Romancing the Rough Diamond by Clare London: Exclusive Cover Reveal
June 11, 2019 by Denise
Loving this cover! Clare London is here today with the cover of Romancing the Rough Diamond, and my goodness that is a sparkly diamond! Check out the cover, let us know what you think. Romancing the Rough Diamond is out September 17th, and I can't wait!
Trust is the most precious jewel of all.
When Mayfair jewelers Starsmith Stones wins the commission for a gay royal wedding, CEO Joel Sterling is recommended to the brilliant young designer Matt Barth—only to discover Matt's the man with whom he shared an anonymous and passionate kiss on the celebration night.
Disenchanted with the commercial jewelry industry, Matt nowadays prefers muddy archaeological digs to designing. Openly resentful of Starsmith's hostile takeover of his family's firm, he is horrified at the realization he'll be working with the man who engineered that deal—but the opportunity to create something fabulous and unique for the royal couple is too tempting to refuse.
Working as a team reignites the spark between Joel and Matt. But when betrayal from within Starsmith threatens both the project and Joel's confidence, will they have built enough trust to keep their newfound love as precious as the royal jewels?
Title: Romancing the Rough Diamond
Series: Romancing The…: Book 4
Author: Clare London
Category: Contemporary, Dreamspun Desires
Cover Artist: Alexandria Corza, http://www.seeingstatic.com/
Clare London took her pen name from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fueled family home, she juggles her writing with her other day job as an accountant.
She's written in many genres and across many settings, with award-winning novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she's just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she's happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic, and sexy characters.
Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter-three stage and plenty of other projects in mind… she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fueled family home.
Clare loves to hear from readers, and you can contact her here:
Website: www.clarelondon.com
Email: clarelondon11@yahoo.co.uk
Blog: www.clarelondon.com/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/clarelondonauthor
Twitter: @clare_london
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/clarelondon
Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/clarelondon
Bookbub: www.bookbub.com/authors/clare-london
Filed Under: Cover Reveals, Randomness, TCO Exclusives Tagged With: author, book, cover reveal, dreamspinner press, dreamspundesires, gay, lgbt, m/m romance, mmromance, romance
Keeping Cade by SE Jakes: Blog Tour, Excerpt and Giveaway
Protection has its price, but so do fantasies…
Fantasy Week happens twice a year at Crave, and it's always a big hit—a way to live out your wildest fantasy in a safe, sane, and consensual manner.
But when Cade comes in with his Fantasy Week invitation, he's not happy about it. He's stoic as hell and his preferences don't seem to match his fantasy at all…and yet, despite that, he enjoys himself with Tegan and Vic. At least at first.
When it becomes glaringly apparent that the fantasy isn't something Cade's comfortable with, it's confusing for the men he's been paired with, and Tegan and Vic put a stop to the scene immediately.
What Cade doesn't know is that Tegan and Vic are not only co-owners of Crave, but they're also owners of a mercenary group, Gray Ops, that's run out of Crave. They've also been circling each other for years… but nothing sparks until their session with Cade.
What happened in Room 4 is something none of the men can forget…but it's got nothing to do with a fantasy and everything to do with blackmail. Can Tegan and Vic help Cade keep his secrets, while keeping all of them safe at the same time? Because the secrets threatening to spill out aren't only Cade's…
*This series is set in the MEN OF HONOR world, in the bar called Crave from Bound By Honor
Keeping Cade
Crave Series, Book 1
SE Jakes
Gay Menage Romance
Release Date: 05.24.19
Amazon – Kindle Unlimited
"Am I being chauffeured or can I take my own truck?" Cade asked as they walked out the back door of Crave, leaving behind Oz's yells of "I can't promise what I'll do if you leave me alone with him."
"We'll drive you," Tegan told him.
"Why don't you just carry me across the threshold of the fight club when we get there?" Cade muttered.
"Didn't know you needed that level of romance," Vic said seriously. "I'll keep it in mind."
Cade sighed heavily and got into the back seat with Vic, while Tegan drove. He guessed it was for protection, and arguing wouldn't change a damned thing. He needed to preserve his strength anyway.
Vic handed him a Gatorade and a PowerBar. "Eat up."
Cade muttered, "Fucking starving and this shit tastes like cardboard."
