Real Men by Susan Saxx 💕 Guest Post, Series Tour & Gift Card Giveaway 💕 (Multiple Genres)

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Come on a journey.

The town of Jack's Bay, in northern Ontario, Canada, straddles cottage country and city living, and does it well.

But more importantly, it's a strong community. Home to a group of men that have served together in the army reserve. Brothers, with an unbreakable bond, as well as determined women.

Friends and army reserve brothers to these men of Jack's Bay are the men of Golden, British Columbia. A fictional town, with quirky characters set in the Rocky Mountain trench, life is different in the mountains. Yet family, brotherhood and love...are the same.

Come meet the cowboy, the ex-hockey player, the dark-net computer genius, and the band of Canadian military reservists who served together, and the strong women they fall in love with.

Too many secrets. Too many dangers. And he's got a mission to accomplish.

Eli Austin is going off the grid. Too long in the underground employ of men he'd sooner spit on than obey, his master plan for breaking free is intact. But before he goes, he has to appease his heart and soul one last time. He's got to see the house he and his high school sweetheart, Tish, almost bought. Relive the Christmas they never had, before he walked out on her, into the dark night without a word, so many years ago.

Tish Taylor's been through it all. After that horrendous Christmas, she moved on, married. But the rebound is over, and she's newly divorced. She's going back to where she had it all - once - to spend a solitary evening in the abandoned house where three years ago, they were going to start their new life. The sweet old house that called to them, the life that was theirs. She's got to reclaim the woman she was then - full of dreams, and promises. So she can move on, once and for all.

So they both set out to that old house, now in the worst part of town.

But neither of them counted on what they'd find...

She's city. The more designer and fluffier, the better.
He's a closed-off butcher in a small northern Canadian town.

Emily Gates is hip. If a bag's got more than three zeros in its price tag - she's in. Cream is her favorite color. And her new role as junior city planner in the city of Toronto has her excited beyond all reason. For the gal with the troubled past - something she carefully keeps a secret - it's all about building community now. Even though she loves working and living in the upscale, trendy area just east of Bloor and Yonge.

Rufus Richardson isn't fancy and his job is dirty. And he's always trying to slay the damn dragons, even when no one wants him to. He should settle for a local gal, one who's used to country and mosquitos and wild animals poking around the family homestead. Instead, the moment he sees the vivacious city beauty, his heart tumbles, and his warrior's sword appears. But she doesn't need him to slay any dragons, and lets him know in no uncertain terms.

But when the life she's carefully curated falls apart suddenly and she goes off into the dark northern night alone searching for the meaning that's always eluded her, they find themselves thrown together, the night before Christmas Eve. On Ruf's annual infamous northern Candy Cane Run, and...

Everything changes.

And this Christmas, it all started with a candy cane.

She's high society. He's blue collar.
And he's only got one night to prove to her... blue collar is better.

WARNING: Graphic language, swearing, and frank sexual descriptions.
Oh. And chocolate truffles, velcro'd bondage straps, Manolos, and a bit of grime.

She wears a delivery uniform, but it won't be for long. Alex Jordan is determined. She'll work hard - do anything - to get her family back to its former wealth and standing in Toronto society. Once a solid member of the tennis club set, everything fell apart when her father was convicted of white collar crime. Life is harsh now, but Intimate Deliveries, her small company and brainchild of a delivery service is the vehicle to restore their lives. She'll build her brand, work her fingers to the bone, and she knows she'll achieve her goal. Eventually. She has to.

But she's also got her eye on rich and handsome Montreal playboy Luc Etalier. If she scores the heartthrob as a husband, her dreams will be realized all the faster. She'll get them all back to their former glory and ease of life - including her father, once he's released - one way or another.

He's blue collar, has sworn off alcohol, and she's lit his dreams of something more. Rand Peters has watched - and salivated - every time the brash young woman has come in to their machine shop to work the account. She's fueled his sexual fantasies for over a year, but she's also inspired him to go back to university part-time and work on that business degree. If she can go for what she wants, a former rich girl now in the trenches with the rest of them, so can he. And he's also seen something in her - working so hard in a life that's foreign to her - that touches his heart.

