Love Brokers

By L.C. Chase

The thing that brings them together might be the very thing that tears them apart.

Jacob Cruz, aka “Mr. Matchmaker,” has an uncanny knack for knowing which two people are meant to be together, which led to his successful matchmaking business, His Perfect Match.

Brant Hudson, aka “Dr. Romance,” is a hopeless romantic with a talent for repairing relationships on the rocks, and his thriving consulting practice expanded into a successful streaming TV show.

Jacob believes fully in love and has no time for liars and cheats like his ex or charlatans and frauds like Brant, because if there’s one thing he knows, it’s that everyone on reality TV is fake. But when Jacob accuses him of that very thing and exploiting relationships for ratings, Brant is determined to prove Mr. Matchmaker wrong.

Sparks fly along the way, but even if Brant manages to convince Jacob that he’s the real deal, his TV show still might ruin it all anyway.

(Note: This book was previously published under the title Mister Romance, and has been heavily revised with new scenes, new secondary characters, and is over 13,000 words longer.)

• Language: English
• Publisher: L.C. Chase
• Release date: Nov 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952878015

L.C. Chase

Cover artist by day, author by night, L.C. Chase is a hopeless romantic, free spirit, and adventure seeker who loves hitting the open road just to see where it takes her. When not writing sensual tales of men falling in love, she can be found designing romance novel covers, taking photos, drawing, horseback riding, or hiking the trails with her goofy four-legged roommate.L.C. is a two-time Lambda Literary Award finalist for Pickup Men and Pulling Leather; an EPIC eBook Awards winner for Pickup Men; a nine-time Ariana eBook Cover Art Awards winner, and Bronze winner in Sinfully’s 2014 Reader’s Choice Awards for Cover of the Year. She also won runner-up for Best Gay Contemporary Romance and Best Gay Book in the 2016 Rainbow Awards for A Fortunate Blizzard; honorable mention for Best Gay Contemporary Romance in the 2015 Rainbow Awards for Pulling Leather; and Best Gay Mystery/Thriller in the 2012 Rainbow Awards for Riding with Heaven.You can find L.C. on her website, www.lcchase.com, and subscribe to her totally sporadic, no spam newsletter works in progress, new releases, newsletter exclusives, and more.

Book preview

Love Brokers

Copyright © 2012, 2020 by L.C. Chase

Wild Roan Press

This book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. All trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Cover design is for illustrative purposes only, and any person(s) featured is a model.

Cover design & layout: L.C. Chase, lcchase.com

Editor: Danielle Poiesz, doublevisioneditorial.com

ISBN: 978-1-952878-01-5

Second edition

November, 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in a review. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact L.C. Chase at [e-mail]. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

The thing that brings them together might be the very thing that tears them apart.

Jacob Cruz, aka Mr. Matchmaker, has an uncanny knack for knowing which two people are meant to be together, which led to his successful matchmaking business, His Perfect Match.

Brant Hudson, aka Dr. Romance, is a hopeless romantic with a talent for repairing relationships on the rocks, and his thriving consulting practice expanded into a successful streaming TV show.

Jacob believes fully in love and has no time for liars and cheats like his ex or charlatans and frauds like Brant, because if there’s one thing he knows, it’s that everyone on reality TV is fake. But when Jacob accuses him of that very thing and exploiting relationships for ratings, Brant is determined to prove Mr. Matchmaker wrong.

Sparks fly along the way, but even if Brant manages to convince Jacob that he’s the real deal, his TV show still might ruin it all anyway.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

Share Your Experience

Also by L.C. Chase

About the Author

Brant Hudson removed the microphone from his left ear as he stepped off the set of his weekly, made-for-streaming TV show, Dr. Romance.

Helen, one half of the couple he had just helped reunite, rushed over to give him a hug. She wasn’t a tall woman—her head barely came to his chin—but she squeezed him with enough strength to force the air from his lungs. Thank you so much, Mr. Hudson. We couldn’t have found our way back to each other without you.

Please, call me Brant, he said as he stepped out of her embrace, reminding her for the umpteenth time that she didn’t need to be so formal. It truly is my pleasure. Nothing warms my heart more than seeing the love between you two shine so bright.

Thank you again. Gary, Helen’s husband of forty-plus years, placed a hand on the small of his wife’s back and extended the other to Brant. We’re going to recreate our first date this weekend. Gary winked, his gray eyes full of mirth, as he shook Brant’s hand enthusiastically.

You sly ole dog, Brant teased. I want to hear all about it.

Oh no, honey, Helen said, her tone serious but her expression teasing. Some things are not suitable for impressionable young men such as yourself.

I’m not that young—or impressionable, Brant quipped, waggling his eyebrows.

Helen and Gary were still laughing as they were led off set by one of the show’s gofers.

Diane, his production assistant and closest friend, fell into step beside Brant, holding a tablet to her chest. Headphones hung around her neck, and strands of dark hair escaped her ponytail to frame her youthful face. Great show today, Brant, she said.

He grinned. Thank you, Di.

It had been a good show. He’d found the cause of tension between a couple that had been together so long they’d forgotten what had drawn them to each other in the first place. They’d come to him grumpy and distant, and they had left giggling like teenagers who couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Brant had worked his magic—which was really a mix of training as a counselor, intuition, and the ability to read and understand people—once again.

