BOOK BLAST: “Strapped for Cash” by K.L. Heirs. $25.00 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway Included.

BOOK BLAST

Book Title: Strapped For Cash

Author: K.L. Hiers

Publisher: Stormy Night Publications

Cover Artist: Korey Mae Johnson

Genres: Contemporary BDSM MM Mafia Romance

Tropes: Co-workers to Lovers, Sex Before Love, Master and Slave, D/S

Themes: Betrayal and Revenge, Never Know Who Your Real Friends Are

Heat Rating: 5 flames

Length: 107 000 words/414 pages

It is a standalone book, but the author recommends the others since this is a prequel

Add on Goodreads

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

After the Luchesi mafia family betrays him, assassin Mickey Tamerlane joins with gangster Boss Cold to seek revenge. But as they maneuver to take out their enemies and claim control over the city’s underworld, Mickey finds himself distracted by the newest member of Cold’s crew.

Cocky and handsome, Roger Lorre pushes Mickey’s buttons until Mickey pushes back hard.

Hard enough to hurt.

But no matter how well-used and sore he leaves Roger, once isn’t going to be enough for either of them.

Not even close.

Publisher’s Note: Strapped for Cash is a prequel to Cold Hard Cash and Hard Earned Cash. It includes spankings and rough, intense sexual scenes. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.

Excerpt

“Don Luchesi is dead.”

“How?” Mickey blurted out.

“Murdered in his very own home,” Cold replied. “I have been waiting years for the old man to kill himself with a heart attack, but someone else decided to speed his demise along. Though I am grateful, this means that certain plans are going to be put into action much sooner than I expected.”

“The city,” Crybaby said, her eyes wide. “We’re takin’ it. We’re gonna do it.”

“Yes,” Cold confirmed. “With your help, my dear Gentlemen, the city is finally going to be ours.”

“Fuck yeah,” Jules cheered.

“Who killed the Don?” Duncan asked quietly.

“I do not know.” Cold seemed a little annoyed at that fact. “But that will actually end up working to our advantage.”

“How?”

“Because if I don’t know, it means the Luchesis don’t know.” Cold leaned forward, his usually calm face lit up with excitement. “The most likely suspects are his three sons, Cristian, Luigi, and Matteo. The Don had yet to name an heir, and there will most certainly be a struggle for power.”

“The ring,” Mickey recalled. “He didn’t pass on that stupid ring.”

“Precisely,” Cold said. “Matteo was favored to take his father’s place, but his brothers are hungry for it, too. This also works to our advantage.”

“What do we do?” Crybaby asked eagerly. “Kill ‘em?”

“I appreciate the enthusiasm, but no,” Cold drawled. “They’re about to do their own killing, and we’re going to help them right along.” He looked to Mickey. “Do you remember when you were so kind as to discover Tony Luchesi’s nasty theft?”

“Yeah,” Mickey replied. “What about it?”

“Well, it turns out he was stealing that money to help fund Cristian’s future claim to the throne.” Cold pursed his lips. “Such a shame.”

“The bar… it was Luigi’s, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Cold confirmed. “Piece by piece, we’re going to turn the three brothers against one another. The family will split apart. Everyone will try to pick a side, and the three darling siblings will each be attempting to make the best case for themselves while valiantly trying to murder the others.”

“Chaos,” Alistair said with a knowing nod. “It’s going to be total and complete chaos.”

“You knew this was going to happen,” Mickey accused. “You knew the Don hadn’t picked an heir and was going to die without one.”

“I knew he was arrogant enough to think he wasn’t going to die anytime soon and foolish enough not to listen to his doctors,” Cold said. “The chances of him dying prematurely without settling his affairs was very likely. I had planned to use his death to propel our takeover of the city. I did not expect, however, for him to be murdered.”

“I call that a fuckin’ bonus.” Jules laughed. “Them stupid ass brothers are gonna be at each other’s fuckin’ throats thinkin’ one of them killed Daddy.”

“So.” Jerry perked up. “What is our first move, Monsieur Cold? What would you have us do?”

“Everything we need is right here under this roof,” Cold replied, offering a coy smile.

“You know we’re in a gay bar, right?” Duncan asked in a loud whisper.

“Yes.” Cold looked irritated. “There is a young man who works here at night as a dancer. He goes by the name ‘Galavant.’ He also washes dishes over at Ragazzi’s.”

“How is a dishwasher gonna help?”

“That restaurant is the Luchesi’s big honey pot,” Jules replied, eyeing Duncan until he cowered. “Galavant is our fuckin’ way in. Payroll for all the drugs, brothels, and illegal type businesses gets banked there.”

“How much?” Mickey asked.

“Millions,” Cold replied, looking very pleased with himself. “The Luchesis are arrogant enough to believe no one would dare steal from them. That arrogance is going to be their undoing. First, we take their money. Next, we’re going to take their drugs. The bouncer here, Reggie? His mother is a maid at one of the hotels the Luchesis run as a brothel. They use the basement there to prepare their product before distribution.”

“So, we’re gonna take their drugs?” Pym perked up.

“No.”

Pym pouted and sank back down in his chair.

“We’re going to tip off the police to the location and allow them to have the glory of the biggest drug bust this city has ever seen. It’s a little gift to our friend Officer Carville for his very timely payments. He’ll look so fetching on the front page. Might even be chief one day. We’re also going to make sure the police’s anonymous source is identified as a member of the Luchesi family.”

“We take out the money, the drugs, okay, but what about the judges? All the politicians?” Crybaby frowned. “We don’t own any of them. We barely own any cops.”

“Never fear,” Cold soothed. “Once the blood starts filling the streets, they’ll come to us. They won’t have a choice. We’re going to be their safe harbor from the storm, you see. They won’t care who’s in charge as long as peace is established. And if not… well.” He smirked slyly. “I have other ways.”

“Okay.” Mickey grinned. “So, when do we start?”

“Soon. You, Jules, and our newest member will be going.” Cold waved to Alistair.

Alistair left his perch on the desk to open the door, gesturing for someone to come in.

Mickey turned to see who it was, and he couldn’t hide his shock.

That son of a bitch…

It was the crazy guy from the gas station.

“This is Roger Lorre,” Cold said. “He is a talented little thief and an expert safecracker. He will be accompanying you to Ragazzi’s. Say hello, Mr. Lorre.”

“Hello, boys,” Roger said, his eyes immediately focusing on Mickey. “Well, hi there. Long time, no see.”

