We’re Michelle Moore and Reesa Herberth, and if you know our writing, you probably know that we’ve won awards for our science fiction and mystery romance. (That was the same book, for the record.) What you might not expect from us is a New Adult rom com… but that’s exactly what our new book, Detour, is. Sort of. Mostly? Definitely, yes.
Detour is the book of our heart. It’s a story we’ve always wanted to tell- and one we’ve been telling each other, in some fashion, for as long as we’ve known one another. It’s pretty funny in some places, and sad in others, and delightfully quirky throughout. It’s the story of Ethan and Nick, two strangers on a summer road trip. One of them is running from ghosts, and the other is looking for them. Somewhere along the way, they find themselves in love, and in possession of a plush Titanic.
But not necessarily in that order.
Title: Detour by Reesa Herberth & Michelle Moore
Transportation Series Book One
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Gay, Romance
Length: 339 pages/Word Count: 89,400
Summary:
Ethan Domani had planned the perfect graduation trip before tragedy put his life on hold. Smothered by survivor’s guilt and his close-knit family, he makes a break for the open road. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for, but he’s got the whole summer to figure out who he misses more: his boyfriend, or the person he thought he was. It’s just him and his memories . . . until he almost runs over a hitchhiker.
Nick Hamilton made some mistakes after his younger brother died. His violent ex-boyfriend was the most dangerous, and the one that got him shipped off to Camp Cornerstone’s pray-the-gay-away boot camp. His eighteenth birthday brings escape, and a close call with an idiot in a station wagon. Stranger danger aside, Nick’s homeless, broke, and alone. A ride with Ethan is the best option he’s got.
The creepy corners of roadside America have nothing on the darkness haunting Ethan and Nick. Every interstate brings them closer to uncharted emotional territory. When Nick’s past shows up in their rearview mirror, the detour might take them off the map altogether.
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Exclusive Excerpt
Where do you go when you’re trying to outrun the loss of the most important person in your life? Where do you go when you’ve escaped your personal version of hell, only to find the outside world has nothing to offer you but an empty road and a ride with a stranger?
If you’re Nick and Ethan, the answer is clear- you go to Dollywood! But first, you stop for coffee…
—-
Ethan fell into the driver’s seat, waving a brochure at Nick, who looked barely more awake than he had an hour ago when their alarm had gone off. “The front desk guy gave me coupons. Titanic and Dollywood!”
He wasn’t sure if his enthusiasm was enough to carry both of them or not, but Nick mustered a tiny smile, so that was something. “I’m going to vote Dollywood first, because, rides. And besides, Titanic has this last dinner re-creation thing, and the menu looked pretty good.”
Nick sat up straighter, eyebrows going up. “The last dinner, like when the iceberg hit?”
“Yeah. And they actually have a violin that was recovered from the wreckage, and if we’re really lucky, we might get to hear somebody play it.”
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings or anything,” Nick said, shaking his head, “but has anybody ever told you you’re a little… odd? I mean, this whole death fascination thing. Do you really think it’s healthy?”
Ethan opened his mouth for a scathing comeback, not that he had one, but caught himself when he saw Nick’s smirk.
“I wouldn’t call it a fascination. What’s that other f-word… fetish, maybe?”
Nick’s sly look faded into something more like shock, his mouth dropping open. Ethan couldn’t help noticing that he’d bitten his lip bloody some time during the night. “Did… did you mean to imply that you’re into necrophilia?”
Ethan forced his eyes wide in an expression his mom had always called ‘too good to be true’. “I don’t know what you could be talking about. I was trying to expand my vocabulary.”
Nick muttered something in what sounded like Spanish. “I thought you’d decided on the Titanic?”
“We’re here, and it seemed silly to not take advantage of both.” He tried to keep the defensiveness out of his voice; Nick wasn’t questioning his decision, not really. He didn’t have a reason to, since there wasn’t anything wrong with sticking with the original plan. “Besides, it’s an amusement park. Rides and food.”
“Do you like rides?”
Now that sounded like a pointed question. “Depends on the kind. I have a problem with motion sickness, so maybe the ones that don’t, you know, move too much.”
Nick shook his head. “So you don’t like rides,” he said flatly.
“No, but that’s not the point.” Ethan concentrated on starting the car, and not Nick’s silence.
That silence stretched past the point of awkwardness, before Nick finally cleared his throat. “I’m down for whatever. I guess I thought you didn’t want to do the Dollywood thing, is all. If you want to, that’s cool.”
“I don’t not want to. Maybe if I skip it, I’ll be missing out on something amazing.” Time to change the topic of conversation, even if he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why it was making him uncomfortable. “I know I took advantage of the extremely stale packet of coffee in the hotel room, but I’m pretty sure all the caffeine leached out of it six or seven years ago. Mind if we stop somewhere and get something real?”
