Showing posts with label trans romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trans romance. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

πŸŽ…πŸŽ„9th Day of Christmas Author SpotlightπŸŽ„πŸŽ…: AL Lester




AL Lester

Writer of queer, paranormal, historical, romantic suspense in various combinations. Lives in the South West of England with Mr AL, two children, a Bichon Frise, a terrifying cat and some hens. Likes gardening but doesn't really have time or energy. Not musical. Doesn't much like telly. Non-binary. Chronically disabled. Has tedious fits.

You can sign up to my weekly newsletter for deleted scenes, works in progress, pet pictures and occasional news about other, similar authors at my website.



FACEBOOK  /  TWITTER  /  FB FRIEND
WEBSITE  /  NEWSLETTER  /  KOBO
iTUNES  /  AUDIBLE  /  JMS BOOKS
B&N  /  GOOGLE PLAY  /  INSTAGRAM
CHIRP  /  YOUTUBE  /  SOUNDCLOUD
BOOKBUB  /  AMAZON  /  GOODREADS
EMAIL: ally@allester.co.uk




The Fog of War
Summary:
Bradfield Trilogy #1/Border Magic Universe
The quiet village of Bradfield should offer Dr Sylvia Marks the refuge she seeks when she returns home from her time in a field hospital in France in 1918. However, she is still haunted by the disappearance of her lover, ambulance driver Anna Masters, two years previously. Settling back in as the village doctor alone in her large family house is more difficult than she realised it would be after the excitement of front-line medicine. Then curious events at a local farm, mysterious lights, and a hallucinating patient’s strange illness make her revisit her assessment of Anna’s death on the battlefield.

Lucille Hall-Bridges is at a loose end now her nursing work is finished. Her Mama and Papa are perfectly happy for her to pursue any or no career or social round; but she felt useful as a nurse and now she really doesn’t know what to do with her life. She hopes going to stay with her friend Sylvia for a while will help her find a way forward. And if that involves staying at Bradfield with Sylvia ... then that’s fine with her.

But Sylvia is still focused on finding out what happened to her very good friend Anna three years ago; and the unbelievable events at a local farm over the course of the last year don’t seem to have helped her let that go.

Will the arrival of Lucy in Bradfield be the catalyst that allows both women to put their wartime stresses to rest? Can Sylvia move on from her love affair with Anna and find happiness again with Lucy, or is she still too entwined in the unresolved endings of the past?

NOTE: This story contains mention of domestic violence that happens to side characters off-screen.




Taking Stock
Summary:
It's 1972. Fifteen years earlier, teenage Laurie Henshaw came to live at Webber's Farm with his elderly uncle and settled in to the farming life. Now thirty-two, Laurie has a stroke in the middle of working on the farm. As he recovers, he has to come to terms with the fact that some of his new limitations are permanent and he's never going to be as active as he used to be. Will he be able to accept the helping hands his friends extend to him?

With twenty successful years in the city behind him, Phil McManus is hiding in the country after his boyfriend set him up to take the fall for an insider trading deal at his London stockbroking firm. There's not enough evidence to prosecute anyone, but not enough to clear him, either. He can't bear the idea of continuing his old stagnating life in the city or going back to his job now everyone knows he's gay.

Thrown together in a small country village, can Phil and Laurie forge a new life that suits the two of them and the makeshift family who gathers round them? Or are they too tied up in their own shortcomings to recognise what they have?






Inheritance of Shadows
Summary:
Bradfield Village/Border Magic Universe
It’s 1919. Rob and Matty both return to Webber’s Farm from the trenches only to find Matty’s brother dying of an unknown illness. And Matty’s looking sicker and sicker. The answer seems to be in the esoteric books Arthur left strewn around the house.

It’s taken a decade and a war to admit they have feelings for each other. They are determined that nothing will part them. What is Rob prepared to sacrifice to save Matty’s life?

A stand-alone 35k word novella set in the Border Magic Universe (previously the Lost in Time universe). Gay, paranormal, historical, romantic suspense. Set in rural England in 1919.










Surfacing Again
Summary:
Contemporary Celtic Myths
Melinda is staying on Lindisfarne for a Christmas break with her old friend when an unexpected argument leaves her alone for the holiday.

It's the first Christmas since her mother died and the island's peace and wild tranquillity bring balm to her wounded heart. Two chance meetings, first with a pair of wary otters and then with cafe-owner Rowan, bring her genuine joy.

Will her tentative relationship with Rowan survive the end of her holiday and the turning of the year?

A short sapphic Christmas story. With otters.










