categories: Contemporary, Crime Fiction,
Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Excerpt:
“Ready? Take the
beach bag. I’ll grab the chairs,” Alex said. “Did you get enough to eat?”
“Yeah. What’s the
time?” Hunter slung the bag over his shoulder.
Alex shrugged. “Who
cares? Have a cocktail. You know, to hydrate and pace yourself for a long day
in the sun.”
“Let’s set up
camp. Maybe a nap first.”
Their bare feet
slapped against the sun-bleached boards of the footbridge, some of the
flowering rainforest clinging to its edges for the hundred or so feet from the
breakfast patio to the pool. The beach chairs were striped canvas and wood,
chaise-style. Alex had grabbed a matching umbrella for when the sun was
directly overhead. He left it closed, as they had a few hours yet before noon,
by the arc of the sun in the unbelievably blue sky. The poolside held a half
dozen chaise lounges and couples of various ages. They returned languorous,
sun-soaked greetings in English, Dutch, and French as Alex led them to a spot
he deemed worthy for their day in the sun. When the chairs were side by side,
the canvas beach bag between them, Hunter sighed with pleasure, though he was
soaked with sweat. He pulled off his T-shirt. “Do you want to swim first?”
“I’m dying to.”
With a wicked grin, Alex slid his shorts down, the T-shirt hem falling to below
his hips.
“Tell me you didn’t
get a thing-thong!” God, they’d laughed together at the online models wearing
bathing suits with pockets for their cocks.
Alex laughed. “No,
a Speedo. For you.” He shrugged out of his T-shirt with an elegant,
mouth-watering play of muscles and skin, and some of the lounging women
whistled and clapped for the navy-and-white-striped Speedo he revealed. Hunter
mock-growled and reached out to grab Alex, but he dashed away and ran along the
side of the pool, blond hair streaming, long, muscular legs eating up the
distance to the deep end. He dived like a happy dolphin into the water. Hunter
ran after him and followed with a hurried, sloppy dive, shocked at the
sensation of water as warm as bathwater. He wanted to melt into it. When he
came up for air, hands beneath the water gripped his calves, and he grabbed a
breath before Alex yanked him under. They wrestled briefly, then surfaced.
“Fantastic!” Alex
shook his head briskly to whip the water from his hair.
Hunter shoved him,
threw himself on top of him, and they went under again.
When they
surfaced, Alex said, “We can rent a sailboat. Or a rowboat and paddle around in
the bay. Or fish if you want. Do you think your leg will hold up to snorkeling?”
“Snorkeling, maybe
even scuba.” He’d swim to the moon to keep Alex happy.
“I was born
underwater,” Alex said, surprising him. “I even had those infant swim lessons.”
“You’re a natural,”
Hunter replied. “Aqua Boy.”
Alex shoved him
again; Hunter let himself fall backward into the water with a huge splash.
They swam for a
while, joined by the other sunbathers when the heat got too intense. Hunter
pulled himself from the pool and sat on the edge, watching Alex do laps. He
shaded his eyes against the fierce touch of the sun. It pressed against his
skin despite the water-resistant sunblock, and he splashed water up and down
his arms, chest, and neck to cool off. Maybe he should have gone tanning like
Alex had, because it hurt to touch his skin already. The water reflected and
intensified the sun. He wasn’t that kind of redhead, but the tropical sun made him
feel like one. Tanning had seemed kind of frou-frou…not for him…but he didn’t
want to look like a strip of bacon at the end of the day either. Sucked it up
and endured the tanning bed.
Alex swam over and
pulled his gorgeous body out of the pool to sit on the edge beside Hunter. “I’m
ready for some reading and napping. Lunch buffet is open until four… What are
you laughing at?”
“We must be on
vacation if we’re planning the day around the next meal.”
Alex smiled. “It’s
about ten now. We can eat something light at eleven when they open.” He leaned
in close. “If we go up to the room by noon, we’ll have time to screw our brains
out until about two and have lunch again.”
