And it looks like a notebook exploded on my desk when I’m trying to do it 🙂
Writing blurbs are hard
Month: September 2020
Sunday book recommendation
I hope you’re having a great Sunday, everyone. Sundays are meant to be lazy days and I love spending them with a cup of tea and a good book. So I thought I’d recommend two awesome books I’ve read lately, if you need inspiration on what to read today.
The Bake Sale by Matthew Robbins is a wonderful short story, only 2419 words, but oh what wonderful 2419 words they are.
He leaned his head toward Scott at an angle that invited Scott to kiss Miles in that sweetly innocent place that was not fully on the mouth but also not quite on his cheek.
Miles and Scott is an established couple and this is a little slice of life in their lives. It’s emotional and romantic and sweet, just the kind of story I love the most. It’s perfect if you only have a couple minutes but still want to read something good. Matthew Robbins was a new-to-me author and I’m really glad I took a chance on him. It was so worth it.
JMS Books / Amazon
Best Friends by J.M. Snyder is also a short story, albeit longer than the above one at 5599 words. It’s about two best friends; Todd has been secretly in love with Riley for ages and his heart is breaking now that Riley is about to leave for the military.
He’s all that exists to me, in me, of me. His hands and mouth bring me to life.
Snyder has a way with words that gets to me. Not everything that she writes has a happy ending, but everything is freaking awesome. This book is no exception
JMS Books / Amazon
Tell me, are you reading something today?
Regaining Trust pre-order links
It’s less than a week until the release of Regaining Trust, six days to be exact, so it’s definitely time to pre-order it if you haven’t already. And the good new is, I have more pre-order links for you!
When workaholic Lawrence Weller walks in on the aftermath of his fiancé Frankie cheating on him, his world shatters. Frankie’s the love of his life, the only person he’s ever trusted, and the betrayal leaves him devastated.
Franklin Ennis makes a huge mistake that he regrets deeply before it’s even over. He pleads for a second chance, willing to do whatever it takes to save their relationship.
A love that deep doesn’t just stop, so Lawrence agrees to try. But mistakes don’t happen in a vacuum. Are they both willing to own up to their part? Will their love be enough to repair what was crushed? Can trust once broken be rebuilt?
M/M Contemporary / 31306 words
Pre-order now:
JMS Books (20% off until October 6) | Universal Buy Links
#BiVisibilityDay and Nobody Else’s
Today is Bi Visibility Day, a day to celebrate all of us who identify as bisexuals. Bisexuals are the largest part of the LGBTQ+ community, but despite making up about 50% , we are often erased, both from within and from outside the community. We face lots of prejudice, and people believe a lot of stupid stuff about us. For example: read this article for 10 harmful myths about bisexuals. It happens to all of us: I’ve had people questioning me, asking how can I be such a terrible slut and do that (=be bisexual) to my husband, because being attracted to more than one gender means I’m automatically unfaithful. Obviously. (That was irony if I was unclear.)
So today, we’re celebrating bisexuals everywhere here on my blog!
My fictional characters don’t escape the prejudice either. In Nobody Else’s, Beckett’s best friend Matt, who is also Levi’s older brother, doesn’t understand. Let’s all do our best to not be Matt!
Mars enters Pisces, giving Beckett Cooper the opportunity to assert himself when it comes to a secret infatuation; his best friend’s younger brother Levi. But can Beckett trust what’s in front of him and be brave enough to take what he wants?
With Venus in Virgo, people usually become more reserved, but Levi Byrne always takes the opposite road of what’s expected of him. So, instead of pulling back, he reaches out for a man he’s been interested in for years; Beckett Cooper.
Is it the celestial bodies aligning to bring together two people destined for each other? Or is it a simple tale of boy meets boy, boy likes boy, and boy wants to kiss boy? Do Beckett and Levi even care, or are they too busy getting to know each other … and falling in love?
M/M Contemporary / 19 794 words
JMS Books | Universal Buy Link
New Release: Taking Stock by A.L. Lester
Today, I welcome one of my favorite morning writing buddies to the blog, the lovely A.L. Lester, who’s here to talk a little about her brand new release, Taking Stock, that’s out today. The story is set in 1972, the year I was born, so I figure this is a must-read for me, wouldn’t you agree? I also adore gentle stories, found families, and hurt/comfort, so this is definitely right up my alley.
Welcome to the blog, Ally! I wish you the happiest of release days! ❤️
It’s 1972.
Fifteen years ago, teenage Laurie Henshaw came to live at Webber’s Farm with his elderly uncle and settled in to the farming life. Now, age thirty-two, he has a stroke in the middle of working on the farm. As he recovers, he has to come to terms with the fact that some of his new limitations are permanent and he’s never going to be as active as he used to be. Will he be able to accept the helping hands his friends extend to him?
With twenty successful years in the City behind him, Phil McManus is hiding in the country after his boyfriend set him up to take the fall for an insider trading deal at his London stockbroking firm. There’s not enough evidence to prosecute anyone, but not enough to clear him either. He can’t bear the idea of continuing his old stagnating life in the city, or going back to his job now everyone knows he’s gay.
Thrown together in a small country village, can Phil and Laurie forge a new life that suits the two of them and the makeshift family that gathers round them? Or are they too tied up in their own shortcomings to recognise what they have?
Thank you so much for having me today to tell you a little bit about Taking Stock!
Taking Stock is a 40,000 word gay romance set mostly in rural England. It’s set on Webber’s Farm, which I first wrote about in Inheritance of Shadows. Inheritance is set in 1919 and is part of my spooky paranormal universe. I based the farm on somewhere I used to know as a child on the Quantock Hills in Somerset and didn’t want to leave after Inheritance. Taking Stock is the result. Although it’s set in the same universe as my other books and some of the same background characters are there, there’s nothing paranormal or suspenseful.
Instead it’s a gentle story about two people who are hurt and angry and tired, who find their way toward each other and help each other heal.
Initially Laurie was going to have a similar chronic condition to me…I have fibromyalgia and seizures…but then just before I actually sat down to get the words out of my head and on to the page, my Mama had a very severe stroke. She is in her eighties and has been more or less working her seven acre smallholding singlehandedly for years. Her frustration and anger at her situation translated directly into Laurie as I was writing. So he’s a combination of both my own feelings about my lack of agency through my disability, and hers.
It was a very emotive story for me to write and I hope you enjoy it.
Tags: MM, gay, romance, historical, ownvoices, disability, farming, 1970s.
Length: 40,000 words
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Release Date: Sept 19th 2020
Buy links for Taking Stock here.
About A. L. Lester
Writer of queer, paranormal, historical, romantic suspense. Lives in the South West of England with Mr AL, two children, a badly behaved dachshund, a terrifying cat and some hens. Likes gardening but doesn’t really have time or energy. Not musical. Doesn’t much like telly. Non-binary. Chronically disabled. Has tedious fits.
You can stalk me on all sorts of different internet platforms here.
Nell Iris 