The Romance Cover: Blog Tour, Excerpt, Review & Giveaway ~ Devil's Kiss (Sunset Cove #2) by Ella Frank

Title: Devil's Kiss (Sunset Cove Series #2)

Author: Ella Frank

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance

Release Date: May 24, 2016

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29742760-devil-s-kiss

Book Description:

What do you do when the one you least expect to matter…

Ends up mattering the most?

Derek Pearson likes to think he’s an easygoing guy. Uncomplicated, upfront, and unapologetic with what he wants. His what you see is what you get attitude is on prominent display for anyone who cares to look, and his foul mouth is right there to back it up should you miss the point.

However, what you see isn’t always what you get, and only a select few have ever glimpsed the real man under the brash exterior.

Among them? Professor Jordan Devaney. Complicated, high-maintenance, and vibrant, he’s Derek’s opposite in every way. From the moment they saw each other, a love-hate relationship began.

But what happens when one person wants more?

Buy Links:

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1TulAFX

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1sxCo86

Our Review:

Reviewed by Donna ~ 4 stars

***ARC received for an honest review***

“You answered…that’s everything to someone with something.”

One thing I can always count on from Ella Frank is a hot as sin MM read and Devil’s Kiss was no different. Ella Frank always manages to capture that intensity and that deep connection that only two rutting men can bring, add to that the emotional side of fighting fears and prejudices and you always get a beautiful story. While Derek and Devaney’s story is far from pretty at times, the undertones of their beginning and the significance of their ending only cemented them as characters that will stay with me for a very long time. The time in between however was fraught with fighting feelings, flip flopping emotions, pasts and insecurities and two stubborn as hell men that knew what they wanted but were too scared to admit it or act upon it.

“That first day. I wasn’t so sure teaching was for me. Then you stood up and removed your glasses and dared me to make a difference.”

Derek Pearson and Jordan Devaney were introduced in Finley, the first book in the Sunset Cove series. Their best friends, Finn and Brantley were lovers, a romance that started while they were still professor and student and while Devaney and Derek’s circumstances are the same, the way their relationship panned out was totally different. It is here, right at the beginning that all similarities end.

“Derek’s size and pissy attitude was like a bright neon warning sign flashing: Danger. Danger. And it was like a rush of blood to his head, and not the one on his shoulders.”

Professor Jordan Devaney was not your typical alpha man, while he only topped that was where his alpha tendencies ended, the bedroom. This man was your typical, cliché gay man, but he owned it in style. He was flamboyant, colourful, entertaining and totally endearing, you couldn’t help but love him. But underneath that colourful persona was a man that was extremely wealthy, who didn’t need to work, was extremely intelligent and had a heart of gold, a man that was a philanthropist and always wanted to give back, I adored him and he totally earned his nickname of “Posh Spice.”

“Good for you. He needs someone with a firm hand. And you sure have the muscles for it.” ~ Devaney’s mum

“Mother.”

Derek was a man that had an extremely hard time growing up and this is where the majority of his issues stem from. His mum left when he was young and left him at home with a homophobic father and brother. A father who was also an alcoholic and had no qualms about taking out his temper and frustrations on his pansy son. Everything Derek had wanted from life, he earned and with the help of his best friend, Finn, it was a miracle he had come out from his childhood unscathed, but he hadn’t…while the physical scars heal, the mental ones always remained. Derek was our tatted, deep, brooding, gym owner who had muscles on muscles, the total opposite to Posh, but everyone needs a He-Man in their life.

“How much can one person possibly take before they fucking lose it?”

Derek and Devaney’s story spans eleven years, eleven years of whip lash and a lot of time spent apart. But during the times they are together, the majority as friends and confidantes, Ella Frank really builds their foundations, piece by piece and it is this slow build that gives you that character connection and a greater understanding of the men behind the façades. These men have wanted and lusted after each other for years, many frustrating years, but I honestly believed that their time wasn’t right and it took them that time and their journeys to appreciate what they had and really get to the bottom of lust versus love. These two were soul mates in all their confusing ways and emotions and I felt that because their relationship was born from friendship first and foremost that they would stand the test of time. It just takes a while for them to realise it.

“Don’t lie to me. You have never lied to me. Not even when it fucking hurt.”

My only little criticism was the time jumps, in Jordan and Devaney’s story I felt crucial moments in their lives were left untold. I wanted to know what happened in their time apart, even if it was just small glimpses or flashbacks. While reading between the lines I knew that those feelings never subsided or waned, I wanted proof that I was right to believe in these two from the get go. Maybe it is me being greedy but I just wanted my blanks filled in. As usual though, Ella Frank delivered a fantastic epilogue and I am hoping that this is not the last we see of out Sunset Cove boys. In this book there is another character introduced, Dylan, who was Derek’s flatmate. Our surfer, model certainly seems to have an interesting story to tell and I am hoping it is one that Ella delivers.