Mickey gritted his teeth.

Cold glanced between them. “Am I to assume you’ve already met Mickey Tamerlane then?”

“Mickey, huh?” Roger grinned crookedly at him, whistling low. “Mm, and aren’t you just so fine.”

About the Author

K.L. “Kat” Hiers is an embalmer, restorative artist, and queer writer. Licensed in both funeral directing and funeral service, she worked in the death industry for nearly a decade. Her first love was always telling stories, and she has been writing for over twenty years, penning her very first book at just eight years old. Publishers generally do not accept manuscripts in Hello Kitty notebooks, however, but she never gave up.

Following the success of her first novel, Cold Hard Cash, she now enjoys writing professionally, focusing on spinning tales of sultry passion, exotic worlds, and emotional journeys. She loves attending horror movie conventions and indulging in cosplay of her favorite characters. She lives in Zebulon, NC, with her husband and their children, some of whom have paws and a few that only pretend to because they think it’s cute.

Author Links

Blog/Website | Facebook | Instagram | Newsletter Sign-up

Patreon

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SERIES TOUR: “Nacho Mama’s Patio Cafe Novels” by Steve Shatz

SERIES TOUR – NACHO MAMA’S PATIO CAFE
NOVELS

Friends, fags, & fun in a little college town

Any Summer Sunday

Boys in the Band meets Le Cage in an Indiana
drag bar

Who Plugged the Dyke?

Elections are hard. This one is Murder

The two books stand alone and can be read in either order,
although
Any Summer Sunday was written
first and contains more background information. It is a more character driven story.
Who Plugged the Dyke is a
mystery.

Overall Heat Rating: 2 flames. Tawdry, but not dirty. Sex is described as part of a story, but
not in detail. No sex scenes. Not romance. Not erotica. Think of gay friends in a bar who
might describe a conquest (but not the specifics).

BOOK 1

Book Title: Any
Summer Sunday at Nacho Mama’s Patio Cafe
:

Drag, Songs, Friends, Laughs,
Lies, Danger & Redemption

Author: Steve
Schatz

Publisher: Any Summer
Sunday Books

Cover Artist: James at
GoOnWrite

Length: 75 000 words/ 234
Pages

Release Date: June 21,
2019

Genre: LGBT Humorous Fiction

Trope/s: Reluctant hero, power of friendship, metonymy (Drag – the

entire life around performance in a gay bar & Nacho Mama’s represents a safe place
where friends gather, gossip, and support each other)

Themes: Friends, Small town gay, Drag and Performance, Lookin’ for
love

It is a standalone
story

Goodreads

Buy Links

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Bookshop | Any Summer
Sunday

How far should you go to save a friend from her own
desires?

Blurb

TiaRa del Fuego is in love and that means trouble for her
friends. Every Sunday evening we meet in

Hoosier Daddy
, our small college town’s only
gay bar
gather to watch TiaRa del Fuego’s
Parade of Gowns drag show.
Performance, love, betrayal, spies, and friendship fight to the fore every Summer
Sunday.

However, this Sunday, dear TiaRa, thin enough to hate, yet
broken enough to love, announces she has found love…yet again…and is leaving after that
evening’s show to be with her new man. We know she is making a huge mistake…again.
What can we do?

Any Summer Sunday is a celebration of friends, drag,
and life. Come and join in the fun.

Excerpt from Any Summer Sunday

With few exceptions, the same group of reprobates
gathered every week. We are no longer young, but all have spent our years wisely or wildly
enough to hold one’s place when the conversation turns a bit too bitchy. We enjoyed our
youth, are enjoying the years beyond youth without regret, and occasionally enjoy
youths—when the opportunity arises, as it were.

All societies celebrate the young, but in gay circles, this
celebration borders on idolatry. Twenty-somethings and now even teeny-somethings who
celebrate their coming out are welcomed into a glorious disco summer camp with every
conceivable need provided. For those of us who are years past the realization and/or
announcement, being out offers far fewer invitations. We often find ourselves between
worlds—not certain of a welcome in either gay or straight society.

In “normal” society, it is tiresome to yet again face the “ . . .
and your wife?” questions in every new group and to worry if it is going to be an issue. If I
have an urge to explore square dancing, must I find a gay square—hmmm . . . Mr. Lynde
springs to mind. Sometimes it’s easier not to bother. Then there are those moments when it
suddenly pisses you off that you are supposed to feel gratitude merely for being accepted or
endured by the dominant pairing paradigm.

In the gay
community, the adulation of youth and horror of aging can make one feel diseased. Even
previously enjoyable activities can be snatched away. Take window shopping. I enjoy looking
at a pretty pair of pants when it walks by, even if I know it will never fit, I can’t afford it, and
the style is all wrong for a man of my years and shape. I look because it is pretty, and I enjoy
looking at pretty things. But, if every time I go looking, the trousers, upon noticing my gaze,
gasp in horror, turn away with a look of sardonic pity, and begin to whisper with their fellow
couture, I eventually will give up looking.

So, when we find
a group and an enjoyable activity where we can simply be, without the need to prove or
explain ourselves, then it is something to be cherished. Not misty-eyed, bosom clutching
cherished, but those people and enjoyments are simply too dear to give up without a care.
Sunday afternoons were like that. That is why, when one Sunday, TiaRa del Fuego—dear,
sweet, damaged TiaRa—announced that she had found love, yet again—this time on a
dating site and was leaving town to be with her new man who was driving up that very day
to help her move—well, we knew something had to be done and quickly.

BOOK 2

Book Title:
Who Plugged the Dyke?

Author: Steve

Schatz

Publisher: Any Summer
Sunday Books

Cover Artist: James at
GoOnWrite

Length: 218 pages 67,000
words

Release Date: July
2020

Genres: LBGT Mystery, LGBT Humor, LGBT Fiction

Trope: Reluctant
hero

Themes: Friendship, small town gays, detection, politics

It is a standalone
story.

Goodreads

Buy Links

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Bookshop | Any Summer
Sunday

A gay mystery full to the
tits with action and wit.

Blurb

Some Elections are hard … This one is Murder!

Get ready for Excitement, Laughs, Thrills and Fun!

In 10 days she’ll be the 1st in your face lesbian judge
elected in homo-hating Indiana. But someone wants to kill her and her little dog
too.

