RELEASE BLITZ, EXCERPT, GIVEAWAY & REVIEW - Weekend Girl (Weekend Girl #1) by Alex Powell

Title: Weekend Girl

Series: Weekend Girl, Book One

Author: Alex Powell

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 06/21/2021

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: M/NB

Length: 57200

Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Canada, alloromantic, aromantic, agender, pansexual, genderfluid, college, sexual harassment, manties, cross-dressing, transgender, #ownvoices, new adult

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Ashley Kingston is a genderfluid university student with a major crush on attractive and charming Nolan. He seems just too perfect to be true. What happens when Ash meets Nolan while dressed as both a man, and a woman? And even more confusing, what happens when Nolan seems enamoured of both versions of Ash? A twisty-turny romance filled with fun and shenanigans.

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My Rating - 3.5 Stars!

Weekend Girl is the first book in the Weekend Girl series by Alex Powell. It's a college romance that explores being non-binary and gender fluidity.

Ash is gender fluid, and struggling to find someone who excepts them. They're also struggling to figure out who they are, which is well written. 

I don't love the writing style. It just doesn't quite work for me. But I like the storyline a lot. 

The author does a great job illustrating some of the issues with being gender fluid, including the fear, the doubts, and the body dysphoria. 

Weekend Girl is definitely worth a read when you're in the mood to read about gender issues. Alex Powell takes the reader on an eye-opening and realistic journey of the struggles of gender and sexuality. 

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Ashley Kingston sat in the bustling Davie Street cafe staring into his—Wait!

No.

Their cup. Their.

They had managed to misgender themself again, and honestly, it was getting old. Realizing they might not be a cis dude was like trying to find a bra that would fit their frame—sometimes it poked them in places not meant to be poked.

Speaking of bras, Ash had two new ones in their bag on the floor next to their feet. Normally, Ash wouldn’t have gone to a store to purchase clothes not meant for men, but their friend Bei Bei had gotten Ash’s measurements and pretended the bras were for her. One was a perfectly sensible beige number, but the other was fire-engine red, at Bei Bei’s insistence. Ash was nervous about trying them on, even when no one else was around, but what were they to do? Progress was progress.

They glanced over at their friend from the corner of their eye. Bei Bei was on her phone texting someone, running her hand through the short hair on one side of her head. Her undercut was brand spanking new.

Still not used to it? Ash frowned. The two of them were both trying something on for size. Bei Bei said she wanted to be the butchest of butch lesbians. She’d gone into the salon and had all of her long black hair cut off just that morning. Ash had watched as Bei Bei transformed before their eyes. What was it like to have long hair?

Ash ran a hand through their own dark-brown hair and sighed. Maybe one day.

“What are you moping for?” Bei Bei demanded. “We just had shopping therapy. I thought for sure you’d be happier now.”

“I’m not unhappy,” Ash started.

“But you are,” Bei Bei finished.

“I was just thinking—” Ash sighed again. “—what it might be like to have long hair, and I just…” They shrugged.

“Is that all?” Bei Bei said. “We can get you a wig.”

“I’m a starving student! As if I could afford a quality wig!”

“It doesn’t have to be expensive,” Bei Bei said. “I’ll help you find something nice but affordable online.”

“Okay,” Ash said, somewhat mollified. “I guess I was just blowing things out of proportion—again.”

“You really need to chill.” Bei Bei patted their arm. “I know, anxiety sucks.”

“At least my meds are somewhat stable. I have a mate back home who can hardly go outside some days.”

Bei Bei nodded sympathetically. The two sat in silence for a few moments, and Ash took a sip of their now-lukewarm London Fog. They licked a bit of foam off their lip. The world went on by outside the cafe window, and Ash watched from their place perched atop a bar-style stool, elbows resting on the counter running along the inside of the window.

“Ooh,” Bei Bei said. “She’s hot.”

A very tall Black girl with bantu knots and long legs walked by outside. Ash nodded. She was very attractive, and her barely there black shorts hugged her hips. Ash, who had known they were pansexual long before they figured out their gender, considered themself an equal-opportunity lover.

That is, when they even had a lover. Ash struggled to keep relationships, and they could never figure out why. It wasn’t a lack of attraction, and Ash enjoyed dating. But something always made the situation go sour.

