SOMEBODY 2 LOVE
Author: Maria Vickers
Publisher: Self-Published
Cover Artist: Maria Vickers
Release Date: March 22
Genre Contemporary MM romance
Trope: May/December
Themes: Finding yourself, rediscovering your dreams, learning who you are
Heat Rating: 2 flames
Length: 57 432 words/ 190 pages
It is a standalone story.
Love isn’t about losing yourself.
Will the past come back to destroy everything they are building? Two strangers meeting by chance, searching for somebody to love, and finding each other.
Rhys had it all…for the most part. He didn’t mind leaving people or dreams in the past because he was determined to carve out a new future with his fiancé, Nick. But like a house of cards, it all came crashing down around him. Nick found someone else to love, and Rhys suddenly found himself with nothing. Will Rhys open his heart again or keep it sealed shut?
Declan experienced a lot as an Army doctor, but once he was able, he got out, tired of war and suffering. When he meets Rhys, Declan sees a brokenness in the other man’s eyes and wants to do anything he can to drive away Rhys’s ghosts. Even if it means risking his own heart.
“Did you ever feel like you were called to do something?”
This conversation kept going from deep to shallow, and I didn’t know if I could take much more. “Why?”
“Just curious. Have you?”
“No,” I lied.
“If that’s true, why did you move down here?”
My head was spinning, and I felt like I was drowning. “I don’t know what you mean,” I said defensively. I was fighting this tooth and nail, but I didn’t know why I was being so obstinate. Declan might have believed he was helping me, but in truth, he was picking at a wound, causing it to hemorrhage.
He sat next to me and picked up the controller I’d dropped. “What game are you playing?”
Frowning, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath in an attempt to get my bearings again. “Borderlands 3.” Was that me? I sounded breathless, and my voice was barely audible over the pounding in my ears.
“Nothing yet.” I breathed deeply and let it out through my nose. “Listen, Declan, I’m fine. Yeah, I’m hurt and heartbroken because I expected more from someone who claimed to love me, but I’m not completely down and out. Eventually, I’ll bounce back better than ever. Period. I know Baker is worried about me, but he doesn’t need to be. As soon as I can, I’ll get out of his hair, and everyone will be happy. You won’t have to worry that I’m using him for my own gain or anything else. Who knows, maybe Montana is where I belong. I have family and friends there, people who care about me, and I wouldn’t be a nuisance. Maybe I could even go back to school and figure out what I want to do with my life. So, you don’t have to pretend to be interested in talking to me any longer. I’ll tell Baker you were nice, and you tried, but I told you to get lost.”
“You haven’t said that yet.” He grinned.
I turned my head and met his gaze. “Please leave. I need a few minutes to myself.” I should have felt bad for demanding such a thing since he was only trying to be nice, but I didn’t. I’d had enough and needed him gone to lick my wounds. Everything was still too fresh, too raw, too painful, and he kept bringing it up, making it impossible to break away from it at all.
“Sure.” Getting up, he didn’t take his eyes off me. “For the record, I think it would be a mistake to go back to Montana.” After saying that, he left the room, the door closing with a soft snick.
Maria Vickers is a bestselling and award-winning author who currently resides in St. Louis, MO with her pug, Spencer Tracy. She has always had a passion for writing and after she became disabled in 2010, she decided to use writing as her escape. Life is about what you make of it, you have to live it to the fullest no matter the circumstances.
From a young age, she has always loved books and even dreamed of being an author when she was younger. Growing up in the Navy, she used to weave tales for her siblings and her friends about anything and everything. And when she wasn't creating her own stories, she had a book in her hand. They transported her to another world. She hopes that her readers will have the same experience when reading her stories, and that, in some way, they can relate to her characters.
Getting sick changed her life forever, but it also opened doors for her that she thought would always be out of reach.