The friends from Nacho Mama’s Patio
Cafe
must put on their big boy panties, get out of
Hoosier Daddy, the only gay bar in town, onto the streets and go hunting for the
culprit.

Thrills, drag shows, danger, laughs and a kick line of drag
queens in judicial robes as the anti-heroes dodge explosions, fire, guns, knives and terror,
seek out the hidden mastermind and sashay to the rescue.

You loved Any Summer Sunday at Nacho
Mama’s Patio Cafe
. Now, the merry band from the
small Indiana college town’s drag bar return. It’s an Indiana Election Mystery.
Who Plugged the Dyke?

Excerpt from Who Plugged the Dyke?

I noticed that the big, bearded Tooth Fairy had moved nearly in front of me. There is
something wonderfully wrong about a big ol’ hunka hunka in a pink tutu. I grinned at him.
He didn’t grin back. His attention was fixed on Deb. However, he was not smiling. He was
just staring. Something in the back of my mind tickled. I started watching him more carefully.
He was playing with his magic wand. It was about three feet long and trailed stars and
strands of glitter. But he was pulling off the covering and it was looking less and less like a
wand and more and more like a weapon. Recalling what I had been told, I looked for Roger
or Petunia or one of Nacho’s Twinks. I couldn’t see Roger. Petunia was at the back of the
stage, guarding the way in. I saw a couple of cute Twinks, but didn’t know if they were
Nacho’s boys or not. I started to raise my hand and kind of gesture toward the Tooth Fairy. I
was trying to be cool and not alert him that I had noticed anything untoward. He continued
to pull away the spangles. He was looking down at the wand and then up at Deb, and I could
see a look of menace grow across his features.

I waved my hands over my head and then pointed down at him. Some in the crowd saw
what I was doing and waved, too. They thought it was a celebratory gesture. I began to wave
my hands and point more emphatically. I nearly lost my balance, but no one seemed to get
the message. No one was heading in that direction. I looked at he man, who was no longer
looking fairy-like at all. He had finished pulling all the detritus off his wand and while I was
not a weapons guy, even I could recognize that what was once a wand was now, very
obviously, a weapon. A blow gun.

He reached into his bag and pulled out, not a handful of glitter, but a rather large dart with

a very large and very sharp point. By this time, subtle was no longer on the table. I waved
my hands wildly above my head, then pointed at the guy. I did not care if he saw. I had to
stop him, and no one seemed to be coming to do anything about it. Deb was talking. The
girls were dancing. And the Tooth Fairy dropped the dart into his blow gun.

About the Author

Steve Schatz writes with a
crazy mashup of laughs and excitement and humor. Readers can’t stop reading, but don’t
want the story to end. Each book is an adventure where endearing anti-heroes struggle
against this crazy world and triumph using the twin forces of intentional, creative action and
friends helping friends. Schatz draws on a lifetime of varied and fascinating experiences,
from instructional designer and college prof to party clown and nightclub
owner.

His series of adult fiction
highlights a group of middle-aged gay friends who gather every week in a small, Indiana
college town. Mixing drinks, snappy repartee, and the humor and joy of long-time friends, in
one book they rescue the fair drag queen from an obvious miscreant. In another, they ride
to the protection of a lesbian candidate for judge who is being targeted by mysterious
evil-doers. The excitement reveals itself against a backdrop of drag performance and efforts
by anti-heroes. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll beg for more. Steve Schatz offers a new voice
and a smile for the LGBT community and their friends.

Author Links

Blog/Website
|
Twitter: @AnySummerSunday

Facebook | Newsletter sign-up


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one of three ebook
copies of Any Summer Sunday,

one of three ebook copies of Who Plugged the Dyke?,

or an audiobook of either book.

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RELEASE BLITZ: “Matched by My Rival” by DJ Jamison. $10.00 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway Included!

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Matched By My Rival

Author: DJ
Jamison

Publisher: DJ
Jamison

Cover Artist: Cate
Ashwood

Release Date: July 8,
2021

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Enemies to lovers, college jocks, online love match,
secret/forbidden love

Themes: Building a new dream, following your heart,
forgiveness

Heat Rating: 4
flames

Length: 75 000
words

It is part of a series (Thrust
Into Love) but can be read as a stand alone.

Goodreads

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link |
Amazon US | Amazon UK

Simon Prentiss: Ex-football
star, bitter rival, and…falling for the enemy?

Blurb
I hate my teammate, Parker Reed.
I hate that he makes me work so hard for my
position on the field.

Hate how he always smiles. How easily he shows
me up when I’m injured.


Most of all, I hate that he made me lose my
temper.


Next thing I know, football is gone.
My scholarship is gone.
I’m nearly gone, too.

With help, I manage to stay in school for my final
semester.

At least without football, I can explore a new side
to myself.

See where my attraction to guys takes me without
fear of it affecting my future.


I didn’t see it coming. The cosmic
joke.

The sweet, patient guy on the hookup
app?

The one who makes me burn with the desire to
have him?


Yeah, it’s Parker.

Our chemistry is off the charts, no matter how
much I resent him.

Holding a grudge against him is
impossible.

But when he wants to walk away from everything I
lost, can I accept it?


If I don’t, I’ll lose him too–and that can’t
happen.

Because I don’t hate Parker Reed.
I think I love him.

Matched By My Rival is an enemies-to-lovers,
jock rivals romance. It’s Book 2 of the Thrust Into Love series but can be read as a
standalone.

Excerpt

The following excerpt is from Simon’s POV, when he
realizes that his app hookup is actually his rival, Parker Reed.


This couldn’t be happening. Parker Reed? Parker
Reed was my Thrust match? No, I refused to believe it.

“There must be some mistake,” I growled.

He didn’t back down. Parker wasn’t the type. But for once,
his obnoxious grin was absent.

“No mistake. A surprise, for sure.”

I turned to Rhett, who was watching us with the fascination
of a driver gawking at an accident scene. “I’ll close up if you let me take care of this.”

“Yeah, sure. Bar’s done serving. Knock yourself out,
just…clean up the blood before you leave.” He cut his eyes toward Parker. “Whoever you
are, I wish you the best.”

He exited the bar through a little section of counter that
raised up, creating a gap. I held it open for Parker, jerking my chin toward the back room.
“Let’s go.”

Parker chuckled nervously as he passed through the bar
entrance, brushing against my chest. I could feel his body warmth, smell his aftershave, an
earthy natural scent that suited him.

Heart pounding, I led him into the back room. Surrounded
by boxes of liquor and kegs of beer, I whirled on him. “Did you know?”

“Wh-what?”

Parker appeared off-balance. Usually he was a smooth
fucker.

“Were you playing me?” I demanded, crowding him against

a stack of boxes. We were close to the same size, but I didn’t let it stop me from putting
every ounce of threat I could into my voice.

“No!” The word burst from him, sounding incredulous.
“How would I know it was you? We never shared personal stuff.”

“So it’s a coincidence?” I said skeptically.

“Yes. It’s a really awkward coincidence that the guy I—” His
voice cracked, and he looked away. “I didn’t know.”

“Look me in the eye when you say it.”

Parker reluctantly looked at me, frustration blazing. “You’re
such an asshole sometimes, Prentiss.”

A shocked laugh burst out. “Really?”

“Yeah, I know I screwed up, okay? I never should have gone
to that party with Kristin. And obviously we wouldn’t be here if you knew it was me on that
app. But you don’t have to interrogate me like a fucking criminal.”

A whole series of memories hit me. All those flirty chats.
Those sexts that Parker had so patiently walked me through. I’d thought he was the nicest
guy on the planet.

“Fuck me,” I muttered, looking away.

“Please stop saying that,” Parker said in a strangled
voice.

I jerked my eyes back to his face in time to see a look of
such lust it shot heat through my entire body. “What?”

“Fucking you is all I’ve thought about for weeks.” He
laughed weakly. “Joke’s on me, huh?”

I couldn’t stop my eyes from making a slow perusal of his
body. It was dark, but I could make out the shape of him. I knew how fit he was. Knew
because we had practically the same body, the way we’d pushed ourselves in training. He
was of a slightly leaner build than me, more flexible. I knew his body intimately too. A series
of pics from his profile, and even more illicit ones he’d sent me directly, had filled in any
blanks I might have had.

His chest rose and fell faster. When I raised my gaze to his
face, he dragged the tip of his tongue over his dry lips.

And I lost it.

There was no thought, no reasoning. I’d spent weeks
dipping my toe in the water, testing, evaluating. But now I was in the deep end.

I was ready to swim. Or maybe I’d drown. But if I did, I was
taking us both down.

I crushed my mouth to his, shoving him harder into the
boxes, and he grasped at my waist for balance, gripping hard enough to hurt. The pain only
fueled my need. I grabbed his hair, short on the sides but longer on top, and yanked his
head back to better devour his mouth.

Weeks of buildup, of flirting with my bisexuality and
tempting myself to no end, exploded in a fiery inferno of need.

I didn’t care if it was Parker. I didn’t care that he was a man
I’d blamed and detested. In some ways, it made it easier.

This wasn’t the love connection I thought it might be. It
was unbridled lust, and I was just getting started.

About the Author

DJ Jamison writes romances
about everyday life and extraordinary love featuring a variety of queer characters, from gay
to bisexual to asexual. DJ grew up in the Midwest in a working-class family, and those
influences can be found in her writing through characters coping with real-life problems:
money troubles, workplace drama, family conflicts and, of course, falling in love. DJ spent
more than a decade in the newspaper industry before chasing her first dream to write
fiction. She spent a lifetime reading before that and continues to avidly devour her fellow
authors’ books each night. She lives in Kansas with her husband, two sons, one snake, and a
sadistic cat named Birdie.

Social Media Links

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Facebook | Facebook Group | Twitter

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content
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RELEASE BLITZ: “Sun, Sea, & Small-Town Secrets” by S.J. Coles

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Sun, Sea & Small-Town Secrets

Author: S. J.
Coles

Publisher: Pride
Publishing

Release Date: July 6,
2021

Genre: Contemporary M/M Mystery/Holiday Romance

Tropes: Forbidden Love / Small Town / Holiday

Themes: Healing / Hurt/Comfort / Travel / Self-discovery

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 48 634 words/ 193
pages

It is a standalone
story.

Add on
Goodreads

 

Buy Links

Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Pride Publishing

 

Small towns are full of
secrets, some harder to keep than most.

 

Blurb

Sebastian Conway is a professional psychologist and

accomplished criminal profiler, but when one of his patients is sentenced to life in prison for
a crime she didn’t commit, he simply cannot let it go. His borderline obsessive behaviour
has embarrassed his boss and lover, Gerrard Wilson, and the relationship has come to a
bitter end.

Seb has now grudgingly taken Gerrard’s advice and come to
the small coastal town of Ruéier in the South of France to get some distance and clear his
head—but he cannot sit by and do nothing.

He has started writing a book he believes will address the
failings in the case, but when he gets swept up in a local investigation into suspected drug
trafficking, which is led by the enigmatic and strangely enticing Antoine Damboise, the
book—and Seb’s intentions to avoid active criminal cases—take a back seat.

He knows it’s a bad idea to get involved, but he can’t seem
to help himself. And when it seems Damboise is tempted to make their relationship more
than professional, Seb finds it easier than ever to ignore his better judgment. But when a
local drug dealer is murdered and Seb is implicated, everything gets a whole lot more
complicated.

Can the two men set aside their personal feelings long
enough to figure out what’s really going on before Seb ends up in prison? Or
worse…

Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of murder and drug use.

 

Excerpt

“Monsieur Conway?”

I turned back. He was stood by reception looking
thoughtful, scratching at the stubble on his cheek.

“Yes?”

“Would you, perhaps, like to get a coffee?”

I blinked. “A coffee?”

Oui,” he said. “A thank you, shall we say?
For your

help.”

His smile was friendly, but his eyes were weighing me

up with a dark intensity I couldn’t penetrate. Whatever it
was going on here, saying yes, I knew, would be a very bad idea.

“Sure,” I said with a smile. “Sounds good.”

His own smile widened, and he nodded. “Bon. I will meet you
outside.”

I was grinning like a teenager with a crush as I stepped back
out into the street. The fresh breeze dried the clamminess on my face and swelled in my
lungs and chest. A small confidence boost could only help my productivity, I decided. I still
wasn’t sure what exactly his interest was. Heavy looks or not, I got exactly zero read on his
sexuality. But surely even French police didn’t take witnesses for coffee?

I was so busy retrospectively analysing his body language in
the interview room—
Did he extend his leg
toward me? Rest his hand near mine?
—that I
didn’t hear him behind me until he said my name.

