Guest Post | One Would Be Enough by Holly Day

Guest-Post

Hello, everyone. Today, I’m here as Holly 😆  

Yesterday, One Would Be Enough was released, and it’s a story I wrote for Make Your Dream Come True Day. It’s about Teo who is a plain, ordinary human – or maybe not ordinary, but he isn’t a supernatural being.   

Teo has made his dreams come true, he’s achieved what he set out to do, and now he plans to live his life as he sees fit. There is only one problem – werewolves.   

Jerico is a werewolf. He left his pack sixteen years ago when his father demanded he’d mate with a female from another pack. He left and never planned to come back again, but when the pack runs into economic problems, they need the dowry that would come with Jerico’s mating.   

Jerico refuses and is thrown into a dark basement room. In the same room is Teo. He’s there because he refuses to give up his home to the werewolves.   

All they can do is wait, and to keep themselves occupied, they talk. None of them knows what the other looks like, but a bond is formed between them, and dreams can change. There is always the possibility of making room for more people.   

Teo is a product of my podcast adventures. Every night, I put on a podcast to fall asleep to, and they’re either financial pods, self-sufficiency pods, or fiction pods. Teo has achieved his dream, and his dream is pretty much the same as every other person in the F.I.R.E. movement. If I had any money, I’d be hardcore into F.I.R.E. and I listen to the podcasts, so… It’s just I hardly make any money LOL  

And then there is the fiction part. When I don’t have the energy for finances, I listen to fiction. There are some great pods – Nightmare Magazine and Lightspeed Magazine are some of my favourites. Then one night, I searched for MM Romance stories just to see if Spotify had anything to offer. And what showed up was a chapter from Unnatural by Alessandra Hazard, and I’d read that story just a few weeks before.  

I listened to it, and that, my dears, is how Teo came to be a person who is Financially Independent and has Retired Early (F.I.R.E.) and the proud owner of an erotica podcast 😂 

https://open.spotify.com/show/4f6GKKIz8kWauYQnfZjKqJ?si=f1dacf6b43814de3

Blurb: 

onewouldbeenoughTeo Solace has worked hard to achieve his dream of owning a house. But he didn’t know he would become next-door neighbor to werewolves or that refusing the pack’s demand to sell the house to them would end with being kidnapped.  

Jerico Franklin left his pack sixteen years ago, and he never planned to return. By refusing to mate with the female his father picked for him, he believed he was doomed to live the rest of his life as a lone wolf. He didn’t expect to wake up in a dark cellar with a human by his side. Jerico shouldn’t care about the human, but when he learns his former pack intends to kill Teo to take over his house, he knows he has to find a way to get them out of there before he loses control of his wolf.  

Teo never believed he’d care for a wolf, but spending days in the dark with nothing but Jerico’s voice to cling to shifts his perspectives. Humans are a dime on a dozen. One more or less shouldn’t matter, but Jerico would’ve lost himself in the dark if it wasn’t for Teo. For how long will Jerico be able to keep Teo safe from the pack? For how long can he keep him safe from himself?  

Pre-order links:  

Gay Paranormal Romance: 17,039 words  

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

Excerpt:

Jerico waited. Teo smelled nice. No artificial scents which made him suspect he’d used a soap meant for shifters while he’d been to the bathroom. He cleared his throat. Thinking about Teo’s scent wasn’t something he needed to do right now.

“Right.” Teo touched his shoulder. “Is it just me or does this feel terribly intimate.”

“It’s just you.” Jerico grinned. It was intimate. They were trapped in the dark, and Teo was touching him. He didn’t think Teo appreciated it. Most human men he’d hung out with were okay with friendly slaps, even the occasional hug—guy version, of course—but to feel their way around his body to find his mouth would send them off screaming.

“I’m afraid I’ll spill it all over you. It’s so damn cold in here, I don’t want you to get wet.”

Oh? Not the concern he’d assumed, but it sounded genuine.

Teo’s hand landed on his shoulder, slid up his neck, and caressed his chin. Jerico shivered. It had been a long time since someone touched him, and as a shifter, he craved it. A finger brushed over his lower lip and was quickly followed by the rim of a cup. He opened his mouth and swallowed greedily. Some water dripped down the corner of his mouth, and he made a sound to alert Teo of it.

“Sorry.” His fingers wiped away the wetness. “More?” He removed the cup so Jerico could respond.

“No, I’m good. Thank you.” Judging by the sound, Teo drank the last of the water in the cup.

“You okay holding the pitcher for another minute?”

