Series Recap Blitz / Review / Giveaway: Heat by Chris Quinton & RJ Scott

12 June of 2016 by

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Reviewer's Rating: 5
5.0Overall score

This story made me feel so much; I love Devon and Lewis.

Heat – Chris Quinton & RJ Scott Series Recap/Blitz

Authors: Chris Quinton & RJ Scott

Genre:  Contemporary GLBTQ MM Romance

 

Released: October 23, 2014

 

Publisher: Love Lane Books Ltd

 

Series: Salisbury Stories, Book 1

 

Length: 44,300 words

 
Synopsis Green
 

Serving up passion, family, love and hate, with a side order of arson.

Lewis has lost nearly everything, and now it seems that Devon is here to take the last thing he has left – working in his beloved restaurant, Laurels. But when an arsonist threatens everything Lewis loves, he realizes sometimes everyone has their ghosts, and he discovers an unexpected ally who is prepared to risk everything for him.

Set in the small cathedral city of Salisbury, Master Chef Lewis Mandineau no longer owns the Laurels, the restaurant that had been in his family for generations. Betrayed and robbed by an ex-lover, he’s had to sell to Carnegie Enterprises, an American corporation. That isn’t all Lewis has to contend with. Rachel, his beloved younger sister has been left severely hurt by the car crash that killed their parents, and taking care of her has to be his priority.

Enter Devon Trelawney III, sent to assess the viability of the restaurant and its staff. Devon knows all about family tradition. But he also knows sentiment has no place in business matters, and the Laurels’ potential is swamped by the debts it has accrued. Devon is a hardheaded businessman, first and foremost, but Lewis and Rachel test his resolve in different ways. Soon Devon is forced to admit that what seems like an impossible love can sometimes become something very real.

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

This story made me feel so much; I love Devon and Lewis.

I’m relatively new to RJ Scott’s work having read my first book back in February of this year. So far I’ve read, and loved, all of her Bodyguards Inc. books and her Montana series. This is the first book I’ve read where she has a co-author, Chris Quinton (I haven’t read any other books by Chris – yet).This story really hit me with all the feels, as many of RJ’s books do, and I’m not really sure if I can pinpoint what the addition of a coauthor did for the book; all I know is that I loved it. This had a wonderful story and the writing kept me from putting it down once I started. I loved the descriptions of the historic Laurels restaurant; I felt like I was there and seeing it while Lewis gave Devon a tour.

Lewis Mandineau suffered terrible losses in the last two years and those losses would have crushed a weaker person. He is a man of integrity and he cares deeply for his younger sister who suffered a life altering injury in the accident that killed their parents. All he wants to do is keep his restaurant and family’s good name intact.

Devon Trelawney III works for the company that helped rescue the Laurels restaurant but he’s all about business and profit and loss. In the beginning he is quite the a-hole and he and Lewis are at each other’s throats. After Devon gets his head out of his a– and his foot out of his mouth, he becomes very likeable and their relationship goes in a new direction. I love how it took time to build (I think the first kiss isn’t until around Chapter Eight) and the sexual tension between the two was delicious.

I know some romance readers don’t care for books that make them cry but those are usually my favorite ones. I might cry because something bad or sad happens or even more likely because something good and happy does. This book fired on all cylinders.

I’m looking forward to the next book in this series, Ice, also co-authored by these two wonderful authors.

 

♥♥♥♥♥

O Factor: Scorcher

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Excerpt Green
The office door banged open.
“Where’s the restroom?” Devon demanded. Lewis smiled and pointed.
When Devon returned, he paused by Lewis’s workstation just as he finished filling the piping bag with the very pink buttercream icing. Yesterday’s fairy cakes sat on their tray, their tops already sliced off and halved to make the wings.
“For the dining room?” Devon asked doubtfully.
“No, for my sister.” No one else was in the kitchen at the moment, and the door to the staffroom was shut, so no one could overhear Lewis snipe at the new boss. “And before you say it, the ingredients are my own, bought and brought in for the purpose. I’m sure you can work out how much to charge me for the gas I used to bake them.”
Devon opened his mouth to say something, then shut it just as quickly. Evidently he didn’t want to grace Lewis’s comment with an answer. Immediately Lewis felt lower than low. He was a trained, sought-after chef, not a kid taking cheap shots at someone in his class he didn’t like.
Then Devon spoke and any inner commentary about feeling guilty was wiped away in an instant. “What is that crap you kept on bringing me?”
“Peppermint and camomile. It’s good for migraines and headaches. And it’s mine.” Then he couldn’t resist. “I’ll be sending you a bill later.”
“Fine. You do that.”
“I will.”
“And you can fix me another one while you’re at it!”
“Fine!” Lewis met Devon’s glower with one of his own. The three-inch difference in their heights made a nose to nose face off a little awkward, but he’d be damned if he’d let the man stare him down. Then Lewis saw the amber flecks in Devon’s coffee- dark eyes and lost track of his anger. If he leant forward just a few inches, Devon would be in kissing range.
Handsome is as handsome does… Em’s voice echoed in his mind, and he stepped back. Devon moved away at the same time, and the subtle tension that had nothing to do with anger faded away.
Their gazes were still locked, and gradually the silliness of their confrontation struck Lewis. He struggled to contain his smile, knew he was failing and bit his lip. Devon glanced down and focused on Lewis’s mouth. Devon flushed, and suddenly Lewis’s gaydar kicked in.
It was like a bucket of icy water thrown in his face. Having the hots for a straight man was one thing: they were suitable dream fodder, safe and out of reach. But not for another gay man. Not after Peter. Especially his boss, an ill-tempered arsehole who seemed to be hell-bent on alienating every one of Laurels’ staff.

 

Giveaway Green
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

About the Author Green
 
RJ‘s goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

RJ Scott is the bestselling gay romance author of over ninety MM romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing. 

RJ also writes MF romance under the name Rozenn Scott.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.
Author Links Green

 

 

Chris Quinton started creating stories not long after she mastered joined-up writing, somewhat to the bemusement of her parents and her English teachers. But she received plenty of encouragement. Her dad gave her an already old Everest typewriter when she was ten, and it was probably the best gift she’d ever received – until the inventions of the home-computer and the worldwide web.
Chris’s reading and writing interests range from historical, mystery, and paranormal, to science-fiction and fantasy, writing mostly in the male/male genre. She refuses to be pigeon-holed and intends to uphold the long and honourable tradition of the Eccentric Brit to the best of her ability. In her spare time [hah!] she reads, embroiders, quilts and knits. Over the years she has been a stable lad [briefly] in a local racing stable and stud, a part-time and unpaid amateur archaeologist, a civilian clerk at her local police station and a 15th century re-enactor.
She lives in a small and ancient city in the south-west of the United Kingdom, sharing her usually chaotic home with an extended family, three dogs, a frilled dragon [lizard] and sundry goldfish and tropicals.
Author Links Green

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  1. I can’t wait to read Ice! My favorite food is probably pizza or maybe popcorn (with butter of course).

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