GUEST AUTHOR: Safe in his Heart by Renae Kaye

Today I’m joined by my good friend, Renae Kaye, who is sharing something a little different with us today.

Music for the book

It’s no secret that Nic Starr is one of my best author friends.  I love her to death and would be over her house daily if I lived close enough.  This would be bad news for both of us, because we’d get no work done.  Ever.

So I contacted Nic and said, “Hey – can I do a guest post on your blog?”  And Nic, being the great friend she is only hesitated for a bit **wink**  Okay – she said yes immediately.  Then I asked the hard question.

“What sort of guest post do you want?”

She replied, “Why don’t you pick three songs that suit the book?”

Okay – I’m never one to step away from a challenge.  This was a challenge.  Three songs?  I love music, don’t get me wrong.  I sing in a choir.  I listen to music in the car.  I play the piano.  I have appreciation of all types of music.  But I don’t always listen to music that people deem “popular.”  Popular now, or even fifty years ago.  My tastes are weird.  So it’s taken me a while to come up with some music.

I’m also someone who loves for a song to tell a story – so they’re the stories I know.  And as any good author will tell you, a story has a beginning, middle and ending.  So sometimes only the first verse of these songs suit.

Let’s get to it.

Safe in His Heart (Safe #2) is the story of two men who couldn’t help themselves.  They couldn’t help but fall in love.  Andrew is in the closet, hiding behind his marriage of convenience and sleeping with men in secret.  The last thing he needs is to fall in love.  Love would jeopardise his image and his relationship with his children.  Paul on the other hand, knows that he shouldn’t be involved with this man.  The relationship is going nowhere.

But what starts as a one-off, and then a quick fling, turns into something neither of them can give up.

Paul’s theme has got to be Whitney Houston’s, Saving All My Love For You.

A few stolen moments, is all that we share.
You’ve got your family, and they need you there.

This is how Paul feels daily.  He knows Andrew’s family comes first.  Andrew has two kids that he would never leave behind.  The kids need Andrew more than Paul does.  So he sits back and waits.

My friends try and tell me, find a man of my own.

Yes.  Lon and Casey from Safe in His Arms (Safe #1) are there to tell him to dump Andrew, but Paul’s saving all his love for Andrew.  Despite it just being a fling, they become quickly committed to each other.

We’ll be making love the whole night through.
So I’m saving all my love for you.

Yes.  And when they can, they make a lot of love.

Which brings us to Andrew.  Andrew’s theme just has to be Mark Chesnutt’s, A Hard Secret to Keep.

Andrew’s hiding that he’s gay – even from his wife.

I stay up late and read a lot at night.
Lately she’s begun to wonder why.
She don’t know I’m scared that I’ll start talking in my sleep.
You’re a hard secret to keep.

They have a marriage of convenience and she doesn’t care who he sleeps with, as long as no one realises the marriage is a sham.  However, Kristy doesn’t realise that Andrew is sleeping with men.  And Kristy doesn’t realise that Andrew’s come to the point where he only sleeps with one man – Paul.  Andrew is desperate to hide this.  From his wife, from his PA, from his family.  This song is Andrew’s theme.

And every time she asks me where I’ve been,
A cheater’s paranoia begins.
Scrambling for an answer, anything she might believe.
You’re a hard secret to keep.

One slip of the tongue’s all it would take.
Just one little note that I forgot to throw away.

Yes.  Andrew and Paul have been keeping up pretences.

Then the unthinkable happens.  Andrew’s wife runs away to be with an old lover.  Andrew is thrust into the role of fulltime parenting.  But there’s a glimmer of hope.  What if Andrew was to come out?

Both men move into Sam Smith’s song, Lay Me Down.

Can I lay by your side?  Next to you?
I don’t want to be here if I can’t be with you tonight.

Being apart is hard for them.  They need to be circumspect in their behaviour.  But it becomes harder.

Your touch. Your skin. Where do I begin?
No words can explain the way I’m missing you.

Both men desire nothing more than to be together forever.  Lying by the other.

Can I lay by your side?  Next to you?  You.
And make sure you’re alright.
I’ll take care of you.

Both men have a lot to get through in this book.  I hope you pick it up and enjoy the journey with them.

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Safe in His Heart

by Renae Kaye
Safe #2
Published by Dreamspinner Press
Released 2 May 2016
270 Pages
Available in eBook and paperback formats

Blurb

Andrew and Paul learned about God and Jesus in different churches and realize their views of spirituality are worlds apart.

Andrew was raised Catholic and was told his homosexuality was a sin. For his entire life, he hid the truth. He married and had children to present a façade to the world—that of a straight man. It’s not until he has an affair with Paul, who shows him a different side of Jesus, that Andrew realizes he can be gay and still believe in God. Paul’s Jesus is one of acceptance and love, and in Paul’s church, being gay is not a problem.

For Paul and Andrew, falling in love is the easy part of their journey. They must make it through the fires of cheating, being discovered, Andrew’s wife leaving, the necessities of childcare and family life, the demands of their jobs, and working on their commitment to each other. Only then can they be safe in each other’s heart.

eBook links

Dreamspinner: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7683
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Safe-His-Heart-Renae-Kaye-ebook/dp/B01EG0QCOM
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-safeinhisheart-2023479-149.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/safe-in-his-heart-renae-kaye/1123670418
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/safe-in-his-heart

Paperback links

Dreamspinner: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7684
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Safe-His-Heart-Renae-Kaye/dp/1634772261

About Renae Kaye

Renae Kaye is a lover and hoarder of books who thinks libraries are devilish places because they make you give the books back. She consumed her first adult romance book at the tender age of thirteen and hasn’t stopped since. After years – and thousands of stories! – of not having book characters do what she wants, she decided she would write her own novel and found the characters still didn’t do what she wanted. It hasn’t stopped her though. She believes that maybe one day the world will create a perfect couple – and it will be the most boring story ever. So until then she is stuck with quirky, snarky and imperfect characters who just want their story told.
Renae lives in Perth, Western Australia and writes in five minute snatches between the demands of two kids, a forbearing husband, too many pets, too much housework and her beloved veggie garden. She is a survivor of being the youngest in a large family and believes that laughter (and a good book) can cure anything.
How to contact Renae:
Email: renaekaye@iinet.net.au
Website: www.renaekaye.weebly.com
FB: www.facebook.com/renae.kaye.9
Twitter: @renaekkaye