Canning the Center
The pro center and the drag queen make football fabulous
Canning the Center
Canning the Center is a hiding the truth, secret enemies, forbidden love, toppy femme, MM romance.
Is there a closet big enough to hold a football pro and a drag queen?
Jamal — Posing as straight. Feigning affection for his teammate’s sister. Acting like he doesn’t despise his team’s owner.
Trevor — Hiding his drag persona. Disguising his IQ. Pretending to be someone he’s not.
Jamal Jones, pro football center, and Trevor Landry, college student and drag queen, both fake their lives to keep from losing what they want. They even go so far as to let Trevor pretend to be a woman to convince Jamal’s team that he has a girlfriend.
If they drop their acts, Jamal can lose the promising football career he’s always wanted and Trevor could lose his scholarship. But is having their dreams worth living a phony life? Or will they finally admit, what they really want is each other?
Available in Kindle, paperback, and audiobook formats. This is a republication of an earlier edition. Only the cover is changed.
Released November 15, 2019
Tara Lain Books
252 Pages
What People Are Saying About Canning the Center
5 Stars!
The genius of this book is not just the complex, well-written story, but the even more complicated, yet fascinating characters. Creating unique, interesting characters with flaws is one thing I look forward to in any of Tara’s books. Tara has a way of having them reach in; grab my heart; and pull me into the story. Instead of merely being a reader, I feel I’m there, participating in the action.
Reviewer Top Pick
As usual, this author points out the importance of being true to oneself in an engaging tale that combines passion, humor and an intriguing storyline that enlightens without preaching, and I look forward to other tales in the series.
5 Stars!
As a pairing the two of them oozed chemistry and passion. I loved them as a couple whether it was Jamal and Trixie OR Jamal and Trevor together. Tara has pulled another great story out of the bag and I’m hoping it isn’t too long before the next hunky, closeted gay footballer gets his chance to come out in all his glory in the next book.
5 Stars!
I felt the author did a brilliant job in spotlighting an issue many people face: having to hide a part of themselves in order to do a job they love. This is a universal issue, not just one of sexuality. I think that’s what made the story so relatable and prevalent. I absolutely loved it. There wasn’t anything about the book that I didn’t like.
Other Books in the Long Pass Chronicles
Excerpt from Canning the Center
He’d nestled the Cadillac all the way at the rear of the lot, against the chain that separated it from someone’s backyard. Some eucalyptus trees lined the division. Not everyone’s favorite part of the lot, since it was kind of dark and looked like a good spot for a mugging. Who’d mug him? Only someone with three friends and a horse. There were advantages to being a giant.
He beeped the car lock, opened the driver’s door, and reached up to pull off his leather jacket. A breeze ruffled the tree branches.
He heard a scraping sound and turned, tense, ready to defend himself. What?
The moonlight shone off shining yellow sequins, but their glint didn’t equal the halo shimmering off the pale blonde hair. Walking straight toward him across the rough dirt lot was—Trixie LaRue.
He opened his mouth—and closed it. If this was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up.
She got to the rear of the car and stopped. “Hello.”
“Hello.”
“I noticed you’ve been to see me twice this week.” Her speaking voice was almost as musical as her singing and just as androgynous, neither low nor high.
“I’m sure lots of people come to see you every time you perform. I’m surprised you noticed me.”
She smiled. Sunrise. “Few people are as—memorable as you are.”
He grinned. “What? You don’t have a lot of giants in your audience? No orcs or ogres?”
Her lips tightened a little like she was trying not to laugh. “You’re our chocolate bunny.”
“What?”
“That’s what Lucretia calls you.”
“And you?”
She glanced down at her golden high-heeled shoes. “You look rather like dessert to me too.”
Oh crap, his heart couldn’t beat that fast and survive, could it? “You must really have a sweet tooth.” His voice sounded breathy.
She nodded slowly. “Yes, I do.”
He stared at her. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do here. I’m a very big guy and this is a dark parking lot. I don’t want to appear creepy or be presumptuous.”
She glanced up. “You don’t want to presume that my flirting means anything else?”
“Exactly.” He smiled and let all his teeth show. “Since this feels like some dream I conjured out of pure desire, I wouldn’t want to scare you away.”
She took two steps closer and stopped. His estimate of her height seemed right on. About five ten, plus the very high heels she wore, which still made him four inches taller. She gazed up at him. “You do understand that under these clothes there’s a man?”
He nodded. “I’m counting on it.”
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