Guest Post | Gentlemen in Love by Ellie Thomas

March 4, 2023March 4, 2023 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

Today, the lovely Ellie Thomas is back on the blog! She’s talking tropes in her Regency box set, Gentlemen in Love, which is released today!!! Welcome, Ellie!

Regency Box Set - Promo 1

Thank you so much, lovely Ofelia, for having me as a guest on your blog today. I’m Ellie, and I write MM Historical Romance novellas. My first box set of previously published Regency stories is now on release, so in this blog, I’ll be chatting about the six stories in Gentlemen in Love.

In terms of popular MM Romance tropes, many of my stories contain an element of Hurt/Comfort. That’s particularly apparent in A Christmas Cotillion, where my MC Jonathan, forced by family obligation from his hermit-like existence, attends a Christmas country house party. Surrounded by merrymakers, he comes to terms with a painful past love affair, and his close proximity to local squire’s son Nick opens up the possibility for fresh romance.

Regency country house parties are an ideal setting for a Forced Proximity trope. In A Midsummer Night’s Magic, I couldn’t help but throw embittered estranged lovers Matthew and Crispin together at a Christmas gathering. In this Enemies to Lovers story, both men are trapped for several days due to a heavy fall of snow blocking all exits. Also, they are expected to socialise politely and even take part in a group recital of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Thank goodness a bit of supernatural twinkly love magic from Puck intervenes before Matthew actually kills Crispin!

The Enemies to Lovers trope also appears in One Summer Night. After an initial passionate encounter in a tavern alleyway in London, Martin makes all kinds of wrong assumptions about Will’s motives, casting him as a villain. It doesn’t help that Will is involved in a Fake Relationship and pretend engagement with his childhood best friend Imogen. Martin has no idea that neither of them is remotely romantically attached to the other. There is a sense of Opposites Attract about Martin and Will. Martin is upper middle class, steady, circumspect and prone to criticism, whereas Will is an impulsive, creative, free spirit. The differences between them cause Martin to misjudge Will while still desiring him. It was fun to untangle these knots of misunderstanding for their Happy Ever After.

There is another kind of Fake Relationship in A Marriage for Three when Anthony asks Charlotte to marry him, even though he is in a long-term relationship with his steward, Simon. Anthony’s proposal is purely pragmatic. As a wealthy landowner and a friend of Charlotte’s impoverished family, he autocratically sees marriage as a neat solution to help the people he cares for without any emotional considerations. Charlotte and Simon, far more sensitive than Anthony, have their reservations, especially when they start to develop feelings for each other. So having caused the situation, it’s up to Anthony to ensure the future happiness of his found family.

Opposites Attract is the dominant trope in The Thrill of the Chase, where shy, innocent Adrian is pursued around Regency Cheltenham by experienced rake Guy. I thoroughly enjoyed writing about the dynamic between these two, with Guy consistently ruining a potential moment of closeness with a crude suggestion, sending Adrian running for cover. For their relationship to develop, Adrian must learn to stand up for himself, and Guy has to rein in the cheesy lines and sexual expectations for some patience and consideration. Since Guy is an army captain, there’s an element of military romance.

In Shore Leave, Jacob is a Lieutenant in the British Navy, which also gives this story a touch of military romance. There’s a sense of Opposites Attract between Jacob, who is far more comfortable on board his ship than escorting his sister around fashionable Bath when he meets society beau Sebastian. But beneath his polished manners, Sebastian is emotionally reticent, and it’s up to both men to act upon their mutual attraction to blossom into lasting love.

Gentlemen in Love

gentlemeninloveboxset

In Regency England, whether about their daily business in London, attending a country house party or visiting a fashionable spa town, an array of gentlemen meet their match and attain a happy ever after.

Some couples find new love, while others rekindle a long-lost spark in this collection of six light-hearted MM Regency romances from Ellie Thomas, containing the following stories:

A Christmas Cotillion: Thirty-year-old Jonathan Cavendish has long given up any thought of romance. He grudgingly accompanies younger cousin Freddy to a Christmas country house party, as Freddy is infatuated with the lovely Belinda.

To his surprise, Jonathan catches the eye of Nick, a local farmer’s son. The initial attraction seems to be mutual, but can Nick break through Jonathan’s defences and teach him to love again?

A Marriage for Three: When Anthony Wallace proposes to Charlotte Grenville, she is shocked. Lottie has always seen him as an older brother, and she is also aware of his romantic devotion to his Anglo-Indian estate manager, Simon Walker. Should she accept this financial arrangement merely to support her ailing family? And will her growing attraction to Simon be a threat to all their happiness?

A Midwinter Night’s Magic: Matthew Lewis is trapped at a Christmas country house party by snowy weather and forced to take part in a reading of a Midsummer Night’s Dream. To make things worse, his lost love Crispin Marley, to whom he has sworn undying hatred, is among the guests. Can some fairy magic from Puck help the estranged couple to make amends for once and all?

