Title: Defensive Play Series: A Boys on the Brink Novella Author: Jamie Deacon Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing Cover Artist: Natasha Snow Release Date: November 30, 2018 Genre: Gay YA Sports Romance Length: 21,500 words Add to your Goodreads shelves

About the Book

Blurb

One glance is all it takes to bring his defences crashing down… Seventeen-year-old Davey has never made friends easily. Shy, geeky, crippled with social anxiety, he feels isolated from his peers, and only his position as defender for the school football team fills the void of loneliness. On the pitch, his deft footwork has earned him the respect and acceptance of his squad, though at a price. Desperate to hold onto this camaraderie, Davey conceals the truth from everyone, even his own family. Then, during the annual Brookshire football tournament, his eyes meet those of a rival player across the field and a spark flares between them, one neither boy can deny. Adam is everything Davey longs to be—confident, popular, comfortable with his sexuality. Davey aches to explore their connection, to discover where it might lead, but how can he follow his heart and risk rejection by his teammates, the closest thing to friends he has ever known?

Excerpt

The rain has stopped. A soft mist hangs in the air, turning the distant streetlights a hazy orange. After the stuffiness of the clubhouse, the night is bitterly cold and I pull on my sweatshirt against the chill. I sit on the steps overlooking the car park, heedless of the damp that seeps through my jeans. Elbows on knees, I rest my chin in my hands and close my eyes, attempting to clear my mind. I don’t want to think anymore. I just want to sit with nothing but the dark and the quiet for company. I haven’t been hunched there long when the door opens, ejecting a stream of warmth and thumping bass. I glance behind me, although I know who it will be. My body goes still. Adam lets the door swing shut and, just like that, we’re alone. He doesn’t seem surprised to find me on the steps. Perhaps he saw me leave. Has he followed me? My insides clench. What if Adam thinks I did it deliberately, that I meant to lure him out here. Maybe I had. Maybe, deep down, a part of me hoped Adam might come, even while the rest of me prayed he wouldn’t. This time, when our gazes connect, there’s no one to see, no football match to act as a buffer. I drink him in. Even in the faint glow filtering through the frosted pane in the door, his eyes are a vivid blue. “Hey,” Adam says. Such a simple word that expresses so much. There’s recognition there, like we’re childhood friends meeting after years apart, but uncertainty, too. He has a nice voice, I register through my turbulent thoughts—warm and slightly husky. “Hey.” My reply emerges somewhere between a croak and a squeak. Cringing, I stare down at my feet. “It’s Davey, right?” I fling him a startled look. Had this boy—this confident, gorgeous boy—actually gone to the trouble of finding out my name? One side of Adam’s mouth lifts in a crooked smile. “Well, I had to know who the lunatic was who almost took my leg off.” “God.” I bury my face in my hands. Of course Adam was going to ask about me after what happened on the pitch. “I’m so sorry.” He laughs and nudges my thigh with the toe of his trainer. “I’m kidding. Seriously, you did us a favour.” I dare a peep at him, unable to rid myself of the thought that he has pursued me out here to take the piss. That wouldn’t be anything new, after all. “It’s true.” Adam crouches on the step beside me, his expression amused but without malice. “Rob warned me about you. He said the rest of your defence was pretty solid, but probably weren’t quick enough to catch me. You were the real threat.” I grimace. “I’m guessing he wasn’t expecting me to take you out quite so spectacularly, though.” “Funnily enough, that wasn’t included in the pep talk. Still, I should be thanking you. You made our job a whole lot easier.” “Don’t remind me. You should’ve heard the guys after the match. I’ll never hear the end of it.” Adam laughs again, and I can’t hold back a smile. Here I am, having an actual conversation with an amazing-looking boy—a boy who’d caught me checking him out, no less—and I’m not making an ass of myself. The door behind us bursts open and several guys spill out. I tense, guard raised. Will they think it odd us sitting out here alone? I scan their faces, but none are from Farnstead. A moment later, they barrel down the steps without giving either of us a second look and head for one of the cars parked nearby. As they pile in and the engine growls to life, I exhale, shoulders slumping. I can feel Adam studying me and keep my gaze lowered. “You’re not out,” he says, “are you?” “What?” My entire body goes rigid. He knows. I’d already guessed as much, but suspecting it is one thing; being confronted with the indisputable truth sends me spiralling back into panic mode. Why had he really followed me out here? I’d thought…been sure I’d read something in his eyes when they locked with mine, but what if I’m wrong? Do I truly believe someone like Adam, someone popular and self-assured, would have sought me out? Unless… I see again the Brookminster players in their huddle, sniggering, moments after Adam caught me staring. I’d reassured myself they weren’t laughing about me, but perhaps my fears had been well founded. The cold certainty settles like a snowball in my gut. I’d given myself away, and now the other lads have sent Adam out here to chat me up, trick me into an admission I won’t be able to take back. For all I know, his mates are somewhere close by as we speak, listening in. “Hey.” Adam extends his palms in what is probably supposed to be a calming gesture. “It’s all right. I know and it’s all right.” “You don’t know anything,” I snap. The instinct for self-preservation, to keep my protective wall intact at any cost, propels me to my feet. “You hear me? You don’t know anything about me.” Before he can respond, I’m down the steps and sprinting into the darkness, phone already out to call my parents. All I want is to go home, crawl into bed, and forget today ever happened.

