That's right it's FRIDAY and the start of what I hope is a fabulous weekend for everyone and the continuation of the holiday weekend for those of you who had yesterday off for The Fourth of July celebrations.
In that vein, I'm excited to say I have one of Sassy Vixen's faves back again today. Author Kendall McKenna is a frequent guest here and on our sister blogs because basically she ROCKS. Not only does she write some of the HOTTEST male/male erotic romances I've ever read, she was one of the first authors in this genre that I chose to read. Before her books and those of our mutual friend Tyler Robbins, I had never read any where two males were the love interest pairings. Not that I had anything against it, I just didn't think it would appeal to me.
I was wrong. So very, very wrong! LOL! Sure the sex is mind blowing, but it's the relationship between the characters that pulled me in from the get go and I haven't left since. Kendall can weave a tale with such detail, you'd think you were living it yourself. I'm not exaggerating here. Don't take my word for it. Sit back and listen to Kendall describe herself and her work and make up your own mind. I'll be right over here with the car running waiting to take you all to the Kindle Store to pick up your own copy of her new one The Final Line (The Recon Diaries 3).
Hello, readers, writers, and all around general lovers of smut!
My name is Kendall McKenna, I write M/M Erotic Romance novels and novellas. I’m a frequent guest here, and it’s one of my favorite places to visit.
I had a book release yesterday and guess what?
I’m baaaaack!
If you have NOT had the pleasure of encountering me and exuberant man-love previously, I write accurate and realistic love stories about United States Marines. When I say realistic, I mean everything, from the way they talk to their combat situations. Mixed in with it all is a love story that’s never easy, but making it work is a part of the characters’ journeys.
Given that I write about U.S. Marines, both active duty and 1st Civ Div, July 4th was the perfect day for my latest title to be released. The Final Line is Book #3 of The Recon Diaries. It’s about an active duty Recon Marine who is not only embroiled in a mystery, but suffering from a fairly severe case of Post Traumatic Stress.
Blurb
Staff Sergeant Corey Yarwood is an instructor at the Basic Reconnaissance Course. His last deployment ended in horror, but he can’t remember those events. Battling severe PTSD, Corey’s drinking is growing out of control.
Sean Chandler walks into a dive bar, and into Corey’s life. An actor and a musician, Sean has the empathy and compassion to sooth Corey’s pain, and the strength to support him as he struggles to heal.
Corey’s lost memories are pivotal to a civilian murder, and a military investigation. Remembering could mean salvation, or destruction. Will the truth be too much for Sean to handle?
I can see you rolling your eyes. What does any of this have to do with fantasies? It sounds like it’s all reality based! Marines, combat, PTS, blech!
Except that it’s all fantasy! It’s my fantasy of how things could be, should be for active duty military. They don’t experience any hostility or prejudice for being gay. Their friends love, support and accept them. Their problems all work out in their favor.
Corey, the main character in The Final Line, suffers from PTS. He easily seeks out and receives treatment. It gets in the way of a burgeoning relationship, but they’re both adults and they deal with his issues rationally. Corey experiences some erectile dysfunction, but then he just takes a little blue pill. It’s my fantasy of a nearly perfect world.
I’m not naïve. I know how things really work. Veterans come back unable to maintain relationships. The VA is so backlogged, they have difficulty getting treatment. Some of the most effective treatments aren’t condoned by the VA, so they’re difficult to access. Here’s the deal, though; if I keep writing stories about the way things should be, and readers become comfortable with it, maybe they’ll come to expect it. If one reader comes face to face with a warrior suffering from PTS and thinks about Corey and extends some compassion to that warrior, instead of turning away, then I’ve been successful. If my story prompts you to make a donation to Battle Buddies, several people win. If a reader finds him or herself in a relationship with a struggling Vet, maybe Corey’s story will make them take a moment to stop, think, and react differently.
There is also a physical symptom a lot of Vets experience that has a stigma attached: erectile dysfunction. We make jokes about little blue pills, and Corey even acknowledges the misuse of them, but it’s something that we all need to treat with some sensitivity. And Sean makes a mistake in that regard, because he’s human.
Returning to the bedroom, Corey reached into the side pocket of his ruck. He retrieved the tall bottle of lubricant, a strip of condoms, and the hazel prescription bottle. Corey poured a Viagra into his palm and returned the bottle to his bag.
Corey tried to be discreet when he returned to the living room and used the last of his soda to wash down the pill.