“Sure.” He squeezed his thighs together without needing to. Teo leaned his forearm against his shoulder and grabbed the chair he’d been sitting on. The sound of it scraping over the floor filled the room.

“I’ll put it here, about an arm’s length from you.”

“I can’t reach it.”

“No, I know, but then it isn’t right next to you, so you won’t accidentally knock it over if you… kick or something. And I’ll stay on your other side.”

“What if you want to sit?” Jerico would love to stand and stretch, but standing all the time took its toll, too.

“Then I can hold it. Though…” He quieted and Jerico heard him slowly move away.

“What are you doing?” The panic spreading in his chest as he pictured Teo leaving took him by surprise. He couldn’t go anywhere and since when did Jerico care where some human went?

“When I woke the first time, I was on a… not a mattress but like a lounger cushion.”

“And it was in that direction?”

“I have no idea. I don’t know if we’re in the same room.”

Jerico grimaced. “We are.”

“How do you know?”

He took a deep breath. Would Teo refuse to give him water if he told him the truth? “Your scent is here.”

Teo was quiet for several seconds. “My scent? Do I stink so much you can tell I’ve been here for days?”

Jerico grinned. “No, you smell nice.”

“I smell nice?” Teo inhaled loudly, and Jerico pictured him smelling himself. Truth was he did smell nice. Jerico hadn’t noticed at first, but now when he focused on the scent… “You do.”

“What else can you tell by scent?”

Jerico was quiet for a few seconds. Had Teo figured him out? “We’re underground. Basement. The air is damp.”

“You don’t need a super nose to figure that out.”

“True. Our captors are wolf shifters.”

The room went silent again, and Jerico regretted saying anything.

“Hmm… They want my house, right?”

“I think they care more about the land than the house, but yes.”

“And what is it you have they want?”

“Sperm.”

Teo barked a laugh. “I have that too, but they’ve never shown any interest.”

Jerico took a deep breath. “They want me to mate with a female from another pack and have pups.”

Teo came closer and judging by the sound, he was dragging something. Seconds later, he sat on the ground next to Jerico. “And you don’t like her?”

“I’ve never met her.”

“I see, or I don’t because fuck it’s dark in here. Sometimes I panic and think I’ll never see anything again. Maybe you’ll like her.”

Jerico had a hard time following the incoherent babbling. “I’m sure you’ll see things again.” He took a deep breath. “I like males.”

Silence stretched, and Jerico wanted to curl into a ball. Werewolf and gay, Teo would stop speaking to him now.

“I can see that being a shitty situation, but if you talk to her, maybe she’ll understand.”

“Talk to her?”

“Tell her you’ll marry her, but it’ll be a mariage blanc. They can’t demand more than that.”

Jerico gave a sad chuckle. “It’s not like a human marriage.”

“What’s it like then?”

About Holly 

According to Holly Day, no day should go by uncelebrated and all of them deserve a story. If she’ll have the time to write them remains to be seen. She lives in rural Sweden with a husband, four children, more pets than most, and wouldn’t last a day without coffee.  

Holly gets up at the crack of dawn most days of the week to write gay romance stories. She believes in equality in fiction and in real life. Diversity matters. Representation matters. Visibility matters. We can change the world one story at the time.  

Connect with Holly on social media: 

Website :: Facebook :: Twitter :: Pinterest :: BookBub :: Goodreads :: Instagram 

 

Friday at Ofelia’s | The Thrill of the Chase by Ellie Thomas

Guest-Post

Today, we have the lovely Ellie Thomas on a visit. She’s gonna tell us a little about her story, The Thrill of the Chase. Welcome, Ellie!


Thank you so much Ofelia for having me as your guest today! I’m Ellie Thomas, and I write Historical Gay Romance. In this blog, I’m chatting about The Thrill of the Chase, my January release for JMS Books.

Perhaps because I write of times gone by, I tend to base my stories in familiar places. This helps me get my facts (and street names) correct! As I went to school in the beautiful Regency town of Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire’s famous Cotswolds, it seemed an ideal story setting. I was only waiting for the right characters to come to mind for a light-hearted Regency romance.

When shy country gentleman Adrian Lethbridge popped into my head, he seemed the perfect foil for dashing Captain Ransome and the comedy of manners that ensued in their romantic miscommunications. The spa resort of Cheltenham seemed a perfect backdrop for their story. So as the characters and their relationship developed, my research began in earnest.

