Excerpt: Dead Shot by J.L. Merrow

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Taste Test: Shot Through the Heart edited by Lorna Hinson, with stories by Lenore Black, DC Juris, and JL Merrow
Release Date: 02/2009
Publisher: Torquere Books
Publisher Link: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2527

Blurb: Cupid's arrow finds even the most lovelorn guys, and that's never been more fun than in the Shot Through the Heart Taste Test. In Better than Cupcakes, by Lenore Black, Mitch thinks there has to be a better way to spend Valentine's Day than working, even if he does like his co-worker, Augie. Everyone thinks Augie is a little odd, but Mitch thinks Augie might be far better than a cupcake.

In Cupid Knows, by DC Juris, Jack has been dreaming about Alan ever since they met at a game. Can he convince Alan to take a chance on a Valentine's Day meeting when Alan has something to hide? Finally, in Dead Shot, by JL Merrow, a chance meeting brought about by a stray arrow brings Peter and Edward together, but will their pasts come between them before they even get started?

Excerpt:

From Dead Shot by JL Merrow

If you ask most people about Cupid, they'll tell you he's this chubby little angel with curly blond hair and a bow and arrow.

And they're right about the chubby little face. And the bow and arrow, for that matter. But the hair's ginger, not golden, and he goes by the name of Kevin these days, and an angel he most definitely is not. In fact, you can't take your eye off him for a minute, which I found out the hard way when I took him to the park the other day.

Okay. Confession time. I'm actually talking about my nephew, who as far as I'm aware doesn't have any Greek gods in his ancestry, although my sister Carol says his dad was working in a kebab shop when they started living together, so who knows? Anyway, Kevin's what's known as A Bit of a Handful. Ten years old, scarily bright but with the attention span of a toddler. So at weekends I try and take him off Carol's hands for a while. Give her a bit of time with her new husband, Mark, who as far as I'm concerned is an absolute saint for taking on Kevin and treating him like his own. And the baby, of course. Now she is cute and golden-haired. And possibly angelic, although to be honest it's really too soon to tell.

So this Saturday, we went to the park, Kevin and me. And I showed him how to make a bow and arrows from sticks we found lying around, and set up some targets of old Coke cans for him to aim at. Now, I know what you're thinking, but I wasn't stupid. I made sure he heard the awful story of How Grandpa Lost His Eye and got him to promise never to aim anywhere near people. And then I sat down on a park bench and closed my eyes for five minutes, because I'd had a late night on Friday and although I love Kevin dearly he's a bit exhausting.

It was right after that I heard the scream.

Well, more of a shout, really. Then a dog started barking, and a reedy little voice piped up, "I didn't see you there, honest!"

By now my eyes were well and truly open, of course. Even before the wail of "Uncle Peeeeter!" was ringing in my ears I'd jumped up from the bench. I legged it over to where I could see Kevin, a frisky-looking border collie and last but not least, a tall, dark-haired bloke rubbing his right buttock.

You didn't have to be a genius to work out what had happened. "Kevin! Did you shoot this man in the..." I stopped there. It was daft, really, I knew Kevin knew all the words, and he knew I knew, but I still didn't like to use them in front of him.

"Arse?" the stranger suggested.

Comments

[dcjuris.livejournal.com]

Hi there! I know it's not my excerpt, but I wanted to thank you for posting this anyhow! :-) Thanks for the promo for "Shot Through the Heart!"

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

You are welcome :-) This is a free posting space I do once a month, so if you want to profit for your next releases, just send me the excerpts and I will post it. Usually I do it the last saturday of each month. Elisa