Book Name: On The Outside
Release
Date: April 30, 2016
Blurb:
When Craig
Ferguson is released from prison after a year’s sentence for fighting, he
returns home to his father and brother, and the family business. Throwing himself
back into the life he left, with family, work, and women, Craig tries to forget
his time on the inside, but there’s one thing he just can’t get out of his
mind.
Cell mate,
Rocky Kirk, still has six months of his sentence to go, and after a year together
in a tiny cell, Craig misses him more than he cares to admit. He does his best
to forget, but when Rocky is released, and arrives on Craig’s doorstep,
homeless and hurt, everything that happened between them comes flooding back.
Craig’s
family takes in Rocky, now known as Kirk, and gives him a home and a job, but
he’s reluctant to join in with their partying, and never seems entirely
comfortable in their home. A few months later Kirk announces he has to leave,
and when Craig presses him for an explanation, Kirk blurts out that his
unwanted feelings for his friend are hurting him too much to stay. His
admission changes everything, but Craig’s uncertainty, and fears of his father
discovering their secret, threatens to ruin anything that could develop between
them.
Pages or Words: 34,000 words
Categories: Contemporary, Gay Fiction,
M/M Romance
Excerpt:
I
turned away from him, barged past Dad, and took the stairs two at a time. The
bathroom door shook in its frame when I kicked it shut behind me. My temper
rapidly subsided, and I risked a peek at myself in the mirror above the sink.
The color in my face faded, leaving me pale and wild-eyed, breathing hard. What
the hell just happened?
I
replayed the scene in my head, starting with the almost-kiss between Stuart and
Catherine. Was there something between them? Was it really nothing? Was I
pissed off because she was supposed to be dating me, or was I actually hurt? I
didn't feel hurt. It didn't seem that important anymore. She probably wouldn't
want to see me again after my outburst and I wasn't convinced I minded all that
much. What the fuck did that say about us? The more I thought about it, the
more I realized I was only angry with myself, mostly because when I’d finally
got what I wanted, I didn’t want it that much anymore.
"Craig?"
A gentle tap came on the door. Kirk.
My
rapid heartrate escalated, and I scowled at my reflection. "Leave me
alone."
"Come
on, that hand needs looking at."
Sighing,
I sat on the edge of the bath. "Come in."
Kirk
slipped into the room and closed the door behind him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah,
just fucking brilliant."
"I'm
sorry."
"You
didn't do anything."
"You
know what I mean. Do you think there's anything going on with her and
Stuart?"
"How
the fuck should I know? It looked like it, didn't it?" I shrugged and blew
my breath out hard. "I don't fucking care anyway."
"I
thought you liked her."
"Yeah,
well. Maybe I should have stuck with the one-nighters."
"You
don't mean that. I thought you wanted a relationship."
"I
don't wanna talk about it." I didn’t want to think about it anymore
either. My hand stung like a bastard, and I noticed for the first time that
blood was dripping all over the tiles under my feet. Before I could move, Kirk
grabbed a folded towel, placed it on my knee and laid my hand on it, palm down.
"There's
a lot of glass in there."
"You
reckon you can get it out?"
"I'll
try." He found tweezers and tissues in the bathroom cabinet, and dropped
to his knees at my feet. Some of the droplets of blood soaked into his jeans
and I grimaced.
"You're
getting blood on you."
"It'll
wash." He dabbed carefully at the back of my hand, and the tissues turned
red. "This looks bad. You might need stitches."
"I'll
be all right." I clenched my teeth as he plucked out the first glass
splinter and looked around for somewhere to put it. I reached for Dad's can of
shaving foam and flipped off the lid. "Put them in there."
Kirk
dropped each tiny piece of glass into the lid, and I counted eighteen pieces
before Dad spoke from outside the door.
"Do
you need to go to the hospital?"
"No.
Thanks. Kirk's fixing it."
"Right.
Good." His feet thudded on the stairs as he returned to the football
match.
"I'm
missing the match."
Kirk
looked up at me and grinned, his brown eyes twinkling. "You'd rather bleed
to death than miss the football?"
"Yeah,
probably."
"I
think I got it all."
"What?"
"The
glass. I think I got it all out." I dropped my gaze as he dabbed at the
myriad tiny wounds with the wad of tissue. "Does it feel like there's anything
still in there?"
