NEW RELEASE: Relevant Heart by Janice Jarrell (Excerpt)
NEW RELEASE
Book Title: Relevant Heart (Fearless Heart Series, Book Three)
Author and Publisher: Janice Jarrell
Release Date: December 6, 2023
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Tropes: Established Gay Relationship, Ireland, Gay Attorney, Gay Psychologist
Length: 75 835 words/206 pages
Heat Rating: 4 flames
It is part of the Fearless Heart Series but can be read as a standalone.
It does not end on a cliffhanger. They get their HEA, of course!
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
The best wish is knowing that there’s nothing left to wish for.
Blurb
Colin is prosecuting his first murder case, and his ability to remain emotionally detached is challenged as the circumstances surrounding the crime awaken his deep inner fear of losing someone he loves, a fear nearly realized when – only two short months ago – Joshua was kidnapped and violently assaulted.
While Colin and his team gather evidence, Joshua endeavors to create a program that will establish a bridge between veterans suffering a mental health crisis and local police. But the effort drains Joshua’s already fragile health to a dangerous degree, leaving Colin frantic with worry and frustration.
Meanwhile, Nate has a play opening off-Broadway and must live in New York City for six to eight weeks… alone. It is clear from the onset that the director has the hots for Nate – or at least for his talent as a playwright – which has David pacing the floor in anxiety. He is happy for Nate and proud of his husband but worried about the director’s attention and unhappy about Nate’s long absence.
By the time Nate celebrates his opening night, all four friends are exhausted both emotionally and physically and ready for the healing trip to Ireland they’ve been planning for months.
Colin’s breathtaking ancestral home provides many magical moments, but an unexpected and terrifying incident leaves them shaken and questioning the faith in each other that has always been their foundation. Will these shattering circumstances strengthen their bonds or break their hearts and tear their relationships apart?
Excerpt
I feel like I’ve been a bit annoying lately.” He stared down at the sheets and huffed out a noisy breath. “I feel like ever since you were abducted, I’ve been an impossible son of a bitch to live with.”
“That’s not true either! What is wrong with you today?”
Colin arched his eyebrows, his expression one of comic confusion. “No one knows.”
“Please stop being so hard on yourself. You have not been an impossible son of a bitch to live with. Quite the contrary. I couldn’t have gotten through this without you.”
Colin quirked his mouth and huffed out a sigh. “Well, if I helped at all, I’m glad.”
“You chose me, remember?” Joshua said, cupping Colin’s cheek.
“I did,” Colin whispered. “Smartest move I ever made.”
“Well, I chose you too,” Joshua told him. “And I knew—even when I left you and ran home to Glencoe—I knew I could never love anyone else.”
Colin smiled and turned his head to press Joshua’s fingers against his lips.
“It didn’t matter that you didn’t love me,” Joshua said, his voice soft and dream-like. “It didn’t matter at all. I was bound to you, and I knew I always would be.” He pressed his lips to Colin’s, his fingers tightening in Colin’s hair. “Didn’t matter that you were mad at me,” Joshua continued. “I thought you never wanted to see me again, and even that didn’t matter.” His dark eyes met Colin’s, and they were brimming with tears. “I was yours. Even when you didn’t want me, I was yours. Even when I believed I was the only one who loved… I loved you.”
Colin pulled Joshua tight against his body, rocking him in his arms. “My darling boy, you weren’t the only one who loved! Every minute we were apart was torment for me. I was just scared that if I let you love me, I’d somehow hurt you. Or worse… lose you.”
“You can’t lose what’s already yours.” He stroked Colin’s cheek. “When I fell in love with you, I gave you part of me that you couldn’t give back even if you wanted to. A part of me that’ll always be yours. My vision of who you are as a man. My faith in who you are as a person.” He shrugged, his thumb sliding along the rise of Colin’s cheekbone. “All that will stay even if I don’t.”
Colin drew in a quick breath; his face contorted in pain. “Don’t talk like that!”
“Relax,” Joshua murmured, nestling against Colin’s chest. “To quote a famous Irishman, I’m not going anywhere!”
About the Author
My name is Janice Jarrell. I am a retired grandmother who lives in Seattle, WA. I have two children and three grandsons. I’ve been writing gay romance since I was twelve years old, only back then it wasn’t called ‘gay romance’. In fact, it had no name at all. It was the fifty’s, and it was worth your life to admit to being gay, let alone confess to being a girl who constantly fantasized about relationships between gay men. Hell, I didn’t even know what a homosexual was. I lived on a farm out in the sticks in a tiny Michigan village and I’d never, to my knowledge, even heard the word. I just knew I loved the thought of boy-on-boy romance. I just knew that there was something hot going on between Tom Corbett and his Space Cadets and all those guys on ‘Combat’.
I wrote slash fanfiction for 30 years, writing over 337 stories, some as short as 100 words (a drabble), some as long as a series which was over 119,012 words. I enjoy writing my stories. I enjoyed the feedback I received from my readers. It was a creative release I’d been searching for my entire life and I blessed the Internet for leading me to this artistic oasis for my spirit.
Love’s Magic was my very first step into writing my own characters. I will always be grateful to the slash fanfiction community for nurturing the budding author until she was ready to blossom into a fully realized novelist. It’s been an amazing thing to watch the gay community’s growth over these past twenty years. My own journey has echoed theirs in many ways, and I’m grateful to all those gay activists who fought to give the gay community the rights and privileges they always deserved. Love’s Trials, Love’s Glory, and Love’s Lawyer were the second and third, and forth books in the series and all four books are available in audio format on Audible.
I’m also grateful to the gay romance community, readers, authors, publishers and promoters, who are making these, my retirement years, the most creative ones of my life. When I’m not writing, I’m traveling, walking, hiking, knitting, crocheting, and weaving.
I’m very excited about the upcoming release of my fifth contemporary gay romance novel, Relevant Law. Those of you who fell in love with Joshua and Colin in the four previous books in this series are in for a bit of angst in this latest episode. A dark and sinister cloud hangs over the University of Virginia after three students are abducted, raped and beaten. Colin works with both campus and city police to catch the perpetrator, but his hard work and effort proves futile when Joshua turns up missing!
Despite their struggles there are still many passionate, loving moments and the friends they treasure will be there to help them find their way.
Social Media Links
Blog/Website | Instagram | Facebook | Amazon Author Page
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