The Race Is On – Book Two of – How The Light Gets In: By Lily Velden
I don’t usually write separate blog posts to push the work of other authors, but then Lily isn’t just another author to me, she is a dear friend. There are many wonderful things I could say about her as a person – and well, yes maybe all the gifts she’s sent ‘lil q had a teeny tiny hand in that, but this goes well beyond that – but I want to talk about her new book; The Race Is On.
[Just to be clear, Lily didn’t ask me to do this and in fact she might be a tad miffed with me for doing it, but I’ll risk her ire just this once.]
I’ll try to be honest with this post, because I really think all those: ‘Buy this book!” or “Worth The Money!” or “Best book in a long time” ‘reviews are just platitudes of friends and aren’t worth the pixels needed to write them. When I read all the five star reviews from people who are clearly ‘friends’ of the author and they do little to explain why the book is so worth it, or the best in a while, I ignore them or worst start looking for what I’d consider an honest review and that generally means a bad one.
So while I think all those rave reviews are true for Lily and her work, I want to go a bit beyond that. [I will of course link you to a wonderful review of the book from a review site just to show you that I’m not totally alone in my views.]
For me, the most important part of a ‘good book’ is the characters. It’s been said that every plot has been written already in some variation or another and that what makes a book worth buying is how the author makes it their own. This is another way of saying, the characters are really important. When you read one of Lily’s books, you find the characters feel like real people. Not characters in a book so much as people Lily knows and who she is watching and writing about. You walk away feeling like these are now friends of yours who you will think about from time to time and wonder what they are doing or how their lives are going. To me that is a book worth reading.
So if you feel like I do and want a book with excellent characters, ones you will laugh and cry with and wish you could meet in person – buy one of Lily’s books.
If you’ve not read Same Page, you should buy that one first. If you need more proof – here’s a link to a review that said:
Extremely well written, emotional and passionate, Same Page is a love story at heart. Jaxon and Liam are three-dimensional characters with flaws and depth. Velden even gives us some page worthy secondary characters with Garrett and Alison, the two leading men’s respective best friends. Who, coincidentally, end up falling in love with each other. I anxiously await book 2 in this series, I’d pre-order it if Dreamspinner had it listed! HIGHLY recommend this book.
MM Good Book Reviews – Same Page – Review By Tams
The Race Is On
How The Light Gets In – Book Two
Blurb:
Hollywood heartthrob Jaxon Moncrieff and Liam Lassiter are finally on the same page: committed and in it for the long haul. Now they just have to prepare for the inevitable fallout when they reveal their relationship. Between Jaxon’s career and Liam’s need to prepare for a life in the limelight, they decide to wait until filming of Jaxon’s latest project has wrapped.
Unbeknownst to them, the relentless paparazzi photographer Rafael Cacciatore, aka the Hunter, notices a change in Jaxon and is determined to be the first to break the story of who has captured Jaxon Moncrieff’s heart. In the meantime, Liam and Jaxon have enough on their plate working out the not-so-little issue of how and when Jaxon will come out to his family. The paparazzi aren’t even on their radar. The race to out Jaxon is on, and Liam and Jaxon don’t even know it.
Buy Link:
And just to convince you that the second book is as good as the first, here’s a snippet from a review of The Race Is On:
“Anyone that reads M/M will absolutely love this series, I’m certain of it. There is just that perfect balance of romance, mystery, intrigue and sweaty sex that all us fans of the genre crave!”
MM Good Book Reviews – The Race Is On – Review By Tam
Curmudgeon, what are trying to do to me? Dehydrate me thru happy-oh-so-touched tears?
I honestly don’t know what to say. I’m blushing, and sooking, and grinning all at once – my body is VERY confusd! And it’s only 7.30 in the morning! On a Sunday, no less!
Thank you for being you, the seriously hot and handsome, Andrew Q Gordon!
Luvs ya
Lily
Whoa thar, little lady – do you know how much time, effort and money I’ve spent on trying to win curmudgeon of the year?? Don’t go spreading lies like that – I’ll lose in the first round at this rate. :-/
Oops… You are SO curmudgeon. In fact, you put CURMUDGEON to shame! I think you might even have invented it…..
Thank you – I’m still hoping that when the new dictionary comes out next to curmudgeon they’ll put my picture. 😀
I have to agree with Andy, you are one hell of a woman Lily, I buy everybody’s book who I know, and hopefully soon I will get to read some of them, I was very privileged to recieve ‘the outtakes’ they keep me busy before bed (blushing) She is an awesome writer and an amazing lady (technically) and Qtee is a great friend too. Well done Lily girl xxx
My dear, sweet (but oh so naughty) Marky!
Thank you, and yes, “Qtee” is a wonderul friend – as are you. I count myself as very blessed to be friends with you both.
Glad that you’re enjoying *cough* the outtakes… I’m blushing too!
Hugs,
Lily
Andy, I think you hit the nail on the head. You do end up liking Lily’s characters and feel like you know them as real people. I feel like a voyeur to two people’s lives that I care about. I always say I want to be invited to a dinner party in Lily’s mind. What a night that would be! This was true with Ryan and Will in your book, Purpose. You were able to get your readers to care about the characters as real people, with real family baggage. It’s a gift when an author can take a reader on an adventure and leaves them caring so deeply for the characters and their lives. Best of luck to Lily with The Race is On!
Thank you, Skylar!
I couldn’t agree with you more about Will and Ryan in Purpose – I SO want a sequel. Maybe if we nag…
Oh and Skylar, check your mail… your invite to the, um, dinner party is on its way!!!
Hugs,
Lily