Today I have Amylea Lyn visiting with me! She's here to talk about her release Melting the Ice Prince. Now, I read some of this on her blog, and I have to tell y'all this is something I can't wait to read. :)
Hey all! Amylea Lyn here and boy
am I excited to be hanging out with everyone today. Let’s give a big thank you
to M.A Church for letting my pop by and share a bit of info about my coming
release with you guys! I have to admit I’m very excited about this book,
because it means something very special to me and the inspiration behind it
plays a big roll in my daily life.
This Saturday, March 16th,
my book Melting the Ice Prince will
finally be available. What started out as a weekly blog story is now a fully
published book and I can’t wait to introduce my readers to Nick, David, and
David’s big brother, Sammy.
While the story revolves around
David and Nick’s love affair, Sammy plays an important roll as a secondary
character; he’s funny, sweet, and in the end helps the other two men to realize
their love for each other. But Sammy isn’t exactly like you and me. You see,
Sammy has Aspergers syndrom. For those of you out there who don’t know what
this is, Aspergers is considered by many to be a form of Autism. In the book,
Sammy has more extreme symptoms than most adult living with this disorder,
along with some mild retardation, and I did this for a specific reason.
You see, when I’m not sitting at my
laptop, creating wonderful stories to entertain my readers, I work with adults
with special needs every day. I help care for them, and provide the aid
necessary for them to be able to accomplish all the little day-to-day tasks
most of us take advantage of. Sammy’s character and his little quirks was
inspired by many on the clients I see in my “day job”… I really wanted to
highlight the many trials and joys of living and working with adults with
disabilities in this book. I did quite a bit of research on Aspergers in
particular, but mostly I just spent time with those special individuals I work
with, and it was through them I was able to make Sammy into the wonderful
character he turned out to be.
It’s just one of the many reasons I
dedicated this latest book to them, and I hope when my readers read it, they
remember that although someone may look different, talk different, or even
function differently than we do, they are still amazing people and deserve all
the respect and care everyone else does.
Blurb:
Two men with walls of ice
surrounding their hearts must learn to look past the masks each other wears in
order to discover the love of a lifetime that waits hidden inside.
David Talhoone's whole life
revolves around taking care of his special needs older brother, Sammy.
Untrusting, he protects his heart with an icy and cool demeanor, earning him
the nickname Ice Prince at work. It's a description David's proud of,
until the day his boss's son walks through the door.
Nick Masterson takes one look at
the cool beauty with fire in his eyes and has to have him. But after being
brutally rejected, he makes a bet that he'll be able to melt David's shell and
win his heart without managing to give away his own in the process. But Nick
didn't count on the man beneath the icy mask being everything he'd ever wanted
in a partner.
Can a relationship based on lies
last once the truth finally comes out?
Excerpt:
"Look, Davey! Look at that
dog!" Sammy cried, his excitement evident as he bounced along the path
through Central Park, pointing just ahead of them.
David Talhoone smiled at his older
brother's antics. "I see it, Sam. Should we ask the lady if we can pet
him?"
Sammy's dark eyes lit up. "Can
we, Davey? Can we really?"
David took his brother's hand,
pulling him along gently. "Sure, it never hurts to ask, right? But you
can't get upset if she says no, okay?"
"Okay, Davey!" Sammy
chirped, practically vibrating with eager excitement. David laughed.
"Come on silly, standing here
isn't going to get us to meet him." He chuckled, leading the way over to
the older woman sitting on the nearby bench. The woman readily agreed to let
Sammy pet her small dog and smiled indulgently as Sammy sat down on the
sidewalk to cuddle the happy little Shih Tzu in his lap. Sammy's excited laugh
echoed out into the surrounding park, garnering some quizzical looks, but David
had long learned to ignore them.
David let his brother lavish
attention on the dog for a few moments more, before reaching down to ruffle
Sammy's dark brown hair.
"Time to go, buddy. Say thank
you to the lady," David said gently, helping his brother up.
"Okay, Davey," Sammy
said, before turning to the older woman. "Thanks for letting me pet your
dog. I love him!"
The older woman smiled. "Would
you like to give him a treat?" she asked. "Button just loves a nice,
chewy treat."
Sammy nodded and eagerly held out
his hand. Button did indeed love treats, hopping up on his back legs and
dancing excitedly. Sammy thought it was hilarious and spent many long moments
laughing in the deep belly laugh that reminded David so much of their father.
Thank God Sammy's laugh never had the evil undertones that the bastard who
raised them always had.
David smiled at the woman.
"Thanks," he said softly.
The older woman just nodded.
"I taught Special Education for twenty years," she confided. She
nodded toward Sammy, who was once again sitting on the sidewalk and petting the
dog. "Is he autistic?"
David nodded. "Yeah," he
said, ignoring the pitying look the woman gave him. "Asperger's. But he's
high functioning so, you know, it's not always so bad. He's just mostly a bit
simple."
Looking at Sammy, one would never
guess that the almost six-foot tall, handsome twenty-eight-year-old man was
autistic. It wasn't until you heard him speak and looked into eyes that were
usually wide in childlike joy that you actually noticed something wasn't quite
right. Still, that didn't stop women from gawking and hitting on David's older
brother... like the two female joggers that were going by and obviously
checking Sammy out. Why they always did that, David didn't understand. But he
just did what he usually did and glared at the women until they went by.
