Blurb:
Peter Mitchell walked away with from his marriage with two things: a suitcase and Hairy Harry, the family pet.
When Harry becomes ill, Peter is faced with one of the hardest decisions he's ever had to make... saying goodbye to his best friend.
Evan Wells is the locum vet who attends to Harry and Peter is surprised at how quickly they become friends. Peter finds himself looking forward to Evan's nightly phone calls and the meals they share together. He knows Evan is gay but it doesn't bother him until Evan confesses his attraction to him. Peter has to admit to himself that he's not as adverse to the possibility as he thought he would be, and that does bother him.
Harry is a beautifully touching story of love lost and found, and one you will want to read over and over again.
I also have a double give-away of my own today... so if you'd like to win a copy of The Perfect Gift (#2 in the Mr Popsalos Series) and a copy of my brand new release, Westford Hall... read on.
Blurb:
Jamie and Luke’s first anniversary is fast approach and
Jamie knows exactly what he wants to give Luke. The platinum wedding bands have
been burning a hole in his suitcase in the attic for two months. But before he
can say those four life-changing words, an accident throws their well-ordered
lives into disarray.
Excerpt:
Jamie stared at the TV screen. Not that he was paying attention to the
movie, not really. He was too preoccupied to latch onto the storyline, although
he was pretty sure the guy with the beard and the Uzi was up to no good. Then
again, Luke wasn't watching it either. Lying stretched out on the couch, Luke
snuffled quietly in his sleep, his head in Jamie's lap. Jamie smiled fondly,
his gaze tracing the curve of Luke's cheek, the square jaw and the perfect bow
of full lips. Lips that were slightly parted with a tiny river of drool
escaping from the corner and wetting Jamie's sweatpants. Which should, of
course, be completely gross but they were supposedly still in the honeymoon
phase where drool, bed head, and even eye bogies seemed the epitome of
adorable.
Sighing heavily, Jamie rubbed a hand over his face. Their first
anniversary was fast approaching. Well… the one they'd agreed on as their
official anniversary, anyway. Jamie chuckled softly to himself, the sound
louder than he'd meant it to be in the semi-quiet of the room. He held his
breath when Luke murmured in his slumber—letting it go after Luke didn't wake.
Their anniversary was a particular bone Luke liked to chew on and Jamie could
hear his reasoning now. "Christmas
Day is our official anniversary, but
our first coffee was the week before, although we actually met three weeks
before that." If Luke had his way, they'd probably celebrate a
milestone in their relationship on a weekly basis, from the first time Jamie
farted, to the first time Luke found a pair of Jamie's underpants in the
laundry basket. Not that Luke would be impressed if Jamie pointed that out. He would
probably grumble about the lack of romance in Jamie's soul. Staring down at
Luke, his heart bloomed in his chest and he grinned.
He had bucket loads of romance in his soul, especially when it came to
Luke Fisher. Hence the shiny platinum bands sitting in a small square box in
the pocket of his suitcase in the attic. They'd been there for a couple of
months, ever since Jamie had moved in, but he wanted to wait until Christmas
night, when they were alone, to ask the sleeping man on his lap that all important
question.
Blurb:
Westford Hall lies back from the quad, quiet and empty. A dark reminder
of the horrific murder of six members of the Tri Delta brotherhood thirty years
ago, and the subject of Ethan's thesis.
Ethan Reece is in his second year of Professor Allen's paranormal
psychology class, and is hoping to be the first to establish documented proof
that Westford Hall is haunted. Hiring the university's best photography student
to help with the investigation, Ethan is disappointed when he has to be
replaced after an accident. Which is how he finds himself saddled with the
university's best stoner instead.
Daniel Cartwright comes from money. He won't deny it. Why should he?
More than aware of the reputation he has on campus, he ambles through life with
the help of his parents. At least that's what everyone thinks. When his friend
breaks his leg and volunteers him to assist the biggest nerd on campus with his
spooky investigation, Dan is not exactly ecstatic.
Thrown together by fate; to their surprise the two young men find they
are drawn together by mutual attraction, but that's not the only surprise
awaiting them in Westford Hall. Coming face to face with an actual ghost, they
uncover a story of murder, deceit and despair that leaves them facing a danger
they were not prepared for.
