Friday, January 17, 2020

Book review: Love and Poison by Jamie Lynn Miller





Hello everyone! Many thanks to Jim for hosting me today to announce my new release, Love and Poison!

A bit about me: I’ve lived in the suburbs of Chicago my entire life, but would much rather be living in Vancouver, Canada. I’ve been married for 25 years to my amazing husband, John. And our children are of the furry, four-footed kind. I work professionally as a graphic designer but would rather be writing!

I started writing m/m fan fiction back in the mid-90’s and in 2008 a friend challenged me to go pro. And here I am! Since I was a kid I’ve been interested in law enforcement and first responders. I’ve taken countless citizen police and fire academy classes and I’ve been volunteering with my local police department for the last five years. So it seemed natural that my books would feature the brave men in these professions, with my academy and volunteer work giving me a unique, inside perspective. I have books about cops, firemen, paramedics and soldiers, and my tag line is “Men in Uniform…and Out”.

My latest release is Love and Poison, featuring two Portland PD detectives—Bryce and Caleb. I love putting my characters through life and death situations and this book is no different. Bryce and Caleb have found happiness with one another, planning a future together when the unthinkable happens—Caleb is targeted and poisoned and given only a day to live.

Interested? Then read on for an exclusive excerpt!


★ BLURB
A microscopic killer. A deadly diagnosis. The man you love has only 24 hours to live. What would you do?
 
There’s no denying the attraction between Detective Caleb Donaghue and his new partner Detective Bryce Anderson. At first, they battle their growing desires, but then tragedy brings the two men closer than ever before. United in their shared grief, they seek solace in one another. Walls come down, lines are crossed, and they finally give in to their hearts’ desires.
 
But only six weeks in, their happiness is shattered when Caleb is poisoned—and given only 24 hours to live.
 
In a life-or-death race to save their new-found love, they must find the unknown assailant and the antidote before Caleb’s time runs out.

★ EXCERPT
Ten minutes later Bryce was lying naked in Caleb’s arms under the sheets in his partner’s large bed upstairs. Bryce’s eyes had just drifted closed, Caleb’s fingers lightly brushing up and down his arm lulling him to sleep, when Caleb’s quiet voice had his eyes opening again.

“Did we make a mistake?”

Bryce’s forehead furrowed, his thoughts immediately going back to Rivera and the events earlier in the evening. He lifted his head to look at his partner in the semi-dark. “Caleb, it wasn’t you—”

Caleb cut him off with a shake of his head. “No.” He pinned Bryce with a look of utter seriousness. “I mean this. Us. Getting involved with one another.”

Bryce’s chest clenched with Caleb’s surprising, unexpected words and he sat up as his partner continued.

“We made a promise that we wouldn’t put each other ahead of our jobs. But watching you deliberately throw yourself in the line of fire tonight—”

Angry, Bryce cut Caleb off this time. “And I’d have done the same damn thing if that same situation had happened an hour after we first met!” He took a calming breath. “You’re my partner. We protect one another, whether we’re sleeping together or not.” He let his heartfelt words hang in the moonlight, watched as the truth of them settled on Caleb. Then he let a smirk slide across his face. “Though if I’m going to be a superhero, I really need to work on my form. That tackle was hardly graceful. My high school football coach would be mortified.”

Caleb huffed out a laugh and a smile, complete with eye roll, breaking the tension.

Bryce smiled in return, but then let it slide away as he reached out and took Caleb’s hand in his. “Seriously, though. Can you tell me that you wouldn’t have done the same thing if our positions had been reversed tonight?”

Caleb held his gaze for a moment before glancing away, his silence all the answer Bryce needed.

Bryce squeezed his hand and Caleb looked back at him. “Us sleeping together isn’t a detriment to our partnership. It’s making us stronger.”

Caleb dropped his eyes down, then back up. “I was positive I was going to die tonight,” he confessed, his voice wavering. “And the thought of leaving you…”

Bryce’s throat threatened to close up with emotion and he had to swallow hard. “Listen to me,” he said, putting a smile back on his face. “The only leaving that’s happening is when you leave me sleeping here to go down to the bakery to get breakfast in a few hours.”

