Spotlight & Giveaway: Sapphire Dawn by C. Travis Rice

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Christopher Rice writing as C. Travis Rice to HJ!

Hi Christopher and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Sapphire Dawn!

Hi there!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

SAPPHIRE DAWN is an emotional, spicy, “rom-comy” standalone entry in the Sapphire Cove series in which a brash adult entertainment star and a fancy, high-end events planner are forced to throw a lavish wedding together. It’s got opposite attracts vibes galore, banter out the wazoo and a lot of spice (some of it at sea.)
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

One of my favorite exchanges happens early on in the book. Richard, my event planner, is reeling from a heartbreaking betrayal by his ex-husband followed by a bitter divorce. When he first meets happy-go-lucky, loud-mouth Donnie, the man he’s being forced to plan a wedding with, he has little patience for the guy’s humor or flirting. Once Richard comes clean about what he’s going through, they have the following exchange.

Richard laughed. “I’m sorry if I’ve said some hurtful things since I met you. But the truth is, this whole thing’s made me feel so invisible. I’ve had some days where I think no one hears a word I say.”
“Well that’s crazy,” Donnie said.
Richard was surprised by the guy’s easy smile.
“Because I don’t live in a world where a man as amazing as you could be invisible.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The character of Donnie is based on the many good friends I have who work in the adult entertainment industry, many of whom have shown me it’s a job like any other and there’s nothing less sexy than the behind the scenes vibe on a set.
• As an event planner, Richard is supposed to be one of the tops in his field, so I had a wonderful time watching videos of lavish royal weddings on You Tube and studying the work of folks like Colin Cowie.
• The wedding at the heart of Sapphire Cove sees the heroes from the first book in the series finally tying the knot at the hotel’s “wedding of the century”. I set aside several days just to design their wedding, taking notes and outlining how they’d transform the ballrooms and hotel spaces I created in previous books. I won’t spoil the theme. I’ll just say there were several good candidates.

What first attracts your Main characters to each other?

I like heroes who speak their minds, and I like heroes who defy stereotypes and conventions. Romance is about giving everyone their happily ever after. I knew from the minute he appeared in the first book in the series that I was going to give Donnie his own romance one day, but a former adult entertainment performer is not everyone’s idea of a romance hero so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. (And it wasn’t.) But the joy came from creating the partner who was the right match for this lovable but ornery loud mouth who has always lived an unconventional life. I think I found the guy in Richard.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

I always tear up when two lovers talk their way through the obstacles that have been holding them back. Richard and Donnie both have a lot of scars from past failed relationships and betrayals. When Richard, the one who’s been hurt most recently, gives them the permission to take the leap together, I get a little misty eyed.

Another silence fell. This time, Donnie’s sigh broke it. “What are we doing, Merriweather?”
“Crazy thought,” he said, “but maybe whatever we want to.” Richard turned, eyes meeting his. “Maybe we take my shitbag ex-husband and your terrible father and that terrible ex of yours who tried to pimp you out to pay his rent and we put them all in a back room and let them fight it out with each other, and meanwhile you and I do whatever the hell we want. Now. Today.”
Richard had turned to face him, and Donnie hoped his expression wasn’t betraying the deep quivers of fear and desire that were coursing through his entire body.
“You’re hurting,” he finally managed. “I don’t want to add to that. Actually, I want to make it go away. But I can’t tell if that’s a reason to start something with you or keep my hands to myself.”
“Well,” Richard said, “why don’t you leave that decision up to me then?”

Readers should read this book….

If they like spicy, emotional, atmospheric male/male romance with tons of banter, opposites attractives vibes and some hot and heavy role play. In a fake doctor’s office!

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

At Dinner Partners, the production company we run together, my producing partner, New York Times bestselling author Eric Shaw Quinn, and I are always producing new episodes of our podcast “TDPS Presents CHRISTOPHER & ERIC”, which features our special series Christopher & Eric’s True Crime TV Club. You can find them at TheDinnerPartyShow.com or on the podcast platform of your choice. Right now I’m working on a short novella set in the world of Sapphire Cove and have plans to write another novel in the series.
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 Print copy of Sapphire Dawn.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Could you have a relationship with a former adult entertainment performer even if they didn’t perform on camera anymore? Would you be comfortable dating someone who worked on a porn set every day?

 
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Excerpt from Sapphire Dawn:

You’re running, Donnie told himself.
And he realized what he was running from. He could imagine it. Texting Richard that he’d made it home safely only to sit there waiting for a response. Waiting and waiting as Richard sat alone in the hotel suite realizing he’d given his body to a whore. He could see it as clear as a movie on a screen. The regret furrowing Richard’s brow as he stared out at the nighttime view from his balcony, phone in his hand, wondering how to step back from their night of passion.
He set the phone on the table, staring at it for a while like it was a coiled snake.
Then it lit up with a text. From Richard.

Don’t answer this if you’re still driving. But if you’re not, let me know you’re safe and sound.

Donnie was startled by the sound that came next.
It took him a second or two to realize he’d made it.
A choked, pathetic-sounding sob had welled up out of him with astonishing force. The tears he’d almost shed twice at lunch that day came roaring to the surface, determined to have their way with him now that he was all alone. In an afternoon’s time, he’d finally had a moment he’d been putting off for over fifteen years. Not just sharing his whole history with one person, sharing it with someone he’d started to care about deeply. Someone who could hurt him badly if they threw him away.
Let me know you’re safe and sound. Years of living on the road, not knowing where his next bed or meal would come from, only knowing what he’d have to do to get it. Not once had anyone ever said those words to him. Let me know you’re safe and sound. But godammit, if he could survive those years, he could survive his fear of trying to make a go of something with a guy who drove him wild.
He reached for the phone. Richard answered after the first ring.
“I’m good,” Donnie croaked out.
“Really? You don’t sound good.”
“Well, you know…”
“Donnie?”
“You were right. About the ride home. You know, like, how I’d think maybe I said too much.”
“You didn’t say too much.”
“So you don’t care that I was a whore?”
“The term is sex worker.”
Donnie laughed, savoring the easing of tension that spread through him. “You know what I mean.”
“I care that your father was criminally negligent as a parent. I care that your aunt didn’t stand up to him. I have questions about the men in Chicago you met and what they knew and what they chose not to know. But they’re not mine to ask. Not today. Because what’s more important to me than any of that is that you know those feelings are not indictments of you. Or judgments.”
“I might need you to say that more than once. If we’re gonna keep, you know…”
“I’ll be happy to. Because I’d like to keep, you know…”
Donnie felt the weight in his chest lighten. “That’s not the only reason I’m calling. Friday night I want you to come down and spend the night with me on my boat. That way you’ll be here in the morning on the day of the reception.”
“Is that the only reason?”
“No. I’m going to take you out on the boat and f**k your brains out under the stars. So, you know, get ready and skip dinner. I’ll cook you something after. I know how it goes.”
“So romantic.” But it sounded like Richard was smiling.
“I’m Sex Monster. You want romance go to a high tea or something.”
“I feel a high tea is in our future. As payback for that remark.”
“Sounds good to me. So do you accept or not?”
“Absolutely.”
“Alright, excellent. Goodnight, tiger.”
“Goodnight, Donnie.”
Donnie hung up, feeling like he’d been purged of years’ worth of shame in a single phone call. Then he turned in place and realized he’d done something far more dangerous than revealing his entire past.
Richard would be spending the night there in only a few days.
Jesus. He had some cleaning to do.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Under his pen name, C. Travis Rice, New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice offers tales of passion, intrigue, and steamy romance between men. The fourth novel, SAPPHIRE DAWN, once again transports you to a beautiful luxury resort on the sparkling Southern California coast where strong-willed heroes release the shame that blocks their hearts’ desires.

Donnie Bascombe has made a lot of people’s fantasies come true in his life, first in the bedroom, then on the set of his adult entertainment studio. But his best friend Logan Murdoch has just presented him with his tallest order yet—help plan the wedding of his dreams. Desire has always been Donnie’s forte. But lavish nuptials at one of Southern California’s premier oceanfront resorts? For that job, he’ll need a partner. And a mentor.

Richard Merriweather has devoted his life to planning fairy tale weddings for celebrities and royalty—only to have his own husband shatter his heart into a million pieces. Remaking the special events office at Sapphire Cove is just the distraction he needs to get his fancy and luxurious life back on track. But the groom’s brash and undeniably sexy best friend has a powerful attraction to Richard Merriweather he can’t keep secret. Problem is, Richard doesn’t do hookups, and Donnie doesn’t do relationships. The closer Donnie gets to Richard, the more he wants something different, something he’s never had before. Something that will force both men to confront the heartbreak in their pasts as they plan Sapphire Cove’s wedding of the decade and find an unexpected future for themselves.
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Meet the Author:

Christopher Rice is the recipient of the Lambda Literary Award and is the Amazon Charts and New York Times bestselling author of A Density of Souls; Bone Music, Blood Echo, and Blood Victory in the Burning Girl series; and Bram Stoker Award finalists The Heavens Rise and The Vines. An executive producer for television, he collaborated with his mother Anne Rice on the novel Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra and Ramses The Damned: The Reign of Osiris. Together with his best friend and producing partner, New York Times bestselling novelist Eric Shaw Quinn, Christopher runs the production company Dinner Partners. Among other projects, they produce the podcast and video network TDPS, which can be found at www.TheDinnerPartyShow.com. He lives in West Hollywood, California, and writes tales of romance between men under the pseudonym C. Travis Rice. Visit him at www.christopherricebooks.com.
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