“Best idea ever,” Nick said with a smile, sinking lower in the passenger seat. “Think we can get coffee in one of those mugs shaped like Dolly’s chest?”
“Boob coffee? I guess we could, if you really wanted…”
“Maybe they have a mug shaped like someone’s ass in a pair of jeans for those who can’t appreciate the bustier option.” Nick’s thick, dark eyebrows danced above his eyes as he invited Ethan to laugh. Really, with the exaggerated waggling going on, Ethan didn’t have much of a choice.
“I’m just surprised you’re looking to wrap your lips around a ceramic boob. I didn’t think they were your…chosen vessel.”
Nick giggled, slapping a hand over his mouth to keep the sound in until he’d recovered enough to speak. “I’ll drink out of any mug that gets set in front of me. I have no bias against shapely ceramics.”
“That sounds like a challenge.” His villain cackle wasn’t everything it could be, but that meant he threw in a little more volume. Unfortunately, the only thing in sight was a Starbucks, not really known for controversial drink cups, unless you counted the Christmas kerfuffle.
“Statement of fact, my friend. I accept beverages in whatever cup they happen to arrive in. My thirst can be quenched by any number of liquids. All caffeine is worthy–”
“Nick. Nick! Do you want to go in, or am I going through the drive-through?” Ethan fixed his travelling companion with a pointed look, wondering how long he might have gone on without being stopped. “Or will you be embarrassed to be seen in public with me, given my sad preference for only one kind of drink?”
Nick sighed heavily. “I guess we should go in. But… what kind of drink? Am I going to have to stand next to someone whose order makes me blush?”
“Vanilla latte,” Ethan said, pulling into a spot. “And if you’ve got a problem with that, I’ll call my mom and she can read you the riot act about how everyone is allowed to love the drink of their choice.”
“Jesus, dude.” Stretching after he undid his seatbelt, Nick reached for the door handle. “I didn’t know you’d get so worked up about coffee.”
“We all need to have something to believe in, a cause to support.” Ethan sighed, exiting the car with as much dignity as he could manage. “You should work on that. Otherwise, people are gonna think you’re shallow.”
“There are puddles deeper than me. Now lead me into this den of sin and fetch your demon juice so we can get to Dollywood.”
Author Bios
Reesa Herberth grew up in Hawaii, tried Arizona for a few years, and eventually settled in the D.C. area, where they have trees and rain.
She’s held a variety of crazy writer jobs, including book and video store manager for a defunct chain of music shops, office goddess for an artisan ice cream maker, cheese-cup scrubber at an organic goat dairy, high school secretary, and dye-stained proprietress of a small yarn and fiber business.
When not writing, she can usually be found reading, gardening, cooking, or spinning yarns of another sort entirely. She often resents her need for sleep.
With Michelle Moore, she is the author of the Ylendrian Empire books, including The Balance of Silence, the award-winning space opera caper, The Slipstream Con, and Peripheral People, a sci fi thriller with psychics and squishy feelings, coming soon.
Author Links: Website * Website * Email * Goodreads
***
Michelle Moore has a well-documented obsession with travel, television, frappaccinos and flamingos. These, however, come in a distant second to her love of writing. Most evenings she can be found huddled over her laptop at the local Starbucks, dividing her time between actually writing and pretending to be a barista.
While Michelle would like to claim child prodigy status, the truth is that she’s only been scribbling words on paper since she was six. However, she’s moved beyond those initial Dick and Jane story knock-offs to the Ylendrian Universe, a much more rewarding and enjoyable choice of subject matter.
Connect with Michelle:
Author Links: Website * Website * Email * Goodreads
Giveaway
To celebrate the release of Detour, Reesa and Michelle are giving away a $20 gift card to the Ripped Bodice! If the winner is outside the US, it will be a $20 Amazon gift card instead. Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 12, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
Thank you for sharing excerpt from the book! I’m newbie reader to your book and it sounds like an absolute trip!
Happy release week.
puspitorinid AT yahoo DOT com
thank you for the excerpt. It sounds so good!
susanapperez7140(at)gmail(dot)com
I like the excerpt!
vitajex(at)Aol(Dot)com
Thanks for the excerpt!
jlshannon74 at gmail.com
Thank you for the excerpt!
humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
Thank you for introducing me to this book, it sounds like something I’d really enjoy reading!
nikolina1812 @ yahoo.com
I loved the excerpt!!
sstrode at scrtc dot com
Thanks for the excerpt, I haven’t read anything from either of you yet.
serena91291@gmail(dot)com