Title: Bread, Salt and Wine (Tarnished Souls #4) Second Edition
Author: Dev Bentham
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: September 13, 2016
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance, Hurt/Comfort/Healing, Second Chances
Page Count: 144
Reviewed by: Crabbypatty
Blurb:
Some wounds never heal. George Zajac grew up in a religious family with a father who beat “the swish” out of him. At thirty-eight he’s a troubled man. Escaping his miserable life as a banker in New York, he moves across the country to start again in Los Angeles as the catering chef for a prestigious French Restaurant. Kenny Marks, a writer who’s currently waiting tables, is everything George cannot be—flamboyant, proud and sexually confident. Enthralled by Kenny, and against his own better judgment, George agrees to a date. Sparks fly. The sex is amazing. But even after the two get close, George is crippled by humiliating sexual hang-ups. Still haunted by his childhood, he lingers in the closet and can’t commit to a relationship with Kenny.
Love is the great healer, but is it enough? George’s emotional scars could drive Kenny away, and with him, George’s last chance at happiness.
Excerpt
He waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry. I’m not very religious. More of what you might call a holiday Jew. And”—he paused dramatically—“I’ve been with my share of pigs.”
I laughed. “Like the best man?”
He smiled at me. “What a guy, eh? Did you notice the groom wasn’t laughing?”
I shrugged, concentrating on slicing up pig to send home with the family. “Aren’t they all like that? At my wedding the best man was so busy hitting on the bridesmaids he could barely be bothered to toast us.”
There was a silence. I looked up from the pig to see Kenny’s face in a funny half smile. “You were married?”
“Ten years.”
“What happened?”
I looked around the kitchen. Cheryl, two prep cooks, and another waiter were busy with their own tasks, but I could feel them listening. I mumbled, “Didn’t take.”
He set his tray down and picked up an empty one. He turned toward the door, saying, “Funny, I didn’t figure you for the marrying type.”
A familiar shame washed over me. I ought to have been brave enough to tell the truth about myself. But every time I considered it, my heart raced, and the memory of cow shit, humiliation, and hay filled my nose. For all his affectations, Kenny was twice the man I was. I envied his bravery but wasn’t about to follow his example.
Tarnished Souls Series
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Meet the author:
I write contemporary gay romance. My characters are flawed and damaged adult men who may not even know they’re looking for true love, but when they meet their bershert, their true love, their lives are transformed. My stories are set in the real world where gay men have gay friends, families who do or don’t accept them, personal histories they’re not necessarily proud of and a myriad of experiences that have made them who they are.
I live in Northern Wisconsin with my Boston Terrier and Chicago spouse. I’ve published short stories, poetry, newspaper articles and academic papers and have worked in nearly every profession from restaurants to retail to open-water diving and now write m/m romance out of my fascination with love, courage and gender.
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