Book Tour for In From the Cold by Cat Grant (Review & GIVEAWAY)

I'm honored to be hosting Cat Grant again today with her newly-released m/m novella, In From the Cold, introducing us to the next generation of Courtlands.  Keep reading to get a glimpse of this book through an interview with Seth Courtland himself as well as my impressions of the book.  Make sure to leave a comment below for the chance to win an exclusive t-shirt too......

Hi! Thanks for joining me on my week long blog tour celebrating the first chapter in my brand new series – The Courtlands: The Next Generation. Leave a comment below and you could win an exclusive T-shirt! Follow me on the rest of this tour for a chance at some other special prizes  - backlist ebooks, exclusive swag (for the original Courtland series, and several other books), maybe even get to name a character in an upcoming Courtland book. Yes, there will be more – at least one novel, possibly two!

For all the Courtland fans clamoring for the next generation…
Cold and sick, Seth Thompson must fight through a snowstorm to get home. Seth’s unconventional upbringing taught him to always reach out to strangers in need, and Iranian engineering student Bilal al-Mansoori is no exception. Being trapped together leads to an unexpected mutual attraction—and a feverishly hot night under the covers.
But Bilal needs more than simply a rescue from the weather—he’s trapped under lifetime of cultural pressures. His strict Muslim father and fellow Iranian students have no clue about his inner torment.  His attraction to Seth isn’t a welcome discovery—instead he’s trapped between the existence he’s always known and the prospect of living and loving openly for the first time in his life.

And now, let’s have a few words with our young hero, Seth Thompson, who some of you may recall as a nerdy, precocious ten-year-old when last we saw him…
Seth:  (covers face) God, I knew you were gonna say that…
CG:  Aw, it’s not that awful, is it?
Seth:  Can we move on, please?
CG:  Sure. So tell us, what’s your life been like since we saw you last? Obviously you’ve grown up, you’re in college. What’re you studying?
Seth:  Art.
CG:  You paint?
Seth:  And draw. And sculpt sometimes. I make things out of found objects. Don’t worry, I’m minoring in business too, so I might actually be able to find a job once I graduate. (laughs)
CG:  Your stepfather’s Eric Courtland. He could get you a job with one phone call.
Seth:  If I wanted him to, which I don’t.
CG:  Why not?
Seth:  Because I want to make my own way, just like everyone else.
CG:  But you’re not like everyone else. You’ve had opportunities and advantages most of us can only dream of.
Seth:  That’s true. So?
CG:  So… why don’t you take advantage of your privilege in this case?
Seth:  My privilege?
CG:  You know what I mean. Your family’s incredibly wealthy. Your stepfather Eric Courtland’s still very influential in both business and political circles—
Seth:  (shifts in his chair) Look, I can see where you’re going with this.
CG:  Really? Where am I going with it?
Seth:  I’m not talking about my family. I made that pretty clear to your assistant when she called.
CG:  Aw, c’mon, we’re already here. Just one or two little things?
Seth:  (sighs) Like what?
CG:  Did your parents—all three of them—sleep in the same bed together every night? Could you hear them—
Seth:  (angrily jerks to his feet) Who do you think you are, asking me this stuff? But I will tell you one thing—my family’s a hell of a lot happier than most of my friends’ families, with their three-times-divorced moms and dads they haven’t heard from in years. My folks are still together, thirty years later… And I’m the one who comes from the “weird” family? (rips off his mic, walks out)

CG:  (fake smile) We’ll be right back.
(goes to commercial)

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:

After witnessing the tumultuous and oftentimes epic journey to HEA between Eric, Nick, and Ally in previous Courtland Chronicles books it's now time for the next generation to take center stage.  Nick's son Seth is making his way on his own as he doesn't want others to know he comes from money or of his unconventional upbringing.  He's not ashamed of it he just doesn't want others to view him differently.  He's also very comfortable with his sexuality that has him enjoying both sexes but recently dating has made him disillusioned and tired of one-night stands.  They say you always find love when you least expect it and with his memorable introduction to Iranian student Balil the way he views life and love will never be the same.  It's an eye-opening experience both in and out of the bedroom in a sentimental and thought-provoking start to a new generation of lovers.  Seth is a confident and kindhearted young man with a rosy colored view of the world that sometimes frustrated me.  Being in college I expected him to be more aware of the world with all it's good and bad beliefs.  Being with Balil is a shocking entry into certain truths and promises a future just as tumultuous as what his parents went through.

Balil had a very strict upbringing, especially after the death of his mother.  His father taught him to be leery of Americans while his culture taught him that being gay was a death sentence.  Since coming to America he's devoted himself to his studies, making virtually no friends, and hiding the forbidden thoughts going through his head even more often after meeting Seth.  He's suspicious of everyone and everything which is why he's so shocked by Seth's helping him when he was sick.  Their relationship evolves slowly but surely over a few days with sexual tension weighing heavily on them both.  There's not much actual sex to be seen though as Balil is still very uncertain in choosing to live his life freely with a lot of foreboding feelings courtesy of the few Iranian students he associates with.  The only time the burden of expectations leaves him is in Seth's arms.

This is a quick read with two likable but very different people.  It's a sweet and sentimental read as well as thought-provoking as Ms. Grant seamlessly incorporated political issues into the narrative to emphasize the freeing relationship burgeoning between Balil and Seth.  With an ending that's satisfying but clearly leaves room for more readers will be happy to see the return of the Courtlands and counting down the days to see where life and love takes Seth and Balil next.

My rating for this is a B+

*I got this from the author for review in exchange for my honest opinion.

AUTHOR INFO:

Cat Grant lives by the sea in beautiful Monterey, California, with one persnickety feline and way too many books and DVDs. When she’s not writing, you can usually find her watching movies or TV (Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries are among her favorite shows), singing along to her favorite band (30 Seconds to Mars), or fantasizing about kinky sex with Michael Fassbender and/or Jared Leto.
Here’s Cat’s various hideouts on the Internet:

WEBSITE:  http://catgrant.com
TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/CatGrant2009
FACEBOOK:  http://www.facebook.com/cat.grant?ref=profile
GOODREADS:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1912055.Cat_Grant
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE:  http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Grant/e/B003ASUGUS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
EMAIL:  cat@catgrant.com
SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER here.

**********GIVEAWAY**********

PRIZE IS AN EXCLUSIVE T-SHIRT.

-Leave a comment below, along with your email addy, to be entered. (NO EMAIL=NO ENTRY)
-Winner will be chosen randomly from all comments made here.
-Giveaway ends on Friday, September 19th at 11:59 pm EST.