Welcome Bru Baker and Dreamspinner Press who are here today to promote the latest in the author's popular Camp H.O.W.L. series, Hiding In Plain Sight. Find out more about this paranormal romance and read and exclusive excerpt below!
See our review here.
Thanks for joining me on Boy
Meets Boy today to talk about the third book in the Camp H.O.W.L. series, Hiding in Plain Sight. This is the book
I’ve been waiting for, because we finally get to see Harris get his happy
ending. He’s had years to come to terms with the fact that Jackson is his mate,
and he resigned himself to it being an unrequited mate bond long ago.
Jackson has been attracted to
Harris since the day they met, back when Harris’s parents joined Jackson’s Pack
while Harris was in college. But he’s not the settling down type, so he put
aside that attraction because he cared too much about Harris to lose his
friendship for a casual dalliance.
I’m sharing an exclusive
excerpt here today so you can have a front-row seat to the beginning of
Jackson’s internal crisis as he realizes that his feelings for Harris go far
deeper than simple attraction. Unfortunately, this realization couldn’t have
come at a worse time, since Jackson is a on the cusp of taking a job with the
Werewolf Tribunal that precludes all bonds--both mate bonds and Pack bonds.
Hiding in Plain Sight
Jackson knew
Harris was in the apartment the moment he woke up. For starters, he felt more
relaxed than he had in days. He could also smell Harris’s scent over the spicy
aroma of the chili he was cooking.
He groaned and
pulled his quilt over his face. Harris was in his kitchen cooking. Life was so
unfair. He’d hoped a few days apart would dull the need he felt, but it had
only intensified it. He was going to have to come clean and tell Harris what
was going on. Continuing to avoid him wasn’t fair to Harris, and being a dick
to him physically hurt. His wolf was going nuts.
He’d always been
attracted to Harris, and he loved spending time with him. They were close, and
he could see how that could morph into more. Not right now, though. Why
couldn’t this drive to mate have popped up later? Maybe in a few years when
Jackson was secure in a Tribunal job and ready to look for a Pack where he
could be Second.
He rolled onto
his stomach and buried his head under the pillows. The thought of making a home
with Harris had him hard in an instant. For a second he let himself pretend he
lived in that future—that he was napping in their bed while Harris pulled
together dinner in their kitchen.
Jackson rutted
against the mattress, caught up in a fantasy amplified by having Harris so
close. He’d given up trying to pretend that Harris wasn’t his mate. It hadn’t
made the decision to ignore the mate bond any easier.
The shrill ring
of the oven timer brought Jackson’s hips to a sudden halt, reality streaming
back in. He was hiding in his room while Harris cooked dinner. This wasn’t
their bedroom, and while he might acknowledge Harris was his mate, he wasn’t his.
Jackson sighed
and hauled himself out of bed. He’d grab a shower and get ready for work. With
any luck, he could procrastinate until it was almost time to leave for his
shift and then dash through the kitchen with the excuse of being late on his
tongue.
Guilt seeped in
while he was showering, and he sped up, steeling himself to man the fuck up and
have dinner with Harris. The man was one of his best friends, and he deserved
an explanation. God knew if the tables were turned, Jackson would be out of his
mind with worry that something was seriously wrong.
Harris had the
chili simmering on the stove and cornbread in the oven by the time Jackson
wandered into the kitchen. Jackson had given himself the creepiest pep talk
ever while he was dressing. He wasn’t going to let his feelings get in the way
of his friendship with Harris, and he would pretend the mate bond didn’t exist.
Couldn’t be that hard, right?
Jackson’s heart
lurched at the hesitant smile Harris shot him when he walked into the kitchen.
He’d been a terrible friend over the last week, and he needed to make it up to
him. None of this was Harris’s fault. Hell, none of it was Jackson’s either,
but he was the one acting like an ass.
Jackson perched
on the counter, trying to summon a lightness he didn’t feel.
Harris had
unearthed a frilly apron Jordan bought as a joke and was wearing it over his
jeans and T-shirt to save his clothes from chili spatter. He looked edible with
his long sleeves pushed up to his elbows and a light flush across his cheeks.
“You didn’t have
to cook,” Jackson said, picking up a handful of the cheese Harris had shredded
and tossing it into his mouth to give his hands something to do. They itched to
reach out and touch. “You’re a guest.”
Harris smacked
his hand when he reached for more. “Leave some for the chili. And I’m hardly a
guest. I invited myself over. Cooking for you was the least I could do.”
Jackson nearly
choked on his cheese. God, Harris was pushing all his buttons, and he didn’t
even know it.
He coughed a few
times to cover the choking. “You’re always welcome here.”
Harris bent over
to check the cornbread in the oven and Jackson thought his heart might burst
out of his chest. He tried to look calm when Harris turned around, but from the
way his eyes had widened in alarm, he knew he’d failed.
“These are done.
Is Jordan going to be back soon?”
Jackson reached
over him and opened the cabinet to grab two bowls. “He texted a bit ago. He’s
held up with a client and said not to wait for him.”
Bastard. No
doubt he’d texted rather than called because he knew Jackson would be able to
hear the lie in his voice. Jordan was probably going through an Arby’s
drive-through right now and sitting in a parking lot until Jackson left for
work. He’d also told Jackson to grow a pair and talk to Harris about what was
happening, but Jackson wasn’t planning to share that part of the message.
It was hard not
to lean into Harris’s warmth as the two of them moved around putting the
finishing touches on dinner. It was painfully domestic, like a taste of what
they could have if their bond was complete. Jackson didn’t know whether to
stockpile memories like this one to help get him through the bad times when his
wolf cried for his mate or to do his best to forget them.
Blurb:
Hiding in Plain Sight: A Camp H.O.W.L. NovelHappily ever after is right under their noses.
Harris has been keeping a big secret for
years—his unrequited mate bond with his best friend, Jackson. He’s convinced
himself that having Jackson in his life is enough. That, and his work at Camp
H.O.W.L., keeps him going.
Things get complicated when Jackson applies for
a high-ranking Tribunal job in New York City—far from Camp H.O.W.L. The
position requires he relinquish all Pack bonds… and that’s when his wolf
decides to choose a mate. Suddenly Jackson sees his best friend in a sizzling
new light.
Their chemistry is through the roof, but they're
setting themselves up for broken hearts—and broken bonds—if Jackson can't
figure out a way to balance his career and the love that’s just been waiting
for him to take notice.
Buy links:
Bio and social media:
Bru Baker writes
sophisticated gay romantic fiction with strong characters, real-world problems,
and plenty of humor.
Bru spent fifteen
years writing for newspapers before making the jump to fiction. She now
balances her time between writing and working at a Midwestern library in the
reference department. Whether it’s creating her own characters or getting
caught up in someone else’s, there’s no denying that Bru is happiest when she’s
engrossed in a story. She and her husband have two children, which means a lot
of her books get written from the sidelines of various sports practices.
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