. .
A gender-fluid cutie, a workaholic hottie, and a hookup gone right.
Blake
No romantic relationship could ever compete with my dream job. Sure, it gets lonely, but that’s what occasional hookups are for. Work-life balance? Who cares? I certainly don’t. Until chest pains bring me to my knees and land me in the emergency room.
It’s a wake-up call I can’t afford to ignore.
When my well-meaning family encourages me to make some major life changes, like hiring a meditation and physiotherapist, whatever that is, I’m worried enough to agree.
Imagine my surprise when my practitioner turns out to be the hookup I haven’t been able to forget.
Stef
What’s a fabulously vivacious genderfluid beauty to do when stress is high and Prince Charmings aren’t lined up at their door? Head to the club to recharge my sparkle on the dance floor. I have no intention of hooking up with anyone. Hookups are not my thing.
I may be sassy, but I keep it classy. Usually.
Then I see the slightly older hottie in the Tom Ford suit, and all my self-restraint goes up in a blast of glitter.
When it turns out he’s my new meditation client and my friend’s older brother, I’m sure the universe is messing with me.
Because mixing business with pleasure is a huge no-no.
So why does my heart keep shouting yes?
Free Me is a low-angst, opposites attract, worlds collide, LGBTQ romance about a genderfluid cutie, a slightly older hottie, and a hookup gone right. It contains no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA.
Title: Free Me
Authors: Beck Grey
Length: 75k
Series: Love in the Pacific Northwest Series, Book 4
Genre: Contemporary, Low Angst.
Tropes: low-angst, opposites attract, worlds collide.
Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions
Goodreads
Book 1: Save Me: Love in the Pacific Northwest
Book 2: Embrace Me: Love in the Pacific Northwest
Book 3: Choose Me: Love in the Pacific Northwest
Book 5: Heal Me: Love in the Pacific Northwest (Out Jan. ’24)
- If you could sit down with one other writer, living or dead, who would you choose, and what would you ask them?
Neil Gaiman. And what wouldn’t I ask him? The guy is absolutely a wealth of information on about a billion subjects and he’s married to another fascinating person, Amanda Palmer. I’d ask him book related questions and questions about writing, and characters, but I’d also ask him about trips he’s taken and life experiences he’s had. He’s incredibly interesting and listening to interviews he’s given, his life-views are thoughtful and humane.
- Tell us more about your forthcoming release? What’s this book about?
Free Me is the story of Stef Evans, an out and proud genderqueer physiotherapist and meditation coach, and Blake McCarthy, a workaholic book publisher. It’s a low-angst, opposites attract, worlds collide, LGBTQ romance about a genderfluid cutie, a slightly older hottie, and a hookup gone right. It contains no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA.
It’s book four in my Love in the Pacific Northwest series. All of my books can be read as standalones, but most of the characters make appearances in other books. So we’ve met Stef before in their brother Jules’ book, Choose Me, and in their friend Quinn’s book, Embrace Me. But in the time between books three and four, they learned they were genderfluid.
I would like to take credit for making Stef genderfluid, but they told me that bit of information as I was writing the first chapter of Free Me. They were very insistent, so what could I do? But I love it, because having representation matters. I’m non-binary and it’s nice to put some of that representation in my books. Especially with what’s going on in the world right now with people’s civil rights.
- What inspired you to write this particular story? What were the challenges in bringing it to life?
Representation of all kinds is what inspires me to write. My series follows a group of LGBTQ friends as they find their people and their happily ever afters. They all have their challenges—social anxiety, Deafness, long distances—but the characters never question who they are. I won’t write main characters who are questioning their sexuality or identity. There are a ton of incredibly powerful, well-written books that address these issues. I love writing situations where being part of the LGBTQ community is just another aspect of someone’s life, like having brown eyes, or being a certain height. It’s something that is, and can’t be changed. So, all of my characters will always be accepting of who they are in and out of the LGBTQ community.
