Kate Lowell's Blog, page 11

Tuesday Guest Tickle: Roping Him In by Jena Wade

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It’s already gotten a silver star on All Romance. Go check it out!















Lucas and Jason have been roping partners for five years and this year, together, they are going to win it all. Nothing is going to stop them.

One night of passion puts a road block in Jason’s plans to win the title. A title he desperately needed. Lucas never dreamed Jason would still want to ride with him after their night together. They could compete together, but rules needed to be set to protect his heart.

Then again, rules were meant to be broken.

Excerpt

Jason Taylor stared down at the bottle of beer in front of him. He should have been drinking it, should have finished it already. That’s what a person did when celebrating a victory, right? That’s what he’d done in the past. After years of hard work, he’d finally made it to the finals. He and his roping partner had completed one hell of a year in the rodeo, finishing second. It wasn’t first place, but there would be time for that next year. For now he wanted to enjoy coming close to winning it all. But he couldn’t.

Something was off. Lucas Dryer, his roping team partner of five years, wasn’t there with him. Without Lucas, Jason wouldn’t still be in the rodeo, and without him, Jason was lost.

Five years ago at a random rodeo in Oklahoma, the two had entered the roping competition as individuals. Jason, a header, and Lucas, a heeler, were paired together based on luck of the draw. It was fate. The rest, as they say, was history. Since that rodeo they’d been a team, building their way to the top with a lot of hard work and determination. Before they’d met each other, Jason had never kept a roping partner for long, and Lucas never talked about his partners before he met Jason. For some reason or another, they worked best together.

Against his parents’ wishes, Jason had started riding in the rodeo to save money for a ranch. Slowly but surely he’d saved almost enough to purchase the land he wanted. One more successful year on the circuit and he would have more than what he needed.

Once he had a place, he could think about settling down, finding someone to share his life with. But as of right now, he didn’t have anything to offer anyone.

Lucas… Jason wasn’t sure why Lucas stayed in the rodeo. Lucas’s family owned their own ranch and were quite successful. Yet Lucas chose to travel with Jason. It wasn’t for the fame and fortune, that was for sure. Jason snorted. Lucas hated dealing with sponsors and going to their events.

Earlier in the evening, when they were at the hotel, taking turns showering off the dust from the rodeo arena and preparing to get drunk and celebrate, Lucas had told him he was going off by himself tonight. Without Jason.

“C’mon, man, that beer isn’t going to drink itself.” Cory Matthews clapped Jason on the back as he pulled up a bar stool and sat.

Jason picked up his beer and took a sip. It was already warm. “Says the guy who isn’t even drinking.”

“Can’t. I have to be on the road tonight if I want to make it home by morning.” Cory glanced around the bar and then shot Jason a confused look. “How come Lucas isn’t here? I assumed you two were attached at the hip.”

Now there’s an idea. Jason shook off that thought and smashed it down deep. He didn’t have time for any of that foolishness. Though it had been tempting, especially lately. Sometimes he found himself daydreaming about Lucas and him in bed together. He chalked it up to being celibate for too damn long, but deep down he knew differently. He just didn’t, couldn’t do anything about it right now.

Jason shrugged. “Who knows? He said he wanted to go off alone tonight. I have no idea where he went.”

“He’s at the Purple Hat. Saw his truck in the parking lot on my way here.”

“What the hell is the Purple Hat?”

Cory shrugged. “A Dr. Seuss book? Go find out. You look like you’re about to lose your mind here.”

Jason had enough alcohol in him that the suggestion sounded like a good idea. “Can you drive me?”

Cory nodded.

That was all the confirmation Jason needed. He threw down a few bills to cover his tab. “I’m going to find my partner.” He ignored the rise of Cory’s eyebrows, and he stormed toward the door.

* * * *

The strobe lights flashed bright red and blue directly in Jason’s eyes. A hammer pounded in his head with each blink of the lights. He could barely see through the mess of bodies dancing around.

What in the fuck is Lucas doing here?

All around him, men dressed in leather pants, tight shirts, or no shirts at all danced and rubbed against each other. The reality of what he was seeing hit Jason, and he stopped in his tracks.

This was a gay bar.

He couldn’t keep the shock from his face; he was sure he must look like a moron standing there with his jaw on the floor, surrounded by men bumping and grinding to the beat of the music.

“Hey, cowboy, you wanna dance?” A short, skinny blond who looked way too young to even be in a club snaked his arm around Jason’s broad shoulders and tried to pull him onto the dance floor.

The little twink was strong, but Jason planted his feet. “No thanks, I’m looking for a friend.”

