About the Book
By the Rules (Evergreen Grove #3) by Elisabeth Staab
M/M Romance
Release Date: 1/19/2016
He thinks I want him
because of the rumors around town. Because I think he’s easy. I want AJ,
because he’s AJ.
No liars. No suits. Absolutely
no straight guys…
AJ Fabin’s list of rules keeps him safe. Since getting
kicked out of his parents’ home and attacked by a former escorting client, his
rules and his life in the tiny town of Evergreen Grove provide a quiet haven.
He may be lonely, and he may stick out like a sore thumb, but the folks like
him well enough. When he’s not dodging his old pimp, things are peaceful.
Hayden Price is having a quarter-life crisis. Engaged to a
woman he can’t connect to and working a job he secretly hates, he comes to
Evergreen Grove to help his mother through a health scare. Returning to his
childhood home makes Hayden reevaluate a lot of things, including himself. When
he meets AJ and finds he can’t stand the mouthy jerk—almost as much as he can’t
stop thinking about him—he has a lot more to change than his career.
To be together, they’ll both have to break all of their
rules.
By the Rules is book 3
in the Evergreen Grove series, but reads as a standalone.
Excerpt Option #4
(Hayden's POV)
“Did you shower already?”
He sniffs like the concept is beneath him. “I’ll shower at
home.” He’s limping when he walks over to grab his backpack.
That ankle’s hurting him and it’s my fault. I was an ass for
trying to show him up. “Hey, listen. Sorry about knocking you down like that.
Really.” I close the gap between us to offer a hand, but he doesn’t even make a
show of accepting. I don’t really know what to do with that. In my world, you
shake a guy’s hand. For appearances if nothing else. For the sake of
politeness. So you don’t burn bridges with a contact you might need later.
AJ and I clearly aren’t playing by the same set of rules.
He looks down at my hand. “It’s boxing. It happens. I’ll be
fine. Don’t let it keep you up at night.” Except he winces when he takes
another step. He doesn’t want me to know he’s in pain.
That limp of his drives the guilt I was already feeling
deeper into my gut. “Hey.” I pull on his arm to get his attention. “Stop. Are
you planning to walk to that motel where you work? It’s all the way on the edge
of town. Why don’t you come with me to my mom’s? It’s closer, and then I can
give you some ibuprofen and a ride.”
My grabbing hand pulls AJ’s shirt down and to the side,
exposing a piece of one of his tattoos. I noticed it before—one of those
dancing guys with a flute—whaddyacallit? A Kokopelli.
“Isn’t this a fertility symbol?”
“I prefer to think of him as a traveling gigolo. Seemed to
fit at the time, Suit.” When AJ lets out a heavy breath and our eyes meet, I
realize I’ve been running my fingers over the black lines on his chest without
thinking—or permission.
Shit. I pull my
hand back. The heat of his skin seeping into mine reminds me of things better
left in the past.
I clear my throat. “Sorry. I didn’t—I was only curious.
About the ink.” Jesus, that was a shitty slip and an even shittier save
attempt. There are rules about these things with guys. Touching should be brief,
impersonal, and possibly pain-inducing. Unless somebody died.
AJ hasn’t moved and hasn’t responded to my offer of a lift
home. In order to fill the silence, I decide to ask, “Hey, I was wondering.
Those tattoos…”
What are they
covering? Where did you get those scars?
AJ lunges, putting us molecules from being chest to chest.
Hard, chilly blasts of air conditioning remind me that he’s fully dressed and
I’m wearing nothing but an undersized towel that is currently holding on with
sheer luck and probably not enough determination.
“Yeah, I’ll bet you were wondering. I’ll bet you’re curious
about a lot of things, aren’t you, Suit?” He looks me up and down appraisingly.
I assume he’s trying to make me uncomfortable.
It’s working.
Review:
This book hooked me at the start. I really liked the world the author has created and the chemistry between the two characters. Spicy hot. This one is a keeper and I can't wait to read more of the series.
5/5
Q&A
1.What do you enjoy most
about writing m/m romance?
Well mostly I just love writing a couple I can
really connect with no matter what kind of pairing, but sometimes I really enjoy
writing the male point of view. So writing a story about two men can be a lot
of fun. I honestly had a blast writing By the Rules, with AJ and Hayden’s
enemies to lovers relationship and all their verbal (and physical) sparring.
2. Name three things
on your desk.
A pencil holder mug with a picture of my kids,
a signed copy of The Prince by Tiffany Reisz, and a collection of multicolored
Sharpies.
3. As a woman writing
m/m romance why do you think women connect with the stories so well?
Well, I mean, men are beautiful so that’s
certainly one reason. Maybe also because the role of women in romance can have boundaries
and expectations that the romance hero doesn’t. The archetypes are different. Sometimes
the tropes are different too, I suppose, although I pulled out a lot of oldies
but goodies when I wrote By the Rules. Me, I’ll read any story if it hooks me.
4. How did you decide
to write m/m?
In the case of By the Rules, my readers asked
for the book (not that they had to work hard to convince me!). The Evergreen
Grove series started with At the Stars, where the heroine broke down in a small
town and made friends with some locals, including a former male escort named
AJ. Right away readers were asking when AJ would get his own book. Before that I had a gay plotline in my Lone
Wolf shifter series, with a werewolf cop and a human male from a rival wolf
pack. It was just the story and the pairing I felt led to write at the time.
5. What is the
hottest/strangest topic you've ever Googled?
Hottest? I’ve Googled
for pictures of Colby Keller and BT Urruela plenty of times. Both are excellent
when one is looking for inspirational “hot guy” material. Strangest is a
difficult one to answer. I’ve searched everything from bombs and rockets to
poisons and how much jail time would a person get for in the name of research. When I was writing
By the Rules I spent a lot of time watching home improvement videos on YouTube
since AJ works as a handyman.
About the Author
Elisabeth Staab started hunting mutant hedgehogs back in
1842… Oops, wrong bio… Elisabeth Staab digs coffee, saucy stories, and sexy
things that go bump in the night. Once, she ate dinner in a jail and liked it.
She lives in the Washington DC area with her incredible family and does her
best to juggle life while ignoring the laundry.
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