Just because Sammy looked normal
didn't mean he was. David had been protecting and caring for his older brother
since he was nine years old and Sammy was twelve. He wasn't going to stop any
time soon.
"Well, thanks again," he
said, holding out a hand for Sammy to take. He waited for the woman and Sammy
to exchange good-byes before leading them both farther into Central Park. It
was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and they still had a way to go in their
weekly walk through the large park.
He listened with half an ear to
Sammy's excited chatter, paying more attention to the group of teenage kids
hanging out by the entrance of the small bridge they were about to cross. David
had long ago learned how to identify the type of people who might cause
problems with Sammy and was always prepared to defend him. He'd had years of
practice, thanks to Sammy and his parental units, and he never hesitated when a
fight arose.
The baggy pants and colored
bandanas, not to mention the malicious gleam in the teenagers' eyes told David
they were going to be trouble. He and Sammy had just stepped up onto the bridge
when the taunting started.
"Hey guys, look at those fags
holding hands," one kid taunted.
"Candy asses think they can
come into our park and spread around their gayness. I say we beat it out of
them," another boy replied.
"Come 'ere, fag," a
dark-skinned young man said, stepping forward and grabbing his crotch obscenely
while the other boys laughed. "I gots a nice juicy cock for ya ta suck
right 'ere. Come an' get it!"
David could feel the anger building
inside him, the comments hitting a bit too close to home. The only outward sign
of his irritation was the slight flush that crawled across the back of his
neck, mostly hidden by his shaggy fall of dark hair and slightly tanned skin
tone he had inherited from his Italian mother. His face remained icy calm,
another thing he had perfected from the pain of dealing with his childhood.
"Davey?" Sammy asked,
sounding much smaller and younger than he looked, fear and worry in his eyes.
Despite his disabilities, he too remembered similar taunts from their shared
childhood, and also remembered the beatings that came with them.
Normally, David could ignore the
comments aimed at him and his sexuality. In truth he really was gay, but he
certainly wasn't going to be sharing that information with these hooligans. He
never knew how some people could just tell that he was gay, since he'd never
acted on his feeling for fear someone might use it against him and try to take
away Sammy, but he was sure that with these boys that wasn't the case. They
were just looking for an easy target to have fun with, and David had the
unfortunate privilege of being chosen. Normally, he didn't care and would just
walk away; but the moment someone threatened his brother, all bets were off.
"It's okay, Sammy," David
soothed. "Just stay right here."
He left Sammy standing at the
entrance to the bridge and walked over to the small group of kids, noticing as
he got closer that they couldn't be over fifteen years old at the most. Damn,
what was wrong with the way parents were raising their kids these days? What
make these punks think this kind of activity was okay?
"Hey," he said, the
moment he got close enough to be heard without shouting. The boys turned to
look at him; all of them looked a bit surprised at his approach. No doubt they
were used to people just walking away and ignoring them when they got to acting
like jackasses.
"What da fuck you wan',
fag?" the dark-skinned boy asked, obviously re-gathering his earlier
bluster. "Gonna take me up on my offer?" he asked amid snickers.
David grinned, but there was
nothing pleasant about it and the snickers were abruptly cut off. "Hardly.
I just wanted to let you know that you are making fun of an autistic man, and
since you're acting like an ignorant little pissant, you probably don't know
what that means. It means he has disabilities and is actually my brother. Of
course, if you had stopped and used your small brain for a minute, you probably
would have noticed the family resemblance. But you were too busy being a
cavorting idiot to do so. I just wanted to let you, your friends, and all the people
paying attention to us now, how much of a scum-sucking loser you really are,
making fun of a special needs person. I'm sure your mama is proud of the
asshole you are growing up to be. Give her my regards."
With that, he turned on his heel
and returned to the bridge, ignoring the smattering of applause from some of
the crowed that had gathered to watch. Taking Sammy's hand, he pulled him away
from the red-faced boys and led him toward a nearby ice cream truck.
"They were being really mean,
Davey." Sammy frowned, seemingly puzzled by the teenagers' behavior.
"Why?"
God, sometimes Sammy's innocence
just kills me. This is why I have to take care of him.
This is why I always will.
"I don't know, buddy. Some
people are just mean," David replied, tugging his brother along.
"Like Daddy?" Sammy
asked. David couldn't have stopped the wince the thought of their father
brought to him, even if he had tried.
"Yeah, buddy, just like him.
Hey, how 'bout some ice cream?" he asked quickly, changing the subject before
the memories of that darker time could overwhelm him. Just like he knew it
would, the idea of getting his favorite treat instantly made the worry
disappear off Sammy's face.
"Two scoops?" Sammy
asked, starting to swing their clasped hands.
"Absolutely," David
replied with a smile, all the while trying to ignore the headache building
behind his right eye.
Buy your copy here: https://spsilverpublishing.com/melting-the-ice-prince-ebook-p-1413.htm
Amylea Lyn’s website: www.amylealyn.webs.com
Amylea Lyn’s Blog: www.amylealynromance.blogspot.com
