May
2015
Debbie McGowan and Raine O’Tierney’s Leaving Flowers
This book y’all. I cannot tell you how excited I am to read Leaving Flowers by Debbie McGowan and Raine O’Tierney. They join me today as part of their blog tour and have shared an exclusive bonus scene that you won’t find anywhere else. After you read the amazing scene, read all about the book, plus an excerpt that is full of emotion and will leave you wanting more. At the very bottom, enter for a chance to win an Amazon gift card.
As the plane settled into its holding pattern, circling Dublin airport, Patrick slowly became aware of Aidan watching him, and waiting for him to look his way.
“What?” he asked, his eyes still on the small paper bag in his hands. How in God’s name had he forgotten that flying made him so sick? Could they have come by boat? How long would that have taken? Days? Weeks? “We should’ve gone on a cruise instead.”
Aidan’s hand landed gently on his knee. He squeezed lightly. “It’ll all be over soon, Paddy.”
“I hope so.” Patrick swallowed back the saliva. The plane juddered and dipped slightly to the left, then a bit more, and then swung, the ground on that side now in view. “Oh, Jesus.” He grabbed Aidan’s hand and squeezed his eyes tight shut. “Do me a favor? Don’t mention to Seamus how much of a wimp I’ve been.”
“My lips are sealed. But it’s been a pretty rough ride. That turbulence as we came over Canada—”
“Er, yeah. I was kind of trying to forget about it, to be honest with you.”
“Sorry.”
“Good morning. This is your captain speaking. We are now approaching Dublin airport. Please remain in your seats until…” The captain’s landing message continued in the periphery of Patrick’s hearing, now limited to a fuzzy buzz by the changing pressure in the cabin. If they didn’t land soon his head was going to explode. Make a terrible mess, it would, too. Red hair and gray matter all over the place. Yes, so, he was maybe being a wee bit over the top, but he really bloody hated flying.
A few bumps and then another change in cabin pressure. Patrick gulped.
“We’re on the ground, Paddy,” Aidan explained.
Patrick nodded without opening his eyes. People around him talked at speed, a mingle of accents he was surprised he could still identify after all those years State-side. Quite a few from the north, and one or two from Tyrone, by the sound of it. It was already so familiar and comforting. Wonder if Seamus got that dog yet? I bet it’s another setter. God, I’ve missed the big eejit. I hope he’s cleaned up the place, or I’ll be ashamed. Over the top of the cacophony came the beeps of the the seatbelt warning.
“We’re here,” Aidan said.
Patrick opened his eyes, pered out of the window and smiled. “So we are. Welcome to my place.”
Blurb:
Shy and awkward since childhood, Aidan Degas is now a man lost. His twin—Aidan’s other half, Nadia—died tragically young, leaving him with nothing to get him through his days but his job at the prestigious Grand Heights Luxury Apartments and the flowers he lays upon her grave. When Aidan is assaulted on the job by a tenant, it’s the graveyard he turns to for strength and solace.
Patrick loves being assistant groundskeeper at the sprawling cemetery where he tends graves and offers a bit of comfort to mourners. When he sees a sad young man lingering over an old grave, his curiosity is strangely piqued for reasons he doesn’t understand. He’s never done this—struck up a friendship with a mourner. But soon that friendship blossoms into a romance.
It’s not going to be easy for the pair. Aidan is so damaged, like petals crushed in an angry fist, and even with Patrick’s warm heart and Irish charm, it might not be enough to bring him back from the edge.
Excerpt:
“Quit then. It sounds a horrible place.”
“I can’t quit.” Aidan closed his eyes and left them closed, letting out a long, low breath. “The Grand Heights is all I have.”
He felt Patrick move, felt as he shifted across the center console, close into Aidan’s space, but he did not open his eyes. He was expecting the hug—longed for it even—and as Patrick’s arms wrapped around him, Aidan melted into the feel and warmth and smell of Patrick. Then he felt Patrick’s lips on his neck, so gentle he almost wasn’t certain he felt it at all. He was tenderly kissing the spot where Mrs. Wright had left such an ugly mark.