The girl stopped for the traffic light on Davie and Granville, and Bei Bei and Ash looked on with interest. A loud group of tourists passed by the window, and when the group cleared, the girl looked back at them. Ash pretended to be very interested in the dregs of their drink.

Of course, Bei Bei kept on staring.

The girl turned and came towards them. Ash didn’t know what to do, so it was lucky their attention was on Bei Bei. The girl came into the cafe, making her way to where Ash and Bei Bei were sitting.

“Can I help you?” the Black girl asked.

Bei Bei’s eyes sparkled. “I’ve lost my phone. Do you mind calling it for me?”

The girl’s mouth twitched. “That the best you got?”

“Not by a long shot,” Bei Bei replied.

Bei Bei and the girl, who eventually introduced herself as Ouma, flirted away beside Ash. Ash pretended they had no idea who Bei Bei was, in spite of the fact she was sitting right there next to them.

Bei Bei kept running her hand through her newly shorn hair and biting her lip in obvious signs of attraction. Ouma was standing beside them with her hip cocked, head tilted. Ash looked at their phone and their Twitter page for a bit, waiting for Bei Bei and Ouma to finish with their flirting.

“Bye,” Ouma said, flashing a wave as she walked out the door.

“Oh my god, you are incorrigible,” said Ash as soon as Ouma was out of earshot.

“Got her number though,” Bei Bei smirked.

Ash rolled their eyes.

“You’ve got game, girl.”

“You just need more confidence, Ash,” Bei Bei said. “You’re plenty attractive to those who like enbies.”

The real problem was that Ash didn’t look non-binary. They looked like a cis guy. That could cause them trouble in the long run.

“I guess?” Ash said with another shrug. “I’m mostly worried that… Well. I’m trans. It’s a thing that gets a lot of people killed in a lot of places, especially when it comes to dating and sex.”

“Truth bomb time, I guess.” Bei Bei scratched the side of her head. “It’s hard enough being an Asian lesbian. Being trans is a whole other thing.”

Ash just nodded, tried to take another drink, and grimaced when they found their cup empty.

“I’d date a trans lesbian,” Bei Bei continued. “I know it doesn’t really make me special or anything. But I know of a ton of TERF lesbians who wouldn’t.”

Ash made a face at the mention of TERFs. They had enough to deal with at university without having to listen to some transphobe calling herself a feminist saying that trans people were gross. They felt gross a lot of the time anyway, but it got worse when people started calling trans people trash. Ash’s anxiety always skyrocketed if they saw people arguing on social media about it.

“I just want to find a person who would accept me for being genderfluid,” Ash said. “I’m always worried that anyone I’m interested in will turn out to be one of those binary sex-pushing assholes.”

It happened sometimes on Twitter. Somebody with a cute profile pic turned out to be awful, and it always made Ash angry, but also ashamed in a strange way. They hated that they felt ashamed sometimes of something like their identity, but it was still there sometimes, throbbing in their chest.

“I get it,” Bei Bei said. “I know you gotta be careful. But don’t shut yourself off completely.”

“I guess,” Ash said. “It’s not like I’m even used to thinking of myself as non-binary in the first place.”

“You have to start somewhere,” Bei Bei said.

Ash acknowledged this with a nod. Bei Bei got up to get another iced caramel macchiato, and Ash stared out the window at the people going by. Things were tough right now, so Ash had to be tougher.

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NineStar Press | Books2Read

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Alex is an author of LGBTQ+ romance. They live in northern Canada where it snows six months of the year. Currently, they are pursuing a PhD in English, but that won’t stop them from writing about space vampires or cyberpunk hackers or whatever else pops into their head. Mostly a SFF writer, Alex sometimes dabbles in other genres including contemporary romance.

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RELEASE BLITZ, GIVEAWAY & REVIEW - A Brush Of Blue (Colors of Love #5) by V.L. Locey

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Cover Design: Designs By Sloan

Goodreads Link

Colors Of Love Series

Book #1 - Lost In Indigo - Amazon US | Amazon UK

My Review

Book #2 - Touch Of A Yellow Sun - Amazon US | Amazon UK

My Review

Book #3 - The Good Green Earth - Amazon US | Amazon UK

My Review

Book #4 - Slow Dances Under An Orange Moon - Amazon US | Amazon UK

My Review

The most difficult of life’s choices might be the one we make when we open our hearts to another.

