Title: Mai Tais and Murder
Series: Gabe Maxfield Mysteries,
Book 1
Author: J.C. Long
Publisher: NineStar
Press
Release Date: June 12, 2017
Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 53000
Genre: Contemporary,
contemporary, mystery, gay, romance, Hawaii
Synopsis
When he moves to Hawaii in the wake of a disastrous breakup and betrayal by an ex, a murder investigation is the last thing he expects to get wrapped up in, but he can’t help himself when a dead body, a hunky cop, and his best friend get involved.
So much for sipping Mai Tais on the beach and admiring the well-tanned bodies around him.
Excerpt
Mai
Tais and Murder
J.C.
Long © 2017
All
Rights Reserved
The
sound of banging drew me from the nap I’d fallen into on the uncomfortable,
lumpy couch I’d inherited in my new condo. I looked around, confused until I
realized someone was knocking at my front door rather impatiently.
I
hurried across the room, threw open the door, and was greeted with the sight of
a burly Islander pulling a dolly loaded up with boxes. The movers were there,
finally. I glanced at the watch I wore on my wrist. It was nearly noon, so
only, oh, two hours late.
“Aloha,
we’re with the movers,” the man said unnecessarily.
“I
thought you were going to be here by ten,” I said, stepping out of the door and
allowing the man to wheel the dolly inside.
“Yo,
you got choke boxes, braddah.” It sounded like it was meant to be an
explanation, but if it was, I didn’t understand it. I’d been in Hawaii for two
weeks, and I had not come close to catching on to the local pidgin. I
understood what was being said around me about seventy percent of the time, and
then suddenly I had no idea. Perhaps he saw the confusion on my face, because
he added, not unkindly, “You got a lot of boxes.”
I
nodded my understanding, deciding not to press the issue of the lateness; I’d
learned in my brief time living on the island of Oahu that things in Hawaii ran
differently, as if time followed different rules there. Things that would be
done at a quick pace back in Seattle just happened slower here—the whole aloha,
relaxed island attitude to blame, I supposed. It definitely wasn’t a bad
thing—in fact, I found the lifestyle here to be worlds better than what I
experienced on the mainland. It was just an adjustment. Grace assured me I’d
get there eventually, and I was mildly successful already, becoming way more
relaxed than I had been in Seattle, but when it came to things like this, I
couldn’t help but get a little irate.
Didn’t
people in Hawaii want their packages on time, too? At least pizza delivery
still ran on time.
I
stood back and allowed the man and his companion to wheel in more boxes. They
were about halfway through unloading when the second man stopped and pulled the
door down on the back of the truck, leaving the rest of my boxes inside.
“Hey,
what are you doing? Those are my boxes!”
“Nevah
mine, braddah. Try wait, yeah? We come back bumbye. We gone go grind.” The
bigger guy came out of the condo behind me, patting my shoulder with a beefy
hand.
I
ran a hand through my hair. “I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand…”
“He
said they’ll come back in a bit. They’re going to get lunch.”
I
looked over and saw a tall, dark-skinned Islander, bulging muscles all but
ripping out of the tight maroon V-neck T-shirt he was wearing. He was about an
inch over six feet, with dazzling white teeth and short-cut, dark hair. His
eyes were a surprisingly light shade of hazel that contrasted his skin.
“Oh,
uh, yeah, okay. Thanks.” God, I sounded like a stammering idiot.
If
the hunk of an Islander noticed, he didn’t say anything. “You’ve been here a
few weeks, right? Why are you just getting boxes? Not that I’m stalking you or
anything,” he added quickly, eyes widening a bit as he probably processed what
he said. Saying you weren’t stalking someone made it sound like you were
stalking someone. I hadn’t taken it that way, but when I thought about it, I
could see how it could sound stalker-like. “I live in the condo next to yours.”
He pointed over my shoulder at the door to his place.
I
had my suspicions that he was blushing, but with his face as tan as it was, it
was hard to tell. It did look like the skin on the exposed, smooth expanse of
his chest and neck had reddened a bit, but was likely just wishful thinking.