“So I’ve got about twenty, thirty minutes to get you turned on?” Sean asked from his seat on the ottoman, running his palms up and down his thighs.
Corey’s heated blood chilled at Sean’s words. That’s what he’d been afraid of. He stepped in front of Sean again. Corey knelt on the ottoman, straddling Sean’s hips. He pressed his stomach to Sean’s warm chest. Sean looked up at him, pupils still blown wide with desire. Corey cradled his head with both hands and looked down into his beautiful eyes.
“I’m already turned on. I’ve been turned on since I got here. I can’t get any more turned on,” he said slowly and carefully, making sure Sean understood. “My head is fucked up and sometimes it fucks up my body, too. That pill just lets my dick catch up to what my brain already knows.”
Sean frowned as Corey spoke, until understanding smoothed his features. He lifted his arms and wrapped them around Corey’s hips, pressing his face to Corey’s belly. “No, I know that. I’m sorry, I said that all wrong.” Sean placed warm kisses along
Corey’s stomach, nipping at his hip bones. “I meant that I have some time to lick and suck you, before you get close to coming.”
Corey slid his hands down Sean’s chest until he gripped his rib cage. Sean’s hands slid down to grasp Corey’s ass. Sean turned his face upward again, he looked at Corey with a hungry expression. Corey leaned over and lowered his head. He dragged his tongue over Sean’s lower lip, teasing Sean into responding in kind.
Corey licked at Sean, rubbed their tongue together and enjoyed
Sean’s taste. Sean strained upward into and against Corey’s body. He breathed heavily, trying to push their mouths together and eagerly licking his tongue against Corey’s.
Sean pulled back hastily, his hands coming around to open Corey’s jeans. Reaching into his briefs, Sean gently pulled Corey’s soft cock out into the cooler air. Corey slid off the ottoman and rose to his feet. He gasped when Sean’s warm, wet mouth slid all the way down his length. He carded his fingers through Sean’s soft hair, finally curling his hands into fists.
He watched Sean suck hard on him, drawing back and stretching Corey’s cock as he did. Sean tongued him, flicking the tip into Corey’s slit and circling around just the head. Sean easily buried his face in the sparse, pale hairs at the base of Corey’s dick and he stayed there, breathing deeply with no effort at all.
It felt so fucking good. It wasn’t like Corey had expected. It felt like it did when he had a hard-on, but without the same urgency. He enjoyed the feel of himself inside the tight heat of Sean’s mouth, but Corey didn’t have the same overwhelming desire to push his hips forward.
Sean pulled off and Corey’s flaccid cock hung downward, nestling against the coarse hair. Gently, Sean eased Corey’s ball sac out of his briefs and cradled them. He glanced briefly at Corey’s face, his expression momentarily unguarded.
Corey didn’t like the pain in Sean’s eyes, knowing he was the reason Sean believed he had failed. Corey used his hands in Sean’s hair to pull his head back. Sean groaned, his neck arching, his eyelids heavy. When Sean’s mouth fell open on his groan, Corey almost forgot what he meant to say. He wanted to press Sean into the ottoman and devour his mouth.
“That feels so fucking good,” Corey said, keeping his voice low and suggestive. “You have the best mouth, and I love having it on me.”
Sean’s fingers curled tightly into Corey’s hips. Relief colored his expression, but only because Corey was looking for it. “Is there anything you need me to do to help?”
Corey gave in to his urge and leaned down to give Sean a deep, hard kiss. Their lips slid together wetly and Corey pushed his tongue in and licked at Sean’s. Sean moaned into Corey’s mouth, his fingers tightening on Corey’s hips.
Breaking the kiss with a wet smack, Corey pushed Sean backward onto the ottoman, climbing on top of him and straddling his hips. Corey took one of Sean’s hands and pressed his palm flat to Corey’s chest, beneath his dog tags. “Feel that?” he asked breathlessly. “Feel how you make my heart race?”
Sean nodded silently.
“Ignore the way my dick is being stubborn,” Corey continued. He dropped down over Sean’s body, his tags falling across Sean’s chest, and fused their mouths. He held Sean’s palm against him, both hands wrapped around Sean’s wrist.
And that’s some insight into my perfect fantasy world! But have fun fantasies, too! Did anyone read my fetish post on one of the other blogs? Two words…DOG TAGS!
Free of his clothing, Sean planted his feet flat on the ottoman and let his thighs fall open enticingly. Corey smiled at him, fully aware of what Sean was doing. He knelt on the floor, reaching between Sean’s legs and gripping his waist firmly. Sean wrapped his hands around Corey’s wrists.