I had already decided to set my story in 1813, not realising the town was relatively undeveloped at this point. I was interested to discover that the iconic Regency terraces only began to spring up in the 1820s after the end of the Napoleonic wars. This building boom transformed Cheltenham into a fashionable destination to rival nearby Bath. As Ofelia will know from kindly hosting my previous guest blogs, I can’t resist a book or three to help my knowledge of an era and area!

I managed to source a local history book, Cheltenham Before The Spa by Alex Craven and Beth Hartland, part of the Victoria History of Gloucestershire series. This beautifully illustrated volume took me back to when popular Regency districts such as Montpelier and Pittville were green fields. Before poring through this book, I hadn’t known that up until the early 19th century, the entire town huddled along the lengthy High Street with the open River Chelt flowing through the centre. A lovely quote from 1834 completes the picture of a sleepy settlement. ‘There is an individual who remembers the violets growing, and the horses grazing in the High Street.’ Despite already being a popular destination, this is a far cry from the grandeur of fashionable Cheltenham following the building spree!

Rather than have my couple inhabiting elegantly paved streets with tall stuccoed buildings, I could imagine Adrian and Guy walking down the leafy Well Walk to Bayshill Spa or stepping back from the High Street to the quiet churchyard of St. Mary’s to steal a kiss. This information helped me picture a greener, smaller and older Cheltenham that felt like the perfect setting for my couple.

I was also lucky enough to stumble across a website called Cheltonia. This fantastic project by longtime Cheltenham resident and graphic designer, Rebsie Fairholm, is not only a superb resource but a personal mission. I found the range of images and facts so fascinating that I had to drag myself back onto the relevant History of the Spa page. Over the years, Rebsie has put together an eclectic selection of architectural photos, ranging from gracious villas, old street signs, delicate wrought-iron balconies and even grates and coal holes!

Both the website and the book helped create vivid images as I imagined Adrian and Guy’s first meeting at an assembly; their instant attraction, followed by miscommunication before reaching a romantic understanding. I could see their emerging love story taking place in the bustling, overcrowded country town that was yet to evolve into the Cheltenham we know today.

Blurb:

The Thrill of the ChaseAdrian Lethbridge temporarily exchanges his quiet country home in leafy Dorset for fashionable Regency Cheltenham to support his aunt as she introduces her three daughters into polite society. As he is fond of his younger cousins, Adrian is happy to escort them and even bestow advice on fashion and manners as they attract new friends and admirers. But the last thing he expects is to make a match of his own.

When he meets handsome Captain Guy Ransome at an evening assembly, he is overwhelmed by his unexpected feelings and can’t believe that they might be reciprocated. However, Guy seems more interested in the thrill of passing pleasure than a meeting of hearts and minds.

In the heat of the chase, Guy impatiently regards Adrian’s hesitance as time-wasting game playing, not realising that his tried and tested seduction techniques send shy Adrian fleeing in the opposite direction. Can these contrasting characters reach a romantic compromise? And will the hunter discover his heart has been caught after all?

Extract:

As his aunt was engaged in conversation and his other two cousins were still dancing, Adrian took the opportunity to quench his thirst before he was hailed again as a default dance partner. There no servers hovering nearby, so he was working his way towards the refreshment table through the knots of bystanders when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He turned to see the elegant gentleman holding another glass of champagne and wearing that worldly-wise expression that made his heart thump and his stomach turn over simultaneously.

“It’s freshly poured,” the gentleman said helpfully, “As you were, er, commandeered at short notice, I finished the remainder for you before it grew flat. I thought you might require another.”

“Thank you,” Adrian said, taking the glass and several much-needed sips.

The gentleman continued to peruse him with that mocking expression. “You seem to be very popular with the ladies,” he said ironically, as though reading Adrian’s most secret desires.

Don’t blush, don’t blush, Adrian ordered his rebellious complexion in vain.

“Those young ladies are my cousins,” he said with as much dignity as he could muster.

“Charming, I’m sure,” the gentleman uttered politely.

“They are sometimes,” Adrian said and then instantly felt disloyal.

The man looked at him as though guessing his thoughts, and his smile deepened. 

“As we are on drinking terms already, may I ask your name?” The gentleman said smoothly, causing Adrian to curse his gauche lack of manners.

“Yes, of course. It’s Lethbridge. Adrian Lethbridge of Dorset.”

Before he could ask in return, the pert waiter appeared before them with a full tray. Adrian squeezed his empty vessel into a space and took another, sensing that the gentleman had already reached an understanding with the fleeting object of his desire, given the discreetly flirtatious attention the attendant was affording him.

