Daryl Banner

Daryl Banner – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.wownovels.com Sun, 07 Dec 2025 21:05:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.wownovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png Daryl Banner – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.wownovels.com 32 32 Hate To Love You – Spruce Texas Romance Read Online Daryl Banner http://www.wownovels.com/hate-to-love-you-spruce-texas-romance-read-online-daryl-banner Sun, 07 Dec 2025 21:05:54 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/hate-to-love-you-spruce-texas-romance-read-online-daryl-banner Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Daryl Banner Advertisement

Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 29464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)

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Sometimes the person you hate to love
is the one you were meant to fall for.

Liam has one goal for the get through it.
Then he'll be back on campus where life makes sense.
No drama. No summer job at Gary's Grocers.
And definitely no dating.

Until he matches with a mysterious guy on a new app.
Someone funny, thoughtful, and easy to talk to.
How can sparks fly when you haven't even seen someone's face?
For the first time ever, Liam might enjoy his summer break.

Then in walks the hot new hire at the Teague Jenson.
The thick-headed, overly charismatic, ego-inflated "heart throb" from Liam's high school days.
The one Liam is now stuck training.
The one who seems determined to crack Liam's walls with his dopey lopsided smiles
...and the way he stands too close when asking questions.

But love follows no rulebook.
Neither does hate.

And when the lines blur between the two, Liam finds himself torn
between the anonymous intellect on the app who gets him
and the real-life disaster with a charm he can't seem to get away from.

HATE TO LOVE YOU is a standalone novella set in small-town Fairview and is part of the Spruce Texas universe. Originally included in the Heart2Heart Charity Anthology Volume 6, this version is revised and expanded by over 50% with additional chapters and a new ending, making it a fresh experience even for readers of the original. Expect enemies-to-lovers steam, adorkable rom-com vibes, and surprise cameos from the Spruce Texas Romance series

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

The Town Next Door

If Cerberus needed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, which mouth

would you give it to?

The backroom of Gary’s Grocers is poorly lit, but the question beams like a lighthouse from Liam’s phone, illuminating his sandy, freckled face and moody blue eyes in the semidarkness.

After swiping past dozens of lame questions on this weird new prompt-based dating app a friend from his alma mater, Fairview High School, pushed him to download, it’s this one that makes the stoic Liam crack a smile, which is a rare occurrence lately, as he’s recently acquired a habit of hiding his braces from the world.

His break ends in just a handful of minutes. That’s a handful too soon, as far as he and his exhausted body are concerned.

But the intriguing question calls out to him from the glow of his screen like warm sunlight pouring in through the window on the first morning of summer.

Should he answer it?

He slaps a hand to his head of short hair and gives it a fierce rubbing, as if to shake the answer out of his brain. His elbow accidentally knocks into an empty water bottle on the table next to him, causing it to crash to the ground. When he goes to pick it up, the tip of his shoe kicks the thing even further away, sending it skittering under a pallet, out of reach. He gives up and drops back down onto his chair with a sigh. His natural clumsiness gets even worse the more nervous he is. And with this question from the dating app looming over him, his nerves are pulled as tight as they can get.

It’s not just any question, either. It’s a question about Greek mythology—something Liam happens to have a deep affection for. In a sea of inane and uninspired questions, it’s as if this one was handmade just for him, for Mr. Liam Knott, the lonely gay dude in the backroom of a grocery store with a tragic mouthful of braces.

The one asking the question has the username “Hate2LoveU”.

Something about the nerdiness of the question as well as the guy’s perplexing profile photo—which isn’t an actual face, but a glowing fuchsia lightning bolt shooting out of a pair of cartoon butt cheeks—has utterly captured Liam’s attention.

Hopefully it’s more the question and less the cartoon butt cheeks.

Liam takes the bait:

TongueTiedInKnots

Obviously the middle one.

After pressing send, he nods to himself, satisfied, then pockets his phone in preparation of clocking back in for work.

Until he hears the ding.

Surprised, he pulls his phone right back out and looks.

Hate2LoveU

Why the middle one?

Liam blinks at the reply, amazed. It’s a private message now, replying to his answer. Is Hate2LoveU online right now? In lieu of the vaguely flirtatious answers most users of the app seem to enjoy trading with one another that lead nowhere, Liam opts to be direct with the guy.

TongueTiedInKnots

The middle one is the most likely to have a direct path to the lungs. Simple biology.

It is, admittedly, a brainy answer, but Liam happens to have a good well of knowledge in biology. He excelled in both high school as well as the college he attends now. He’s one of the weird ones already itching for the summer to end so he can get back to the dorms, to his studies, and to everything that gives him purpose—which is not this summer gig as a stocker at Gary’s Grocers.

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Hearts Adrift – Texas Beach Town Romance Read Online Daryl Banner http://www.wownovels.com/hearts-adrift-texas-beach-town-romance-read-online-daryl-banner Thu, 25 Sep 2025 16:13:20 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/hearts-adrift-texas-beach-town-romance-read-online-daryl-banner Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Daryl Banner Advertisement

Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)

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RIVER
One mistake. One viral video. One ruined career.
That's all it takes for the world to turn on Hollywood's former golden boy.
Now I'm hiding out in a rundown bungalow on Dreamwood Isle, praying the paparazzi won't track me down.
I need safety. Solitude. Anonymity.
What I get instead is the son of my bungalow landlord, charming, adorably clumsy - and the one man alive who doesn't care that I'm River Wolfe, fallen angel of the big screen.
Which only makes me want him more.
And that is far more dangerous than any scandal.

FINN
I'm fresh off a breakup and barely keeping it together. My family's Fair is struggling to stay afloat.
The last thing I need is a movie star crash-landing in my family's bungalow.
I hardly watch films. Don't care about red carpets. To me, River is just the insufferable, handsome guy turning my quiet island life upside-down.
But the more time we spend together, the more I see the man behind the headlines. Behind the scandal.
A man who just tried to do the right thing - and is now being crucified for it.
Between meddling sisters, paparazzi, and the rest of the world, I start to wonder if the safest place for both of us is right here with each other.
Or is this exactly the kind of situation that's doomed to break my heart all over again?

From USA Today Bestselling Author Daryl Banner comes a steamy, page-turning installment of his Texas Beach Town Romance series.

✔️ Forced proximity / Secret relationship
✔️ Celebrity hiding in small town
✔️ Beach vibes

Though characters from past Texas Beach Town books are referenced, this book can be read comfortably as a stand-alone with no prior reading of the series

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Chapter 1 - River

Yep, that’s me, looking like I’m gonna rob a bank.

That’s what fame does to you, my agent once warned me over drinks, long ago. You start off as the hot shit new actor in town. Photo shoots peel you down like a potato, sex you up, set you on fire for the cameras. Everyone wants a piece, your phone’s blowing up, countless DMs a day of nameless faces wanting to fuck you in every way. You can’t believe this is happening and never feel like you deserve it, but everyone keeps insisting you do while they powder your nose in front of different makeup mirrors.