Landon Reece is the ultimate Manhattan athlete. The elite goalie for the New York Metros is rich, handsome, generous, and purposely single. His life has been a whirlwind of fancy cars, beautiful people, museum galas, and championship rings. Landon now has one year left on his multi-million dollar contract, and the talk around town isn’t good. Despite carrying his team to the pinnacle of success, the aging goalie is hearing rumors that his contract might not be renewed next season. Hoping to curtail the rumors and show the Metros he still has what it takes, Landon and his agent set up a press tour to hopefully remind the fans—and Metros’ management—just how important Landon is to New York City.

During one of a hundred appearances on the tour, Landon finds himself a guest on the newest and hottest late night talk show in the Big Apple. There he meets Montrell Pittman, leader of the show’s band, A Brush of Blue, and his senses come alive. He resolves to do his best to woo the upbeat, sexy musician who ignites his blood like no other person ever has. As the two men grow closer, Landon’s ice time shows how happy his new romance is making him. Then a tragedy rocks his world, and Landon finds himself wallowing in despair and in danger of losing the man who might be the only one who can clear his blues away.

My Rating - 5 Stars!

A Brush of Blue is another great read by VL Locey. This fifth book in the Colors of Love series is fabulous. 

Langdon is a veteran hockey player. He's not happy with his career at the moment, and things get more complicated when he falls for a famous musician, Montrell.

Together, Langdon and Montrell make an amazing couple. Unfortunately, things are a little complex for the two. Montrell has a secret that causes a hell of a lot of issues. 

This is a story with several different aspects and it's all wonderful. First of all, I adore the way Montrell deals with Langdon in the beginning. It's refreshing and certainly throws Langdon for a loop. And then there's Montrell's secret. I love it and I appreciate the way Langdon deals with it. 

Unfortunately for the two men, they are famous and, as tends to happen for famous people, the world cares a little too much about their lives. Cue the big old problems for the men. Ultimately though, I can't praise the two enough for how they deal with everything. 

Both men change completely as a result of their relationship. Their everyday lives are not even close to how they started. Their values, priorities, and whole way of life changes upon falling in love. And I love it all.  

And then, once I've already fallen head over heels in love with this couple, I am introduced to the ranch and the serene feeling it brings to Langdon. Oh...what a fabulous way to introduce a new series!

I always love the author's writing style and her characters. In this tale, she excels in her illustration of the problems of hatred and bigotry within the gay community. Well done!

A Brush of Blue is a perfect addition to the Colors of Love series. VL Locey entertains in this slow burn romance that oozes character growth by the end. It's a sad, yet inspirational read that left me thrilled to have read it. 

USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.

When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.

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RELEASE BLITZ & REVIEW - Rocky Road Of Love...In Heels by Liam Livings

Title: Rocky Road of Love...in Heels

Series: Kev, Book Two

Author: Liam Livings

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: November 12, 2018

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 63200

Genre: Contemporary, contemporary, cross dressing, drag queen, family drama, coming-of-age, gay, romance, 1990s

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Synopsis

Still single, despite his best efforts,

Kev is a gay cross-dressing teenager, searching for love in the late nineties
in Wiltshire. He may not know whether to put Yours Sincerely or Yours
Faithfully at the end of a letter, but he sure can belt out a show tune in a
pair of heels and a frock.

Looking after his worrying mum, who
refuses to slow down despite having a funny turn and ending up in hospital,
Kev’s working in a shop to support the household now his dad has left.
Irreconcilable differences. His dad said Kev needed fixing and Kev and his mum
thought he was perfect as he is.

Tony, his best friend and Human League
fan agrees, although he thinks Kev’s a chaotic big-hearted, trusting mess. But
he’s Tony’s mess and they’re there for each other through useless boyfriends,
jobs, and studying. Because that’s what friends are for, right?

