2014 Rainbow Awards Submission: JL Merrow

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Gay Contemporary Romance
Fall Hard by JL Merrow
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (September 17, 2013)
Amazon Kindle: Fall Hard

Some memories are better off lost in the mist…

Eight months ago, British academic Paul Ansell lost his lover—and all the memories of their time together—in an accident at Iceland’s Gullfoss Falls. Returning to the misty island country to resume his study of the bloodthirsty Viking Egil Skallagrimsson is tough as he struggles to pull his life back together.

First, there’s his colleague, Mags, who treats him like glass, and summer student Alex, who peppers him with discomforting questions. Then there’s Icelandic jet-boat driver Viggo, a tattooed, modern-day Viking who won’t say much about how they know each other. Leaving Paul to wonder if their volcanic attraction is fuelled by a desire to make a fresh start, or desperation to forget the past.

As more fragments of his lost memories fall into place, Paul is unsure if he can trust himself, much less anyone around him. And he begins to suspect his accident was nothing of the kind.

Gay Mystery / Thriller
Relief Valve (The Plumber's Mate) by JL Merrow
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (March 25, 2014)
Amazon Kindle: Relief Valve (The Plumber's Mate)

If you dig up the past, be prepared to get dirty.

The Plumber’s Mate, Book 2

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing since plumber Tom Paretski and P.I. Phil Morrison became connected at the heart, if not always at Tom’s dodgy hip. Neither of their families has been shy about voicing their disapproval, which hasn’t helped Tom’s uneasy relationship with his prickly older sister, Cherry.

But when Cherry is poisoned at her own engagement party, the horror of her near death has Tom’s head spinning with possible culprits. Is it her fiancé Gregory, a cathedral canon with an unfortunate manner and an alarming taste for taxidermy? Someone from her old writers’ circle, which she left after a row? Or could the attack be connected to her work as a barrister?

Phil is just as desperate to solve the case before someone ends up dead—and he fears it could be Tom. At least one of their suspects has a dark secret to hide, which makes Tom’s sixth sense for finding things like a target painted on his back...

Gay Romantic Comedy
Caught! (The Shamwell Tales) by JL Merrow
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (August 19, 2014)
Amazon Kindle: Caught! (The Shamwell Tales)

You can run from the past…but the past runs faster.

Shamwell Tales, Book 1

Behind Robert’s cheerfully eccentric exterior lies a young heart battered and bruised by his past. He’s taken a job teaching in a village primary school to make a fresh start, and love isn’t part of his plans. But he’s knocked for six—literally—by a chance encounter with the uncle of two of his pupils.

Sean works in pest control, rides a motorbike, and lives on a council estate. On the face of it, he shouldn’t have anything in common with Robert’s bow-tie, classic-car style and posh family background. Yet Robert is helpless to resist Sean’s roguish grin, and a rocky, excruciatingly embarrassing start doesn’t keep the sparks between them from flaring.

Despite Robert’s increasingly ludicrous attempts to keep his past where it belongs, his past hasn’t read the memo. And soon his secrets could be the very things that drive Sean away for good...

Charities Donation program progress:
303$ Albert Kennedy Trust: http://www.akt.org.uk/
965$ Ali Forney Center: www.aliforneycenter.org/
25$ Audre Lorde Project: http://alp.org/
25$ BiNet US: http://www.binetusa.org/
75$ CARE: careprogram.org/
100$ The Center Colorado: http://www.glbtcolorado.org/
392$ COLORS: www.colorsyouth.org/
80$ Covenant: www.covenanthouseno.org/
75$ Diversity Role Models: http://www.diversityrolemodels.org/
25$ The Diversity Center: http://diversitycenter.org/
317$ Galop: www.galop.org.uk/
150$ GLYS: http://www.glyswny.org/
100$ Human Rights Campaign: http://www.hrc.org/
50$ Huntsville GLBT Advocacy & Youth Services: http://www.glbtays.org/
75$ It Gets Better: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/
100$ Inland Northwest LGBT Center: www.thelgbtcenter.org/
235$ Lambda Legal: www.lambdalegal.org/
50$ Lambert House: www.lamberthouse.org/
50$ Lancaster LGBT Center: http://www.centralpalgbtcenter.org/
50$ LEAP: http://www.glbtleap.org/
462$ Lost-n-Found Youth: www.lost-n-found.org/
130$ Moveable Feast: http://www.mfeast.org/
25$ Odyssey Youth Center: www.odysseyyouth.org/
25$ Out Youth: outyouth.org/
100$ PFLAG: community.pflag.org/
175$ Point Foundation: www.pointfoundation.org/
100$ Ruth Ellis Center: http://www.ruthelliscenter.org/
575$ SAGE: giveto.sageusa.org/
25$ Terrence Higgins Trust: www.tht.org.uk/
280$ The Trevor Project: www.thetrevorproject.org/
160$ UCAN: www.ucanchicago.org/
25$ WayGay: http://www.waygay.org/
200$ You Can Play: http://youcanplayproject.org/
50$ YouthCare: www.youthcare.org/
997$ Other Funds
TOTAL: 6471$

* more than 150$ is a direct donation from a supporter of the Rainbow Awards who isn't submitting; while some authors were more than generous, arriving to donate 5 times the suggested amount, being the submission fee a non mandatory and voluntary direct donation, we were struggling to raise the same amount as last year and there is who decided to cover part of it. I thank you for all you are doing, and if you wish to donate to the above links, please drop me a note with your donation and I will update the total.

2014 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4162490.html

Comments

I love JL Merrow

[(Anonymous)]

And the cover for 'Caught' is a deer in the headlights pose for sure. :)

Will Parkinson