Title: Rules of Play

Series: The Script Club #2

Author: Lane Hayes

Narrator: Alexander Cendese

Publisher: Lane Hayes

Release Date: July 16, 2021

Heat Level: 4 - Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins

Genre: Romance, Brother's Best Friend, Geek/Jock, Friends to Lovers, Bisexual-awakening, Contemporary MM Romance

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Synopsis

The genius, the mechanic, and a new playbook…

George-

My brother’s friend is hot. If you’re into flannel-wearing lumbersexual former jocks who eat donuts for dinner and still scribble to-do lists on their palms. I’m not. I’m a serious scientist in my final of grad school. Okay, I admit I have few quirks of my own. I also have a broken truck and a boss who thinks I can help him find love. I’m in over my head. Help!

Aiden-

A few quirks? Really? George the weirdest dude I know. He wears capes in public, brings a book everywhere he goes, and loves all thing spooky. He’s also the smartest person on the planet—who somehow thinks I can help him write a How-To-Get-A-Date playbook for his boss. Yeah, that sounds suspicious. I know baseball; I don’t know anything about love. But I can’t say no. I’ve always had a soft spot for George. I just didn’t count on falling for my best friend’s nerdy brother. This is against the rules, isn’t it?

Rules of Play is an MM bisexual awakening story where opposites attract and shenanigans ensue!

Excerpt

“The Script Club?”

I grimaced. “Well, yeah. That name came later.”

“You really are a little weirdo, aren’t you?”

The twinkle in Aiden's eyes and his affectionate tone paired with an unlikely term of endearment were exactly what I needed to pull me from my infatuation-induced awkwardness.

I smacked his biceps playfully, then leaned against his side, staring up at the crescent moon in the twilight sky. “I am weird and I am proud.”

Aiden chuckled. “I like that about you. I like your idea too. It’s a good one. I should get in on that and collect a few new experiences before I quit the garage and move on to my next venture.”

“What would you do? I mean, what would you want to try?”

“I don’t know. Maybe something will come to me.” He set the half-eaten container of meatballs down and reached for his beer. “As for your boss…he needs a rule book.”

I shifted to face him. “What kind of rule book?”

“A dating rule book. It would be the equivalent of a sports playbook…a list of strategies and a backup plan if things go awry.”

“Okay, that makes sense. Step one, ask for a date.”

Aiden shook his head. “No. Don’t go in hot. Gotta practice a little finesse. It’s better to get to know someone—ask about their interests, share yours, and see if there’s anything there. Theoretically, that’s how I think it should work.”

“You’re right. They have to build a rapport.” I squinted. “He’s going to need an icebreaker.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Hit me with your best shot.”

“Uh…what do you mean?” I stammered.

“Pretend you’re into me and you want to get to know me.” Aiden quirked a brow and wiggled his fingers. “Ask me something.”

“What are your interests?”

He made an obnoxious buzzer noise and rolled his eyes. “Wrong. That’s a date question. A lame one, too. Would you really walk up to someone and ask them what they’re into?”

“No, of course not.”

“Redo. You’re trying to get to know me, but you can’t be too forward, and you can’t make assumptions. Got it?” He waited for my nod of agreement and continued. “Pretend we’re standing at the coffee machine at work on a Monday morning. And…action.”

“O-kay…what did you do last weekend?”

Aiden smiled. “Good one. And my answer…not much. I went to that college ball game I told you about last week, watched a lot of basketball, made arrangements to schlep your Bronco here, and played pool with Kenny and a couple of high school buddies. You?”

“I studied and hung out with my friends.”

He stared at me long enough for me to wonder if I had meatball between my teeth.

“If that’s all you have to say, you just killed this conversation,” he deadpanned.

I chuckled. “I did not. It was your turn to ask me something. That’s how it works in real life. I’m not that big of a dork!”

“But what about your boss?”

Good point. “Newton is a big dork. Very big.”

