Our first #SpotlightSaturday is Noah, by Leigh Jarrett. Noah is the first in the Salish Sea Society series, this is the perfect time to check out the first in this series, as the second, Ethan, came out yesterday. So enjoy the excerpt, and pick up the first in this series available now.
From the blurb:
Underneath that calm demeanour, I sensed lay a deeply passionate man.
Noah
To date, all my relationships that lasted more than a couple months have ended because I'm expecting something I don't believe is unattainable. Perfection. My parents have pounded the concept into my head. Success is only possible through getting everything right.
Even now, in my thirties, I live by that. What I strive for rolls into my business as the owner of one of the most popular British-themed pubs in Victoria, BC.
Then one day, a guy named Brody walks into my pub and becomes a regular, coming in at the same time every night, and always ordering a G&T and buffalo wings.
His expression is often fixed, and he doesn't talk much, revealing nothing about himself. But his deep mahogany eyes speak volumes. There's someone passionate inside all that outward calm.
What I eventually discover about Brody makes me wonder if I want to take it on. A relationship with him would be far from perfection. Or would it? To call him mine, I'm going to need to rethink what perfection looks like and embrace a new way of seeing the world.
Noah is a sweet slow-burning romance about a member of the Salish Sea Society, a group of four best friends who have been through a lot together since high school, including each of them coming out as gay. This story is set on the rugged coast of Pacific Canada and is a story of newfound understanding of the autism spectrum and finding passion and love beating beneath the chest of a man of carefully measured words and silent looks.
Excerpt:
The guys didn't get it. I needed to make this pub more than a passable success. I'd gone against my parents by not finishing law school. If I was to earn any respect from them, I needed his pub to be at its best. I wouldn't be satisfied until everything was complete and running smoothly.
"You don't understand what it's like to have parents like mine."
"Why do you think the pub isn't successful?" Ethan asked. "Look at all the people here. Eating, drinking, and dancing. Are you losing money?"
I shook my head. "No, I'm not. It's not that." They really didn't get it. I furrowed my brow.
Enough about me and the pub. "Forget I said anything. I don't want to talk about it."
"Noah met a guy," Liam said, redirecting the conversation.
"I didn't meet him," I argued. "He's a regular. He waited for me after work on Friday."
"Was the sex good?" Ethan asked.
"Why did you jump straight to that, Ethan?" Owen asked.
"Because I know Noah," Ethan replied. "I think I've introduced him to you."
"We didn't have sex."
Ethan's eyebrows rose. Yes, my habit was to sleep around. I'd tried the relationship thing.
There was always some grating thing about the guys I dated that made it impossible to continue the relationship. Maybe I was searching for the unattainable.
"We went to Jimmy's. Had pie and talked."
"Talked as in got to actually know the guy," Ethan ribbed.
"Sort of. Brody didn't tell me much. He asked questions and let me do the talking."
"He's not a big talker," Liam chimed in. "Sits at the bar. Has his G&T and wings."
"Are you going to see him again?"asked Owen.
"At the bar if he comes in," I answered. "He didn't come in yesterday or today."
"So … you were watching for him?" Ethan refilled his pint glass.
"Maybe. He's like a puzzle I want to figure out." Something about Brody intrigued me. I'd never met someone who said he was interested in me, but the attraction wasn't apparent in his expression. Wracking my brain last night, I'd figured out what was different about him. He hadn't fully smiled, and he had barely made eye contact with me, constantly ducking his gaze away.
When he had briefly held still, matching my gaze, his eyes had spoken softly to me.
There's a saying that says still waters run deep. I suspected that was the case with Brody.
Underneath that calm demeanour, I sensed lay a deeply passionate man.
I knew pulling emotions from him would be a challenge. Normally, I liked my men easy, but something about Brody was drawing me to him. Even this early on, I couldn't run if I tried.
Noah is currently available as an e-book and paperback and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
Comments
Post a Comment