I’m delighted to announce that the first of my Porthkennack books, Wake Up Call, is now available to pre-order at the Riptide site:

South London mechanic Devan Thompson has gone to Porthkennack to track down someone he’s been waiting all his life to know. But Dev’s distracted from his quest by Kyle, a broodingly handsome local of only a few months, who’s already got a reputation as an alcoholic because of his strange behaviour—including a habit of collapsing in the street.

Kyle Anthony fled to Porthkennack to escape from the ruins of his life. Still raging against his diagnosis of narcolepsy—a condition that’s cost him his job as a barrister, his lover, and all chance of normality—the last thing he wants is another relationship that’s doomed to fail. But Dev’s easy-going acceptance and adaptability, not to mention his good looks, have Kyle breaking all his self-imposed rules.

When disaster strikes Dev’s adored little sister, Kyle steps up to the plate, and Dev sees a side of his lover he wasn’t prepared for: competent, professional—and way out of Dev’s league. With one man determined that they don’t have a future, and the other fearing it, life after Porthkennack is starting to look bleak for both of them.

Due out 17 April 2017 and now available to pre-order: Riptide 

Cover reveal coming soon!

Porthkennack

Welcome to Porthkennack, a charming Cornish seaside town with a long and sometimes sinister history. Legend says King Arthur’s Black Knight built the fort on the headland here, and it’s a certainty that the town was founded on the proceeds of smuggling, piracy on the high seas, and the deliberate wrecking of cargo ships on the rocky shore. Nowadays it draws in the tourists with sunshine and surfing, but locals know that the ghosts of its Gothic past are never far below the surface.

This collaborative story world is brought to you by five award-winning, best-selling British LGBTQ romance authors: Alex Beecroft, Joanna Chambers, Charlie Cochrane, Garrett Leigh, and JL Merrow. Follow Porthkennack and its inhabitants through the centuries and through the full rainbow spectrum with historical and contemporary stand-alone titles.

The first five Porthkennack books are now up for pre-order at Riptide.

My light-hearted shifter short story is now out in second edition, and it’s available at 20% off from JMS Books for one week only.

Today’s snippet is taken from my light-hearted shifter short story Tortoise Interruptus, which is due out in its second edition next week:

Our hero, Tip, suffers from one of those inconvenient shape-shifting curses so beloved of 70s TV shows and movies (anyone remember Big John, Little John? The Shaggy DA?) – at any moment, he’s liable to turn into a tortoise, and stay that way until without warning turning back to human. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he’s found himself, in tortoise form, locked in the hotel room of a stranger:

…the door opened and a man walked in. Which might not have been a disaster—except that at that moment Tip’s chelonian curse ran out of juice, and he changed back to human.

The book went flying as Tip shot up to what, in his case, passed for man size. Wobbling slightly as he remembered how to balance on two feet, Tip stood, hands cupped in front of his bits in the traditional oh-my-god-I’m-naked pose, staring at the best-looking man he’d ever seen. At least if he was going to die here, he thought fatalistically, he’d have something nice to look at as he went.

The tall, dark and (in the circumstances) rather worryingly well-muscled stranger goggled.

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Don’t forget to check out the rainbow snippets Facebook group for more little excerpts from a whole host of talented authors.

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Today’s snippet is taken from my sci-fi short, Gifted in Tongues, which appears in the Help, My Boyfriend’s an Alien mini-anthology of stories by me and Josephine Myles. It’s a tongue-in-cheek tale inspired by my love of classic sci-fi romps like Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat series:

Massaging his temples and hoping he wasn’t about to throw up, Spitz squinted at the Felid sitting on the edge of his bed. “Just how much did I have to drink last night?”

The Felid hissed at him, baring sharp fangs. “I have no idea,” it said in a thick voice that swallowed the consonants and mutilated the vowels. “You don’t remember? Then presssumably you alssso don’t know why you are here?”

Here. Where was here?

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Don’t forget to check out the rainbow snippets Facebook group for more little excerpts from a whole host of talented authors.

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Help, My Boyfriend’s an Alien!

