Welcome Birthday Guest Tara Lain!

Hi everyone. I’m Tara Lain and I write the Beautiful Boys of Romance. Thanks so much to Amber – Happy Birthday, girl!!! — for inviting my guys to say hi to you today and weigh in on a favorite birthday memory. I know a lot of you enjoyed Knight of Ocean Avenue (thank you for that!) so I thought you might like a word from Shaz.

Tara:  Hey Shaz!

Shaz:  Hi darling.

Tara:  I know you love celebrations, so why don’t you share a favorite birthday memory with us.

Shaz: (frowns briefly) Actually, dear, my memories of birthdays don’t exactly light my fire. My family’s idea of a birthday celebration was an extra day at church being reminded of my sinfulness and inadequacy. Later, after it was suggested that I leave home and never come back, birthdays were spent with miscellaneous boyfriends whose presence only reminded me how lonely I was.

Tara:  Shaz, dear, you’re ruining our mood.

Shaz:  Fear not, I shall lighten the day with the arrival of true love.

Tara:  About time.

Shaz:  This year, after Billy and I were married, I celebrated my first birthday as a happily married man. (Smiles softly) And in so many ways it felt like the first birthday of my life.

Tara:  Did you do something glamorous and exotic?

Shaz: No. You know my knight. That wouldn’t be his style. He woke me in the morning with – (he sighs) – things I won’t share in detail, but let me just say they would make a while new book for you, Tara. Champagne and dildoes were involved. Then he fed me breakfast in bed. Yes, the eggs were a little overcooked, but I love that he tried.

Tara:  Ooooh, did you spend all day in bed?

Shaz:  No. Just when I thought we’d laze away the day, he loaded me in the car and drove me to – you ready? – the San Diego Zoo! Animals! You know how he changed my life with Clancy and Yerby, our beautiful cats. Well, he takes me to the zoo and I got to see the pandas and the meerkats and the elephants. (Wipes at his eyes) In all the years I’ve lived in Laguna Beach, I never once went to the zoo.

Tara:  Did you go to Alberts?”

Shaz:  (claps his hands) How did you know, darling?

Tara:  It’s a favorite of mine.

Shaz:  Yes, we had a late lunch there, even though I thought I’d never eat again after breakfast. It was like dining in a treehouse. I loved it. Then we flew across the whole zoo on the Skyway, which is breathtaking.

Tara:  What a fun way to spend the day.

Shaz: But it wasn’t over. On the way home, we stopped at our favorite bar in Laguna, and all our friends were waiting – Ru, and Charlie, and Jim with his beautiful doctor, Ken and his brother, Ian with his boyfriend. Oh and lots more. We sang and danced and drank more champagne until it was officially no longer my birthday. Then we went home and fell into bed and – well, let’s fade the black, shall we?

Tara:  What a wonderful birthday.

Shaz:  (Leans back and  smiles) Yes. Because birthdays should be filled with love and mine was. I think you could say I felt born again.

Tara hugs Shaz.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know Shaz a little better. For a prize today, someone will win a copy of either Knight of Ocean Avenue – OR Knave of Broken Hearts. OR – you can choose to have an advance copy of my upcoming release, Driven Snow. It’s the second book in my Pennymaker Tales and all the books are stand-alone. Here’s a description —

Making evil queens, magic mirrors, and wicked huntsmen relevant in a modern world, Tara Lain’s new adult, contemporary romance fantasy DRIVEN SNOW brings together a brilliant but shy chess master, a glorious quarterback name Prince, and forces of evil and good that prove that living authentically against the odds makes you the fairest of them all.

 

Here’s a nibble –

Available for Pre-Order at Dreamspinner Press

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6955

Young Snowden “Snow” Reynaldi is brilliant, beautiful, and alone. Though he’s shy, weird, and tolerated by the NorCal University students because he’s a renowned whiz at chess and helps put the school on the map, that doesn’t keep him from dreaming of the object of his desires, Riley Prince, championship quarterback.

 When Riley needs a physics’ tutor, Snow jumps at the chance and their relationship heats up—but Riley has to come out of the jock closet to get anywhere. Meanwhile, Snow’s one true friend and mentor, Professor Kingsley, marries a woman who secretly wants the chess tournament glory and money for herself. Soon after, the professor collapses and Snow finds himself underwater— In a car!

 Seven frat brothers from Grimm College rescue Snow just in time for his life to get even worse, and Snow discovers the one relationship he always wanted slipping away. With evil looming at every turn, Snow must survive if only to prove he’s the fairest of them all and regain the trust of his handsome prince.

Snow nodded. “Now, this is pretty basic, but we can get a lot more sophisticated.” He scratched out a slightly more complex set of calculations, and Riley seemed absorbed.

“Man, this is so dope.”

“Glad you like it.”

“Wish Jenkins could make physics so interesting.”

“You have to create the excitement for yourself. See the potential.”

Riley looked up. “You make it exciting.” He smiled slowly. “You make everything exciting.”

“M-me?” Snow’s brain froze.

“Yeah. Why do you think I come see you play all the time? It’s like plugging into the solar system and catching the stars in my hand.”

“S-stars are gas.”

“The planets, then. I’ve wanted to tell you this for a while. I think you’re—”

The sound of a key in the lock brought both their heads up.

Nooooooo.

Like some cosmic joke, the apartment door opened and beautiful, perky, perfect Courtney Taylor walked in. “Oh, hi. Are you two still studying? Oh my gosh, Snow, you must be magic or something. No one could ever get him to study physics before. I told him, ‘You have to do it, baby. The team can’t do without you. Find a way to learn this shit.’ And what do you know? He found you. Amazing.” She walked over, pushed Riley’s head back, kissed him on the lips, and plopped down in his lap. “Did you learn a lot, baby?”

Her knee bumped Snow’s thigh, and he leaped up like he’d been shot. “Oh gosh, look at the time. Better get back to work myself. Have to study for the tournament and all.” Sweet God, he had to get out of there.

Riley stood Courtney on her feet and stepped over beside Snow. “When can you help me again? I’ve only got two weeks. I made so much progress today. I know you’re busy, and I hate to ask, but could you please—”

“Yes, of course. Just text me, okay?” He ripped out the pages they’d been working on, shoved the notebooks into his backpack, and headed for the door. He seemed to be running from everyone these days. “Bye. Bye, uh, Courtney.”

Outside the door, he clambered down the steep staircase and stopped at the bottom just to breathe.

What were you thinking, you idiot? That somehow his girlfriend had magically transformed into a teapot?

He started to tell me something. He said he’s wanted to tell me for a long time.

What are you dreaming? That he suddenly quit being straight and is attracted to a wimpy little queen like you? Spare me.

Okay. Okay.

The door to Eudora’s apartment flew open, and a hand emerged, holding a glass. “Hey, cutie. Have some water.”

Like it was perfectly normal to accept water while standing in hallways, he grasped the glass and drank the liquid down. Amazing how much better he felt.

She took the empty glass. “Lessons for the day. Don’t sell yourself short. And don’t believe everything you see. Got it?”

“I… I guess so.”

“Good.” She patted his cheek, and then the door closed behind her. If a caterpillar suddenly appeared saying “Who are you?”, he wouldn’t be even slightly surprised.

 

You can find Tara HERE:

Website:              http://www.taralain.com

Blog:               http://www.taralain.com/blog

Goodreads:        http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4541791.Tara_Lain

Twitter:               http://twitter.com/taralain

FB Page:         http://www.facebook.com/taralain

 

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 29. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Paranormal 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 soul-mate husband and her soul-mate dog near the sea in California where she sets a lot of her books.  Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!