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About Jamie Deacon

Author Bio

Jamie lives in a tranquil spot close to the River Thames in Berkshire, England, and has always been just a little out of place—the only redhead in a family of brunettes; an introvert far more at ease with dogs than with people; a connoisseur of simple pleasures in a society intent on the quest for wealth and fame. Despite an outward cynicism, Jamie is a romantic at heart, and, when not immersed in a book, can mostly be found writing emotional stories where young men from all walks of life are forced to navigate the sometimes painful reality of growing up, coming out, and falling in love.

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Defensive Play, Jamie Deacon is giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Card. For your chance to win, simply enter via the Rafflecopter below. The giveaway is open to entrants world wide, and closes at midnight EST on Friday December 7, 2018. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Title: Take a Chance Sub-Title: A Collection of Gay Romance for New Adults Authors: Various Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing Cover Artist: Natasha Snow Release Date: December 15th, 2016 Genre(s): Anthology, M/M Romance, New Adult Words: 93,500 View on Goodreads

About the Book

Blurb

A single moment can change everything. A university student preparing to confront the adolescent crush who betrayed him. A demon embroiled in a battle against his very nature. A soldier, mentally scarred after fighting in The Great War, torn between propriety and his heart. Though separated by time and distance, culture and reality, these young men all have one thing in common: they each stand at a crossroads in their life and face a choice that will alter the course of their future. The twelve tales in this collection of gay romantic fiction range from sweet to erotic, contemporary to historical, paranormal to grittily realistic. Whether centred around the fear associated with coming out, the thorny issue of trust, or the struggle for survival, each story explores in its own way the courage needed to overcome personal obstacles and take a chance on love.

Stories

Reflections by Chase Potter Stranger than Stars by J.A. Rock Another Story by Jamie Deacon Howl by Kelley York A Boy Named Khwahish by Dee Aditya Want You Bad by Lynn Michaels Far From Texas by Eric Gober The Right Words by Elinor Gray Class-A by Debbie McGowan Lockdown by Kari Jo Spear Dream Infected by Melissa E Costa Cheese and Pickle by Claire Davis and Al Stewart

Excerpt

Just as I sat, Mr. Keno hit the lights. Everything went black. It hadn't been so dark in my old school. The blinds over the windows must be heavy enough to be bombproof. Comforting thought. Nobody believed the worn-out phrase "it can't happen here." We all knew it could. "Keep your phones put away," Mr. Keno said. "It's going to be OK." Those would be the last words we'd hear until it was over. An instant later, someone pushed in next to me, between me and the file cabinet. Just my luck. I squished over against the wall as tightly as I could. Even so, our hips touched. It was so dark I couldn't tell anything about the person, except that he or she smelled pleasantly of some herbal shampoo. Since I'd only been in the classroom a few minutes before the lockdown started, I hadn't gotten a chance to really look at my new classmates. I pressed against the wall as if I might become one with it. What I really wanted to do was curl into a ball. I settled for bending low over my legs, crossed at the ankles. I had too much imagination. It did crazy things when I was afraid. I closed my eyes in the darkness and willed myself to be calm, but every nerve was so keyed up that my pounding heart refused to slow down. First thing in the morning was the perfect time for a gunman to attack. Kids would be in their classrooms for attendance, so he could move freely in the halls without people hanging around to either jump him or run. Since the classrooms would be full, the gunman could find victims behind every door. I focused on what I could hear. The fan in the ceiling that I hadn't noticed before became an insistent whir, so loud I couldn't believe I hadn't been aware of it the moment I'd walked into the room. It covered the sounds the kids on the other side of the filing cabinet had to be making—little sounds people couldn't help but make, like scraping a shoe across the floor when they shifted position, or a stifled cough. I listened so hard it hurt. Only the fan. Nothing in the hallway. Surely, if this were a real situation, there would be turmoil somewhere in the building. Unless the administrators were expecting something to happen that hadn't happened yet. I imagined a man prowling the corridors, intent on his destination. Or perhaps he hadn't chosen his victims yet. He might be waiting for something to speak to him, like the tone of a cell phone from behind a door, or the thump of a backpack falling off a chair. It might only take some little thing like that for him to burst in here and… Taken from Lockdown by Kari Jo Spear

Buy Links

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Giveaway

Enter below for your chance to win a fabulous eBook bundle which includes the following: Choice of backlist title by Claire Davis and Al Stewart
Caught Inside by Jamie Deacon
The King of Cups by Elinor Gray
Of the Bauble by Debbie McGowan
Cupid’s Christmas Arrow by Lynn Michaels
The Race for Second by Chase Potter
Choice of backlist title by J.A. Rock
Under the Willow by Kari Jo Spear
Suicide Watch by Kelley York a Rafflecopter giveaway

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