A luscious pet massage therapist, a gorgeous but grumpy ex-FBI agent, and glitter bombs gone deadly...
Malcolm:
I shouldn’t be jealous of my cat. I am, though. Her pet massage therapist (who knew that was even a thing?) is exactly my type. Smart, funny, and adorable with just the right amount of meat on his bones.
But a guy like that deserves more than a grouchy forty-something ex-FBI agent with a broken body and a screwed-up brain. I’m shocked when he offers a no-strings night together, though I don’t think twice before I’m all in.
I should’ve known better, because one night will never be enough. But before I can ask Felix for more, our awkward morning after turns explosive. And not in a good way
Now I just have to keep Felix alive long enough to catch the bomber. And to capture Felix’s heart.
Felix:
What would happen if everyone you’d ever dated got together and plotted against you?
For me, it’s glitter bombs. Lots and lots of glitter bombs.
Okay, maybe I deserved the first one or two. Or three. But I’ve learned from my mistakes and I’m a better person now. I definitely don’t deserve the latest bomb—this one isn’t made of glitter. Now I’m in hiding with Malcolm, the smokin’ hot older client I just had a sizzling one-night stand with.
Malcolm might be grumpy and prickly, but to me he’s also warm, caring, and romantic. My exes can’t hold a candle to him. But all that glitters is not gold. The bomber still wants me dead, and I’m pretty sure the police arrested the wrong guy.
If Malcolm and I want our HEA, we have to identify the real culprit. I just hope it all doesn’t blow up in our faces.
Head Over Feels is a low-angst MM contemporary romance. Come for the grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity (but there are two beds, sorry), hurt/comfort, and found family. Stay for the bombs (glitter and real), the 1985 Buick Riviera convertible, dreams coming true, atoning for past mistakes, game nights, a dead body, and an online date gone very, very, wrong. HEA guaranteed!
Warnings: PTSD symptoms, bomb explosion, off-page murder, recount of dog euthanasia
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Cat gives this 4 Meows with a 3 Purr heat index...
Hi Y’all! Come in and grab a slice of Pizza and a cold drink while I tell you about this book I just read.
The title is Head over Feels by Bix Barrow. it is book 3 in Bent Oak Texas series. You don’t have to read in order to understand but I think reading the other books you’d understand all the other characters better.
The cover is cute and goes well with the story. Then I read the blurb and it really got my interest because... ex, and ex plosives? Cute pets and an age difference got my attention.
Who’s my favorite main character?
Felix. Too many to pick a favorite secondary. It would probably be Cole or Steve.
The story has several settings. There is Malcom’s home, the rescue ranch just to name a couple. The story is a romance with some suspense.
Were there significant plot twists and turns?
The twist at the end where we see who did the murder and bombs.
What did I like best?
The romance was sweet. It’s ex cops, ex’s, cute pets you will love this.
Your stories all feature animals in some way. Is this inspired by your own life?
Yes and no. I do have an overabundance of pets (two dogs and six cats at last count). But I also get frustrated when I read contemporary stories, particularly in an interconnected series, and none of the characters have any pets. Most Americans have at least one pet in their extended family or friend group, and I feel if pets aren’t represented it isn’t reflecting life as we really experience it. Pets and other animals are so enriching to my own life, I want to make sure my characters’ lives are enriched in the same way. Animals do seem to help my readers connect with the stories.
That being said, up until now I’ve stuck with portraying animal species I’ve had hands-on experience with. But my upcoming holiday book will have a pet rabbit front and center, and I’m looking forward to the challenge of writing the rabbit accurately and in a way that helps the reader understand what living with a rabbit can be like.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?
That would be fore my novella I Touch Hoses, which I wrote last year for the MM Class of 21/22 Giveaway on Prolificworks and is now available as a free newsletter sign-up bonus on my website. There’s a scene where the main characters are each trying to grab a bunch of Hostess Twinkies and Cupcakes and kind of playing keep-away with them. One character ends up using the front of his shirt to hold his stash of snack cakes, and the other character distracts him by moving in for a kiss. They end up crushing the snack cakes between their bodies. I needed to know what that would look like in real life so I could describe it for the story. I’d bought the Twinkies and Cupcakes, and I happened to be on Zoom with Beck Grey and Chloe Archer one night. We weren’t getting much writing done, so I asked them if they wanted to see me perform my scientific snack cake experiment. I took my laptop into the kitchen and, not having a large shirtless man handy to help me out, I used my lap desk to crush the snack cakes against myself. The results were not as dramatic as I’d hoped, but the really frightening part was how the snack cakes all sort of re-inflated and reformed back into their original shapes within about five minutes. I also tasted them for the first time since I was a small child, and they were awful. I strongly do not recommend.
Do your books start with a character first or an idea?
It really varies. I actually started my second published book, Heart Me Up, before I wrote my Holding On to a Hero, which was my first published novel. I was writing Heart Me Up and I kept getting distracted by this idea I had where a photographer accidentally takes a photo of a famous supposedly straight actor kissing another man. So I put Heart Me Up aside to write Holidng On to a Hero. It’s why the timeline jumps backwards for Heart Me Up, but I think Heart Me Up became a richer story for my having done it the way I did.
Head Over Feels was absolutely character-driven. I’d been dying to write Felix’s story since I wrote his scene in Holding On to a Hero, and Malcolm was calling to me as well.
I Touch Hoses, on the other hand, was an idea I had solely based on the title. In case you haven’t noticed, all of my book titles are slight twists on 80s song titles. I listen to the 80s channel and entertain myself by seeing if I can figure out how to alter the title. Then I write them all down in case I want to use them later. When I was trying to come up with my story idea for the MM Class of 21/22 Giveaway, I looked at my list of titles for inspiration. I’d altered the title of Book of Love’s song I Touch Roses, and it just begged to be used for someone exploring their bisexuality. As you can tell, I’m not afraid of a little innuendo!
You mentioned a holiday story. Is that what you’re working on now? When will it be out?
Well, before the holiday story comes out, I’ve got a short story in the Midnight in the Renaissance Elevator charity anthology. That releases on September 1, and all proceeds benefit the Trevor Project. All of the authors were at the GRL conference last October, and we were all very leery of one of the elevators in the hotel because the doors slammed shut loudly as well as other issues. My story is called Stop Draggin’ My Heart Up and Down, and it features two brand new characters, but they’re connected to my Bent Oak, Texas series.
My holiday story is called What’s Santa Got to Do with It?, and one of the main characters is Steve, who we meet in Head Over Feels. He’s got a lot of family baggage to do with the holidays, so he’s very bah-humbug about the entire season. His love interest is named Baz, and as I mentioned before, there’s a rabbit involved. It should be a fun read. Right now What’s Santa Got to Do with It? is scheduled for release in late December, but I’m hoping I can get it out in November. I’m also working on a related short story that I’ll release around the same time.
Thank you so much for letting me talk about my writing today! I hope you enjoyed Head Over Feels!
Author Website: https://www.bixbarrow.com/
Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/bixbarrow
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Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21740152.Bix_Barrow
Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/bix-barrow/
Author Amazon: https://amazon.com/author/bixbarrow
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