The Raymond
Rodriguez from a few years ago wouldn’t recognize the guy he is today. He’s
left his slacker ways far behind him and is now juggling two jobs and school.
But the balancing act doesn’t allow much time for the man he loves.
David is
doing his best to be supportive, but problems at work and his own insecurity
leave him frustrated—in more ways than the obvious—whenever he goes to bed
before Raymond gets home. The heat and affection between them is still there,
but they barely have the time or energy to enjoy it. And it doesn’t help that
Raymond is still hiding David from his colleagues.
The stress
mounts so high that a vacation in paradise is filled with turmoil instead of
harmony, and culminates on their return to the five boroughs with broken
promises and heartache. They have to figure out how to stop allowing their
differences to overshadow their love. It’s the only way they’ll make it to
forever.
Interborough is available from RiptidePublishing & Amazon!
Excerpt...
Raymond
I’d been waiting to watch the UFC featherweight championship for weeks, but now my attention was fixed only on David instead of the fight. His hair shone gold in the sunshine streaming through the window, a halo above his big round eyes, upturned nose, and intensely fuckable mouth.
Who had given him a popsicle? What were these people trying to do to me?
I blamed Stephanie. My Queens crew of longtime friends had finally managed to shit-talk me into driving over from Brooklyn for their Saturday night UFC ritual. In the past, we’d done it at the old Rodriguez house, but after the death of my mom, and after Michael and I had opted to rent it rather than live in it, they’d changed the location to Stephanie’s apartment, the next largest space.
Which meant she was definitely the popsicle culprit. As if I needed another reason to perv on my boyfriend’s full pouty lips. Even after dating for almost a year and a half, I was still caught on a regular basis by how gorgeous he was.
“How long are the preliminary fights?” David asked. “I’m only here to see Nate Diaz.”
“Prelims are like two hours,” Sharky said, nodding at the huge television screen. “But the fights have been good so far.”
“It’s hard to care when I don’t know any of these guys.” David licked the tip of the popsicle. “I’m terrible about sports stuff.”
“Don’t you watch with Ray?”
“Um. We used to sometimes, but now he’s never home.” David’s eyes flicked to me guiltily, as if he was admitting a dark secret instead of making a factual statement. One of his eyebrows rose, and I knew he had realized I was in lust mode—staring him down and biting my lower lip. Mad obvious.
“Oh ho!” Chris appeared in the archway leading from the kitchen with a spatula in his hand. “So, Ray hasn’t just been too busy for his old friends? I figured he thought he was too good for us now that he’s Mr. Joe College with two jobs!”
“I am,” I said without looking away from David’s growing smirk. “I’m so good that I’m working a dead-end office job, right before jetting off to my community college evening classes with a bunch of eighteen-year-olds, before going to sweat it out on the docks all night.”
“Ain’t nothing wrong with community college, bruh.” Chris swung the spatula and sent droplets of grease flying. “I did it.”
Stephanie sat up from where she was curled on the couch next to Sharky. “Ay, puñeta! If you got oil on my couch, I swear—”
“Then make your own pastelillos, asshole!” Despite the defiant words, Chris ducked back into the kitchen. Tonya’s laugh rang out even though I couldn’t see her. They’d taken over dinner duty since Sharky and I would just order a billion wings and pizza if it were up to us. They’d all mutually refused to allow David to help since he was a guest.
“You guys are all so cute.” David resumed licking his popsicle without looking away from me. “It’s obvious you’ve been friends forever.”
“Mm-hmm.” Stephanie curled into Sharky’s side again. He seemed to be pretending she wasn’t cuddling him, and was staring intently at the TV. “Aren’t you glad you used Raymond to get in with us?”
“So glad. That plan was genius.”
“I know, right?” She grinned at him. “Maybe if you guys come over more, we’ll make you a probationary member of our squad. I’ll have to think of some hazing rituals first. Handball tournaments until dawn and chancletas with socks in public.”
Sharky scoffed, and David burst out laughing.
With them joking, it was easy to tell myself that I should refocus on the fight and stop fantasizing about what I’d do to David later, but it was hard. He was right. I was barely around these days, which meant our quality time was down to a minimum. Part of the reason why I said no to constant invitations to see my Queens crew was because I tried to savor every moment I had with David, especially because those moments were few and far between.
To read this excerpt in its entirety, or to learn more about the Author and/or series, visit Riptide Publishing.
Read books 1, 2 and 3...
Santino was
raised by a conservative family, but he was anything but traditional. He grew
up to be a smart-mouthed grunge kid, then a transient twentysomething, and
eventually transformed into a guy who spends his days and nights writing
romance with an edge.
Santino is a
dedicated gamer, a former fanfic writer, an ASoIaF mega nerd, a Grindr
enthusiast, but most of all he is a writer of LGBT fiction that is heavily
influenced by the gritty, urban landscape of New York City, his belief that
human relationships are complex and flawed, and his own life experiences.
Connect with
Santino:
- Website: www.santinohassell.com
- Blog: santinohassell.com/blog
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/santinohassellbooks
- Twitter: twitter.com/SantinoHassell
- Tumblr: thatdudesantino.tumblr.com/
- Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/santinohassell/
- Instagram: instagram.com/santinohassell
- Google+: plus.google.com/u/0/+SantinoHassell/
- Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/santino_hassell
Riptide Giveaway ...
To celebrate
the release of Interborough, one lucky winner will receive $25 in
Riptide Publishing credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the
contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on October 29, 2016. Contest
is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the
tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
TTC Giveaway ...
Be sure to leave a comment to be entered into the TTC Books and more monthly comment giveaway. EVERY comment that is relevant to the specific post will be entered. Prizes include various gift cards and swag donated by Publishers, Authors and blog Owner. REMEMBER TO LEAVE YOUR CONTACT INFO! How else will I notify you if you win?
The excerpt made me smile because it's the start to such a wonderful book!
ReplyDeletecaroaz [at] ymail [dot] com
I enjoyed the excerpt. Looking forward to more.
ReplyDeletedebby236 at gmail dot com
I could feel the easy chemistry between this group of friends. Enjoyed this excerpt very much. Thank you. peachescon(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI've been loving the excerpts!
ReplyDeletevitajex(At)Aol(Dot)com
I loved this start to the book, and it only got more incredible from there!
ReplyDeletelckarge92 (at) gmail (dot) com
I enjoyed reading about Raymond and David with Raymond's friends. Thanks!
ReplyDeletejen(dot)f(at)mac(dot)com
Congrats on the new release. I love this series! I’ve been waiting on this one and can’t wait to pick it up. Please keep them coming, they are a definite addition to my library. Thanks for an opportunity to win a copy.
ReplyDeleteflutterfli01 (at) yahoo (dot) com
As soon as I read the excerpt (a few weeks ago when Santino dropped a couple of teases), I counted the days until Interborough dropped. LOL
ReplyDeleteMazingergirlie (at) gmail (dot) com
Thank you for the excerpt
ReplyDeleteamie_07(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thanks for the excerpt and congrats on the release
ReplyDeleteamie_07(at)yahoo(dot)com
I love seeing more about Ray's crew, and love the entire book! kimcurington@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThank you for the excerpt! It was so good.
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Thanks for the excerpt, I have this on my wishlist!
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