“Apologies,” he said when I started, and a small smile
twitched the corner of his mouth. A pair of sunglasses hid his troublesome eyes from view.
He’d slung his jacket over his arm and, with the bright sunshine glinting in his corn-blond
hair and off his white teeth, I suddenly wondered how I ever considered him plain.

“It’s fine,” I managed. “Where do you want to go?” “Ah, I
know the best place. Follow me.”

“Antoine?”

We turned back. Adjudant Rayne was hurrying toward us.
She fired French at him whilst frowning at me. Damboise replied calmly, and she said
something more, her eyes leaving me to send Damboise what was unmistakably a warning
look.

C’est
bon
,” Damboise concluded. “This way,” he said
and turned toward the seafront. Rayne watched us leave with her arms crossed and
expression grim.

“She doesn’t like me very much,” I said.

“You misunderstand,” he said without looking at me. “She
was just reminding me of some paperwork that is late. I will do it after a bit.”

I spent the rest of the walk pondering the possible reasons
behind his lie.

The breeze was brisker and the air fresher as we stepped
out onto the seafront boulevard. The beach was crowded with families—the children
running, laughing and shrieking in the gentle swell of the shallows. The boats bobbed
sedately in the harbour, shining all the colours of the rainbow under the bright, sapphire sky.
Bicycles whizzed up and down the road, baskets laden with groceries or bottles of wine. The
men with guns seemed like a distant dream.

I followed him as he crossed the road to the Café De La
Mer
.

“You have been here before then, yes?” he said as he
pulled out the chairs around one of the plastic tables under a blue-and-white parasol.

“The first day I got here,” I said, a little warily as I surveyed
the clear view of the harbour. “The coffee is good, but I think it’s better at Cafe Maman.”

Oui,” he said, hanging his jacket on the
back of his chair and sitting. “I would say that is true. But have you tried the
chocolat chaud?”

“Hot chocolate?” I translated dubiously, taking the other
chair. “I don’t much like it.”

“Just wait,” he said, signalling a smiling waiter with a raised
hand and placing the order. Damboise made meaningless small talk for the interval until the
waiter returned. I blinked, surprised, as he set the shallow cup half-full of dark liquid that
looked more like espresso than chocolate in front of me.

“What, no squirty cream? Marshmallows?” I asked with a
half-smile as Damboise lifted his small cup in his distractingly delicate grip.

“We respect chocolate too much to pollute it so. This is the
local recipe, melted then mixed with a splash of cognac. Go ahead. Try it.”

I lifted the cup to my face and inhaled the rich, thick scent.
It was sweet, yes, but savoury too—bold, rather than cloying. It reminded me of
fresh-turned earth, with a slight smokiness, like when the wind brings the scent of a distant
bonfire. I drank. It was so thick that I could almost chew it. It tasted like it smelled—rich and
earthy, with the spice of tree bark and apricot from the cognac.

“Good, non?”

“Yeah,” I said, tipping the cup farther to coax more into my
mouth. “This isn’t like the instant stuff.”

“In France, nothing is instant. Everything is slow.
Considered. Deliberate.”

“I’m beginning to get that,” I said, scraping the remains of
the chocolate with the tiny spoon that had come with it. Damboise smiled at me, sipping his
own drink like someone sampling a fine wine, then he dabbed his lips with a napkin.

 

 

About the Author

S.J. Coles is a Romance writer originally from Shropshire, UK.
She has been writing stories for as long as she has been able to read them. Her biggest
passion is exploring narratives through character relationships.

She finds writing
LGBT/paranormal romance provides many unique and fulfilling opportunities to explore
many (often neglected or under-represented) aspects of human experience, expectation,
emotion and sexuality.

Among her biggest influences
are LGBT Romance authors K J Charles and Josh Lanyon and Vampire Chronicles author Anne
Rice.

 

Author Links

Blog/Website | Facebook | Twitter

Instagram | Pride
Publishing

 

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

 

 

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BLOG TOUR: “A Soul Unbroken” by A.D. Britten. Rafflercopter Giveaway Included!

BLOG TOUR

Book Title: A Soul Unbroken

Author: A.D.
Britten

Publisher:
Self-Published

Original Release Date: May 26, 2019 – Recently re-edited

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Heat Rating: 3 flames

Length: 412
pages

It is a standalone
book

Goodreads

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon UK

A hustler’s life drastically
changes after he enters a homeless shelter.

Blurb

Joey Christopher has never had an easy life, but living with
Allen made everything better. His mere presence made Joey happy and made life seem
more manageable despite Allen’s serious faults. However, when Allen is arrested during a
drug bust Joey must learn to live on his own for the first time. He even spends some time in
a homeless shelter, while he does everything possible to get Allen home to return to the life
they once lived only better.

Excerpt

For the rest of that day Joey told himself that he wouldn’t
go to Gary’s party; he couldn’t go. He meant to take the card out and tear it up before
leaving work, but forgot. When he got home later that night he meant to take it out and rip
it up, but he was so tired that he just got ready for bed and went to sleep. The end of the
week came and the card was still there in his jeans pocket. He happened to wear the same
pair of jeans that Friday that he had worn on the day of Gary’s visit. Joey took a deep breath
as the last customer left and he went through the store rearranging misplaced books on the
shelf and tidying up the store. At around 5:30pm, Mr. Griffin came out of his office and told
Joey that he could go home early. He would finish up.

The next day was going to be busy with another book
signing and Joey was going to be the only person that morning. The older woman who had
worked there last time, Mr. Griffin’s cousin, could not make it there until later in the
day.

So Joey left the store and told himself he was going home
and he meant to go home. But somehow he found himself at 7 pm standing on Gary’s
porch, one of the first to arrive at his party. He lived at the same address he always had. As
soon as Gary looked through the peephole and saw Joey standing at his door, he opened it
and invited him in.

Joey, looking a little uncertain, walked in. He had not taken
two steps when Gary drew him close and planted a long and ardent kiss on his lips. Joey was
surprised by it but didn’t resist. It had been so long that although he was never deeply
attracted to Gary, he relished the feeling. “It’s been a long time, Joey,” Gary said afterwards.
Joey wanted the kiss to continue, against his better judgement, but Gary’s attention turned
to the room. It was then that he noticed some of the familiar faces in the living room and
kitchen, all people from Gary’s small publishing house.