“I’ll be your friend,” the blond purred in his ear.

Jason chuckled but then caught himself. The kid should learn a thing or two about picking up strangers in a club. The way he was going about it now, he could easily get hurt.

“Do you have any friends here? I think you might have had too much to drink.” Jason wound his arm around the blond’s waist and held him upright so he didn’t tip over.

“You’re my friend.” He swayed as he spoke, reaching out to touch Jason’s face, but his hand didn’t make it that far. The twink’s eyes glazed over with an alcohol-induced haze.

Jason bit back a groan. Who let this kid out like this?

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Jason whirled around, almost dropping the twink to the floor in the process. He came face-to-face with Lucas. His best friend for the past five years. In a gay bar. “Looking for you.” His voice came out calm and even, but that wasn’t close to how he felt.

After he spoke, he got a chance to look Lucas up and down. The man wore his best pair of tight jeans, with his brand-new second-place roping belt buckle gleaming under the strobe lights. The jeans were familiar—that was how Jason was used to seeing him—but then his gaze landed on the shirt. The bright red tank top stretched tightly across Lucas’s muscular chest. It was made of…mesh? There were tiny holes all over the…could you even call it a shirt? “What the hell kind of getup is that?” This time Jason did release the twink, carefully, and he reached out to touch Lucas’s shirt.

Lucas backed away as if he had expected Jason to punch him. “Don’t worry about it. What are you doing here? And who is he?” Lucas’s dark eyes narrowed in on the blond. Was that jealousy in his voice?

The twink must’ve decided he wasn’t going to be “friends” with Jason, and he trotted off toward the dance floor.

“I came here looking for you. I was curious where the hell you wanted to go without me tonight. We’re supposed to be celebrating together.” And now he was curious whether or not he really knew Lucas at all.

Lucas rubbed his face with his hands and shook his head. “You followed me?”

“Sort of. Cory recognized your truck and told me where you were. Can we talk?” He wasn’t sure what he was going to ask, but he did need some answers. And one hell of an explanation for why Lucas was wearing a shirt with holes in it.

“Sure. Let’s go outside.” Without waiting for a response, Lucas turned toward the door and shouldered his way through the crowd.

Jason followed and couldn’t help the way his eyes were drawn to Lucas’s ass in those tight jeans. How could he even walk with the denim practically glued to his ass? Jason had to admit that they made him look great. He could chalk it up to being in a gay club, but in reality, he’d been looking at Lucas like that a lot lately.

Outside, the cool night air held a bit of a chill, which was expected since it was mid-December in Nevada. There were a few club goers waiting in line to get inside, but for the most part, they were alone in the parking lot.

Lucas leaned against his truck and folded his arms over his chest.

Jason couldn’t tear his gaze from Lucas’s broad shoulders and muscular chest. “So. Whatcha doing at a gay bar?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

Jason laughed and rubbed his chin. The five-o’clock shadow covering his face was rough against his calloused hands. “I already told you, I was looking for you.”

After a long silence, during which Lucas wouldn’t meet Jason’s eyes, Jason took a step forward. “Dude, are you gay?”

Lucas let out a long sigh and stared hard at the ground. He nodded slightly and then slowly lifted his head until he was staring directly at Jason.

“All right. Well, I guess that makes sense then.” A few things were beginning to add up. Like why Lucas never seemed interested in any of the women who threw themselves at him. Like the time that barrel racer planted herself in Lucas’s lap at the bar after the rodeo. Lucas calmly but firmly told her he wasn’t interested. At the time Jason had been happy, since that meant he and Lucas would be sharing a hotel room, staying up late, watching corny movies. But clearly there was more to it than that.

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

Jason shrugged. “I’ve known you for five years, never seen you with a woman before. It’s not surprising that you’re gay.”

“You’re not going to go find some friends and chase me down with torches and pitchforks, are you?” Lucas’s lips twisted into a smile, and he laughed nervously, as if that was a genuine fear of his.

“Fuck you, Lucas. I may be country, but I’m not some homophobic asshole.”

Lucas ran his hand through his dark hair. “I know. I’m sorry. I was trying to lighten the mood here.”

Jason squared his shoulders and met Lucas’s eyes. Time for his confession. “Besides, I’ve had my fair share of gay experiences, so…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope. In high school, when I was on the football team, the quarterback and I used to fool around in the showers all the time. Nothing serious, just a few handjobs and blowjobs. The best blowjobs actually.” Jason remembered the time fondly. It was some of the most fun he’d ever had, up until he met Lucas.

