BOOK BLAST
Book Title: The Hidden Heart
Author: Patrick Bryce Wright
Publisher: JMS Books
Cover Artist: Written Ink Designs
Release Date: April 26, 2025
Tense/POV: third person, past tense, single POV
Genres: Sweet MM Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Co-worker to boyfriend, silver fox, age gap, May-December, size difference, boss-employee, workplace romance
Themes: Wounded guy finds love, found family
Heat Rating: 1 flame
Length: 20 000 words/ 60 pages
It is a standalone book and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links - On sale for $1.99 during the promo on
Amazon and JMS Books
Amazon US | Amazon UK | JMS Books
Ellis Isaacs falls in love with his new boss, silver fox Richard Quillen, but worries Richard will find him inaccessible or cold. Will the older man see Ellis’s true heart and return his feelings?
Shorter blurb
At the Kissinger-Mann detective agency, the mystery of love is solved just as often as crimes. When detective Ellis Isaacs joins the agency, he falls in love with his silver fox of a boss, Richard Quillen. But Ellis worries Richard will find him inaccessible or even cold. Will the older, wiser man see Ellis’s true heart and return his feelings, or will Ellis’s heart remain hidden?
Longer Blurb
At the Kissinger-Mann detective agency, the mystery of love is solved just as often as crimes. When detective Ellis Isaacs joins the agency, he falls in love with his silver fox of a boss, Richard Quillen. However, Ellis faces two big problems: He tends to fall for straight men, and even when he doesn’t, Ellis’s ex-boyfriends claim he is inaccessible or even cold. Also, he has no idea how Richard will react to the age gap between them.
As Ellis works hard to spend time with Richard outside of work, problem after problem unfolds. Is Richard straight, or is he already dating a male co-worker? Is the age gap a problem, or is the issue Ellis’s reputation for being cold? Will this older, wiser man see Ellis’s true heart and return his feelings, or will Ellis’s heart remain hidden?
Excerpt
Ellis steeled himself and headed across the hallway to Richard’s office. On the strength of the single donut he had eaten on the way there and half a cappuccino, Ellis paused in the doorway and gathered his nerve. It was time to ask the man out for coffee.
Richard was already seated at his desk, wearing a dark gray suit and a maroon bowtie. He read over papers that filled a manila folder. As expected, he was breathtakingly handsome.
Ellis took another sip of cappuccino for courage and then spoke. “Sorry to interrupt you, but I have a question.”
Richard glanced up. “Hm?” He met Ellis’s gaze and gave him a smile. “Not at all. What is it? I’m always here to help.”
If only you could help in the way that I wish you would. “I’d like to get coffee with you sometime this week. At lunch, maybe? Or tomorrow morning? We could even go after work, if that’s better timing.” Ellis’s heart pounded. He always hated this part: setting himself up for rejection.
“Well, sure,” Richard said. “Be glad to. We could get some coffee tomorrow morning if you’re an early bird like me, or we can have lunch. I know a café not far from here that has great sandwiches and decent coffee.” He looked curious, one eyebrow lifting, although he didn’t ask any questions.
“Lunch is perfect,” Ellis said. “Let’s shoot for noon today.” This was the closest he had ever gotten to asking an older man out on a date. Despite his miserable track record with men in general, he’d managed to go on dates with men his own age. That was how he knew he wasn’t interested in getting serious with any of them. At securing a lunch with Richard, Ellis felt a smile threatening to overtake his face, and his heart still raced. “We can always leave a couple of minutes early or late depending on how our mornings go.”
“True,” Richard said. “All right. As soon as you’re ready for lunch, stop by. I’m just doing paperwork today.” There was a kind twinkle in his eyes.
“Great!” Ellis headed up to the third floor to his office, his dour Monday morning officially turned around. I asked a silver fox out for coffee, and he actually said yes.
About the Author
I’m a quirky English professor with tattoos, piercings, and an addiction to supernatural thriller, horror, fantasy, and science fiction. I'm proudly neurodivergent, third gender, and a trauma survivor, all things often reflected in my novels. I have degrees in both English and psychology, both of which inform my writing. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, off-road biking, and pyrography.
Author Links
Blog/Website | Facebook | Instagram | Medium.com
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Giveaway
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one of five ebook copies of my sweet romance MM short story, Dancing at the Edge.
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