Review: Brad (Threefold Part II) by Sotia Lazu (Promo, Review, Excerpt, Guest Post)
I want to thank Sotia Lazu for writing a guest post for the blog today. I am really enjoying the Threefold series and I love that Sotia was gracious enough to talk to us about how she came to write erotic romance.
First, though, I’ll post some promo about her latest release Brad, part two of her Threefold series, where you can read the book’s summary as well as an excerpt.
Brad
By Sotia Lazu
Publisher: Acelette Press
Pages: 41 pages
Genre: Erotic Romance
Format: PDF-Arc
Source: Author
Release Date: 5/15/2015
Series: Threefold (Book 2)
Brad Miller thought he was being attentive to his girlfriend’s needs when he talked his best friend into having sex with her. It’s Becca’s fantasy he wants to fulfill, and that’s the only reason he’s trying to convince Colin to join the two of them on her birthday.
Colin stubbornly insists it’s a bad idea. Feelings may develop and risk their friendship, as well as Brad’s relationship with Becca. But Brad wants it all, and for the first time in his life, he doesn’t want to think about consequences.
Until consequences catch up with him.
NOTE: The story includes hot guys being confused and sexy together and with a big, beautiful woman.
* Read on for a book photo teaser, excerpt, a guest post by Sotia Lazu, and more details about the Threefold series, including how to order Brad and the first book, Colin. *
Excerpt (NSFW)
“What I feel is wrong.” Colin still held on to Brad’s shirt.
“Not if it doesn’t hurt anyone.”
“It can hurt me,” Colin said through gritted teeth.
“I won’t let it.” Again Brad made a promise he didn’t fully understand. “If you fall for her, and she falls for you…maybe she won’t have to choose.” Where had that come from? He and Becca had invited Colin to their bed, not their relationship.
Colin’s eyes held confusion and something else. Hope? Whatever it was, it vanished as swiftly as it had appeared. “Please let it go. This isn’t good for any of us. What happened—I shouldn’t have done it.”
He regretted one of the best nights of Brad’s life.
Ice water poured through Brad veins. “I see. Okay.” He slapped Colin’s hands away, and turned to leave.
“I said I’d tell you the truth, so”—Colin took a sharp breath—“it’s not just about Becca. I can’t do this with you. ”
Brad faced him again. Studied his drawn face through narrowed eyes. Did Colin mean he wanted Becca to himself, or…
“If I keep seeing you naked, so close to me, eventually looking won’t be enough. I’ll slip, and I’ll touch you. And you’ll be disgusted by me.”
Brad could hear the unspoken ‘too.’ Colin had told him about his fallout with his brother, who’d waited until their father was hospitalized to spew bile at Colin for his sexual preferences. “I’m not Alan, Colin.”
Colin let out a forced laugh. “Oh, believe me, I know. I never wanted to fuck my brother.”
And there it was, out in the open. The one word that changed it all.
Fuck.
Colin wanted to fuck him.
* Arc provided by the Author in exchange for a fair and honest review *
I loved the first book in this series so I had high hopes for this one. I’m so glad the book lived up to my hopes for it. Sotia Lazu has once again written a book I couldn’t stop reading. Everything is showcased so well, from the storyline to the characters, that I was immediately drawn into the book and into the second part of the Threefold series.
I seriously adore Brad and Becca together. She really pushes him out of his comfort zone and allows him to find—and be—the man he truly is. I wasn’t quite sure how I would feel about Brad and Colin together, because I loved them both with Becca, but I wound up loving the two guys even more than I do Brad and Becca or Colin and Becca. That probably stems from the fact that Brad and Colin have so much to lose, Becca, their six year friendship, and yet, their attraction to each other prevents them from hiding from what they want.
When Brad and Colin finally see each other after events in the first book, it was just as amazing as I hoped it would be. I loved that Brad took some initiative and surprised himself by doing things he never thought he would do, or even want to do—both with Becca and, later, with Colin. I only wish the book had been longer, so I could’ve read more of Colin and Brad together.
If you like your m/f, m/f/m, and m/m romance steaming, you will want to read Brad. It’s short, but it’s hot, and it lays the ground work for what is sure to be one mega spicy encounter in the third book of the series, aptly titled, Becca.
How I Came (ha!) to Write Erotic Romance
by Sotia Lazu
Every time I start working on a new story, my mom wants to know what it’s about. I tell her about the plot and characters, she ohhs and ahhs, and the conversation usually ends with her asking the same question.
“Do you have to have sex scenes in this one?”
Yes, Mom. Yes, I do. Because sex is a Big Thing.
Despite society’s intensive efforts to convince women otherwise, sex is neither a sacred “gift” for us to give the love of our lives, nor something for good girls to stay away from. I appreciate casual hookups as much as intimate lovemaking, and I think BDSM and vanilla sex may both have their place in a loving relationship. As long as it’s safe, sane, and consensual, sex is a healthy expression of lust, love, or both. How can something that stems from such human roots be wrong to read or write about?
My characters love sex. They use sex or have been used for sex. They’ve been hurt by sex or betrayed for sex. They crave a quick and dirty anonymous encounter in a club’s ladies’ room, or a slow sensual session looking into each other’s eyes. I can’t separate their desires from the rest of the elements building their story—from who they really are—when I want to show them raw and vulnerable and falling in love.
For a while, I thought I had to. I couldn’t call my work a romance and then go and have my leading man whip out his cock, right? Because a cock can’t possibly be romantic, right?
As you may have guessed, I changed my mind about that.
I was lucky enough to come across Broken by Megan Hart, and a whole new world opened up to me. I’d never before routed for characters so flawed, who ignored all the rules of romance writing. As the title suggested, they were broken. They were too dirty to be romance characters, and they weren’t shy about it. Within a month, I bought and read everything I could find by Megan Hart. She didn’t shy away from ‘cock’ or ‘cunt’ or ‘fucking,’ and I fell in love with each and every one of her books because of it.
Her characters were the kind of people I wanted to write about. Sex was part of them and their relationships, and as long as I write about adults, it will always be in my romance books because I can’t not write it.
(you hear that, Mom?)
Brad is the second book in the Threefold trilogy
Threefold, Book 1 – Colin
Colin Daniels is shallow, and proud of it. He only concerns himself with people who live up to his standards of beauty, and his best friend’s new girlfriend is found lacking. Becca is curvy, loud, and apparently all for public displays of affection.
None of that would matter, if Colin didn’t find her sexy despite his better judgment. When Brad asks for a favor, Colin has to choose between giving in to his desires and respecting the very few boundaries he’s set for himself.
Never screw your best friend’s girl. Or your best friend.
You can read my review of Colin here
Sotia’s making do with Greek reality, while writing and mostly thinking in English.
She loves romances with a twist and urban fantasy novels, always with vivid erotic elements. Her favorite characters to write are not conventional hero-material at first glance, and she enjoys making them fight for their happiness.
Sotia shares her life and living quarters with her husband, their son, and two rescue dogs, one of which may be part-pony. Sappy movies make her bawl like a baby, and she wishes she could take in all the stray dogs in the world.
Also, she hates mornings!
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