Showing posts with label Gay Romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gay Romance. Show all posts

Sunday, July 01, 2018

Ethan Sutton, Fall for You, by Valerie Ullmer, @valerieullmer, #GayRomance, #NewAdultM/MRomance, #BestFriends&Lovers


I’d like to welcome Ethan Sutton of Fall for You by Valerie Ullmer.

RW:    What’s your story/back story? Why would someone come up with a story about you?

ES:     Well, I’m a pretty ordinary guy, although I would have to say I’m introverted and don’t mind being alone. My best friend, Sebastian, is the outgoing one. Everyone loves him.

RW:    Can you tell us about your hero?

ES:     Sebastian has been my best friend since we were born. He’s funny, smart, the life of the party, yet surprisingly observant. He’s stuck by me through everything and balances me out. We talk about everything and although I realized I was gay when I started college, I haven’t told him yet. Not because he wouldn’t understand, but because my feelings for him have grown into something more.

RW:    Where do you live?

ES:     I live in Eugene, Oregon. I started my junior year at the University of Oregon majoring in Computer Science and I’m about to move into a loft with my best friend and secret crush, Sebastian.

RW:    How are you coping with the conflict in your life?

ES:    Well, since Sebastian is straight and I’m pretty sure I’m in love with him, I think I’m screwed.

RW:  Bubble baths or steamy showers? Ocean or mountains? Puppies or kittens? Chocolate or caramel?

ES:    Steamy showers, definitely. Ocean, since I love the smell. Puppies. And I can’t decided between them so I choose both chocolate and caramel…preferably together.

RW:    If money were not an object, where would you most like to live?

ES:     I would love to live near the ocean, but in a secluded house surrounded by tall trees and shrubs, so it would feel like we were away from the world.

RW:    City life or country life? E-Book or paperback? Zebras or elephants?

ES:     City life. I love both e-books and paperbacks so I don’t really have a preference, and I would say elephants.

RW:    Hunky heroes or average Joe?

ES:    Since Sebastian isn’t average, I would say hunky hero.

RW:    Party life or quiet dinner for two?

ES:     Quiet dinner for two.

RW:    I love pizza with (fill in the blank).

ES:   Extra garlic. Sebastian loves garlic and anytime I would cook he would ask for it. I have gotten used to it after all these years.

RW:    When I’m alone, I (fill in the blank).

ES:     Love to read.

RW:    Those are all the questions I have for you. Thank you for speaking to me.

ES:     And thank you for allowing me to talk about Sebastian and keeping my secret. ;)

Valerie Ullmer

Valerie writes paranormal and contemporary M/F and M/M erotic romances. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her wonderfully supportive husband and their funny and wise black lab. She’s addicted to coffee, crime shows, and reading and writing character-driven romances.

FALL FOR YOU

The Plot

Ethan Sutton came to the stunning revelation that he’d fallen in love with his best friend, Sebastian Young. Although friends since childhood, Ethan vowed to keep his feelings for Sebastian under wraps and live the rest of his life with this one secret between them rather than risk a lifelong connection and never see him again. But when they move into their own apartment at the start of their junior year of college, can Ethan keep his feelings from showing when they live so close together?

Sebastian Young had an epiphany about Ethan at the end of last year and arranged for the shared apartment he’d found over the summer to be closer to Ethan and see if a relationship could develop between them. But as they settle into their lives in a new place with such close quarters, ex-girlfriends, nosy downstairs neighbors, and Sebastian’s own doubts, is their relationship in jeopardy before it even begins?

Can two best friends admit their feelings and fall in love?

An Excerpt:


Although Ethan was a positive person, he wondered when the other shoe would drop.

The last few weeks were perfect for Ethan and Sebastian. The time they weren’t in class or studying in the library, Sebastian spent time with Ethan, in their loft. They cooked dinner together, sometimes attempted homework, but most of the time they spent talking or watching whatever was on TV.

It reminded Ethan of the years they’d spent in junior high and high school, where nothing mattered more than hanging out and talking about everything and nothing.

But somehow, the past month of living together became intimate, at least for Ethan. They acted almost like lovers, only without the physical part of their relationship.

Ethan had woken up more than once in the middle of the night after a vivid dream about Sebastian, only to find himself wrapped up in the other man’s arms as he slept on without being disturbed. Ethan would have to maneuver himself off the bed to relieve himself in the bathroom. But most of the time, Sebastian wouldn’t release his hold, so he had to take deep breaths and wait for his body to calm down before he tried to fall back to sleep.

Most mornings, Ethan would wake cradled against Sebastian’s chest, warm and relaxed. He would savor those quiet moments until Sebastian stirred, and Ethan would make himself get out of bed. He would shower first and then find one way or the other to rouse Sebastian and push him toward the bathroom for his shower.

Ethan speculated, did Sebastian wonder about their nighttime ritual? They would fall asleep on opposite sides of the bed, but Ethan would wake in the middle with Sebastian holding him.

Sebastian never mentioned how they drifted toward each other in their sleep or hesitated before bed, so Ethan found himself eager for the day to end instead of worrying Sebastian would catch him.

After Sebastian showered and dressed, which meant he would pull on sweats before he stumbled toward the kitchen where he sat down and shoveled food into his mouth, Ethan would try not to stare at Sebastian’s exposed chest.

But more often than not, Sebastian was still sleepy until he had his three cups of coffee, giving Ethan time for his gaze to wander over Sebastian’s exposed chest.

But the afternoons after class and the nights were the best. They would spend most of their time together and although neither of them had come out and said it, Ethan understood Sebastian’s feelings for him changed.

Ethan’s friend might not be as straight as he had once considered.

Contact Valerie At:





Amazon: TBA

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Valerie Ullmer, Unwrapped (An Unexpected Novella), @valerieullmer, #MMRomance, #ContemporaryRomance




I’d like to welcome Valerie Ullmer, author of Unwrapped (An Unexpected Novella) to my blog today.

RW:    Tell us about yourself, your family, where you live, etc.

VU:     I started writing full-time in 2010 when I realized that writing was exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I published my first book in July of 2016. I live with my husband of 20 years and our black lab mix, Maddie, the love of our lives. We live in Denver, Colorado.

RW:    How many hours a day do you spend writing?

VU:   I usually write 4-6 hours a day, but that includes outlining. I spend way too much time on the internet and designing book covers, but I always go back to writing.

RW:   Why did you decide to write? When did you submit your first manuscript and what genre was it?

VU:     I loved reading romance from high school. And while I loved each book I read, I couldn’t help but think about how I would have written it differently or changed the characters a little bit here or there. I studied writing for several years before I realized the best teacher is just to write. And that is what I did.


RW:    Who are your favorite authors? Who influenced your writing?

VU:   My favorite authors fluctuate. I started off with Harlequin romances but then moved to authors such as Lori Foster and Gena Showalter. For the last couple of years, I’ve been devouring M/M or the gay romance genre. I don’t have a favorite author, or even favorite books. I love them all.

RW:   Who are your favorite characters among the books you’ve written?

VU:    Although all my characters are my favorite, I love one’s that I’ve written who have an inner strength that comes out when they want to fight for something or someone they love. Liv from my Dark Assassins series. Ara also.

RW:   What makes a good book? A great romance? Is humor important in fiction and why?

VU:     Characters. Characters make the book. I don’t have to like the character in the first few chapters and I hate when they act out of, well, character, but I love characters who grow and change as the story goes along.

RW:    How much does reader feedback matter to you? Do your fans’ comments and letters influence you in any way? Do you have a favorite comment or question from a reader?

VU:     I love when readers contact me and let me know that they liked or hated the book. Constructive criticism is wonderful, but it doesn’t influence how I write my books or what the characters do in the story. When a reader tells me that they loved the characters in a book, it makes my day.

RW:  Tell us about your latest book. What motivated the story? Where did the idea come from? What genre is it? Does it cross over to other genres? If so, what are they?

VU:     Unwrapped is a novella following my first in the series, Unexpected. Jack and Adam have been friends since college and while Adam has been open as bisexual since then, Jack has dated exclusively women. When Jack confesses that he’s in love with Adam, they try to build a life together. Unwrapped opens at a point in their relationship where Jack is unable to come out and declare Adam as his partner and he drives Adam away. As Jack works to build back the relationship he can’t live without, he proves to himself and Adam that he can be out and happy with Adam.

The idea came from the idea that not all relationships, while wanting a HEA, are sometimes bumpy at the beginning. It is a gay contemporary romance.

RW:    What book for you has been the easiest to write? The hardest? The most fun?

VU:    Easiest was the Unexpected book. The hardest was Xander (A Dark Assassins Book Three). I couldn’t come up with a heroine who matched Xander and what he needed, but after months of free writing, it finally came together.

RW:   What is the single most important part of writing for you?

VU:    Conflict. If I don’t have great conflict in a story, I have no story and I have to trash the idea.

Unwrapped (An Unexpected Novella)

The Plot

Friends to lovers.

Jack does what he’s always done to protect himself. He allows fear to take over and as a result, he pushes Adam away. When Adam finally leaves, Jack understands that if he loves Adam as much as he claims, he needs to change before Adam can risk his heart again.

Lovers to forever.

Adam understands why Jack’s kept his feelings secret, but after being ignored one too many times, he leaves. But Jack won’t give up and when he proves to Adam how much he wants their relationship to work, can Adam risk his heart to the one man he’s loved all over again?

How will Jack and Adam find their happily-ever-after during the season of miracles?


An Excerpt:

Jack paused before he asked the question that could break him.

“Do you…truly want out of our relationship?”

He could hear Adam breathing on the other line and held his own as he waited for Adam to answer. Jack understood entirely in that moment what he’d put Adam through over the past few months, probably the last few years. He would completely understand if Adam didn’t want to continue being hurt. Jack’s own feelings aside, he would accept Adam’s decision because if he felt he couldn’t continue with Jack, Jack would let him go and wish him all the happiness in the world. Or he hoped he could.

“No, but it hurts to be ignored.”

Jack breathed a sigh of relief. He needed to change, or he would lose Adam.

“I’m going to make it up to you. I want to prove to you I can change and by Christmas if you don’t believe I have…then I’ll let you go.”

“Is that what you want?”

“No. I can’t imagine loving anyone but you. And while we’re apart, I’m going find a therapist to work on my issues. There’s something holding me back from exactly who I want to be and be with, and I need help to find out what that is.”

There was a choked sound on the other line before Adam grew silent.

“I know I’m fucked up and the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt you, but that’s exactly what I did. I can’t get past my own mind, so I need some help. This time, I won’t take you for granted.”

“Are you afraid to admit your sexuality?”

“I suppose I am. Adam, although it looked as though I slept with a lot of women, there’ve only been a few. Mainly it was camouflage. But I felt like I found myself the first time I kissed you. I knew then I was gay, and you are the only man I will ever want.”

Adam sighed. “You’re being surprisingly open about this.”

“The moment I heard the door shut and I realized you left… It was the worst moment of my life. I could take seeing my father every day and listen to his bullshit, but I never want to feel what I felt when you left. And knowing I drove you to leave makes it worse. So much worse.”

Valerie Ullmer

Bio

Valerie writes paranormal and contemporary M/F and M/M erotic romances. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her wonderfully supportive husband and their funny and wise black lab. She’s addicted to coffee, crime shows, and reading and writing character-driven romances.

Book Links:


Contact Valerie At: