Knight of Ocean Avenue
The classic opposites-attract gay romance
Knight of Ocean Avenue
Knight of Ocean Avenue is a gay awakening, total opposites attract, trying to please your mother, religious confrontation, learning who you are romance.
What if I’m always kidding myself?
Billy Ballew wants to be married, but he’s been engaged to three women and can’t get to the altar.
He wants to be a contractor, but he’s so dyslexic he has to force himself to read and fears the contractor’s license test more than death.
He wants to please his mother, but all she wants is for him to give her grandchildren.
What Billy doesn’t want is to find out he’s gay.
But then he meets Shaz, the one guy so flamboyant Billy can’t even be seen with him without losing all his friends – and his family. One more thing Billy wants and can’t have.
Maybe he should just stay home with his cats.
Available in eBook and Paperback
2nd edition
Release Date: October 8, 2020
Tara Lain Books
310 pages
ASIN B08K7NRFTL
What People Are Saying About Knight of Ocean Avenue
Best Book of 2015
Rainbow Awards
#4 in Best Gay Book of 2015
Night Owl Reviews
Reviewer Top Pick
5 Stars! I Couldn’t Put It Down!
I’m going to award Tara Lain the title of “Queen of Love Dreams”, simple because….she is! This book was exceptional, if I ever needed a book to remind me of why I read m/m romances, this is the book – I absolutely adored it!
Billy and Shaz together were magical – the stuff of which dreams are made of.
Recommended Read
I read this from start to finish without putting it down because I just had to know how things happened and how it ended. Bravo, Ms. Lain. I loved this one and Billy and Shaz are one of my new favorite couples.
Wonderful!
Tara has a way of making each story idea feel new, regardless of the ingredients and how they are arranged. Also, Tara stays far away from stereotypes which make her characters extra special. If you want a story which is full of vibrant characters, whether friend or foe, angst, hot sex, and, of course, a happy ending, then this book may be for you. Thanks, Tara! I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
10 Pots of Gold!
There were times in this book where I thought I had it figured out, only to have Tara surprise me, and when an author can do that well, I am hooked. The secondary cast of characters are amazing as well. They will shock you, and make you love them as well as hate a few. Look, all I can say about this book is the premise has been done over and over. But Tara Lain takes it, twists it and makes it unique. You are still getting that comfort read, of boy thinks he is straight only to find that one boy he wants to take the leap for. Its a beautiful, wonderful hug in a book. I look forward to the next one and highly recommend this one.
5 Stars! Must Read!
How they rise above their fears and doubts and how it all comes together at the end is a joy. It was what I needed after just finishing a much darker, intense read and it’s definitely gone into my top Tara reads up to now. A new favourite and a series that I’ll be waiting impatiently for, especially after seeing who the leads are going to be for books two and three. Five flamboyantly fabulous stars and a big satisfied sigh!
5 Stars!
This book is a fantastic contemporary M/M romance between a sexually questioning construction worker and the glitzy stylist prepping his sister for her society wedding. It’s an odd couple that just works!
5 Stars! A Literary Work of Art!
I am so glad I FINALLY get to gush about this book, ahhhh the wait was torture! This is one of those books that you both want to finish and then you don’t because that means the experience is over (unless you read it again a day later like I did :P). Tara Lain knows how to write a story that will become an instant favorite!
5 Stars!
In a classic case of opposites attracting, Billy and Shaz generate a natural chemistry together that lights up the page. Tara Lain paints an Americanesque landscape as the background of her captivating new series and nestles her imperfect characters into the story seamlessly. KNIGHT OF OCEAN AVENUE’s entire cast of characters kept a smile to my face for days and I’m eagerly anticipating future stories from Laguna!
4.5 Stars!
Knight of Ocean Avenue is a beautiful read. The emotions jump off the pages, making me fall into this story, unable to put it down. The first book in Tara Lain’s Love in Laguna series, I can’t wait to read more.