When he leaned over to lick at each of Sean’s hip bones, Corey’s tags fell between Sean’s thighs and lay against his semi-hard cock. Corey gripped them and flicked them over his shoulder so they rested against his own back.
“That’s okay, but don’t you fucking dare take those things off,” Sean gasped fiercely, his hips pushing upward into Corey.
Corey looked up at Sean in surprise. He was used to being asked to remove them because they were always in the way. Sean’s adamant demand that Corey leave his tags on made his chest tighten. He’d thought he’d never find such easy acceptance from anyone except another Marine.
Smiling at Sean, Corey lowered his head and nuzzled at the musk-scented hair at the base of Sean’s cock. He felt it twitch against his cheek, filling just a little more with blood. Corey fumbled around, searching for the bottle of lube. His fingers closed around it and he opened the lid with a soft click. He slicked a single finger of one hand.
Except that it’s all fantasy! It’s my fantasy of how things could be, should be for active duty military. They don’t experience any hostility or prejudice for being gay. Their friends love, support and accept them. Their problems all work out in their favor.
Corey, the main character in The Final Line, suffers from PTS. He easily seeks out and receives treatment. It gets in the way of a burgeoning relationship, but they’re both adults and they deal with his issues rationally. Corey experiences some erectile dysfunction, but then he just takes a little blue pill. It’s my fantasy of a nearly perfect world. I’m not naïve. I know how things really work. Veterans come back unable to maintain relationships. The VA is so backlogged, they have difficulty getting treatment. Some of the most effective treatments aren’t condoned by the VA, so they’re difficult to access. Here’s the deal, though; if I keep writing stories about the way things should be, and readers become comfortable with it, maybe they’ll come to expect it. If one reader comes face to face with a warrior suffering from PTS and thinks about Corey and extends some compassion to that warrior, instead of turning away, then I’ve been successful. If my story prompts you to make a donation to Battle Buddies, several people win. If a reader finds him or herself in a relationship with a struggling Vet, maybe Corey’s story will make them take a moment to stop, think, and react differently.
There is also a physical symptom a lot of Vets experience that has a stigma attached: erectile dysfunction. We make jokes about little blue pills, and Corey even acknowledges the misuse of them, but it’s something that we all need to treat with some sensitivity. And Sean makes a mistake in that regard, because he’s human.
Excerpt
Corey tried to be discreet when he returned to the living room and used the last of his soda to wash down the pill.
“So I’ve got about twenty, thirty minutes to get you turned on?” Sean asked from his seat on the ottoman, running his palms up and down his thighs.
Corey’s heated blood chilled at Sean’s words. That’s what he’d been afraid of. He stepped in front of Sean again. Corey knelt on the ottoman, straddling Sean’s hips. He pressed his stomach to Sean’s warm chest. Sean looked up at him, pupils still blown wide with desire. Corey cradled his head with both hands and looked down into his beautiful eyes.
“I’m already turned on. I’ve been turned on since I got here. I can’t get any more turned on,” he said slowly and carefully, making sure Sean understood. “My head is fucked up and sometimes it fucks up my body, too. That pill just lets my dick catch up to what my brain already knows.”
Sean frowned as Corey spoke, until understanding smoothed his features. He lifted his arms and wrapped them around Corey’s hips, pressing his face to Corey’s belly. “No, I know that. I’m sorry, I said that all wrong.” Sean placed warm kisses along
Corey’s stomach, nipping at his hip bones. “I meant that I have some time to lick and suck you, before you get close to coming.”
Corey slid his hands down Sean’s chest until he gripped his rib cage. Sean’s hands slid down to grasp Corey’s ass. Sean turned his face upward again, he looked at Corey with a hungry expression. Corey leaned over and lowered his head. He dragged his tongue over Sean’s lower lip, teasing Sean into responding in kind.
Corey licked at Sean, rubbed their tongue together and enjoyed
Sean’s taste. Sean strained upward into and against Corey’s body. He breathed heavily, trying to push their mouths together and eagerly licking his tongue against Corey’s.
Sean pulled back hastily, his hands coming around to open Corey’s jeans. Reaching into his briefs, Sean gently pulled Corey’s soft cock out into the cooler air. Corey slid off the ottoman and rose to his feet. He gasped when Sean’s warm, wet mouth slid all the way down his length. He carded his fingers through Sean’s soft hair, finally curling his hands into fists.