But a relationship? She'd never go for him - though something eggs him on to try. First real chance he gets, he will. He has to.

Now it's New Year's Eve, and he's there alone. Alex comes in with a delivery, ready to do her job and then run to her glamorous NYE party with old friends. But miracle of miracles - it's the wrong part. They'll have to wait for the new one. Together...

A New Year's Eve Erotic Romance

He’s adored by women–and men–all over the world. The raw, gritty NHL player, Dante Knight.

But life changed abruptly, a year ago. Now Dante’s no longer interested in the limelight, or in the panties strewn on the ice. With the same focus he applied to his stunning NHL career, he’s interested in only one woman….

Kelley Dunham. The girl who loved him, way back when.

It’ll be easy, though. She’s crazy for him, right?

***

Puppy love for the moody Dante consumed Kelly Dunham’s formative years. But she unravelled when the NHL hopeful abruptly left their tiny Canadian mountain town, after their first—and only—night together. She moved on, soul flaming from the shock. Worse, everyone knew.

Time for a change.

Now she’s ready for the playgirl life. Stupid Dante had the right idea, and she’s going to adopt his credo. Sex for nothin’ and her guys for free.

But when Dante reappears in a blizzard and they’re snowed in, and he’s finally ready to be the man she always knew he could be…

She stands firm. Nothing’s changing her new-found mission.

Let the games begin.

from Real Miracle

She allowed her gaze to spill over him. She couldn't stop, for the life of her. She scanned him up and down slowly, the bulk of him, a dark shape in the already dark hallway. It was already filling with his presence, the molecules of air rearranging themselves as if he'd never left her side.

Not like he'd been gone for three long years of her life. When she spoke again, she spoke slowly, as if in a dream. "I do. Not you, or any other man."

A wisp of a smile slid over those handsome lips.

Ah, those lips. Once they had signaled so much for her. Delight, worlds of pleasure.

Then trouble. Pain.

All of that in a pair of lips. But that was the past.

He scrutinized her as he stepped forward, and a slash of jagged light from the streetlight outside, prismed by the frosted glass, lit his face. She watched, saw his gaze soften as he looked at her, then crossed the landing in two long strides. His big hands gripped her just above the elbows, squeezed, and her heart thumped in her throat.

And suddenly, she couldn’t move. He towered above her, unmoving as well.

Then the spell was broken. He yanked her close, crushed her against him.

Eli.

The scent of him. Heat, something clean. Masculine. Cold winter air flooded the entryway, but underneath it, there was that trace of him.

Eli. Only him.

But her body warred with her. Part of it was frozen numb. Part of it, already starting to thaw, softened. To mold itself to him. To fit back where she’d always belonged.

And as she did, something distasteful traveled through her, made her stomach literally quell.

This wasn't right. Yanking herself out of his arms abruptly, she stuttered back a couple of steps. Her heart was still hammering like mad, but at least his heat was no longer seeping into her pores.

There was the pain again. Harsher. Slicing now, even though she'd pushed it down to a dull, almost-forgotten ache the last couple of years.

He moved toward her, seemingly unaware of what his body was doing to her. His hands were again on her upper arms, fingers curling around them as if nothing had changed...

As if he had the right?

Her palms landed flat against the rough material of his jacket and she pushed hard against his solid chest. "Don't touch me!"

She saw the surprise, then the confusion, cross his face. Then—and she saw that too—the resignation. But he covered it an instant, as someone long used to schooling emotions. "Sorry. I’m being an idiot. But what are you doing here? This isn't safe. You know the area."

Her eyes widened, and she couldn't stop incredulity from seeping into her expression. Um…yeah? This was the house they were going to buy. She kinda did know the area?