Fast-forward to present day, and you’re asked to sit at a table in front of six thousand microphones and a room full of journalists to address a crazy rumor that you’re having a secret baby with the new assistant to one of Hollywood’s biggest directors whose set you just stormed off of. Your agent is in your ear, asking over and over if you’re ready, if you remember your script, because ever since signing with him, everything in your life has become a script, on and off set. There are no boundaries anymore. No personal space. Your own life is the role you’re playing now.

Listening to the hum of the reporters in that room, you wish you peed when you had the chance. There’s no way in hell you’re gonna hold it through whatever interrogation awaits you in there.

“Just a sec,” you tell your agent before heading for the bathroom—then passing it entirely and bolting.

Your new role: a celebrity fugitive.

That’s me, driving in a cheap rental down the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from a remote location in Texas where we’d been filming, salty air whistling through the cracked windows, enormous sunglasses covering my eyes, wearing a hoodie with its hood drawn over my head and pulled so tight, my pretty face is reduced to a tiny, squished circle of secrecy, and the radio is blasting 90s rage music.

And when I stop at a red light, a lady in the car next to me looks over, and I don’t blame her for the expression she gives. I’d be afraid of me too, how I’m dressed in this heat, coursing suspiciously through a quiet beach town like a creep tracking down his ex-boyfriend.

My disguise is absolutely necessary. No one can know who I am—for a few obvious reasons. A nonstop ringing phone sitting in the passenger seat next to an untouched bag of hot Cheetos is one reason. And the seventy urgent emails flooding my inbox are seventy other reasons. Right, and let’s not forget a growing mountain of unread text messages, most of which are from my agent threatening to end our “long and beautiful journey together” if I don’t return his calls right-the-fuck-now. There’s no telling how ass-deep I am in contract and union violations at this point.

But I couldn’t stand by. I had to do what I did. Even if it blew up my career and turned me into a trending hashtag.

Now I’m a creeper in a hoodie and shades in hundred-degree weather, slowly navigating down the backstreets of a weird beach town looking for an address, which I swear is not the address of a bank to rob.

And before I know it, I’m there—right in front of the bungalow I rented under the name Cal Mason. Not my real name, obviously. Cal’s my childhood cat that hated me and tried to gouge out my left eye when I was eight, and Mason is my brother whom I haven’t spoken to in over a year, and I guess when I’m under pressure, the first thing that pops into my head is what flies right out, and now Cal Mason’s renting an old bungalow in a place called Dreamwood Isle.

Doesn’t look the way it did in the ad. What really ever does? But its rotted wooden siding and depressing front porch has an undeniable charm, I have to admit. One of the front windows looks shinier than the other, suggesting it’s been recently replaced. I bet a local kid threw a rock at it on a dare. Buried deep in the comments section was some nonsense about this bungalow being cursed—“love begins and ends in that nook”—“its walls absorb heartbreak”—“if you put an ear to the floorboards, you can hear evil spirits whispering”—it goes on and on. No one ever rents it. Even the locals go out of their way to avoid the place.

That last part’s exactly what sealed the deal for me.

When I’m certain no one’s outside, I slip out of the car, tug my backpack over my shoulder, and scurry up a set of creaky front steps. I check under the third potted geranium as instructed, fetch the little key, then pop it into the door.

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Hot Mess Express – Spruce Texas Read Online Daryl Banner http://www.wownovels.com/hot-mess-express-spruce-texas-read-online-daryl-banner Mon, 21 Apr 2025 22:18:58 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/hot-mess-express-spruce-texas-read-online-daryl-banner Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Daryl Banner Advertisement

Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 114211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >120

BRIDGER
Peace and quiet. That's all I'm looking for after two grueling tours in the Army.
Pete swears I'll find it if I join him on a trip to Spruce, Texas to reunite with his old military pal Cody.

What I find instead is the human hurricane called Anthony Myers.

We start off on the wrong foot. And that's followed by too many more wrong feet to count—or forgive.
That cocky, baby-faced, certifiable hot mess is loud, chaotic, and impossible to ignore.
He thinks he's gonna run me out of this town, but I've dealt with worse,
growing up defending my vulnerable brother and mother against our drunk father.

I'm more than equipped to handle a small-town menace
who's clearly got a chip on his shoulder for outsiders.

Besides, the more I encounter him, the pettier I'm inspired to be,
and two can play these games.

ANTHONY
This summer's been a total train wreck.
But I just found my groove with Juni, my new bestie and drinking partner-in-crime.

The last dang thing I need is an uptight, rule-abiding muscle-head named Bridger ruining my fun.

I'm everything he can't wild, reckless, and in his face.
But that doesn't give him the right to look down on me
with his annoyingly pretty blue eyes—like I'm nothing but the mess he can't fix.

Now my peaceful hometown of Spruce is a warzone of a different kind,
and I just might be the one and only thing standing between him
and the peace he's apparently so desperate to find.

Or maybe I'm the chaos he never knew he needed.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

SPRUCE GLOSSARY

The Spruce, Texas family is a big one with lots of characters and locations you will become as familiar with as if this town was your home. I’ve compiled a nice little glossary of all the main families and locations around Spruce that have been introduced up until this point, in case you’re not as familiar with Spruce yet or just need a refresher. Of course, you’re welcome to skip on ahead to the story if you prefer. (I won’t tell anybody, wink, wink.)

CHARACTERS

THE STRONGS & THE TUCKERS

TANNER TUCKER-STRONG: Formerly a college football star, he now proudly coaches football at Spruce High. He’s married to his hometown sweetheart Billy Tucker with whom he has two sons Marcus and Joshua. They live on the Strong property in a cozy house by a pond. He has one younger brother Jimmy.

BILLY TUCKER-STRONG: After years working at his parents’ diner Biggie’s Bites serving off-the-menu desserts, he finally went to culinary school and now owns and operates the T&S Sweet Shoppe, serving pastries, ice cream, and sweets to all of Spruce. His parents still own and operate Biggie’s Bites. Billy is the loving, devoted (and maybe sometimes high-strung) hubby of Tanner Strong with two sons Marcus and Joshua.

JIMMY STRONG: Younger brother of Tanner Strong who lives with his lifelong love and husband Bobby Parker. The two have athletic backgrounds, Jimmy being a dancer, and Bobby playing soccer. After graduating college together, they opened the Spruce Fitness Zone, a gym complex they now operate in the heart of the town. At the end of every summer, Jimmy is known to perform a special finale dance at the Spruce Ball, now and then with Bobby as his quick-footed dance partner. It’s low-key adorable and melts everyone’s hearts.

NADINE STRONG: The lively, loud and proud matriarch of the Strong family, mother to Tanner and Jimmy, as well as the recently elected Mayor of Spruce. Her calm-natured husband Paul is her rock (and some say balance her out perfectly). She and her husband are co-owners of Nadine’s, a fine-dining restaurant named after her in the neighboring town of Fairview.

JACKY-ANN: Longtime housekeeper of the Strong ranch and friend of Nadine, whose secret recipe for a notably tasty lemonade eludes Nadine even still after all these years.

GARY & MARIBEL STRONG: Nadine’s brother-in-law and his adoring wife, who run a ranch together just outside Spruce. Gary is known for his kindness and patience, and Maribel for her quick thinking when troubles arise on the ranch—two peas in a pod.

THE ARNOLDS & DAVISES

TREY ARNOLD-DAVIS: Following in the footsteps of his father, Trey is the young reverend of the Spruce Fellowship church, as well as a registered nurse at the Spruce Clinic working under Dr. Emory. His mother passed away when he was 15 and lives on in his and his father’s memories. He is the proud husband of Cody Davis.

CODY ARNOLD-DAVIS: After suffering a near-fatal injury in the Army saving the life of his buddy Pete, he was discharged, shipped back home to Spruce. Turned out to be for the best, as he’s now happily married to the man who nursed him back to health: Trey Arnold, also known as the only man on earth who seems able to put up with his attitude.

BETHIE DAVIS: Cody’s mother. Single, but spends an awful lot of time around Trey’s father since their sons got married. She works at the courthouse.

MITCH ARNOLD: Former reverend of the Spruce Fellowship church, who enjoys reading fantasy books and tending to his flower garden, planted in honor of his late wife. He is the father of Trey and proud father-in-law to Cody.

NOTABLE COUPLES AROUND TOWN

HARRISON KEMP & HOYT NOWAK: Harrison happily runs a furniture business on Gary Strong’s property while his boyfriend Hoyt attends college at Fairview Community and works part-time at the gym. Harrison is a former football player and close friend of the Strongs, particularly Tanner. Hoyt is a pain in everyone’s ass, but over the years seems to be coming around. He has an adorable little sister named Gemma who is a total princess.

LANCE GOODWIN & CHAD LANDRY: Keeping mostly to themselves on a small ranch halfway out to the neighboring town of Fairview, Lance runs a fashion business called Goodwin Designs while his devoted boyfriend Chad tends to the ranch. This unlikely pair reconnected at their high school reunion not too long ago, and the rest is history.

TOBY MICHAELS & DONOVAN “VANN” PANE: This young couple is known for causing quite the scene during their senior year at Spruce High before moving away to the thriving colorful beach town Dreamwood Isle, where it’s said they are living a happy, art-filled, and rather interesting life with new friends.

MALCOLM TUCCI & SAMUEL BUCKLEY: Malcolm, whose father is Mario Tucci, the head chef at the Fairview restaurant Nadine’s, lives in Spruce now and acts as Mayor Nadine Strong’s event coordinator, while his bunny-cuddlin’ boyfriend Samuel is a veterinarian, taking care of way too many adorable animals.

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Envious Of Fire (Kissing With Teeth #2) Read Online Daryl Banner http://www.wownovels.com/envious-of-fire-kissing-with-teeth-2-read-online-daryl-banner Fri, 06 Dec 2024 20:22:58 +0000 http://www.wownovels.com/envious-of-fire-kissing-with-teeth-2-read-online-daryl-banner Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Daryl Banner Series: Kissing With Teeth Series by Daryl Banner
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Total pages in book: 209
Estimated words: 196141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 981(@200wpm)___ 785(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)

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The love between Kyle and his mortal boyfriend Elias has been a deadly dance since the night they first met.

Despite their brief encounter with the vicious immortal underworld, Kyle and Elias, along with their friends, strive to build a calm and happy life together in their small desert town, determined to leave the past behind.

But the arrival of a menacing stranger - and an untimely visitor from Kyle's past - thrusts them back into a game of danger and deceit. As Kyle delves deeper into the ruthless society of "Them", he questions everything he holds true about himself and his place among the immortals.

Meanwhile, Tristan, still reeling from his dramatic encounter with Kyle and the lingering flames of his love, hatches a perilous plan to fix everything with the help of a sadistic, cowboy-hat-wearing witch, who himself is hellbent on a fiery revenge against the Lord of the immortals.

How far is Tristan willing to go to right his wrongs? How deep is Kyle willing to delve to discover his true nature - at the cost of everything?

The stakes are high, the emotions raw, and the danger ever-present in this thrilling sequel to Kissing With Teeth.

ENVIOUS OF FIRE is the second book in the heart-stopping Kissing With Teeth series by USA Today bestselling author Daryl Banner ("When I See You Again", "Raising Hell", "The Beautiful Dead") praised for standing out with its unique spin on the paranormal/vampire genre.

NOTE: This book contains potentially disturbing subject matter. It is advised to check the disclaimer at the beginning of the book (use the "read sample" feature) and exercise discretion in determining whether this book is suitable for you.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue.

The Purpose of One Life.

—∙—

Fire.

How it dances so beautifully without instruction.

Its choreography, an accident of nature, guided by wind, by God, by whatever it delights in consuming.

A guiltless monster, growing without limit, the envy of any creature who has thirsted beyond their means, who has craved a true freedom outside the intolerable restraints of morality.

Feeding on whatever it finds until there is no more, neither willing nor capable of distinguishing good from bad. It just eats.

These were the thoughts of Tristan twenty-seven years ago in a small Texas suburb as he calmly watched his lover’s house burn.

Kyle Amos’s house.

Within, the corpses of Kyle’s mother, father, and dear little brother, none of whom deserved to die. The fire paid no mind. It was only hungry, and Kyle’s life was ever so tasty.

“Is it done?”

The question came from Tristan’s eternal accomplice in all things terrible. She is Wendy. Voice, thin and frosty, tinny notes on a vibraphone. Her shape, enshrouded and shadowy, as it often is, only giving a faint hint of perhaps a prepubescent girl. That was a gift—the true sight of Wendy was horrifying.

To her question, Tristan tilted his head and, edged with exhaustion, said, My dear Wendy, the work is never done.

“Does the Kyle boy await you elsewhere?”

Inconsolably. In a two-star motel. I told him to count sheep. The star rating is rounded up, by the way.

“Star rating? I know not your strange terms.”

This is why I like you, Wendy.

The fire raged greedily on, biting into wood, licking at the trees. Its twenty tongues reached into the sky like the house and three lives weren’t enough; it also desired the stars. Neighbors had already gathered outside. The distant sirens of fire trucks racing there to put an end to the short and glorious life of the fire wailed through the smoky night air.

No one could see them.

That was thanks to Wendy’s unique ability to bend light. Or swallow it. The exact way her talent functioned was, like many things about Wendy, unclear. But it hid the two of them in plain sight, blending them seamlessly into the shadows of trees, mailboxes, vehicles, and all matters of suburban dullness.

You must return soon, Tristan reminded her. The trip back to Las Vegas will be lengthy, and Lord Markadian always notices when his toys have gone missing for too long.

“Especially when that toy is you,” she returned.

Tristan shrugged. He will forget about me in time.

“You underestimate his love for you.”

He will love another in time, too.

“You overestimate the power of time.”

Lord Markadian has enough to worry about, governing the west region, minding rogue immortals and Ferals and witches and other pests of the night, not to mention the pandering directors who fight for his love themselves … He is never in short supply of fodder for his ego. By the way, thank you for your assistance on this night. You facilitate the act of burning away all trace of three unfortunate human corpses with unsettling finesse. Are you by chance a serial killer in some other reality or parallel existence? … Or a pyromaniac, at the very least …?

“Three?” asked Wendy.

Tristan stopped. It was a single-worded question—Three. Yet that single word cut every thread of Tristan’s flippant calmness.

He returned the word: Three …?

“Two corpses I sense yet,” she said. “Not three.”

The restless beast that was the fire danced and squirmed, flinging out from one window, waltzing into another, laughing, mirthful, chewing upon the walls, sharpening its teeth on the latticework, swimming into the front flowerbed.

Three.

The boy was found in the fiery belly of the beast, sprawled out on the kitchen floor, skin and hair covered in black soot, like the tiles and outdated cabinetry that surrounded his body. He was bloodied and battered, a gash down his cheek. A single arm remained outstretched, like he made a final reach for the back door and gave up. Fire glowed upon his skin from the mouth of the nearby archways, shattering, crackling.

Tristan gazed down at him. The boy turned two weak eyes upward. Eyes, just like Kyle’s. Innocent. Kind as candy. Afraid.

Alive.

The boy’s staring persisted, his sweet eyes burning like the fire as he watched Tristan. Was it the first time they met? Was Tristan to be the last face Kyle’s dear little brother ever saw?

It was not supposed to end this way.

With a brushing of Tristan’s cool fingertips over the boy’s face, he put him to sleep at once, thanks to his gift—the Lull.

“You endure this environment for that boy?” asked Wendy with absolute apathy, appearing over him like a dark thought. “The fire is deadly to you. And yet you are here.”

I did not anticipate this, said Tristan.

“And yet.”

The boy lay in Tristan’s arms now, this thirteen-year-old boy, this smaller version of Kyle, this brave, strong mortal—stronger than Tristan gave him credit for, apparently stronger so far than the gluttonous fire that slowly closed in on them.

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Mr. Picture Perfect – Spruce Texas Read Online Daryl Banner http://www.wownovels.com/mr-picture-perfect-spruce-texas-read-online-daryl-banner Sat, 11 May 2024 14:56:52 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/mr-picture-perfect-spruce-texas-read-online-daryl-banner Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Daryl Banner Advertisement

Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >142

COLE
All I wanted to do was take my grandma to the crafts festival.
Instead, I accidentally save someone’s life
and end up on the front page of the Spruce Press.

That’s not all. The person whose life I save happens to be
my childhood crush Noah Reed.

I’m hardly an example of perfection.
But now they’re organizing a pageant featuring the town’s hottest bachelors
and I’m number one on the list.

But I’m not interested in any other guys.
I’m seeing the bigger picture — with Noah.

And I’d better find a way to tell him soon
before this whole thing gets out of hand.

NOAH
Feelings were never my thing. I don’t understand them.
Even friendships are confusing to me.
The world only makes sense from behind the camera lens,
fitting everything into a perfect frame.

That frame shatters the second Cole Harding becomes my next project.
And he wants me to cover his story.

I can’t make sense out of how I feel.
Nor can I rationalize why the dashing, popular, and "beloved town treasure" Cole
would want to spend so much time around an awkward
and forgettable nobody like me.

I only write the headlines.
I’m not supposed to become one.

✔️ M/M "secret romance"
✔️ Shy recluse & popular guy
✔️ Small-town

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Prologue

Cole

I would never have predicted such a beast lived inside him.

Did I unleash this? Or did the beast always exist?

The once sweet and innocent Noah has taken the lead with no coaxing or pushing at all, kissing me so deeply, I cannot breathe. The same Noah who could barely squeak a syllable out around me without blushing. Noah, the boy who had never so much as kissed another guy, now straddling me and going to town on my mouth.

Then he pulls away and whispers, “Is this alright?”

I stare up at his face. When did his glasses come off? “Are you kidding me?” I breathe back.

“Is that a yes?” he asks.

“Yes. It’s a resounding yes.”

“Good.” When he crashes back down upon my mouth, the kiss intensifies. He grinds his body into mine, flattening me to the seat.

Driver’s seat.

Yes, that’s where we are.

In the driver’s seat of my car, parked in front of his house in the middle of the night where anyone in town, including his sweet and adoring parents who are sleeping peacefully inside said house, can easily find us.

I was not aware of exactly how pent-up I am.

I have wanted this so badly, it’s incalculable.

The kissing inspires him to grind his crotch into mine even harder. I feel him flex within his pants, a notification to inform me of exactly how much he’s enjoying this.

It is becoming increasingly evident how very much our pants are in the way of something we both clearly want.

He pulls away again. “Grab my ass.”

I stare at him in disbelief. “Who are you?”

His fingers slide into my hair and curl into fists, grabbing hold of me with such strength, it’s my body’s instinct to moan.

I move my hands from his hips to his ass, which I’m surprised to report is firmer and more bountiful than I previously thought. Is that the right word? “Bountiful”? Can a perfectly-proportioned plump butt be dignified with the word “bountiful”?

But it isn’t just the size or exquisite hand-filling shape of his tender cheeks that has me losing my mind.

It’s that when I squeeze, his cheeks flex back.

How is anyone supposed to maintain sanity with this amount of tension building up on this overcrowded driver’s seat?

“You don’t have to be so gentle with me,” he whispers.

He says this while I have my hands on his ass, squeezing like I expect to wring milk out of it.

He says this while we grind our crotches together like we’re mining for diamonds.

Then his fingers curl even tighter in my hair, surprising me, as he dives back into my mouth. He humps me even harder now, working me like a piece of meat he’s tenderizing by beating it to its second death on a kitchen counter.

“N … N … Noah …”

My grunts are turning vocal without my permission.

He presses his next kiss against my cheek, then my jaw, then goes for my ear, where he takes a sudden nip. Tingles of ecstasy rocket down my neck from the feel of his teeth on my earlobe. I’m out of control with my moans as he drags his lips down the side of my neck, right where it’s the most tender, right where I have to fight an instinct to squirm against him.

My whole entire body is sensitive.

Charged. Activated. Moving.

Then something hits the stick shift. There’s no telling if it’s his arm or mine, but quite suddenly we’re not parked.

A foot hits the gas—his foot or mine?

And now it’s the car that’s charged, activated, and moving, as it roars and zooms forward.

It’s safe to say this isn’t exactly what I expected our first time alone together to be like. And I can’t with any confidence say what was going through my head when I decided to start making out with my childhood crush in my car while parked in front of his parents’ house—other than how amazing his lips taste.

All I know is that a couple of days ago, we were just two guys minding our own business at the Spruce Spring Crafts Festival.

Two guys with completely unrelated reasons for being there.

Two guys with lonely, weary, broken hearts.

Until an unexpected, life-threatening catastrophe brought the pair of us crashing together—not unlike my vehicle careening into danger right now—and changed the courses of our lives forever.

Chapter 1

Noah

Oh. God. Please. No.

“I’m callin’ ‘em Jiggle-Wiggles!” sings my mother. “All your newspaper coworker friends are gonna love ‘em!”

It’s a box full of bite-sized gelatin blobs in a bunch of colors. Little faces are drawn on the tops of them somehow. Every time the box moves, the faces wiggle and distort. I think they’re trying to smile, but they all look slightly off, just enough to be horrifying.

“Aren’t they just too cute to eat?” she goes on. “And yet you just wanna eat them up anyway? I’m eatin’ them up with my eyes right now! No, no, it’s okay,” she says before I can even open my mouth, “you can take this whole box with you, I insist! Today is a special day, and I’m just sure you’ll win points with your boss.”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >142

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Kissing With Teeth (Kissing With Teeth #1) Read Online Daryl Banner http://www.wownovels.com/kissing-with-teeth-kissing-with-teeth-1-read-online-daryl-banner Mon, 16 Oct 2023 19:45:00 +0000 https://www.booksnovels.com/kissing-with-teeth-kissing-with-teeth-1-read-online-daryl-banner Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Daryl Banner Series: Kissing With Teeth Series by Daryl Banner
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Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 116220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >123

A small desert town. Harsh Arizona sun. It's the last place you'd expect to find a vampire.
But where else would Kyle Amos go after he's lost everything?

Kyle paid the ultimate price to become what he is.
Then the greatest betrayal imaginable has left him stranded and alone,
everyone he loved reduced to a pile of ashes in his past.

Now he lives with his dark secret
in the middle of a cursed desert town that keeps plenty of its own,
a place where even the tumbleweeds avoid.

Kyle's secret is threatened one fateful morning, moments before dawn,
by the arrival of a handsome young man named Elias,
shrouded in mystery, sexy as sin,
with eyes as intense as the sun itself.

A man who vows to protect Kyle with his own mortal life.

Suddenly Kyle's past begins to awaken. Old foes return to threaten his newfound peace.
How can Kyle hope to outrun his past when it won't stay dead and gone where it belongs?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1.

Hello, I Kiss With Teeth.

—∙—

Kyle tries to pick up the phone, but his fingers are too slippery with blood.

No police, comes Tristan’s voice from behind, stopping him. No ambulance. It’s no use. They’re gone. We have to go.

“B-But my mom …” chokes Kyle, overwhelmed. “Dad … Kaleb …”

They’re asleep, just imagine they’re asleep. Let’s go, now, come.

Kyle stumbles out of the kitchen, dragged by Tristan’s cold hand. Feet slippery, slick floor. The stench of death and sweat, hyacinth spilling out of an overturned vase, tiny purple petals, he keeps moving. His foot catches something. Glancing back, a face painted red, unrecognizable, cheek pressed flat against the tile in a pool of spreading blood. His mom or dad? His brother? Shouldn’t he know?

But all he sees now is red. Red on the blades of the ceiling fan. Red across the keys of the family piano where he learned to play Heart and Soul with his younger brother.

Red footprints over the front lawn as they flee the house.

Streetlamps buzzing like angry red halos over their heads.

Even the midnight sky seems red, the stars like tiny rubies pressed against a canvas primed in black gesso, a masterpiece.

Run until nothing looks familiar. Tristan and Kyle race down the throat of Bent Tree Lane together, a pair of pills swallowed by the darkness of this night. And don’t look back, it’s everyone’s worst mistake.

Maybe the point of living isn’t finding who you are.

It’s outrunning who you were.

“Are they dead? Did I kill them? Why can’t I remember?”

Don’t think, just run. Until our only company is the pale moon and the crickets, don’t stop running.

Isn’t it always the most beautiful things in nature that can kill you? The prettiest of frogs are the most poisonous. Or the snakes dressed in scaly sheaths of breathtaking neon the color of Nerf guns, venom loaded into their fangs like liquid bullets.

Or a set of pale pink lips at your neck.

The next thing, Tristan is peeling Kyle’s bloody clothes off behind a 7-Eleven next to a dumpster and a stack of splintering pallets. Odor of putrefied Dr. Pepper, grease. An empty bag of Fritos, crushed Dasani water bottle, a bloody Band-Aid. You’ll need a new name, says Tristan as he strips him, the streaks of red across his porcelain face like roadmaps. Kyle Amos is dead, Kyle and everything he suffered. I will protect you, now and always, just like I promised the other day when you fought with your teammates.

Kyle barely remembers the falling out. “I don’t feel right. I need to go back home. I have to see if—”

That isn’t your home anymore. I’m your home.

“I-I’m bleeding everywhere.”

It’s not your blood.

“My mom …” chokes Kyle again, his mind drawn back to the house, to the scene they left behind. “Dad … K-Kaleb …”

Are you listening to me? You will never be hurt again.

Nothing you hated can touch you anymore.

You can be whatever you want now.

We can be gods.

By the way, what do you think of the name “Henry”?

Tristan is always the one saying things. Kyle only listens, watching his own life fall apart like a drama on TV, only it feels like someone else’s life, someone else’s drama.

“I feel sick …”

In time, everything’s a memory, and then even memories die. Tristan takes off his own bloodied clothes, carelessly pitches them at the dumpster with a sigh. Now answer me this: will the Macy’s by the shopping mall suffice, or do you prefer Kohl’s?

Suddenly Kyle is following Tristan through the darkness of a closed department store in his underwear, no idea which one they broke into. He can’t keep up as Tristan combs the racks for shirts, for pants, for a whole new person on clearance.

It’s like an invisible leash, from Tristan’s fist to Kyle’s neck.

