Diverse Reader: Blog Tour: Charlie's Hero by Nic Starr #Excerpt #Review #Giveaway

TITLE: Charlie's Hero

SERIES: Heroes #1

AUTHOR: Nic Starr

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

COVER ARTIST: Bree Archer

LENGTH: 200 Pages

RELEASE DATE: June 17, 2015

BLURB: Schoolteacher Charlie Matthews returns to his hometown, looking to regain a sense of community, reconnect with friends and settle down. It looks like his dreams have come true when paramedic Josh Campbell attends an accident at the school. It's love at first sight, and a romance begins.

But Josh's reluctance to come out to the brother who raised him, puts pressure on their fledgling relationship. While Charlie understands Josh's concerns, he can't help growing impatient. After all, Charlie came out years ago.

It's not until Charlie confronts his own parents and realizes he hasn't come to terms with their rejection that he fully understands what Josh has to lose. But Josh is Charlie's hero, and Josh will do anything to prove to Charlie that to be part of a family, he doesn't need his parents.

HE WAS in love. Totally, wonderfully, head over heels in love. Love with a capital L, hell, love in full uppercase. All it took was one look, one simple glance, and he was a goner. Of course the object of his admiration was classically handsome—tall and athletic, glowing with good health. Bright eyes, wide smile, waves of shining hair tucked behind perfect ears. He was like all Charlie’s dreams come true, with golden skin hugging strong muscles that strained on long limbs. But even if Charlie hadn’t been attracted to the man’s spectacular good looks, there was no way to overlook his actions.

When Charlie first saw him, he was kneeling on the schoolyard ground, tending to a little girl who was lying prone on the soft-fall rubber surface under the play equipment. She was one of Charlie’s second graders. Her right leg, bent at a strange, unnatural angle, gave a big clue as to her injury. Charlie hoped the leg was the worst she was hurt.

An efficient auburn-haired paramedic was treating her injured leg while the gorgeous guy knelt by her head, hands on either side of her blonde curls, keeping her still. He whispered into her ear, the words obviously having a calming effect—the little girl stared intently up at him, the hitch in her breathing the only evidence of any distress. There was a gentleness to his touch, despite the large hands, and caring in his tone as he concentrated on his patient. How could Charlie not fall in love with this glorious combination of caring, masculine beauty?

“Mr. Matthews. Mr. Matthews.” The urgent high-pitched voice and persistent tugging on his hand drew his attention reluctantly away from the scene unfolding in the playground. Shit, he thought, what the hell am I doing just standing here staring when I should be taking care of the other children, who are no doubt worried and scared? Dropping to one knee and looking Jennifer in the eye, Charlie gave her his full attention. “What is it, Jenny?” he asked, knowing she was going to voice her worry about her small friend on the ground.

“Is Alison going to be all right, Mr. Matthews?” she asked in a low and quavering voice. He replied in a way he hoped would calm her fears, by keeping his voice even and low.

“She’ll be fine, Jenny. Her mummy and daddy will meet her at the hospital, and Miss Bryant is going to go stay with her until they get there. Alison is in very good hands. See those paramedics?” He pointed toward the action under the monkey bars, and she looked across at the small group on the ground and nodded gravely. “Well, they’re very good at their jobs. They’re going to take Alison to the hospital so the doctors can put a cast on her leg. I’m sure she’ll be back at school in no time.”

“But she won’t be able to play,” she whispered, obviously still worried for her friend.

“No, she won’t,” he admitted. “At least she won’t be able to run around for a while, but she will be able to draw and play board games. I know you love to draw, so maybe you can play with Alison to make her feel better. I bet you’ll be able to write your name on the cast too.”

At that, Jenny met his gaze and finally smiled. “Really!” she said with excitement. “That’d be totally cool!”

They looked up as the paramedics wheeled past with the gurney. Little Alison was tightly strapped aboard. She was lying still, no doubt in shock, and holding tightly to the hand of Charlie’s hero. He only glanced their way for a second, obviously reluctant to take his attention away from the little girl who needed him, but that was enough. Their gazes connected, his warm brown eyes seeming to look straight into Charlie’s soul. The surge of emotion that flooded through him took him by surprise. The paramedic blinked and the spell was broken. They moved swiftly past Jenny and Charlie, then loaded the gurney into the back of the ambulance.

Charlie stood frozen to the spot, still holding Jenny’s small hand in his, and watched the ambulance leave. Finally he took a deep breath, turned back to the schoolyard, and started to round up any children still in the playground.

“Come on, everyone,” he called. “It’s time to get back to class.”

As the last stragglers made their way into the single-story building that housed the small group of classrooms, he knew he would be spending the afternoon reassuring the children. He decided that making get-well cards for Alison would be the best way of distracting the group of second graders.

DREAMSPINNER PRESS (eBook)

DREAMSPINNER PRESS (Paperback)

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My Review:
Nic Starr is new to me. I'm no stranger to the name but I just never got the opportunity to read any of her books until now. I am SO thrilled this was the first one I got to read. Charlie's Hero is a wonderful read. Charlie blew my mind. He's so strong, brave, and smart. He's vulnerable because of his past but I LOVED how, even though thinking of the rejection he faced from his parents, it didn't dictate WHO he was. I giggled with the opening as Charlie laid eyes on Josh for the first time. How many of us don't see a hot paramedic and suddenly start mapping out our future? LOL. Nic did a great job with character building here. Josh and his relationship with his brother was a beautiful thing to see unfold. Josh, strong and heroic was terrified to step out of his comfortable closet. But it took the love of Charlie to make him say, THIS IS WHO I AM, and I adored it so much. This will be a great series I can tell and I look forward to more from this author.

Nic Starr lives in Australia where she tries to squeeze as much into her busy life as possible. Balancing the demands of a corporate career with raising a family and writing can be challenging but she wouldn't give it up for the world. Always a reader, the lure of m/m romance was strong and she devoured hundreds of wonderful m/m romance books before eventually realising she had some stories of her own that needed to be told!

When not writing or reading, she loves to spend time with her family-an understanding husband and two beautiful daughters-and is often found indulging in her love of cooking and planning her dream home in the country.

You can find Nic on Facebook, Twitter and her blog. She'd love it if you stopped by to say hi.