The Quid Pro Quo
Summary:

Bradfield Trilogy #2/Border Magic Universe
Village nurse Walter Kennett is content with his makeshift found-family in tiny Bradfield. However one midsummer morning a body is found floating in the village duck pond, dead by magical means.

Detective Simon Frost arrives in Bradfield to investigate a inexplicable murder. The evidence seems to point to Lucille Hall-Bridges, who lives with doctor Sylvia Marks and nurse Walter Kennett at Courtfield House. Simon isn’t happy—he doesn’t believe Lucy is a murderer but  he’s sure the three of them are hiding something. In the meantime, the draw he feels toward Walter takes him by surprise.

Walter is in a dilemma, concealing Sylvia and Lucy’s relationship and not knowing how much to tell Frost about the paranormal possibilities of the murder. He isn’t interested in going to bed with anyone—he’s got a complicated life and has to know someone really well before he falls between the sheets. He’s taken aback by his own attraction to Detective Frost and angry when Frost appears to twist the spark between them to something transactional in nature.

Will Walter be satisfied to stay on the periphery of Lucy and Sylvia’s love affair, a welcome friend but never quite included? Or is it time for him to strike out and embark on  a relationship of his own?

The second in the Bradfield trilogy, set in the Border Magic universe. With a transm/m couple.



The Fog of War
B&N  /  KOBO  /  JMS BOOKS

Taking Stock
B&N  /  iTUNES  /  JMS BOOKS
KOBO  /  WEBSITE  /  GOOGLE PLAY

Inheritance of Shadows
AMAZON US  /  AMAZON UK  /  B&N
KOBO  /  iTUNES  /  iTUNES AUDIO
AUDIBLE  /  CHIRP  /  GOOGLE PLAY

Surfacing Again

The Quid Pro Quo
B&N  /  KOBO  /  JMS BOOKS


Sunday, November 21, 2021

Week at a Glance: 11/15/21 - 11/21/21














Release Blitz: The Quid Pro Quo by AL Lester

Title: The Quid Pro Quo
Author: AL Lester
Series: Bradfield Trilogy #2
Genre: Transgender, M/TransM, Historical, Paranormal, Mystery
Release Date: November 20, 2021
Editor: Lourenza Adlem
Publisher: JMS Books


Summary:

Village nurse Walter Kennett is content with his makeshift found-family in tiny Bradfield. However one midsummer morning a body is found floating in the village duck pond, dead by magical means.

Detective Simon Frost arrives in Bradfield to investigate a inexplicable murder. The evidence seems to point to Lucille Hall-Bridges, who lives with doctor Sylvia Marks and nurse Walter Kennett at Courtfield House. Simon isn’t happy—he doesn’t believe Lucy is a murderer but  he’s sure the three of them are hiding something. In the meantime, the draw he feels toward Walter takes him by surprise.

Walter is in a dilemma, concealing Sylvia and Lucy’s relationship and not knowing how much to tell Frost about the paranormal possibilities of the murder. He isn’t interested in going to bed with anyone—he’s got a complicated life and has to know someone really well before he falls between the sheets. He’s taken aback by his own attraction to Detective Frost and angry when Frost appears to twist the spark between them to something transactional in nature.

Will Walter be satisfied to stay on the periphery of Lucy and Sylvia’s love affair, a welcome friend but never quite included? Or is it time for him to strike out and embark on  a relationship of his own?

The second in the Bradfield trilogy, set in the Border Magic universe. With a transm/m couple.


As Simon was replacing the device on the telephone table a pretty young woman put her head out of a door at toward the end of the hall. “Sylv!” she said, “Do you want tea? I’ve boiled the kettle.” and then when she realised he wasn’t who she thought he was, “Oh, I do beg your pardon! I thought you were Dr Marks!”.

“She’s still in the surgery,” Simon nodded across the hall.

The woman emerged into the hall. “Lucille Hall-Bridges,” she said, extending a hand. “I’m a friend of Sylvia’s. I help with the house.”

Simon took her hand in his. Her grip was sure and warm. “Detective Frost,” he replied. “Nice to meet you, Miss Hall-Bridges. She had a recent bruise running from her jaw to just below her eye, entering the black-and-purple stage.

“I’ve made a pot of tea,” she was saying. “I don’t know whether anyone will want any, but I do like to feel useful and tea is so…normal-making, isn’t it?”

He nodded, slightly bemused at her chatter. “Yes, indeed,” he said. “Very normal.”

She gave a perfunctory tap on the surgery door, opened it and disappeared inside without waiting for a response. “Sylv, Walter, I’ve made tea. Would you and your detective like to come into the drawing room?” Her voice faded, presumably as she joined them in the examination room.

There was a pause. Then, “Oh!” he heard her say. “Oh.” She sounded a little shocked. “What’s happened to her hands?” she asked.

“Scraped on the bottom on the pond I think,” Simon heard Dr Marks say. “She was face-down in the water.”

“Oh.” Miss Hall-Bridges’ voice was small. “Sylvia…there’s…she’s…I can feel…do you think…?” Her voice trailed off and Dr Marks spoke over her, clearly away they might be overhead.

“Let’s not worry about that now, shall we? The policeman is sending her down to Taunton to a postmortem. You go and take the tea-things into the drawing room. We’ll just cover her up.”





Author Bio:

Writer of queer, paranormal, historical, romantic suspense, mostly. Lives in the South West of England with Mr AL, two children, a terrifying cat, some hens and the duckettes. Likes gardening but doesn't really have time or energy. Not musical. Doesn't much like telly. Non-binary. Chronically disabled. Has tedious fits.


FACEBOOK  /  TWITTER  /  LINK BIO
B&N  /  AUDIBLE  /  KOBO  /  JMS BOOKS
iTUNES  /  AMAZON  /  GOODREADS
EMAIL: ally@allester.co.uk  



The Quid Pro Quo #2
AMAZON US  /  AMAZON UK  /  B&N

The Fog of War #1
AMAZON US  /  AMAZON UK  /  B&N


Sunday, May 2, 2021

Release Blitz: Burn that Bridge by JR Gray

Title: Burn that Bridge
Author: JR Gray
Genre:  LGBT, Trans Romance, Coming Out
Release Date: April 29, 2021


Summary:

Turns out trading a spot on the cheerleading squad for a fresh fade and all-new pronouns was more of a recipe for disaster than happiness. Coming out as trans in rural Alabama, where football rules and cheer is life, might have been the worst way to start my senior year.

There are no safety nets for people like me in places like this.

But sometimes, hope shows itself in the most unexpected places. New friends help us survive —and maybe— thrive. But falling for Sebastian was not part of the plan.

Embracing my identity put my happiness at odds with my safety. I’m terrified. Terrified to be me. Terrified to be happy. Terrified to love him.

Welcome to senior year.

Try to make it out alive.



There was a light to this boy I’d never experienced before. His soul was brightness. I envied him. I wanted to comb my fingers through him and feel like he felt if only for an instant.

He drummed on his thigh, lost in his Fall Out Boy, which was such a strange band for him to be into. They were like thirty-five, but he owned it. He’d put all their albums on shuffle. Some stuff I knew, and others were made before I was old enough to care about music, and his dedication showed. He started to belt out every song in a slightly off-key tune that endeared him in my heart.

“How many people see this side of you?”

He looked over at me, his cheeks turning a little pink. “Just Emery, and now you.” He shrugged it off like it wasn’t that big a deal, but in the world I’d fallen from, it was. “My group of friends doesn’t care about cool.”

“Everyone cares in the group I was in.”

“It shows.”

I couldn’t make eye contact. “You mean since none of them will talk to me anymore?”

“Why do they care what you look like? You’re still the same person, right?”

“It’s more than that.”

“Is it?”

I turned back towards him, waiting for an explanation.

“You changed the outside and a name. And you didn’t really change it that much. You decided to go by your initials. If that’s all it takes to scare people off, they are the problem.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“I think it is. You were…” He trailed off.

“I was?” I prompted.

He shook his head. “Just rambling. It should be, and is, that simple.”

“I was lying to them. I deceived every single person for the last year.” This was so much heavier than I wanted the night to be. I didn’t want everything to be colored by my transition. I wanted to be as light as Sebastian felt.

“I think we all have parts of us we aren’t ready to share with the rest of the world. That doesn’t make you a liar.” He rolled to his side to face me.

“This isn’t a little thing.”

“I think you’re making excuses for shitty behavior.”

I couldn’t look at him again, but I could feel his eyes, unwavering. “They don’t know any better.”

“It’s time to learn.” He skimmed his fingers over my forearm, and there were real damn sparks in the wake of his touch.

I put my hand over the place he’d been like I could hold the feeling there, preserve it in some way.

He was my rainbow. A prism projecting color into this dreary existence. The little bit of light shining through the rain, and maybe that was all I needed to go on.




Author Bio:

Gray is a cynical Chicago native, who drinks coffee all day, barely sleeps, and is a little too fashion obsessed. He writes realistic and damaged characters because everyone deserves a happily ever after.








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