David, Renewed by @dianacopland | Cat's Release day Review, Guest post, Excerpt & #giveaway #mmromance @Dreamspinners @TTCBooksandmore

When David Snyder buys the old house he is reeling with heartbreak and looking for somewhere to call home. Unfortunately, the house has problems; electrical, plumbing, heating, things David knows nothing about. He’s an interior designer and can make a home beautiful, but repairs are beyond him. David contacts a handyman, even as he pictures an overweight guy sporting filthy worn jeans, displaying a butt crack. When Jackson Henry arrives in time to save David from accidentally burning his house to the ground, he finds he could not have been more wrong. Jackson, dark-haired, lean and handsome, is an expert in construction and repairs, and just what David needs.

David knows he shouldn’t be attracted to the soft spoken handyman. His last partner was unfaithful, and jumping into a new relationship is a recipe for disaster. His ex is creating trouble, and David’s car has been vandalized sitting in his driveway. But as David spends more time with Jackson, he finds himself falling -- hard. Is Jackson the love he’s hoped for?  There’s only one way to know for sure, and that’s to try to trust what his heart is telling him in spite of the obstacles.

Buy links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon 

Cat gives this one 5 Meows with a 3 Purr heat index...

David walks in on his boyfriend of five years getting a blow job. He decides he has had enough of Trevor figuring this isn't the first time and moves across town to his moms. He finds a beautiful  house, makes a bid and gets it quickly. Once he moves n he finds that there is a lot wrong with it and he should never have skipped an inspection. His mom gives him a card for a local gay handyman.

Jackson moved home to take care of his sick mom since neither his brother or sister would make time for her and he also was in a bad relationship. He knew a lot about architecture and realized right away David had a designer house worth making what repairs  he had.  He did need to  contract out some of the work and it was soon apparent all the other workers were gay or related to a gay person.

David's ex-presented a huge problem. He didn't want to lose the fancy Condo David bought and put his name on or his car so he kept stalking and threatening David.

I loved this book. I adore a character based story and this one was chalk-full of fun characters from David himself to the sexy handyman Jackson, all of Jackson's friends, both David and Jackson's mom, Throw in David's best friend Michael and not one but two cute Corgi's.

There was sexual tension between Jackson and David but they sex scenes didn't really show up until about 2/3  through. There was a touch of drama with David and his ex, but the witty and funny Michael added a touch of humor to keep the story from getting angsty. David's mom was so sweet you gotta love her!

I don't think I have read anything by Diana Copland , but I sure will in the future. As a matter-of-fact, I hope this is a series as there are so many Characters and a small plot left open that would make a great series. 

If you like a good romance with lots of sexual tension, sexy designers, hot handymen, sweet moms, and cute Corgis you will love this!

Guest post with Author Diana Copland...

Hello, all!

My name is Diana Copland, and first I’d like to thank Tammy for allowing me to do this post for the release of my new book, David, Renewed. I don’t know where writers would be without the generosity of the bloggers and reviewers, and I appreciate it so much.

David, Renewed is about a late twenty-something named David Snyder and his love interest, Jackson Henry. David is an interior decorator for a corporate design firm (they do hotels and business complexes) and Jackson is a handyman. I know that sounds like the beginning of a dirty joke, (an interior decorator and a handyman walk into a gay bar…) but it isn’t. Or at least, I hope not!! Anyway, David has recently moved out of the condo he and his ex called home. He caught the man cheating on him, and packed and left immediately. 

There were other problems in the relationship, this was just the icing on the cake. Jackson Henry is the handyman he hires to do renovations on the hundred year old house David buys on a whim. Fireworks ensue. (Well, at least fire -- initially. David ties to light a fire in his fireplace without realizing his chimney is blocked and when Jackson arrives for the first time, he’s afraid the house is on fire!)

I think for characters to feel real to a reader, they can’t exist in a vacuum. They need friends and family, and David and Jackson have both.

Jackson’s mom Shirley has been recently diagnosed with MS, and he’s left a lucrative job on the west coast to come home and take care of her.  In the early days of David and Jackson’s budding attraction, Shirley has a bad fall and suffers a serious head injury. This actually happened to me. My mother was in her office, which was a tiny room overcrowded with furniture. She fell, striking her head on a book case. She had to be transported to the hospital in an ambulance and needed over ninety stitches in her head. Like Shirley, she never lost consciousness and most of the damage was done above her hair line. She suffered no real long term damage. Not even noticeable scars.

David’s mother is named Beverley who is something of a helicopter mom. Some of that impulse has been subdued by the recent loss of her husband, David’s dad, but she still wants their only son to be happy. She was also never particularly fond of the ex, so thinking David might be getting interested in Jackson makes her very happy. There are also siblings in the mix.

David has a sister, Beth, who is older than her brother. Beth is nosy and pushy but with the very best intentions and David loves her. Jackson has two siblings, a brother and a sister, and unfortunately they aren’t close.

Jackson’s family has something of a complicated history. His dad was a high powered attorney and he didn’t understand his middle child, the reserved boy who would rather work with his hands than go to law school. His father also had issues with Jackson’s sexual orientation, basically ceasing all contact with him after he came out in college.