Translations
Excerpt from Knight of Ocean Avenue
“Okay, I need to ask, and I have nothing on it so don’t get defensive.”
Billy squinched his nose. “That’s not the best way to keep a guy from getting defensive.”
Shaz grinned. “I know. Not subtle, but seriously, why haven’t you taken the contractor’s license test?”
Shit. Defensive.
Shaz held up a hand. “I assume it has something to do with your reading ability, but I thought Clancy and Yerby and all those others on your bookshelves overcame that issue.”
“Yeah. Pretty much.”
“You read well enough to take the test? Because if not, I’ll bet they’ll let someone read it to you.”
“I can read.” He put down his fork.
Shaz leaned over and picked up the fork. “Come on, darling, this is Shazzy Wazzy. I am no threat at all to you.” He scooped some mashed potatoes and flew them like a plane toward Billy’s mouth.
For a second, Billy compressed his lips. Jesus, the guy was impossible to resist. He burst out laughing. The first time he’d ever laughed at this subject. “I’m afraid to take tests. I panic.” His heart beat fast just thinking of it. He snapped the potatoes off the fork and chewed.
Shaz put a hand on his arm, which made him feel calm and excited at the same time. “How do you know?”
“Know what?” “That you panic when you take tests?” Billy frowned. “I’ve blown every test I tried to take since the eighth grade. It got so bad I had to drop out of high school. I could have tested out, but I couldn’t take the test, and I never got my GED because I—”
“Couldn’t take the test. My God, that’s awful.” The frown got deeper. “Like I said, I’m too dumb to take tests.” Shaz leaned over until all he could see was that pretty face. “This hasnothing to do with dumb. Does it?”
Billy stared at his almost empty plate.
“Does it?”
He shook his head.
“What does it have to do with? Who made you afraid?”
“What?”
“I said who made you afraid. Someone did.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because you’re a strong, capable man who isn’t afraid to take the whole damned world on his shoulders. There’s no reason for you to be afraid of anything unless someone told you there was.”
He nodded slowly. His heart hammered so hard it felt like his chest would explode. “I got beat up a lot in grade school because I was small and couldn’t read.” He shrugged. “I know. Hard to believe, right? Behemoth that I am. Anyway, my eighth grade English teacher was the worst, I guess. I could barely read, and she gave us test after test. I couldn’t read the books and I couldn’t read the test.” His pulse hammered in his ears. Like he was back there in that god-awful room. “She constantly told me how dumb I was and made sure the whole class knew it. I didn’t grow until I was sixteen. I was still a little runt then and got beat up every day while they called me stupid.” Shit, tears pushed out of his eyes. This was not good. “I have to stop talking about this. I have to go.”
“No, Billy, I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault.” He fished in his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. He threw some on the table. Maybe a hundred dollars. Then he ran for the door.
“Billy!”
The cool evening air hit him like a bucket of water in the face. Where the hell was he going? He’d driven his truck. It was full of furniture, and Shaz had no way to get home. Billy Ballew did not leave a friend behind.
He stared down the sidewalk. That bench looked inviting. Staggering a little, he walked to it and sat. Just breathe. That’s why he never talked about this subject. Never even thought about it if he could avoid it. If he could just forget it, things would be better.
“Billy.”
He looked up at Shaz, who stood on the steps of the restaurant. The man walked toward him with that graceful saunter of his. “You didn’t go. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you left me here to rot.”
He managed to cock half a smile. “Too dry in California to rot.”
“Wither and blow away, then.” Shaz sat next to him. “I truly am sorry. I didn’t mean to open wounds. I have too many of my own to be picking at yours.” He held out his hand with a palm full of money. “You dropped something.”
“I want to pay for dinner.” “Nope.”
“The champagne.”
“Nope. The least I can do after spoiling your meal is pay for it.”
“But—”
“Never argue with a queen, darling. We always win.”
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