ABOUT THE BOOK
TITLE: Detour
AUTHOR: Sid Love
PUBLISHER: Cool Dudes Publishing
LENGTH: 226 Pages
GENRE: M/M Romance Thriller
COVER ARTIST: Corneles Bronkhorst
BLURB: Austin Reyes works as a bartender to support his ailing mother in a small town called Eaton. But his life takes a horrible turn when his boss’ son, Caleb, arrives in town and forces himself upon Austin. There is no end to Caleb’s lustful intentions. Austin leaves Eaton and flees to Denver to start a new life when his mother commits suicide after succumbing to depression. There, he meets Dylan Carver.
Dylan is out and proud. He’s also a well-known actor in the porn industry. When haters damage his car, Austin, now homeless and destitute, is injured and Dylan helps him. In the immediate aftermath, Dylan develops more than a passing interest for Austin, and, though they part ways, chance meetings never stop.
Austin lets Dylan in on the secret about his past, but soon realizes that the man who looked so happy on the outside, has his own baggage. Unbeknownst to them, someone is plotting to get Austin killed.
Even while surrounded by danger, Austin and Dylan’s relationship takes a detour that was always meant to be. Will this detour be Dylan’s undoing? Will Austin finally come to terms with his mother’s suicide and follow his own truth? Or will their lives implode?
Trigger Warning: Content includes a rape scene.
EXCERPT
My apartment building had seen better days. It was ancient and looked like it would fall apart any time. The color had worn out over the years and there were cracks here and there, but it was dearest to me anyway. It had been my home for as long as I could remember; well, it wasn’t exactly owned by us — we rented, to be specific — but I speak from the sense of belonging. The owner of the building — Mr. Marshall — had promised to repair it soon. It was a one-story building with four small apartments, two on each floor that faced each other. Our apartment was on the first floor, so, at three in the morning, I took the flight of stairs and walked up to my door soundlessly. I knew better than to wake up our neighbor. I slowly put the key into the lock and opened the door.
Hesitating for some time, I considered again whether to tell my mother about what had happened. I couldn’t hide anything from her, but the explanations would have to wait until morning. I was too tired and sad right now.
I closed the door silently behind me.
The house lights were dim but I could see the light in her bedroom. As always, she was waiting for me to return. She would be curled up in her bed, reading her favorite Nora Roberts novel. She did the same every night before going to sleep.
I headed for her room. Thankfully, I had stopped limping as the pain dissipated; she wouldn’t know anything was wrong right away.
The door was ajar.
I stepped into the room.
…And suddenly it was hard to breathe.
“Mom! Oh, dear God!”
Her lifeless body hung from the ceiling fan.
I rushed to support her feet. Although I knew the worst had happened, I hoped she was alive.
She didn’t move.
Her bare feet were cold.
Her skin, pale like never before.
I couldn’t understand why she would take such an extreme step. She was fine when I had left for work that evening.
My tears flowed freely this time.
That was when I noticed it. The letter on the nightstand.
BUY LINKS
REVIEW
This was such an interesting book. It’s one of those stories where there are many strands, all woven together – no more like a plant with shoots flying out all over the place, sometimes winding around other shoots and sometimes turning around and weaving themselves together in surprising way.
I can’t deny there were times when I lost my place a little as the book tends to skip large periods of time with only a scene break. I found this a bit distracting and, more than once, I was confused about when and where the action was taking place. This was not, however enough to turn me off the story.
I really enjoyed the characters in this because they weren’t perfect.
Austin is severely damaged by experiences that make it difficult for him to have sex and culminate in his mother’s suicide. Dylan is a porn star and an almost recovering alcoholic, Amy is in love with Lianne, hiding it by throwing herself at men, and Lianne is in love with an assassin. They’re all beautifully screwed up.
Austin (Aka Teeny Aka Oz) is my favourite character. He’s damaged and thinks himself weak and pathetic, but he’s not. Just to have kept his sanity and got to where he is proves he’s stronger than he thinks. He’s always thinking of other people and taking responsibility for everyone’s lives. I see a lot of myself in him, which I probably why I empathise.
Dylan is a rock. He’s also flawed, but he’d far more stable and sound than Austin and despite a few false starts he’s steady in his love and support.
Amy and Lianne are hilarious. They are clearly the best of friends. In the beginning, Amy is…to say she throws herself at men is an understatement. When Austin first meets her, she pins him to the sofa and rubs her boobs in his face (Oh no, not boobs! Austin hates boobs, at least when they’re being rubbed on his body).
There are other bit-part actors (probably recruited by Trev through the magic of porn) and they’re all well drawn and vivid.
The story is generally well paced, although it has a habit of speeding up at times, and making time jumps which catch you unawares.
All in all, this is a sometimes frustrating but always entertaining book and is thoroughly a romance through and through with not too many bad things happening and a lot of angsty kissing
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sid Love grew up in one of busiest cities in the world, Mumbai, listening to the excerpts of Indian epics as told by his father every night. While it served as an inspiration back, he has always had an ambitious mind.
In 2007, when he had just turned sixteen, he decided that he would make his lifelong dream come true—to become a well-known, respected author someday.
Ask him and he would refuse to accept that he is obsessed with books. Or movies. Or TV shows. Addicted may even be the right word.
He is a die-hard fan of Jane Austen’s romance novels and loves to reread them time and again.
Find him on -
GIVEAWAY
Winner gets a paperback copy of DETOUR!