"No."
"I
think I saw some bandages in the cabinet." Kirk got up and rifled through
the cupboard. I stayed where I was until he kneeled down again and placed a
dressing on the back of my hand. "Hold that there a minute."
"Were
you a paramedic in a previous life?"
"I
did a first aid course a few years ago. I can remember most of it." He
wrapped a bandage around my hand, binding the dressing in place and making a
surprisingly neat job of it. When it was done he stayed where he was, and I
realized he was holding my bandaged hand in both of his and stroking my palm
with one thumb. A few strands of hair had escaped the knot on the back of his
head, and I had a sudden urge to tuck them behind his ear. I held my breath,
staring at the top of his bent head. The only sound in the room was his
breathing, and the intermittent drip from the bath tap that had needed fixing
for a while.
"Thanks."
The word came out croaky, my mouth so dry I could barely speak at all.
"No
problem." Kirk jerked away, dropping my hand as if it had burnt him.
Snatching up the wad of tissues, he tossed them into the toilet, and used the
bloody towel to mop the floor. I stayed where I was until he opened the door
and left me alone. His bedroom door opened and closed, and I made my way
downstairs. I felt less concerned about my likely imminent break-up with
Catherine, than I was about the moment
in the bathroom.
What
the hell happened? Maybe nothing. Maybe something. Did he still think about
what happened between us and try not to? Jerk off and try not to remember me
fucking him? Did he feel anything when he held my hand and stroked my palm,
then jumped away? Jesus Christ. My heart hammered, and this time when I told
myself it didn’t mean anything, and that I just kept remembering the person I’d
been close to on the inside, it didn’t work.
Buy the book:
Meet the author:
Louise Lyons comes from a family of
writers. Her mother has a number of poems published in poetry anthologies, her
aunt wrote poems for the church, and her grandmother sparked her inspiration
with tales of fantasy. Louise first ventured into writing short stories at the
grand old age of eight, mostly about little girls and ponies. She branched into
romance in her teens, and MM romance a few years later, but none of her work
saw the light of day until she discovered FanFiction in her late twenties.
Posting stories based on some of her favorite movies, provoked a surprisingly positive response from readers. This gave Louise the confidence to submit some of her work to publishers, and made her take her writing “hobby” more seriously.
Louise lives in the UK, about an hour north of London, with a collection of tropical fish and tarantulas. She works in the insurance industry by day, and spends every spare minute writing. She is a keen horse-rider, and loves to run long-distance. Some of her best writing inspiration comes to her, when her feet are pounding the open road. She often races into the house afterward, and grabs pen and paper to make notes.
Louise has always been a bit of a tomboy, and one of her other great loves is cars and motorcycles. Her car and bike are her pride and joy, and she loves to exhibit the car at shows, and take off for long days out on the bike, with no one for company but herself.
Posting stories based on some of her favorite movies, provoked a surprisingly positive response from readers. This gave Louise the confidence to submit some of her work to publishers, and made her take her writing “hobby” more seriously.
Louise lives in the UK, about an hour north of London, with a collection of tropical fish and tarantulas. She works in the insurance industry by day, and spends every spare minute writing. She is a keen horse-rider, and loves to run long-distance. Some of her best writing inspiration comes to her, when her feet are pounding the open road. She often races into the house afterward, and grabs pen and paper to make notes.
Louise has always been a bit of a tomboy, and one of her other great loves is cars and motorcycles. Her car and bike are her pride and joy, and she loves to exhibit the car at shows, and take off for long days out on the bike, with no one for company but herself.
Where to find the author:
Publisher: Louise Lyons
Cover
Artist: Simon Searle
Tour Dates & Stops:
Boys on the
Brink Reviews, Elisa
- My Reviews and Ramblings, Wake Up Your
Wild Side, Making
It Happen,
My Fiction Nook,
BFD
Book Blog, Velvet Panic, 3
Chicks After Dark, Inked
Rainbow Reads, Havan
Fellows,
Wicked
Faerie's Tales and Reviews, Alpha Book Club,
Charley
Descoteaux, Bayou
Book Junkie, Unquietly Me,
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Prize: eBook from Louise’s backlist, plus a $5 Amazon gift card
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