"Fight first, then I'll get you a goddamned buffet," Vic promised.
"There's a McDonald's on the corner," Cade pointed out hopefully.
"You had an entire pizza recently," Vic reminded him.
"Recently to me is the last hour." Cade bit into the PowerBar and stared at Vic. "I think this went bad."
Vic frowned. "They can't go bad."
SE Jakes writes m/m romance. She believes in happy endings and fighting for what you want in both fiction and real life. She lives in New York with her family and most days, she can be found happily writing (in bed). No really…
Facebook page: Facebook.com/SEJakes
Twitter: Twitter.com/authorsejakes
Goodreads Group: Ask SE Jakes
Tumblr:: sejakes.tumblr.com
Instagram: instagram.com/authorsejakes
Newsletter: www.SEJakes.com/Newsletter
Filed Under: Book Excerpt, Giveaway, Randomness Tagged With: author, bdsm, blog tour, Blog Tours, book, Book Excerpts, excerpt, gay, giveaway, Giveaways, lgbt, m/m romance, menage, mmromance, new release, romance
Three Vlog Night by Z.A. Maxfield: Exclusive Guest Post and Excerpt
Ajax Fairchild's online alter ego has caused him trouble before, but never like this. After multiple death threats, his loaded parents decide he needs an enforced digital vacation and the best bodyguard money can buy.
That would be Dmytro Kolisnychenko, former soldier, former hired muscle for the Ukrainian mob—until he lost his happy home life to an enemy with a homemade bomb. Now he wants only two things: to spend every precious second he can with his daughters, and to provide for them by protecting people who can't protect themselves—even entitled little asshats like Ajax Fairchild.
But Ajax doesn't fit into the spoiled little rich kid box as neatly as Dmytro would like. Dmytro doesn't have time for a romantic dalliance, and Ajax is a client, albeit one with unexpected depths. With one coincidence after another driving them to the sleepy seaside town of St. Nacho's and away from their planned safe house, they grow to trust each other and find that love follows trust. Now they must learn where the threat to Ajax is coming from and neutralize it… before it's too late for their happily ever after.
Title: Three Vlog Night
Series: Plummet to Soar: Book 3
Author: Z.A. Maxfield
Category: Contemporary, Humor
Hi, and thanks so much for having me here at the Two Chicks Obsessed blog this fine day. The book I'm sharing is Three Vlog Night, the third book in the Plummet To Soar series.
Do you like road trips? Not only do I enjoy getting behind the wheel and having my own wild adventures, I enjoy movies and books that feature road trips as well.
Once, when our four children were very small, my husband and I piled them all into a rented RV and took them across the country! First, we went to Vegas and then the grand canyon. From there we drove way, way up to the northern states and traveled East on I-90 to visit "The Faces", and on to Minnesota and Wisconsin. We then drove back down through Iowa and Missouri and somehow got to Texas, and drove West from there, home to California through New Mexico and Arizona.
I'm pretty sure my kids were too young to remember it now. Zoe won us all Viking Helmets at Excalibur in Vegas—turns out she's some kind of squirt gun savant. Zack busted his lip on the metal stairs up to the bunk in the Grand Canyon. Alexander learned to build a campfire, and Mas chased tiny green frogs (toads?) in a State Park in Iowa. We got caught in tornado weather in Kansas and saw Cadillacs sticking out of the ground in Texas. Most of all, we had an unforgettable blast as a family and I am so grateful.
I love roadside attractions. I love finding out what's over the next hill.
I try to bring that same childlike delight and sense of adventure to each of the books I write, and I hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Ajax Freedom. Your time on this earth is at an end. Prepare to meet the God you denigrate. Prepare to pay for your sins. Prepare for the coming bloodbath.
Death threats came hourly to Ajax Freedom via his website, but you wouldn't know it from the slow, deliberate way he dressed. Like a stripper in reverse, he smirked at Dmytro, daring him to react to the bulge in the boxer briefs he wore beneath loose, soft jeans that hung open while he pulled a Henley on over his pale, well-muscled body. While he donned and zipped up a hooded sweatshirt.
Dmytro frowned into his phone. This was 2018. Did Ajax expect him to blush with maidenly modesty? Or offer some threat because despite the Ajax Freedom persona, the man behind the cavalierly bourgeois playboy was gay? The client was apparently dim.