“I wish I could make it disappear.” Patrick’s voice was hypnotizing, the sound of rain on a tin roof. Aidan turned his face, just a little, so that Patrick’s lips caressed his cheek.
“The hickey?”
“All of it.”
Their lips met and Aidan died a little, right there, in the parking garage. It was nothing at all like when he’d awkwardly kissed his prom date goodnight, his teeth knocking against hers. Nor was it like Ms. Ashmore and her almost suffocating kisses. And it sure as hell wasn’t Mrs. Wright clawing into him, sucking on his neck like a vampire with a blood-soaked appetizer.
“I’m sorry,” Patrick murmured against his lips. “I don’t know what I’m thinkin’, kissing you like this. I just can’t stand to see you sufferin’, Aidan Degas.”
“Oh.” Idiot, Aidan berated himself as he pulled back. He inhaled deeply and let it out on a chuckle he hoped sounded natural and not hurt. He’s feeling sorry for you. God, you always read so much into everything. “Well, I am feeling much better now.”
Patrick didn’t look convinced.
“I promise,” Aidan said, way too brightly, and turned back to the window. “I wonder if we’re ever getting out of this garage.”
About The Authors:
Debbie McGowan is an author and publisher based in a semi-rural corner of Lancashire, England. She writes character-driven, realist fiction, celebrating life, love and relationships. A working class girl, she ‘ran away’ to London at 17, was homeless, unemployed and then homeless again, interspersed with animal rights activism (all legal, honest ;)) and volunteer work as a mental health advocate. At 25, she went back to college to study social science— tough with two toddlers, but they had a ‘stay at home’ dad, so it worked itself out. These days, the toddlers are young women (much to their chagrin), and Debbie teaches undergraduate students, writes novels and runs an independent publishing company, occasionally grabbing an hour of sleep where she can!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/writerdebmcg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DebbieMcGowanAuthor and http://www.facebook.com/beatentrackpublishing
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/deb248211
Tumblr: http://writerdebmcg.tumblr.com
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/writerdebmcg
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DebbieMcGowan
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4401329.Debbie_McGowan
Website: http://www.debbiemcgowan.co.uk
Raine O’Tierney lives outside of Kansas City with her husband, fellow author, Siôn O’Tierney. When she’s not writing, she’s either playing video games or fighting the good fight for intellectual freedom at her library day job. Raine believes the best thing we can do in life is be kind to one another, and she enjoys encouraging fellow writers! Writing for 20+ years (with the last 10 spent on gay romance) Raine changes sub-genres to suit her mood and believes all good stories end sweetly. Contact her if you’re interested in talking about point-and-click adventure games or about which dachshunds are the best kinds of dachshunds!
Homepage: Raineotierney.com
LGBT Author Interviews: http://raineotierneyhatparty.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaineOTierneyAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RaineOTierney
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7770350.Raine_O_Tierney
Buy Links:
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/528968?ref=b10track
Beaten Track Publishing (Paperback): http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/shop/proddetail.php?prod=leavingflowers
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-leavingflowers-1765734-149.html
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UY86QUG
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UY86QUG
Tour Stops:
1-May: BFD Book Blog, My Fiction Nook
4-May: Inked Rainbow Reads, Velvet Panic
5-May: MM Good Book Reviews, Foxylutely Book Reviews, Up All Night, Read All Day
6-May: Hearts on Fire
7-May: The Novel Approach, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
8-May: Cate Ashwood, Bike Book Reviews
11-May: Bayou Book Junkie
12-May: The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat, Charley Descoteaux, Molly Lolly
13-May: Love Bytes, EE Montgomery
14-May: Amanda C. Stone, Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My
15-May: Prism Book Alliance, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Boy Meets Boy Reviews
Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway