RELEASE BLITZ
Book Title: M.M. Scrooge (An MM retelling of A Christmas Carol)
Author and Publisher: Lee Colgin
Cover Artist: Natasha Snow
Release Date: November 4, 2022
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Heat Rating: 5 flames
Length: 47 000 words/200 pages
It’s part of a multi-author series. Monster & Mayhem #11
It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK
A spicy hot retelling of A Christmas Carol
Blurb
Marley Jacobs is dead, and Max Masters Scrooge has no time for the grieving son’s sob story. Even if Jacobs Jr. is kinda cute—for a nerd.
Daniel Jacobs is anxious, drifting, and lonely. His gut tells him he’s overdue for a dose of self care, but the thought of setting foot in a gym gives him hives. Though he craves gentle guidance, what he gets is the heavy hand of the gym’s head trainer and sleaziest playboy, Max Masters.
Accustomed to topping the leader board, among other things, Max sells Daniel on his gold package. After things get steamy in the locker room showers, Max is ready to make like a ghost and vanish, as usual. But this time, he won’t get away with his selfish antics, not if a vengeful past hookup with a powerful uncle has anything to say about it.
MM Scrooge is a spicy hot horror retelling of A Christmas Carol, as part of the collaboration Monsters & Mayhem: An MM Horror Collection, adapting some of your favorite classic horror stories with an MM romance twist.
Content Warnings:
This book’s list of potential warnings is longer than my grocery list. Buckle in. Readers, feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions. In no particular order: Dub-con that some readers may interpret as non-con. Consent issues. Poorly negotiated BDSM elements. Sexual violence/spanking. Sex as punishment. Death of a parent/grief. Medical kink. Sexually explicit scenes.
That said, this book doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that list might make it look darker than it really is. Better to err of the side of caution.
Excerpt
Just when I think my first workout is done, Max directs me back to the turf. “Now that you’ve got the hang of it, we’ll repeat each station for four rounds. Squats, rotations, rows. Ten reps each. Thirty seconds between stations. Ready?”
I widen my eyes. “I’m sorry. I could have sworn you said four rounds. I must have misheard. What?”
Max grins. “You’ve got this. Round one, Daniel. Knock it out.”
So I do what the man says and squat.
By the time I’m actually done, sweat beads on my forehead and drips down into crevices that are decidedly not meant to be wet in public. Will I be able to walk tomorrow? Time will tell. My arms are made of pudding.
Max’s warm hand lands on my damp back and squeezes my shoulder. “Nice work. You’ve got grit.”
He can’t possibly mean that, but I thank him anyway. I glance up to meet his eyes. His are hazel, ringed brown in the center and green at the edges.
“How do you feel?”
I blink. My heart pounds, and I’m gulping for air like a fish out of water, but…I feel good. Like maybe I could keep going, or I don’t know, jog somewhere or something. Not a feeling I’m accustomed to. “Great, actually.”
He leans in. He’s a head taller, but he stands close enough his breath ruffles my hair. “It’s the endorphins. They’re a rush, huh?”
“Yeah, a rush.” So this is why people work out.
His gaze lingers on mine. “You want to hit the showers?”
“Oh, I don’t need to wash up.” I didn’t come prepared for that. I don’t even have a change of clothes in my bag. “I’m going home after this. I’ll shower there.”
Max arches his dark brows and darts his tongue out, wetting his upper lip. “I didn’t ask if you needed to. I asked if you wanted to.” His eyes trail down my body like a caress and land on my groin. He looks hungry.
And now that I think about it…tasty.
“Oh.” What an offer. It’s not like me to put out on the first date, and this isn’t even date adjacent.
Orgasms fall under the umbrella of self-care, right? Opportunities like this just don’t land in my lap every day. But will sex make future training sessions awkward? I don’t want things to get weird, though rejecting him would do that too, so…
I peer up at him through my lashes, not completely lacking wiles of my own. “Now that you mention it, I am rather dirty.”
Max’s glinting smile could cut diamonds. “Right this way.”
~ * ~ Annie‘s Review ~ * ~
The author does a really good job at flushing Max Masters out as the villainous Scrooge of the story. Though I wouldn’t say he was unlikeable, his thoughts and commentary throughout much of the story reminded me of his self-important personality. They made it a lot easier to accept some of the punishments his “ghosts of the past” doled out. Honestly, while I found some of the moments hard to read about, I wouldn’t have been able to continue reading the scenes if I had liked his character more. These encounters contrasted heavily with Daniel’s personality, whom the author depicts time and time again as a nice man who loves his family and is grieving his father’s death. I quite liked Daniel, but I did wish I had more time to explore his story and see how he and Max fit together, particularly after Max’s attitude shift.
The two characters and sides of the story in M.M. Scrooge definitely made for an interesting dichotomy, especially in a holiday story. While I wasn’t expecting the level of kink that this story contained, I think it was done fairly well, creating steam while adding to the story’s progression. That said, I wish a little more time had been given to the story’s resolution. I didn’t really ever understand Max and Daniel as a couple beyond their physical compatibility, and I would have liked to see Max’s change really cemented as a loving partner versus someone who’s simply learned a lesson recently. I think M.M. Scrooge is a good read if you are looking for a darker take on a holiday story and prefer your romances with more steam than intimacy.
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure. A review wasn’t a requirement. ***
About the Author
Lee Colgin has loved vampires since she read Dracula on a hot, sunny beach at 13 years old. She lives in North Carolina with lots of dogs and her husband. No, he’s not a vampire, but she loves him anyway. Lee likes to workout so she can eat the maximum amount of cookies with her pizza. Ask her how much she can bench press.
Social Media Links
Blog/Website | Facebook Group | Twitter
Instagram | Newsletter Sign-up | BookBub
Giveaway
Enter the King Sumo giveaway for a chance to win
a $20 Amazon gift card and a book from the author’s backlist
Bayou Book Junkie 