That’s
when I realized I was staring at his chest. Goddamn it, here I was, a
twenty-nine-year-old man acting like a fifteen-year-old. “I’m Gabe Maxfield.” I
introduced myself to establish that I was not,
in fact a bumbling idiot. “Nice to meet you.”
The
guy took my hand and shook it firmly. His touch was surprisingly soft despite
the few calluses I could feel, and a warmth spread through me that had nothing
to do with the blazing sun. “I’m Maka Kekoa. Hauʻoli kēia hui ʻana o kāua.
That’s nice to meet you in Ōlelo Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian language.”
I
tried to repeat it, and he smiled at the way I stumbled over the words. “To
answer your question,” I said quickly, trying to move past the embarrassment of
butchering the language, “I wasn’t in a rush to get everything since this place
came mostly furnished. I shipped them from Seattle at the cheapest—and
slowest—rate.”
“Oh,
you need these guys back here at a certain time?” he asked, gesturing toward
the movers, who still hadn’t driven off, much to my surprise. They were
standing close together, watching our interaction with quite a bit of interest.
“I’m
supposed to meet a friend today at three, so they need to be here and finished
before then.”
Maka
nodded and walked to the passenger door of the truck, rapping on it with his
knuckles. The door opened and some words were exchanged that I didn’t hear—not
that I was paying attention. My eyes were too busy traveling over the nice
muscles of Maka’s arms and the very pleasing shape of his ass.
This
was, I realized, the first inkling of physical attraction toward another man
I’d felt since things had gone so bad with Trevor two months before. Since then
I’d been living in a bit of a fog on many levels, including my libido. I just
didn’t feel the drive—I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d jacked off.
Seeing Maka seemed to have poked the bear, so to speak, and I felt myself begin
to harden.
I
was surprised when the two movers hopped out of their truck, rolled up the back
door, and once again started moving boxes. One of them shot a glare at Maka as
he went by and muttered something under his breath, but Maka didn’t seem to
notice.
“How
did you do that?” I demanded when he rejoined me
Maka
shrugged, once again flashing those pearly whites. “I have a way with people.”
“Clearly.
I need to get you to teach me.”
“Maybe
that can be arranged sometime.” Was he flirting with me? Or had I been out of
commission so long that I was misreading a simple conversational reply? Why was
interacting with a man so complicated? My mind had to go running off in three
directions at once, and I didn’t even know if this guy played for my team, so
to speak. “It was nice to meet you, Gabe. I’ve got to get going. Tell Pako and
his boy that if they have any trouble with anything, they should give me a
call, okay?”
“Will
do,” I said with an awkward chuckle. “Nice to meet you, Maka.”
“Aloha.”
“Aloha.”
I waved at him as he left. He’d rounded the corner into a second section of the
parking lot when I heard sniggering behind me.
Purchase Links
NineStar Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/mai-tais-and-murder/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/726459
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mai-tais-and-murder-1
Character Interview
Hello, everyone, and welcome to this stop of my Mai Tais and
Murder blog tour! I’m very glad you’ve joined me, and today I’ll be bringing
you a character interview. We’re going to get the scoop on our leading man from
someone who knows him better than anybody else: his best friend! I hope you
enjoy, and don’t forget to pick up your copy of Mai Tais and Murder today!
Without further ado: the interview!
Pierce: Hello, everyone, this is Garrett Pierce with Gay
Honolulu Magazine! Today we’re sitting down with Grace Park of Paradise
Investigations to chat about her handsome—and gay—partner, Gabe Maxfield. Thank
you for joining us, Grace.
Grace: I’m pleased to be here. I’d be happier if we were
here to talk about me, of course, but I’ll take what I can get.
Pierce: First and foremost, I have to say that I hope Mr. Maxfield
is doing alright? When he told us he was too sick to do the interview you can
imagine how worried we were.
Grace: Oh don’t worry, I’m sure he’s going to make a rapid
and miraculous recovery.