The Thrill of the Chase: In 1813, when modest Adrian Lethbridge visits fashionable Cheltenham to help launch his young cousins into society, to his surprise, he catches the roving eye of Captain Guy Ransome. The ex-army officer is everything Adrian yearns to be; devilishly handsome, experienced and confident. So Adrian is in disbelief that the attraction is mutual. But can he summon the courage to act on his desires?

One Summer Night: After a passionate encounter with a stranger in an alleyway one summer night in 1801, Whitehall clerk Martin Dunne is shocked when he encounters the object of his desire at a society function, complete with a powerful father and a pretty bride-to-be. Is his seducer not to be trusted? And have Martin’s dreams of future encounters and possible romance crumbled to nothing?

Shore Leave: Jacob Longley, Naval Lieutenant, is all at sea in the fashionable Bath Spa. As he attempts to steer his younger sister Letty through the social whirl with a close eye on her reputation, his striking looks can’t help but catch the attention of the exquisite Sebastian Fforde. Will either man break through the other’s reserve? And could their mutual attraction blossom into love?

Regency Boxset Promo 7

Excerpt:

Excerpt from A Christmas Cotillion:

Mr Hammond’s chance came when Jonathan was on the dance floor, already partnered for the next dance. Belinda, for once, was unaccompanied but still standing up, as though eager to join in. Mr Hammond was near her, but unfortunately looking in the other direction.

Jonathan glanced over in helpless frustration, not wanting to abandon his young dance partner in the middle of the floor just as the music was about to start. As he again looked from one to the other, he caught the eye of the handsome farmer’s son. He was serving refreshments amongst those who had taken part in the last set of dances. He followed his direction of Jonathan’s scrutiny clearly with a sharply raised eyebrow.

As if receiving intelligence, he nodded at Jonathan decisively, put down his tray on a side table and eased the few yards through the gaggle of couples approaching the dance floor and tapped Mr Hammond on the shoulder.

Luckily, just then the music started and Jonathan saw his expressive face indicating a social dilemma. He nodded towards Belinda and then pointed to the momentarily abandoned tray as if explaining why he could not partner the young lady for himself. When all had been made clear to Mr Hammond, he received a grateful smile from the young man, as though Mr Hammond was doing the favour. He then turned back to collect the tray and offered the contents to the thirsty crowd.

It was neatly done, with Mr Hammond now obliged by his very good manners to ask the young lady to dance. Mr Hammond braced himself and made his way to Belinda, face flushed with embarrassment as though expecting a rebuff. Instead, he received her hand and a warm smile. Jonathan didn’t realize he was holding his breath until the couple reached the floor, unimpeded.

After a hectic country dance, Jonathan and his puffing partner retired from the fray. He was satisfied to see Mr Hammond and Belinda remain on the floor for the next set of dances, now conversing with apparent ease. As he looked at this with a feeling of pleasure, a glass of sparkling wine was placed in his hand with a murmured, “That was a good notion.”

He looked around in surprise to see the farmer’s son right next to him. Close up, his eyes were very blue indeed and his wide mouth was curved in that increasing familiar smile. Jonathan felt as tongue-tied as Mr Hammond had been previously in Belinda’s presence as he stiffly thanked the young man for his assistance. He seemed unfazed by Jonathan’s constraint.

“Just call me Cupid, or rather Nicholas, or even Nick, if you prefer,” he said with another dazzling grin, before turning gracefully to serve refreshments to the guests behind Jonathan.

Book Links:

JMS Books :: Amazon :: Books2Read :: Add to Goodreads :: Add to Bookbub

Regency Box Set Promo 2

About Ellie Thomas

Ellie Thomas lives by the sea. She comes from a teaching background and goes for long seaside walks where she daydreams about history. She is a voracious reader especially about anything historical. She mainly writes historical gay romance.

Ellie also writes historical erotic romance as L. E. Thomas.

Website: https://elliethomasromance.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliethomasauthor/

Twitter: @e_thomas_author

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19835510.Ellie_Thomas

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ellie-thomas

#SalesSaturday | Finding Home

February 25, 2023February 24, 2023 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

#SalesSaturday It’s release day!!! 🥳 Finding Home is now live. It’s a collection of three of my Up North stories, so we’re talking small-town contemporary gay romances.

This box set includes Around Seven, Banger Challenge, and Once in May which are some of my favourite stories. It’s always hard to pick favourites, but these are all dear to me.

Around Seven and Once in May take place in Nortown, whereas Banger Challenge is a road trip story. The opening scene is in Nortown, but they’re having car troubles between a lot of places after that 😆

They all have a bit of hurt-comfort going on, Once in May being that with the most trauma in the background… or they all have trauma, but of different kinds.

