Valentine's Day Blues by J.P. Bowie
What does it take for Valentine’s-Day-hating Bryan Colby to discover that he really loves it? Meeting Officer Ben Collins, of course.
Bryan Colby doesn’t like Valentine’s Day. Despite being told by his close friends that he’s silly to fester over something that happened five years ago, he just can’t get excited as yet another Valentine’s Day approaches.
Bryan, a rising star at the local real estate office, prefers to work instead, but is assaulted while showing a vacant property. In the ambulance, he meets Officer Ben Collins and Bryan wastes no time in letting Ben know he finds him attractive and would like to get better acquainted with him, in every possible way.
At first wary of Bryan’s flirty, come-hither attitude, Ben eventually warms to Bryan’s charm, and agrees to meet him for a coffee. But circumstances outside their control change that date to a much more sensual meeting.
After all, it is Valentine’s Day week, and romance is most definitely in the air…
Special Delivery by Ellen Mint
Jack never saw this special delivery coming.
Jack Dawson has been madly in love with Tan Nguyen since high school. So when his oldest crush walks into his flower shop to place an order, Jack…runs into the closet to hide.
Valentine’s Day is the worst day for florists, especially lonely ones who just want a boyfriend at least a quarter as hot as Tan. Add in Jack having to hand-deliver a special romance basket for Tan’s secret date while wearing a bright red suit and he’s tempted to flee to Canada.
But, to his shock, this is going to be a February Fourteenth that Jack will never forget.
The Moment by Pelaam
When Jason takes the chance on a blind date, it’s then that his eyes are finally opened.
Wealthy winery owner Jason is happy to claim that he’s too busy to have a love life or a romance. He has all he needs with his personal secretary taking care of his business life and an old friend looking after the yacht where they live.
When he’s invited to a Valentine’s masked ball, Jason asks his assistant Kris to find him a date for the evening. To Jason’s shock, instead of someone Jason knows and is comfortable with, Kris sets him up with a blind date—one he claims will be a perfect match. Trusting him, Jason agrees.
His date appears dressed as Princess Buttercup, and Jason is surprised at just how comfortable he is with the unknown person.
But when Buttercup is abused by another party attendee, Jason follows his distraught guest and his eyes are fully opened.
When ‘the moment’ comes, will Jason grab it with both hands?
The Dishevelled Duke by Catherine Curzon and Eleanor Harkstead
Will a photographer be swept off his feet by a duke who’s more dishevelled than dashing?
It’s Valentine’s Day and it’s Billy last shift at The Chelsea Bunn. His photography career never took off, so it’s time to leave London, parcel up the leftover heart-shaped cakes and head back home to Hampshire.
Rumpled Charlie and his two mischievous dogs are Billy’s favourite customers, so when Charlie turns up at closing time with a mysterious wrapped gift and the offer of a whirlwind trip on the London Eye, Billy can’t say no. But Charlie is keeping a secret that could turn Billy’s world happily upside down.
As the snow falls over London and the big wheel grinds to a halt, Billy discovers that wishes aren’t just for Christmas.
Reader advisory: These books contain cross-dressing and references to stalking and unwanted groping. There are references to parental abandonment, scenes involving mugging/assault, and armed robbery with hostage-taking. One story also includes a practical joke of a sexual nature.
General Release Date: 9th February 2021
Excerpt from Valentine's Day Blues
Bryan Colby was not interested. In Valentine’s Day, that is. Particularly the Valentine’s Day party Tyler Kingman was trying to force him into going to. He’d said so a thousand times at least, but his best friend Tyler just didn’t seem to get it.
“Why do you hate Valentine’s Day so much?” he whined at Bryan as they made their way to Harry’s Place, their favorite bar, on Hope Street in Santa Barbara. Not a gay bar per se, but gay-friendly enough that they didn’t fear the locals would suddenly set upon them wielding torches and pitchforks.
“You know why, Tyler. Must I go over it again?”
