Jared By RJ Scott and Meredith Russell
Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM
Tropes: Fake boyfriend, single dad</p
Released: April 23, 2021
Publisher: Love Lane Books Ltd.
Series: Boyfriend for Hire, Book 4
Length: 180 pages, 40,300 words
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
Jared’s world is turned upside down after Luka hands over his pocket money to hire him as a friend for his lonely, widowed dad.
Jared is good at his job, but his soft heart means that he often finds himself in the weirdest of situations. A kind-of-threesome, a disappearing swan, and a destroyed hotel room are just the tip of the iceberg, but he is a popular boyfriend-for-hire and always in demand. He dreams of working as a family psychologist one day, and as his work with Bryant & Waites is funding his studies, the last thing he wants is to lose his job. At a make-or-break meeting, Jared vows to focus on being strictly professional. Still, almost immediately, he meets Luka sitting on the office steps with pocket money in hand and with a sadness that melts Jared’s resolve. Luka explains that his mom passed away some years ago, and his hardworking father needs a friend. Jared has no intention of taking Luka’s pocket money, but he wants to make Luka smile again, and if being hired as a friend for Luka’s widowed dad is what it takes, then he’s all in.
Being a single dad to eleven-year-old Luka is the best thing in Nate’s world, but add running a bar with long hours, and his work-life balance is screwed. There’s certainly no time for relationships, and even though Luka worries about his dad’s love life daily, romance is the last thing on Nate’s agenda. Owning Rhea’s Bar and keeping his head above water is second only to his love for Luka. His entire world consists of his son and the bar until Jared stumbles into his life. Even though Nate won’t admit it, he’s lonely, and Jared is the first friend he’s made in a very long time. Could their friendship become something more?
Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003
Such a sweet and low angst story!
The Boyfriend for Hire series just keeps getting better and better. Jared is such a sweet character and his desire to help often gets him into unusual situations while doing his job as a boyfriend for hire. When eleven-year-old Luka wants to hire him to be his dad’s boyfriend, Jared’s not sure what to do. After Jared meets Nate, Luka’s dad, he knows that he can’t say no to what Luka wants him to do.
Nate’s a single dad who has to juggle being a parent to Luka and running the bar that he owns. His now deceased wife used to help keep things in order but now everything is up to him to take care of. He really hasn’t taken time for himself in way too long. When he finds Jared with his missing son, he is shocked and wary. Once things are explained he then lets himself take a closer look at Jared and likes what he sees.
Jared and Nate don’t exactly strike sparks off of each other immediately but there is definitely an attraction between them. I love how caring Jared is towards Nate’s situation as a single dad and how he doesn’t talk down to Luka or make fun of him for wanting to hire a friend for his dad.
One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Nate, Luka and Jared are eating ice cream. Why? Because I do this to! 😊
With a sigh, Nate pressed down the ice cream as it melted. He raised his shoulders. He felt as if someone were watching him. He turned his head to find Jared grinning at him. “What?”
Jared stirred his spoon. “Always got told by my brothers I was weird for pretty much turning my ice cream into an extra thick milkshake any time we had it at home.”
Nate stared down at the creamy goop swirled in the bottom of his dish.
Jared is one of the sweetest MM stories I’ve read in a while. It proves that a book doesn’t always have to include a lot of hot and steamy sex to be a great read. I’m looking forward to reading Felix and Ethan’s story.
♥♥♥♥♥
O Factor: Spicy
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Excerpt 1
“Jared,” he opened a file on his desk. “One missing advent swan, a narrowly avoided foursome, a destroyed room, and that’s in less than three months. If it wasn’t for the positive feedback and the fact that all three of those bookings gave you glowing reviews, despite the issues—”
“Am I fired? I’m sorry, I didn’t know that the swan belonged to the hotel, otherwise when the girl from the table next to me started sobbing I wouldn’t have gotten involved and opened the gate to let it out.”
“No, you’re not fired, but Jared, you have to stop trying to make everything better for everyone, and open us up to situations that cost money or reputation. So, this next booking…”
“Is my last chance?” Jared finished and remained hopeful that Gideon wasn’t going to get rid of him.
“End of May we’ve just booked a graduation event for one of our new clients, she’s a CEO and won’t take any drama, tell me I’m not going to get a report that shit has hit any of the fans in the room you’re in.”
Jared held up a hand. “I solemnly swear.”
Gideon muttered something under his breath and then pressed the intercom. “Rowan, can you bring in the ZenTech Industries file?” There was static, and Gideon frowned at the machine as if it had personally hurt him. “Rowan?”
Just as Gideon stood to find his errant PA, Rowan’s voice came through loud and clear. “I’d love to come in babe…sir, but we have a slight issue.”
Excerpt 2
“Do you have any idea how worried I was? And Auntie Lee? What were you thinking? Lying? No lies, we don’t lie, ever.”
Luka’s bottom lip trembled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Nate held Luka’s face, tugged the beanie he was wearing down over his ears. His cheeks were flushed pink from the cool air and felt chilled against Nate’s warm palms. “What would I do if something happened to you? Hey?” He pulled Luka to him, appreciated the solid feel of him in his arms. “Promise me you won’t do anything like this ever again.”
There was a small hic as Luka nodded against him.
“What were you doing that was so important that you thought you had to lie about it?” He rested his hand on the top of Luka’s head, encouraging Luka to lean back.
Luka’s eyes were wet, his nose red. “It’s your birthday soon. I wanted to get you something.”
https://kingsumo.com/g/gmj474/jared-boyfriend-for-hire-4-release-competition
1 x $10 Gift Card plus, 2 prizes of an ebook from our backlists
Closes 3 May 12am, London
RJ Scott, author of M/M romance.
Writing love stories with a happy ever after – cowboys, heroes, family, hockey, single dads, bodyguards
USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott has written over one hundred romance books. Emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, single dads, hockey players, millionaires, princes, bodyguards, Navy SEALs, soldiers, doctors, paramedics, firefighters, cops, and the men who get mixed up in their lives, always with a happy ever after.
She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing. The last time she had a week’s break from writing, she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a box of chocolates she couldn’t defeat.
Meredith Russell is an author, cover artist and vampire slayer. Okay, she may have made that last one up, but that’s what she loves about writing—the possibilities. No matter where her stories are set—from fantastical worlds of zombies and werewolves to the ambling life of an English village—she strives to write about romance and the tales of men searching for their happy ever after. Meredith writes the stories she loves to read—complex, emotional, a journey, and sometimes unexpected.
In 2012 Meredith had her first novels published, as well as being commissioned to do her first cover design. She now splits her time between populating fictional worlds with characters she adores, and helping other authors bring theirs to life through cover art. She has had a number of popular releases, including Dead Things, Just Jack, and both the Sapphire Cay and Boyfriend for Hire series’ written with RJ Scott.
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