Welcome to Atlantis
Of all the underwater cities lost to us,
hidden below the waves, Atlantis, if it ever existed outside of the imagination
of Plato, is certainly the most famous.
Goodness, wouldn't every writer want to
make up a place that has lasted in the memories of mankind as long as Atlantis
has?
But I get side-tracked. What if the legend
of this enduring continent which sank below the ocean thousands of years ago
didn't end there?
For my Mermen & Magic series, I took
the idea that Atlantis didn't simply end after the disaster that sank it. What if the Atlantean gods and goddesses
helped their people to survive beneath the ocean? What if the indigenous mer people and the Atlanteans
learned to share their space in the ocean?
An alliance between two vastly different species, both watched over by
the Atlantean pantheon, who gave their human followers the ability to survive
at great depths and at the same time adopted the mer people as their own.
Two worlds, combined into one centuries
before, but now torn apart.
In the present day the Atlanteans are gone
from Atlantis and only the mer remain there.
Atlantis is a decaying city protected and hidden by the controlled, but
untamed, sea dragons. It is the only
safe haven in the ocean for the mer.
The temples of the gods and goddesses are
deserted and the immortals who once watched over them are mostly absent. No longer worshipped by the Atlanteans and
the mer people, their powers are weakened, but are mysteriously growing once
again.
In the Atlantis of my new series the city
is about to come to life once more.
For as long as there are those searching
for the lost continent, for as long as there are writers bringing it to life in
fiction, the legend of the lost city of Atlantis never truly dies.
I hope readers enjoy my take on Atlantis.
Blurb
To save his clan from ever-increasing shark
attacks, merman Kyle seeks sanctuary for his people in the sunken city of
Atlantis, even though he knows that as a homosexual merman, he will be
sacrificing his own chance for love. Love finds him anyway in the form of
Prince Finn, the rebellious young heir to the Atlantean throne.
When their relationship is discovered, Kyle
is the one to pay the price. Banished from the oceans, he seeks shelter in
England and finds a new love with human, Jake Seabrook.
For Jake, Kyle is the chance to move on
from the crush he has on his straight best friend. The strange man he found
naked on the beach seems to fit into his life with ease. If only Kyle weren’t keeping secrets from
him, Jake could see them having a future together.
Things are not what they seem for either of
the men and when Kyle discovers the truth about Finn, he knows he must return to
Atlantis.
Three men, a tangled relationship, and one
chance for happiness—if they can trust enough to take it.
Excerpt
Kyle passed
Calder his trident back and once he was alone, he started to test the weapons
for weight, length and sharpness. He had just picked up his fifth trident when
he heard a movement behind him. He spun round on reflex and nearly speared the
young prince through the chest.
“That’s some weapon you have there,” the prince said with a
grin, as he pushed the trident aside carelessly. Kyle hoped the prince realised
how lucky he was the prongs on this particular weapon were blunt. “You insulted me when you left the palace.”
Kyle cringed.
“I apologise, Your Highness. This is all
very new to me.”
“Finn.”
“What?”
“My name’s Finn.”
Kyle felt a
little ignorant at not knowing the name of the prince and heir of Atlantis
already. He wondered if he was in trouble for his not entirely unintentional
insult.
“You never answered my question, either,” Finn said.
“You didn’t ask me a question.”
Finn rolled
his eyes. “Fine, you never clarified just
how many of those mer-babies are yours—or whether my guess was right.”
Kyle thought
about lying and repeating King Nereus’ reason for not knowing the answer, but
he was by nature an honest merman and he decided the truth was probably the
best option. If he chose to stay in Atlantis, he would no doubt be caught in
the lie anyway. “You guessed correctly,”
he admitted.
Finn’s grin
widened. “And how many of those pretty
mermaids you’ve brought with you to Atlantis have you taken?”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” Prince or not, Kyle
didn’t want to answer his impertinent question.
Finn moved
forward and ran a finger down the centre of Kyle’s chest. “Would you like me to guess how many?”
“Not really.”
Finn learned
close, as though he might whisper in his ear, even though they spoke
telepathically. “None.”
“Wrong,” Kyle replied with a grin of his own.
“One then,” Finn amended, “before you realised your preference for the males of our species.”
Kyle kept his
expression blank as Finn summed up his entire sexual experience with mermaids
in one eerily accurate sentence.
“I’m right, aren’t I?” Finn stroked his hand over Kyle’s
smooth chest. Most mermen didn’t develop excessive body hair. Although there
were a few exceptions, Kyle was with the majority in being smooth skinned. “How many mermen have you taken as a lover?”
The prince
was certainly persistent in his questioning. Kyle pushed his hand away
irritably. “What do you care if I’ve had
relations with a hundred mermen?”
Finn didn’t
take a hint and put his hand back where it had been a moment before. “Have you known a hundred?”
Kyle could
tell he wasn’t going to get away with evasive answers, so he decided to stick
to the truth in the hope Finn would be satisfied and disappear back to his
palace before Calder or one of the trainees came in and saw them.
“I’ve taken just one merman as a lover.”
“Is he here in Atlantis?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“I’m curious about my competition.” Finn smiled up at him
through his flyaway hair. “Is he here?”
“No. He chose to find a new clan where he could love
who he wants without censure.”
“Why didn’t you go with him?” Finn appeared genuinely
curious.
“I have a duty to my clan to see them safe. That comes
before my own selfish desires.”
Finn finally
removed his hand from Kyle’s chest and swam back a couple of feet. “There are options if you still desire the touch of a merman here in Atlantis,” Finn
said. “If you know where to look.”
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Bio
L.M.
Brown lives in England, in a quaint little village time doesn't seem to have
touched. No, wait a minute—that's the retirement biography. Right now, she is in
England in a medium sized town no one has ever heard of, so she won't bore you
with the details. Keeping her company are numerous sexy men. She just wishes
they weren't all inside her head.
L.M.
believes there is nothing hotter or sweeter than two men in love with each
other… unless it is three.
L.M.
Brown loves hearing from readers so don't be shy.
Links
Where to find L.M. Brown
Website & Blog – http://lmbrownauthor.wordpress.com/
Twitter - @LMBrownAuthor
Thanks for stopping by, LM, come back again soon!
Thanks for hosting me here today.
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