Author Name: Karen Stivali
Book Name: Moment of Silence
Series: Moments In Time
This book is a ‘Moments in Time Novel’. It takes place in the same world, but can be read separately.
Release Date: December 18, 2015
Blurb:
Growing up, Jason Stern led a charmed life complete with devoted sisters, a father who was one of Brooklyn’s most respected rabbis, and a mother who made the world’s best babka. He headed to NYU ready for anything—except falling for the wrong guy, coming out, and getting disowned by his once-loving family. In spite of that, Jason managed to graduate with honors. He’s got friends who treat him like family, and he’s proudly running the largest LGBTQ teen shelter in Manhattan. Life is good, but he’s still falling for the wrong men.
When charming, sexy Quinn Fitzpatrick begins work at the shelter, Jason falls hard and fast. Quinn is tall, blond, funny—damn near perfect. Only if Quinn’s gay, even he doesn’t seem to know it. If he does, he’s not telling anyone. And he’s about one ceremony away from becoming a Catholic priest.
Long hours of work turn to long nights of talking and laughter, and Jason dares to hope this time he’s falling for the right guy. But Quinn’s got a past to deal with and major decisions to make about his future. When Quinn leaves for a silent retreat, Jason knows the silence may change everything.
Pages or Words: 76,000 words
Categories: Contemporary, M/M Romance
Excerpt:
Pierogi were just what the evening required. We got two orders, potato with fried onions, and cheese doused in butter. To round things out, we added a gigantic link of kielbasa and finished it all off with blueberry blintzes. By the time we were done eating, I was so full I could barely move.
“This was awesome.” Quinn licked a purple streak of blueberry off his fork before setting it down and pushing his plate away.
I was too mesmerized by the sight of his tongue to speak right away.
The waitress stopped at our booth. “All set?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
She placed the paper check between us, and Quinn reached for it, but I grabbed it first. “I’ve got this one. Make up for the popcorn you gave away.”
“You don’t have to do that.” He pulled out his wallet and put a twenty on the table.
“You can’t let anyone do anything for you, can you?”
Quinn’s eyes bugged, then softened. “Yeah, I guess I do have a problem with that sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
“Okay, most of the time.”
“You know what they say. The first step is admitting you have a problem. And the second is letting me pay for dinner.” I stuck the check and enough money for the meal and tip under the glass sugar shaker, then grabbed Quinn’s twenty, folded it in half, leaned over, and tucked it into his shirt pocket.
My fingers were in the pocket before I fully realized what I was doing. Then the whole universe condensed into the drag of my fingers on that two-inch-square area of his chest. His rock-solid chest that tightened the instant I made contact. My own chest froze, devoid of air. I’d forgotten how to breathe. All I could do was think about the fact that I had my hand on this man who’d consumed my waking and sleeping hours for weeks. And I had to let go. Literally.
I pulled my hand away, trying to turn the rush of breath that returned to my lungs into something resembling a laugh. “Ready to get out of here?”
Quinn nodded.
Shit. He’s silent again. Did he notice that moment of fantasy lust I just played out? What the fuck is wrong with me? Way to make him uncomfortable. Fuck—My monologue of self-criticism was interrupted by his hand on my shoulder.
His hand was probably a normal temperature, but given the heat it generated in my body, he might as well have been the Human Torch . Great. I’m not only in love with a straight priest, he’s also a superhero.
Quinn chuckled, and for a second I worried I’d said my crazy thoughts out loud. My face flushed to match the heat that coursed through the rest of me. “What?”
He handed me my keys. “You left these on the table.”
“Oh.” I took them, heat flaring through me in another rush when his fingers brushed mine as he placed the keyring in my hand. “Thanks. Geez. That would have sucked if I’d left those here.”
“Yeah.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I nearly tripped over the step as we left the restaurant. It was a text from Campbell. I laughed. “Apparently my roommate’s having an orange juice crisis, as in we’re out of orange juice. I need to stop at the bodega on the way home. I feel like we’re married sometimes. In a weird, sexless way.” Stop talking. Now.
“It’s good you get along so well.”
I gestured to the store on the next corner. “You need anything?”