Yesterday I posted up a snippet from my paranormal short story, Angel. If that whetted your appetite for the whole story, I have some good news and some bad news:

Bad news: Angel will be disappearing from Dreamspinner’s bookshelves at the end of January.

Good news: it’s now on sale (I believe for the rest of the month) at the bargain price of only 99c! 

Angel

Today’s snippet comes from quite an early story of mine, Angel, first published in 2010. I’ve always had a soft spot for this one, as I had a few things to say with it – as one lovely review put it, The difference between good and evil in its traditional, fundamentalist sense is examined and thoroughly discarded here – Serena Yates on Goodreads 

“A man?” Michael’s smile was mocking, but there was despair in his eyes.  He was standing right on the very edge of the parapet, now, his back to the ten-story drop.  “Is this a man, Donnie?”

Michael spread his arms out wide in a disturbing, no doubt deliberate echo of the crucified Christ.  There was a ripping, tearing sound, and time seemed to slow as two great black wings  – of which Don would have sworn upon a Bible he’d seen no signs only moments before – unfolded from his shoulders, leathery and foul.

“God,” Don whispered, horrified and yet enthralled.

“Wrong answer,” came the taunting reply, as Michael leaned back and slowly toppled over the edge.

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Don’t forget to check out the rainbow snippets Facebook group for more little excerpts from a whole host of talented authors.

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Angel

And does so with some confidence – after all, how can 2017 fail to be better than 2016?

(Don’t answer that. Please, please don’t answer that!)

Here’s a snippet from my lesbian fairytale, Capture the Moon, which came out for the first time as a standalone ebook today:

They kissed, and Adrien felt as though her body were on fire. Her breasts tingled where they pressed against Selene’s, and there was a throbbing between her legs she’d never known before. Selene’s mouth was hot and spicy, and her darting tongue teased at Adrien’s lips with a promise of yet sweeter pleasure to come. Adrien’s breathing quickened, and her chest heaved as Selene broke the kiss at last. “My own dear one,” Selene breathed. “But I have not yet freed you!” So saying, she took the key that Ned had given her and unlocked the chains that still bound Adrien’s hands. “There! You are free now, my love!”

Adrien smiled and took her princess in her arms once more. “Is it treason to gainsay a princess?” she asked. “For I fear you are wrong, my lovely Selene. Those iron chains about my wrists may be gone, but there are chains around my heart that will never be loosened.”

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Don’t forget to check out the rainbow snippets Facebook group for more little excerpts from a whole host of talented authors.

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Accompanied only by her faithful piglet Ferkel, country girl Adrien disguises herself as a boy and sets out on a journey of discovery—not least to evade her several suitors. Rescuing a young monk, Felix, from brigands, she agrees to accompany him on his journey to the King’s castle to present the princess with a telescope he has made.

Princess Selene has sworn to marry only one who can give her the moon—but does she mean it literally? As Felix loves another, Adrien, still dressed as a man, takes the telescope in his stead. Adrien falls in love with the lively, beautiful princess and is amazed to find Selene loves her in return.

But will Selene’s love die when Adrien reveals her true gender? And in any case, two women cannot be married—can they?

Now out for the first time as a standalone ebook:

 JMS Books | Smashwords

(This story was previously published by Less Than Three Press in Fairytales Slashed Vol. 4 and has had only minor changes for this edition)

I’m delighted to say that my f/f fairytale, Capture the Moon, is out for the first time as a standalone ebook today.

Accompanied only by her faithful piglet Ferkel, country girl Adrien disguises herself as a boy and sets out on a journey of discovery—not least to evade her several suitors. Rescuing a young monk, Felix, from brigands, she agrees to accompany him on his journey to the King’s castle to present the princess with a telescope he has made.

Princess Selene has sworn to marry only one who can give her the moon—but does she mean it literally? As Felix loves another, Adrien, still dressed as a man, takes the telescope in his stead. Adrien falls in love with the lively, beautiful princess and is amazed to find Selene loves her in return.

But will Selene’s love die when Adrien reveals her true gender? And in any case, two women cannot be married—can they?