That didn't stop the shockwave of intense physical attraction Dmytro experienced when he first saw him. Dmytro hid his grimace and said, "It's 7:57 p.m. Be ready to leave in three minutes."
"All right," Dmytro echoed uselessly. If Ajax was waiting for a single sign of disapproval or homophobia or whatever—nope. Ajax had been walking around in a state of undress since they'd finally lured him out of his room, and if Dmytro were going to react, he'd have done it by now. He had years of practice hiding his emotions from the most dangerous men in the world. This pampered boy-man should be no problem. Probably.
The two people Dmytro cared about most texted him bright messages of love and wonder and wished him safe travels, and if he messed up on the job, those two people didn't eat.
Dmytro had to keep Ajax Freedom alive, so that made Ajax number three on his list of people to care about, if only until the job ended. Freedom could stay naked and swing from the chandeliers, flaunt himself in front of the men who protected him, or make crank calls to the White House for all Dmytro cared, so long as Dmytro got back to his girls intact.
He hid his smirk behind an impassive face to show that the display of pale, freckled skin wasn't getting Ajax anywhere, even though it was extremely creamy and looked velvety soft. Plus… freckles. A particular kink, but nothing he couldn't handle.
Ajax fussed noisily in the closet for a few seconds before turning to say, "Well? Are we going?"
Dmytro briefly lifted his gaze. "Has three minutes passed?"
With a huff, Ajax fussed in the closet some more. He muttered, "Suitcase, suitcase, sports bag, garment bag, messenger bag, backpack, laptop bag."
"Nuh-uh," Dmytro reminded him. "Laptop stays here."
Ajax appeared aghast. "I thought you were just saying that to jerk me around."
"When I jerk you around, it will be unmistakable. Leave the laptop." Dmytro had cloned Ajax's phone and pulled the batteries from it, disabled his desktop, and confiscated batteries for his laptop, his fitness tracker—anything that could be traced. They allowed the boy to keep his fancy dive watch but disabled its GPS. The rest of his many devices had been secured or would be stored. They'd checked his bags. "You're on an enforced digital time-out. Think of it as chance to go old-school and read a physical book."
Ajax frowned. "When was the last time you read a physical book?"
"None of your beeswax."
"Fine." Ajax handed over the bag.
"Please double-check you have everything." Dmytro scrolled through the drawing his daughter Sasha sent of Mrs. Whatsit. It was wonderful, although he could hardly stand to look at it. She'd made Whatsit's eyes glisten, and they seemed to follow him, no matter how he held his phone. He didn't know about art. Something about shading and negative space? She was going to be a real artist someday, sophisticated and subtle.
With a sigh, Dmytro texted that yes, he'd watch A Wrinkle in Time with Sasha and Pen again when he returned, although children's movies were going to destroy humanity. So much music and magic and mystery. You are more than you believe. Everyone hoped that was true, but no one actually was.
He eyed his client.
There was something intrinsically wrong with a job that took him away from his children to protect someone else's. He was good at what he did, but his method never deviated. Get in, protect the client long enough to keep him alive while Iphicles neutralized any threats, and get home.
Pen's drawing showed her love of geometric shapes and primary colors. There was nothing nuanced about Pen. He liked her drawings as much as her sister's. They both showed promise, to him. With that his after supper three-minute check-in came to a close.
He immersed himself fully in the job when he put his phone away and checked the peephole. Peter stood by the elevators, keeping watch on the hall.
"Time to go." When Dmytro moved, he moved quickly. He could spring from a twenty-minute power nap into a melee with no ramp-up time at all.
But now Ajax hesitated.
How Dmytro wished people wouldn't dither. He picked up Ajax's duffel and looped the shoulder straps over his neck. Next came the messenger bag, and finally the backpack and one of the suitcases. There was no point in arguing about the amount of luggage a client had. One simply found a way to carry it. Sometimes, if one had to, one carried the client as well.
"You take the wheeled Pullman. I've got the rest."
Ajax dropped a hand on the handle as if he didn't know how to work it. This man—this rather young man—seemed to be incapable of following basic commands.
He'd texted with his sister-in-law earlier. It's a shame for his parents. There is nothing to do here but squat in the safe house and keep him from doing something stupid until Peter tracks down each of the threats. He has a bag of toys, I think.