Pierce: Good, good. Alright, well, let’s get to the questions!
I know this is something plenty of our readers here at Gay Honolulu are going
to want to know, so I’ll ask it first: is Mr. Maxfield single?
Grace: Gabe made me promise not to talk about his personal
life. However, if someone told you that there may or may not be a gorgeous
police officer in his life, they would be correct. About the “may be” part.
There is, you see.
Pierce: Would this be Detective Maka Kekoa of Honolulu PD?
Grace: I will neither confirm nor deny this. Actually, I’ll
not be denying it. Take that for what it’s worth.
Pierce: Okay, then. Next question: what would you say is
Gabe’s best attribute?
Grace: His best attribute? That’s a tough one. He has such
few good attributes. I’m kidding, I promise. I’d say his best attribute is his
loyalty. If you earn Gabe’s friendship, he would do anything for you—absolutely
anything.
Pierce: What about his worst attribute?
Grace: That’s easy. He has without a doubt the absolute
worst taste in men. There was this time in college that he dated this guy that
was really into puppet shows. How creepy is that?
Pierce: Yeah, that is pretty weird. Okay, let’s move on to
the next question. Boxers or briefs?
Grace: I think boxers are pretty comfortable to sleep in. Of
course, I’ve never really worn briefs before…
Pierce: Not you. Gabe. Is he a boxers or briefs kind of guy?
Grace: Oh. Briefs, I’m pretty sure. Not that I’ve ever paid
that much attention.
Pierce: Yeah, sorry. We wrote these questions when we
thought Gabe would actually be doing the interview. I guess the top or bottom
question is out the window.
Grace: Ew, gross. Yes. I don’t want to think about my friend
having sex. Although if I had to guess I’d say bottom. Maybe vers bottom?
Definitely something to do with bottoming.
Pierce: Could you stop saying bottom?
Grace: Yeah, I felt it getting a little weird.
Pierce: Yes, so let’s just forget about it. Let’s go for one
more question. What’s something that Gabe has done that has impacted others?
Grace: Well, he did give me pointers on blowjobs back in
college, and I’m sure there’s a few guys that would be very grateful to him for
that.
Pierce: I meant in terms of charity! You know what? Never
mind. Thank you so much for joining us, and we’ll resume this interview at a
moment when Gabe can actually be here.
Meet the Author
J.C. Long is an American expat living in
Japan, though he’s also lived stints in Seoul, South Korea—no, he’s not an army
brat; he’s an English teacher. He is also quite passionate about Welsh corgis
and is convinced that anyone who does not like them is evil incarnate. His
dramatic streak comes from his life-long involvement in theater. After living
in several countries aside from the United States J. C. is convinced that love
is love, no matter where you are, and is determined to write stories that
demonstrate exactly that. J. C. Long’s favorite things in the world are
pictures of corgis, writing and Korean food (not in that order…okay, in that
order). J. C. spends his time not writing thinking about writing, coming up
with new characters, attending Big Bang concerts and wishing he was writing.
The best way to get him to write faster is to motivate him with corgi pictures.
Yes, that is a veiled hint.
Author Links
Website: http://www.jclong.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjclong
Twitter: https://twitter.com/j_c_long_author
Email: jclongauthor@gmail.com
Tour Schedule
6/12 Out
Of My Head - https://midnightamie.wordpress.com
6/13 Butterfly-o-Meter
Books - http://butterfly-o-meter.com/
6/14 Wicked
Faerie's Tales and Reviews - http://wickedfaeriesreviews.blogspot.com
6/14 Love
Bytes Reviews - www.lovebytesreviews.com
6/15 Sharing
Links and Wisdom - http://sharinglinksandwisdom.blogspot.com
6/15 MM
Book Escape - https://mmbookescape.com/
6/16 Bayou
Book Junkie - http://bayoubookjunkie.blogspot.com
6/16 Happily
Ever Chapter - https://www.facebook.com/happilyeverchapter
Giveaway
One lucky winner will receive an ebook
of their choice from NineStar Press
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