Excerpt:
Prologue
The building stood in the far north corner
of the campus like a dark specter. The moonlight bounced off the dirty glass of
the windows, the half-closed shutters giving them the appearance of
heavy-lidded eyes staring down on the quad.
For thirty years it had stood empty and
unloved. The accounts of the night the members of Tri-Delta lost their lives
had grown as murky as the windows themselves. Truth had become distorted,
embellished and changed beyond all recognition with each telling. So much so,
that no one could recall what really happened in the dark. Nor that it was
their own vicious, cruel prank which resulted in their deaths. Somewhere along
the way that fact had been forgotten in the extolling of their virtues and the
outpouring of grief from students and faculty alike. Only the long dead
Tri-Delta frat boys knew the true story, but they weren’t talking.
Were they?
An unseen figure stood at the dirt-streaked
glass, staring down at the two young men approaching the neglected pile that
had once been Westford Hall. He could see the electrical equipment they carried
and the heavy bags they toted across their chests in true college style. They
were bickering, that much was clear from his vantage point, but he couldn’t
hear what was said. Sighing, he watched them mount the first steps and then
disappear under the porch awning as they entered the house. He’d seen it all
before. Seen versions of them before,
eager to be the first to claim they had proof the empty house on campus was
haunted. That the spirits of those brutally murdered that night still walked
the hallowed halls, unable to rest until justice had been served.
He shook his head as he thought of their
stupidity. True… Westford Hall was
haunted, but not by a team of frat boys plotting their revenge. They’d all
moved on… gone into the light… crossed over, whatever the hell you wanted to
call it. Only he couldn’t let go. Wouldn’t let go. He sighed heavily. Not
that that was strictly true either. He wasn’t alone. He could feel him. He’d never shown himself, not once
in thirty years… but he knew he was
there. Watching, hiding with his guilt and shame wrapped around him as tightly
as the shroud he was buried in.
Turning from the window, he listened to the
noise the two intruders were making, his lips twitching as ‘loud enough to wake
the dead’ skittered across his mind. He gathered all his energy and
concentrated his efforts in anticipation of making a connection, hoping this
time he would be heard.
Ethan sighed heavily when Dan tripped over
his own feet, yet again. “What the hell is wrong with you? That’s the third
time you’ve tripped since we walked through the door. If you drop that camera,
I will rip your leg off with my bare hands and beat you to death with it.”
“Bite me,” was Dan’s eloquent response.
“You try carrying all this shit and look where you’re going in the pitch black,
cock-hole.”
“I’m carrying my share, you hophead,” Ethan
ground out. “Is that the problem? Are you still high?”
“No, I am not fucking high,” Dan huffed,
obviously affronted. “Although I must have been above the clouds last night to
agree to this shit!”
“Must every other word be a curse?”
“When I’m in a supposedly haunted house
with you?” Dan's frown was
exaggerated as if he were thinking deeply about his answer. “Hell, fucking,
yeah!” He ignored Ethan’s glare and muttered not quite under his breath. “How
the fuck do I get myself talked into these things?”
“Blame Corey,” Ethan retorted. “He’s your friend. If he wasn’t such a
stone-headed flaker he’d be here instead of you.”
“He didn’t break his fucking leg on
purpose, you unsympathetic asshole,” Dan snapped.
“No,” Ethan replied, “but the eight shots
and six beers he drank, causing him to be so shitfaced that he didn’t look
where he was going and broke said leg, were. I booked him weeks ago for
tonight, because he’s the best photography student on campus and now, because
he’s a waster, I’m stuck with you. The best hophead on campus.”
Dan stopped in his tracks and put the
equipment he was carrying down on the dusty floor. “Hey, man, you don’t have to
be stuck with anyone,” he said, raising his hands and turning around to walk
out the door.
“Wait!” Ethan yelled. He couldn’t manage
this on his own. There were too many rooms and too much equipment to keep an
eye on, that’s why he’d needed a second person. Biting back the urge to tell
the annoying, freakishly tall stoner to fuck off, Ethan sighed. “I’m sorry,
okay, I’m sorry. Come on, man, you wouldn’t leave me alone here, would you? The
most haunted building on campus?”
“Say please,” Dan replied, turning around
to face Ethan.