He had the decency to catch himself, look embarrassed, then apologetic. "Well yeah, I know you know it. I've been back myself for a couple of days, just wrapping up some business, so I decided to drive by the old house." He shrugged as he took up residence a full foot and a half away from her. Thank god—she was safe. For the moment. "But it's changed. It's worse. While I was out there, I saw a couple of carloads of dope-heads go by. It’s not safe.”

She spun an angry gaze at him. "Why did you come in here?"

She's a best-selling erotica & western romance author, scarred by life. She's sworn off romance in her personal life. Off men. But she needs a prop cowboy for her first book tour. And it's got to go well.

He's a rancher, foreman of the family's spread - and an army reserve soldier.

Tabby Grey was still shocked out of her mind she'd become a top-selling erotica author, overnight. Take that, you jerk of an ex-fiancé. But she's sworn off men. And sex, despite her hot-as-hell book.

Cole Dawson thought it was going to be a short job. Prop cowboy. Hell, he could do that. Anything to take his mind off his dad's surgery and the very real possibility of losing their family's home--the BC ranch. Until he met Tabby. And fell. Hard.

But when rugged Cole Dawson shows up for Tabby's book-signing tour and doesn't make a move except for being himself--reliable, decent and able to deal with all the craziness that happens on tour swiftly and successfully--it's game over. She should do something. Anything. Because the tour is over tomorrow--and then it's ba-bye.

Because she's hiding a secret. One she can't bear for the man she's head over cowboy-boot heels in love with to find out. It would simply do her in.

Because if he knew--what would he think of her?

*Reader Note: A Real Man is a short novella.

~~~

The Real Men Series

Compelling heroes, determined heroines - the men and women of Jack's Bay.

A new, small town military romance series set in the Canadian North. Featuring full-length stories as well as fast-read novellas. Read the entire series to fall in love with the men of Jack's Bay.

The Men of Jack's Bay:

A Real Man - Cole and Tabby
Real Deep - Dare and Abby
It Started on a Back Road - Danica and Parker
Real Hero - Nathan and Amy
Real Miracle (A Christmas Romantic Suspense) - Eli and Tish
It Started with a Candy Cane - Rufus and Emily
Real Temptation - Rand and Alex
Real Need - Mack and Marly (coming 2019)

Sign up for Susan's newsletter to receive new-release notifications here:
Smarturl.it/SusanSaxxNewsletter or follow her here on Amazon.

They never thought they'd meet again. And definitely not on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific.

But photographer Abby Haines, in the midst of a dream shoot, still has no time for her ex, army reserve soldier Dare Logan. She'd put everything into loving him, made him the family she never had. And when she chose her career - thinking he'd follow - he broke her heart. Hard and fast - but definitely not painlessly.

She'd been the light of his life. And he'd been shocked she'd chosen him - with his wrong side of the track upbringing - over her snooty, rich family. But when the bright lights of New York and a money-making career beckoned - she'd left him, as he always knew she would. He'd shut his heart down, thrown himself into making something of himself.

But now, they're here. Together. Every moment reminding them of what they had. When they're sent on a dangerous photo shoot across the island, obstacles mount. And when a killer hurricane threatens to devastate everything they hold dear, secrets long buried come to light and difficult, heart-rending choices will have to be made, or everything they could have will be lost.

~~~

The Real Men Series

Compelling heroes, determined heroines - the men and women of Jack's Bay.

A new, small town military romance series set in the Canadian North. Featuring full-length stories as well as fast-read novellas. Read the entire series to fall in love with the men of Jack's Bay.

The Men of Jack's Bay:

A Real Man - Cole and Tabby
Real Deep - Dare and Abby
It Started on a Back Road - Danica and Parker
Real Hero - Nathan and Amy
Real Miracle (A Christmas Romantic Suspense) - Eli and Tish
It Started with a Candy Cane - Rufus and Emily
Real Temptation - Rand and Alex
Real Need - Mack and Marly (coming 2019)

Sign up for Susan's newsletter to receive new-release notifications here: Smarturl.it/SusanSaxx Newsletter or follow her here on Amazon.

