TURNABOUT BY LAUREL GREEr

I don’t have time for an unplanned visit home to help out in my father’s struggling letterpress shop. My stint in Vermont will have to be short, for a couple of reasons: 

One, I’m a busy executive trying to climb the corporate ladder.

Two, my ex is still my dad’s right-hand man in the shop. And I am not over him.

Nothing has changed at the Burlington shop. Auden still has his infuriatingly sexy Scottish accent. He’s still hot, and still stubborn. Between operating the antique press with his shirtsleeves rolled up, and moonlighting at Burlington’s hottest inclusive wine bar, he pushes every one of my attraction buttons.

My falling-in-love-again buttons, too. Except I’m his polar opposite. I love change, and taking chances. Everything he avoids in life. 

So why am I trying to convince him to reach for more than we’ve ever dreamed of—the possibility of forever?

Turnabout is a second-chance romance with interfering family, groveling, and a large helping of artisan stationery geekery.

He lifts a dark eyebrow. “I said, I want to work with someone willing to wallow with paper and design. Tease out the one-of-a-kind magic.”

His voice is quiet, soothing. It demands I take a deep breath and get out of my feelings.

“I’ve been reminded of how much of an art it is,” I say. “And that I can get by, but you—you have a gift.”

Rosy splotches bloom on his cheeks. “You know what you’re doing, too.”

“I don’t have the rhythm of it like you do. The innate… mastery, I guess. The relationship.”

Auden tilts his head and looks out the front window.

“What?” I ask. “He’s not coming back.”

“I know, but hearing the words rhythm and mastery and relationship when it comes to using a press... I'm looking for locusts, frogs, horsemen—any sign of the apocalypse.”

“Fuck off,” I mutter.

Rhythm, mastery.

When he repeats the words like that, I’m not thinking of cast iron machines—I’m thinking about sex.

I can’t believe he didn’t call me on how filthy that sounded.

He’s biting his lip, still a little pink in the face.

Okay, maybe he’s thinking it, at least.

“I could show you,” he says.

Meeting his gaze is like swimming in a lake, when you dive down, down on a bright day, and you have the dark depths below, and the streams of light from above, and it blends around you like you’re wearing a crown of green water and sunlight.

Holy fuck. He’s too much sometimes.

“Come here.” He crooks a finger for me to meet him at the Chandler and Price.

Definitely too much.

I join him anyway.

He takes my left hand and places it on the small shelf on the front of the press where we’d normally collect the cards during a run. The wood is smooth. And it would feel exactly like palming a flat piece of wood always does, except his big hand covers mine.

“Artisanry demands that relationship.” His voice is insanely low, but he’s only inches from me, so I don’t miss a syllable.

“I’m not an—”

“You have the artistic talent. You just need a little patience.” He puts his other hand on my right hip and positions me square to the press. He taps his toe against my heel, a silent command to put my foot on the treadle.

“We’re missing some parts.” Paper. Ink. The frame. Everything that actually turns into a product.

“We’re not making anything.” He’s at an angle to me. If he leaned forward three inches, his dick would be pressed into my hip. His left hand is still holding mine to the shelf. The other is a heavy weight just below my waist.

“I don’t understand,” I say.

“Just watch it, Carter.” He sounds amused. “You want to know every quirk. And not to try to learn when you’re rushing through eight jobs at once. When you have time to go easy.”

“Really.”

“Really,” he says. “Grip the wood with your other hand, too.”

“Grip the wood? You’re fucking with me.”

“A little.” I can’t see his face from where he is behind me, but I hear his smirk.

A little? A lot. I grab hold of the shelf anyway.

“Just work the treadle,” he says.

I press my toe into the pedal, making the flywheel whir.

“And listen,” he says. “Watch.”

I do that, too.

I’ve been so damn busy since I got here—paper in, paper out, paper in, paper out—I haven’t actually watched anything I’ve done.

The rollers, mesmerizing as they glide over the circular, iron platen.

“What color’s the ink?” Auden’s hand tightens on my hip. His breath tickles the side of my neck.

There is no ink.

“Green,” I say. I can’t get that sunlit lake off my mind.

(I don’t want to. Ever.)

My tie… Why am I wearing something meant to restrict my airflow? I want to loosen it, but Auden told me to keep my hands on the shelf, so I’m keeping my hands on the goddamn shelf.

“Hear anything in the flywheel?” he says.

Just the whir and clicks and whuffs it normally makes. “Should I be?”

“Nothing unusual, but the more you know the sounds of it, the more you know exactly when to feed the paper.” He taps the top of my hand once. Twice. Again. Matching it up to some sensory memory that’s so ingrained in him, he probably dreams in that rhythm.

Anchored by his touch, I’m the one who leans in the three inches. My shoulder, touching his chest. His breath, much more than a tickle. A caress.