“I don’t believe you.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “What the fuck? Why would I lie about that shit?”

“I don’t know. I find it hard to believe you’re bi.”

Jason held his hands in the air. “Whoa. I’m not. I just fooled around with a guy once upon a time when I was a teenager. And every once in a while I find a man attractive. It’s not a big deal.” It was totally something he could ignore, and had for the past ten years. Never mind the fact that it had gotten harder since he started riding with Lucas.

“Whatever. Prove it.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to prove it?”

“Kiss me.” Lucas took a step closer, his chest just a few inches from Jason’s.

Goose bumps prickled at Jason’s skin at the thought of what Lucas proposed. Could he do that? Oh, yeah. Kissing Lucas would be easy. Too easy. The aftermath…he wasn’t too sure about that.

Giveaway and Book Tour: If I Were Fire by Heloise West

Kate Lowell:

Hey guys, this is out tomorrow. Really good MM historical. Go check out the excerpt!

Originally posted on velvetpanic Heloise West:

 

Author Name: Heloise West

Book Name: If I Were Fire

Release Date: September 16, 2015

Blurb:

In 18th century Siena, Count Salvesto Masello has returned home to find the family villa and his father’s estate steeped deeply in debt. In order to save it, he has been selling off valuable family heirlooms, but he is running out of silverware. Somewhere in the villa his deceased father had hidden the art treasures that will pay the debt, but Salvesto can’t find them anywhere.

Amadeo Neruccio has been on the run from the vicious pimp, thief, and pawnbroker Guelfetto, but his toughs finally catch him and bring him to the cellar where Count Masello is selling off his silver. When the count learns what fate Guelfetto has in store for Amadeo, he intervenes and trades the last of his mother’s dowry for the young man’s freedom.

Salvesto had left home over…

View original 931 more words

Filed under: Uncategorized

Guest Post and Giveaway: The Back to the Sky Blog Tour with Katey Hawthorne

Source: Guest Post and Giveaway: The Back to the Sky Blog Tour with Katey Hawthorne

Filed under: Uncategorized

Moving Day–For the Website!

I decided this year to move to a self-hosted website. Free WordPress has been great and I definitely can recommend it, but there were functionalities that I wanted which weren’t available in the free version.

So, from now on, you can find me at katelowell.com, where I’ll pretty much be doing the same thing as I did here. :)

Have a pretty for your trouble…

Filed under: Random Weirdness

Guest Release: Claimed by Love by Skye Jones

  

Hi, Kate,

Thanks for hosting me today.

     

  

New Release news!

Claimed by Desire is now out.

Broken by the loss of his mate, wolf shifter Dylan returns to his birthplace in Wales with only one thing on his mind…revenge. When Aeron enters his life, their intense attraction is too powerful to ignore, and budding attraction soon becomes something deeper.

Steamy passion fills the pages of Claimed By Desire, Book 2 of my hot and sexy romance series, Wild Hunters.

*Although part of a series it can be read as a standalone*

Early reviews are already coming in and they say:

–“5* Claimed by Desire was an awesome, paranormal, sexy and very HOT story”

–“Oh boy do I love a good shapeshifter story, but that is an understatement, in regards to Claimed by Desire, because this was an amazingly fantastic read.”

–“Skye Jones wowed me with Claimed by Desire…not to be missed. Skye Jones has created a winner.”

What’s it about?

Dylan Roberts returns to the Wales of his birth a changed man after the violent death of his mate. Having turned his back on being a bounty hunter and sworn off love for life, all he wants now is revenge.

When he meets Aeron Lombardo, his new farmhand, Dylan resents the intense attraction that blossoms between them. But Aeron won’t stop pushing and soon things take a hot and sexy turn.

As passions rise, danger rears its ugly head. Now Dylan and Aeron must choose whether to separate or commit to one another totally. Will Dylan take the final step and claim his new mate?

Buy Links:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

B&N

Liquid Silver

I love to keep in touch with readers. For giveaways, news, and free stories sign up to my newsletter here.

Filed under: Guest Releases Tagged: mm romance, series, shifter

Tuesday Tickle: Have Yourself a Merry Little Sexmas

My Christmas stripper story. :)

The joy of hearing about your jerk of an ex. Even when they weren’t ever really your ex.

In the background he heard Teela say, “Is that Thilo? Let me talk to him! I gotta tell him who Sam is dating now!”

