New Release Review: Broken Silence by Felice Stevens #Review #Giveaway

Title: Broken Silence
Series: Rock Bottom #1
Author: Felice Stevens 
Self Published
Publication Date: May 13, 2019
Length: 275 pages


Synopsis

Justin Molina has secrets. He’s served his time but remains a prisoner of his past, unable to forgive himself for failing his family when they needed him most. Justin’s grief is overwhelming, but he keeps silent and focuses on his goals. About to graduate college, he tries to keep his head above water—no matter how many times life keeps knocking him down. When he’s forced to register for a poetry-writing class, Justin discovers putting words to his feelings might be exactly what his fractured heart needs to heal. Or is it the older professor with the bow ties and gentle smile who gives him a chance when no one else will?

Professor Foster Faraday Harding is a broken man. His divorce is final, and he’s reverted back to the safety of his books. Even his poetry no longer brings him joy; he’s sleepwalking through life. The raw emotion of Justin’s poetry awakens Foster to desires he thought long buried in the ashes of his marriage. When he discovers Justin is struggling financially, Foster offers him a solution that benefits both of them. Soon it’s Foster who’s struggling with emotions he can’t understand: Justin is his student. And a man. One crazy night years earlier doesn’t mean anything. Foster is straight.

After months of denying the growing attraction between them, an unexpected kiss changes everything. Justin and Foster are no longer only professor and student—they’ve become lovers, but the strain of hiding their relationship increases with each passing day. Words have the power not only to hurt but to heal the greatest pain. If Foster and Justin listen to what their hearts are saying, they might break through their silence and live their own love poems—together.

Purchase Links

Amazon US 

Amazon UK 

Review

So, there are a few things that I look for when I’m reading.  I want to be able to connect with the characters in some way, to feel what they feel and think what they think.  I want to be able to completely immerse myself in their story.  It doesn’t matter what genre I’m reading.  If I can’t, or if something happens that pulls me out of the story, the book becomes a DNF for me.

I have never had a DNF from Felice Stevens.

Justin has entirely too much responsibility and guilt for a guy his age.  He’s holding down a number of jobs to support both himself and his ailing mother, while trying to shake the stigma of being an ex-con, trying desperately to get his college education. He’s forced to take an Introduction to Poetry Writing class where his professor is Foster Harding.

Foster has his own issues to deal with including a manipulative (soon-to-be) ex wife who used him for status and money.  His deceased parents weren’t really ready for the responsibility of having a child (as if anyone really is).  Now here he is, in his early forties, plain lonely.  The bright spot in his life is his best friend Ross who is dealing with a devastating loss of his own.  I absolutely love older characters.  Older gay men have seen some s#!t and have the scars to prove it.  Foster is no different.

The chemistry between these two is off the charts, but neither of them feel as if they can take the next step due to their own individual responsibilities.  Justin for him is his mother, jobs, and education.  And Foster simply for his job.  Of course, this creates the question of “will they or won’t they” (as if there’s any doubt.  This is a Felice Stevens book, after all). But sometimes the journey we take is filled with rewards we never thought we deserved.

Even the supporting characters get their moments to shine, making you eagerly hope for a continuation of their stories. (I’m looking at you, Benny and Ross)

The added bonus is the poetry scattered throughout the book.  It’s deep and emotional, and gives you perfect insight into Justin whose kind of rough exterior hides a man who has only ever wanted to do the right thing by his family, despite the poor decisions he’s made to do it.

All in all, this is another fine addition to Felice’s catalog, and I’m hoping for updates on a couple of the minor characters.

Giveaway

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Guest Post: Felice Stevens~ Broken Silence

We are so excited to have Felice Stevens here talking about her process, her experiences with writing, the evolution of so many characters we've fallen in love with, and her new release Broken Silence. Get comfy, folks, this is a good read.

I’m one of those authors who, unless I’m writing a series, never really knows what book will happen next. When I finished the Man Up series last year, I knew I wanted to write a few stand alones, almost as a palette cleanser. I wanted to step away from that interconnected world and write something that would have a beginning and an ending for my characters.

I wrote His Uptown Guy in my Landmark series and then the idea for The Coincidence hit me and I had to tell Coby and Eli’s story. But while I was in the home stretch of that, I began to think, “Uh oh. What’s next?” I toyed with several ideas but nothing hit me. I was having a late night chat with one of my book friends and she asked me the same question. When I said I didn’t know what was coming next, she said, “You should write a forbidden romance. Something smutty.”

I like smut. LOL. Not going to lie, I think we can all use a little smutty times in our reading lives. So my friend and I chatted some more and the idea popped up with Professor/Student romance and I said “Huh. I could write that.”

So began Broken Silence, which was supposed to be another stand alone, a short, quick smutty little book. But then I started to write it and there was something about Justin that pulled at me and I had to dig deeper into his background. What made him so prickly? Why did he have all this pent up guilt? And slowly he unfolded.

The same with Foster. He wasn’t going to be that man to use his power to influence a student. From the beginning I wanted him to be as conflicted as possible about his attraction to Justin. The first time a student caught his eye. The first time he’d have a physical relationship with a man. A seventeen-year age gap. In other words, hurdles to overcome. After 86,000 words, I think they made it to their HEA.

Let’s face it I’m not a short writer.

If you’ve read my books, you’ll know how much I love to revisit previous characters. I confess. I have a hard time letting my guys go. So in many books you’ll find a little Easter egg where a character from one book will pop up. Before I published and was a reader, I loved when authors showed me snippets of favorite characters after their stories were finished. I never, ever plan this. It’s an organic process that I, and many readers have told me they love.

Several things happened in Broken Silence. It started out as being a standalone but Harding’s best friend, Ross is way to big a character with an even bigger personality so he will have his own book. But there’s also Benny, my sweet, redheaded Benny who has been angsting over Gino for several years at this point. You met Benny in the book Perfect and I wanted his and Gino’s story from the start.

So as you see, what began as a one book stand alone will now be a three book series. I’ve called it the Rock Bottom series, because all the men have hit such low points in their lives they don’t believe there’s any way to find their way back.

You can find Broken Silence on Kindle Unlimited for a special release price of $3.99.

Links:

             Universal Link: https://getbook.at/BrokenSilence

Amazon US: http://bit.ly/JustinandFoster

Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/Broken_Silence