“It’s a pulse,” he murmurs, so gruff, the consonants and vowels mix together. His fingers brush the hollow above my shirt collar. My knees wobble.

“A pulse.” I tilt my head to the side, exposing my neck.

“Aye.” Bending his head, his lips land on the same sensitive spot.

My head’s turning faster than the flywheel.

“Auden.”

“See? You know the rhythm.”

Oh god, I don’t know anything right now.

REVIEW

4 stars for Turnabout! 

I really liked this addition to the Vino & Verita’s series. It’s so great seeing so many different characters from all walks of life come together in one place. 

This was a sweet and sometimes spicy second chance M/M romance! I liked the book more as I continued to read and see more of the story come to life.

Carter and Auden were a couple during college but after college came to an end and they had to pick their work life, their opposite ideas and ideals drove them apart. Auden wanted to stay and work for Carter’s father in the printing shop while Carter moved to Canada to pursue his dreams of big success after his father disapproved of his ideas for the family business. 

Carter comes back to town to help his dad out and work in the store while his dad chases his mother to save their relationship and that’s where Carter comes face to face with his ex-boyfriend again. 

After the years apart, it’s like nothing has changed with their feelings and both Carter and Auden are still practically in love with each other however they are both still hurting after how they left things. Working together doesn’t start off easy as Carter has to relearn things and Auden has to accept some changes but being forced to work in such close proximity to each other might just be what they needed after all. 

One thing thing that was a bit sad for me was that the blame seemed to be all on Carter and how he left to pursue his dream of being big and successful and didn’t want to stay in the little printing shop and not expanding. It didn’t seem fair to me that Carter was the one to blame for everything that happened in the past and that his dreams didn’t matter as much as everyone else. 

Auden and Carter had great chemistry and you could tell that they really loved each other. I loved that this was a real life problem that drove them apart but in the end they still found their way back to each other. They both understood their flaws and qualities and loved each other despite those things. 

I should also mention that Auden is a Scottish and Carter speaks French! So what more could you want?

This was a nice and quick read that is perfect if you’re in the mood for a sweet and spicy second chance romance. 

*ARC kindly provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own*

FLIPCUP BY KIM HARTFIELD

EXCERPT: 

I put the barrel under the bar and went back for the second one. 

“I’m impressed by the fact that you do that all day, every day,” Tara said.

I shrugged, standing up straight. “It was hard at first, but you get used to it.”

“You don’t even break a sweat.” She gazed at the neckline of my shirt, then back at my face. “You’re amazing.”

Heat rose to my cheeks. “Flattery gets you nowhere.”

“Is that right?”

My heart hammered, and I lowered my voice. “Not if you’re already where you want to be.”

We had a date on Friday. It was pretty much guaranteed that we were going to rip each other’s clothes off and have our fill of each other. That was only two days from now. Fifty-three, maybe fifty-four hours. There was no reason for us to be standing here staring at each other with unrestrained lust, the air between us thick with sexual tension.

But Tara stepped toward me, close enough that I could feel her body heat. “Where do you think I want to be, exactly?”

I gulped. Men weren’t this straightforward with me unless we were both wasted. Even then, we quickly established that we were both on the same page, and then we went and did it. There were none of this complexity, this need to pursue as well as be pursued. Tara claimed she was a relationship person, and that she was going outside of her norm to do this with me. If I said the wrong thing, I might spook her and make her lose interest altogether. And that was the last thing I wanted to do.

I decided to be direct—but not too direct. “I think you want me,” I told her.

“You know what?” She leaned in, and the heat of her breath tickled my ear. “You’re right.”

“Friday?” I breathed.

She stepped back, leaving me gasping. The moment was over—or was it? She was still giving me that lustful look, her eyes dark and heavy-lidded. “Meet me in the restroom.”

Was she serious? My pulse was skyrocketing. I stared at her, looking for some sign that she was joking.

She gave me a tiny smile, then the smallest, subtlest nod toward the restrooms. Then she was gone, and I found myself unable to breathe.

Were we really doing this? I’d been dreaming of it for weeks, and now it was actually happening. I practically ran into the restroom, where Tara was waiting. “So here we are. The benefit of same-sex relationships.” She locked the door with a key from her pocket. “Works extra well when you’re dating an employee.”

Dating. Oh my God. My knees were ready to buckle, and my mind was barely functioning. 

Before I could think of words to respond, she’d pushed me up against the sink. Her lips were on mine, hard and aggressive, and I responded with equal fervor. My body had been longing for hers ever since the last time we’d kissed. It’d only been a few days, but it was far, far, too long.

The space between my legs tingled in a whole different way. My panties were drenched, and my nipples cried for attention. Tara swept back my hair so she could go for my neck, her teeth digging in painfully. This was going to leave a mark, but it felt so—damn—good. I couldn’t have stopped her even if I’d wanted to.