“But it’s such a dumb reason, and one you should be able, at your age, to get over. C’mon, Bryan, it was years ago and it was only your sister’s idea of a practical joke, for cryin’ out loud.”
“She ruined it for me forever,” Bryan said, “and that is why I am not going with you to Jacob’s party. Besides, you shouldn’t be asking me to go with you. What about Daniel?”
“What about him?”
“He’s your beau, isn’t he?”
“Huh, some beau. He’s gonna be out of town on business that whole week, so that’s why I’m asking you to go with me.”
“Oh, it gets better!” Bryan’s laughter was distinctly hollow. “Now I’m being invited to a party I don’t want to go to, but only ’cause there’s no one else who’ll go with you.”
Excerpt from Special Delivery
“Crap!”
I dropped to the floor behind the counter while a tinny bell jangled through the small shop. The reason for my panic strolled in out of my sweaty, highly awkward teenage memories to fondle the begonias. Probably fondle them. I could only take a quick peek through baskets of scissors to savor the pressed navy trousers cupping his legs.
Tan Nguyen, the hottest guy to ever attend Carmel Cove High School in two hundred years, strolled into the tiny flower shop where I worked. Just walked right in as if the sight of his chiseled, sky-high cheekbones wasn’t guaranteed to give me an instant heart attack. And if that didn’t finish me off, those rich chocolate eyes sweeping across mine would be a double brain aneurysm with strawberries on top.
“Excuse me…?”
Oh shit, that voice. How did I forget that voice? Full-bodied like a cello back when he’d been the star of the track team and I’d changed in the showers so no one would see my skinny legs. Now, age had given him a delectable gravel that hummed with an electric spark I wanted to feel strike every nerve of my body. Which would probably be another death at his hands.
“Uh, Jack?” A garish pink Croc knocked into me and I glared up at the face of my bemused coworker, Lauri. Red ribbon circled her arms up to her elbows as we both fought the oncoming war that was Valentine’s Day.
And she’d just revealed to Tan that I was hiding. This required every four-letter word in English! Swallowing down the pile of curses that’d get my mouth washed out with Tide, I muttered to the floor, “Yep. It’s all good back here.”
Slowly, I rose to my feet, wiping my hands on the ugly green apron that boxed in my skinny body. Pivoting away from the gorgeous customer, I focused on Lauri instead. Her face was in full laugh-at-me mode, a finger rising to accuse me of having fallen to my stomach for no good reason.
Excerpt from The Moment
From his recliner on the deck of his yacht, Jason took a deep breath of the sea air and gazed out over the ocean. Life is beautiful. At the ping that let him know he’d received a notification, Jason dragged his gaze away from the amazing view of Napier and the ocean where his yacht was anchored and onto his laptop.
“A message from Lola. Let’s see what she wants,” he muttered. Jason opened the message and groaned out loud.
“Let me see. It’s February, she’s a hopeless romantic and loves parties. Am I on the right track?” Manu, the captain of his yacht, cocked an eyebrow.
Jason offered Manu his best glare, but that only resulted in his friend laughing out loud.
“How did you guess.” Jason injected as much sarcasm as he could into the non-question, and Manu laughed even louder.
With his seemingly ancient denim cut-offs, T-shirt and tribal tattoos, Manu looked more like a local fisherman than a man who could pilot a large and complex craft like The Freedom. But there wasn’t much that went wrong with the ship that Manu couldn’t fix himself.
He was as much a part of Jason’s life aboard his yacht as Kris, his secretary, was in his work life. Each was essential in his own way.
“Ah, what the hell.” Jason laughed. “I’m a lucky man. Not many people can make a fortune doing what they love and still be loving it after all this time. When I started out over twenty years ago, I never expected to live aboard a yacht and be able to sail wherever I want, pretty much whenever I want. If my penance is attending parties where I fend off Lola’s ideas of potential partners, well, I can live with it. It’s a small price to pay.”
