Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway: Faith & Fidelity by Tere Michaels

Title: Faith & Fidelity (2nd Edition)
Series: Faith, Love, and Devotion: Book One
Author: Tere Michaels
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Blurb: Reeling from the recent death of his wife, police officer Evan Cerelli looks at his four children and can only see how he fails them. His loving wife was the caretaker and nurturer, and now the single father feels himself being crushed by the pain of loss and the heavy responsibility of raising his kids.

At the urging of his partner, Evan celebrates a coworker’s retirement and meets disgraced former cop turned security consultant Matt Haight. A friendship born out of loneliness and the solace of the bottle turns out to be exactly what they both need.

The past year has been a slow death for Matt Haight. Ostracized from his beloved police force, facing middle age and perpetual loneliness, Matt sees only a black hole where his future should be. When he discovers another lost soul in Evan, some of the pieces he thought he lost start to fall back in place. Their friendship turns into something deeper, but love is the last thing either man expected, and both of them struggle to reconcile their new and overwhelming feelings for one another.

Buy Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Excerpt: EVAN WOKE up promptly at six o’clock; he hadn’t needed an alarm clock since the Marines. For a second he was disoriented. After not sleeping in his bed for almost a year, he woke up on a mattress… and with someone next to him. Matt. Last night came flooding back, with a painful impact on Evan’s chest as he remembered what had happened.

Well, shit.

He slid out of bed, giving a glance to where Matt lay sleeping, one arm thrown over his eyes. The weak light of a wintry morning cast a pale line across the bottom half of Matt’s face, set in a slight frown.

Moving slowly, stiffly, Evan gathered his clothes from the closet and walked into the bathroom. He didn’t want to wake Matt up, didn’t want to have to face him. Things had gotten completely out of hand last night, and Evan felt awful.

They’d never really discussed sex. Strange; as they were men, he’d have thought it would be the first thing. But that was fine with Evan, because his contribution was short and sweet. He’d heard about Matt’s rep—hell, seen his reaction to women like Helena—it never crossed his mind that Matt also liked men. Liked him.

Suddenly so much made sense. The looks he’d caught out of the corner of his eye. The way Matt pulled his chair close during their weekly beer-and-bitch sessions. Last night. Evan’s nightmare had drawn Matt into the bedroom. His desperation and anguish had caused Matt to reach out.

Evan stepped into the shower and let the hot water scald his skin. He couldn’t believe how things had gone wrong. His friendship with Matt had grown very important to him; he’d come to depend on it. And now it was all going to dissolve into awkwardness. Awkward because Matt might be expecting their relationship to… progress. Awkward because Evan had told him he didn’t mind the touching, which was the God’s honest truth. It was a lifeline to feel Matt’s hands on his arm, his shoulder, in his hair.

A shiver raced over Evan’s skin. The steam blinded him for a second, and he leaned both hands against the tiles. He wanted—he wanted more. He wanted to have someone hold him and stroke his hair and say that everything was all right, even if he knew it wasn’t.

The Giveaway: One e-copy of Faith & Fidelity and a $25 Gift Certificate to the online book retailer of your choice.

Tour Info:

Thursday, October 2 – Boys in our Books (Exclusive Excerpt)
Friday, October 3 – Living & Love the Written Word (Author Interview)
Saturday, October 4 – The Novel Approach (Exclusive Excerpt)
Saturday, October 4 – Joyfully Jay (Guest Post by Author)
Sunday, October 5 – MM Good Book Reviews (Exclusive Excerpt)
Sunday, October 5 – Book Reviews & More by Kathy (Guest Post by Author)
Monday, October 6 – Prism Book Alliance (Guest Post by Author)
Tuesday, October 7 – Love Bytes (Characters Interview)