Title:
The River Leith
Author: Leta
Blake
Genre: Gay
Romance
Blurb:
Memory is everything. After an injury in the ring, amateur boxer Leith Wenz wakes to discover his most recent memories are three years out of date. Unmoored and struggling to face his new reality, Leith must cope anew with painful revelations about his family. His brother is there to support him, but it’s the unfamiliar face of Zach, a man introduced as his best friend, that provides the calm he craves. Until Zach’s presence begins to stir up feelings Leith can’t explain.
For Zach, being forgotten by his lover is excruciating. He carefully hides the truth from Leith to protect them both from additional pain. His bottled-up turmoil finds release through vlogging, where he confesses his fears and grief to the faceless Internet. But after Leith begins to open up to him, Zach's choices may come back to haunt him.
Ultimately, Leith must ask his heart the questions memory can no longer answer.
Author Bio
While Leta Blake would love
to tell you that writing transports her to worlds of magic and wonder and then
safely returns her to a home of sparkling cleanliness and carefully folded
laundry, the reality is a bit different. Instead, piles of laundry and
forgotten appointments haunt her life, but the joy of writing and the thrill of
finishing a book make the everyday chaos all worth it.
Leta’s educational and
professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively, but her
passion has always been in writing, and she most enjoys crafting romance
stories that she would like to read. At her home in the Southern U.S., Leta
works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her
family.
You can find out more about
her by following her website (http://letablake.wordpress.com/)
facebook (https://www.facebook.com/letablake)
twitter (https://twitter.com/LetaBlake)
Links
Book
Excerpt
“Zach,” Leith said, turning and looking
him in the eye. “You asked
if there was anything else you could bring me.”
“Yes.” Zach leaned forward. “Anything.”
“Can you bring some photos?”
“Of your father?”
“Yes, and some from my life these
last three years or so? I got a card from a girl. Naomi? An ex-girlfriend,
Arthur said. I don’t even know
what she looks like. Maybe if I saw her picture…”
Zach pressed his
lips together and nodded slowly, his eyes flickering. “Sure. I’ll bring them tomorrow.”
Zach’s eyes made Leith think again of
the kinglet’s wings as
they’d shimmered in the sunlight. “Thanks.” The air in the room felt heavy.
He grabbed the item on top of the basket, keeping his tone light. “This is the cheese I want to
marry, huh?”
Standing up, Zach
clapped his hands lightly in an almost effeminate manner, and the sound broke
the moment. The question seemed to bring about a change in Zach, who said, “Yes, it’s your true love. Or so you
declared to me a few months ago.”
Zach’s eyes smiled, filled with amused
affection. Leith liked it. He wondered what he could say to make Zach smile
like that again. It looked much better on him than the tense sadness he’d come in wearing. Then, just as
suddenly, the smile was gone.
“I guess I should leave now.”
Leith’s surprise must have shown on his
face. “But you
just got here.” And I
was just starting to feel comfortable with you.
“I wish I could stay, but I…really can’t.”
“You don’t want to share this cheese?”
“Polyamory was never your style,” Zach countered, and then smiled
warmly again.
His teeth were very
white, and his lips a reddish pink. Leith thought Zach came across as a little
prissy, a little uptight, but something about it made him feel like laughing
inside. He must have found him amusing before. Obviously, or else they wouldn’t be best friends.
“The thing is, I have a business to
run,” Zach went on. “Unfortunately I need to go.”
“What kind of business?”
“A bar.”
“Oh, my brother owns a bar. On Fifth
Avenue in Park Slope. Or so he tells me. Supposedly I used to work—” Leith let the sentence hang. “Right, so you know that, don’t you?”
Zach spun around,
moving the chair back into its original position. But Leith had seen his face
twist like he was fighting tears.
He faced Leith again.
“Believe it or not it’s the same bar. Arthur’s my business partner. I’ll tell you all about it another
day, okay? The doctors say it’s
time to start introducing you to some of your history, now that you’ve dealt with—” Zach stopped short.
“My father’s death?”
“It takes some time.”
“Time!” Leith said, and threw his hands
up.
“Yes.” Zach stiffly lifted his right hand in a flat-palmed wave. “Well, see you.”
“When? Tomorrow?”
“Sure, if you want.”
“You’ll bring pictures?”
“Sure.” Zach stood there a long moment,
and then turned.
Leith noticed there
were multiple decorative zippers on the back pockets of Zach’s jeans, drawing attention to his
ass. When Zach looked back at the door, Leith jerked his head up.
“All right then. Goodbye.” Zach’s voice was tight, and he seemed
as tense as he’d been when
he came in.