Once in May is past abuse which had led to John struggling with pretty severe PTSD. Around Seven is childhood trauma due to unfit parents, and Banger Challenge is dealing with the death of a parent.

But these are romance stories, so they’ll find their happily ever after with their special someone before the story ends.

Below you can read the first chapter in Once in May, and you can grab Finding Home for 20% off in the JMS shop until the 3rd of March.

Finding Home

finding home boxset

Can a restless soul find a home?

Three contemporary gay romance novellas. Three characters looking for a place to belong. Follow them as they put down roots in the small towns of the north. Oswald has never had a place to call home, but he can’t live in his car forever. Zen is lost after the death of his father and spends his time on the road. Zach returns to his hometown after several years away and finds something he never believed he would.

Contains the stories:

Around Seven: Oswald Sattle has been sleeping in his Toyota Camry for the last nine months. Out of money and out of options, he’s on his way to Nortown for a job opportunity he can’t turn down. Joshua Roth has everything he needs, but he wants to make Oswald smile. He keeps suggesting things that will make Oswald stay, but Oswald doesn’t want to overstay his welcome. Maybe it’s time to move on again?

Banger Challenge: A month after losing his father, the only thing holding Zen Zeppelin Cave together is focusing on a charity junk car race to raise money for cancer research. He had planned on completing the race on his own, but a spur-of-the-moment decision changes that when he invites the adorable, blushing police officer whose driveway he’s blocking to tag along.

Once in May: To hide from his past, John Welsh has spent the last few years building walls around himself. He knows the best way to stay safe is to keep people at arm’s length. He should’ve known the peace he’s found wouldn’t last. One day everything is fine, the next Zachary Fane shows up wherever he goes. All Zachary wants is to be close to John, and if following him around is the only way, then so be it.

Buy Links

Contemporary Gay Romance: 102,893 words

JMS Books :: Amazon :: books2read.com/FindingHomeBoxSet

Chapter 1: Phone Calls & Problems

March

John Welsh banged the front door closed, locked the deadbolt, put the security chain in place and reached up to push the latches closed. Not until then did he dare breathe. He had no real memory of driving home from the café, but since he was here unharmed, he figured it had gone well enough.

As the tremors started up again, he hurried through the small log cabin, checking first the kitchen then the combined living room and office. When he couldn’t find any signs of anyone having been there, he dived for the phone on the old desk in the corner and headed to his bedroom.

It wasn’t really a bedroom. When he’d moved in, it had been a small storage space, but the first time he’d inspected it, he knew it would be where he slept. Big enough to fit a narrow bed and still leave a small aisle between it and the wall, the small space was crucial, as was the lack of windows. With only one possible way into the room, there would be no surprise visits.

Unlocking the door took longer than usual, but once he had it open, he slipped inside and shut it without a sound. It was a solid front door, not meant to be inside a house. He locked the three deadbolts he’d installed, double checked they were locked, and grabbed the cover off the bed. The hard, cool press of the walls against his shoulders as he slid down to the floor helped calm him down enough to hit the speed-dial button on the phone.

“Yeah?” Timothy’s deep grumble surrounded him like a blanket, and John drew in one shuddering breath.

“John? John, are you there?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m here.” He pushed the blond tresses out of his face, pulled his knees to his chest and let his head fall back against the unyielding wall.

“You want to talk?”

“No…not really.” Hearing Timothy breathe was enough.

“What happened?” An alertness crept into Tim’s voice, sending a wave of guilt crashing over John. He shouldn’t have called, shouldn’t burden Timothy. That was why he had the rules—to ensure Tim didn’t have to worry, but he’d ruined it by calling.

“I was too late.”

“Too late for what?”

John remained silent for longer than he should. He could tell Timothy was getting restless on the other end of the line. “I went to have breakfast.”

“You did? That’s great!”

No, it wasn’t great. He shouldn’t have gone. The rules allowed him not to go into town this week. He’d told Timothy he wouldn’t, and yet he had gone. Why had he gone?

“I didn’t make it out until…until…some people came.” His hands started shaking at the mere remembrance. That man—the owner of the dog he’d found—had come too close. He’d been about to touch John, but Tom had stopped him.

“So…you had breakfast in a public place while other people were around. That’s great!”

“He almost touched me.” John hoped Timothy couldn’t tell from his voice how shaken he was.

“He? Who?” The growl was comforting, even though John knew Timothy didn’t think a verbal thank-you counted as nearly touching. In John’s defence, the guy had taken a step in his direction.

“The owner of the dog that came by the other day.”

“He touched you?”

“Erm…no. He said thank you.”

A chuckle? Really? Timothy was laughing at him? “Oh, babe. People usually do when you find their long-lost pets.”