Wherever Tristan wants Kyle to walk, he walks. If he wants him to jump, to look somewhere, even to take a breath, by Tristan’s unspoken command, Kyle somehow complies.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >123

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Far From Paradise – Texas Beach Town Read Online Daryl Banner http://www.wownovels.com/far-from-paradise-texas-beach-town-read-online-daryl-banner Thu, 06 Apr 2023 07:50:23 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/far-from-paradise-texas-beach-town-read-online-daryl-banner Genre: M-M Romance, Romance Authors: Daryl Banner Advertisement

Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >77

After being on the run from a terrible circumstance, the young yet street-hardened Seany finds himself in Dreamwood Isle, a balmy and promising beach town on the Texas coast.
Seany is tired of curling up on park benches. He hates stealing to survive. But it seems even in paradise, he struggles to find somewhere he belongs.
Cooper is the handsome yet humble owner of Easy Breezy, the local beachside bar where everyone comes to fill their glasses and spill their hearts. He knows everyone. He listens to their woes. He helps lost lovebirds find each other.
Yet something is missing from Cooper’s life. He’s reaching a certain age. He still lives alone. Can he really expect to fill the hole in his heart by helping everyone else fill theirs?
One evening when Seany dares to steal food from Cooper’s bar, a surprising series of events unfold – which lead the two straight into each other’s arms.

Is their paradise about to fall apart? Or can they become each other’s answer?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Foreword

With so many options of different amazing stories and authors to read, I’m honored you chose to spend some time with me in my fictional Texas beach town of Dreamwood Isle. Thank you. I hope you find something meaningful in this story that lives with you after flipping the final page, and that these characters touch your heart.

Note: A short version of just the beginning of this book was included in the “Dirty Daddies Pride Anthology” in 2022. What you are about to read is the definitive full version, which is over 46k words longer—three times the size. With an all-new beginning, heavy revisions, and over a dozen new chapters delving far deeper into the characters and expanding upon the story, this is the way Cooper and Seany’s romance was originally intended to be told.

It’s time to leave behind your stresses, pack a bag, and go on vacation with me for the next twenty chapters. Enjoy your stay, don’t forget your sunscreen, and happy reading, always!

XXOO

Daryl

Chapter 1 - Seany

The city of San Antonio spins away in the window.

And with it, memories of sleepless nights.

Sweat in my eyes.

Garbage bins.

Shopping carts that contain someone’s entire life.

The stench of wasteful tourists and rancid beer floating in the air like smoke.

Large cardboard boxes that once housed a shipment of deli napkins, now housing a whole human being, becoming a home with no real address.

Under a bridge where paranoid men sleep with stolen restaurant steak knives held by their sides.

I watch it all go away through the window of the bus.

Clenching a backpack to my chest—my own figurative shopping cart, containing everything I own in this world.

Everything I have left.

Plus the bus ticket pinched between my dirty fingers, the first legitimate thing I’ve bought in weeks, the thing I saved up actual money for, my ticket to somewhere else.

Somewhere better.

Somewhere far from here.

No one is seated next to me, nor behind me. I feel like a real human being again, even if it’s temporary, sitting on this air-conditioned bus among other human beings.

But it may not be a coincidence I’m sitting alone.

I probably smell like everything I hate.

And look worse.

It’s funny, how people will turn their nose up at you, even if it’s obvious you’re suffering, or down on your luck, or just in a bad place. As if poverty is a disease. As if a set of terrible circumstances is a virus you can catch.

I notice a woman across the aisle. She keeps sneaking glances at me—an older woman with curly white hair, like cotton balls, with papery, pale skin and tiny glasses. A total grandma. Next to her, an old man staring out the window, probably her husband, a total grandpa.

The woman smiles at me, her eyes twinkling.

I look away.

And squeeze my backpack tighter.

It’s a while later that the bus pulls into a small rest area off the highway. “Fifteen minutes and we’re back on the road, folks,” calls out the bus driver, hoarse and tired.

After a trip to the men’s room, I stop by an old vending machine next to a bench and stare at the ridiculous price of a fucking single Milky Way bar. Even a bottle of water is stupid expensive.

I peer down at the two crinkled dollars and couple of mismatched coins on my palm.

I can endure the hunger a little longer. Maybe I’ll score something when I get to my next place.

Wherever that is.

The elderly lady from the bus is sitting on the bench, waiting on her old fart of a husband. Her sweet, nice eyes are on me again. Two bottles of water sit next to her on the bench, beads of condensation running down their sides.

My throat puckers.

She lifts her eyebrows and faces me fully. “Sonny, you want one of these bottles? I really don’t like to drink too much. It’ll make me have to pee and Lord knows I can’t dream of using that cramped bus bathroom.”

My eyes are on that bottle like a starving dog to a bone.

“No, thanks,” I mumble before stuffing my cash away into a pocket and trudging back to the bus.

Another hour on the road, and I’m regretting my utter inability to trust anyone’s kindness. What am I so worried about? She offered me a free bottle of water. I should have taken it. I should take anything that’s given freely to me. It is literally how guys in situations like mine get by.

Something in me is hardening, though.

Like I need to prove something to myself. I gotta resist any instinct of mine that wants others’ help. I can’t rely on anyone or anything. Even this old lady is just in my life for a fleeting moment of time—one end of this bus ride to the other, then gone.

I shut my eyes and hug my backpack even tighter. The tighter I hug it, the less I can feel the growl in my stomach.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >77

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Hopeful Romantic – Spruce Texas Read Online Daryl Banner http://www.wownovels.com/hopeful-romantic-spruce-texas-read-online-daryl-banner Sat, 24 Dec 2022 22:12:56 +0000 http://www.teennovels.net/hopeful-romantic-spruce-texas-read-online-daryl-banner Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Daryl Banner Advertisement

Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >74

This holiday, two of Texas’s most beloved sweethearts
are finally gettin’ hitched. Everyone in the small town of Spruce
is overjoyed as the winter wedding kicks off.
Everyone except Malcolm Tucci.
Forced to attend the festivities with his father catering the event,
the stone-hearted, grudge-carrying, holiday-hating Malcolm
is brought face-to-face with Bobby, the soccer boy groom he could’ve had,
and Jimmy, the dancer who stole him away.
What he didn’t count on was having his feet swept out from under him
by the rugged, pretty-eyed, and insufferably cocky Samuel.
Is it too late for Malcolm to believe in romance again?
Or is this holiday wedding about to get crashed?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Chapter 1

Can’t You Just Be Happy?

It isn’t easy to tell when winter’s come around here. One day, you’re casually wiping sweat off your brow while walking home from a quick errand to the grocers. The next morning, you wake up shivering thanks to a window you left open last night, unaware of the surprise cold front that blew in. And my father still wonders why I don’t trust weathermen.

But this time, it isn’t a cold front that tells me winter’s here. Nor is it our early bird neighbor who puts up his Christmas lights at the top of November, nor the sappy holiday movies my father secretly watches (and cries to) every night before going to bed.