Leith remembered what
Arthur had said, and he called out just as Zach’s hand touched the door knob. “Zach?”
When Zach turned,
his eyes were a hot green, and his lips trembled a little. “Yes?”
“Hey, uh, before you leave…?” Leith held out his arm to indicate the offer of a hug.
Zach hesitated,
lower lip in his teeth, but then crossed over to Leith solemnly. When Zach bent
down to hug him, Leith felt him relax in his arms. Leith closed his eyes,
surprised when his left hand cupped the back of Zach’s neck in an unplanned motion, his
fingers tracing the soft hair there. He took a deep breath. A sweet, spicy
scent filled his lungs, and suddenly he was warm all over. His heart jolted. He’d smelled that before. Somewhere.
He took another deep breath.
“Don’t forget—I’m not going anywhere,” Zach whispered fiercely.
“I thought you were going to work,” Leith whispered, turning his face
toward Zach’s ear,
having an odd urge to taste the cologne he smelled.
Zach pulled away,
his eyes laughing. “You always
think you’re so
funny, don’t you?”
For a moment Leith
thought something else was about to happen, something that made him lick his
lips and hold his breath. But then it passed, and he felt like he’d missed something important.
Zach grabbed a piece
of the bread. “You don’t mind sharing?”
Leith was tempted to
grab it back, thinking that somehow that would be the right thing to do, but he
simply shrugged.
“See you tomorrow, Leith.”
“See you.” Leith said, watching the door
shut behind Zach. He smelled his fingers. The sweet-spicy scent of Zach’s cologne clung to them, and deep
inside his brain something stirred. It made him jumpy; like there was an itch in
there he simply couldn’t
scratch.
Book Review
Blurbs
5 STARS. WOW. Just wow. I totally read this book in 1 sitting. It was just. Ugh. I loved it so hard. I couldn't have spent a finer Sunday morning with the birds and my coffee. Well worth the 3.99. WELL WORTH IT. ~ Slits Read Reviews
The River Leith is a FANTASTIC
book. It will immediately grab you, and hold you, and you won’t want the ride
to end. ~ The Novel Approach Reviews
The River Leith is a short book.
It could be completed in a day, and it is engrossing enough to do so. As with
her previous book, Training Season, Blake showcases her skill for writing
unique, involved and developed relationships. Her sex scenes are also
wonderfully written, realistic and free of purple prose while still being
romantic (but I'm With Geek will be sure to discuss them in more detail in a
later Between the Sheets article.) Ultimately, The River Leith is a delight:
devastating, hopeful, sexy, romantic, and true. Leta Blake is fast becoming one
of the most exciting new voices in the romance genre. ~ Hayley, I'm With Geek
Reviews
This story will pull at your
heart strings, will make you sweat (because the sex is hotter than the balls of
Hades--another area where Leta Blake never disappoints), and will have you put
that Kindle down with a happy sigh at the end of it. You don't want to miss out
on this one. Highly recommended. ~ Solange, Smut Book Club
I loved that this wasn’t a story
of miracle cure but a journey of two men realising what is important in
building a future. I loved the ‘firsts’ as they reconnected– first smell, first
touch, first kiss– and the sexual tension was amazing. This may not be textbook
amnesia treatment, but that wasn’t really important. What was important was the
emotional connection I felt to the characters. I enjoyed the story from
beginning to end. ~ Queer Town Abbey Reviews
I cannot even begin to express
just how much I loved "The River Leith". I tore through the book in a
few hours because it captured me from the first page and did not let me go.
This book completely deserves my ever elusive 5 star rating and its home on my
"M/M favorites" shelf with it's gut wrenchingly emotional portrayal
of Leith and Zach's story. ~ Erika, Goodreads
Raw, beautiful, lyrical, painful,
sensual, hopeful. This author gets inside all of it and then lays it open,
exposed, for us. I’m in that strange place, a mix of being in a daze and yet
bouncing around with joy. The writing. The dialogue. The characters. The love.
They’re all here. I recommend this to everyone.~ Prism Book Alliance Reviews
Satisfied and very pleased with
this book I now look forward to more romances written by Ms. Blake's clever
pen. ~ Ingela, Goodreads
Leta Blake's follow up to her M/M
romance fan favorite Training Season is the heartbreaker The River Leith. But
the love in this book shines just as strongly as it did in Training Season. ~
Gigi, Goodreads
Leta Blake has quickly become a
favorite M/M author for me. I loved Training Season, and was looking forward to
her next book. The River Leith delivered. ~ Julie, Goodreads
People, this book is SO DAMN
GOOD! ~ Gigi, Goodreads
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