About The One That Broke Free
by TC Blue
113 pages / 57700 words
ISBN:
978-1-60370-976-7
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, epub, Sony-optimized pdf
The last thing war vet Travis MacRayne expects to find while
house-sitting in Boston is a man like Vincent Clark. Even more
unexpected is that Vincent seems to be attracted to Travis, too --
scars, bad leg, and all. But Travis has to go back to Alabama the next
day, and a cell phone just doesn't seem like enough to bridge the
distance.
It’s the first of many obstacles that Vincent teaches Travis to
overcome, and Travis wants nothing more desperately than to believe in
the love he feels building inside. Still, the doubts instilled by harsh
experience are difficult to put aside. Can Vincent convince Travis that
the time is truly right to break free?
Review
Kiernan Kelly, author of Skywalker, writes: Travis is a scarred man. He has physical scars from his stint in the army, and scars on his soul from living in a backward, homophobic town. His heart is scarred by loneliness, and by the short, safe leash he’d kept it on for so long. He doesn’t believe in love at first sight -- he’s not even sure if he can love or be loved at all, but after his brother finds happiness and marries, he decides to try to find someone to make his life complete.
He meets that someone in the most unexpected place -- at dinner with his brother and his brother’s new husband. Vincent isn’t at all like the men Travis is usually attracted to --Vincent is tall and slender, flamboyant, and almost too effeminate -- but he immediately strikes a chord within Travis’ lonely soul.
When Travis travels back to his homophobic home town determined to take it slow with Vincent, to get to know him before sliding between the sheets, Vincent decides to take matters into his own hands. All he needs to do is convince Travis that Vincent is there to stay, no matter what.
In The One That Broke Free, T.C. Blue treats the reader to another visit to the wonderful, loving universe seen earlier in The One That Stayed, The One That Got Away, and The One That Was Lost. Sprinkled with characters from the previous books, this new installment deals with a number of darker issues like bigotry, hate crimes, and the horrors of war, but the hardships only serve to make the love found between the characters that much more fulfilling and heartwarming, and the sex -- which sizzles! -- all the more satisfying.
Sample
"Sneaking out on me, stud?" Travis heard, and he was
already grinning as he turned around.
"Nah, Vinnie," he answered, his smile growing when he realized Vincent was
only a couple inches shorter than he was himself. Six foot one, maybe
six-two. A good height. Just about perfect, really. "You were busy. The guys
didn't want to bother you. They're gonna be back in a couple days, anyway."
"Mmmmmm, but will you, stud-muffin? Because..." Then Vincent bit his lip,
and Travis moaned, soft and low and deep in his throat. "Maybe I'm not going
as far out on the gangplank as I thought," Vincent muttered before staring
into Travis' eyes again, which Travis was unexpectedly fine with.
"Okay, here's the thing, stud," Vinnie said after a moment, his gaze bold
but somehow nervous, too, to Travis' mind. "I think I like you. A lot. And I
never do this. I don't hit on customers. Not seriously, anyway. It's just
sort of what people expect now. I was the maitre d' here for years before I
became the general manager and a partner with the owners. So it's become a
tradition, of sorts. The big, swishy queen who acts suggestive but doesn't
mean it, you know?"
Travis didn't know. Didn't even really get what Vinnie's words meant. He
only knew that the man sounded bitter underneath all that charm and good
humor. Even so, he nodded. "Okay."
"But I like you. By which I mean I really like you. So far." Vincent blushed
just a little bit, and it was so damned cool. "So I was thinking. Maybe we
could go out some time. Have dinner. Catch a movie. Tip some cows, shoot a
deer... whatever it is you like to do. I just. I like you."
And damn. Just damn. That sounded pretty good, Travis realized. Aside from
the deer-shooting, because he hadn't fired a gun since he'd been discharged,
and if he never did again, it would be too fucking soon. Other than that,
though, he could definitely get into spending some time with Vincent. He
could imagine sitting across a table from the guy, seeing him in something
less formal than the suit Vincent was wearing. He could picture how that
so-blond hair would look out of its braid, flowing free around the man's
face.
Hell, he could nearly feel those long, silky strands wrapped around his
fingers while he slid slowly between those full red lips, Vincent's eyes
wide and wanton and staring up at him, and Travis really needed to think
about something else, but Jesus, it was already too late. He was hard again.
And Vincent hadn't said anything about sex, which just made Travis feel like
the biggest pervert ever.