Safety in Number by Jessie G

 

Author Name: Jessie G. Book Name: Safety In Numbers Series: Sizzling Miami Book: Five Release Date: October 31, 2015  

Thank you to Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves for hosting Safety in Numbers today. This installment in the Sizzling Miami series has been the most anticipated and I worried more over this book than any other I’ve written. Now that it’s out there in the world, I’m still worried, but so far the feedback has been beyond my expectations. I’d like to touch on one of the comments I received after the review ARC’s went out.

One of the bloggers who received an early review copy of Safety in Numbers sent a PM thanking me for not writing to a formula. I don’t know if my books are different in the grand scheme of the genre, but I do believe that my books are very different from each other. Though I’m writing a series, the first book was an angst filled cop drama, while the second was more of a tender love story with only a little bit of external angst (no cops required), and the third was more BDSM with severe past abuse themes and a drug dealer. This book is none of those things. First, it’s about two different couples that needed to be told together. Second, while the MC’s have angst-filled pasts, their approach to the present is also very different. The story hinges solely on these two couples finding their way and has little to no external present day angst. So, yeah, this little group has a lot of connections and they all help each other, but each of them leads very different lives.

At the end of The Protector, book 3, I knew I would be writing a full length sequel to address the issues that book raised, though I believed the HEA at the end was solid. I still believe it, but there was a bit of an outcry that made me divulge that I’d be doing a sequel, even though I’d intended to make it a surprise book. This time, knowing I left a couple of questions unanswered, I flat out say at the end that there’s more to come. It’s not a cliffhanger, don’t misunderstand, you always get your HEA from me, but readers will want to know what happens after—I want to know what happens after. J

I wish I could say that I was organized enough to have plotted the series out that way, but it would be a lie. I know who my main characters are and I have a timeline of whose next, as well as an organizational chart of how they’re all connected, but that’s the extent of my planning. The characters talk to me constantly, some louder than others, and the story really doesn’t come together until I open the document and put my fingers to the keyboard. What flows is as much a surprise to me as it is to my readers. 

Blurb: “Bros stick together no matter what.” When Chris and Liam made that promise, they had no idea how important it would become or how it would be tested in the most brutal way. Nine years later, their bond cemented in blood, that relationship is all they have to hold on to. “No matter what happens, this friendship will be the one constant we can count on.” When Billy and Owen made that promise, they knew exactly how dangerous the world could be. They survived prison by protecting each other and they survived freedom by holding that promise sacred. Now they want more than just to survive and they want it from the brothers whose bond is as strong as their own. “We are stronger together than we’ll ever be apart.” When Owen reaches his breaking point, Chris jumps at the chance to make things right for all of them. With the future in their grasp, will they realize their strength is in their numbers and finally become the family they crave?  