“Hi, how are you?” Madeline said smiling. She was sitting at
the dining table with a few other people, a man and a woman, with whom she had been
talking. She raised a glass of wine to Joey, having recognized him from the earlier party. Joey
wanted to melt. He suddenly realized that it had been a long time since he’d had any
alcohol. Why on earth was he being so celibate about everything now? He asked Gary for a
glass of wine, which he dutifully poured for him, until a previously unseen large, fluffy, gray
cat hopped up on the table, spilling the bottle in the process.

“Awwwww!” Madeline said, standing up to avoid the spill.
“Silly cat!”

Gary went to the kitchen to get some paper towels.

Joey stood there, a little stunned. “You have a cat?” he
asked.

“Yes, what’s wrong? Are you allergic?” Gary asked

concerned.

“No,” Joey replied. “You just don’t seem the cat
type.”

“Well, he’s the last remains of Hollis, an old boyfriend,”
Gary said with a slight weariness to his voice.

Madeline picked up the now mostly empty wine bottle and
went to the sideboard to replace it, while Gary and another guest continued to clean up the
mess. “I told you, you should’ve gotten rid of him,” Madeline playfully chastised. “As soon as
he was gone, that cat should have been gone too. Why keep memories of Hollis around
anyway? You’re over him now, or so you say.”

Gary just smiled at Joey as he got up from the floor, threw
away the red, wet paper towels and took Joey by the hand, leading him to the back of the
house where Gary’s bedroom was.

About the Author

A.D. Britten is a published
author of various short stories, articles, and two novels.

Author Links

Blog/Website
|
Twitter: @ADBritten1

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$0.99 BOOK BLAST: “Crystal’s House of Queers” by Brooke Skipstone. $20.00 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway Included!

99c BOOK BLAST

Book Title: Crystal’s House of Queers

Author: Brooke
Skipstone

Publisher: Skipstone
Publishing

Cover Artist: Cherie Chapman
@ccbookdesign

Release Date: May 24,
2021

Genres: LGBTQ Fiction, Lesbian Fiction/Suspense, Lesbian Romance,
Coming of age

Tropes: Friends to lovers, found family, power femme

Themes: Forgiveness, no secrets, overcoming past abuse, fight because
we love

Heat Rating: 3 – 3.5
flames

Length: 93 000 words/ 330
pages

It is a standalone
story.

Add on
Goodreads

99c for a limited time

June 26 – July 2

Buy Links – Also available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Three senior girls in rural
Alaska escape their abusive pasts by raising their dyke flag for themselves and their
community.

Blurb

Crystal Rose woke up at three in the morning today,
drenched in sweat and breathless after another sex dream with Haley Carson.
Later at school in the
tiny town of Clear, Alaska, Crystal saves Haley from an assault by her abusive
boyfriend.

The two girls renew a love started years ago that had to
stay hidden until now. But with Crystal’s grandparents in the hospital with Covid and the
possibility of her drug addict parents returning from a 14-year absence, Crystal needs Haley
as much as she needs Crystal.

They connect with Payton Reed, a gun-toting artist who
helps them feel proud to be gay and willing to stand up to anyone. Together they struggle to
make Crystal’s house safe for those who are hated for their love.

Excerpt

Crystal’s room is small with drawings and photos
stuck randomly all over the walls—closeups of leaves, flowers, and berries; intricate natural
designs created by Labrador tea, spider webs, and lichen; every local animal, including a
grizzly sow and two cubs digging through trashcans from this past June; sunrises and
sunsets plus northern lights; and, of course, line drawings of her house and family, along
with pages of self-portraits. Crystal’s entire world greets her every morning and evening.
Nothing is ever removed or covered, just added to, now up one corner of the ceiling. A large
white board on one wall displays a self-portrait drawing of Crystal sitting.

Haley stands in the doorway, open-mouthed, trying
to absorb it all. “Damn, Crystal, you are something. I love this.”

Crystal smiles. “I’m glad. So do I.” She opens her
closet to show Haley her clothing options, including a never-worn pair of stretch jeans
Crystal bought at Value Village in Fairbanks—a size too big for her, but a size too small for
Haley.

“I’m not sure my butt can fit into these,” says Haley,
holding the pair waist high. “You’ll have fun watching me put these on.”

“Oooh, do I get to watch?”

“Certainly.” Haley raises a brow and half smiles as
she pulls off her sweatshirt.

Crystal’s breath catches in her chest as her mouth
gapes open.

“Oops! I forgot to pick out a shirt. Can I use your
robe until I find something suitable?”

Crystal’s face reddens. “Sure.” She removes her
robe and tosses it to Haley, who then tosses it on the bed. “Now we can stare at each
other.”

Crystal licks her lips. “You are so evil.”

“I’m just getting started.” She tilts her head and
cocks a brow. “Do you like evil?”

“So far.” Though she’s afraid her heart will burst,
it’s beating so fast.

“Great.” Haley moves toward Crystal until their
chests touch. “I love your drawing on the white board. Would you do another of me? Maybe
one of us kissing?” Haley touches her lips to Crystal’s.

“Yes.” She struggles trying to pull her phone out of
her pocket while Haley rubs her tongue tip over Crystal’s bottom lip. Gasping for air, Crystal
asks, “Do you want me to take a pic or not?” Haley smiles and steps back a little. Crystal
props her phone against the mirror on her dresser and sets the timer. “We have five
seconds.”

Haley moves her hand to Crystal’s neck as they kiss.
The camera takes the picture, but they don’t separate.

After a few more seconds, Haley pulls back just
enough to speak. “You are the best kisser. Even in fifth grade I liked kissing you. Think of all
that time I wasted.”

“We have plenty of time now.” She grabs her
phone and shows Haley the photo. “I like that. I can draw it now, if you want.”

“Yes, please.”

“Hold it for me.” Crystal takes her drawing pad and
pen from her desk and sits in her chair.

Haley holds the phone against her cleavage, her
boobs hanging over her arms. “Is that good?”

Crystal stares and shakes her head. “Evil. Pure
evil!”

“Just focus on the photo, Crystal.” Haley slowly
sways her torso, making her boobs jiggle close to Crystal’s face. “Can’t you focus?” Her voice
drips with seduction.

Crystal clears her throat and closes her eyes. “I
think I can. I think I can.” She takes a deep breath, opens her eyes, and places her pen on the
paper. Haley sways faster. Crystal starts a line then runs it off the page. “Can you please stop
moving?” she pleads, unable to turn away from Haley’s breasts. “Just for a few minutes?”
She rips off the page and readies another.

