Check out an exclusive excerpt from Melanie Harlow and David Romanov new M/M romance novel Strong Enough, available now!

About ‘Strong Enough’ by Melanie Harlow and David Romanov:

I wasn’t looking for Derek Wolfe.

I wasn’t looking for anybody. All I wanted was to start a new life in America. But when I found myself stranded here with no place to go, he came to my rescue, offering me a place to stay.

He’s smart, successful, and sexy as hell—I can barely sleep knowing he’s right down the hall. And when the chemistry between us explodes one night with fierce, fiery passion, it’s hard to deny there’s something real between us.

But he does.

He says he was drunk. He says it was a one-time thing. He says he’s not into guys and what we did meant nothing.

He’s lying. Because it happened again, and again, and again. And it’s better every time.
I know we could be good together, and I want the chance to try, but I’m done hiding. If he’s not strong enough to admit the truth, I’ll have to be strong enough to walk away.

‘Strong Enough’ by Melanie Harlow and David Romanov exclusive excerpt:

I kept my eyes on my phone until I knew he was out of my view.

Then I exhaled.

This wouldn’t be easy, having him around for two weeks. And yet…it would be completely easy. Enjoyable, even. It was the craziest thing—I felt comfortable with Maxim in a lot of ways. He was easy to talk to, he made me laugh, he was interesting and fun and different. I liked hearing about his life in Russia, too. It gave me some insight into why he was the way he was.

Where it got uncomfortable was when my body reacted to him. A hitch in my breath. A tightening in my chest. Heat in my blood. Provocation of that thing in me that existed only to want and didn’t care about the consequences.

It was maddening that I couldn’t feel those things for someone like Carolyn, who was perfect for me in every other way. Why should it be Maxim who ignited that fire in me, rather than her? What was it about him that wouldn’t let me out of its grasp? Why was I being punished this way?

As if being pulled by magnetic force, I walked over to the chair where he’d hung the sweatshirt I’d loaned him. Glancing out the sliding glass door to the patio, I saw him standing by the rosebushes at the side of the yard, the sun glinting off the gold in his hair. I picked up the sweatshirt and brought it to my face.

It was still warm from his body.

I inhaled slowly. Soap. Fabric softener. But there was something else there, too. At the deep end of my breath was the heady, masculine scent of his skin, and I held it captive in my lungs, closed my eyes.

You inside me.

My mind feasted on the scent. I felt my lips on his skin, my hands on his back, my chest against his. He was warm and strong and hard and—

Two quick knocks on the glass door made me jump, my eyes flying open to find Maxim standing there on the patio, his head turned, so he was looking away from me. I immediately dropped the sweatshirt onto the chair and slid the door open.

“Hey.”

He looked at me, his face impassive. “Hey. Do you have some gloves?”

“Uh, yeah.” My face was probably fifty fucking shades of red. But he hadn’t seen anything, right? “Be right out.”

I put my shoes on again and went out to the garage, where I rummaged around on my workbench shelves. Where the hell were those gloves? I knew where everything was in this garage, so why the fuck couldn’t I find them? My mind was cloudy with confusion and shame. Had he seen what I was doing? He couldn’t have. He wasn’t even looking at me when he knocked. And even if he had, he knew how I was about neatness. He probably thought I was going to hang the sweatshirt up somewhere, or put it in the guest room.

My heart rate slowed, and I remembered where the gloves were. I pulled them off the shelf and slipped them on for a second, flexing and fisting my hands.

“Find some?” Maxim called from outside.

“Yeah.” Quickly I tugged them off and headed into the sunshine, squinting at the light. I’d forgotten to put my sunglasses back on. “Here you go.”

I handed them to him and watched him put them on, sliding his fingers into the spaces mine had occupied a moment before.

It was almost like touching him.

Strong Enough by Melanie Harlow and David Romanov is available now! Order your copy from Amazon, iBooks, and Barnes & Noble. And don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads!