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New Glasgow Lads book, featuring curling!

Hurry Hard (as they say)! Throwing Stones (Glasgow Lads on Ice #1) is now available in both Kindle and paperback versions.

In a sport where Murphy’s Law rules supreme, one slip can mean falling behind—or falling in love.

Oliver Doyle needs to win. After his reign as one of Canada’s top curlers is cut short by scandal, he arrives in Glasgow to coach Scotland’s next big team to a national championship. All that stands in the way of Oliver’s redemption is a band of upstarts led by an infuriatingly cute skip.

Luca Riley needs to chill. Or so he’s always believed, crafting a Zen-like serenity to carry his underdog curlers to the edge of greatness. To reach Nationals, Team Riley just have to keep calm and beat their arch-rivals—and their hot new Canadian coach—in one final bonspiel.

Luca and Oliver form an instant, irresistible bond. For the first time, Oliver shares the secret shame that’s kept him off the ice for years, and Luca finds true acceptance for who he is. As the tournament races toward a nail-biting climax, Oliver must face his past before it consumes him again. And Luca must choose between the dream he can taste and the man he could love.

This book means a lot to me–and not just because I’ve recently taken up curling. I finally got to write a character who has adult ADHD like me. It was a chance to take the disorder past the stereotypes and shame. More on that in later posts.

The heat level is lower in this book than in my others, originally because I wanted to share this story with people like my husband and my mom and my friends at the curling club who aren’t used to heavy-duty bow-chicka-bow in their books. But eventually I realized that this sweeter approach also fits the story and the characters. There is a love scene, but it's more evocative (and funny) than explicit.

That being said, I am finishing a steamy version of the love scene to share with my newsletter readers next month, a version I couldn't resist writing even though I knew it wouldn't end up in the book. Sign up here to receive “The Warmest Room” (aka, “Haaaaaaaaard!”).

Oh also! By signing up, you can immediately download two free Glasgow Lads books, Play On and Play It Safe. There's also a version of Play On containing "author commentary" notes, which give a fun behind-the-scenes look at the writing process, as well as links to pics of settings and characters.