Contains an inordinate amount of singing
on stage, many costume changes, lashings of heart, family and friendship, an
almost complete absence of the internet and a big dollop of optimism.

Review 

My Rating - 5 Stars!

This book. Wow. Rocky Road Of Love...In Heels is an absolutely spectacular novel by Liam Livings.

I had no idea when I started this book, how positively amazing and powerful it would be. Kev's journey is a heart-wrenching, emotional ride that I will never forget.

So many tough topics are discussed. There's abuse; mental, verbal and physical. There's also the struggle to be accepted as a cross-dresser, as well as the struggles with opening yourself up to friends. Everything is perfectly developed, amazingly written, creating a riveting story.

All I can say is - thank you Liam Livings for this book. It is truly a gift to have read it.  

Excerpt

Rocky Road of Love…in Heels

Liam Livings © 2018

All Rights Reserved

Chapter One

May 1999

Still no sign of Kieran. He was in
Australia with Jo, living it up in the sun, enjoying the fun with the surfers
and costumes and whatever else they had planned. And where was I? I was still
in the same little village just outside Salisbury, with Mum. Who was better
now. On the mend the doctors said. Making a full recovery, was another phrase
they used at her review meeting.

I knew my luck was going to change
because it was my birthday. Nineteen. I was in the final part of those teenaged
days. This time next year, I’d be twenty. A proper adult. Probably.

Anyway, that’s a year away.

I was at the bar, of the Sailor’s Arms
pub, in Southampton, getting Tony and Donna a drink.

Tony said, flicking his fringe from his
eye, “One round, and then it’s back to us paying. This is your night. I told
you how it was going to work, didn’t I?”

Donna sipped her lime and soda, the
designated driver for the night. “Same again. Stack ’em up baby and I’ll glug
’em down.” She slapped her thigh. “If half as much has happened to you as he’s
told me, you should be selling the rights to your story to a film company,
love. Get back sharpish I want to hear all about your last gig. He said
everyone stood and clapped at the end and asked for an encore.” She turned to
Tony.

He nodded, flicking his fringe again.

So, in preparation for regaling them
with the story of my past glories, I went to the bar for my one round of the
night.

No Jo and Kieran because, oh yes, I told
you that. The bar was three deep and I stood politely, waiting my turn, trying
to catch the eyes of the bar staff with a smile. Much better than waving money
at them. Oh no, never do that.

I wore a very understated and normal
pair of flared jeans, platform trainers and a grey T-shirt with three-quarter
length sleeves, Chinese wording across the front. Goodness only knew what it
said, but its bright yellow and white had caught my eye in the shop. It had
been a busy week of performing, lots of different costume changes, sets to
learn, so tonight I wanted a night off from all that. And a night off from
looking after Mum—not that I begrudged her it, not at all, but I wanted a night
of not having to worry or think about her and taking her to appointments,
picking her up, having to slip off work early to collect her, fitting eighty
minutes of things into an hour. All that. And the Plan. I definitely wanted a
night off from the Plan. And aren’t they always the nights when something
unexpected happens? Like when you’re really gagging for it, and really on a
manhunt, it’s a barren desert, but when you’ve sworn off men, it’s like a
real-life underwear catalogue for Calvin Klein.

Well, this was one of those nights, this
was the night, he came along.

And there in front of me, all six feet
six and a bit of him, dark blond hair, dark jeans and a red and white plaid
shirt, was a man who reminded me of He-Man.

“What have you done to mean you’re
getting all the drinks?” He smiled, and his teeth were almost as white as
He-Man’s too.

I smiled at him weakly. Now was not the
time for men. Now was the time for friends, that was what we’d agreed a while
ago, since my run of terrible luck with boyfriends over the past year.

He held his hand for me to shake.
“Aaron.”

Another weak smile. I really wanted him
to leave me alone, but part of me, and I was well aware which part, wanted to
see if he still looked like He-Man under the plaid shirt, or whether he was
wearing one of those fake muscle stomachs I’d read about in Gay Times. I caught
the eye of a barman, shouted my order and thanked him.

