🎉RELEASE BLITZ🎉#GIVEAWAY & Sharonica’s Logical Review: Always You –by– Nell Iris 💕

**🎉RELEASE BLITZ🎉 Logical Review & Author GIVEAWAY!**

Book Title: Always You

Author: Nell Iris

Publisher: JMS Books

Cover Artist: Written Ink Designs

Release Date: May 30, 2020

Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance

Trope/s: Childhood friends to lovers

Themes: Self-discovery

Heat Rating: 2 flames

Length: 11 000 words

It is a standalone story.

Best friends. Roommates. And now, maybe…more?

Blurb

Thom Novak feels like a walking cliché: the gay guy desperately in love with his straight best friend, Lee. But he’s willing to keep his feelings hidden, to do whatever it takes, as long as they stay friends forever.

Lee Conway loves sharing an apartment with Thom, his best friend since birth, and would be happy doing it for the rest of his life…no matter his current girlfriend’s opinion on the matter. But he’s never been known for being in contact with his emotions.

When something happens to upset the status quo, Lee pulls away. Has Lee learned how Thom feels about him? Will it mean the end of their friendship? Or is there another reason Lee needs time to think? A more…hopeful reason?

Goodreads

Buy Links

JMS Books | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo |

💕Always You💕
MMy Thoughts and Review:

I’ve never met a Nell Iris “Shortie” I didn’t adore. The characters, charm, and humor infuse together in Iris’ unique style that endears the story to the reader. Adding realism to her characters’ dilemmas along with a good dose of HEA makes for a true reading delight no matter which title you choose.

I enjoyed Lee and Thomas immensely, and not just for their thrifting skills or love for old Clint Eastwood films. These guys have been together since birth…quite literally since their moms were BFFs. This story is more than any trope or theme that might get attached to it. Let me explain.

Have you ever seen, met, or heard others speak of a couple, throuple, etc. who were together and comments were made about them like, “it was inevitable,” or “they have always been so wonderful together,” or how about, “he proposed the night they met, even though she had two small kids and have been married nearly 50 years.” Okay, so the last was said about my dad and mom. He still loves my mom as much today as he did back then.

That’s the point I was trying to make about “Always You,” and Thom and Lee. These two guys have that THING… That something that so many search for all their lives. We each know people who have it. My parents have it. I know a few others who do. It goes beyond chemistry, passion, friendship, soul-mate, or fated-mate, or whatever. Maybe it’s a strange recipe combining all the above? Blah! Who knows! It’s just that THING… Hahahaaaa… Dontcha love the eloquence today?

So, if YOU want to feel that special THING, NO, not THAT “thing,” you dirty birdies, reach for this sweetie of a Shortie of Nell’s. See if you can pick up on it. Who knows, maybe you will work out the secret formula for yourself. 💕

4.00 Clint-Eastwood-and-Thriftstore-Stars
🌟🌟🌟🌟

I received a complimentary copy of this book from GBP in exchange for my review.🌈

Excerpt

The next morning, I’m one hundred and ten percent certain something’s wrong. It’s 6:17 AM and I’m waiting for Lee in the kitchen, leaning against the sink, trying to make my glass of water last so I have an excuse for hanging around, doing nothing but staring in the direction of his bedroom.

Every morning, we go out running together at 6 AM on the dot. Without fail, come rain or shine, weekend or workday. The only exception is if either of us is sick or if it’s a world-ending kind of storm outside. And Lee is a stickler for being on time: between him and me, I’m the one who’s always late and leave him waiting impatiently for me to get ready.

And now it’s almost twenty past six and he hasn’t showed his face yet?

Outside, it’s a lovely May morning. The birds are chirping, waking up the neighborhood, and the first rays of sun promise to finally heat up our corner of the world. So no world-ending storm in sight, and yet he’s nowhere to be seen.

Is he dying?

Any other day, I would march into his room, pull off his down comforter, and yell in my best—albeit not very good—imitation of a drill sergeant—Get up, get up, get up!—but today I’m strangely reluctant.

On one hand, I want an explanation for his weird mood from yesterday—and his tardiness!—but on the other hand I still want to give him time if he needs it. And part of me isn’t entirely sure I’m not over-reacting.

But I can’t help thinking that it has to be something about me. What if he found out how I really feel about him and can’t deal with it? Not that I can recall doing something to show my hand, but I can’t be sure.

Maybe it’s something Debora said? Did she figure me out and tell him? She’s never shown any homophobic tendencies, so I don’t think that would be the reason. But maybe she’s jealous? She wouldn’t be the first of Lee’s girlfriends to be jealous of our close friendship, and I can’t really blame her if that’s the case.

But that can’t be it either. Every time someone has complained about our friendship in the past, Lee’s shut them down immediately. He wouldn’t accept it from her. And to be perfectly honest, Debora has always been friendly and nice whenever we’ve met and not shown any indication of being jealous.

And I’m back to thinking he must have figured out how I feel about him, even though it seems highly unlikely. I mean, I haven’t told him specifically—or written my feelings down on a sign—but whatever it is, I hope it won’t come between us.

I can live without having Lee Conway as my life partner, but I can’t live without his friendship. Losing it would kill me.

In the end, I decide to give him time, and live with his ire if it turns out he overslept—yeah, right!—and I neglected to wake him. I shove my feet into my shoes and head out on my own.

Running alone is weird. Lee is the whole reason I’m a runner at all; when he decided he wanted to become a professional football player when he was ten, he told me he needed to start taking his “fitness routine” seriously and he was going to start running every morning. When I made a disgusted face over the thought of getting out of bed in the buttcrack of dawn to go out and run of all things—wake me up and take me to the library and I would have been game, but running?—he zeroed in on me and started lecturing me on how even science geeks needed to stay healthy. He went on and on—and quoted me honest-to-god, real, actual facts!—until I broke down and agreed to come along. I’ve never been one to resist science. Or Lee. And the combination was deadly even when I was ten.

About the Author

Nell Iris is a romantic at heart who believes everyone deserves a happy ending. She’s a bona fide bookworm (learned to read long before she started school), wouldn’t dream of going anywhere without something to read (not even the ladies room), loves music (and singing along at the top of her voice but she’s no Celine Dion), and is a real Star Trek nerd (Make it so). She loves words, bullet journals, poetry, wine, coffee-flavored kisses, and fika (a Swedish cultural thing involving coffee and pastry!)

Nell believes passionately in equality for all regardless of race, gender or sexuality, and wants to make the world a better, less hateful, place.

Nell is a bisexual Swedish woman married to the love of her life, a proud mama of a grown daughter, and is approaching 50 faster than she’d like. She lives in the south of Sweden where she spends her days thinking up stories about people falling in love. After dreaming about being a writer for most of her life, she finally was in a place where she could pursue her dream and released her first book in 2017.

Nell Iris writes gay romance, prefers sweet over angsty, short over long, and quirky characters over alpha males.