Friday Book Blogger Special: Walking on Broken Paths

         

Genre:

Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Childhood friends to lovers, hurt/comfort, damaged hero, opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine

Heat Rating:  3 flames      

Length: 53 000 words / 210 pages

Buy Link:

https://amzn.to/4m5izRq

Publication Date:

July 22, 2025

Book Blurb:

Desperate to escape the pain of his brother’s death, Jesse Melnik ran—but he couldn’t outrun the grief, no matter how much distance he put between himself and his past. Now, after fifteen years of trying, he’s finally ready to face his hometown of Charlottetown again.

He expects the memories of his brother to hover in every corner of his family’s sailboat and whisper in every sea-tinged breeze.

What he doesn’t expect is Parker Willis, the best friend he left behind without a word the day he fled.

And he certainly doesn’t expect old feelings to resurface.

Parker’s been stuck in a rut since his father died three months ago. Every day is the same: try to keep his father’s dinner cruise business afloat so he can chip away at Dad’s debts, all while working a job that leaves him more frustrated than satisfied.

Then Parker’s routine shatters in the best way possible: Jesse Melnik returns to Prince Edward Island for the summer, all six feet three inches of gorgeous hockey player.

Now, that’s different.

Jesse kickstarts Parker’s heart.

Parker makes Jesse feel again.

And although both men are a little bit damaged from struggling down the broken path of loss, maybe—just maybe—if they can lean on each other, they’ll learn to move forward at last.

Content warnings: themes of grief, discussions of a parent’s death from cancer, descriptions/discussions of a sibling’s death by suicide.

The First Line/Book Beginnings

https://www.rosecityreader.com/

https://readingismysuperpower.org/

He should’ve called.

That was Jesse Melnik’s first thought as he pulled into the driveway of his childhood home on Prince Edward Island.

The Friday 56

http://www.fredasvoice.com/

Early July in Toronto was hot, but it hadn’t hit the level of gross mugginess that would surely come within the next couple of weeks.

About the Author

Amy’s lived with her head in the clouds since she first picked up a book as a child, and being fluent in two languages means she’s read a lot of books! She first picked up a pen on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class had to stay inside for recess. Tales of treasure hunts with her classmates eventually morphed into love stories between men, and she’s been writing ever since. She writes evenings and weekends—or whenever she isn’t at her full-time day job saving the planet at Canada’s largest environmental non-profit.

An unapologetic introvert, Amy reads too much and socializes too little, with no regrets. She loves connecting with readers. Join her Facebook Group to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on Instagram, or sign up for her infrequent newsletter.

Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop

1st - What book are you currently reading? What made you choose this title to read? 

(submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

I am writing a (late) review for this book. However, I selected it because I enjoy m/m sports romance, and also because I resonated with the fact that the protagonists had both experienced loss of a family member. I became a sixty-year-old orphan this year when my mother passed away in February. My father has been gone since November 28, 2010. 

Follow our Start page to keep up with the latest from the Naughty Netherworld Press crew.

https://naughtynetherworldpress.start.page

If you don’t already have an Audible subscription, click the link below to get started with your 30-day free trial and grab yourself some late summer listens. You’re welcome.

https://amzn.to/4bIRSgg

 

Sword Brethren Book Blitz #rabtbooktours

 

Book 1 of the Northern Crusader Chronicles

Historical Adventure

Date Published: 11-28-2024

Publisher: The Book Guild

1242. Wounded and captured after the Battle on the Ice, English knight Richard Fitz Simon becomes the unlikely guest of Prince Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod. Curious about his prisoner, Alexander commands his scholar to record Richard’s tale.

Richard’s story begins in 1203, when betrayal shatters his path to knighthood and drives him from England to the merchant city of Lübeck. There, entangled in an illicit affair and the cutthroat salt trade, he finds only temporary refuge. Fleeing once again, he joins the Livonian Brothers of the Sword—a militant order sworn to spread Christendom across the pagan Baltic.

Amid the cold austerity of Riga’s commandery and the looming threat of enemy tribes, Richard must battle not just for survival, but for meaning in a life shaped by violence, doubt, and fractured loyalties. When a pagan army threatens to overrun their outpost, he faces a final reckoning—one that will test his faith, his honor, and the limits of his courage.

 

About the Author

Jon Byrne, originally from London, now lives with his German family by a lake in Bavaria with stunning views of the Alps. As well as writing, he works as a translator for a local IT company and occasionally as a lumberjack. He has always been fascinated by history and has studied the Medieval world for over twenty years, building up a comprehensive library of books. Sword Brethren (formerly Brothers of the Sword) made it to the shortlist of the Yeovil Literary Prize 2022 and the longlist of the prestigious Grindstone International Novel Prize 2022. It is the first book in The Northern Crusader Chronicles.

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