Tag: Finding Forgiveness

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New release! The Quality of Mercy

McKay

I’m a little late making this announcement because life has been a little hectic lately, but better late than never! Ari and I are pleased to announce the second book in our Bent Oak saga, The Quality of Mercy.

Gil Porter and Matt Grayson’s Bent Oak Ranch in Mercy, Texas, is a rare haven for gay men in the nineteenth century, and their friend Carlos Hernandez will need it when a man from his past unexpectedly comes back into his life.

Jules Wingate hopes to start over in Mercy as the schoolmaster after a scandal sent him and his son fleeing their former home. But he discovers he’s left one bad situation for another when he encounters his former student and lover, Carlos. No matter how Jules tries to resist, he yearns for the passionate connection they once shared… before Carlos broke his heart.

Carlos knows his foolish, immature actions hurt Jules, but he desperately wants a second chance and to show Jules he’s changed. But trust so badly broken is hard to repair. While he works to earn Jules’s forgiveness, someone else at the ranch has his sights set on Carlos—and he doesn’t care how many lives he has to ruin to make Carlos his and his alone.

This is a sequel to Finding Forgiveness. 

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What we’re working on

McKay

Ari and I usually have 2-3 works in progress at any given time. We like having multiple drafts going because if we hit a wall with one work, we can set it aside for a while and pick up with something else. Sometimes, we need to put something aside because it’s a long work, like the Blood Bathory novels, and we need a break from it or we need to knock out a shorter work for a submission call. Sometimes we need to stop and think about where to next. Sometimes it just fizzles, which is usually a sign we need to back up and regroup — and rewrite!

Right now, we’re actively working on two drafts. One is the third novel in the Blood Bathory trilogy. I’d say we’re about 2/3rd finished. This is a manuscript that’s been stopped and restarted probably three times for various reasons, mainly due to the dynamic between the two leading characters not working out right. But we’ve finally got it right this time, and it’s rolling along.

The other one is a follow-up to Finding Forgiveness. When we introduced Carlos as Matt’s ex-lover, we intended him to be a minor character who provided some additional tension between Matt and Gil. However, he ended up with a larger role and a richer backstory, and now he’s getting his own book.

In Finding Forgiveness, Carlos mentions the man he lost because his feet and his eyes wandered too much. Obviously, he still carries a torch for that man, so we’re giving him a second chance to win back the man he loves.

Initially, Carlos was the name of the ranch hand whose mare was having trouble foaling, but when Matt’s ex arrived, I wanted to switch names and give the name Carlos to the character with the larger role because I’m a Welcome to Night Vale fan, and I adore Carlos the scientist.

We knew Carlos needed to be sexy in order to make Gil jealous. I remembered an interview I’d seen with Cecil Baldwin, who said he imagined Carlos the scientist as looking like a hot Brazilian model. It didn’t take much Googling to find my perfect Carlos: Beto Malfacini.

Beto-Malfacini(5)

 

We’ve made pretty good progress on the draft despite real life-related interruptions, so we’re hoping to get it finished, polished, and submitted before the end of the year. Hopefully our readers will enjoy reading about Carlos’ story of old flames, redemption, and forgiveness.

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Finding Forgiveness release day!

McKay

Our historical Western, Finding Forgiveness, is now available from Dreamspinner Press! It’s 200 pages for $5.99. We both enjoy writing historicals — and there will likely be a sequel to this one. 😉

Boston in 1888 is quite urbane, but unfortunately for Gil Porter, that isn’t the same thing as being understanding. When his sexuality is exposed by the scandalous suicide of his lover, Gil is exiled to the small town of Mercy, Texas, by his domineering father, George, who believes life on Vernon Porter’s ranch will cure Gil of his “unnatural” desires. Grieving and ashamed, Gil is determined to keep his distance from everyone until he can return home. To his surprise, he finds acceptance at Bent Oak Ranch, especially from Matt Grayson, the handsome son of the ranch foreman. Knowing he must fight his attraction to Matt, Gil courts a local girl, but an unexpected encounter with Matt leads to his discovery of Matt’s feelings for him. Torn between Matt and his desire to be “normal,” between returning to his old life and building a new one in Texas, Gil is faced with a choice—appeasing his father or becoming the man Matt knows he can be.

FindingForgiveness_postcard_front_DSP

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Finding Forgiveness now available for pre-order!

McKay

We have a new historical Western coming out with Dreamspinner Press on September 24: Finding Forgiveness! It’s 200 pages for $4.49, and it’s available for pre-order from Dreamspinner right now.

Keen eyed readers might find an easter egg that links this book to our first historical Western, Heart of Stone. 😉

Boston in 1888 is quite urbane, but unfortunately for Gil Porter, that isn’t the same thing as being understanding. When his sexuality is exposed by the scandalous suicide of his lover, Gil is exiled to the small town of Mercy, Texas, by his domineering father, George, who believes life on Vernon Porter’s ranch will cure Gil of his “unnatural” desires. Grieving and ashamed, Gil is determined to keep his distance from everyone until he can return home. To his surprise, he finds acceptance at Bent Oak Ranch, especially from Matt Grayson, the handsome son of the ranch foreman. Knowing he must fight his attraction to Matt, Gil courts a local girl, but an unexpected encounter with Matt leads to his discovery of Matt’s feelings for him. Torn between Matt and his desire to be “normal,” between returning to his old life and building a new one in Texas, Gil is faced with a choice—appeasing his father or becoming the man Matt knows he can be.