Release Day Blitz!! Leaning Into Love by Lane Hayes, 5 Star Review, Excerpt and Giveaway

2/10/2017

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Title: Leaning Into Love

Series: Leaning Into Stories, #1

Author: Lane Hayes

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: February 10th

Heat Level: 4 - Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: Approximately 24K words

Genre: Romance, Erotica, Friends to lovers, surfer, white collar, San Francisco, bisexual

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Synopsis

Eric Schuster is a successful guy. He’s part owner of a highly successful tech firm, he has a supportive family and a great group of close friends. But something is missing. Or maybe he’s reacting to his business partner and ex’s wedding news. He knows his former lover is making a big mistake but he also knows it’s time to move on. And hopefully avoid falling for another friend. Zane Richards is an avid sailor and surfer with a laid-back approach to life. He firmly believes there’s a time and place for everything if you’re willing to take a chance. Like letting his best friend know he’s interested in being much more than friends. Eric has always been half in love with Zane but going from friends to lovers isn’t an easy sell for someone protecting his heart. Eric will have to decide if he’s willing to risk it all by leaning into love. INCLUDES BONUS CONTENT

This is book one of a new series by Lane Hayes, and from this book, this series is one that I am going to enjoy reading.

Now at first Eric comes across as someone who has everything, but he is not happy. He knows it is not because of his business partners/ex’s Nicks wedding news, he knows that what they had was not a real relationship, it was just purely friends with benefits. What he does know is that Nick is making a huge mistake, and that he, Eric is missing something from his life, but he doesn’t really know what.

Zane is different to Eric, and I think sometimes although close friends Eric just doesn’t know how to speak to Zane, I mean really speak to him. Zane is also successful in his own right, and I think in some ways Eric is jealous of how laid back Zane can be, whereas Eric is stressed about his work day.

I think what I love most about this book, is that Zane and Eric begin seeing each other, but keep it just between themselves, not telling their other friends. They really get to know each other better, with mutual hand jobs thrown in, but they do get to know the actual person, not the one who is usually on show. I love that they can just sit, relax and talk together, not the usual storyline of one MC trying to impress the other.

I assume that Nick is going to get his own story as he is someone mentioned often in this book, but he was one character who I took a dislike to, he seems to do what he wants when he wants with no thought of the consequences to other people especially Eric.

Excerpt

Zane refilled my glass and returned it to me with a naughty smirk. “You get kinda corny when you’re tipsy, Schuster. It’s cute.” “Cute?” “Yeah. You get goofy. Your ears turn red and it makes the freckles on your nose stand out. Then you do that thing with your hair where you swipe your hand through it so many times that it looks like you just rolled out of bed.” “Uh…okay. That’s embarrassing.” I searched for a reflective surface as I attempted to pat my unruly brown hair into some semblance of order. “I was going for debonair and I got bar mitzvah kid chic,” I grumbled. Zane leaned forward and gave me an intense look I didn’t understand. “You don’t have to be anyone but yourself with me, Eric. I like you just the way you are.” He sat back again and cocked his head. “So let’s talk about this stupid engagement party. What’s the dress code?” “Um… it’s probably dressy casual,” I replied with a furrowed brow. I wanted to back up a sentence or two and analyze his words and dissect the meaning of “I like you just the way you are”. “The usual oxymoron,” he snarked. “You are going with me, right?” “Sure. If you want.” “I want. It’ll save us both the trouble of finding some poor unsuspecting sucker to drag to a fancy shindig.” “True. Speaking of suckers, don’t you have a date tonight?” Zane glanced at his watch and then stretched his legs out on the bench so his shoe nudged my thigh. “I’ve got time. Talk to me. What else have you been up to lately? I noticed there’s a new exhibit at the Modern Museum. Have you gone? I think it’s a midcentury retrospective with Motherwell and de Kooning. I know you like the scribbly art and…” His conversation was easy. The gentrified version of his former surfer dude accent had a lilting quality I could have listened to for hours. I felt myself truly begin to relax and let go of the invisible hold I’d had on my emotions, like a swimmer grasping onto a ledge who finally realizes he can reach the bottom of the pool. Being with someone who knew quirky details about me and accepted them without judgment or reservation was a gift. I treasured all of my friends, but Zane was special. Our friendship was rooted in geography and history and now time. He wasn’t making a romantic advance when he asked me to attend Nick’s engagement party with him. That was latent wishful thinking on my part. Zane was simply being who he always was. My oldest and best friend.

Available at Amazon for only 99 cents

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Meet the Author

Lane Hayes is grateful to finally be doing what she loves best. Writing full-time! It’s no secret Lane loves a good romance novel. An avid reader from an early age, she has always been drawn to well-told love story with beautifully written characters. These days she prefers the leading roles to both be men. Lane discovered the M/M genre a few years ago and was instantly hooked. Her debut novel was a 2013 Rainbow Award finalist and subsequent books have received Honorable Mentions, and were winners in the 2016 Rainbow Awards. She loves red wine, chocolate and travel (in no particular order). Lane lives in Southern California with her amazing husband in an almost empty nest.