“One of these days, we will get this right.”

Excerpt:

DEVIL’S KISS

Ella Frank

* * * *

THE CALL

Present Day

DEREK PEARSON PUSHED open the door of Leighton, Finley & Associates, and stepped out on the paved sidewalk. It was the first day of August, and if the sweltering Floridian sun was any indication, today was going to be hotter than hell’s waiting room.

As he strolled toward the curb, he pulled a pack of Marlboros from the pocket of his shorts and flipped open the top. He needed a fucking cigarette after watching Daniel Finley and his damn professor get all sappy and shit. That was gonna get old real quick if he had to stomach their nauseating displays of I love yous longer than the fifteen minutes he’d been in there. But he’d known he had to make an appearance sooner or later; otherwise Danny boy would’ve shown up asking questions. Questions he wasn’t ready to answer.

There’d been a reason he hadn’t come around to see Finn when he first moved back from Chicago two months ago, but it wasn’t something he was in the mood to talk about yet, even if he was one of the two people on the planet who would get all the shit he’d been dealing with.

Yeah… He just wasn’t ready to go there.

With a smoke between his lips, he lit up, then shoved the pack back in his shorts. He was so damn antsy lately, and for that he could thank his brother, Alan.

He walked around to the side of his Jeep and pulled open the door. After climbing inside, he grabbed his cell phone and stared at the dark screen, contemplating his next move.

Am I really planning to do this?

Fuck, it seemed that he was, even when he knew better.

If he did this, it would be nothing more than a Band-Aid over the real problem. A shot to numb the more painful issues he was dealing with right now. He would be slipping back into a pattern he had pulled himself out of. An addiction he’d broken free from. But he was also aware that if he didn’t do it, the alternative would be to spiral out of control, and solitude was no longer helping his fucked-up nerves.

He brought the phone to his ear and waited. The phone rang and rang, and fucking rang, until he was close to hanging up—and then it connected.

“You free?” were the only two words out of his mouth. He waited, not caring to pursue small talk. That wasn’t what this was about. All he cared about in that moment was getting what he needed.

When an affirmative came through the phone, he hung up, tossed it on the dashboard, and brought the Jeep to life. As he sped across town, he white-knuckled the steering wheel and didn’t allow himself to think about the consequences of what he was about to do.

It took him less than ten minutes to pull into the underground parking garage of The Palisades and take the elevator up to where his drug of choice waited for him. He glanced up into the camera in the corner of his metallic confines and stared boldly into the face of the one who was waiting at the other end of this ride.

Yeah, he was about to fall off the fucking wagon big time. Was about to slide back into the one place he promised himself he wouldn’t go again. Yet as the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, there was no denying this was exactly what he wanted.

“I have thirty minutes,” were the words that greeted him.

Derek walked off the elevator and over to the naked man waiting for him. He took the haughty chin between his thumb and forefinger and promised in a voice thick with arousal, “I only need ten. Take me to your room, Jordan. Time’s a wasting.”

Book One ~ Finley

Book Description:

It's time to come home, Finn.

It’s been seven years since Daniel Finley left his hometown in Florida for the hustle and bustle of Chicago’s city life.

Since then, he’s worked hard for his position at the prestigious law firm Leighton & Associates, even when it’s caused distance and isolation from his family and friends. But that’s all about to change.

On his thirtieth birthday, he receives the one thing he never dared hope for. Something that was promised to him years earlier—a note. One simple sentence from the man he’s never been able to forget.

Six words will forever change the course of their lives.

Brantley Hayes has it all. Or so he thinks. When he first made the decision to take a job down in Florida, his family thought he was crazy. But, after years of living in the quiet beach town, he finally feels a sense of community. He’s surrounded himself with friends who are like family, has a job he loves, and owns a spectacular beachfront property that is his sanctuary.

Yet he still feels unfulfilled, as if a piece of the puzzle is missing, and he knows exactly which piece it is. On an impulse, he follows through with a promise he made years earlier. A promise to call home the one he sent away.

Nothing is as simple as it seems.

After years of separation, the former lovers are reunited, but Brantley wasn’t expecting to encounter the high walls now guarding Daniel’s heart.

Daniel may not be the same person he was when he left, but he knows that the first step to healing is the note in his hand.

Buy Links:

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1Rf4Pxs

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1S0mqco

About the Author:

Ella Frank is the author of the #1 Bestselling Temptation series, including Try, Take, and Trust. Her Exquisite series has been praised as “scorching hot!” and “enticingly sexy!”

A life-long fan of the romance genre, Ella writes contemporary and erotic fiction and lives with her husband in Portland, OR. You can reach her on the web at www.ellafrank.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ella.frank.author

Some of her favorite authors include Tiffany Reisz, Kresley Cole, Riley Hart, J.R. Ward, Erika Wilde, Gena Showalter, and Carly Philips.

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