With a final coy glance, loitering for as long as he dared, the server progressed to the next group of thirsty dancers, allowing the gentleman to survey his behind with deliberate appreciation. The man glanced back towards Adrian. Correctly interpreting Adrian’s awareness of that telling glimpse, he smiled, his eyes gleaming with sudden heat.

Utterly unperturbed, the gentleman said, “It’s always agreeable to have one’s late evening’s entertainment lined up. You can join us if you are so inclined? It’s always more fun to share.”

Adrian gaped at this outrageous suggestion in disbelief and was engulfed with torrid emotion. Despite the correct assumption about his tastes, he knew for his safety he should immediately deny any interest. After all, it was dangerous to be different, and any sensible man, especially one drawn to other men should be icily indignant at such presumption from a stranger.

But rather than being consumed with disgust or rage, Adrian’s main emotion was envy of the gentleman’s ease in his skin and his preferences, together with the overt sexual experience that he wore as casually as his perfectly-fitted clothes. 

Allied with that was a disturbing spike of jealousy, images of what might happen between the waiter and the gentleman ripping through his mind, paralysing all coherent thought. This was the first time he had reacted so strongly to any man, let alone a new acquaintance and in a public ballroom. Adrian was aroused, horrified, mortified, and completely out of his depth.

He could not utter a word, his mouth gaping open like a trout. His distress and confusion were so apparent that the gentleman’s knowing grin began to transform into a frown.

He felt a gentle hand on his elbow and gladly looked towards the interruption. Never had he been so glad to see his cousin Julia.

“Excuse me, sir,” she said with a curtsey towards the gentleman, unaware of any tension between the two men. “Adrian, could I trouble you for another dance? Mama says we must leave soon.”

“Of course, Julia,” Adrian said, trying to keep the relief out of his voice. Avoiding meeting those treacherous stormy eyes that would no doubt find his unnerved response vastly entertaining, he gave a brief bow and walked away, feeling like he had escaped a terrifying fate. As he passed, Adrian half-made out the purring words, “Farewell, little rabbit. I will see you anon.”

Universal Book Link:

https://books2read.com/u/4XDrA6

Bio:

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.

https://elliethomasromance.wordpress.com/

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

Wrap-Up Wednesday | December

The last Wrap-Up Wednesday of the year! It’s been a busy month, and I’ve tried to escape by reading books – old books. Books I’ve already read because my poor brain can’t take in anything new right now LOL

December should be the month when you read a lot of holiday stories. I haven’t. I’ve read one which you’ll see below. Other than that I’ve read a few M/F stories. I re-read the first two books in Patricia Briggs’ Alpha & Omega series, but while I like Charles, that series fails to grab me. And I read the first book in The Legends of Regia series by Tenaya Jayne but lost my way halfway through the second. Series. Very few series manage to hold my attention.

Oh, and I read Moonshadow by Thea Harrison. I would’ve continued that series, but when I checked out book two and saw who it was about, I didn’t LOL.

I also read The Duke by Gaelen Foley, but… eh…

Okay, onto the M/M books!

How to Cheat at Dirty Santa by Amy Spector

The one and only Christmas story I’ve read this month! This is cute,  such an adorable story about Jonah who has a crush on his colleague, Nathan, and when it’s time for the yearly dirty Santa game at the office, he asks his friends for help to get his present in Nathan’s hands. It spirals out of control, of course, and the plan gets more and more complicated and more and more people get involved. Hilarious. And I loved the ending!

How to Cheat at Dirt SantaSome things are worth risking the naughty list.

Jonah Newfeld is not someone men fall for at a glance. They have to get to know him first. So when he meets the perfect man, he knows he needs to play the long game.

Nathan Sharp is the newest guy on the customer service floor. He’s clever, kind, blessedly single, and volunteers weekends at a local animal shelter. Jonah wants to raise babies with him. But when Nathan’s sister starts trying to fix him up with her veterinarian, Jonah’s dream is put into jeopardy.

Jonah needs the perfect plan if he wants to win over the man of his dreams. But a terrible plan will have to do, and more than a little help from his friends. If Jonah can pull it off and manage to get the boy, it’ll be more than worth being put on Santa’s naughty list for good.

books2read.com/howtocheatatdirtysanta 

A Charm of Magpies

I was in the mood for a paranormal story, and I hadn’t read the third story in the A Charm of Magpies series by K.J. Charles, but I wanted to. You know series… Anyway, it’s been many years since I read the first, then I read the second a few years ago. I remember putting littlest down for a nap, and she never could fall asleep unless I stayed in the room, so I started reading it. Littlest turns six next week. So I decided to re-read the first two before reading the third. And lo and behold, I read through the entire series. It’s awesome!