Ethan swallowed and ran a hand over his
face. “Please,” he hissed out through clenched teeth.
“Say it like you mean it.”
“Dan—”
“Or I’m gone.”
“Fucking dammit,” Ethan spat, taking deep
breaths to control his temper. You can do
it, Reece. He mentally rubbed down his shoulders. You can do it. “Dan, would you please stay here and help me with my
experiment?” He kept his tone as even as he could without rushing across the
room and beating the asshole to death, and thought he’d done a pretty good job.
Dan sighed dramatically and unfolded the
beanie he’d removed from his pocket. He pulled it down on his head, leaving
wisps of chocolate colored hair peeking out from underneath the wool. “Alright,
since you asked so nicely an’ all. And one more thing,” he added, bending to
pick up the camera that was at Ethan’s feet. “Do you have to curse?”
Biting back his retort, Ethan closed his
eyes and counted to ten in his head before following Dan up the stairs and into,
what his Professor liked to call, the heart of the house. Ethan had been in
Professor Allen’s paranormal psychology class for the last two years and as far
as he was concerned, the man was just one step down from God, or the Devil, he
wasn’t entirely sure which. It had taken Ethan point two of a second to decide
he wanted to do his thesis on Westford Hall. Allen hadn't seemed particularly
pleased at the prospect, indicating that the house wasn't safe and should
probably be condemned. If the professor had been trying to put him off, it
hadn't worked. He was still freezing to death inside the allegedly genuinely
haunted house on campus, hoping to document actual paranormal activity.
“Ewww. What the hell is that?” Dan asked,
lifting his gloved fingers to touch the dark stain on the wall.
“Blood,” Ethan replied, positioning the
three cameras to give him different views of the room.
“Blood?” Dan spat. “You’re kidding me,
right?”
“Why would I kid about blood?” Ethan
muttered, lost in the task of attaching wires.
“Ethan, stop for one minute and tell me
what the hell I’ve actually walked into,” Dan huffed, gripping Ethan’s
shoulders and turning him to face him. “What happened here?”
Ethan frowned, looking up into shadowed
blue eyes. “Are you serious? Everyone knows the story of Westford Hall.”
“Do I look like I know the story?” Dan bit
out, his grip on Ethan’s shoulders tightening. “Why is there blood on the
walls?”
Ethan slapped at Dan’s hands and squinted
at the other man in the semi-darkness. “Jesus. You really should cut back on
the weed, Dan. Only you could not know the skinny on one of the darkest moments
of the university’s history.”
“The skinny?” Dan drawled sarcastically.
“You do know the Seventies are over, right?"
“Help me get the rest of these cameras set
up and the EMF recorder, and then I’ll tell you while we wait for the action to
start,” Ethan retorted, ignoring Dan’s comment completely and turning his
attention back to wiring up the camera.
Ten agonizing minutes later, Dan snapped.
“Will you stop fiddling with those cameras and tell me what the hell happened
here?” He demanded, his voice filled with frustration as he waited for Ethan to
finish what he was doing.
“Stop bitching at me,” Ethan huffed,
adjusting the position of the camera he was working on for the tenth time.
Satisfied that everything was exactly where he wanted it, he grabbed his
notepad and torch, and shone the beam of light onto the stains on the wall.
“Spending the evening with you is going to be a joy. I’m all aglow with
anticipation,” he deadpanned, sitting down on one of the fold-up camping chairs
he had brought with him.
The dark patches on the wall took on a deep
rusty brown color in the light of the torch and Ethan pulled his jacket closer
around his body. “Those are blood stains. Travis Stockwell was a junior at the
college, pledging to Tri Delta house. Apparently he had a big crush on the
captain of the football team, Brad Newton, who was also the head of Tri Delta.
“Unfortunately for Travis, the other Tri
Delta’s found out how he felt and he was the victim of an assault of rather
vicious pranks. One of which culminated in him being humiliated in front of
pretty much the whole school.” Ethan leaned back in the chair and sighed,
barely being able to imagine the young man’s despair all those years ago. “They
stripped him and strapped him to the flagpole for all to see. After that,
Travis disappeared off the map for a while, only to return in the early hours
of the morning on November seventeenth, nineteen seventy-four to get a little
payback.”