“What have you done to me?” she murmured under her breath.

“Me? I should be asking you the same question.”

BOOKLOVER BY J.E. BIRK

Release Date: March 29, 2021

Pre-Order here: https://geni.us/AmazonBooklover

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Cover Design: Christine Coffey

BLURB

Jamie Morin’s college GPA drops every time a cow breaks through a fence, but he’s determined to get his degree and keep his parents’ Vermont dairy farm afloat. He’d rather be reading than milking, but he can’t let his family down…not the way his brother did. So the last thing he needs is distraction in the form of an irresistible bookseller with a mysterious backstory.

Briar Nord has a lifetime of experience proving that happily-ever-afters only happen in his favorite books. But his luck might be changing. He’s got a great job at a bookstore, and he lives in a city that puts maple syrup on everything. But Briar knows not to trust anything--or anyone--too closely, and that includes a gorgeous farm boy with soulful eyes and too many obligations. 

When Jamie joins Briar’s romance novel book club, they both feel an instant connection and soon they’re turning pages long into the night. But Briar’s past was bound to catch up with him. Sometimes, though, it takes two heroes to write a new ending . . .

EXCERPT

I start heading toward the circle of couches and chairs near the back where the inaugural meeting of The Booklover Club is supposed to take place. I make a quick stop at a shelf of new titles because the store’s got at least three that I’ve been meaning to read. I grab one of them, a nonfiction book about dairy farming, and I take a quick pause to wonder if my wallet can handle a bookstore binge. I’m still reading the inside of the jacket flap when I hear a voice behind me. 

“Can I help you?”

I turn around and try not to do that thing Jeremy says I sometimes do, where I just stand there staring at someone or something without speaking. In my defense, I think the problem comes from spending most of my childhood surrounded by cows. Sometimes I just forget how to people. 

         Especially when incredibly hot human beings are standing in front of me. Which is happening right now.  

This guy looks exactly like Porter, one of my other favorite book characters. He’s in Alyssa Samuel’s gay romance novel Lost Key, and right now I can’t help but wonder if he walked right off the pages of that book and into this store. The Porter look-alike in front of me has sharp, angular cheekbones sitting under hazel eyes and dirty blond hair and eyebrows. He’s got some scruffy I-wanna-be-a-beard-but-I’m-not-there-yet hair around his chin that’s straight out of the Vermont tourist brochures. His head is covered by a pilling green tuque, and his skin is this olive tone that should be next to impossible for any white guy to have in Vermont in March. He’s wearing a flannel shirt and jeans, which is pretty much the stereotypical Vermont uniform, but somehow on him it manages to look cool and unique.

         And as if all that weren’t enough? He’s carrying a stack of books.

         Some men dream of seeing their perfect lover strutting around in hot lingerie or tiny speedos. I dream of my perfect lover naked, with a stack of books strategically placed in front of them.

REVIEW

4 stars for Booklover!

I really loved the concept of this story, it is perfect for book lovers! 

Both the main characters, Briar and Jamie love romance books and share a passion for reading these books with happy endings. As a romance book lover myself, I loved reading about their passion for escaping into these stories and I felt like I could really relate to both of their characters. 

Briar is new in Burlington and came for a new start after some bad choices in his past put him in danger. Now he works at the bookstore side of Vino & Veritas and is starting a V & V Book Club that instantly attracts Jamie. 

Jamie is a part time librarian, student and dairy farmer whenever his family needs some help (which is more than he wishes they did). Jamie has loved romance novels since he was younger so when he sees the chance to talk about people who love the books like he does, he jumps on it even though he’s short of time… plus, how can he resist Briar, who he thinks looks like on of his favourite book characters?

Both Jamie and Briar are instantly attracted to each other but with complicated lives, they both are hesitant to start a new love relationship but they end up not able to resist each other. 

Jamie struggles with splitting his time between all his commitments and constant need to help out his family at their farm and is heading towards a burn out but he starts making time for fun with Briar and sees that he needs to take a step back and do what he enjoys instead of spreading himself thin. 

Briar is so hopefully with starting over in this new place and trying to do the right thing, however an old friend who is a bad influencer shows up at Burlington trying to drag him back to the dangerous games they played in the past. The tension between him and his friend is extreme and I was on the edge of my seat wondering what Briar would do and at the end of it all it was so nice seeing the V&V family give Briar the family he needed. 

I loved the chemistry between them both and I loved their little book club sessions when they Botha acted out or quoted their favourite scenes from their favourite romances, their love for one particular author tied them together so well. 

I really liked reading about their journey and how the author tied romance novels into their story, it was such a unique concept for me! This was such an enjoyable read! 

*ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own*