Aaron’s hand hung in the air between us,
not quite limp, he didn’t look like the sort of man who’d have anything limp
about him, no, it was more in anticipation. He had a light dusting of mousy
blond hair on the back of his hand, and his nails were perfectly clean and
trimmed. “Why are you here tonight? Look, if it’s with friends, I’m just making
conversation, I’ll leave you alone once I’ve got my drinks. I’m only having
one, and then I’m off. I’m here on my lonesome.” And he did the smile thing
again, and this time his blue eyes did something too, a sort of smile with the
eyes, and I knew he wasn’t lying.

My stomach fluttered with butterflies.
Shit, I think he might be my next mistake. I shook his hand. His handshake was
firm. A good pump up and down. Smooth hand. It smelt of hand cream. He didn’t
roof houses or shift pianos for a living. I looked up to his face. “It’s my
birthday.” I was still holding his hand and found myself smiling back at him,
staring into his greeny-blue eyes.

“How come you’re buying the drinks?”

“They’ve already got me a few, and I
don’t want to take the piss. They did say it was my night, I could do anything
I wanted, I didn’t have to pay for a thing. But I don’t want to freeload off
them. Not with friends. You know?”

“I’ve just left an old friend’s
twenty-first. Not that old. He wanted a pub crawl in the city centre, so we
started at Above Bar and worked our way down towards St. Mary’s street.” He
paused, told the barman what drink he wanted, then returned to staring at me.
“He’s not that old, this friend. Twenty-one’s not old, is it?”

I laughed. “I’m nineteen, so you’re an
old man as far as I’m concerned. Once you’re in your twenties, it’s downhill
all the way. So I’ve heard.”

He knocked my shoulder playfully.
“Cheeky. Anyway, after all that beer swilling in the sports bars. We ended up
at the one by the river. They all wanted to go, so I followed alone.”

I knew of it well. It had a TV to rival
the cinema and was always full of men in brightly coloured sports shirts,
shouting at the TV and drinking pints of lager. I usually avoided it. “So you
thought you’d grab yourself a bit of gay before going home.”

He laughed, his white teeth flashed.
“No, nothing like that. I’m not on the pull. I just wanted to be. Without
having to think about where I was.”

I looked him up and down. “Wouldn’t
think you’d have too much problem blending in those places.”

“You’re hardly Julian Clarey yourself.”

Little did he know. I smiled, handed
over my money as my drinks had arrived. “Still, better get back. My friends’ll
be wondering what’s happened to me.” I started to leave.

He put his hand on my shoulder. “Wait
until my drink’s here, eh? Keep me company a bit longer. I was enjoying talking
to you.”

Is he really? Or is that just a line.
“Five minutes.” I put the drinks back on the bar and sipped mine. I peered
through the crowd to try and catch a glimpse of Tony’s lopsided black haircut
but couldn’t see anything.

“What do you do?”

I rolled my eyes, internally, at his
wonderfully original question and told him about TK Max and some singing work
too, leaving out the dressing up part.

“I love coming here for the cabaret.
That’s why I came here. Needed something to balance all the sport in the other
pub. I hoped there’d be one of the drag acts on. I enjoy them. The put-downs,
the songs. I’m a fan of it all.” He leant forward and whispered, like he was
going to say something illegal. “It’s a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine as it
goes. Do you like all that stuff?”

I smelt his aftershave. A sweet musky
scent. His cheek had brushed against my ear as he’d whispered to me. The finest
dusting of a weekend beard grazed my ear. Maybe I’ll stay with him just another
five minutes, just until I’m a third through my drink. “Funny you should say
that, I do actually. You know the singing I told you about?”

He nodded, accepting his drink and
paying, taking a sip and listening to me as I told him about the Plan, and
performing at that pub, and others in I’d visited on the circuit.

He asked me how I’d got into it, and how
did I know I could perform.

“I’ve been performing all my life
really,” I said with a smile. “Always loved karaoke, so singing on stage was
pretty obvious for me.”

He chinked his now almost empty glass
against mine, which was almost finished too.

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Meet the Author

Liam Livings lives where east London
ends and becomes Essex. He shares his house with his boyfriend and cat. He
enjoys baking, cooking, classic cars and socialising with friends. He has a
sweet tooth for food and entertainment: loving to escape from real life with a
romantic book; enjoying a good cry at a sad, funny and camp film; and listening
to musical cheesy pop from the eighties to now. He tirelessly watches an awful
lot of Gilmore Girls in the name of writing ‘research’.

Published since 2013 by a variety of
British and American presses, his gay romance and gay fiction focuses on
friendships, British humour, romance with plenty of sparkle. He’s a member of
the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
With a masters in creative writing from Kingston University, he teaches writing
workshops with his partner in sarcasm and humour, Virginia Heath as
www.realpeoplewritebooks.com and has also ghost written a client’s 5 Star
reviewed autobiography.

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(Watch Me) Save You (Run This Town #4) by Avril Ashton

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BLURB

Is love enough to pull two drowning men back from the edge of darkness?

No one will love you. Tek Ng has heard that statement his entire life, and after all he’s been through, he believes it. The tortured reality of who he is wars with everything else in his world. He’s got a fiancée he doesn’t want, a family legacy he wants to escape, and unrequited love so unavoidable he descends into sexual depravity with the last person he should. Tek is drowning, but he’s not sure he wants to be saved.
Quinn Storm hides in his quiet house, afraid of his shadow and his memories. At one time he had a husband and a life, but that was snatched away in a violent attack. Hardly daring to live, Quinn is alive only because he’s too scared to end it all himself. He’s drowning and wants no chance at being saved.
A favor for a friend brings these two men together just in time for Tek to watch Quinn unravel. Quinn quickly becomes the most important thing in Tek’s life, but can he trust Quinn to love him once he realizes what Tek is hiding? Just as they reach for each other, their reprieve is shattered by Tek’s demons, leaving Quinn with the realization that he’s not the only one in need of saving.

Warning: Contains references to rape and sexual abuse/assault.



REVIEW
My Rating - 5 Stars!

Avril Ashton has managed to completely impress me again with her final installment of her Run This Town series, (Watch Me) Save You.


This book overlaps books 2 and 3, (Watch Me) Body You and (Watch Me) Unmask You, but now we get to read about Tek and Quinn. And what a story they have! 
 

Tek is essentially caught in a life he never wanted, as his father is forcing him to live a lie. He's living a life that doesn't fit him and doesn't feel right, as he's being forced to take over his father's human-trafficking business. Thus, he is spiraling and self-destructing as he's facing a future he never wanted. 

Quinn is a man who is just as broken, as his ex left him, he's a mess and hates himself. Quinn is suffering with panic attacks, guilt and shame, as he's stuck in the past, just running from his nightmares. He's also a spectacular contrast between a tough exterior and a man drowning in his past, missing the man he used to be. 

Their story contains murder, complications, rape, abuse, danger, rough sex, attempted suicide, drugs, romance, and human trafficking, of course. 

The sex scenes are superb as they contain pure, animalistic need, lust, desire and desperation. It is hot, emotional, transcendental, and life altering. 

Can I mention how much I love the Tek? The absolute dichotomy of his character is amazing, as he's a cross-dresser who loves feminine things, but is a cold blooded killer. I just love this. And the amazing acceptance of the real him by Quinn is breath-taking. Tek never expected to find someone that would accept him in a wig, dress, stockings, heels, and makeup. This makes some of their scenes so powerful. 

Overall, their story is a spectacular, complicate romance between two men who desperately need to reclaim their lives, say goodbye to their pasts and embrace their futures. It's messy, it's raw, and it's riveting.

Avril Ashton is just amazing, as she has such a beautiful and masterful way with words. Her descriptions are perfect, creating elaborate, stunning moments. Her words are descriptive, alluring and captivating. She is a master of the English language, one that others should study to learn how to write such descriptive and mesmerizing scenes. 

If you love a great, complicated, multi-layered story with complex characters, look no further than Avril Ashton's Run This Town series. (Watch Me) Save You is the final book and it is the perfect ending. 

RELEASE BLITZ & REVIEW - Adventures in Dating...In Heels (Kev Book #1) by Liam Livings

Title: Adventures in Dating...in Heels

Series: Kev, Book One

Author: Liam Livings

Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC

Release Date: August 20, 2018

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 66200

Genre: Contemporary, cross-dressing, family drama, gay, coming out, coming of age, drag queens

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Synopsis

Kev Harrison is a teenager looking for a boyfriend and friends who will accept his cross-dressing. Only thing is, he lives in a small village near Salisbury, England, and it’s the nineties.

Tony Collins is Kev’s best friend, a Goth with a passion for fashion and anything to do with the Human League. He stands as the voice of reason while Kev muddles his way through coming out, career choices, and dating…in heels.

REVIEW

My Rating - 4 Stars!

Adventures in Dating...In Heels is a thorough, ambitious tale of the life of Kevin, a young cross-dresser. Liam Livings starts this tale with a young Kevin and follows his life through the years.

Kevin is, at heart, a simple man, who loves to cross-dress, but he's way too trusting. His innate trust in people leads him towards adventures that would best be avoided. But, after each set-back, he commits to bettering his life again.

His best friend, Tony, is there through it all, as an amazing and encouraging friend. Kevin finds Tony at the perfect time in his life. Finding someone who just understands him and can help Kevin to embrace himself is exactly what Kevin needs.

Based on the cover, I was expecting a happy, go lucky story. But, no, that is not at all what this story is. Instead, we witness how difficult it is for Kevin to find understanding and support for his cross-dressing, as well as for the fact that he's gay. He faces backlash from family, school mates, and more. And, as he continues to trust in the wrong men, he is often taken advantage of, both emotionally, physically and financially.

Kevin is down right loveable, despite my desire to want to shake some sense into him at times.

My only complaint with Adventures in Dating...In Heels is that I feel it was a little too long. Some of the parts could have been tied up quicker. But, it really is a great detailed tale. I look forward to the next in this series by Liam Livings.

Excerpt

Adventures in Dating…in Heels

Liam Livings © 2018

All Rights Reserved



Chapter One

1987

I first realised I wasn’t quite like other boys when I was seven. By then, I was old enough to know what I liked and what I didn’t like and, more importantly, confident and talkative enough to do something about it.

One afternoon, when Dad was at work and Mum was making cakes in the kitchen, I found a pile of Mum’s large dresses in the living room, waiting to be ironed. I knew they were hers as I’d seen her bustling about the house in them, just before Dad came home from work. At four o’clock every day, after I’d been home from school a while, Mum would disappear upstairs dressed as Mrs. Mop and reappear at quarter to five in one of her long flowing dresses, full makeup, and heels, her hair brushed out from spending a day under a head scarf.

Mum was really into the Mamas and the Papas, and during the summer holidays while Dad was at work, and once the house was straight and she’d “done through” as she called it, we’d dance to her twelve-inch records in the living room. She would come in from hanging out the washing in the back garden and say, “A good day for drying. If they’re done in time and I’m all done through, we can have a little dance with my records.”

One afternoon while Mum was upstairs making herself look nice for Dad, I grabbed one of her dresses and climbed into it, ready for our dance.

Mum walked into the living room as I held the Mamas and the Papas album, wearing her size-twenty dress covered in bright-pink daisies, a wide grin filling my face.

She took the record off me. “What you doing in my dress, love?”

“I like the flowers and I want to see what it feels like when I dance around in it, like you do.” Perfectly reasonable as far as I was concerned.

“They’re for me, not for you, love.” She put the record on and turned to me, her hands on her hips. “Take it off and we can have a dance together.”

But I didn’t want to take it off. I wanted to keep it on with my whole being. As I swayed from side to side, brushing the dress between my hands as I swung my arms around, I felt so right I couldn’t understand why I had to take it off.

“I’ll be careful. I won’t make it dirty.” Dirty was the worst thing in that house as far as Mum was concerned, and I knew I wouldn’t do that to the dress.

As the music filled the room, Mum knelt in front of me. “One dance. But it’s our little secret. Don’t tell Daddy, all right?” She made a zipping motion with her hand across her lips.

I nodded emphatically and started to dance with her to the music. It was the one that made me dance the most on the whole album, it was “One Way Ticket.” It all felt perfect: the swishing sound of the dress as it moved around me, the feeling of the gap between my bare legs, and how different it was from wearing trousers.

As I danced, I caught a glimpse of myself, stood in my mum’s frock, smiling as I jumped about.

The song finished, and Mum lifted the needle on the record player and told me to take off the dress.

There was a bit of a disagreement as I begged for one more song, held up my He-Man figure and said, “I want to dance for him.”

“You like He-Man, do you, love?”

I nodded and Mum kept looking at her watch. In the end, she unzipped the dress behind my back and lifted me out of it. As the dress lay on the ground, pooled around my feet, the back door clicked, signalling Dad’s return from work. Mum scooped up the dress and folded it quickly into the ironing pile in the living room, then greeted Dad, in his grey suit carrying a black briefcase, with a hug and a kiss.

“What’s for dinner?” Dad asked over Mum’s shoulder, staring at me.

I was still moving a bit to the song continuing to play in my head.

“What’s he dancing about for? Why’s he not got any clothes on? Hasn’t he got something useful to do, like lay the table?”

Mum pulled back from the hug and told me to throw on some clothes, and then asked me to lay the table as dinner would be five minutes. Raising her eyebrows towards me, she said, “Fish fingers, peas, and chips. Your favourite.”

I ran upstairs to dress, nipping in ahead of Dad. Once we had both changed, we made our way downstairs again. Mum beamed at my dad, who was now wearing a shapeless grey tracksuit he’d bought from a catalogue when Mum had complained his old tracksuit had too many holes to be darned anymore.

We continued with our little secret most evenings. Sometimes, I would watch Mum putting on her makeup from their bed and I’d ask what each item was for as she applied them.

“Can I have a go?” I asked once got the courage.

She turned, half her lips bright red, the lipstick in her hand. “Not on you. You can do it on me if you want.” She handed it to me. As I applied it to her lips, I had to force my whole body not to put a bit on my own.

“How does it come off?” I asked innocently.

She showed me the makeup remover in the jar on her dressing table and the cotton wool in the drawer.

Now I knew everything I needed to know.

When Mum was hanging out the washing or deeply involved in dinner preparation, I would take some of Mum’s makeup into the bathroom and make up my whole face and then stare at myself in the mirror, amazed at how I no longer looked like me. Afterwards, I’d dutifully remove it all with the bottle and cotton wool just as Mum had done.

That Christmas, Mum opened her present from Dad: a pair of shiny black high-heeled shoes. The toes went to a sharp point and the heel was longer than my index finger. She tried them on, parading around the room and twirling her feet at every turn.

I looked at the Meccano tractor set I’d just opened and my heart sank. Why didn’t I have a little sister so I could play Barbie dolls with her as I was growing up? I’d seen these dolls in their bright-pink boxes and blonde hair next to the muddy-grey Action Man in the toy shop. When I’d asked for one of those, Dad had said not to be so silly. I wanted an Action Man, didn’t I?

Now, Dad said, “Shall we build the tractor?”

Desperate for something to have in common with Dad, I nodded, opened the box, and cleared a space on the living room carpet. Soon the tractor was built, with its red shiny three-inch wheels, bent tube of a body, and frame around the seat where my old Action Man could sit—if I could have found him. I’d just handed Dad bits and pieces, watching him build it. It was the most we’d talked to each other in years.

After everyone went to bed that night, I sneaked into the living room, pushed my tractor aside, put on Mum’s shiny black high heels, and walked around the kitchen, enjoying every quiet tap they made on the floor. After I’d had my fill, I put them back where they’d been left and went to bed.

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Meet the Author

Liam Livings lives where east London ends and becomes Essex. He shares his house with his boyfriend and cat. He enjoys baking, cooking, classic cars and socialising with friends. He has a sweet tooth for food and entertainment: loving to escape from real life with a romantic book; enjoying a good cry at a sad, funny and camp film; and listening to musical cheesy pop from the eighties to now. He tirelessly watches an awful lot of Gilmore Girls in the name of writing ‘research’.

Published since 2013 by a variety of British and American presses, his gay romance and gay fiction focuses on friendships, British humour, romance with plenty of sparkle. He’s a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. With a masters in creative writing from Kingston University, he teaches writing workshops with his partner in sarcasm and humour, Virginia Heath as www.realpeoplewritebooks.com and has also ghost written a client’s 5 Star reviewed autobiography.

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