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Title: Shug’s Daddy

Author: Siobhan Smile

Word Count: 45k (Print Length: 168 pages)

Genre: MM Contemporary, Daddy Kink Romance

Blurb

Grey

I was just a divorced, small town, hardware store owner, and the man most people considered a gentleman. A slip up in my strict routine would send the town gossips into a frenzy. Yet I’d grown up in that town and everyone knew everyone. No secrets were safe, but I carried one that would send my world into chaos if I let it. I was falling for a town transplant and one of my best friends, Sugar. He was everything I wasn’t. Spontaneous, fun, and knew exactly who he was. What would he see in a boring man like me?

Sugar (Shug)

I was that fat, nonbinary person who hadn’t known the inside of a closet in my life. With a mom like mine, she taught me to never live with regrets, but I had a massive one. I fell in love with my straight, gentlemanly best friend. Grey was everything I wasn’t. Thankfully, he was clueless, but our shared friend group wasn’t. How long could our friends stay silent in a town as small as ours?

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/3LRRz1

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 Excerpt

“Good morning, Grey.” His glossy lips tugged into a smile. His five o’clock shadow was more for fashion than not shaving in the morning.

“Morning. How can I help you?” I’d tentatively called us friends; we shared the random lunch a few times a week and met up on the rare outing friends forced me to attend.

“My house was an icebox when I got up. My nipples could cut glass and not for any fun reasons.” He batted his long, thick lashes at me, and for the hundredth time, I wondered if they were fake.

I shook my head, and he winked at me. “Give me your key.”

He immediately shook his head. “You don’t have to do it yourself. I’m sure you have better things to do.”

“Shug, give me your key. I might not get to check at lunch, but I’ll be by after I get off. I pass by your place on my way home. You work until six, right?” He owned a plus-sized boutique on Main Street and did a good online business. I loved listening to him talk about his shop. He became animated when he talked; he’d lean in with such a bright smile you couldn’t help but return it.

“Yes, sir. I close at six, but normally don’t finish paperwork and online orders until sometimes seven,” he said as he worked a key off the ring.

“If you’re not home by the time I’m finished, I’ll wait.” I picked up the key he laid on the counter, removed my keyring, and slipped it on beside mine so I wouldn’t lose it.

“You don’t have to do that, just leave—”

“Shug, I’ll wait.” While our small town was progressive in most ways, there were still bigots around, I wouldn’t leave his key for anyone with the initiative to look to pick it up.

“Okay, thank you. I’m going to have breakfast at the diner. Would you like me to bring you something?”

“No, thank you. I had breakfast before I left home.”

“Of course, you did. You probably even pack your lunch and cook dinner every night.”

“Yes, I do.” Did he think I was boring like everyone else? I didn’t drink or rarely went to the local bars. I preferred being home. Taking a ride on one of my horses around my property before I settled in for the night with a movie or a book. I wasn’t exciting, but my life was calm and the way I wanted it.

“So nice and responsible, all adult.”

“Nothing wrong with that.” Without thinking, I defended my life choices. I knew people thought I was too stoic and reserved. I’d married my high school sweetheart after college, and we’d spent ten years together before she found my life too simple and routine. She’d left for excitement. I’d been a confirmed and abstinent bachelor since then, even though ladies in town tried to flirt, but it always made me feel awkward.

“No, sir, there isn’t. Could I make you dinner for helping me?”

“That’s unnecessary. If I can’t fix it myself, you’ll have to pay someone. I’ll build fires for you so you stay warm.”

“It was one time, Grey, one.” He held up his index finger with a long, manicured painted nail. Today was dark purple with some flower design.

My lips twitched as I remembered the gossip of Shug trying to build his first fire when he moved to town and smoked up his entire house when he hadn’t opened the flue. The fire department had found him on his lawn in a pink robe having a meltdown that he’d burned down his house.

“It wasn’t funny. Hot firefighters and I wasn’t looking my best, I was a mess, honey, a mess.”

“I heard you made quite the first impression.”

“You’re an evil man, and I no longer like you.”

He spun and stomped from the store. I kept it together until the door slammed behind him, and he glared at me through the age-etched glass. I lifted my mug to my mouth to cover my smile as he walked away adorably huffy.  

4.5 Stars!

I enjoyed this one and didn’t want to set it down once I started reading it. It is a sweet, low angst story, and the characters were great. Grey thinks he’s a boring guy, but really he is wonderful. He accepts people as they are and is humble and down-to-earth. He’s always there for his friends. Shug was an amazing character too; I loved his confidence and ability to be true to himself.

These two have been friends for a long time before Grey starts to see Shug as someone he could be romantically involved with. I liked how the story evolved and how Grey came to appreciate how his feelings were changing and growing. I loved seeing him get shaken out of his normal routines and feeling passionate about someone for the first time. I was happy that Grey was very determined once he set his mind on being with Shug and that he made his intentions clear. I totally understood how Shug felt when Grey, seemingly, was suddenly interested in him. I was glad that Grey helped reassure him and made sure to show Shug that he wasn’t going to hide their relationship. Once these two get together, they are definitely hot, and Grey shows a side of himself that no one really knew about before.

I loved Grey’s best friend, Drew, as well as all their other friends. I was happy to see them supportive of Grey and Shug’s relationship and even trying to play matchmaker earlier in the story. I hope the author decides to write a story for Drew at some point, he needs a HEA too.

*** Copy provided to me by the author for my reading pleasure, a review wasn’t a requirement. ***

Siobhan Smile is an author of happily ever afters with a twist. They feature characters of all sizes, shapes, sexualities, gender identities, and races. Reading a Siobhan Smile book lets you escape for a few hours whether that is to an alien world or a contemporary setting, you’ll find something outside the norm. Writing books for Siobhan is more than simply telling a story, it’s a way for everyone to see themselves get a HEA.

Author Pronouns: Nonbinary – They/Them

Social Media Links

Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/SiobhanSmileAuthor

Facebook Reader Group: www.facebook.com/groups/TheAsylumResidents

Goodreads:www.goodreads.com/author/show/19630141.Siobhan_Smile

BookBub:www.bookbub.com/authors/siobhan-smile

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Siobhan-Smile/e/B07YRL1Z7G