Imitation of Life (Rock Bottom #2) by Felice Stevens-Review & Giveaway tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 10, 2019

Benny DeMarco is the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. He works hard, takes care of his little sister, and pays the bills. Childhood bullies and an abusive stepfather invade his dreams, and at times he wishes life would grant him a do-over. Would he like a boyfriend? You bet. But Benny knows love isn’t for him. He’s been looked over, looked through, and looked past all his life. Even worse, the one guy he’s been in love with for almost two years is the biggest flirt who will sleep with anyone. Anyone except Benny.

Gino Acosta smiles to keep from crying. Everyone he meets tells him he’s beautiful and sexy, but Gino knows the truth. His outside may be perfect, but inside he feels dirty and unworthy. Bounced around as a child, he yearns for someone to love and a family to call his own. He hops from man to man, desperate to belong, believing the lies he’s told, but all he finds is a body for an hour or two. Things would be so different if only he knew—the man he’s searching for is waiting for him, right under his nose.

Benny starts dating the “perfect guy”and it’s okay if there’s no spark—that’ll happen eventually. Won’t it? Gino’s fast-paced modeling career has taken off, but once again, he’s trading his body for a dream. When Gino’s world explodes, Benny must fight for what and who he really wants. Gino must learn to trust what people tell him—that he’s got so much more to offer than a pretty face and a moment of pleasure.

If all your life you believe you’re nothing, how do you move past heartbreak and hardship to reach for everything?

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REVIEW:IMITATION OF LIFE is the second instalment in Felice Stevens’ contemporary, adult ROCK BOTTOM erotic, MM, romance series. This is twenty-six year old, Benny DeMarco, and twenty-seven year old, Gino Acosta’s story line. IMITATION OF LIFE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be some triggers for more sensitive readers including questionable consent, abuse, neglect, assault, power and control.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Benny and Gino) IMITATION OF LIFE follows the building relationship between co-workers Benny DeMarco, and Gino Acosta. Working side by side for close to two years at Hard Core Fitness, Benny has lusted after Gino Acosta, a man whose flirtations and reputation has cast a dark shadow both in and out of the local gym. When Gino’s lifestyle and sexual promiscuity spirals out of control, he may have destroyed any chance of a relationship with the man with whom, he too, had considered his one chance at love. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Gino and Benny, and the potential fall-out as both Gina and Benny must face their fears, and the possibility of losing it all.

Gino Acosta has never known affection or love having been bounced from foster home to foster home most of his young life, and in this he has sought a connection with a series of one-night stands, affairs that have left him empty and lost. A chance at a modelling career destroys what’s left of Gino’s self-esteem, self-esteem that has taken a hit one-too many times. Benny DeMarco knows the struggle of being a gay man in a world where discrimination starts with the family at home. Having to raise his little sister since the death of their mother, Benny struggles to make ends meet including having to withstand the emotional abuse at the hands of their drunken step-father.

The relationship between Benny and Gino is one of immediate attraction but neither one was willing to acknowledge their mutual attraction. Benny watched from the side-lines as Gino was used and abused by a series of men both in and out of the workplace, but the heart wanted more for the man that continued to break his heart. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense.

We are reintroduced to Justin Molina and Foster Harding (Broken Silence #1) as well as a crossover with Oren and Noah (One Call Away #2) and Jeremy and Blake (Perfect #3 ) from the author’s Soulmates Series.

IMITATION OF LIFE is an emotional and heart breaking look at betrayal, struggle, trust and discrimination; of one man’s search for family and love; and one man’s battle to protect the only family he has left. The premise is captivating; the romance is captivating; the characters are broken, colorful, and lost.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one-BROKEN SILENCE

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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I have always been a romantic at heart. I believe that while life is tough, there is always a happy ending around the corner, My characters have to work for it, however. Like life in NYC, nothing comes easy and that includes love.

I live in New York City with my husband and two children and hopefully soon a cat of my own. My day begins with a lot of caffeine and ends with a glass or two of red wine. I practice law but daydream of a time when I can sit by a beach somewhere and write beautiful stories of men falling in love. Although there are bound to be a few bumps along the way, a Happily Ever After is always guaranteed.

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