“Right, so this is where rules come into play. You have to pay attention and take hints and clues to heart. Almost everything I mentioned about my weekend had a theme…sports. I told you what I’m interested in without announcing, ‘I like sports.’ If you really wanted to get in my pants, you’d ask me a sports-related question.”

I shot to my feet, whirling my cape like a true badass. “Who said anything about getting in your pants?”

Yes, I was entirely in favor of the idea, but I was pretty sure I hadn’t said it aloud.

“Isn’t that the end game?” Aiden flashed a devilish grin my way.

“No! I mean, maybe for you, but not for Newton. I don’t think he’s hoping for sex.”

“Then what’s the point?”

“Love!”

Aiden widened his eyes comically. “What’s that?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed in defeat, reclaiming my spot on the stoop next to him. “That’s why this is complicated.”

Purchase at Audible

This is book #2, in The Script Club series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. For reader enjoyment and to avoid spoilers, I recommend reading in order intended.

George is a scientist who drives an older vehicle that wants to die. Aiden comes to his rescue however, and makes sure he can get a little more time out of the vehicle. In the mean time - they find they have some things in common.

Aiden has always liked George and has just recently discovered what that meant and how much. Choosing to spend more time together, they find a comfortable friendship that soon turns out to be so much more. The future for both is suddenly looking very bright.

I thought these characters were very sweet. I listened to this and found myself hoping we will see this couple again. The narrator made it an even better story as I was able to lay back and relax and just enjoy the book.


***This copy was given in exchange for an honest review.

Meet the Author

Lane Hayes loves a good romance! An avid reader from an early age, she has always been drawn to well-told love story with beautifully written characters. Her debut novel was a 2013 Rainbow Award finalist and subsequent books have received Honorable Mentions, and were winners in the 2016, 2017, and 2018-2019 Rainbow Awards. She loves red wine, chocolate and travel (in no particular order). Lane lives in Southern California with her amazing husband in a not quite empty nest.

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Did you miss book 1 in the series? Get Following the Rules at Amazon

The geek, the jock, and a new set of rules…

Also available in Audio

Giveaway

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In ‘Love’s Magic’ we were introduced to the characters of Professor Nate Reese, Professor David Gardener, Sergeant Colin Campbell & Dr. Joshua Abram and while we saw Nate and David get their happily ever after we really only saw the beginning of Colin and Joshua’s story, so now here in ‘Love’s Trails’ the reader/listener gets the rest of their story.

For both of these couples getting to their happily ever after has been a hard fought battle, but a well deserved victory. I thoroughly enjoyed “Love’s Magic’ so much so that I very willingly listened to it again before beginning ‘Love’s Trials’ and if anything I have to say I think I may have been a bit stingy with my stars but be that as it may, I’m going to let that rating stand because really 4 stars is not a shabby thing in my humble opinion. Even more surprising to me than realizing that I seem to have enjoyed the first book more than I realized at the time is the fact that for me the second book was just that tiny bit better.

I knew from ‘Love’s Magic’ that I liked Colin and Joshua, which was part of the reason that I was so excited about this audiobook. What I didn’t realized was how much I would connect with this book on an emotional level…more than once I found myself reaching for the tissues.

While ‘Love’s Magic’ addressed the very real issue of violence on today’s college campus’s, ‘Love’s Trials’ takes it a step further when adding in the issues of drugs.  Colin and Joshua each face their own challenges as these two men endeavor to become a committed couple. Colin’s a bit of a commitment phoebe or he was until Joshua entered his life, while Joshua is struggling to adjust to life with a man whose job puts him in harms way on a daily basis. He’s always known what Colin does for a living he’s quickly coming to realize that knowing this and living it are two very different things.

After getting through the Charlottesville ‘Unite the Right’ riots life should have been a breeze for them but when Colin finds himself in charge of an informant program intended to infiltrate a drug ring he promises Joshua that he won’t be in the line of danger and he’s determined to keep his promise until one of the student’s in the program is placed in harms way and suddenly Colin’s the only thing between him and life threatening danger. It’s the aftermath of these events that will test the strength of Colin and Joshua’s commitment to each other.