Stef’s book was always going to be next in my series, and I had initially intended it to be more of an age-gap kind of focus, but neither character really seemed overly bothered by the age difference between them. It’s nine years, and while Blake considers it, he doesn’t dwell on it. And then once Stef revealed they’re gender-fluid that really became the focus of the book. So the trick was to walk the line between having this new revelation in Stef’s life be part of their new identity without making it “an issue” for them. Stef does worry it will impact Blake’s career, but Stef never questions who they are, or considers changing, or hiding it.
- Where can readers find out more about you and your work?
I’m on FB, Discord, TikTok, Instagram, BookBub and Goodreads. All of those links can be found on my Langtry: https://linktr.ee/beck_grey
Check out my website if you’d like sneak peeks of upcoming releases and lots of other stuff! https://www.beckgrey.com/
My Newsletter signup: https://www.subscribepage.com/beckgrey
I walk out to the bedroom balcony and look down at the patio. Blake is lounging by the pool in swim trunks and sunglasses, reading a book. He looks incredibly relaxed, and it makes my heart happy. “Hey, handsome.” He glances up and his face breaks into a wide grin. Okay, yes, we’ve been together for a few months, but his smile still makes my insides all melty and warm. “You want to come in and eat, or should I bring the food out?”
“Put on a suit and come down. This is my big plan for the day.” He gestures to the pool area and waves his book.
I lean my elbows on the railing and grin down at him. “If you’re trying to seduce me, it’s working.”
“Excellent. Step one in my evil plan is complete. Now come down here. I missed you.”
“Be down in a sec!” I hurry inside, strip out of my work clothes, then lather myself in the sunscreen that smells like coconut. Blake loves the scent, and I love how he nuzzles my neck when I use it. I pull on my tiniest black and white print swim briefs, grab a beach towel from the closet and the food bags from the kitchen counter, and hurry down to the game room and out to the patio. “Should we eat at the table or on the loungers like heathens?”
Blake glances up from his book and his eyes lock on my tiny swimsuit. I do a slow spin, giving him a good view of my ass. “Like?”
He pulls his sunglasses to the end of his nose and peers over them. “That’s new.” His voice is thick with lust. Oh, yeah. Mission accomplished.
“It is! And it’s so adorable!”
Blake licks his lips. “And so tiny.”
“I had a feeling you might like it.” I skip past him to the table and deposit the bags.
Blake practically growls and grabs my hips the moment I put the bags down. “Come here.”
I laugh as he manhandles me, hauling me close and inhaling my skin. He drags his nose across my abdomen and my cock stirs, eager to join in the fun, but my stomach growls with hunger. “Mmm. I’m fully on board with whatever you’re planning here, Darling, but we should eat before the food gets cold.”
Blake bites my hip. “We can heat it up.”
My laugh quickly turns to a gasp as his tongue teases above the edge of my suit. It’s all I can do not to press his head a few inches lower. “Blake, Darling, I have souvlaki and Greek salad.”
He hums and sits back, waggling his eyebrows at me. “You know I love Greek.”
I snort at his double entendre. “As do I, my darling. So let’s eat.” I wink at him. “Then we can eat.”
His chuckle warms every part of me. He pushes to his feet with a sigh. “If we must, we must.”
“We must.” I press up on my tiptoes and pucker up.
He obliges me, but turns my expected quick press of lips into a lingering kiss that curls my toes and has me second-guessing my stance on eating first. As I’m about to give in, he lets me go and pats my backside. “C’mon. Let’s feed you so we can move on to other enjoyable things.”
Beck is a non-binary writer of sweet, sexy, LGBTQ happily ever afters. They live in the Northeastern United States with their two adorable dogs. Weekdays are spent working their day job, but nights and weekends are devoted to writing stories involving hot characters, favorite tropes, and happy endings. Any additional time includes reading, laughing with friends, drinking red wine, and playing D&D. If there’s cake involved at any point it’s a win!
Connect with Beck:
https://linktr.ee/beck_grey 
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