And I love the covers.

The Magpie Lord

A lord in danger. A magician in turmoil. A snowball in hell.

Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn’t expect it to turn up angry.

Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude… and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual.

Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn’t the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die.

https://books2read.com/MagpieLord

A Case of Possession

Magic in the blood. Danger in the streets.

Lord Crane has never had a lover quite as elusive as Stephen Day. He knows Stephen’s job as justiciar requires secrecy, but the magician is doing his disappearing act more than seems reasonable—especially since Crane will soon return to his home in China. When a blackmailer threatens to expose their illicit relationship, there’s only one thing stopping Crane from leaving the country he loathes: Stephen.

Stephen has problems of his own. As he investigates a plague of giant rats sweeping London, his sudden increase in power, boosted by his blood-and-sex bond with Crane, is rousing suspicion that he’s turned warlock. With all eyes on him, the threat of exposure grows. Stephen could lose his friends, his job and his liberty over his relationship with Crane. He’s not sure if he can take that risk much longer. Crane isn’t sure if he can ask him to.

The rats are closing in, and something has to give…

https://books2read.com/ACaseOfPossession

Flight of Magpies

Danger in the air. Lovers on the brink.

With the justiciary understaffed, a series of horrifying occult murders to be investigated, and a young student flying off the rails, magical law enforcer Stephen Day is under increasing stress. And the strain is starting to show in his relationship with his aristocratic lover, Lord Crane.

Crane chafes at the restrictions of England’s laws, and there’s a worrying development in the blood-and-sex bond he shares with Stephen. A development that makes a sensible man question if they should be together at all.

Then a devastating loss brings the people he most loves into bitter conflict. Old enemies, new enemies, and unexpected enemies are painting Stephen and Crane into a corner, and the pressure threatens to tear them apart…

https://books2read.com/FlightofMagpies

Between Sinners and Saints by Marie Sexton

I don’t know how many times I’ve read this. Four is my guess. I didn’t mean to read it this time, but I felt a little lost after I’d read the Magpies, and hubby got me a new phone and I didn’t have all my books so I was scrolling through my kindle app (I normally read on apple books, but my new phone is an android and all my books were gone and I was panicking and so on) and there it was.

I was going to bed and thought I’d just read the first chapter or so and then the next day, I’d sort out the book situation. I ended up reading the entire book, not that night, but the next day I continued it instead of sorting the book situation.
It’s funny because I normally steer clear of all books with a religious theme, but I like this one. Though Levi’s family pisses me off to no end.

Between Sinners and SaintsLevi Binder is a Miami bartender who cares about only two things: sex and surfing. Ostracized by his Mormon family for his homosexuality, Levi is determined to live his life his own way, but everything changes when he meets massage therapist Jaime Marshall.

Jaime is used to being alone. Haunted by the horrors of his past, his only friend is his faithful dog, Dolly. He has no idea how to handle somebody as gorgeous and vibrant as Levi.

Complete opposites on the surface, Levi and Jaime both long for something that they can only find together. Through love and the therapeutic power of touch, they’ll find a way to heal each other, and they’ll learn to live as sinners in a family of saints.

https://books2read.com/BetweenSinnersAndSaints

Treasure by Kim Fielding

Now that I’d read Between Sinners and Saints, I was missing the ocean. I think it’s time to move. Moving away from the sea wasn’t our best idea and I miss it a lot.

It’s been years since I read this one, but it’s such a… cosy might be the wrong word, but the small-town charm and the weird characters, imps and dragons, and there are pirates! What’s not to love?

TreasureJulian Massey has always been sickly. When the young man’s parents send him to the seaside town of Urchin Cove to recuperate, he finds himself stranded in a tiny cabin with only the quirky local inhabitants for company. Then a storm blows through, and he finds an unexpected discovery washed up on the beach: an unconscious man.

After stealing a treasure, Kit Archer is taken prisoner by a ruthless pirate, Captain Booth. When a storm hits the pirate ship, Kit is able to escape, but not without serious injuries. Jules nurses him back to health, and friendship grows into desire. But Captain Booth is bound to come in search of his treasure and the man who stole it.

