Third Time's the Charm | Book Chat with K. Evan Coles

I’m delighted to welcome K. Evan Coles back to the blog today, especially as she brings a feel-good love story. Something I can definitely do with in the current muddle of politics and business worries. Come and check it out! 🙂

Thanks for having me, Jackie! I’m thrilled to be able to talk about my new release, “Third Time’s the Charm,” a book I’ve been waiting to see in print for what feels like forever.

I started working on the book in 2017, where it started as a short story for an anthology. The plot didn’t quite work in a 15K-word format, but I loved the characters, Luke and Finn, and decided to expand the story into a novel. Luke and Finn seemed to like that idea, too, because they started talking to me even more.

Luke Ryan is a man with a lot going on. He runs his own business and acts as guardian to his ten-year-old niece, but he’s one of those capable people who finds a way to deal with everything and still show the world a smile. His world is rocked in a really nice way when he meets Finn Thomason, a trauma surgeon new to the city of Boston. If anything, Finn’s schedule is even more hectic than Luke’s and the two are forced to get creative when they realize how much they enjoy spending time together.

Compared to some of my other books, “Third Time’s the Charm” is a very straightforward kind of story. At its heart, it’s about two people who make a connection and fall in love and, despite challenges, work at being together because that love is important to them. I think we can all use that kind of light in our life from time to time.

Third Time’s the Charm

Blurb

Sometimes you have to start over to get love right.

Luke Ryan’s life is too chaotic for romance, what with running his business and being the legal guardian to his ten-year-old niece, but he’s hopeful he’ll find the right man.

Trauma surgeon Finn Thomason recently relocated from Chicago to Boston, where his focus on medicine leaves him little space for a personal life. Making a commitment to find a better work-life balance, Finn hopes he’ll also find a relationship.

Caught in an evening rainstorm, Luke shelters under a sidewalk awning…and encounters a handsome stranger. The two strike up a conversation and Finn offers to walk Luke under his oversized umbrella. Charmed, Luke accepts and asks Finn out for coffee in thanks.

Luke and Finn quickly grow close, but, as the summer draws to an end, Luke struggles to keep his connection with Finn while Finn tries to come to terms with caring for a man whose attention is pulled in many directions. Both men are scrambling to get it right, but only time will tell if they’ll learn there is more than enough room in their hearts to go around.

Excerpt from Third Time’s the Charm

“Hey, where’s Luke meeting us?”

“He’s not coming,” Finn replied. “He canceled this morning.”

“What? Why?” Paul asked. “He’s the reason we have tickets at all!”

“I know.” Finn knew he sounded sulky. “He had a thing to do with Ella, and their babysitter couldn’t cover. For what it’s worth, he seems pretty bummed out about the whole thing.”

“I’m sure he is,” Mick said. “Luke wanted to see this game with you, Finn.”

Finn’s stomach tumbled. Luke had said the same thing and while Finn believed him, he’d been short when they’d spoken, in part because he’d been juggling patients but also because he’d been really fucking disappointed. Now Finn was at the ballpark feeling shitty, Luke across town and probably feeling just as bad, and they wouldn’t have a free night without Ella again for God knew how long.

So make a free night with Ella.

Finn wanted to roll his eyes at himself. A free night with Ella wasn’t built for romance. There’d be a lack of adult foods and Ella would probably eyeball Finn while she and Luke slogged through her homework. Finn would fall asleep like he did any time he’d been on duty and sat on Luke’s couch for too long. Any fooling around he and Luke got up to would happen in secret and oh, so very quietly. And Finn would be out the door before eleven because he was working nights all week.

Still, he and Luke could be together for a while, and wasn’t that the point?

About K. Evan Coles

K. Evan Coles is a mother and tech pirate by day and a writer by night. She is a dreamer who, with a little hard work and a lot of good coffee, coaxes words out of her head and onto paper.

K. lives in the northeast United States, where she complains bitterly about the winters, but truly loves the region and its diverse, tenacious and deceptively compassionate people. You’ll usually find K. nerding out over books, movies and television with friends and family. She’s especially proud to be raising her son as part of a new generation of unabashed geeks.

K.’s books explore LGBTQ+ romance in contemporary settings.

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