It’s the card in my hand. A card that reads:

Paul and Nadine Strong & Dale and Patricia Parker

cordially invite you to the wedding ceremony of their handsome sons

Jimmy & Bobby

I drag the tip of my tongue across my bottom lip in slow and frigid contemplation, rereading this stiff piece of fancy stationery over and over. It smells of raspberries and lavender. I bet that isn’t an accident. Gross.

And really, what’s the purpose of using the word “handsome” to describe their sons? How tacky. Are they implying that it would be a less interesting wedding if their sons were ugly?

Beauty is so tragically relative.

That’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way recently. No matter how many times I preen my eyebrows, or restyle my hair, or try some cute new fashion trend, nothing fills the gaping hole in my cold, dead heart that constantly tells me I’ll never measure up to other, prettier guys who get all the attention.

Guys like the handsome Jimmy.

Guys like the handsome Bobby.

“Get out of your feelings, Malcolm, and come help your pops.”

I look up from the card to find my dad by the front door with a box in his hands. He’s a big guy with a big belly and the strength of mountains in his arms. We share many features, from our thick, long eyebrows and dark, wavy hair to our tanned complexion and propensity to show little on our faces, appearing emotionless and stoic all the time. But for all the belly he’s got, I’m basically a plank of wood—and not in the flattering way; I have to find just the right sized clothes so I don’t look like I’m drowning in my imaginary older brother’s hand-me-downs. Also, in contrast to my smooth-as-a-baby’s-ass face, my father has cultivated a rather large, gray beard that covers his mouth. He used to keep it neatly trimmed, but ever since Mom left a few years back, he’s let it run wild.

“Don’t you have people for this?” I ask with a frown. “Why are we doing so much? My arms are about as muscular as spaghetti, and you’re gonna throw out your back.”

“Malcolm,” is all he says, testy yet patient, then sees himself out of the back door of the restaurant, kicking it shut behind him.

I give the card one last glance, then flick it at a nearby trash bin. A motion-sensored Frosty the Snowman sitting on a counter nearby comes to life, wiggling its carrot nose and singing a jolly Christmas tune complete with sleigh bells and laughter. I stare at the thing, dead-eyed, and patiently wait for it to finish. Twenty long seconds later, it’s still going. Thirty. Forty. A minute.

Even Frosty the Snowman is mocking my misery.

An hour and twenty-two minutes later finds me sitting in the passenger seat of my dad’s catering van as we make the drive out to Spruce from Fairview. The temperature is cooler than usual for south Texas, which means I’ve got on gray jeans with a belt, a nice pair of designer boots, and my favorite slim-fitting white sweater accessorized by an entirely unnecessary yet fashionable red lace scarf. I have my phone out, thumbing through my social feeds, while my dad drives and hums along to a Christmas tune on the radio. I can’t tell if he’s trying to sing, what with his mountainous beard covering all evidence of the existence of a mouth, but it wouldn’t surprise me; he’s always full of joy when heading to a gig, like nothing short of a natural disaster can bring him down.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >74

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My Pumpkin Prince – And The Ghost Between Us Read Online Daryl Banner http://www.wownovels.com/my-pumpkin-prince-and-the-ghost-between-us-read-online-daryl-banner Wed, 19 Oct 2022 22:42:31 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/my-pumpkin-prince-and-the-ghost-between-us-read-online-daryl-banner Genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi, M-M Romance, Paranormal Authors: Daryl Banner Advertisement

Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 52976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >55

This is the direct sequel to "My Ghost Roommate (Who Helps Me Get The Guy)".

Halloween is the day I met the love of my life.
It's also the day my roommate died and became a ghost - and a pain in my ass.

Now, two years later, it's about to become my wedding day.

But that's the least of my worries. I'm about to move out of my apartment, which has my ghost roommate freaking out. My paranoid landlord is growing more suspicious of me by the day. And my fiancé's weirdo dads are on the verge of performing a full-blown exorcism on me.

It's just my luck that mere days before the wedding, I come face-to-face with death itself, shatter my soul into pieces, and compromise my very existence.

Will I even survive Halloween to finally achieve my happy-ever-after?

"My Pumpkin Prince (And The Ghost Between Us)" is the spooky and hilarious direct sequel to "My Ghost Roommate (Who Helps Me Get The Guy)". It is recommended to read the books in order. Expect hilarious over-the-top situations involving ghosts, romance amid very unusual circumstances, and a surprise ending that will leave you with all the feels and chills of the Halloween season.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

-1-

And Then You’re Dead

It all happened so fast.

One night, my boyfriend Byron and I were strolling down 13th Street on our way back to his place. It was the closing night of a big Theatre production for which he designed the costumes. I smiled and clung to his arm—the one his designer suit jacket wasn’t hanging from—and admired how well the color of his fitted dress shirt and tie complemented his warm bronze complexion. He teased me about how I blushed like a maraschino cherry when he kissed me in front of the actors and crew in the green room backstage. Then the two of us stopped under a streetlamp, caught by a look in one another’s eyes, and kissed until we couldn’t feel our faces.

The next morning, we woke up engaged.

I guess it wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone on Earth but us. Everyone already knew Byron and I were inseparable. My parents met him several times and fell in love with his sweetness and charm. (He has a magical way of stealing hearts, I guess.) I got to meet his dads, who are an eccentric pair of English professors whose interests range from new age botany to ancient Egyptian pharaohs, Norse mythology, and 13th century art—and now their latest obsession is me and how happy I seem to make their son. No one has to be in the room very long to note how magnetic our attraction is.

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise to us, either. Ever since the day I met Byron—the adorable, tight-shirted barista on the other side of the counter at Spooky Beans Café on 13th and Fortune Street—I knew I was ruined. No guy would ever treat me with as much kindness and patience as he does. No guy would ever send my heart into a gallop the way his touch can do. Byron had me since the very second he smiled and handed me a cup of caramel latte with the wrong name written on it.

To this moment, I still don’t know whether it was the wrong name on the cup or the smile that did it.

But one way or another, Byron claimed my heart.

“We have so much to figure out before Halloween,” I carry on, phone pressed to my ear, as I walk down the block on my way home from the store. I sidestep around a witch’s cauldron set on the sidewalk outside a bakery, its windows lined with plastic bats and ghost stickers. “I think there was some issue with the caterer Dad wanted to use. Can you ask him about it? Oh, and have we still not found a slightly more available pianist who doesn’t have four other gigs that day?”

“Sweetheart, dear, goodness, you’re spinning my head straight off my neck,” sighs my mom in her warm southern drawl. The poor woman has had to put up with my neuroticism this whole past month.

“Sorry,” I apologize with half a laugh as I cross the street when the light changes. Loud teenagers pass by me, laughing and noisy, and I press a finger into my spare ear. “I know I’m stressing about every little thing. I just want the day to go perfectly.”

“I told you it wasn’t gonna be a good idea to have your wedding on Halloween.”