While I loved David and Nate’s story and I was rooting for them from start to finish in ‘Love’s Magic’ even then I was equally as curious about Colin and Joshua. Here in ‘Love’s Trial’s’ for me it was all about these two men and the struggles they faced. There’s a solid dose of realism here from start to finish as we’re given a story that’s not wrapped up with a pretty pink bow but held together by two men who are committed to each other and sometimes held together by the strength and clearer heads of friends and loved ones who aren’t afraid to step up to help them find their way back to each other.

I honestly can’t even say that their reactions would have been mine…again that’s not how the world works we don’t all react the same way to the same things but for me how these two men reacted to their circumstances was believable…sometimes heartbreakingly so.

I loved that we got a fair but not overwhelming amount of David and Nate. The friendship that began in the first book between these four men has continued and as the story progresses, we get to see it grow even stronger. So often in series we’ll see couples that start as friends but with subsequent stories the friendship seems to diminish and sometimes the characters disappear altogether and that’s fair enough…it happens that way in real life to but what also happens in real life is that friendships grow stronger as times passes and within the pages of this story we are shown this in a way that isn’t often captured in a story. I’m a fan of stories where we get to see the MCs interact with the rest of the world and not just each other for me it just gives everything a more realistic atmosphere.

This story had me hooked from start to finish, but it was the latter part of the story that left me feeling a bit shattered. There was so much there that I was able to relate to. For very different reasons, I know how it feels to suffer a really traumatic injury and the havoc this can play on even the strongest of relationships add to this the fact that we were given things from both men’s perspective and this story for me was taken to a whole new level.

Add in the fact that Walker Williams was once again the narrator for this story and it all combines to create what was for me a supremely awesome listening experience that I know I’ll be repeating in the near future…this one’s definitely recommended.

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An audio book of ‘Love’s Trials’ was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

From the bigger picture issue of sexual assault and violent crimes in the setting of academia, Janice Jarrell takes us into the lives of four men, giving us a very up close and personal look at how one act of violence touches their lives...bringing them together, driving them apart, making each man look more closely at what he has, what he could loose and ultimately what he's willing to do to keep it.

'Love's Magic' isn't an epic or grand action or romance story, but rather it's a story about how one event unfolded to touch the lives of four men.  We begin with David and Nate, who are in a committed relationship at the start of the story and we follow them as they each struggle to deal with Nate's attack. While each man's reaction to events is distinctly different their love for each other and their desire not to give up on the relationship that means so much to them remains strong within their hearts. It's going to take a lot of introspection on both of their parts to find their way back to each other. 

When Professor David Gardener gets a call telling him that Professor Nate Reese, the man he lives with and loves more than life itself has been seriously injured preventing the assault of one of the college's students all he can think about is getting to his lover. What neither David nor Nate could possibly foretell was how much their lives and the lives of those around them would be affected.

As the reader, or in this case the listener, follows David and Nate, while each man deals with the effects of Nate's attack in their own way we are introduced to a number of secondary characters and while our look at the effects on their lives isn't as in depth as that of David and Nate it is undeniably present from the strain it creates between David and his fellow professors to the bond that forms between Nate and the guardian of the student he rescued to how it draws Sergeant Colin Campbell from the campus police  and Dr. Joshua Abrams, the colleges Title IX Consultant, together...ultimately becoming the catalyst that pushes them apart leaving Colin on his own to deal with the memory of events from his past that could keep him from having the future that in his heart he knows he wants with Joshua. 

Ms Jarrell has created four characters that are all very likable and by the end of this story I was a fan of all four men...each of them containing their own admirable traits and imperfections...making all of them seem not just human but so very likable and real. While the focus of the story is David and Nate along with Colin and Joshua the author also weaves other characters into the story giving a more thorough and well rounded picture of the story's events along with who and how their lives were touched. At the end of it all we are essentially given David and Joshua's story with a solid HEA and we are left with Colin and Joshua in a good place. 

If you’re looking for a steamy, sex fixes everything story than I have to admit you’re probably going to be disappointed. That’s not to say that there aren’t any sexy times here but the sex in this one is very much a part of the relationships and often times almost fade to black and not a driving force of the story. This ones definitely more plot driven than sex dependent and if you’re a fan of stories where it take more than some dazzling sex for the MCs to be able to overcome obstacles and get their lives on track than I think maybe like me, you won’t be disappointed.

I'm not really sure what I was expecting when I started this one but what I got was a story that drew me in, was compelling, realistic and told with very believable characters and was narrated by new to me narrator Walker Williams, who did a superb job of giving added depth and emotion to both the story and the characters while bringing them to life. While his overall narration was enjoyable for me his voices for David, Nate, Colin and Joshua connected incredibly well with each of the characters and meshed perfectly with the images that I had in my mind. So in the end what I was given was a story that I loved and that I’m looking forward to continuing with more of in regards to Colin and Joshua but if David and Nate turn up from time to time you can be sure that this listener/reader will be doing a bit of a happy dance.

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An audio book of "Love's Magic" was graciously provided by the 'Gay Book Promotions' in exchange for an honest review.

I've been a fan of B.A. Tortuga's for a while now but more recently I just haven't connected with her stories the way that I did with her 'Stormy Weather' or her 'Road Trip' series and a few others, but those two series are my absolute favorites by this author and truthfully the benchmark by which I judge her other books and maybe that's not fair but it is what it is and it's been a while since I've enjoyed a cowboy story as much as I did this one. 

'Two of a Kind' for me was a fun, enjoyable, touching and just incredibly sweet story of two cowboys who suddenly find themselves with 5 children to raise following a family tragedy that leaves one man without a sister and his parents and the other without his brother and parents and now six years later things are about to take yet another drastic change.

Trey Williamson and Ap McIntosh each manned up in their own way 6 years ago and Trey set aside his dreams of college travel to be the one that stayed with the his nieces and nephews and made a home for them...while Ap went out on the rodeo circuit and did his best to with the one skill he knew he had to be the breadwinner for this cobbled together family. But Ap comes home for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year and so far it's worked but Trey's finding himself  at this wits end and he knows that their kids need him but he desperately needs a break.

When Ap get the call telling him he needs to come home he does. He gets it truly he does...being the only parent to 5 kids is a job that he knows he's not up to doing, but he's determined to step up and give Trey a much needed break. 

There really was a lot about this story that I enjoyed Trey and Ap have a history together but they were young and when tragedy struck it was put aside. This one is friends to lovers, second chances with a touch of starting over and a pinch of the grass is always greener...because Trey's missing the life he didn't get to have and he's a little jealous of Ap being able to travel, see a bit of the world and spend times with adults and yeah, there's also the sex...it's bee a while for Trey but if you ask Ap, he'll tell you it'd be nice to sleep in a real bed at night, spend time with his nieces and nephews...watch them grow up a bit...or at least that's what he thinks most of the time...until he's left in charge of those same nieces and nephews for a few days, then he finds himself wondering 'how the hell Trey does it day in and day out. His admiration for Trey grows right alongside of his attraction for Trey.

I enjoyed the interaction between Trey and Ap as well as their interactions with the children and as a family. it wasn't always perfect and oftentimes there weren't enough hours in the day to do what needed to be done much less anything that they wanted to do...in other words it resembled real life much more than it didn't. There were budgets and saving for college, working more than one job to make ends meet and so many other little things that found me thinking 'oh man can I relate to that'.

Now I have to admit there was only one thing that gave me serious reservations and that was the thought of this story on audio and the narrator was John Solo...I've had a bit of a hit and miss relationship with this narrator and even more so I have a hit and miss relationship with pretty much any narrator when children's voices are involved so I won't lie...reservations...I had them.