Hunter nodded. It
was all he could do.
“So it’s not meal
times we’re planning for, right?” The sparkle in Alex’s eyes wasn’t about ham
sandwiches and fruit salad. “Did you see the awesome mirror on the ceiling?”
Buy the book:
Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Heloise West, author of
Send Lawyers, Guns, and Roses.
Hi
Heloise, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about
yourself, your background, and your current book.
Heart
and Haven is a series concept born of the first novel Hitting Black Ice. Love
on the run, romantic suspense as danger tightens around the two main
characters. Once Alex and Hunter begin to recover from the trauma in the first
novel, they find that the repercussions from the past still have a hold on
them. The gift of a vacation in the Caribbean is meant to bring them together
so they can do more romancing and relaxing in safety. I love the movie Key
Largo and took inspiration from that for the story.
My
background? Reader, English major, writer. I’m boring. I garden, live with cats
and boyfriend in northern New England, and work in Healthcare. All the action
and excitement is in my head.
1) Tell
us something about your character’s friends.
In
Send Lawyers, Guns, and Roses, it’s Alex and Hunter’s new friends and the
secret they share that puts everyone in danger. Orfeo, from Jamaica, manages a
ska band. Through music he met the tormented Max and his sister Talisha, who
were on the run from Max’s evil ex Derek when Orfeo me them. They are still
running in Send Lawyers, Guns, and Roses, but the hurricane has slowed them
down. Hopefully, it will slow down Derek, too.
2) What
is your character’s favorite meal? Favorite dessert? Favorite snack food?
My
characters are pretty active so they like to eat. In Send Lawyers, Guns, and
Roses, a conversation about eating vegetarian comes up. Alex’s mothers eat
quite a bit like Orfeo, who teaches yoga and practices tantra. Alex grew up
vegetarian but gave it up when he was on the run. He never got back to that
lifestyle, but Orfeo revives an interest for him. Hunter, however, is far more
interested in tantra ;)
3) What
activity does your character absolutely hate?
Hunter
comes from a law enforcement family and works in the ER, so he sees the damage
first hand. He’s been a victim of domestic violence, and he hates feeling
helpless.
4) What
is the most difficult part of writing for you?
Fighting
both time and self doubt. Man, the nightmares I’ve been having about this release
are ridiculous, but it’s been a while since Hitting Black Ice.
5) What’s
your favorite decade and why?
Well, we’re headed for the 20s again, so let’s
hope they’ll be roarin’! ;)
Meet the author:
Heloise West, when not hunched over the keyboard plotting
love and mayhem, dreams about moving to a villa in Tuscany. She loves history,
mysteries, and romance of all flavors. She travels and gardens with her partner
of 10 years, and their home overflows with books, cats, art, and red wine.
Where to find the author:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heloise.west.1
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/heloisewest/
Email: heloise_67@hotmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/velvetpanic
Tumblr: http://heloisewest.tumblr.com/
Tour Dates & Stops:
25-Apr:
Full
Moon Dreaming, Outrageous
Heroes
26-Apr:
Louise
Lyons, MM
Good Book Reviews
27-Apr:
V's
Reads
28-Apr:
Dawn’s
Reading Nook, Jessie
G. Books
29-Apr:
Alpha
Book Club
2-May:
My
Fiction Nook
4-May:
Oh
My Shelves, Book Lovers 4Ever, BFD Book Blog
6-May:
Molly
Lolly
9-May:
Havan
Fellows, Mikky's
World of Books
10-May:
Inked
Rainbow Reads
11-May:
The
Novel Approach
12-May:
Bayou
Book Junkie, Making
It Happen
13-May:
Kirsty
Loves Books, A.M. Leibowitz
16-May:
Prism
Book Alliance
Rafflecopter
Prize: Win one of three e-copies of ‘Send Lawyers, Guns, and Roses’
Thanks for having me today!
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