Her voice coy, sweet, and sultry—“As you wish. I’ll
stand perfectly still.” She holds the camera away from her body, partially covering her
breasts.

Crystal starts a line under her chin, sweeps down to
make hair, then her face and lips before moving to Haley’s lips, hair, and then ending with
her hand. She stares at the drawing for a few seconds then turns it around. “What do you
think?”

“Oh, my god! I love it. We look good together.” She
gives Crystal a kiss. “Thank you. Thank you.”

About the Author

Brooke Skipstone is a
multi-award-winning author who lives in Alaska where she watches the mountains change

colors with the seasons from her balcony. Where she feels the constant rush toward winter
as the sunlight wanes for six months of the year, seven minutes each day, bringing crushing
cold that lingers even as the sun climbs again. Where the burst of life during summer is
urgent under twenty-four-hour daylight, lush and decadent. Where fish swim hundreds of
miles up rivers past bear claws and nets and wheels and lines of rubber-clad combat fishers,
arriving humped and ragged, dying as they spawn. Where danger from the land and its
animals exhilarates the senses, forcing her to appreciate the difference between life and
death. Where the edge between is sometimes too alluring.

Crystal’s House of Queers
is her third novel.

Visit her
website
for information about her first two
novels,
Some Laneys Died and Someone To Kiss
My Scars.

Social Media Links

Blog/Website | Instagram

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RELEASE BLITZ: “Beyond the Ruby River” by Lee Colgin. $10.00 Amazon Giftcard Giveaway Included!

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Beyond the Ruby River

Author: Lee
Colgin

Publisher: Colgin
Enterprise

Cover Artist: Natasha
Snow

Release Date: June 17,
2021

Genres: M/M Historical
Romance, M/M Paranormal/Fantasy Romance,

Tropes: Mixed species,
second chance romance

Themes: Longing, betrayal,
forgiveness, grief, reunion

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 72 000 words/ 260
pages

It’s the third in a series but
can be read as a standalone.

Add on
Goodreads

Buy Links – Available on Kindle
Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon UK

When an incubus
half-breed falls for a mortal Egyptian man, will their love span centuries or are they destined
to pine for each other for all eternity?

Blurb

In Ancient Egypt when the pharaohs ruled the banks of the
Nile, Mahu led a simple, if somewhat melancholy, life. Making papyrus filled his days. His
needs were provided for, but deep in his soul, Mahu longed for companionship.

Dakarai, born of a demon mother and a human father,
craved independence. A young incubus constantly in the shadows of his full-blooded
siblings, Daka set out for a new city and a life of his own.

While a starving Daka roams the streets hunting for a meal,
the sight of a beautiful man walking alone stops him in his tracks. The handsome stranger is
just what he needs to quench his spiraling thirst.

But Mahu turns out to be more than Daka bargained for,
and his heart falls for the lonely man.

What betrayal shatters their foundation, can Daka and
Mahu find their way back to each other, or is each soul destined to long for the other for all
eternity?

Beyond the Ruby River is an MM Paranormal Romance
featuring a steamy love story, a second chance romance, and the mysteries of an ancient
world. This is book three of a series and can be read as a standalone with its own HEA and
satisfying conclusion.

Excerpt

Dakarai

Hunger stirred deep in Daka’s core, an emptiness with claws and teeth demanding to be
filled. It was his first night in Naukratis, and already he wondered if he’d

made a mistake abandoning the safe cocoon of his family. Though eager for a taste of
independence, Daka’s nerves flut‐ tered with unease as he stalked the unfamiliar streets.

With only a warm sea breeze for company, Daka let loose his extra sense, the one that
would lead him to a meal. Entering the wide market square, he cast his gaze over dozens of
stalls, their colorful awnings muted in the evening light. Laborers celerated the end of a
day’s work with beer, bread, and conversa‐ tion. Street vendors peddled their offerings.
Naukratis smelled of fresh spiced fish, baking bread, and candied nuts—all of which
appealed to him, but none that would quench this particular hunger.

What Daka needed would be found past the town’s main market, perhaps down a side
street or along a narrow alley. Inhaling through his nose, sorting the myriad array of scents,
he searched for the alluring aroma of pleasure. A brothel would suit perfectly.

Daka’s intuition guided him forward, but before he could cut south to chase the divine smell

of arousal around the corner, his gaze landed on an elegant man and refused to budge. His
eyes possessed a will of their own, such was the man’s appeal.

He was taller than Daka’s average height, long of limb with wide shoulders and perfect
posture. He wore cornflower blue linen, belted at his narrow waist, skirt hanging to a svelte
pair of thighs. Dark onyx tresses hung past his chin, straight and prob‐ ably silken to the
touch. Daka couldn’t be sure of the texture at this distance and it was suddenly of the
utmost importance to find out.

Though brothel workers would make for an easier target, Daka veered off course to pursue
the handsome man instead. To seduce him and touch his lovely hair for himself. He followed
through the square—dodging people and slinking amongst the crowd, stealthy as a cat and
just as light on his feet—until he was no more than ten paces from his quarry.

This close, Daka could pick up the scent lingering in the man’s wake. Earthen and woody, like
the papyrus that grew in the marshy lands nearby. He inhaled greedily. What would he smell
like aroused? Daka had to know.

The man left the busy center of town, turned west, and continued between rows of mud
brick houses, his pace steady as a pulsing heart. He had the stride of a man to a purpose.
Daka’s curiosity grew with each step. Instead of catching up to begin the seduction, Daka
shoved his appetite aside in favor of learning the man’s destination.

They walked for another quarter hour until the chirps of bugs overtook the noise from town
and houses gave way to farmland. Daka spotted the neat rows of tumuli leading to an
ancient mastaba, and their endpoint became clear.

The man had led him to the final resting place of Naukratis’ dead.

Well-maintained burial mounds, with funerary gardens throughout, lined the landscape.
Daka hung back so as not to be noticed or to disturb this man in his grief. The perfect
posture he’d noted earlier began to sag, shoulders drooping forward, head bowed as he
knelt by a triad of graves. He sat back on his heels, long thighs stretched thin, the blue linen
of his skirt revealing smooth bronzed skin.

Daka could not help his appetite, inappropriate as it may be, though he would strive to
contain it. This man was in no mood for the sort of amorous encounter an incubus like
himself fed on. He needed a warm, familial embrace, not the frenzied release Daka itched to
provide.

