JL Merrow

The latest in our Mad About the Brit Boys series of mini-anthologies, Help, My Boyfriend’s an Alien!, is out today!

And to celebrate, Josephine Myles and I are over at Sinfully Gay Romance where we’re locked in fierce debate over the perennial sci-fi question:

Star Trek vs Star Wars: Is the phaser mightier than the lightsaber?
Why not pop on over and add your 2 galactic credits’ worth?

Giveaway: one lucky commenter on the giveaway post will win a book of their choice from both of our backlists!  Good luck!

Today’s snippet comes to you from Help, My Boyfriend’s an Alien!, the latest mini-anthology in the Mad About the Brit Boys series with Josephine Myles (due out January 12th, 2016) and is from the start of my story Gifted in Tongues:

***

Spitz drifted queasily back into consciousness.

Pain.

Dull, throbbing pain at the back of his eyes. His stomach appeared to have got stuck halfway through a hyper-jump, and his head felt like it’d been hit by a meteorite.

So far, so normal. Spitz decided to risk opening his eyes.

“What the fuck?” He scrambled back on the hard bed, as far as possible from the green eyes with their vertical pupils staring at him from way too damn close. 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?”

***

Love—and desire—that’s out of this world…

It’s time to suit up, take those protein pills, and boldly come where no man has come before. Take a trip to the future, or do your bit for inter-planetary relations with some close encounters of a very unusual kind.

In this erotic science fiction triple feature you’ll meet a cat that’s anything but cute and cuddly, take a pill that’ll make you fall in love—for a night—and discover desire that transcends the limitations of a human body. It’s a brave new world as you explore the unknown in three short stories that push the boundaries of love in ways both thoughtful and tongue-in-cheek.

Check out more Rainbow Snippets over at the Facebook group!

Fancy a free book? Then head on over to Stumbling over Chaos and leave a comment on the giveaway post for your chance to win a copy of Out!  Good luck!

Out! – #3 in The Shamwell Tales

When the costs are added up, will love land in the black?

Mark Nugent has spent his life in the closet—at least, the small part of it he hasn’t spent in the office. Divorced when he could no longer deny his sexuality, he’s sworn off his workaholic ways and moved to Shamwell with his headstrong teen daughter to give her a stable home environment.

His resolve to put his love life on hold is severely tested when he joins a local organization and meets a lively yet intense young man who tempts him closer to the closet threshold.

Patrick Owen is an out-and-proud charity worker with strong principles—and a newly discovered weakness for an older man. One snag: Mark is adamant he’s not coming out to his daughter, and Patrick will be damned if he’s going to start a relationship with a lie.

Between Mark’s old-fashioned attitudes and a camp, flirtatious ex-colleague who wants Mark for himself, Patrick wonders if they’ll ever be on the same romantic page. And when Mark’s former career as a tax advisor clashes with Patrick’s social conscience, it could be the one stumbling block they can’t get past.

Warning: Contains historically inaccurate Spartan costumes, mangled movie quotes, dubious mathematical logic and a three-legged pub crawl.

Due out from Samhain Publishing 19th January 2016.

Available to pre-order:    Samhain | Amazon | ARe

Hat Trick Overtime: Summer Camp by Jeff Adams
The Courage to Heal by Hunter Frost
Surprise Gifts by Drew Hunt
A Pebble in the Water by Lisa Gray
Partners by Rebecca James
Let Go of Loneliness by Edward Kendrick
Batteries Not Included by J.L. Merrow
Djinn Book 1: What’s In Your Box? by A.R. Moler
Just My Style by J.M. Snyder
A Cowboy for Keeps by J.D. Walker

Contains my story Batteries Not Included, which is also available as a standalone ebook and in A Flirty Dozen anthology.

Available in ebook and paperback:

JMS Books | Amazon | ARe

And it’s in an anthology with a Cambridge Fellows short by Charlie Cochrane, plus 8 other shorts by top crime writers, all set in London – how cool is that?

‘A rich and varied assortment of dark minds and dark deeds. Deliciously disturbing.’ Peter James -2015 Voted by WH Smith readers The Best Crime Author Of All Time

“For anyone whose literary tastes run to the dark and the twisty, CAPITAL KILLS is a damn near perfect taster menu.” – Simon Toyne – international bestselling author of the Sanctus trilogy

Contains my story The Drag Queen Wore Red, a short story in the Plumber’s Mate Mystery series (set between Heat Trap and Blow Down)

Slightly psychic plumber Tom Paretski and his sister visit London Pride – but crime is never far away! For some, passions are running hotter than the very un-British weather, and Tom finds himself once more at a crime scene when a drag queen is stabbed in a Soho street.

