Shining in the Sun is out today!

Woohoo!  It’s launch day for my third professionally published novel, and my first ever contemporary romance 🙂  I’m doing that “new book out” thing of surfing the net looking for anyone who’s read it already and given it a review.  Which is a silly thing to do at this stage, but I can’t help it.  It isn’t every day you have a new novel out 😀

Here it is on My Bookstore and More, and here it is on Amazon.  It’s only available in ebook for the moment, with the print version coming out next year.

So what’s it all about?  Let me tell you… 😉

Blurb

Damn it, a man shouldn’t always have to be afraid…

Alec Goodchilde has everything a man could want—except the freedom to be himself. Once a year, he motors down to an exclusive yacht club on the Cornish coast and takes the summer off from the trap that is his life.

When his car breaks down, leaving him stranded on the beach, he’s transfixed by the sight of a surfer dancing on the waves. The man is summer made flesh. Freedom wrapped up in one lithe package, dripping wet from the sea.

Once a year, Darren Stokes takes a break from his life of grinding overwork and appalling relatives, financing his holiday by picking up the first rich man to show an interest. This year, though, he’s cautious—last summer’s meal ticket turned out to be more pain than pleasure.

Even though Alec is so deep in the closet he doesn’t even admit he’s gay, Darren finds himself falling hard—until their idyllic night together is shattered by the blinding light of reality…

As you may know, I’m somewhat wary of the alpha male hero, and I’m particularly wary of the alpha/beta pairing which has a tendency to read like a het romance with search and replace pronouns.  I know that quite a few other people do alpha/alpha pairings, which tend to be very heavy on the testosterone and violence.  But I wasn’t sure if anyone had yet done a beta/beta story.  So this is my attempt at that very thing, because someone has to remember the other guys.  As Darren says, “the meek will inherit the earth, as long as the strong will obligingly go and fuck themselves first.”

Darren does have a bit of a foul mouth, so I’ve warned for sex and swearing.  I hope the world is ready for a book in which two gentle and slightly scared lads give each other the strength to take on their problems and win, but at least it will make a change 🙂

I did come across this lovely comment from Anne Scott, my editor

This is a very emotional and not necessarily easy look at a relationship that develops between the wealthy Alec and the struggling-to-get-by Darren. Issues are explored rather than glossed over, and Shining in the Sun is simply a rewarding read.

So I’m reposting that rather than blathering on myself, because I might think that it’s a good fun read but I’m obviously biased!