I smile, suddenly picturing my fiancé’s face when I first made the suggestion. He was so caught off-guard, making that cute expression of surprise I love, his full lips parted, his eyes wide and sparkling. Then it was joy that took over his face, and at once, it was the greatest idea ever. “It’s our two-year anniversary. That fateful, beautiful day we met. Byron loves it.”

“Yes, and your sweetie always comes first.” I hear my mom’s delighted sigh through the phone. “I can’t wait until I hear …” The noise of the street becomes so loud, I can’t make out her words.

Squinting, I press a finger into my free ear even firmer, trying to hear. “What was that, Mom?”

“I said I can’t wait to hear the moment y’all say—”

I take another step.

I look up.

The front of a bus rushes forward.

My eyes flash with terror.

I’ve never believed in that weird slow-motion effect that supposedly happens in a time of trauma. There have been reports of people in terrifying or highly stressful situations who describe how the world literally slows down to a crawl. Apparently there is science behind it, too. Something to do with adrenalin flooding your body and enabling your brain to see the world in more frames per second—just like a camera, capturing the moment like a scene from a film. Perhaps it’s nature’s way of allowing us to react quicker. An instant fight-or-flight response. A remarkable design of our bodies, giving us a chance to save ourselves from some inevitable fate.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >55

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Crusher – A Texas Beach Town Romance Read Online Daryl Banner http://www.wownovels.com/crusher-a-texas-beach-town-romance-read-online-daryl-banner Mon, 15 Aug 2022 21:11:04 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/crusher-a-texas-beach-town-romance-read-online-daryl-banner Genre: M-M Romance, Romance Authors: Daryl Banner Advertisement

Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >74

Read Online Books/Novels:	Crusher - A Texas Beach Town Romance
Author/Writer of Book/Novel:	Daryl Banner
Language:	English
Book Information:
From USA Today Bestselling Author Daryl Banner comes a steamy beach town opposites-attract romance with a surprise ending that will steal your heart. When Quintin Ruiz’s classmate invites him down to Dreamwood Isle for the weekend, the last thing he wanted was to capture the attention of the beach town’s infamous “Heart Crusher” Adrian Tyler. Pretty boys with eight-pack abs aren’t Quintin’s type. Meanwhile, Adrian Tyler is tired of only being seen as a “pretty muscle boy” with a bad reputation for having new arm candy every weekend. Besides, what’s he supposed to do when every young and willing guy in sight throws themselves at him? So when Adrian crashes into the sensitive art student named Quintin, who instantly puts him in the “friend zone” and wants nothing romantic to do with him, Adrian is left feeling relieved. And also very, very confused. What starts as a totally platonic friendship turns into something more as the young men get to know one another, share each other’s dreams ... And ultimately give in to their suppressed desires. ✔️ Opposites attract ✔️ Beach town vacation vibes ✔️ Major steam
Books by Author:	Daryl Banner

Chapter 1 - Quintin

“Are you an artist, or a fraud?”

I stare at Professor Lawrence with two big, blank eyes. My lips hang open with words I can’t form. My tired hands dangle at my sides, still stained with crisscrossing streaks of cadmium yellow and phthalo blue.

His question couldn’t have come at a worse time. My dad has been breathing down my neck lately about how I should have gone to law school instead of “doodles and finger painting” as he so lovingly calls my passion. And to make matters worse, my rent is due in a week and I still haven’t found a decent enough job to replace the one I just lost to some teenager willing to work for minimum wage.

Also, I really need to pee.

The sweet relief of emptying my bladder should be the last thing on my mind when I’m being handed my ass by my professor. But I’ve been holding it in for quite a while, and after working for weeks perfecting my painting of a sunset I saw the evening my brother died, I’d figured this chat would have been a more quick and rewarding one.

He doesn’t know about my needing to pee.

Or my brother.

“I used to know exactly who you were the instant I saw your work,” he says, lifting his bearded chin and making him look ten feet tall. “Your voice. Your eye. Your fury. I felt the fire inside of you then, Mr. Ruiz. Who put it out?”

It’s a complicated question, because I never thought it went out. Now I’m wondering if I know myself as well as I think I do. Has my “fire” really been extinguished? When did it happen? How have I not noticed?

My professor’s dark, curly beard hangs prominently off of his otherwise pallid face, and it’s in those tight curls of hair that my eyes become lost as he speaks. “This is a mystery you’ll have to solve yourself.”

“Sir, I thought—”

“—that you’d captured the perfect sunset?” he finishes for me, then gazes at my painting, which still sits on the easel like a scolded child sent to timeout. He has no idea what I painted that sunset for. He has no context. He only has his two gray eyes and that semi-permanent smirk set in his furry beard. A soft breath hisses from his lips. “Vibrant colors … clean, intentional strokes … really pulls in the eyes. It’s quite beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“And soulless.” He turns back to me. “Is this the kind of artist you want to be? You could paint a dozen sunsets. They would each be as pretty as this one. And those dozen sunsets can be sold like stock off the shelf of a retail store, prettying up the bedrooms of a dozen suburban houses, or waiting rooms, or even the tired puke-green wall of my therapist’s office, hanging right above the couch next to a framed inspirational quote uttered by some dead poet.”

I avert my eyes, both from him and my painting.

“That’s not you. You’re better than that. You’re better than this. You are better than … pretty sunsets.”

If my brother was here, I bet he’d like my sunset.

He’d also probably punch my professor in the face for daring to criticize my painting, which he’d insist is perfect just the way it is, of course.

Still, what if Professor Lawrence is right?

What if my painting is soulless?

His words follow me out of the building after class is dismissed for the day. I hurry across campus, as if trying to outrun them. The Texas heat seems to chase me, too. Even when I stop under the shade of a tree, I can’t get away from the torture of the midday sun—or my doubts.

My brother was going to be a lawyer.

Maybe that’s why my dad is so hard on me—because I’m not him.

I watch the branches sway in the wind and listen to their leaves whisper softly, as if trying to discern actual words. My portfolio case hangs heavily from a sore shoulder. I’ve clutched it to my side since leaving the stuffy studio, like a newborn I can’t let the nurses take away from me just yet.

You are better than … pretty sunsets.

Am I, though?

Those weren’t the last of his words, but they’re the ones that keep circling my skull. And what am I supposed to do with his sage advice, exactly? Not paint pretty things anymore? Not pain myself over color choices to achieve that gorgeous, rainbow-shattered sunset in my memories? Maybe I should be in law school after all, studying at some library until the wee hours of morning to be ruthless with my words and logic rather than a paintbrush and canvas.

Art is all I’ve ever known. It’s all I’ve ever loved.

And my love for it apparently isn’t enough.

Ugh, what will my dad say?

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Crusher - A Texas Beach Town Romance

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English

Daryl Banner