Wednesday 13 May 2015

Release Day Blitz ~ Excerpt, Review and Giveaway ~ Henry's End by Julie Richman

 
Title: Henry's End
Author: Julie A Richman
Genre: Standalone M/M Contemporary Romance
Release Date: May 11, 2015
 
 Book Description:
Dreams.

I used to have them—before the nightmares started.

I dreamed of nice guys, love…normalcy.

Things like reading the Sunday paper in bed with my lover.

But who needs dreams when your reality is filled with a string of faceless dominating men in uniform? Men that pack a thick bulge and are only too happy to satisfy my deviant sexual cravings.

Me. That's who.

And then HE walked through the door and shared with me, a total stranger, his intimate dream of love. Damn him for verbalizing every single detail of the dream I buried long ago.

And now I don’t know how I'm going to live without that dream.

Or him.
 
Excerpt:

Henry was deeply ensconced in his own head, making resolutions about moving on, not paying attention to his surroundings, or seeing the man, as he approached his car. He was leaning against the hood, his thick muscled arms folded across his chest. Calm, cool, collected, in charge and so damn freaking handsome.

“Your place?” was all he said.

Henry felt the sharp stab in his heart as his adrenal glands shot a release of hormones into his blood stream. Shaking his head no, he was shocked at how cool and calm his voice sounded, when he was anything but, “No. I don’t think so. You haven’t even bought me a drink yet.”

Walking around the big Marine to the driver’s side, Henry hit the remote, unlocking the door.

With a palm to the solar plexus to stop him, “Where are you going?” the Marine asked.

“Home,” Henry was very matter-of-fact.

“I thought you wanted me to buy you a drink?”

Stepping around the Marine, Henry opened the door to his black BMW and got in. “I do…” and he closed the door and started the engine.
Rolling down the window, he added with a smile, “… on Sunday.” Gunning the Beamer's engine, he left the Marine in the dusty parking lot with a smile on his handsome face.
Well played, Henry congratulated himself. Let him ache for me as much as I’ve been aching for him.
 
Buy Links:
 
 
Our Review:
 
Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 stars
**ARC received for an honest review**
 
“How are we going to run through this one?”
 
I have loved Julie Richman’s contemporary romance series called the Moore series, although Henry’s End has been marketed as a standalone, personally I feel it would help towards the end if you had indeed read the Moore series before reading this. It was also great to see the old gang make their appearances in here and it was like being reacquainted with old friends.

To say that I loved this book would be a severe understatement. I crave an emotional read and this one is definitely just that, EMOTIONAL and one hell of a ride!!

Henry was Schooner’s best friend and this book starts in the past with Henry desperately trying to find love, he just felt alone all the time and as society back then was not as it is now, Henry felt isolated. Being gay was frowned upon and certainly wasn’t as open as it is today. There were bars dedicated to men and women who were into same sex relationships and it is here that Henry hopes to finally find the one. Being close to the Navy quarters Henry was hoping to find some hot marine, after all he loved a man in uniform!

“I wanted to find the other half of me. My Schooner.”
 
Julie Richman certainly brings Henry to life, I empathised and sympathised with him, I wanted to jump into the kindle and give him hugs, he became a friend and that is testament to Julie Richman’s writing and nailing that character connection. Thankfully the same couldn’t be said for Cody the Marine.
 
“I think he hates himself because he can’t be the like you. You are everything he doesn’t have the guts to be and he hates that you have the balls and he doesn’t.”
 
This book follows Henry through his dating lows and highs and finding some very long lasting friendships. There are some very low lows and some fantastic highs; such was this rollercoaster of a book. I loved the way the gay community were always there for each and I feel that this book gave a great insight into what more often than not happens behind closed doors. Their friendships were life long and were an extremely tight and strong bond, no matter the age, they stuck together through thick and thin and I loved that this was highlighted throughout this book.

Quinn, my darling Quinn, what was not to love above this man and Henry and Quinn together was a match made in heaven and our Henry had finally found another man in uniform! Quinn was an openly gay cop, he was strong on the inside and outside and exactly the person that Henry needed in his life. Quinn was also a friend of Schooner’s and Schooner certainly knew how to match make. I loved the slow build of their relationship, it was truly beautiful and it was great to see Henry come to life once again. You couldn’t help but fall in love with this couple. You felt their connection, their intensity and that physical attraction, these two were destined to be soul mates, and their souls literally spoke to each other. I loved these two together.
 
“Arriving at this moment had been a cornerstone of their relationship and when they laid it in the soil, neither could have envisioned the beautiful skyscraper that would grow floor by floor.”

As I said above, all the gang make an appearance, Schooner, Mia and Seth et al. Schooner really showed the kind of man he was in this book and was there for Henry throughout all his troubles and nightmare situations he often found himself in. Our Seth being the openly gay assistant to Mia was also invaluable in this book, being an M/M it was obvious he was going to make an appearance and give us his two cents worth. He brought humour into this book and at times it was needed due to the emotional intensity throughout.

I ran the gamut of emotions while reading this book, as I said above, the character connection was nailed, I loved these guys with a passion and when they hurt, I hurt, when they were happy, I was happy. I shed many, many tears reading this book but I also laughed too. I loved, I hated and I loved some more. You with laugh, you will cry, you will love, you will hate, you will be shocked, you will feel compassion but you will know that you have certainly been on one incredible journey.

“I just don’t understand how you can put sunshine in a box.”

For a first time writing M/M I think that Julie nailed it, this book centred on the emotional side and that is what I crave in an M/M book. More often than not these books are centred around the physical side and it was refreshing to just hang out with the guys and be given an insight into the gay community as a whole as well as Henry’s relationships. This book does cover a lot of years and for those not a fan of time jumps there is one in here too, this is where I feel having read the Moore series becomes a benefit as I was privy to what had happened in those years that were missed.

Overall, I loved this book, I couldn’t put it down, I felt emotionally drained, but I knew that I had read a great book. My hat goes off to Julie Richman, as much as I love Schooner with a passion, I think Henry may just be up there too, after all, this guy was very hard not to love.
 
Trailer:


 
About the Author:
 
USA Today Bestselling author Julie A. Richman is a native New Yorker living deep in the heart of Texas. A creative writing major in college, reading and writing fiction has always been a passion. Julie began her corporate career in publishing in NYC and writing played a major role throughout her career as she created and wrote marketing, advertising, direct mail and fundraising materials for
Fortune 500 corporations, advertising agencies and non-profit organizations. She is an award winning nature photographer plagued with insatiable wanderlust. Julie and her husband have one son and a white German Shepherd named Juneau.

Where to find Julie:

Website: http://www.juliearichman.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJulieARichman
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JulieARichman
Instagram: https://instagram.com/AuthorJulieARichman/
 
Giveaway:

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