Length: 50,000 words approx
Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design
Roads Series
Blurb
A lot can happen in six years, and Ash and Pete have seen their world flipped upside down more times than most. Being parents to Pete's young nephew wasn't in their plan, but life happens to them and they roll with the punches. Or at least they did, until new heartache rocks their hard-won happily-ever-after.
Ash loves Pete as much as ever—more, in fact—but Pete battles alone with a burden that weighs heavily on his heart. Ash is no stranger to dark clouds, but the secret Pete keeps from him is a storm that could break them.
Despite the fierce love that once buoyed them, they're both drowning until a new friend throws them a lifeline. His wisdom offers insight—for better or worse, real love is rarely a smooth journey. For Ash and Pete to come full circle once more, they’ll have to hit the road and chase it.
Excerpt
Not that I took much notice of any man but Ash. He was never going to take his shirt off in public, but he didn’t need to. The fucker turned heads wherever he went, and the fact that he had no idea made me love him even more.
Made me want him even more.
We didn’t dance. Ever. But clubs had always made us horny in the past, and this one was no exception. The music ramped up and the heat seeped into us. The crowds thickened, pushing us ever closer. I pressed myself tight against Ash, so absorbed in him that I forgot to glare at anyone who dared look his way, and backed him into a nearby wall. “I like this club.”
“Yeah?” Ash hadn’t touched any booze, but his face was as flushed as mine felt, his eyes as hooded, and his skin jumped when I slid my hands beneath his T-shirt and over his chest. He licked his lips. “Do you think we’re gonna be here long?”
I doubted it, and it wouldn’t be the first time we’d cut loose early to run home and bang. But we weren’t at home now, and as I kissed Ash, it occurred to me that we’d never fucked anywhere that wasn’t our home. If tonight went the way most of our club adventures had before, where would it end? Would Ash fuck me in a hotel? I honestly had no idea. And whose fault is that? If I’d come with him when he’d first started traveling two years ago, I’d know, and perhaps would have even persuaded him that we could fuck anywhere we damn well pleased.
We kissed for hours in the club. The fact that Ash made no move to hustle me out clued me in to how he felt about banging in our hotel room, but I didn’t let that stop me enjoying him. Because, fuck, I’d missed him, even though he’d been right there from the moment I’d met him. Ash was my home, my family, my everything. We didn’t need to screw for me to know that.
Review
Like so many, Garrett Leigh’s Roads series—with the books Slide and Rare—was one of the first M/M books and series I read. Ash Fagin and Pete Adams were characters I fell completely in love with and Garrett Leigh became an auto-buy author for me. It’s four years later, and nothing has changed. Ash and Pete are STILL wonderful and Garrett Leigh’s books are ALWAYS an auto-buy. But let me tell you, when Garrett announced she was writing Circle and we’d get to see Ash and Pete one more time, my stomach flipped, my heart pounded, and my smile couldn’t have been any bigger. Garrett Leigh has promised her readers an ending worthy of Ash and Pete and I promise you, she delivered. And then some.
Circle finds us a year after the end of Rare. Ash and Pete are in love, life has happened, and some things have changed, others have stayed the same. Ash is still incredibly talented. He’s still beyond close to his sister, Danni, perhaps even closer. Joe is still a powerful, welcome presence. Pete is still steadfast and loyal. From the first page, I was completely pulled back into their world and it was like I never left. Ash and Pete are those indelible, unforgettable characters and even if you haven’t thought about these two since the ending of Rare, I can promise you that once you start reading Circle you’ll remember everything about them. And remember just why Ash and Pete will forever remain one of the best couples ever in M/M romance.
This is a spoiler-free review so there’s not a whole lot I can say that won’t diminish your reading pleasure, so let me just say a few things. First, Circle proves just how and why Garrett Leigh continues to be one of the best authors writing in the M/M genre. She has this certain way about her storytelling that is just unparalleled. There is angst, there is pain, but there’s also this beautiful sense of hope and family and love that is always present. Nothing is forced; every happy moment is hard won and makes each and every hurdle so worth it. In Circle, Ash and Pete have more than a few hurdles to overcome. Oh, at no point was I ever worried (well, not TOO worried) that these two wouldn’t make it. I mean after all, they’re Ash and Pete and there are few other couples out there that deserve that magical happily ever after like these two.
Second, it was fabulous to see Danni and Joe once again. These two are just so integral to Ash and Pete that it wouldn’t have been quite the same without them. And just so you know Garrett, this girl would LOVE a novella, at least, of these two. Seriously. But to me, it was the presence of Jed and Max from Only Love, that really made the book for me. I won’t tell you how these two come into Ash and Pete’s life, because it is quite magical and brilliant how Garrett accomplishes this so seamlessly, but let me just say their presence was everything.
Third, Garrett Leigh delivers what is without a doubt one of my most favorite happily ever after’s of all time. No lie. I don’t care if it’s ten years from now and I’ve read thousands more books, I’m not sure there will be many that can compare to the gorgeous, emotional, and totally perfect ending Garrett has gifted us readers. I don’t say this lightly and it’s not an over-exaggeration. It was utter perfection.
Thank you, Garrett Leigh, for this treasure. Ash and Pete will forever remain in my heart and it’s an incredible thing to know that characters that are so loved and seem so real will be living their happily ever after for all time.
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Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.
Garrett's debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.
When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.
Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock sitemoonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.
Website: http://www.garrettleigh.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garrettleighauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh
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