He watched Sean suck hard on him, drawing back and stretching Corey’s cock as he did. Sean tongued him, flicking the tip into Corey’s slit and circling around just the head. Sean easily buried his face in the sparse, pale hairs at the base of Corey’s dick and he stayed there, breathing deeply with no effort at all.
It felt so fucking good. It wasn’t like Corey had expected. It felt like it did when he had a hard-on, but without the same urgency. He enjoyed the feel of himself inside the tight heat of Sean’s mouth, but Corey didn’t have the same overwhelming desire to push his hips forward.
Sean pulled off and Corey’s flaccid cock hung downward, nestling against the coarse hair. Gently, Sean eased Corey’s ball sac out of his briefs and cradled them. He glanced briefly at Corey’s face, his expression momentarily unguarded.
Corey didn’t like the pain in Sean’s eyes, knowing he was the reason Sean believed he had failed. Corey used his hands in Sean’s hair to pull his head back. Sean groaned, his neck arching, his eyelids heavy. When Sean’s mouth fell open on his groan, Corey almost forgot what he meant to say. He wanted to press Sean into the ottoman and devour his mouth.
“That feels so fucking good,” Corey said, keeping his voice low and suggestive. “You have the best mouth, and I love having it on me.”
Sean’s fingers curled tightly into Corey’s hips. Relief colored his expression, but only because Corey was looking for it. “Is there anything you need me to do to help?”
Corey gave in to his urge and leaned down to give Sean a deep, hard kiss. Their lips slid together wetly and Corey pushed his tongue in and licked at Sean’s. Sean moaned into Corey’s mouth, his fingers tightening on Corey’s hips.
Breaking the kiss with a wet smack, Corey pushed Sean backward onto the ottoman, climbing on top of him and straddling his hips. Corey took one of Sean’s hands and pressed his palm flat to Corey’s chest, beneath his dog tags. “Feel that?” he asked breathlessly. “Feel how you make my heart race?”
Sean nodded silently.
“Ignore the way my dick is being stubborn,” Corey continued. He dropped down over Sean’s body, his tags falling across Sean’s chest, and fused their mouths. He held Sean’s palm against him, both hands wrapped around Sean’s wrist.
Free of his clothing, Sean planted his feet flat on the ottoman and let his thighs fall open enticingly. Corey smiled at him, fully aware of what Sean was doing. He knelt on the floor, reaching between Sean’s legs and gripping his waist firmly. Sean wrapped his hands around Corey’s wrists.
“That’s okay, but don’t you fucking dare take those things off,” Sean gasped fiercely, his hips pushing upward into Corey.
Corey looked up at Sean in surprise. He was used to being asked to remove them because they were always in the way. Sean’s adamant demand that Corey leave his tags on made his chest tighten. He’d thought he’d never find such easy acceptance from anyone except another Marine.
Smiling at Sean, Corey lowered his head and nuzzled at the musk-scented hair at the base of Sean’s cock. He felt it twitch against his cheek, filling just a little more with blood. Corey fumbled around, searching for the bottle of lube. His fingers closed around it and he opened the lid with a soft click. He slicked a single finger of one hand.
You can read more about The Final Line, as well as the first two books in The Recon Diaries, at my website: www.kendallmckenna.com. You’ll find buy links, as well as links to Facebook and Twitter.
Use the Rafflecopter below to enter to win an e-book copy of the title of your choice from The Recon Diaries. While The Final Line is #3, it can also stand alone. But you really don’t want to miss Jonah’s and Kellan’s stories!
Now for the FREE STUFF!
Looking forward to reading this, Kendall!
ReplyDeleteCount me in.
Thank you! Hope you enjoy!
DeleteI absolutely love the covers of this series. Really hot
ReplyDeletedannyfiredragon@aol.com
Jared is definitely the "IT Boy" of covers! He hasn't designed a bad one, yet!
DeleteThank you for the excerpts! Adding to my TBR list. Looking forward reading Corey & Sean's story!!
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy! Thank you!
DeleteHey Kendall! This sounds like a great series. Definitely going to be adding it to my To Buy list!
ReplyDeletesuz2(at)cox(dot)net
Excellent! Enjoy them!
DeleteThank you for the post & excerpt from this book. I am looking forward to reading this series.
ReplyDeleteJessieL62 AT comcast DOT net
Thanks for stopping by! Hope you like the series!
DeleteSo excited for this book!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the post & excerpts! Congratulations on the new release!
ReplyDeleteOceanAkers @ aol.com