“She’s persistent. I’ll give her that.” Manu took another sip of orange juice and Jason nodded.
“Very. But it’s done in such a way that you just can’t take offense. Knowing Lola, she won’t just send out emails, though. I fully expect a proper card, with all the trimmings. And she’ll send it to Kris, just to be certain.” This time both men laughed.
Excerpt from The Dishevelled Duke
All the champagne cupcakes had gone. Only a few slices of red velvet cake remained, sharing a plate with the last three heart-shaped cookies. Imogen had said that Billy could take them home with him. What a way to arrive. Ten years in London and Billy would appear on his parents’ doorstep with leftover Valentine’s Day cake and hundreds of unsold photographs.
At least I tried.
For the last time, Billy loaded the café’s dishwasher. In a couple of minutes he would turn the sign to closed for the last time, shut the blinds for the last time and leave The Chelsea Bunn forever. He would lug his case through the crowds, clamber onto a packed train and say goodbye to London.
But he wouldn’t say goodbye to Charlie-who-has-no-surname, who came in five times a week for a cup of tea and a bun for the two wolfhounds that dragged him around like slightly undersized donkeys. Charlie with the peppery hair and laughing eyes and the lines that crinkled around them when he smiled. And he smiled a lot.
Billy wouldn’t say goodbye to Charlie because for the last two weeks, his shifts had changed to fit around the shop’s new hours and he hadn’t seen him since. For the Bunn to be busy enough for extended hours was great, but it meant no more Charlie. Charlie didn’t come in late, it seemed, only for that mid-morning tea and cake.
Not having seen Charlie for a fortnight had made Billy realise how much he would miss the friends he had made in London. People from art school, and Imogen, who had given Billy enough shifts to eke out his life in London for just a few more months, even a place to sleep when his love life had turned sour. And most of all Charlie, who always had a smile for him, who always found the time to speak to him.
Billy’s favourite customer.
Eleanor Harkstead
Eleanor Harkstead likes to dash about in nineteenth-century costume, in bonnet or cravat as the mood takes her. She can occasionally be found wandering old graveyards. Eleanor is very fond of chocolate, wine, tweed waistcoats and nice pens. Her large collection of vintage hats would rival Hedda Hopper's.
Originally from the south-east of England, Eleanor now lives somewhere in the Midlands with a large ginger cat who resembles a Viking.
Ellen Mint
Ellen Mint adores the adorkable heroes who charm with their shy smiles and heroines that pack a punch. She has a needy black lab named after Granny Weatherwax from Discworld. Sadly, her dog is more of a Magrat.
When she’s not writing imposing incubi or saucy aliens, she does silly things like make a tiny library full of her books. Her background is in genetics and she married a food scientist so the two of them nerd out over things like gut bacteria. She also loves gaming, particularly some of the bigger RPG titles. If you want to get her talking for hours, just bring up Dragon Age.
You can find Ellen at her website here and also on Bookbub..
Pelaam
Living in clean, green New Zealand, Pelaam is a multi-published author of gay romance and erotica.
When not working at writing, Pelaam likes to indulge in her other passions of cookery and wine appreciation.
Catherine Curzon
Catherine Curzon is a royal historian who writes on all matters of 18th century. Her work has been featured on many platforms and Catherine has also spoken at various venues including the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, and Dr Johnson’s House.
Catherine holds a Master’s degree in Film and when not dodging the furies of the guillotine, writes fiction set deep in the underbelly of Georgian London.
She lives in Yorkshire atop a ludicrously steep hill.
You can follow Catherine on Facebook and Twitter and take a look at her Website.
J.P. Bowie
J.P. Bowie was born in Scotland and toured British theatres in numerous musical shows including Stephen Sondheim’s Company.
He emigrated to the States and worked in Las Vegas, Nevada for the magicians Siegfried and Roy as their Head of Wardrobe at the Mirage Hotel. He is currently living with his husband in sunny San Diego, California.
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