Now that their dad is gone, Jackson’s older brother has taken on all of the man’s less attractive qualities. An attorney running for congress, Travis Henry couldn’t be less interested in his younger brother, or frankly in his mother’s illness. He has a charming wife, Juanita, who to her husband’s consternation is very fond of his brother. Their sister, Michelle, the baby of the family married a partner in their dad’s law firm and is now something of an affluent soccer mom. She doesn’t work but spends her time shopping and keeping track of her two elementary school aged children. Both Travis and Michelle are too busy to help with Shirley, but Jackson is neither concerned nor surprised. He was always closer to his mom than the other two were, anyway.

Families can be complicated, and David and Jackson’s are no different.  I thought I’d share a short excerpt of a scene between David, his sister and his mom, and you can see the Snyder family dynamics!

To set this up, the power is out in David’s house and in the fall, mornings in eastern Washington can be damned cold. ‘Frost on the pumpkins’ is a real thing!

EXCERPT:

When his phone alarm went off, David blinked awake, rolled to his back, and stared up at the ceiling. Cold air brushed his face, but the pale early morning sun painted the room in soft, mellow light. He enjoyed the beautiful wood trim and the soft butter color on the walls, thinking it was the only room in the house that didn’t need to be painted. His alarm beeped again, and David sighed and swiped his finger over the screen, shutting it off.

He’d returned from his mom’s with a flash light, a bag full of candles and matches, and a zip lock baggie full of homemade chocolate chip cookies. She’d tried to get him to stay in his old bedroom, but he insisted he’d be fine. Now he pushed up and crawled out of the sleeping bag he’d owned since his Cub Scout days, and gooseflesh broke out above the neck of his sweat shirt. He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself, and started for the bathroom. It was damned cold in the house and he didn’t look forward to climbing into a freezing shower. He longed for a cup of hot coffee and chided himself for not accepting his mom’s invitation.

“You’re an ass,” he muttered. And stubborn. He’d wanted to stay in his house, dammit, even if it meant his dick shriveled up to the size of a Vienna sausage when he stepped under the arctic blast in his shower.

Thirty minutes later he was still shivering, even fully dressed. Making his way quickly through the house, he paused at the built-ins in the dining room to pick up his keys, and his eyes fell on a lone business card, the ecru cardstock pale against the dark wood. His mother handed it to him when he was sitting at her table the night before. He’d put away more of his sister’s roast than he cared to admit and was enjoying a slice of his mom’s chocolate cake.

“What’s this?” He wiped his mouth and read the neat, even print on the card. “Jackson Henry, Handyman.” Handyman? His lips twisted. “What does that even mean?”

“A man who’s handy,” Beth quipped. “Which much as I love you, dear brother of mine, you are not.” He shot her a dark look. “Okay, big guy, how do you plan to fix your little power problem? Hire an electrician? That’ll only cost you a hundred dollars an hour. Why don’t you give this guy a call?”

“Shut up,” he muttered, but she had him. He could decorate a home beautifully, but fix wiring? Not so much.

“Besides,” she went on, a sly smile on her face. “You won’t be sorry.”

“Elizabeth.” There was no way to miss the quelling look their mother shot his sister. Beth snapped her mouth closed and pinched her lips together, looking the other way.

“That was subtle,” he drawled. “What? Does he have two heads or something?”

“Well….” Beth drawled, her lips quirking.

“Elizabeth Anne!” their mother scolded, but a laugh lingered in her eyes. “Behave yourself!”

“All right, you two are being weird.” David pushed his chair back. “And when that starts, I know it’s time for my exit.”

“If you won’t stay the night, at least come back for breakfast,” his mother said as he stood. “You won’t even be able to make coffee over there.”

She was right. His elite edition Keurig machine was sitting on the counter in the condo across town. With Trevor. “I’ll run by Starbucks, Mom.” He bent and kissed her cheek. The softness of her skin and her floral perfume filled his senses, swamping him with nostalgia; she’d worn the same fragrance for all of his life. Youth-Dew, by Estee Lauder. His dad bought it for her every Christmas. Feeling a pang of loss, he realized he’d be the one making a trip to Macy’s this year. “I’ll be fine.”

He started to throw the business card back on the cabinet. His mother and sister acted far too weird and that was never a good thing. But at the last moment, he’d thought better of it and slipped the card into his slacks pocket as he headed out the door.

So, can you tell me something about your family? I’ll start; My Dad played professional baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers. I have his warm up jacket, and the logo hasn’t changed in seventy years.

Cheers! Diana Copland...

You can purchase David, Renewed at Dreamspinner press. 

It’s also available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and All Romance Ebooks!

You can reach me at:

My email: diana.copland11@gmail.com

My Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/diana.copland.7

My Website, www.diana-copland11.com

My twitter, @dianacopland

My blog, http://diana-coplands-blog.blogspot.com/

My Pinterest, including my inspiration page for David, Renewed, https://www.pinterest.com/blamb10421/david-renewed-blue-collar-book-one/

Diana Copland began writing in the seventh grade, when she shamelessly combined elements of Jane Eyre and Dark Shadows to produce an overwrought Gothic tale that earned her an A- in creative writing, thanks entirely to the generosity of an indulgent teacher. She wrote for pure enjoyment for the next three decades before discovering LiveJournal and a wonderful group of supportive fanfiction writers who encouraged her to try her hand at original gay fiction. Born and raised in southern California, Diana moved to the Pacific Northwest after losing a beloved spouse to AIDS in 1995. She lives in eastern Washington with four horribly spoiled cats, near her two wonderful adult children who swear she doesn't embarrass them. She thinks they're so cute.

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