Peter? she'd asked, but he was sure she meant it as a joke.
The boy.
Mitya. She could lecture him about anything. You must treat even a stupid client with respect and kindness.
Of course, he'd replied with some asperity. When have you known me to be unkind?
"I'll take the Pullman too." Dmytro took its handle. "When we leave the room, stay behind me."
"Won't it be easier if they just kill me now so you won't bore me to death?"
"Don't say that." Dmytro concealed his irritation. "I'll keep you safe."
Freedom didn't look reassured. "Who'll keep you safe?"
"I keep myself safe." He pocketed his phone and glanced both ways before turning to Ajax. "We're going to pretend we're mice. Be quiet as you can."
"Okay." Ajax held up a "wait" finger. "Just a sec."
With a deep sigh, Dmytro closed and locked the door again. "This might be what I meant by do you have everything?"
"I have everything. I just need these too." At the coat closet, Ajax wrapped a soft-looking scarf around his neck, tugged a slouchy beanie over his hair, and slid on a pair of sunglasses. With his trademark dark curly hair hidden and his face obscured, he didn't look like the internet It Kid anymore. In spite of himself, Dmytro nodded his satisfaction.
"Better." He checked his weapon, returned it to his holster, and gripped the door handle. Once he wrenched it open, he checked the hallway again. All clear. He moved with Ajax toward the elevators and Peter. The three got in together.
When the doors closed, he and Peter stepped in front of Ajax, keeping their bodies between him and the lobby. When they opened again, a reassuring nothing happened. Dmytro and Peter swept their client out the revolving door and to the curb, where Bartlomiej waited with the town car.
After suffering a head injury and seizure a few months before, Dmytro bitterly resented being unable to drive. He left the luggage for Peter and settled Ajax into the back seat. Then he got into the front on the passenger side with a huff.
"All right?" Dmytro greeted his colleague.
"All set." Bartlomiej, whom everyone called Bartosz, sat behind the wheel with the engine running. "Don't pout. You'll be driving soon enough. In the meantime, you've got me. Enjoy."
A few more months without a seizure and he could regain privileges. Until then, he did what he was told.
He rolled the window down and called to Peter. "Be well, brother."
Peter waved before melting into the night.
"He left?" Ajax asked. "Why'd he leave? Where'd he go?"
Dmytro closed his window. "We're a team. We split up when we need to. Peter's going to neutralize your admirers, and I will go to the safe house with you."
"Lucky me." He didn't sound like he felt lucky.
"Drive, Bartosz."
"Bartosz," Ajax addressed him. "Any chance we could hit a drive-through? I need something to drink. Which, I've gotta warn you now, will probably come right back up, because I get really carsick."
"Perfect." Could their day get worse? "Do you need to sit up front?"
"It won't matter, unfortunately."
"All right." Bartosz nodded and said in Ukrainian, "He's like you, my very special snowflake. Did you bring a patch?"
"Not this time." When Bartosz started to snicker, Dmytro gave him a warning grunt. To Ajax he said, "Your lucky day. I have Meclizine. One tablet and you should be fine." He handed a blister pack over the console, along with a bottled water. "Make sure to drink all of it. The medication will give you dry mouth."
Dmytro popped a pill and cracked open a second water. Bartosz's voice took on a teasing quality. "You'll both be sound asleep before we get on the highway."
"You have the directions?"
Bartosz gave him an eye roll. "Don't worry."
Dmytro glanced around at Ajax. Bundled up like that, he looked barely older than six-year-old Sasha. About as defenseless too. In his own language, he asked Bartosz, "What do you suppose makes someone want attention so badly they'll do any repulsive thing to get it?"
Bartholomew shrugged. "He's a good-looking boy. I could find a use for him."
Dmytro tensed. "Don't be that guy."
"I'm teasing."
Dmytro hoped so. Bartosz was a professional, after all.
Ajax hissed, "Speak English. You're being so rude."
"I told him I'd like a corn dog." Bartosz glanced in the rearview. "Do you still want a drink?"
Ajax's eyes narrowed. "Yes, please."
"I'll get you a corn dog." Dmytro cuffed Bartosz for that. "For myself too. Jalapeño cheese peppers and a strawberry lemonade slush. And you'll pay for all of us, Bartosz."
"That's 'poppers,'" Ajax corrected.
"Jalapeño poppers," he continued in his didactic tone, "are jalapeños stuffed with either cream cheese or cheddar, dipped in batter, and fried. They're called 'poppers.'"
"Thank you for educating me." Dmytro had never been that certain about anything in his life. At twenty-two, he'd been a homeless thug with two lucky gifts: a mild form of genius with foreign languages and the ability to read very fast. He'd found himself a crime boss with a need for a translator with muscle and a passion for classic literature. The rest was history.
What did Ajax Freedom know about anything? He met Bartosz's pleased glance before retrieving his phone from his pocket.
Good news, the client is probably not stupid, he texted Liv. He's just a mudak. An asshole. Liv would understand.
Z.A. Maxfield is getting her kicks writing on Route 66 in Rancho Cucamonga these days. She lives with her husband, three of her grown children, and dog of indeterminable variety named Dr. Watson. Despite the world we live in, she still believes in first love, second chances, and kissing in the rain.
Join ZAM's group, ZAM-Nation HERE, or visit her website, like her page on Facebook, or contact her through Twitter.
Filed Under: Blog Tour, Book Excerpt, Randomness, TCO Exclusives Tagged With: author, blog tour, Blog Tours, book, Book Excerpts, dreamspinner press, excerpt, exclusive, gay, giveaway, Giveaways, lgbt, m/m romance, mmromance, new release
I've Got This by Louisa Masters: Exclusive Cover Reveal with Giveaway
We are welcoming today Louisa Masters with the gorgeous cover of I've Got This. The cover by Reese Dante is so cute, and I love the blurb. Can't wait! Check it out below, along with a chance to win a DSP backlist of Louisa's books.
Derek Bryer loves his life. His job as an assistant director at Joy Universe, the second-largest theme park complex on the planet, makes him indirectly responsible for bringing joy (pun intended) to millions of people. So what if none of his relationships are that close? Everyone he meets loves him.
Except Trav Jones. For some reason, the visiting Broadway performer would rather Derek just go away. He appreciates Derek's work ethic, though, and after Trav steps up when Derek desperately needs someone to fill in for his sick staff, Derek seizes the chance to convince Trav he's not such a bad guy.
Falling in love while distracted by a murder at the park, food poisoning, and colleagues placing bets on their relationship won't be easy, but between the two of them and with the magic of Joy Universe, they've got this.
Title: I've Got This
Series: Joy Universe
Author: Louisa Masters
Category: Contemporary
Cover Artist: Reese Dante http://www.reesedante.com
Louisa Masters started reading romance much earlier than her mother thought she should. While other teenagers were sneaking out of the house, Louisa was sneaking romance novels in and working out how to read them without being discovered. She's spent most of her life feeling sorry for people who don't read, convinced that books are the solution to every problem. As an adult, she feeds her addiction in every spare second, only occasionally tearing herself away to do things like answer the phone and pay bills. She spent years trying to build a "sensible" career, working in bookstores, recruitment, resource management, administration, and as a travel agent, before finally conceding defeat and devoting herself to the world of romance novels. Louisa has a long list of places first discovered in books that she wants to visit, and every so often she overcomes her loathing of jet lag and takes a trip that charges her imagination. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she whines about the weather for most of the year while secretly admitting she'll probably never move.
Website: www.louisamasters.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LouisaMastersAuthor
Twitter: @AuthorLouisaM
Instagram: @AuthorLouisaM
Email: louisa@louisamasters.com
Subscribe for a free novella! http://bit.ly/subscribeLouisaM
Leave a comment on this post, and you could win a DSP backlist book from Louisa Masters!
Filed Under: Cover Reveals, Giveaway, Randomness, TCO Exclusives Tagged With: author, book, cover reveal, dreamspinner press, exclusive, gay, giveaway, Giveaways, lgbt, m/m romance, mmromance, new release, romance
To the Ends of the Earth by Michael Gouda: Exclusive Guest Post and Excerpt, plus a Giveaway
What do you do when when your lover is out to kill you?
After university, Johnny dated a mysterious and influential man who never disclosed his profession. Now, following a quarrel, Johnny suffers a series of attacks—attempts on his life that his lover has the power and influence to perpetrate.
