Stella Starling

Promise Stella Starling

"I like it when you tell me what to do."

"Do you know how many artists would kill for reviews like yours?".

Once, becoming a model child was how Jared Logan learned to cope with his father's perfectionism. Painting was his one escape; the only time he felt free from always having to do what everyone else thought he should. Now, at thirty-one, he still keeps his art strictly compartmentalized from "real life"-partnership track at an investment firm, a sterile showcase of a home, and a series of relationships with women he keeps at arm's length. The studio is his escape, but art isn't a career. And love? Just not possible for a man like him-one who doesn't let anyone into the one place where he feels free.

"You have more in you than you've ever let anyone see."

Between a full class load and his part-time job as a waiter, college student Tristan Evans doesn't have time for sleep, much less dating. Not that lack of time is his only obstacle; he may have finally gotten tired of being the dorky fat kid and managed to get himself in shape, but changing how he looked on the outside didn't change who he is on the inside. And who he is-a mess of insecurities and hope and incurable awkwardness-just doesn't seem to be what anyone is looking for.

"Nothing you like is wrong... not here, not between us."

Tristan is too young, too needy, and very, very male-not at all someone Jared should be attracted to-but when Jared hires him as a 'life model' for a series of nudes he's painting, Jared starts to realize that he doesn't want to live life always doing what he should anymore... and that giving Tristan what he needs might just set them both free.

Promise is a gay romance novel of approximately 73,000 words containing a whole slew of art, secrets, revelations, and discoveries... oh, and also some light bondage and a forever-love between two men who definitely didn't expect to find it. It can be read as a standalone romance-no cliffhangers and a sweet HEA-but is also the sixth book in The Delicious Series, previously published under one of the author's many other pseudonyms (with a few tweaks and updates for this Second Edition!).