“He wasn’t long lost, he was recently lost,” John tried to grumble, but instead, he sighed. He rolled his head a little as his shoulders loosened. Timothy was on the other end, listening to every breath he took, probably measuring how fast they came.

“Are you starting to feel a little better?” Timothy had turned serious again.

“Yes, a little. Thank you.” He did feel better. His limbs were heavy, and he had to suppress a yawn.

“Anytime. I take it there won’t be any other breakfast visits this week?”

“No…I…I think I’ll stay in for a few days.”

“It’s only Monday, though. Maybe you’ll feel ready later on, around Friday maybe?”

“I don’t have to. I talked to several people last weekend.” He’d delivered eggs to the egg hunt. He’d talked to that Tristan guy when he and Tom had come to pick up the dog, and he’d even said hi to Tom in the café today.

“You never have to, John. You’re the only one who says you do. I’d love for you to eat breakfast in the café every day, gossip with the locals or whatever, but I want you to do it because you want to.”

John changed the subject. Nothing he could say about his rules or timetables would change how Timothy saw things.

“When are you coming to see me?”

“Soon, babe. It’s just… It’s a mess here. Anna isn’t…she hasn’t been doing well lately. I’ve had Lily a lot and…” Timothy’s voice trailed off.

“I’m sorry.” Timothy didn’t want to talk about Anna. She was Tim’s sister and, from what John understood, she’d been in and out of some recovery program. He thought it was alcohol, but Tim hadn’t been clear on it. Either way, she wasn’t around a lot, most often leaving her daughter with Timothy.

He shouldn’t burden Tim with his problems.

“No, no, I like having her. It’s just…a little too much to do sometimes. Talking about, did you look at the work I did on the site?”

John let him change the subject; it didn’t matter what they talked about. All he wanted was to hear Timothy’s voice, but he grew more tired by the second. Even if it was only Jen in the café, the breakfasts were exhausting. Today had been…

John yawned and tried to forget about it. After a few more minutes, they hung up, and John crawled into the bed, hoping sleep would make him forget.

Read Around the Rainbow | Someone insults your main character, how do they react?

February 24, 2023February 26, 2023 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 7 Comments

ReadAroundTheRainbow

It’s time for the monthly Read Around the Rainbow post. Every month we’re a group of authors who blog on the same topic, and this month we’re talking characters, more specifically:

Someone insults your main character, how do they react?

Had I been another kind of author, I’d written a bonus scene to show how one of my characters reacts, but I tend to forget them the moment I let them go. The little things that make them them disappear from my memory, and if I try to write them again, they’re flat, uncooperative people.

I’m also super stressed about Holly’s deadline that’s coming up, so I’m taking the easy way out 😆

I don’t really know how my characters react when insulted unless they’re insulted in the story, but the first character who popped into my mind when we decided on this topic was Thaddeus in Soul Eater.

Thaddeus is a mage, but a weak one. His favourite spell is reheating his coffee when it’s grown too cold. then one day, he happens to release a trapped spirit from a werewolf skull that he stole from the black market, and he realises that maybe he’s not a mage at all.

But for this topic, we don’t need to know what Thaddeus is other than him being a magic user. His go-to response when insulted, yelled at, attacked, accused, or anything really, is to throw blue sparks at people.

I’ll leave you with a little blue-sparkling snippet below, but before you go:

Check out what the others have to say on the topic!

Excerpt Soul Eater

Elora cleared her throat. “She was preparing wings to make the women pretty, but it’s their scents enticing her.”
“What?” Ric whirled around and glared at Elora. “What do you know about scents?”
“N-Nothing.” Elora glanced at Thad.
“Seriously, Ric—” Anger manifested itself in more tiny, blue sparks at Thad’s fingertips. “Get out of here. We’re trying to work. We have a few minutes before Elora crashes, and I want to hear what she has to say before she does, so if you could bury your massive ego for a couple of seconds, we’d appreciate it.”
Ric flashed sharp teeth at him, and Thad was tempted to throw a ball of fire at him.
Thad patted Elora’s knee and nodded for her to continue.
“It’s their scent, their magical scent.”
“Magic doesn’t have a scent.”
Thad didn’t so much as think, he flung a rain of blue sparks over Ric. They wouldn’t harm him, but they did sting. Ric hissed, but Thad spoke over it. “Magic has flavor. Every practitioner has a unique…taste.” He didn’t know how to explain so they understood. “As a psychic, Elora can’t sample it, so explaining it as scent makes sense. How can you be able to know what she’s thinking?”
They were running out of time. After Elora had touched something she—’fell asleep’ wasn’t the right expression and she wasn’t unconscious either, rather something in between.
“Not thinking. I saw the wings…sensed the hunger.”
“How?”

Soul-Eater