Title: Milo
Author: Lily Morton
Series: Finding Home #2
Genre: M/M Romance
Release Date: February 15, 2019
Cover Design: Natasha Snow
Once upon a time a brave knight rescued a young man. Unfortunately, he then spent the next few years bossing the young man around and treating him like a child.
Milo has been burying himself at Chi an Mor, hiding from the wreckage of his once promising career and running from a bad relationship that destroyed what little confidence he had. Niall, his big brother’s best friend, has been there for him that entire time. An arrogant and funny man, Niall couldn’t be any more different from the shy and occasionally stuttering Milo, which has never stopped Milo from crushing wildly on the man who saved him.
However, just as Milo makes the decision to move on from his hopeless crush, he and Niall are thrown into close contact, and for the first time ever Niall seems to be returning his interest. But it can never work. How can it when Milo always needs rescuing?
From the bestselling author of the Mixed Messages series comes a story about a man who needs to write his own happily ever after.
This is the second book in the Finding Home series, but it can be read as a standalone.
💥Content warning: There are descriptions of domestic abuse in this book.💥
“Bloody hell, is that a relation of my husband or a suspect in the Jack the Ripper case?”
I laugh and Cora startles slightly. I shush her and kiss the tiny fingers she holds up to my face. Moving next to him, I stare down at the picture. “He is a bit grim, isn’t he?”
“Grim? Caligula was grim. This is a new and previously undiscovered level of malevolence.” He cocks his head to one side. “Is it my imagination or do his eyes follow you when you move?”
I shake my head. “My remit isn’t to judge. Instead, I reveal what has been previously hidden.”
“While I’m sure that sounds romantic in your head, let’s be realistic. You’ve actually just wiped dirt off a grumpy old git’s face.”
I laugh. “I’m so glad my time at art college wasn’t wasted.”
He looks searchingly at me and opens his mouth but then closes it again. I stare at him. “Oh my God, what were you going to say? It must be bad if it’s made Oz Gallagher shut up.”
He laughs, and I look affectionately at him. I know he’s going to tell me the truth. Oz doesn’t ever shy away from that. He’s my best friend in the world and it comes as a shock to realise that I’ve only known him for a couple of years. He came here to Chi an Mor in all his wisecracking, sassy glory and proceeded to turn everyone’s lives upside down. Footloose and fancy-free, he only intended to stay for a few months and ease the old house into opening to the general public. The best-laid plans always go wrong – or right – and now he’s settled with his husband Silas, the current earl, and they have a beautiful seven-month-old daughter.
He clears his throat and looks at me, and I straighten from kissing Cora’s forehead. “What?”
“I just think that you’re actually a bit wasted here, Milo.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re so bloody talented. People from all over the country are starting to come here to consult with you, and rather than enjoying it you’re stuck in a small, cold room wearing ugly gloves and hunched over a hideous painting. It’s like something from a Dickens novel.”
He pauses for breath and I try to relax my instinctive defensive shield. I don’t need it with him.
He rubs my arm affectionately. “You’re so clever and talented and no one sees it here apart from us, and you need more than that. You should be living it up and going to exotic parties. Mixing with artists and the bohemian crowd.”
I swallow hard at the thought of the people that used to surround Thomas. “I don’t think I’m cut out for a bohemian crowd. They sound quite noisy and tiring,” I manage to say.
“Well, maybe look for a sub-branch. The whispering bohemians or something.”
I laugh and Cora startles slightly. I shush her and kiss the tiny fingers she holds up to my face. Moving next to him, I stare down at the picture. “He is a bit grim, isn’t he?”
“Grim? Caligula was grim. This is a new and previously undiscovered level of malevolence.” He cocks his head to one side. “Is it my imagination or do his eyes follow you when you move?”
I shake my head. “My remit isn’t to judge. Instead, I reveal what has been previously hidden.”
“While I’m sure that sounds romantic in your head, let’s be realistic. You’ve actually just wiped dirt off a grumpy old git’s face.”
I laugh. “I’m so glad my time at art college wasn’t wasted.”
He laughs, and I look affectionately at him. I know he’s going to tell me the truth. Oz doesn’t ever shy away from that. He’s my best friend in the world and it comes as a shock to realise that I’ve only known him for a couple of years. He came here to Chi an Mor in all his wisecracking, sassy glory and proceeded to turn everyone’s lives upside down. Footloose and fancy-free, he only intended to stay for a few months and ease the old house into opening to the general public. The best-laid plans always go wrong – or right – and now he’s settled with his husband Silas, the current earl, and they have a beautiful seven-month-old daughter.
He clears his throat and looks at me, and I straighten from kissing Cora’s forehead. “What?”
“I just think that you’re actually a bit wasted here, Milo.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re so bloody talented. People from all over the country are starting to come here to consult with you, and rather than enjoying it you’re stuck in a small, cold room wearing ugly gloves and hunched over a hideous painting. It’s like something from a Dickens novel.”
He rubs my arm affectionately. “You’re so clever and talented and no one sees it here apart from us, and you need more than that. You should be living it up and going to exotic parties. Mixing with artists and the bohemian crowd.”
I swallow hard at the thought of the people that used to surround Thomas. “I don’t think I’m cut out for a bohemian crowd. They sound quite noisy and tiring,” I manage to say.
“Well, maybe look for a sub-branch. The whispering bohemians or something.”
What is the biggest influence/interest that brought you to this genre?
I’ve been reading MM romance for a long time. I started out writing a MF series about a band, and in the third book I wrote a character who was the bass guitarist’s best friend. Matt was gay and very funny and I had so many requests for his HEA that I decided to write it. It was only intended to be a short story, but I loved writing the couple so much it became a full book. Then I wrote the story of a grumpy boss and his sarcastic assistant which was Rule Breaker, and I never looked back. I love this genre.
When writing a book, what is your favorite part of the creative process (outline, plot, character names, editing, etc)?
I love the bit when I’ve finished the first rough draft of the book. The nervy and almost compulsive part of writing the book is done, and I can then go through it adding things and refining the dialogue.
When reading a book, what genre do you find most interesting/intriguing?
I love the best friends-to-lovers trope which you can probably tell because I’ve written three books with that theme. I love the layers of history between two people and the banter that this allows, and I find it fascinating to see what spark urges them to change their dynamic.
If you could co-author with any author, past or present, who would you choose?
That’s so hard because I wouldn’t wish my writing process on anyone. I’d have to say it would be with friends who share a similar sense of humour, so Edie Danford, SE Harmon or Hailey Turner.
Have you always wanted to write or did it come to you "later in life"?
I’ve always been a huge daydreamer and used to think of countless plots for books, but I just dismissed that as something I couldn’t do and got on with my life. Then, my husband and parents encouraged me to give it a go, and I discovered how much I loved it.
Lily writes contemporary romance novels, and specialises in hot love stories with a good dose of humour.
Lily lives in sunny England with her husband and two children, all of whom claim that they haven’t had a proper conversation with her since she bought her first Kindle.
She has spent her life with her head full of daydreams and decided one day to just sit down and start writing about them. In the process she discovered that she actually loved writing, because how else could she get to spend her time with hot, funny men!
She loves chocolate and Baileys and the best of all creations – chocolate Baileys! Her lifetime’s ambition is to have a bath in peace without being shouted by one of her family.
Milo #2
Oz #1
Brought to you by:
