Monday, November 15, 2021

Safe Harbour by Thom Collins Release Blitz

Safe Harbour. Jagged Shores Book 2. Thom Collins.

Two lovers seek shelter in a storm of jealousy and passion.

Matt arrives in the seaside town of Nyemouth for a much-needed vacation. As a successful lawyer, Matt has a hectic career, and with an ex-husband still pestering him for money, he is long overdue a break. A holiday home perched above the town and its breath-taking harbour seems like the perfect place to unwind. Matt can’t wait to explore the beautiful, jagged shorelines and lose himself for a couple of weeks.

Jake has made a home in Nyemouth. After growing up in the city, living on the coast is everything to him. Running a business with his sister and volunteering on the crew of the local lifeboat, he is exactly where he wants to be. But Jake’s life is far from peaceful. Though he left his domineering husband Vince a year ago, Vince refuses to consent to a divorce or loosen his controlling hold on Jake.

On Matt’s first night in town, he encounters the couple having a blazing row. When Vince turns violent, Matt intervenes and takes Jake inside to escape his angry ex. Despite what happened, Matt feels a powerful attraction to the younger man. Jake is bright, endearing and unbelievably attractive, but the young man’s life is complicated. Matt already has enough problems of his own. He came away looking for an escape, not a starry-eyed distraction. As Matt and Jake get to know each other better, the gamble on a holiday romance becomes hard for either of them to resist. They have both been unlucky in love before. Maybe this time will be different.

Vince will not be shaken off so easily. He has no intention of letting Jake go… ever. As Matt’s and Jake’s emotions deepen, they do not understand how far Vince will take things to keep his husband. As far as Vince is concerned, they made a vow to each other… “till death do us part.”

Reader advisory: This story contains stalking and assault, physical and emotional spousal abuse, attempted murder with a firearm and references to abusive parenting and substance addictions.

Don’t miss our reviews of the rest of the Jagged Shores series!
For book one, North Point, click HERE.

 

Add to Goodreads.

 

Safe Harbour by Thom Collins

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
Apple Books  ~  B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  Kobo
Paperback (US)  ~  Pride Publishing

 

 

Excerpt



Matt opened the gate and approached Jake, who stood watching as Vince walked away.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

Jake’s skin was rosy, and his chest rose and fell dramatically. His hands trembled. Shock, Matt surmised. Jake turned to look at him. His eyes were wide, the pupils huge. “Yes,” he said, out of breath, “I’m… I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding.”

“What?”

Matt pointed at his cheek. “Where he clocked you.”

“Oh.” He put his fingers to his face and looked at the blood on the tips.

“Why don’t you come inside for a few minutes? I’ll get you an Elastoplast for that.”

“No, I couldn’t. Sorry… We’ve caused you enough trouble already.”

“Hey,” he said softly, “don’t apologise. I couldn’t ignore what was happening. Come on in. You’re shaking, too. Take a seat until you get your breath back. Give your buddy time to get away. I wouldn’t want you bumping into him at the bottom of the road.”

Jake exhaled, and the tension left his neck and shoulders. “If it’s no trouble, I could come in for a few minutes—just until things calm down.”

“Are you hurting anywhere else?” he asked, leading Jake to the front door and inside. “From when you fell.”

“Only my pride,” he said. “If that counts.”

Matt smiled. “Nothing wrong with your sense of humour.” He led Jake to the kitchen at the rear of the ground floor and sat him at the table. Matt folded a piece of kitchen roll into a small square and gave it to Jake. “Press this tight against the cut. There’s a first-aid kit in my suitcase. I won’t be a minute.”

“No need,” Jake said, pressing the paper towel against his cheek. “This should be enough to stop the bleeding. It’s just a scratch. You’ve done more than enough already. Thanks a lot.”

