Sharon’s review & release blitz ~ Sapphire Dawn by C. Travis Rice (Christopher Rice)

Sapphire Dawn by Christopher Rice, Christopher Rice/ C. Travis Rice
Published by Blue Box Press on June 25, 2024
Genres: #ownvoices, Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / General, Fiction / Romance / Suspense, Gay, LGBTQIA Romance
Pages: 388
Format: ARC, eBook, Paperback
Buy on Amazon

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Donnie Bascombe has made a lot of people's fantasies come true in his life, first in the bedroom, then on the set of his adult entertainment studio. To escape his difficult background, he made sex his business. But his best friend Logan Murdoch has just presented him with his tallest order yet - help plan the wedding of his dreams to wealthy hotelier Connor Harcourt. Desire has always been Donnie's forte. But lavish nuptials at one of Southern California's premier oceanfront resorts? For that job, he'll need a partner. And a mentor. Preferably someone who can put up with the fact that his idea of elegant is a buffet with a salad bar.Richard Merriweather has devoted his life to planning fairy tale weddings for celebrities and royalty - only to have his own husband shatter his heart into a million pieces. Remaking the special events at Sapphire Cove is just the distraction he needs to get his fancy and luxurious life back on track. But turning the wedding between the resort's general manager and security director into the most stunning and talked about in its history will require him to work alongside the groom's brash and undeniably sexy best friend. Worse, Donnie Bascombe has a powerful attraction to Richard Merriweather he can't keep secret.If Richard can show Donnie how to make his best friends happy, Donnie promises to behave himself. But the more Richard gets to know the sweet, affectionate hormone ball, the less he wants him to behave. And that's a problem. Because Richard Merriweather doesn't do hook ups and Donnie doesn't do relationships. Or does he? The closer Donnie gets to Richard, the more he wants something different, something he's never had before. Something more. Something that will force both men to confront the heartbreak in their pasts as they plan Sapphire Cove's wedding of the decade and find an unexpected future for themselves.

Some weddings get the best man hitched.

Sapphire Dawn, an all-new steamy Sapphire Cove novel from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice writing as C. Travis Rice & Blue Box Press is now live!

 

Everything about Sapphire Dawn was pure perfection; from the first chapter to the last word, I was immersed in this story and fell in love with these characters and their wild and crazy journey.  ~ Sharon – Simply Love Books

 

From the first romance book I read by C. Travis Rice (Christopher Rice), his words held me mesmerized and from the book on, it’s always been that way. Even when a book or a character doesn’t resonate with me, I am always enthralled by his words. Then there are books like Sapphire Dawn where everything comes together perfectly and I simply cannot put the book down. From the first chapter to the last word, I was immersed in this story and fell in love with these characters and their wild and crazy journey. Smart dialog, full of emotion, some drama thrown in to keep things interesting, but most of all two men opposite in almost every way find away to push past each other’s barriers and find a love neither one expected or thought they wanted.

I don’t think there are a lot of people who would ask an ex-porn star and current porn studio owner to plan their wedding, but Logan feels that his best friend Donnie has what it takes to make sure what he wants in a wedding isn’t overshadowed by what the love of his life Connor wants for them. Enter Richard, the event planner to the stars, and his newly opened office in the Sapphire Cove resort. He has been tasked by Connor and a reluctant Logan to plan their big event along with Donnie’s help unbeknownst to the happy couple they met in an “interesting” way before they are introduced making thing a bit awkward for them.

Richard is fresh out of a painful divorce and a sabbatical trying to regain his confidence in his business and in his life after finding out his husband was not only unfaithful for quite some time in their marriage, but unfaithful with most of their mutual friends. He’s a bit shell shocked from what happened and despite the fact Donnie made him feel desirable, he assumes Donnie is acting and makes everyone he comes into contact with feel that way. Both men made assumptions about one another that weren’t all together true and one of my favorite things about this book was them both figuring out there was so much more to the other man than they realized. I especially enjoyed watching Donnie realize that feelings made everything better including s*x.

This was a slow burn romance with both men being skittish about getting involved and for them the slow burn was not only needed but worked well. It gave them both time to heal, make peace with the past, and discover the hidden layers of each other. They truly had a special relationship and I loved watching them support one another all while falling in love.

Everything about this story was pure perfection and while I have loved other books in this series, Sapphire Dawn is my favorite to date.

 

Grab your copy today!
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Start the series of standalones with Sapphire Sunset today→ https://bit.ly/3z8Whu5

Keep reading for a look inside Sapphire Dawn!

For fifteen years Donnie had waited for the return of this feeling at the moment his lips
met another man’s, the tug, tug, tug in the center of his chest he’d felt whenever he’d
kissed Zach.
Here it was, the instant Richard’s hands had caressed his face and pulled him in.
The instant the man’s arms encircled his back and he tilted his head to one side.
The instant his mouth met Richard’s.
Everything else about the man since they’d first met had been resistance, but this kiss,
this yielding, open-mouthed kiss, was pure hunger. Pure need.
When was the last time he’d kissed a man who’d bared his soul? Maybe never. There’d
been plenty of lip locks—professional and non—throughout his life, but they weren’t
always a given when the clothes came off. For years he’d lived by the swipe and click
based rhythm of app-driven sex. Mostly it brought boys to the yard who wanted to dive
right into the deep end without checking the temperature of the water first.
This was altogether different. Richard Merriweather had offered up his pain and his
inviting lips in almost the same instant, making Donnie feel desired and needed in ways
he never had before. He had a crazy, paranoid thought that Logan or Connor would
walk in right then and start wailing on him for kissing their wedding planner. But it wasn’t
strong enough to make him gently push the event planner away. Maybe because
Richard’s lips were soft and tasted like spearmint, but his kisses were hard and
determined. And the man’s hair. It was so close. Right there. He could touch it if he
wanted to. He’d just have to move one hand up off his neck and into…
Don’t do it, Bascombe. You touch his hair and you’re done for. Touch his hair and this
turns into a helluva lot more than a kiss.
Donnie touched his hair. Ran one hand through it gently enough to let its thick locks fill
the gaps between his fingers, not so rough that he’d pull the roots. The last thing he
wanted to do was cause Richard Merriweather pain. He was in so much of it already.

He needed warmth. He needed pleasure. He needed his every fantasy fulfilled. He
needed all the things Donnie had learned to give an audience and countless cheap
tricks. And he needed them now apparently because his embrace was vise-grip tight, so
tight it was pulling Donnie forward off his feet. But Donnie didn’t care. Nothing seemed
more important than keeping his lips sealed to Richard’s, and if it meant they both went
over sideways and—
He ignored the sound at first. A weird double beep. Like a phone alert. Only it wasn’t
coming from his phone. Richard ignored it too.
Then came a pop, pop, pop that sounded like gunfire.

For more information about Christopher Rice/C. Travis Rice, visit:

http://www.christopherricebooks.com/

For more information about the Sapphire Cove Series, visit:

For more information about Blue Box Press, visit:
Website: https://theblueboxpress.com/
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