With nowhere else to turn, he must rely on his childhood best friend. But can Johnny trust him? With time running out and the world against him, Johnny must solve the mystery himself if he wants to survive.
Title: To the Ends of the Earth
Author: Michael Gouda
Heat Rating: Medium
Categories: Mystery, romance, some violence, contemporary
Hi, I'm Michael Gouda and I was born in London, England at the start of WW2.
In my mid thirties after a disgracefully enjoyable time in the gay pubs and clubs of London I decided to take life more seriously, went to University, obtained a respectable degree and took up teaching in the Worcestershire town of Evesham.
I took early retirement to a limestone cottage in the Cotswold hills where It lived with a series of neurotic collie dogs, a domineering cat and a determination to write. Since then I have written over one hundred and fifty short stories and published longer works with Dreamspinner Press and M.L.R. Press.
I like to introduce incidents from my own deplorable past into my stories of crime and misadventure. Being a romantic at heart though I never allow a tragic ending, however downbeat may be the indications in between.
In 'To the Ends of the Earth' I wanted to write a story about quite a few subjects, betrayal was actually the one that as it were rose to the surface, though of course it isn't the real one.
I intended to write a mystery. Of course the narrator himself is a bit of a mystery for in fact we never know his real name. Not that that hasn't been done before, notably in Daphne du Maurier's, 'Rebecca'.
What I had to do in 'To the Ends of the Earth' was to try to head the reader's attention away from the real killer and I hoped that by maintaining contact and seeing the relationship purely from Johnny, the narrator's point of view, the actual denouement would be something of a surprise. The fact that he has managed to take a photo of the terrorist which is published with his own name as the byline, means that he may well be on a list, though there are plenty of other suspects.
I admit that Johnny's actual escape from death at the denouement was a little fortuitous but I thought that, in describing Johnny's final surroundings, I had made them sufficiently sordid for the accident to be believable, especially as the villain's madness had resulted in such erratic movements.
Excerpt: The terrorist attack.
Rail to London, Paddington Station, underground to Westminster. I emerged into the Metropolis with its smells of diesel exhaust, a flavor of curry (was it?) and hordes of people going about their business, either politely or pushing past without a 'Sorry' or 'excuse me'. It wouldn't happen in Bristol I tell you, well. Probably not.
I saw the Thames flowing smoothly if slightly murkily under Westminster Bridge (I wonder what Willy Wordsworth would think!) and was just about to turn into the road which leads past Old Palace Yard and the entry into the Mother of Parliaments, as we rather boastfully call it, when there was a disturbance behind me.
I turned and saw an old looking black taxi though it didn't have a 'For Hire' sign on show careering along the pavement towards me. There were screams as it hit and knocked down several passers by. From the direction it was taking it was going to miss me by a country mile so instinctively I felt for and produced my Smart phone. Suddenly it started swerving on and off the pavement, alternately knocking people down and then missing others. I sent up a private prayer and punched in 999 shouting at the woman who answered, 'Ambulance and Police, Westminster Bridge, Urgent'. I rang off and then switched to movies, following the taxi on its devastating path but ready to jump into any available refuge if it looked as if it was heading my way – I'm no hero!
I filmed it as a woman was tossed into the air, her pram flattened. The taxi carried along the pavement for perhaps twenty yards, knocking down a young man and a couple of boys. It then returned to the road and tried to speed off but it crashed into a building and stopped, the front left side crushed. I could hear the driver vainly trying to restart the engine. Then he got out, glanced around, shouted something and raced off into the crowds of people who were, either trying to flee or, driven by curiosity, coming to see what had happened.
I watched the scene of carnage with horror, but took a few shots of the scene. I know this sounds insensitive if not disgraceful, but the journalist in me took over and anyway I didn't know what to do to help.
Then a thin man with gray hair stepped up with what looked like a measure of confidence. "I'm a doctor," he said, going from one to the other on the pavement.
He looked at me and indicated the young man nearest to me. Blood was gushing from a wound in his leg. "You seem to be fairly compos mentis, hold this guy's leg just here and press hard, until the blood stops. Then just keep hold. Has anyone phoned for an ambulance?"
"I have and the police."
"Good man." He was attending to the first woman who had been hit and was now lying flat on her back. I could see that he was pressing on her chest with both hands, one on top of each other.