Being so close to him, Matt realised what a great-looking guy Jake was, with those beautiful eyes and unblemished skin. His T-shirt was well-fitted, showing the fine shape of his chest and shoulders beneath. His bare arms were muscular, gently suntanned and covered in light-brown hair. Despite his serious expression, there were very few lines on his face. Matt guessed his age to be around twenty-five.

“Do you want me to call the police?” he asked. “I got most of what happened on camera—certainly, the assault part. With me as a witness and the video evidence, they’ll have enough to charge him. It’ll get him out of your hair for the weekend, at least.”

Jake shook his head. “I don’t want to involve the police. It will only make things worse.”

“That guy assaulted you.”

“I’ll live. It’s just a scratch. If we phone the police, it will only make Vince worse.”

Matt didn’t push it. He’d seen this so many times before when victims of violence didn’t want to pursue a case for fear of inflaming the situation. “So, who is that guy? Your boyfriend?”

Jake exhaled dramatically. “If only. That would make things so much easier. No, Vince is my husband—soon-to-be ex-husband. At least I hope so. That’s what tonight was all about. My solicitor wrote to him about the divorce and he got the letter this morning.”

 

 

Reviews


Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team


Veronica☆☆☆☆
Matt takes a two-week holiday to Nyemouth and meets local man, Matt, who is being hassled by his soon to be ex-husband out the front of Matt’s holiday rental. The men are attracted to each other immediately, but both are trying to get away from bad relationships and aren’t looking for love. I have to say I enjoyed spending time with Matt and Jake. They are both good, hard working, down to earth guys and their romance was lovely, and a little sweet at times.

Safe Harbour is a good story, but it is slow going in the beginning. In the first third or so, I thought there was too much tell and not enough show for my liking. Once you get past the halfway point the story picks up. Then the last third of the story was well paced and had a good dose of anxiety producing danger to go with the romance. I certainly turned the pages pretty quickly towards the end, eager to see how our two lovebirds would get through challenges thrown in front of them.

It was lovely to be back in Nyemouth again. I found following Matt on his holiday to Nyemouth relaxing at times and it made me want to go on holiday. One of my favourite things about this story was the town itself. I loved the seaside location and the great local community. It seems like somewhere I’d want to go. I really enjoyed Safe Harbour. It gets 3.5 stars from me.


Sarah☆☆☆
Thom Collins’ Nyemouth is a quintessential British seaside village populated by an admirably improbable number of handsome and available men. In this book we’re introduced to divorce lawyer Matt and local restaurant owner Jake.

I liked the idea of this story more than the execution. The language is clunky at times, and I came to hate the cartoonish villainy of Jake’s ex-husband, Vince. He was way too much and the silly caricature that he becomes doesn’t do justice to the emotional trauma he inflicts on Jake. There were moments where Matt and Jake felt real and loveable but too often scenes are overwritten. I wanted to love Jake and Matt more than I felt able to. I love Jake as an LRI volunteer, and I really liked his relationship with his sister.

I really wanted to love this book and I kinda hate that the writing didn’t work for me.

 

 

Author Bio



THOM COLLINS is the author of Closer by Morning, North Point, and the Anthem Trilogy. His love of page turning thrillers began at an early age when his mother caught him reading the latest Jackie Collins book and confiscated it, sparking a life-long love of raunchy novels.

He is currently working on a new series.

Thom has lived in the North East of England his whole life. He grew up in Northumberland and now lives in County Durham with his husband and two cats. He loves all kinds of genre fiction, especially bonk-busters, thrillers, romance and horror. He is also a cookery book addict with far too many titles cluttering his shelves. When not writing he can be found in the kitchen trying out new recipes. He’s a keen traveler but with a fear of flying that gets worse with age, but in 2013 he realized cruising is the best way to see the world.

Check out his website for news updates and a free ebook, The Night.

Connect with Thom

Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

 

 

Giveaway


 

Two lovers seek shelter in a storm of jealousy and passion.

 

Hosted by

Gay Book Promotions.


Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Safe Harbour (Jagged Shores #2) by Thom Collins to read and review for this tour.

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