Ugh. He didn’t really want to talk about Sam. Sam, who he’d had a crush on for ages, and who had used him only so he could pass Advanced Financial Accounting. Thilo’d fallen for those big blue eyes and high cheekbones, and he’d though Sam had felt the same, but was shy about it, so he’d been patient. Only to find out at graduation that Sam had been sleeping with an English major from one of the sororities the whole time. And he’d gone to work at his father’s huge accounting firm, making forty thousand a year to start, while Thilo had been forced to move out of state to get a sniff at a job that wasn’t part-time or crappy pay.

Yep, he definitely didn’t want to hear anything about Sam the Scam.

So, when Teela took the phone, he pre-empted her with a rapid fire, “I don’t want to hear it.”

“Aw, com on, Thilo, you’ll love this.”

“No, I won’t.” Not unless Sam was dating someone hideous, who would give him genital warts and make him impotent. Thilo reigned in his revenge-obsessed imagination with a sigh. “What are you guys up to?”

She laughed. “Drinking. Our own private Christmas party, and our We All Miss Thilo party.” He could barely hear her over the other four whooping, and someone—he thought it was Vic—yelled, “Hey, Thilo-man! Wish you were heeeeerrrrrrre!”

Filed under: Tuesday Tickle Tagged: Christmas, Sexmas, stormed in, stripper

Flesh Market has left the building!

I tidied up the word files today, attached the manuscript and the synopsis to an email, and sent them both flying off to The Editor in Question.

Now I don’t know what to do with myself.

I pretty much ate, drank, and slept FM for the past three months. It feels very strange not to be immersed in that world. Breaking free of those emotions isn’t going to be easy, especially where the story ends on more of a HFN than a HEA. (Don’t worry, I have more in store for those boys, including a resolution to something that is still troubling Julian at the end of FM.)

I did find an excellent video of a hip hop routine that I’m going to use for inspiration for the Christmas story, and while lazing around in the bathtub, I’ve started patting a scene into shape that will be based off of it. Maybe I’ll do a bit of that tonight. Or maybe I’ll just watch reruns of Game of Thrones.

Or I could do housework.

Who am I kidding? Where’s the popcorn.

Filed under: Random Weirdness Tagged: fingernail biting, Flesh Market, submissions

Hey, Look Where Sign of Spring Is!

Yes, this is my old Goodreads Don’t Read in the Closet story. It’s the story of Robin, a burnt-out palliative care nurse, who takes a road trip to get his groove back, and falls in love with free-wheeling Jack-of-All-Trades Justin. (The poppies on the cover figure strongly in the story.) I’ve finally gotten around to putting it up where people can find it. (It came out while my husband was still sick and I was too distracted to add it to outlets at the time.)

If you were around during the event, you might remember that a group of us got together in a sort of daisy-chain of extra content, where we did interviews, or told stories about our characters. The bonus story at the end of the new edition, Caps with Justin, came from that activity. It’s a quick glimpse into Justin’s mind, on some random night during their road trip.

Anyway, it went live yesterday morning in the free section on Amazon and now it’s at #19 in the Free Kindle Gay Romance section! I see some friends on there too–Chris McHart and Ana J Phoenix, with their Goodreads stories from this year.

If you don’t like Amazon, Sign of Spring is also available at All Romance Ebooks, Kobo, iBooks, and Oyster.

Filed under: My Releases Tagged: Goodreads Don't Read in the Closet, hurt/comfort, nurse, re-release, road trip, Sign of Spring

Lead Me To You has Reviews!

Joyfully Jay: 4 stars!

The Novel Approach: 4 stars!

Don’t forget, it can be found at Amazon!

Please, if you’ve read and enjoyed, I’d appreciate a review, so Amazon doesn’t think I’m a freeloader. :) (Just kidding. But reviews are nice, if you have the time.)

Filed under: My Releases Tagged: Lead Me to You, reviews

Conversations With My Editor

As specific dates come nearer–like submission date, publication date, forgot-to-buy-my-brother-in-law-a Christmas-present date–writers can get a little clingy. And editors are there to talk them down off the ledge. Or maybe drive them over it.

Me: The beta readers are trying to kill me.

Editor: All the best ones do.

Me: Hahaha. I’m worried, after all the hype, that I’ll get their notes back and I’ll be all, “OMG, I suck!”

Me: And the Christmas story isn’t co-operating. Maybe it was too big a change in mood?*

Editor: You’re a writer. Writers do that. And then their editors remind them that they’re wrong.

Editor: Could write a Christmas cannibal drabble to bridge the gap.

*The change in mood is from Flesh Market, which is dark and violent, to a Christmas stripper getting snowbound with a slightly innocent client on Christmas Day.

Filed under: Conversations With My Editor Tagged: editing, panic, stress, writing