Title: Trust the Connection
Author Name: Brigham Vaughn
Tagline: Scars run deep but run loves even deeper.
Series and Number: N/A
Trailer: N/A
Publisher: Two Peninsulas Press (Indie/Self-Published)
Publication Date: November 20, 2018
Word Count /or Page Number: 145,480 words
Formats/Price: eBook - $6.99
Buy Links:
NOTE: This story was previous published as a two-volume serial under the titles of “Connection” and “Trust”. Minor updates have been made but the story is essentially unchanged. This is re-release.
Summary:
home he’s ever known. Jobless and homeless, he makes a desperate call to a couple he barely
knows. They give him a place to stay at their place in Atlanta while he gets back on his feet. But
he’s too shy to explore the big city and go after what he wants: a relationship.
Physically and emotionally scarred from a devastating car accident, Jeremy Lewis struggles to
reconcile the brash, outgoing man he used to be with the social recluse he’s become. He’s
resigned himself to being alone, but an encounter with an ex-boyfriend shakes up his dull
existence and brings Evan into his life.
Loneliness draws Evan and Jeremy to each other, but a strong mutual attraction isn’t enough. At
thirty-six, Jeremy is convinced a relationship would be holding twenty-one-year-old Evan back.
Evan must be strong enough to fight for what he wants and Jeremy must let someone close
enough to see his scars. Otherwise, they’ll miss out on the love of a lifetime.
Review
My Rating - 5 Stars!
Trust the Connection, by Brigham Vaughn is an amazing story.
Evan's been kicked out of his home, and at 20 years old he's without a job, without a home, and completely on his own. Until he's taken in by Russ and Stephen.
Jeremy's 36 and lives in chronic pain from an accident in his past. He's alive and functioning, but is unable to live a full life. He's depressed, feeling that he's half a man now and there's no reason to live. He's crippled, scarred, damaged and lonely. Very lonely.
Then Jeremy and Evan meet at a party, bringing these two lonely men together. When Jeremy first sees Evan, his long dormant sex drive comes back to life. What follows is an amazing story of these two men coming together despite their emotional obstacles.
The story is well written, the characters well developed and the theme powerful. We get to know these characters well, are able to feel their feelings along with them, and are thrilled when their slow burn romance comes to fruition.
Their story contains a whole lot of ups and downs, struggles over their age difference, and a whole lot of heartbreak. They are certainly an odd couple, but they're perfect for one another.
One wonderful lesson of this story is that life is fragile and we need to hold onto what matters to us.
The other powerful theme is that family does not need to be biological. Just because someone's rejected by their real family, doesn't mean we can't make our own families.
The author's writing is wonderful, creating fantastic characters and taking them on a journey of growth. I definitely recommend this story.
Excerpt
“Sorry I’m so late.”
“No problem.” Russ’ grin stretched from ear to ear, and when Stephen approached with a matching grin on his face, Evan finally remembered to congratulate them.
“That’s amazing you’re getting married. Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, Evan. We are too,” Stephen said. He looked stylish in dark gray pants, a teal button-down shirt, and a white jacket. By comparison, Evan felt incredibly boring in his navy suit trousers, white shirt, and dark gray jacket. Lame, but it was pretty much all he had, and he’d felt brave mixing two different suits together. “How have you been?”
“Good, thanks,” Evan said. “You?”
“Fantastic.” Stephen glanced over at Russ with a smile before looking back at Evan. “I’m sorry we haven’t made time to get together recently. The three of us will have to catch a ballgame or something sometime soon.”
“That would be nice,” Evan said.
Russ chimed in. “I’ll have to introduce you to everyone later, but let me give you a quick rundown on who’s here. My dad, my sister, and her boyfriend are all over there.” Russ gestured to the booth he’d left. “The rest are Stephen’s friends or our co-workers. Oh, and Monty and Emily were here earlier but you missed them. He had to head to work.”
“Oh, too bad.” As weird and rude as Monty was, Evan kinda liked him, and Emily seemed sweet. He wanted to tell her he hadn’t killed the plant she’d given him yet. Plus, it would be nice to know someone other than Russ and Stephen here. Evan’s stomach rumbled. “Um. I’m kind of starving. I haven’t had anything since lunch. I think I’m going to go grab some food, if you don’t mind.”
“Shit, sorry,” Russ said. “I didn’t think about that. Go eat, and we can catch up later.”
Evan nodded and made a beeline for the table. There was plenty of food left, and it all looked amazing. He piled a plate full and looked around for a place to sit. Most of the booths were taken, and he felt weird joining a group he didn’t know, so he walked over to one of the unoccupied tall tables. He looked around as he ate, noticing Stephen talking to an incredibly hot guy.
At first glance, the guy looked familiar. He reminded Evan a little of Russ, enough to wonder if he was a brother or cousin or something, but on closer inspection, he began to second-guess himself. They did both have dark hair and tanned skin, but this guy had a stronger jaw and a cleft chin. Besides, Russ had never mentioned any family except his dad and sister.
As he ate, Evan found himself distracted, looking at the guy and not really tasting the food he put in his mouth. The guy wore a pink button-down shirt, a tan jacket with the sleeves pushed up, and jeans that made Evan’s gaze stray to his ass more than it should. He laughed a lot, showing off white teeth and a great smile. He had a scar at his temple, the skin pale and puckered where it disappeared into his hairline. He rubbed his left thigh every so often, the gesture unconscious, as if he did it more out of habit than anything else. Evan chalked it up to a nervous tick at first, but then he noticed the man grimace when he shifted his weight, his jaw clenching.
Something in the guy’s conversation with Stephen made him glance back. He gave Evan a half-smile and wink when he saw Evan looking. The gesture made Evan flush and look down, but something about it triggered a memory. The sporting goods store, that’s where I recognize him from, he thought. The guy had been nice, and Evan had definitely noticed how cute he was. He’d been kinda disappointed when the fit specialist took over. He couldn’t remember her name. She’d been nice too, just not Evan’s type. This guy, though? Yeah, he was definitely Evan’s type.
Of course, a guy that hot wouldn’t ever notice him, but Evan could enjoy looking, right?
Evan realized his plate was empty, so he looked around for a place to put it. There was a tray with a few empty glasses on it near the food table, so he took it over there and went to the bar. He was tempted to order one of the peach lemonade things he’d had there before, but he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to pay for his own drinks or not. Since he’d just paid bills and his budget was looking a little tight, he went for a rum and Coke.
It turned out there wasn’t a charge, so he took a seat at the bar and sipped his drink, trying to work up the courage to go talk to people. The problem was, Russ and Stephen were both engrossed in conversations at the moment, and he was not comfortable walking up to strangers and making small talk. He shuddered at the thought.
Which was why he’d been living in Atlanta for almost six months, and he still hadn’t made friends. Or met a guy. He was fine at work, and he got along well with the people he worked with, but almost all of them were older and had lives of their own. The only people under thirty had wives or husbands and kids. It wasn’t so bad if he had a reason to talk to them, but he wasn’t good at getting to know them outside of work. As the weeks and months passed, he thought maybe it would get easier, but it never did.
He went to work, came home, and read or watched movies. Alone. He’d signed up for a dating site but kept writing and erasing his profile, so it was only his name without any picture. The one time he’d tried to go to a gay bar, he hadn’t even made it in the door before feeling panicked and uncomfortable, so there was no way in hell he was going to try again.
Atlanta was every bit as amazing as he’d dreamed about. Too bad he was the same old Evan Harris he’d always been.
“So how do you know the grooms?” The man he was pretty sure he recognized from the sporting goods store dropped onto the stool to his left, and Evan jerked, spilling some of his drink on the bar.
Author Bio:
Brigham Vaughn is on the adventure of a lifetime as a full-time author. She devours books at an
alarming rate and hasn’t let her short arms and long torso stop her from doing yoga. She makes a
killer key lime pie, hates green peppers, and loves wine tasting tours. A collector of vintage Nancy
Drew books and green glassware, she enjoys poking around in antique shops and refinishing thrift
store furniture. An avid photographer, she dreams of traveling the world and she can’t wait to
discover everything else life has to offer her.
Her books range from short stories to novellas. They explore gay, bisexual, lesbian, and
polyamorous romance in contemporary settings.
Social Media Links:
Email: brighamvaughn@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brigham.vaughn
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Facebook Fan Group (Brigham’s Book Nerds):
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorBVaughn
G+: plus.google.com/+BrighamVaughn
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