Caleb chuckled, the atmosphere lightening once again. “Oh, is that right?”

“Yep,” Bryce nodded. “I saved your ass. I deserve a donut.”

Caleb chuckled again. “Guess I can’t argue with that.”

“Nope,” Bryce grinned, settling down against the pillows again, tugging Caleb to him. “Now less talking, more sleeping.”

Caleb leaned in and kissed Bryce gently, a long, slow press of their lips before easing back and resting his head on Bryce’s chest, his arm draped loosely over Bryce’s waist. Bryce’s arm came around Caleb’s shoulders as his partner closed his eyes.

But Bryce lay awake, looking down at him, still marveling that he was lying in bed with Caleb. Wondering if they’d be together like this if not for the death of a young boy, looking for comfort in their shared grief. His, especially. He’d let his emotions bring down his walls and Caleb was there and Bryce forgot all about maintaining a professional partnership.

Because that’s what Bryce had promised himself the day he and Caleb met, a little over a year ago now. Him, the new kid on the block in Major Crimes, freshly promoted to Detective at only twenty-six years-old. The youngest in the division. And Caleb, four years older, in need of a new partner after his previous, long-term one had retired.

He and Caleb were a good fit from the get-go. And Bryce wasn’t going to screw it up with his instant attraction to his new partner. Getting involved just wasn’t an option. He had a lot to learn about being a detective from Caleb and he wasn’t going to ruin it by making an advance. Because if things didn’t work out, it would be unbelievably uncomfortable for both of them. And if you couldn’t be absolutely at ease with one another, to be able to rely on your partner to be there, to always have your back… One of you was going to end up hurt. Or dead.

But it looked like his fears were unfounded. Because here they were, six weeks later. And there was no place Bryce would rather be. Because he was falling harder and harder for Caleb each and every day.

Bryce sighed and closed his eyes. Question was—was Caleb falling just as hard?

~~~~~~~~~~
TITLE: Love and Poison
AUTHOR: Jamie Lynn Miller
PUBLISHER: LuLu Press
COVER ARTIST: Jamie Lynn Miller
GENRE: M/M Contemporary Romance
WORD COUNT: 30,000

 BUY LINKS:
BARNES AND NOBLE: https://bit.ly/2QWCq99
Also available in the iBookstore!

Information on all of my backlist books (pictured below) can be found at my website:


BIO:

Jamie Lynn Miller has been writing fiction since childhood and decided to take the plunge and go pro in 2008, finding to her amazement that people truly enjoyed her love stories. She’s a romantic at heart, and her tales reflect the desire we all have to find “the one,” persevering through trials and heartache for that happy ending.
Jamie has a degree in fine arts and has spent the last twenty-five years working as a graphic designer, though she’d much rather be writing. She was born in Chicago and still lives there today with her husband and their two furry, four-footed children, er… cats.
If she’s not brainstorming story ideas, you can find Jamie at a sci-fi convention, in front of a furnace doing glass blowing, or on a mat twisted into a yoga pose.







CONTACT INFO:

Email: jamielynnmiller@live.com
Twitter: @JamieLynnAuthor





Make sure you have at least two boxes of Kleenexs on hand. You'll need them, if not more.

Love and Poison is clearly one of Jamie Lynn Miller's finest works.

I had the honor and privilege of being a beta-reader so I knew pretty much what to expect. 

What I did read blew me away. I read the entire book in one sitting. I didn't have a choice. It grabbed me and pulled me in big time.

I have never, ever gotten as emotionally connected to any character as much as I did with Caleb. Way more than the character of Shawn Weller from the Shadow Unit series, my favorite of all Jamie's works.

I'm not ashamed to admit I cried when Caleb was given 24 hours to live after being poisoned. I felt a lot like Bryce did when he found out. I was very angry to the point where I wanted to find the person who poisoned him and string him up by his you-know-whats.

This novella is intense and will take you on an emotional roller coaster that will leave your emotions raw.

The supporting cast is truly amazing and they show how much they love Caleb and Bryce.

Love and Poison is a book that needs to be on everybody's eReader and bookshelf.

I truly hope we see more of Caleb and Bryce in the future.

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