With a foreword by Peter James.

Available now on Amazon

And here’s the snippet:

It was like trying to run through custard. Which was actually kind of an appropriate thought, seeing as how most of the crowd was, in varying proportions, hot, colourful and downright tasty. Everyone and his puppy-play pal was out on the streets of Soho for Pride, and most of ’em were wandering down Old Compton Street in the wrong bloody direction.

The right direction being, obviously, the one I was trying to chase after a would-be murderer in. He was dressed as an angel, in gold lamé shorts and matching wings, which you’d think would help him stand out in a crowd. Generally speaking, you’d be right.

In the middle of Pride? Not so much.

Get more rainbow snippets here!

…over at Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews ! Get a sneak peek at the latest in the Mad About the Brit Boys mini-anthologies by me and Josephine Myles – and be in with a chance to win a copy.  Good luck! 😀

…and in honour of the season, I bring you angst! This is from Keeper’s Pledge, the sequel to Poacher’s Fall:

It wasn’t much of a Christmas for Danny. Oh, he tried to make merry for his mam and his sisters’ sake, but his heart wasn’t in it. His heart was still up at the manor, being trampled on by Matthew bloody Cranmore. Lord, but he’d be hard pressed to avoid temptation on the day of the pheasant shoot, with a shotgun in his hand and that simpering lad in his sights….

Danny caught himself. This wasn’t him, thinking like that, and it wasn’t Matthew he had to blame for his present misery. He’d no proof of anything between Philip and Matthew…

For more tantalising snippets from a whole host of authors, see the Rainbow Snippets Facebook group

Keeper’s Pledge

A sequel to Poacher’s Fall, set four years later, in 1926.

Landowner Philip Luccombe has been enjoying a passionate relationship with young poacher turned gamekeeper Danny Costessey for four years now. Danny’s love has brought him out of the shell he retreated into when his first lover died after the Great War. But this Christmas, visitors to the manor threaten their happiness. Philip’s young cousin Matthew is artistic, vivacious, and flirtatious: just the sort to remind him of his long-dead first love—and to emphasise the social gulf between Philip and Danny.

But the worst danger comes from much nearer home. An old flame of Danny’s is discovered in incriminating circumstances, forcing the lovers to keep their distance for fear of being tarred with the same brush. Meanwhile, Danny’s younger brother, Toby, has grown to resent the connection between his brother and the lord of the manor. Danny wants to do the right thing—but that could divide the lovers forever.

Available in ebook:  Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

A Flirty Dozen is now available to buy on Amazon!

This collection of twelve of my short stories is now available in ebook at the fantastically low price of $6.99 – a huge saving on buying the stories individually. It’ll be coming out in paperback in January 2016. ETA: All the stories have been previously published, and are available as standalone e-books from JMS Books.

Ranging from gritty to giddy, all the stories feature two men finding their happy ever after—or at least for now—with a dash of humour.

Read about boys from the wrong side of town, boys from the right side of town, and boys from a town you really wouldn’t want to live in. Meet a rent boy with a secret, a very earthly version of Cupid, and men with a definite tinge of the supernatural. Opposites attract, wishes come true, and old enemies find forgiveness in this variety pack of eight contemporary stories and four paranormal tales.

Available in ebook exclusively at Amazon – paperback due out January 2016

Contains the following 12 stories which are also available from JMS Books as standalone e-books:

Love Found on Lindisfarne
Free Ride
Light the Fire
Dead Shot
Stronger Where it Counts
Jack in the Green
A Ghoul Like You
Batteries Not Included
Making it Pay
Trick or Treat
Good Breeding
A Pint of Beer, a Bag of Chips, and Thou

What’s the best gift a young, single man could receive for Christmas? Mohawked punk Liam wouldn’t have picked the hideous collection of homemade knitwear he’s presented with by his well-meaning mum and aunties. He’d much rather have the gorgeous older man he sees every day while busking at King’s Cross station. Liam’s been doing his best to seduce the guy with his saxophone playing—the trouble is, with the holidays coming up, he’s beginning to despair of his message getting through.

But with a little Christmas magic in the air, maybe those garish garments will be just the thing for attracting the attention of a silver fox…

JMS Books | Amazon | ARe

This story is also available as part of the Stocking Stuffers bundle, and in the Winter Warmers and A Flirty Dozen* anthologies, but this is the first time it’s been available as a standalone ebook.

You can read a FREE mini-coda to this story on my website. (But fair warning, it won’t make a lot of sense if you haven’t read the original story.)

*A Flirty Dozen will be out soon – watch this space!