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Blog Tour: Hiding In Plain Sight (Camp H.O.W.L. #3) by Bru Baker


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. Novel

Happily 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.

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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.

Visit Bru online at www.bru-baker.com or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

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