Of course, he hadn’t found the source of their issues in a single show. He’d been counseling them for a couple of months before they’d been accepted as guests on the program. Not every couple he worked with wanted to be on the show, and of those that did, his producers had the final say once Brant gave them a green light. Either way, seeing people glowing again was why he did this. Nothing made him feel better than love rekindled. It was the hopeless romantic in him, as his mother always said. He wouldn’t deny it. He wanted a love story for the ages for himself, too.

They never lost what they’d found in each other in the beginning, he said to Diane, feeling a touch of wistfulness. He’d love to find someone he could still laugh with after forty years, but as hard as he tried, he’d yet to find his prince. Until he did, he’d live vicariously through those who had. They just let too much pile on top of the good.

Did you see them giggling and holding hands on the way out? Diane grinned and bumped her shoulder to his.

She loved this as much as he did. He’d met her at the University of British Columbia—he had been getting his master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and she had been getting a degree in film. None of their classes had crossed, but he’d literally run into her in the hallway, knocking her books and a full to-go cup of coffee to the ground. Somehow that moment had set the course of their friendship. One drunken night, as they were ogling barely clad men dancing on bar tops and he was consoling a heartbroken young man, she’d nicknamed him Dr. Romance. The name had stuck, and two years after they’d earned their degrees and had gone to work in their respective fields, she’d suggested the idea of doing a show.

Brant opened the door to his dressing room, and Diane followed him inside. He sat on a chair facing the vanity to remove his stage makeup while she plopped down on the sofa and began tapping away on her tablet. He pushed aside a large poinsettia that took up way too much space on the table and reached for a cleansing wipe.

I have a new client for you, she said without looking up. He’s eager to win back his ex-boyfriend and wants to be on the show. The powers that be think they’d be good candidates and want you to slot them in.

Brant frowned. He brought potential show guests to the producers, Charles and Ravi, not the other way around. Not until I’ve had a chance to meet and assess them. Charles and Ravi know how it goes.

Apparently this— she glanced at her tablet —Christopher Kinsley fellow is friends with Charles and pitched the idea to him first. Ravi is on board with it, too.

Brant paused his ministrations to meet her gaze in the mirror. That’s not how it works.

She huffed. I know that, but they want you to make an exception.

He did not like that one bit. Not everyone was suitable for the show. Not everyone had the right temperament. The last thing Brant wanted was for his show to delve into sensationalized, melodramatic, daytime talk show territory. He helped people. His format offered a positive message to his viewers. If the producers wanted to head into the gutter, they could do it without him—or his name. He’d made sure they couldn’t take Dr. Romance from him when they’d signed contracts.

Diane took his silence as agreement. You have a meeting with Mr. Kinsley this afternoon.

I already have a session this afternoon, he said, gritting his teeth as he wiped foundation from his skin. It was rare that Charles and Ravi went over his head, but from past experience, things hadn’t gone as planned when they did. Then they’d spend the next few weeks arguing and Brant threatening to take his show and walk.

Yeah . . . about that. Diane had the decency to look sheepish. I rebooked them for later in the week and moved Mr. Kinsley into their time slot. Charles especially wants him on the Christmas week ‘Second Chances’ episode.

He spun around in his chair to stare at her head-on. That’s in three weeks!

She bit her lip and nodded. Good luck, hon. She stood and bolted from the room as if her pants were on fire.

He turned back to the mirror and stared into his own eyes. This would not end well. Rushing consultations and rescheduling counseling sessions just to get a specific couple on the show meant potential chaos. He wouldn’t be able to even predict how it would shake out. Fortunately, the show was taped, but they still filmed to a live audience.

Two hours later, Brant was sitting in his office in downtown Vancouver, a space that always relaxed him. Decorated in warm earth tones, it had low-lit string lights that framed a large window and soft jazz playing in the background. He wanted his clients to feel calm and comfortable as they worked through whatever issues had brought them to him. Right now, Christopher Kinsley—Topher, as the man insisted on being called—was seated across from him on a wide couch. He rested an ankle on his opposite knee and draped an arm over the back of the couch, radiating an arrogance that set Brant’s teeth on edge. Outwardly, Brant remained neutral, a talent he’d honed over the years working closely with other people’s emotions and egos.

Topher was tall, nearly as tall as Brant’s six foot three, and he had fashionably styled dark-blond hair with subtle highlights. He was an attractive man who could pass for Jude Law at a quick glance, but his brown eyes lacked warmth, and the man seemed to be trying too hard.

After the initial introductions, Brant leaned back in his chair. Let’s get started with you telling me a bit about your relationship with your ex.

Topher nodded, dropping his foot to the ground. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. My boyfriend’s name is Jacob, and we met two years ago.

Brant nodded, noting that Topher didn’t refer to Jacob as his ex. And how did you meet?

Topher smiled wistfully. I met him at my cousin’s wedding, of all places. He’d matched them.

Matched them?

Oh! Topher sat up and grinned. "Jacob is Jacob Cruz."

The name didn’t ring a bell, though Topher apparently thought it should.

He owns the matchmaking business His Perfect Match? Topher added when Brant remained silent, his tone implying Brant should know this already.

Really? Brant raised his eyebrows and made a note in his book. No wonder Charles and Ravi were keen on getting Topher and his ex on the show. A matchmaker getting guidance for his own relationship could make for an entertaining episode, not to mention good ratings. Tell me more.

For the next half hour Topher talked and Brant took notes. Something about Topher’s portrayal of their fairy-tale relationship didn’t quite ring true, but Brant couldn’t put his finger on it.

How did the relationship end? he asked.

Topher shifted on the couch and