I ran off to audible.com and clicked play so I  could listen to the sample and fortunately I actually got to hear some of the children's voices which isn't always the case and thankfully there was enough of a sample for me to decide that I could do this and happily I was right. My past experience with audio book children has more often than not detracted from my overall enjoyment of more than one audio book but this one was not one of those books. This for me was one of the narrator's more solid narrations and given that he was doing the voices for not one or even two children but five, I think that says a lot especially coming from someone who tends to shy away from audio books with children in them no matter who the narrator is.

'Two of a Kind' is a fun, sweet, heartwarming story about love and hope and the promise of a future that may not be what either of these men thought they wanted but in the end proved to be everything they needed.

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An audio book for 'Two of a Kind' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw the title of this book I have to admit one of my first thoughts was I wonder if the author was a tiny bit motivated by the 1977 Jackson Brown song...'Running on Empty' when she picked the title for this book. I don't know about the rest of you but I graduated from high school that year? Anyways, it was just a random thought that floated through my brain when I saw the book title. The story not to confuse anyone is set in the present.

When Bram tries to leave 'The Heathens' Motorcycle Clue he learns the hard way that if getting in was painful getting out will damned near kill him. Bram's not really a biker but if 'The Heathens' find out that he's actually an undecover ATF agent what he will be is a dead man. So after a somewhat failed attempt to leave that nearly cost him his life and finding out that his brother Linc is missing he does the only logical thing he can...he heads to Shades Run the last place where his brother was known to be and in less than a day he captures the attention of 'Sweet', who's not just any Havoc member...nope, turns out he's the president of the Havoc MC and as much as he wants to stay off of any Motorcycle Club's radar finding himself on Havoc's also offers him a level of protection that like it or not he's going to need if he hopes to survive much less make progress in his search for his brother.

As Bram and Sweet work together to try and find Linc while each man tries to keep his secrets hidden both men find that they may be able to hide their secrets but they're not so good at guarding their heart.

Bram and Sweet's relationship is often times a case of come here, come here, get away, get away as both men keep trying to throw  up obstacles to why they shouldn't be together...to be fair Bram does this more often than Sweet, but Sweet manages to throw his obstacles in there as well all the time never letting them got in the way when he thinks Bram needs saving or protection.

And I have to admit that once again I found the Havoc MC to be an oxymoron all on it's own. They're bad-assed bikers who will mess you up in a heartbeat if you mess with them or break their code and all while helping you if you're in trouble and they feel your cause is just...in a sentence 'they are unlike any biker club I've ever heard of' but again it's fiction and the fun thing about that is the story can go pretty much where ever the author wants to take it. In spite of the fact that this may seem a little unlikely for me it's also reflective of the fact that in the real world things are often not always how they appear to be. 

Overall I found that I enjoyed this story a bit more than 'Running Wild' however, I don't think I would have if I hadn't listened to that audio book first since a lot of the characters from 'Running Wild' play a role in this book some more so than others...such as sweet who was secondary character in 'Running Wild' but who's a main character here and while Bram is essentially new to the story Linc is a good friend to Noah and Sean (who is also known as 'Rush') and there are a some others but I'll leave them for readers to discover when they are enjoying the story.

Now about the narrator...I'm one of those people who usually like the consistency of the same narrator from story to story in a series...unless...that's right unless the MCs are different from story to story...of course having said that should a future story have Ryker and Sean as the MCs than I admit it I would be happiest having their voices reprised by Dorian Bane rather than another narrator...that's just how I roll. 

Now back to this book and this narrator...Mark Larchmont is not only a new to me narrator but it would appear that he's new to the world of audio book narrating in general. 'Running Blind' is currently the only audio book he has to his credit on audible, however, when I had a peek at his site it tells me that he's currently working on another audio book for S.E. Jakes and there was a sound clip for a m/f book...that I was unable to find a title for. I found all this because I was honestly hoping that there were other books of his that I could check out. I really enjoyed this one and while I liked Dorian Bane's performance during 'Running Wild' I have to admit I think for me I enjoyed the audio on this one just a tiny bit more...hence the 3.5 stars and I'm definitely going to be looking out for more bu this narrator.

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An audio  book of 'Running Blind' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.