Gradually the blood from the guy whose leg I was pressing, right up near the groin, lessened and then stopped. I could feel his penis with the back of my hand.
"Sorry about this," I said.
He smiled weakly. "No worries. In other circumstances, I'd enjoy it." He sounded Australian.
"The paramedics will be with you soon."
I told him. "I'm a reporter on the Bristol Gazette. Do you want your name in print? I'll write it up as soon as they've got you into an ambulance. Front page news." I had an idea that I had to keep him talking. He was looking pale and drawn.
"Yeah. I'm just over from Sidney for a holiday, Europe and here – and now this!"
"You'll be out of hospital before you know it. And if ever you're down in Bristol make sure you look me up."
More ambulances arrived and a paramedic took over my charge. "Thanks, cobbler," he said. Do they really say that?
One of the boys was crying, his leg bent at an unnatural angle. 'Broken,' I thought but unless some other injury, would be okay, though in pain.
I shuddered at the thought of the pram and its crushed contents.
As I did so, I heard sirens, Police cars arrived, blue lights flashing.
I didn't seem to be able to do anything more constructive so I took some more shots and then phoned a not very coherent account back to the paper, mentioning the doctor, the Australian guy, how many wounded I could see, the crushed pram. They would sort it out.
A Sergeant had a few words with the doctor who pointed in my direction.
He came over, " I understand you called the ambulance?" He took details and I told him that I was actually a reporter and had taken a movie of practically the whole incident, including the picture of the driver who had fled the scene. "There's actually a shot of him turning back to look. I think I've got his face."
He seemed pleased and asked if he could have my phone. Now I guard that with my life, so I said, "Better than that, I'll phone the whole lot to your station," and when he looked a bit doubtful, I added, "It'll be much quicker. They'll have everything immediately."
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Filed Under: Author Guest Post, Blog Tour, Book Excerpt, Giveaway, Randomness, TCO Exclusives Tagged With: book, dreamspinner press, excerpt, exclusive, gay, giveaway, Giveaways, lgbt, m/m romance, mmromance, new release, novella, romance
The Priest by Rowan McAllister: Exclusive Cover Reveal with Giveaway
TCO is very excited to have this exclusive cover reveal for Rowan McAllister's, The Priest: Chronicles of the Riftlands, Book 2 here! Check out this amazing fantasy cover! And make sure you leave a comment to be entered for a giveaway of one of Rowan McAllister's backlist books!
Brother Tasnerek, one of the infamous Thirty-Six stone bearers, is facing a dangerous crisis of faith after uncovering a secret that could shake the foundations of the Brotherhood of Harot. When Tas is sent to protect a tiny village on the edge of Rassa's borders from Riftspawn, he struggles to resume his duties, risking his life and the lives of those around him.
Girik has always been an outsider, but to help his sick mother, he agrees to be the village's offering in a painful ritual deemed necessary by the Brotherhood. But when the priest has a crisis of conscience, Girik offers his help to untangle a web of lies—even if it means getting closer than he ever imagined and committing sacrilege in the process.
With a monster lurking in the forest, a wandering mage mysteriously appearing, and more secrets awakening to unravel the truths of their world, Tas and Girik must make grave decisions. A life without danger seems a far-off hope, but love just might be theirs… if they survive.
Title: The Priest
Series: Chronicles of the Riftlands: Book 2
Author: Rowan McAllister
Category: High Fantasy
Rowan McAllister is an unapologetically romantic jack-of-all-trades and a sucker for good food, good cocktails, rich fibers, a great beat, and anything else that indulges the senses. In addition to a continuing love affair with words, she likes to play with textiles, metal, wood, stone, and whatever other interesting scraps of life she can get her hands on. She lives in the woods on the very edge of suburbia—where civilization drops off and nature takes over—sharing her home with her patient, loving, and grounded husband, her three rescues, and a whole lot of books, booze, and fabric. Her chosen family is made up of a madcap collection of people as diverse as her interests, all of whom act as her muses in so many ways, and she would be lost without them. Whether her stories have a historical, fantasy, or contemporary setting, they always feature characters who still believe in true love, happy endings, and the oft-underappreciated value of sarcasm.
Email: rowanmcallister10@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rowanmcallister10
Twitter: @RowanMcallister
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