Author’s Note: This is NOT a foursome, but the story of two couples that needed to be told together.
Pages or Words: 76,000 words Categories: Gay fiction, M/M Romance, Romance  
Excerpt: That silence hid a lot from their friends, but Liam knew Chris was plagued with memories far worse than his. That’s why they decided not to celebrate alone this year. Billy and Owen were expected any minute and it was the first time they invited anyone to join them. The anniversary was bittersweet for them and they chose to celebrate it because becoming brothers meant that much to them. “Do you think they’ll find it stupid?” Chris just shrugged as if it was no skin off his back what they thought and Liam knew that was just bravado. Fact was, they both very much cared what the two men thought. “Liar.” His brother sighed and dropped his head back. As if shit wasn’t fucked up enough, they fell for two bastards just as fucked up as they were. “I know you’re worried about Owen. The business with Colin is growing out of their control and I’m not sure why he thinks it’s a good thing. Is he trying to prove something? And the middle of the night phone calls from the FTR? He’s looking more and more fragile every day.” Liam knew he wasn’t stating anything new. What he didn’t know was what Chris intended to do about it. Lately, when it came to Owen, Chris conveyed zero intent and seemed to be waiting for Owen to read him as effortlessly as Liam did. Their brother bond had been forged through blood and he was afraid Chris’s expectations of Owen were unreasonable. “Do you see his face every time he thinks he’s failed to understand you? The weight of it is crushing.” Instead of regret, all Liam saw was anger in Chris. It wasn’t a common emotion for Chris and Liam could name every time he saw it. The fact that Chris knew what he was capable of if provoked had made him extremely conscious of that emotion and he often went to great lengths to contain it. Owen was the very definition of insecure. Just the type to inspire Chris’s protective instincts, which Liam knew for a fact Owen did. Hell, he inspired Liam’s protective instincts. Owen was stubborn though and he often distanced himself, keeping things bottled up until they manifested elsewhere. Like in panic attacks that felt like heart attacks, which he also tried to hide. Liam nearly lost it when they found out that Billy was keeping Owen’s secret. Chris nodded slowly, as if he completely followed Liam’s train of thought and waited for him to connect the dots. And just like that, Liam understood. “You’re pissed because he doesn’t come to you when the panic sets in. That he hides it from you and they hide it from us.” It made total sense, but he had to wonder if they were expecting too much. After all, they couldn’t call what was going on with either man a relationship. No, they were four fucked up bastards trying to come together in some romanticwhat? Not a foursome, eww…he loved Chris, but yeah, that just wasn’t happening. And Owen wasn’t his type any more than Billy was Chris’s type. But—always with the fucking buts, right?—what was happening was very definitely happening to the four of them, and Liam now had to wonder if that was the problem, because trying to come together was definitely not the same as being together. Chris shook his head and shifted in his seat. No, he was right. It wasn’t just their brother bond that made it impossible to move forward as two separate couples. Billy and Owen had formed their own unique friendship in prison and were no more likely to move forward without the other one either. “Just once, couldn’t we have done something the easy way?” The fire door banged open and Liam turned to see Billy and Owen, arms full of brightly wrapped packages, struggling to pull a huge cluster of balloons through the door. It was a shocking contrast to their dark thoughts and so uncharacteristically sweet of both men. Billy caught their surprised stare and yelled, “Is this where the party’s at?” “It is now.” It might seem silly, but it was exactly what they needed and exactly who they needed it from. Maybe they hadn’t been expecting too much at all. Liam rose to give them a hand and glanced down to see the look of longing in Chris’s eyes and thought maybe it was time they all expected more.  
Buy the book: Amazon Pre-Order Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014E90EXA ARe Pre-order Link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-safetyinnumbers-1901179-149.html KOBO: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/safety-in-numbers-4  
Meet the author: Like many readers, the dream of being a writer has been with me a long time. After three decades of trying, I'd begun to doubt. Thanks to social media, I followed my favorite authors hoping to glean some words of wisdom as I pounded out half-formed ideas with alarming regularity. Two repetitive themes emerged: to be a great writer you must read a lot and your butt must be in the chair every day like it's a job. The more you write, the easier it will be to write and the better you will be at writing. I took that advice to heart and write every day. With six published books to date, three series in the works and a full schedule of releases planned for the next two years, it's been amazing to have made this dream my reality. I am a firm believer in marriage equality, love at first sight, power dynamics and happily ever after. I'm a lover of strong secondary characters and series filled with families, biological or chosen. All are themes you'll find throughout my books. Where to find the author: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessiegbook Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/JessieGBooks Facebook Author Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jessiegbooks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JessieGBooks Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jessiegbooks/ TSU: http://www.tsu.co/jessiegbooks Ello: https://ello.co/jessiegbooks G+: https://plus.google.com/+Jessiegbooksmm/posts Tumblr (NSFW): http://jessiegbooks.tumblr.com/ Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bhuja1 Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24427440-safety-in-numbers Publisher: Jessie G. Books Cover Artist: Andrew Reyna Tour Dates & Stops: 
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