He's a Parks Canada officer & reserve soldier, bound by rules.
She's a graphic artist from the Big Apple, desperate for freedom.

And when they meet on a back road, it's a meeting neither wants to repeat. Ever again.

Danica Danstead needs to get away from it all - just for a few days. So when she visits her best friend in the northern Canadian town of Jack's Bay, she expects peace and quiet. But she gets anything but. When Abby is unexpectedly called away, she finds herself smack in the middle of contractor Dare Logan's construction team. It seems rude to avoid them, and their well-meaning efforts to made sure she's not lonely.

But she'll make an exception in the case of Parker Bowles.

Parker Bowles has a heart as big as the northern Ontario outdoors he loves so much. But Danica has the wrong idea of him, and he can't convince her otherwise. Yet he can't help but keep a special eye on the lonely, yet unpredictable Danica from NY, before she leaves to go back to the Big Apple.

But it takes an unexpected night in Jack's Bay to show them both that it was worth taking a second look.

Reader Note: It Started on a Back Road is a Jack's Bay novella.

~~~

The Real Men Series

Compelling heroes, determined heroines - the men and women of Jack's Bay.

A new, small town military romance series set in the Canadian North. Featuring full-length stories as well as fast-read novellas. Read the entire series to fall in love with the men of Jack's Bay.

The Men of Jack's Bay:

A Real Man - Cole and Tabby
Real Deep - Dare and Abby
It Started on a Back Road - Danica and Parker
Real Hero - Nathan and Amy
Real Miracle (A Christmas Romantic Suspense) - Eli and Tish
It Started with a Candy Cane - Rufus and Emily
Real Temptation - Rand and Alex
Real Need - Mack and Marly (coming 2019)

Sign up for Susan's newsletter to receive new-release notifications here:
Smarturl.it/SusanSaxxNewsletter or follow her here on Amazon.

Come to Jack's Bay...and find out what hero REALLY means.
A tormented ex-SEAL and an abandoned puppy team up when their choices have run out.

Nathan Hero, cursed with the ridiculous last name he hates so much, is back - to the town he swore he'd never return to. Serving as one of Canada's elite soldiers made him proud. But he isn't proud of the PTSD that's secretly cut him down. Of how he can't hold a job now. And he isn't proud of the horrible reputation his torn-apart family still has in the small, northern Canadian town of Jack's Bay, usually so forgiving - but not in the case of those Heros.

Amy St. James sparkles. An intelligent and caring young woman, she loves Jack's Bay and her family's world-reknowned boat building business. But she's going out on a limb now - alone - to craft a local enterprise with big plans to help the community. It's risky. And dating? Up until now, none of the preppy, young, well-established men her family hoists at her has captured her heart.

But when she meets the dark-mooded Nathan Hero and his tiny scrapper of a puppy - Ryker - her heart crumbles.

Against everyone's advice, the two become friends. The attraction builds. But as obstacles mount, everyone - their families and the town - is against them. And as events climax, they'll have to come to terms with the importance of following their own hearts, no matter what others think.

And especially? Everyone - including the whole town - will have to decide the ultimate question: what really makes a man a hero.

~~~

'It took a heartless villain, a woman of unusual sight, and a small town that wouldn't let go...

A man and a puppy.

Both. Heroes.'

~~~

"I really, really loved this book." - Amazon, 5 Stars

~~~

The Real Men Series

Compelling heroes, determined heroines - the men and women of Jack's Bay.

A new, small town military romance series set in the Canadian North. Featuring full-length stories as well as fast-read novellas. Read the entire series to fall in love with the men of Jack's Bay.