Now out for the first time as a standalone ebook:

 JMS Books | Smashwords

(This story was previously published by Less Than Three Press in Fairytales Slashed Vol. 4 and has had only minor changes for this edition)

And that’s not all: also published today:

2016 Top Ten Gay Romance

“Me and My Big Mouth” by Becky Black
“Captive” by T.A. Creech
“Love Lost, Love Found” by Rebecca James
“Accidentally His” by Shawn Lane
“A Pint of Beer, a Bag of Chips, and Thou” by JL Merrow
“For the Last Time” by A.R. Moler
“First and Goal” by Terry O’Reilly
“It’s Not Yule, It’s Me” by Michael P. Thomas
“In His Line of Work” by Tinnean
“And This is Ed” by J.D. Walker

       JMS Books | Smashwords

Both books are available at 20% off for the first week at JMS Books only!

And today’s snippet is taken from To Love a Traitor, my historical novel set in the winter of 1920-21 but looking back to the Great War ( I did warn you Christmas makes me go all historical! *g*)

Our hero George is undercover investigating whether disabled veteran Matthew could be the traitor who cost George’s older brother his life during the war – and finding it ever harder to be objective. Especially when the disarmingly friendly Matthew invites him to stay with his family for Christmas:

“Wake up, sleepyhead! It’s Christmas morning!”

George opened one bleary eye to find Matthew’s boyishly grinning face not six inches away. “Bah, humbug,” he muttered only half in jest, pulling the pillow over his head.

It was torn away from him without ceremony. “I hope I don’t have to turn up clanking in chains to convince you of the error of your ways. Come on, come on! It’s Christmas! Time to get up!”

As he punctuated his last sentence by pulling the blankets from George’s bed, George was left with little choice but to follow orders. Still protesting grumpily, he swung his feet to the floor and stood to stretch.

“I can see at least six inches of stomach when you do that,” Matthew said teasingly. “You’ve no idea how tempting it is to poke it.”

Rather embarrassed, George dropped his arms abruptly.

Have a fabulous Christmas/holiday of your choosing, everyone! 😀

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Don’t forget to check out the rainbow snippets Facebook group for more little excerpts from a whole host of talented authors.

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I’m travelling back to Victorian times today – I’m off to see Conan Doyle and William Gillette’s Sherlock Holmes play in London in a mo. So why not travel with me? Here’s a snippet from my time travel novella, Trick of Time (which is, appropriately enough, set in and around the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly):

I realise this is way over 6 sentences. But hey, it’s Christmas! 😉

My present companion had on a single-breasted jacket that was open to display a dark waistcoat and a sort of white cravat. His clothes suited the scene a damned sight better than my jeans and T-shirt—suited the temperature better too; I shivered and wrapped my arms about myself. He had dark hair, slightly curly, and a full mouth, bringing to mind the cherubs from the Cri’s ceilings. His features, though, were far finer than theirs, his elegant cheekbones starkly visible, not hidden by a layer of puppy fat. He was a pared-down Lord Alfred Douglas, the highborn beauty who’d brought a playwright to his knees.

My lip quirked in a self-mocking smile. I was no Oscar Wilde, that was for sure.

The lad looked me up and down slowly then smiled without warmth, showing crooked teeth that were disconcertingly engaging—a touch of flawed humanity in that perfect face.

Then he spoke. “Oi, piss off, will yer? This is my patch.”

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Don’t forget to check out the rainbow snippets Facebook group for more little excerpts from a whole host of talented authors.

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A lover from another time

When Ted Ennis steps out the doors of the Criterion Theatre for a cigarette and finds himself in Victorian London, he begins to doubt his sanity. At first he thinks it’s all a film set, and is sure that the strikingly handsome young man leaning against a lamppost must be the leading man…

What starts as a sordid transaction with a beautiful rent boy quickly turns into something much deeper, drawing him back again and again as he gets to know Jem and craves meaningful encounters with him.

But Ted doesn’t understand the exact conditions necessary for his trips through time—and for Jem, time may actually be running out. Now Ted has one last shot to get back to Jem and save their relationship, before it’s too late…

Available in ebook:  Carina | Amazon | ARe