He slunk back into the shadows to watch from under a sweet-smelling date palm. The man
sat with the dead. Daka sat by himself, wondering who the man had lost.

Daka’s family possessed immortality. At least, his mother and siblings did. His father was
human, but Daka had never met him. As a half-blooded demon, he’d staked claim to
immortality but not to all the gifts that came with it. His powers of sway and persuasion
were paltry in comparison to his full-blooded brethren. Unable to bend people to his will,
Daka could only nudge. He might never develop the skill of astral projection. But he would

live forever, a feat which seemed unfathomable at only twenty-two years into eternity.

The man bent over the graves had a decade or so on Daka in age, perhaps more. Maybe
thirty-five or forty, Daka couldn’t tell. A man in his prime but worn around the edges with
the melancholy that loss thrusts upon the living.

About the Author

Lee Colgin has loved
vampires since she read Dracula on a hot, sunny beach at 13 years old. She lives in North
Carolina with lots of dogs and her husband. No, he’s not a vampire, but she loves him
anyway. Lee likes to workout so she can eat the maximum amount of cookies with her pizza.
Ask her how much she can bench press.

Social Media Links

Blog/Website |
Facebook Group | Twitter

Newsletter Sign-up | BookBub

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BLOG TOUR: “Falling Awake IV” by Kristoffer Gair

BLOG TOUR

Book Title: Falling Awake IV: Retribution

Author: Kristoffer
Gair

Publisher:
Self-Published

Cover Artist: Kris
Norris

Release Day: June 19, 2021

Genre/s: M/M Suspense, Thriller

Trope/s: The hunt begins now.

Themes: Loyalty, friendship, sacrifice, love

Heat Rating: 1
flame

Length: 74 000 words

There are three prior books,
Falling Awake, Falling Awake II: Revenant, and Falling Awake III: Requiem which need to be
read first.

Add on Goodreads

Buy Links

Amazon US | Amazon UK

“Some people are so
low, they gotta look up to see Hell.”

Blurb

“Some people are so low, they gotta look up to see Hell.”

The death of Thomas Reis continues to ripple through the
lives of those connected to his case fourteen years later. Andrew O’Donnell and Lawrence
Boggs have already fallen, but three more pick up where the others left off, and each for his
own reason.

One believes in justice, the second loyalty, and the third
desperately seeks a reason to live. All three, however, share the same final end game;
Retribution.

The hunt begins.

Excerpt

“I’m glad I caught you before you left then. I’m truly sorry.”
He bowed his head. “I held your husband in the highest regards.”

“He respected you, too. Can I get you something to drink?
I’m afraid I don’t have much. I’ll be leaving in the next day or two, but I think I have some
orange juice, and I just made a fresh pot of coffee.”

“No, thank you.”

Norrma led him into the kitchen and sat down at the table,
one of the few pieces of furniture left behind until the day she left. Various paperwork lay in
little piles on the table, some it from the landlord, and others from the movers, bank, and
relatives who’d sent cards.

“Lawrence’s funeral was this past weekend, then I insisted
the kids head back to school. I know they wanted to stay with me and help out here, and
maybe it was cruel to send them away, but I think staying busy and being around their
friends will help them more than being here right now.” She sniffed. “Lawrence would have
insisted they get on with their lives as soon as they could. ‘Death,’ he told us many times, ‘is
a natural part of things. Living is for the now. Mourning can always be done later.’ He always
made sure we knew exactly how he felt. None of us had to guess whether or not he loved
us.”

Joe nodded. “His directness is something I appreciated
immensely.”

She took a sip of coffee. “The police came, had a look at his
case files, and couldn’t really make heads or tails out of them.” Norma chuckled. “Lawrence
always had a unique way of organizing things in life that sometimes only he understood. I
packed up what they didn’t take. Honestly, I think they confiscated a few things here and
there just so it looked good in their report. I don’t believe they’ll ever find anything, though.
Nobody really understood what Lawrence worked on, not in the big picture way.”

Joe grinned. “I know the type. Law enforcement through
and through. Takes one to know one, I guess.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” She peered down at her cup.
“Do you know what might have happened to him?”

“Maybe.” Joe leaned in. “I sent somebody down here from
Iowa, a young man named Andrew, who was looking for a case file I’d loaned Lawrence.
Honestly, I figured things would go one way, and Lawrence would swat the boy on the ass
and send him back home. Turns out the kid had a way about him, and I think they started
working together. This tells me Lawrence was already working on a case and they somehow
connected, or he found a use for Andrew.

“The problem is, I don’t have a lot to go on. Something isn’t
feeling quite right. The parts aren’t adding up, only I’m not getting a big enough glimpse of
the picture.” Joe leaned back in his chair. “I need a bit more.”

“Would these help?” She reached under the stack of
folders and paperwork, pulled out two large envelopes, and handed them over.

Anybody who knew Lawrence would recognize his
handwriting in a heartbeat. Same perfectly shaped letters. Same size. Unmistakable. And the
words written on the front? JOE MURPHY.

Joe’s head cocked to the side. Curiosity? Disbelief? Both?
And then she saw something else, a tensing in the man’s posture and narrowing of the
eyes.

The predator senses prey?

Joe hefted the two envelopes in his hand. “Lawrence left
these for me?”

The lump in her throat returned. “That’s why I was hoping
you’d come. I think he knew what he was working on might not end well, and he once told
me if anything ever happened to him, you’re the only one he trusted to look into it.”

She watched the man run his fingers across the surface of
the envelopes, across his name.

“You didn’t give these to the locals?” he asked. “Or show
them?”

She shook her head. “Lawrence trusted you. I’ll put my
trust in you before them, too.”

“I don’t know what’s in these.” Joe patted the top
envelope. “I can’t promise anything.”

“Don’t expect you to.” Norma sat up straight. Strength.
Maybe a little pride. “Maybe one promise. Someone took away my husband, my children’s
father. Someone took our love, my happiness, and future. Whoever it is ain’t no better than
a roaming, rabid dog, and those kinds of dogs get put down.”

He stared at her. He stared long and hard. “Yes. Yes, they
do.”

About the Author

Kristoffer Gair grew up in
Fraser, MI and is a graduate of Grand Valley State University. He is the author of 8
novels—some written under the pseudonum Kage Alan—been a part of 6 anthologies, and
currently lives in a suburb of Detroit.

Author Links

Blog/Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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