Ellie Thomas is back on the blog, yay! Welcome, Ellie. 

Thank you lovely Ofelia for having me as a guest on your blog again! I’m Ellie Thomas and I write MM Historical Romance and I’m here today to chat about Queer Relations, my September release for JMS Books. When I finished writing Twelve Letters for the submission call to celebrate JMS Books’ 12th Anniversary in July, I had no intention of writing a sequel. I was already in the middle of my August story, One Summer Night, when Percy Havilland, the Regency himbo from Twelve Letters, sauntered into my head and demanded his own story (because he’s so beautiful!)
What made this all the more infuriating was that as complete chunks of dialogue kept popping into my mind, I couldn’t even ignore Percy, but had to scribble down the lines in between turning my attention to my much better-behaved MCs in the story I was supposed to be writing.

Percy was only a minor character in my Twelve Letters ensemble cast, as a briefly misguided love interest for Jo Everett, before he comes to his senses and chooses the far less decorative but much nicer Daniel as a partner. Although Percy was so much fun to write as an impossibly vain, spoiled and outrageously selfish character in the first story, I realised that as a main character, someone so two-dimensional and unsympathetic would soon become dull for both the writer and readers.

So I racked my brains and eventually came up with a storyline that suddenly turned Percy’s privileged and inviolable lifestyle upside down and forced him to change and re-evaluate himself and his relationships, especially his somewhat rocky liaison with his new lover Nathaniel Brooks.

Percy is still Percy, of course, and always the prettiest person in the room. But I thoroughly enjoyed taking him on a journey towards realising his potential as a better, kinder and more thoughtful friend to the other characters and partner to the frequently infuriated Nathan as their relationship deepens into trust and love.

Queer Relations

In the autumn of 1814, the Honourable Percy Havilland is generally content with his sheltered existence in London’s exclusive Mayfair. As a society beau, renowned for his fair and youthful beauty, an object of desire to other well-born gentlemen, Percy is slightly miffed that his personal life is not running as seamlessly as he might wish.

His good-natured lover from the spring Season, Jo Everett, has inexplicably lost interest, and his replacement, Nathaniel Brooks, is far too hard-headed to be cajoled and manipulated into pandering to Percy’s every whim.

But these trifles are cast into proportion when out of the blue, a family scandal of immense proportions threatens Percy’s peace of mind and his standing amongst the ton. Fearing rejection or even social banishment, to his surprise, Percy discovers a small, unconventional band of friends, including Jo, who are prepared to stick by him. And more importantly, he finds Nathan is utterly reliable in a crisis.

Will Percy remain spoiled, immature and pampered? Or can he grow from this disaster to appreciate the value of true friendship? And might he even learn to love?

Extract:

While standing amongst a group of partygoers but not actively conversing, Percy pondered the state of his liaison with Nathan with a habitual twinge of frustration. Of course, he always had the option of drawing back and ending the affair, which he knew Nathan would respect and accept without question or fuss. 

But for some unfathomable reason, even when he and Nathan were at odds, Percy vacillated over making such a drastic decision. Both men were accustomed to getting their way, and Percy found that their frequent battles of will had an unexpected bonus of adding a piquant frisson that Nathan seemed to appreciate, given the resulting spark in his eye. Also, although Percy would never admit this to Nathan, there was something oddly restful about occasionally ceding responsibility and control to another. 

As his thoughts roamed, he found his gaze had drifted towards Nathan, standing next to Jo, both of them listening intently to Captain Harding. While considering his two lovers, past and present, Percy felt that an independent observer would judge Jo the better looking, being nearly a decade younger, slimmer, and with clean-cut regular features crowned with thick chestnut brown locks and smiling grey eyes. Percy could appreciate that viewpoint, but all the same, he could not help but feel that familiar sizzle of attraction as he surveyed Nathan.

Although the same height as Percy, with Jo only slightly taller than them both, Nathan’s heavier build made him appear shorter, emphasised by his dark hair neatly cropped in a no-nonsense style, with no attempt to disguise a slightly receding hairline. His features were rugged, and his eyes, an indeterminate brown, could appear flat, cold, and expressionless when considering a matter of high finance or if exasperated with Percy, but could dance with lights of warming caramel when amused or aroused.

Percy’s eyes wandered over Nathan’s body, slightly too thickset to be shown to best advantage by the current slim-fitting fashions, but as Percy knew from experience, was solid muscle beneath the covering cloth. Nathan was widely admired as having a very fine seat on a horse, and he practiced this exercise daily on Rotten Row, hours before the polite crowds came to trot and dawdle and chat. 

This constant discipline resulted in those magnificent thighs that Percy now beheld and could enthusiastically vouch for their undoubted stamina. With a little shiver of appreciation, Percy’s focus moved towards Nathan’s face, now looking at him with undisguised amusement. 

Before turning back to answer a query from Jo, Nathan favoured Percy with a salacious wink and a distinctly wicked grin.

Given this encouragement, especially as Percy had been thoroughly distracted by idle speculations about thighs for the remainder of the evening, when in Nathan’s carriage after the party, Percy was distinctly disappointed when Nathan mentioned dropping him off at Mount Street. 

“Can’t I come home with you?” Percy protested.

“I have an early engagement tomorrow morning,” Nathan explained calmly.

Percy batted his eyelashes and delivered his prettiest pout, sliding his hand onto Nathan’s temptingly rock-hard upper leg. “Please?” He entreated.

