Title: Curl Around My Heart
Author: Londra Laine
Editor: Jae Ashley
Cover Art: Aria Tan
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: July 24, 2018
Rating: 18+
Page Count: 168
Word Count: 61,923
Themes: California, single dad, beauty shop, contemporary, neighbor romance, African-American, drug addiction
At Pearl’s Hair and Nails, no one questions Tate Robinson about his high heels, crop tops, and lipstick,because he’s the boss and he can wear what he damn well pleases. The shop is his life, and he doesn’t need anything more. Until a man walks in with his adorable daughter, and Tate has to untangle her helmet-hair...and his growing feelings for the single dad.
Reece Evans has been on his job for years, has his own place, and now has custody of his eight-year-old daughter. But he doesn’t trust himself to avoid screwing up. Adulting is not his strong suit—or so he’s been told.And now a sexy beautician, who also happens to be his new downstairs neighbor, has Reece wanting and reaching for more than he thinks he’s capable of.
As Tate and Reece move past their own fears about relationships, Reece’s ex issues a threat that could destroy everything. Will Reece’s worries about other people judging him undermine his budding romance? And will Tate’s fear of rejection make him push Reece away? Or have the sweet single dad and his precocious daughter curled too tightly around his heart to give them up?
***Please be aware that this book contains references to drug addiction.***
The little knucklehead gave him a sly grin. “Maybe if you ask Mr. Tate on a date, he won’t be so cranky and he’ll do my hair?”
Reece snapped, “And what makes you think he’d even want a date with me anyway?”
“’Cause he looked at you the same way you looked at him,” LJ said matter-of- factly.
“And how is that exactly?”
LJ did what he assumed was an impression of the way he and Tate had allegedly checked each other out. She pursed her lips, looked at Reece, then turned her head away quickly, then snapped her head back toward Reece again from head to toe.
“That’s how you both looked at each other,” she said, shrugging, stuffing her mouth with the last of her roast.
Well. Damn.
He pushed away from the table, rising to his feet. “Well, I’m not doing this alone. Put your shoes on. We’re going downstairs.”
Londra Laine
A forever-man for every man
Londra has loved to read since she discovered The Baby-Sitters Club. As a child, her parents would ground her by taking all the books out of her room for several days. Londra began reading romance in 2008 and fell in love with the M/M romance genre after purchasing a book by accident several years later.
After decades of daydreaming, and jotting down story ideas, Londra decided to give life to the characters in her head. She writes to give her guys the happy ending she wishes everyone––no matter their race, religion, gender, or orientation––could experience in real life.
During the day, Londra is a communications manager for a consulting firm. She is a recovering journalist. Londra loves the New York Yankees, Seinfeld reruns, tacos, and Friday nights on the couch with wine and a new book.
In 2010, she moved from her native California to New York City where she lived in Harlem for nearly eight years. In early 2018 she relocated to Seattle with her husband