The Men of Jack's Bay:

A Real Man - Cole and Tabby
Real Deep - Dare and Abby
It Started on a Back Road - Danica and Parker
Real Hero - Nathan and Amy
Real Miracle (A Christmas Romantic Suspense) - Eli and Tish
It Started with a Candy Cane - Rufus and Emily
Real Temptation - Rand and Alex
Real Need - Mack and Marly (coming 2019)

Sign up for Susan's newsletter to receive new-release notifications here:
Smarturl.it/SusanSaxxNewsletter or follow her here on Amazon.

A thrilling, fast-read, Hallowe'en prequel to the Real Men Series.

Emma Hubbard is house-sitting on Hallowe’en night for her aunt, way out in the country. But the remnants of the past—the past she is determined to forget— threatens to catch up with her…in the deadliest of ways.

Note: This is Emma’s prequel.

Emma appears, much later in life, in The Real Men Series, set in Jack’s Bay, Canada. She first appears in A Real Man (The Full), in Real Hero and also in It Started with a Candy Cane, as well as other books in the series.

READER NOTE: This prequel is written in a more Gothic style, different from the rest of the series, due to its chronological timing and content.
—Susan Saxx

What inspires you to write?

I suppose it’s intense curiosity about this species we find ourselves part of. Humans are endlessly fascinating to me.

And by extension, so too, are characters. (Because they actually exist, on another plane, as entities. Right? :) )

One big question is what makes a person, after being one way all their lives, decide to change? Either by deciding to try out something that’s totally new or bizarre that might not really be a good fit for them (like Kelley in Skipping Christmas), or to go completely the other way and transform from who they were to a better place (like Dante, also in Skipping Christmas?)

I’m not sure, but as an author, this question fascinates me, and I get to play with it on paper, and in character’s lives.

And something I’ve come to realize is that I completely, 100% respect the fact that both decisions take a lot from the soul of that person.

Trying something new is risky. It's like going out on a limb that’s swaying, trusting you’ll be able to find your balance and hang on, or that if you fall, it won't be fatal and splat you like a falling pumpkin.

And transforming? That's also risky. It takes a strength of mind and purpose to commit to something higher, such as a course of action, that no matter how ‘ethical’ you think it is, you still, at the end of the day, can’t be sure how it’s going to turn out. Will it benefit you, or not? Will it give you your heart’s desire?

So—being a human is risky. And the way different characters, with their different hearts, attempt to get the things they personally want so much, and also try to take care of others at the same time—endears me to them.

It’s why I love detailing their internal reactions, and their hearts. And why in the end, I’m endlessly rooting for them, as they figure out their own internal ‘rights and wrongs’, and seize their happily ever afters. I’m just the scribe.

And so, when a story is all said and done, and we’ve done our discovering together, I feel a great sense of stewardship, and appreciation, that they’ve let me, a mere human, sitting in my papasan with my kitties curled around me, have an inner window to their stories, journeys and tribulations. And that they’ve allowed me to capture their story, for all the world to cheer them on.

That’s what inspires me to write.

Hi there! I'm SO glad we've connected!

I write books set in the small towns and big cities of Canada. Right now I'm writing the Real Men series - first installment set in Jack's Bay, northern Ontario - a place I < 3 so much! My heroes and heroines haven't had an easy time of it. But they take what life dishes out, and somehow, with grit, determination and heart - especially heart - they transform it into gold. Their gold. Their stories - like life! - range from sweet to sexy, contemporary to suspenseful. Want to know when there's a new Susan Saxx book released? Click the yellow "FOLLOW" button above. Want more news and special, subscriber ONLY 'insider' stories? Join my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bFwHOb. Interaction your thing? Come hang with me at Saxxy Reads, on FB. I promise - the water's always fine! And welcome...to Jack's Bay, northern Ontario, to the upcoming sister series in B.C., and to the rancher (#1), the tormented dark-net genius (#5), the 'hit rock-bottom' ex-Seal (#4), and the ex-star hockey player (Coming Dec. 2018) - all military reservists, and the passionate, heroic women they fall for. REAL MEN is the series - get to know them all at www.susansaxx.com.