“Payback?” Dan said softly, his gaze
flitting around the room.
Ethan nodded, blowing on his hands to warm
them. “He murdered every Tri Delta in the house, starting with Brad Newton.
This was Brad’s room.”
So... if you want a copy of these two, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me what your all time favourite horror movie is - AND DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL! I will get my glamorous assistant (my daughter) to pick a winner on Sunday 27 January - have fun!
My absolute all time favorite is Chucky. Closely followed by Shaun of the Dead.
ReplyDeleteThe one that scared me the most, was The Blair Witch Project. I hadn't heard about it before, so when I watched it I didn't know whether to believe it or not.. Had to watch a comedy afterwards before I could sleep :-)
forgot the email address :-) troldalfen@gmail.com
DeleteI'm a big scary cat so the scariest horror film I've watched and liked is Carrie. ;) Thanks so much for the contest! I loved Mr. Popsalos so I would love to see what is going on with the boys!
ReplyDeleteOceanAkers @ aol.com
My favorite horror movie is The Shining. The book and the movie scared me so bad. These both sound like winners, thank you!
ReplyDeletebrendurbanist at gmail dot com
I only watch scary movies if I have no choice. I watched Leprechaun and it would have b=to be my favorite as I ahve not watched many others.
ReplyDeletedebby236 at gmail dot com
I'm not much for most horror movies (which is weird cuz I like horror book *shrug*) My favorite movie would have to be Nightmare on Elm Street. That Freddy... He's a badass for sure!
ReplyDeletechellebee66(At)gmail(dot)com
I'm not keen on horror movies, but of the one's I've seen 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' is my favourite.
ReplyDeletediannakayATgmailDOTcom
My all time fave is Rose Red. I love Stephen King's stories. Some of his books make my hackles stand up!
ReplyDelete~Rush~
taina1959@yahoo.com
Hmm... oddly enough I haven't watched that many Horror movies. Umm, Oh! I know... I haven't watched it since, but I remember when I was little the movie that absolutely terrified me was Leprechaun.
ReplyDelete*shivers*
XD Please count me in on the contest~
Judi
arella3173_loveless@yahoo(dot)com
Saw the Birds by A Hitchcock as a child and it scared the ##$%^&& out of me. Never watch horror movies now. The sixth sense was good, but not sure that qualifies as horror
ReplyDeletePlease count me in, really enjoy your books.
ldinnell@gmail.com
Favorite scary movie...The Shining.
ReplyDeleteYvette
yratpatrol@aol.com
Hi Lisa
ReplyDeleteFave scary movie - a Bollywood one called Purana Mandir (Old Temple) watched as a child. Saw it again at age 41, and I laughed my way through it this time round.
Regards, Rita
RITAR1@aol.com
Don't like horror movies. Never watch them!
ReplyDeletegisu29(at)yahoo(dot)com
The Shining. "Here's Johnny!"
ReplyDeleteYeah it is the Shinning. I read the book every Halloween.
ReplyDeleteThe scariest, so therefore my favorite, is Salem's Lot! *shiver* I can still see that kid scratching at the second floor window of his friend's bedroom telling him to let him in...I had nightmares for two weeks after seeing it!
ReplyDeleteI love scary mmovies I love house of a thousand corpses n final destinations my hubby Saids am weird because the scarier the better for me Jessica canoto jcanoto@ymail.com
ReplyDeleteMy scariest movie was the Exorcist. i read the books when I was 14 just after it was released. Saw the movie shortly after it was released. Scared the living crap out of me.
ReplyDeleteWestmore Hall excerpt is wonderful, and I just added it to the top pf my gotta have list long with The Perfect Gift and Harry's Hairy Car Seat.
Thank you for the giveaway!
Darcy
pommawolf @hotmail.com
The Shining.
ReplyDeleteLooks like I have to add some more books to my TBR pile as well :)
Cheers,
Kath.
Keywi247@gmail dot com
Thank you all so much for participating :)
ReplyDeleteMy fabulous assistant picked out a name from the hat (well... bowl with folded bits of paper in it) and the winner is Pommawolf Emeraldwolfeyes (aka Darcy)!
Woo hoo - congratulations to her and thanks so much to everyone else. Keep your eyes open for more giveaways :)