“Nah. I’m too full to even think about eating or drinking anything.”
“The power of the pierogi.”
He grinned. “See you tomorrow?”
“Get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll work on those shelves. Unless you think we need to run the math one more time.”
“Just triple-checking your skills.” The teasing sound in his voice made me want to stay on that corner and talk to him all night. Anything to keep hold of the pleasant hum that was vibrating through my body. But then he turned away, heading toward his place, hand in the air in a backward wave of sorts. “Good night.”
It was indeed. “Night.”
Buy the book:
Moments In Time Series Bundle
Read books 1 – 3 for only 99 cents! (Sale ends at the end of December)
Moment Of Silence by Karen Stivali
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Whew…I’m kind of a mess after reading this book…I feel like my emotions are all over the place.
Let me first start by saying that this is hands down the best book of the series and one of my favorites of the year. As much as I liked Tanner and Collin, these men far surpassed them and I could not put this book down once I picked it up. Ms. Stivali’s writing is beautiful and poetic in this story. While it does mention previous characters and refers to things that happened in the previous books in the series, I feel like you could read this as a stand-alone if you wanted.
The 2nd thing I want to address is the religion/almost-priest part of the story. That is a major hot button for me. I try to avoid stories with priests or heavily religious plot lines. It’s hard to explain but it’s really better for me to avoid those stories because I usually can’t be very open-minded about it. I’m so happy that didn’t stop me from reading this book. I don’t want to ruin any part of the story but I thought she handled things really well for Quinn and his decision with becoming a priest. I also thought the religious issues with Jason’s Jewish family were handled well. None of it made me uncomfortable or upset.
I loved the emotions in this book…I always love the feels and this book is full of them. It made me laugh just as much as it made me cry. A lot of it completely warmed my heart. Some of it made me angry. Both of these guys are pretty amazing and you can’t help but love them. They both feel every emotion with their whole heart and soul. I loved the slow build of their relationship, that was absolutely perfect for me and I’m usually one to want to rush to the good stuff. They both go through so much personal growth in this story that by the end they are mountains of strength individually and together.
I really want to spoil this book for everyone and talk about all the things I loved about it, but I’m not going to. Just know that this book is a MUST READ to me.
I also have to say that I LOVE CAMPBELL…a lot. I don’t know if we’ll see him again since the next book is going to move on to a different couple but he is one of the best characters of the series. Another character with great potential that I’d love to see a future book about is Nick.
This book will probably make my Top 10 list for the year and I absolutely recommend picking it up and reading it. You will not be sorry.
About the author:
Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies, and fictional British men. She’s also the multiple award-winning author of contemporary and erotic romances. She writes novels about love…like real life, only hotter.
Karen’s lifelong fascination with people has led her to careers ranging from hand-drawn animator, to party planner, to marriage and family counselor, but writing has always been her passion. Karen enjoys nothing more than following her characters on their journey toward love. Whether the couples are m/f or m/m, it’s guaranteed that Karen’s novels are filled with food, friendship, love, and smoking hot sex—all the best things in life.
When Karen isn’t writing (and often when she is), she can be found on Twitter attempting witty banter and detailing the antics of her fruit-loving cat, BadKitteh.
Where to find the author:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenstivali
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karenstivali
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/karenstivali/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5170527.Karen_Stivali
Blog: http://karenstivali.com
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/KarenStivaliAuthor?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5170527.Karen_Stivali
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anna Sikorska
Tour Dates & Stops:
Parker Williams, BFD Book Blog, Bayou Book Junkie, Unquietly Me, KathyMac Reviews, 3 Chicks After Dark, Book Reviews and More by Kathy, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Jessie G. Books, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Elin Gregory, Inked Rainbow Reads, Divine Magazine, MM Good Book Reviews, Happily Ever Chapter, Just Love Romance, Three Books Over the Rainbow, Book Lovers 4Ever, Butterfly-O-Meter, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy, Charley Descoteaux, Because Two Men Are Better Than One, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, A.M. Leibowitz, My Fiction Nook, V’s Reads
Rafflecopter Prize: eBook copy of ‘Moment of Impact’ (Book one in the Moments in Time series).
a Rafflecopter giveaway