In a world with dragons, sprites, and wizards, it’s going to take more than a little magic for Jules and Kit to find lasting happiness together.

https://books2read.com/TreasureKim

Yakuza Pride by H.J. Brues

Hubby and I were watching Giri / Haji on Netflix, so I figured when I was all about rereading old books, why not reread Yakuza Pride? I remember loving it when I read it waaaayyyy back when. I still love the story, but man the epithets. Every time the yakuza looked at the American a part of my soul died. I know it’s a ‘me problem’, but I just wish writers would stop doing this to their stories. The smaller man has a name, the American has a name, and I bet ya the older man does too.

Still yakuza, tattoos, torture, and artists!

Yakuza PrideWhen yakuza underboss Shigure Matsunaga meets Kenneth Harris at a boring social event, he’s surprised to find himself attracted to the blond gaijin with the mismatched eyes. Shigure is even more pleased when he discovers Ken not only speaks Japanese fluently, but is fluent in Japan’s ways, even the more violent of the martial arts. Ken’s expertise at kendo is not his most striking quality—it’s the passion beneath his quiet, almost fragile exterior that ignites Shigure’s lust, and the two come together as explosively as they spar.

Shigure is a dangerous man in a dangerous position. He’s been trying to keep the peace with the Daito-kai—his hated rivals—but the danger on the streets is escalating, threatening those Shigure most wants to protect. He may claim to love his gaijin, but before he can keep Ken safe, Shigure will have to overcome hostility from his people, a hidden enemy, and, the most insidious opponent of all, his own hard-won pride. 

https://books2read.com/YakuzaPride

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat 

I got cocky. If I’d read one series, what’s to say I couldn’t read another? Captive Prince is another one of those I read a very long time ago, and I’d read the first two but not the last. So I did a repeat of the magpie books, I reread the first two and then I read the last. 

For the most part, I disliked Laurent, but it’s a perfect balance really. Just when I think I can’t have more of him, he does something that makes my heart ache. I like the third story better than the first two, there were moments when I laughed, and I liked it better when Laurent and Damen weren’t hating each other. 

Who knows, soon I’ll tackle the Whyborne & Griffin series too. I’ve read the first two, but it was years ago LOL

Captive Prince

Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos, but when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity, and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave.

Beautiful, manipulative and deadly, his new master Prince Laurent epitomizes the worst of the court at Vere. But in the lethal political web of the Veretian court, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen finds himself caught up in a play for the throne, he must work together with Laurent to survive and save his country.

For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else . . .

https://books2read.com/CaptivePrince

Prince's Gambit

With their countries on the brink of war, Damen and his new master, Prince Laurent, must exchange the intrigues of the palace for the sweeping might of the battlefield as they travel to the border to avert a lethal plot.

Forced to hide his identity, Damen finds himself increasingly drawn to the dangerous, charismatic Laurent. But as the fledgling trust between the two men deepens, the truth of secrets from both their pasts is poised to deal them the crowning death blow . . .

https://books2read.com/PrincesGambit

Kings

The stunning conslusion of worldwide phenomenon—from the boldly original author of Captive Prince and Prince’s Gambit.

His identity now revealed, Damen must face his master Prince Laurent as Damianos of Akielos, the man Laurent has sworn to kill.

On the brink of a momentous battle, the future of both their countries hangs in the balance. In the south, Kastor’s forces are massing. In the north, the Regent’s armies are mobilising for war. Damen’s only hope of reclaiming his throne is to fight together with Laurent against their usurpers.

Forced into an uneasy alliance the two princes journey deep into Akielos, where they face their most dangerous opposition yet. But even if the fragile trust they have built survives the revelation of Damen’s identity—can it stand against the Regents final, deadly play for the throne?

https://books2read.com/KingsRising

Surfacing Again by A.L. Lester

Actually… I just realised that I lied when I said I’ve only read one Christmas story. I’ve read Surfacing Again, a short sapphic romance set on Lindisfarne, and it has otters! This is lovely. The cold wind of the sea and the warmth of Rowan’s cafe all mixed with holiday cosiness. And otters.

Surfacing again coverMelinda is staying on Lindisfarne for a Christmas break with her old friend when an unexpected argument leaves her alone for the holiday.

It’s the first Christmas since her mother died and the island’s peace and wild tranquillity bring balm to her wounded heart. Two chance meetings, first with a pair of wary otters and then with cafe-owner Rowan, bring her genuine joy.

Will her tentative relationship with Rowan survive the end of her holiday and the turning of the year?

A short sapphic Christmas story. With otters.

https://books2read.com/SurfacingAgain