*Blog Tour* ~Guest Post & Review~ Double Blind (Special Delivery #2) by Heidi Cullinan

Summary:

Know when to show your hand…and when to hedge your bets.

Randy Jansen can’t stand to just sit by and watch as a mysterious man throws money away on the roulette wheel, especially since Randy’s got his own bet going as to the reason this guy is making every play like it’s his last day on earth. The man’s dark desperation hits Randy right in the gut. Half of him warns that getting involved is a sucker’s bet, and the other half scrambles for a reason—any reason—to save the man’s soul.

Ethan Ellison has no idea what he’s going to do with himself once his last dollar is gone—until Randy whirls into his life with a heart-stealing smile and a poker player’s gaze that sees too much.

Randy draws Ethan into a series of wagers that leads to a scorching kiss by midnight, but he isn’t the only one with an interest in Ethan’s vulnerability. Soon they’re both taking risks that not only play fast and loose with the law, but with the biggest prize of all: their hearts.

Warning: This story contains high-stakes poker, gangsters with a weakness for kittens, foursomes, and kinky consensual sex.

This book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.

My Review:

This book hurt my OCD, no it freaking broke it. The poker was fascinating but when it comes to something like this, Randy is right, you learn by playing and I couldn’t grasp what the hell he was saying about it in the beginning. It went over my head.  What it did do though was make me want to break out the cards and try to play with the husband. Not something I would normally do, so good job Randy. Well done.  But while the poker was a bit overwhelming for this girl, the meaning behind it, at least what I took from it looking back just sat me on my ass. Damn. Just damn.

I have to say, I know this is a re-release of a beloved book and I am so happy I am reading it this time around. Knowing what happened with Randy not only in Special Delivery but then again in Hooch and Cake, I was in the mindset for more of this rough and tumble man with the heart of gold. I wanted to be with him to find what he didn’t think he could or what he deserved. The moment Randy sees Ethan at that wheel…I was just as lost as he was.

Now, I am known to fangirl my ass off when it comes to Heidi and her boys but I will dial that in for this one.

“It’s that you hate to lose, isn’t it?”

“I don’t like anything where you can’t get the best of it.”

“In other words, a game you don’t control.”

Randy, you fantastic beast of a man. How could I not say you were my #1 book boyfriend and earn a badge for it? Come on. I fell for you so hard in Special Delivery and again as you planned Mitch and Sam’s wedding with such care and detail but to see you, quite frankly, lose your shit over Ethan was amazing. You made me laugh, you made me shift in my seat with your sexy flirting/dancing and you made me fall head over heels and down the mountain for you over and over again. Why? It’s…well…

Because Randy is the strangest, most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen and right now he’s the sun I can’t otherwise seem to find, even when it’s right above me.

Yeah, because of that. And then you meet Ethan and you have this bet and watching the two of you count the hours and minutes to see who won, you just killed me. Ethan, your story was heartbreaking and of course having Randy come into your life, to save your life would be the only way it could happen. I adored watching you fight yourself in so many ways and learn as well. All those lessons, boy this whole deal was one crash course in life and love for you and you took it like a champ. It would have to be that way wouldn’t it? Funny that I loved you from the first time I met you but I fell for you about the same time that I fell for Randy in Special Delivery. That, my dear dear man, was HOT! I was not sure where it all was going but that look and when you get all elegant and strong and control…um UNF UNF UNF! There could be no better match for Randy than you. I am not happy that your life took the turn it did for you to meet but, well, you know?

Just like with any story from Heidi, this book will drag you along through every emotion you can gather to feel and back again. You go from the trenches of pain to the exhilaration of pure pleasure all while melting into the biggest puddle of goo imaginable. How she does it, I don’t know but I am addicted to it and I don’t ever want to be off this ride. Heidi knows how to hit you and hits you hard with the feels. I knew I would get emotional with this one but was unprepared for the tears that sprang up once again where normally they shouldn’t…but they should. You see, sex is physical pleasure yes, but when there is that emotion attached, that intimacy that is when it’s mind blowing for me and there were a number no all of those scenes in this book had my heart racing and the ones that had me tearing up were gorgeous. I was a mess though for the last 30% of the book, I can’t lie, a total mess and I am still lost with the boys.

“It’s okay sweetheart. So, should we go pain the town red?”

“I think we’re gonna paint it a little rainbow, but yeah.”

Double Blind, this book for me was full of gambling metaphors for life. What else can you do when a book is set in Sin City. What I took away from it all is this…life IS a game folks. Play your best, toss out your bluffs and your double blinds. Know when to call, when to raise, when to fold and when to claim your pot and leave the table, because baby, you won.

 
 

~Guest Post~

Sara asked why I’ve never been to Vegas except for my brief foray in my youth and again just before I wrote Special Delivery: the answer is, largely, because it hasn’t worked out. My vacations are few and far between and usually coincide with an event, like the Kylie concert in Dallas, or last year’s Chicago trip so Dan could say farewell to his favorite record store. I get around a lot for conferences and conventions, but that’s not at all the same as a vacation.

 I also never sought out Vegas because I’m very, very much not a gambler in any sense. Even more than Randy, I want a sure thing. I like the academic idea of poker, but not the losing money reality of it. I do want to get to Vegas, sooner rather than later, and it’s on my to-do list, no question. The problem is as my family and friends will tell you, I don’t call and I don’t visit anyone, and that involves just a day or two of planning. Our big goal is to get Anna to Washington, D.C. before she gets too old to want to see it, and we’re two years behind now as it is. My sister is also on my case to come to Vienna before she moves back to the states, and there are a million work events I’m supposed to go to but can’t find the time/money for. So while Vegas is on my mind, it’s way behind a lot of other things right now.

 

That said, if I write another book in this series, I’m thinking I’ll go first to get a firsthand lay of the land. So hopefully sooner rather than later.

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About the Author

Heidi Cullinan has always loved a good love story, provided it has a happy ending. She enjoys writing across many genres but loves above all to write happy, romantic endings for LGBT characters because there just aren’t enough of those stories out there. When Heidi isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking, reading, knitting, listening to music, and watching television with her husband and ten-year-old daughter. Heidi also volunteers frequently for her state’s LGBT rights group, One Iowa, and is proud to be from the first midwestern state to legalize same-sex marriage.

 

You can stalk, I mean find Heidi here: