BLOG TOUR with GUEST POST, EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT and PRE-RELEASE REVIEW: Tali Spencer of 'Breaking t
Title: Breaking the Ice
Series: States of Love
Author: Tali Spencer
Published: April 19, 2017
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anne Cain/Deviant Art
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 86 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Coming Out
About Breaking the Ice
For Matt Wasko, February in Wisconsin is the best time of the year, and ice fishing on Lake Winnebago is his idea of heaven. With shanty villages cropping up, barbeques on the ice, monster sturgeon to spear, and plenty of booze to keep everybody warm, things couldn’t be better—until a surprise storm hits and an uninvited guest shows up at his frozen doorstep.
Matt’s not happy to see John Lutz, a coworker who cracks lame gay jokes at Matt’s expense. But John’s flimsy new ice shelter got blown across the lake, and it wouldn’t be right to leave even a jerk outside to freeze. Would it?
In the close quarters of Matt’s fabulous ice shanty, between stripping off wet clothes, misadventures with bait, and a fighting trophy-sized walleye, the two men discover creative ways to keep the cold at bay. And when John confesses his long-running attraction, Matt must decide if he can believe in John’s change of heart—and crack the ice for a chance at finding love.
Thank you, Kimmers, for hosting me!
I’m here to say a few words about my new release, Breaking the Ice. Matt Wasko thinks John Lutz is a homophobic jerk. John thinks Matt…might just be the man of his dreams. To bridge the misunderstanding, John decides to take up Matt’s favorite activity: ice fishing. You see, Matt spends the last two weeks in February in his fabulous ice shanty out on Wisconsin’s Lake Winnebago—and this year John wants to make sure Matt catches more than just fish.
Matt isn’t sure what to think when John comes out on the ice, looking out of place and ridiculously under-equipped. His first thought isn’t about love, it’s that John has found a new way to torment him. Fishing has taught Matt how to persevere. He’s about to learn there’s nothing more persevering than someone out to hook a man’s heart.
John had known Matt was intense. He’d witnessed Matt’s steely resolve at work the time a local news crew had visited the factory for a piece about the new plant and badgered for details the company was not ready to make public. He’d also seen Matt’s focus during bowling, the way his cool gaze fixed on the pins, his eyelids narrowed and his nostrils flared slightly right before he made his approach, and how he held his crouch and willed the ball into the pocket.
Matt Wasko was a killer competitor. If the fish had any brains at all, they would have his face plastered on every rock in the lake.
At least John was halfway to something he’d only ever dreamed of. He and Matt were touching. The blanket over their legs kept the temperature around their limbs toasty. Half an hour ago, John had let his right leg drift over so his thigh rested against Matt’s left knee. He was glad Matt hadn’t put on those jeans. Sitting side by side this way, holding fishing rods, each of them intent on prey, was the most romantic thing he’d done in his entire life.
John knew what Matt wanted, but they were two hours into their venture and John still wasn’t quite sure what a walleye was or why they were spending so much time trying to catch one.
“How long till they bite?”
“Never know.” Matt did this snapping motion with his rod that made the live bait fixed on his hook wiggle. Nearby sat a five-gallon bucket filled with small silvery fish, which apparently the big fish they were after liked to eat. A modest aerator hooked onto the bucket kept the bait alive.
John was using something called a Rattle Crankbait. It was made of metal and plastic, and to his eyes didn’t look even remotely like anything that might be alive, but Matt had told him it would attract fish. He did the jerky thing, or tried to, with his rod, much shorter than the one he’d bought and used two weeks ago, and was rewarded with one of Matt’s approving grins.
Those knowing lips, clever eyes, and waves of bright hair. Could the man get any cuter? What would it be like to have all that intensity focused on him? On his lips and nipples and skin…on his dick?
The blanket mercifully hid his burgeoning response to that thought, but John continued to hope. Things were looking up. He jiggled his rod again.
They’d sipped chocolate and eaten some granola bars not long ago. Surely Matt’s mouth would taste of those things, sweet and sensual, as decadent as sex itself. John leaned toward him. It had been nearly two hours of playful maneuvering under the blanket and Matt had done nothing to dissuade his tentative touches.
“Matty, I—” When Matt turned, John felt an irresistible urge to touch his face. The two-day stubble on Matt’s jaw would feel so good under his stroking fingertips. “I never thought I could ever be here with you like this.”
“That makes two of us. What are you doing?”
“Fighting the urge to kiss you.”
Meet the Author
Tali Spencer delights in erotic fantasy and adventure, creating worlds where she can explore the heights and shadows of sexual passion. A hopeful romantic and lover of all things exotic, she also writes high fantasy and science fiction. If you would like to see inspiration pictures for her characters, or glimpse how she envisions her worlds, check out her Pinterest boards.
Tali’s books include the Pride of Uttor series: Captive Heart, Dangerous Beauty, Adored, and Victory Portrait, all with Resplendence. Her gay male high fantasy stories, Thick as Thieves, Sorcerer’s Knot, and The Prince of Winds, are published by Dreamspinner Press. She often publishes in anthologies, and puts up free stories and excerpts on her blog.
For more from Tali visit her website.