Nathan retorted, “You are the most incorrigible hussy!” But as the carriage passed the end of Percy’s street, Nathan did not give the order to stop, and as they bowled along the street-lit roads of St. James’, Percy could see he was smiling.

Book links:

Publisher: https://www.jms-books.com/ellie-thomas-c-224_420/queer-relations-p-4453.html

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BCP3SPHX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1XTEU0ESVK0BM&keywords=queer+relations+by+ellie+thomas&qid=1662039611&sprefix=%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-1

Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/u/mZENWB

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.

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

Today, we have the lovely Ellie Thomas back on the blog to talk about her story, One Summer Night, which is released today 🥳 Welcome, Ellie!

Thank you so much, lovely Ofelia, for having me as your guest again today. I’m Ellie Thomas, I write MM Historical romance, and today I’m going to be chatting about One Summer Night, my August release for JMS Books’ Day or Night story submission call.

I seem to be going through a Regency phase in my stories currently! I have managed to sneak in Elizabethan, Restoration and 20th-century stories during the first part of the year, but for the second half, most of the rest are lurking around the late 18th/early 19th century.

There is a reason why this era is so popular amongst readers and writers as it seems to lend itself perfectly to romance stories. The resorts and leisure activities available (at least for the rich!) are fertile ground for the spark of a love affair or continuing assignations between lovers.

One such London venue, Vauxhall Gardens on the South Bank of the River Thames, was hugely popular as a place for summer outdoor entertainment for all walks of life, and it remains a favourite setting in stories. For example, the wonderful Georgette Heyer has at least one heroine who finds herself out of her depth at a slightly too racy Vauxhall masquerade ball!

I’ve been itching to write about Vauxhall Gardens, and because of the London setting, this seemed the perfect story where I could add a romantic scene in the gardens on a balmy summer’s evening.

My characters, Martin and Will following a passionate first encounter are at odds with one another and arrange to meet at Vauxhall where they can talk privately. After meeting outside the busy Rotunda after a concert, it felt so natural to have them walk through the Pillared Saloon, avoiding the busy Supper Rooms. That way, they could wander deeper into the gardens in the dusk, strolling along the lamp-lit paths. There they begin to open up to one another and reach the beginnings of a mutual understanding.

One Summer Night

In 1801, Martin Dunne spends his days as a hardworking clerk at the War Office in London’s Whitehall. One summer evening, after a drink in a Fleet Street tavern, he has an unexpected passionate encounter with a seducer who haunts his dreams.

But when they accidentally meet at a society function, the alluring stranger not only turns out to be the son of one of Martin’s superiors but also betrothed to a trusting young lady.

Martin’s hopes are dashed as he imagines the Hon. William Grant is a cynical rake of the worst kind. But has he misunderstood the situation? And might he allow Will to explain and give their fleeting connection a chance to develop into a fully-fledged romance?

Extract:

Feeling hot and tired by the end of the working day, Martin trudged home along Whitehall. Not having the luxury of a valet, once washed and shaved, he struggled into his evening clothes and combed down his thick dark hair. Then he practiced a smile in the spotted mirror, softening his serious expression, before setting forth on foot along the busy Strand towards Charing Cross. As he walked past his fellow citizens, the sticky evening made him uncomfortable in his constrictive evening clothes. At least it’s not raining, he thought, and he wouldn’t disgrace his superiors by arriving at a prestigious destination looking like a drowned rat.
Once at the palatial and newly renovated mansion, where no expense or extravagance had been spared, there was the usual endless queue on the stairs before the formality of announcements and resultant herding of guests into an already crowded reception room. Martin made small talk with some vaguely familiar faces from Whitehall who wouldn’t normally have deigned to notice him. He was anticipating when he might be able to escape when Sir Hervey was before him, smiling in gracious condescension.
“Enjoying yourself, Dunne?” He asked, and Martin replied with suitably muted enthusiasm.
“Met many people as yet?” The great man inquired, and as Martin demurred and started to say that he had been conversing with mutual acquaintances, his host turned to call someone forwards.
Martin felt a dull sense of obligation as Sir Hervey introduced a young lady in her early twenties, fragile and sweetly pretty in a simple white gown, the fashion for narrow skirts flattering her petite form.
“Miss Imogen Ashley,” Sir Hervey intoned, as the young lady curtseyed, her eyes demurely downcast, “affianced to my son. I don’t think you’ve met my youngest, William, have you?”
Without waiting for an answer, he moved to one side to tap a young man on the shoulder. Martin’s first thought was that he was almost as fair and delicate as his intended, and then, as those all-too-familiar eyes met his, he realised with a jolt that this perfectly turned out pink of the ton, furnished with a dauntingly influential father and a winsome bride to be was the seductive stranger from the alleyway who filled his tumultuous dreams.
During the blur of introductions, that sultry gaze, so full of unspoken desire the night before, was blank, betraying no emotion after a flash of alarmed recognition. In such a crush, since neither of them reacted, no one noticed the sudden tension between them. Despite this, Miss Imogen moved a little closer to her betrothed, taking his arm as if sensitive to a change in his mood.
For the remainder of the reception, Martin could not have said who he spoke to or what he said, and as soon as he was able, he slipped away from the party unnoticed. On his way home, when he stopped off at a tavern for a tot of rum, all he could see in his mind’s eye was the shock in those speedwell-blue orbs.

Book links:

JMS Books :: Amazon :: Books2Read

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.

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