


Two Chicks Obsessed with Books & Eye Candy
Sharing our love of M/M Romance
by Denise
by Denise
William Wilkerson leads the life of the privileged rich. Head of his father’s shipping business, he indulges to his heart’s content in the pleasures of the flesh with Boston’s finest young men.
That is, until he reunites with Fredrick: his former tutor and the one man who captured his heart.
But William’s father has declared Fredrick off limits. And Fredrick, himself, believes he’s beneath the attention of the Wilkerson heir.
After having lost his current pupil to graduation, and with no prospects of a replacement, Frederick is homeless, hungry, and easy pickings for the men on the docks.
When Frederick is shanghaied into service on William’s own merchant ship, will William discover his plight in time to rescue him?
Title: Sweet William
Author: Dianne Hartsock
Genre: Gay Romance, Historical Romance
Length: Novella
Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing
Thank you, Two Chicks, for hosting me today. In my story, SWEET WILLIAM, William is the pampered eldest son of a shipping merchant and has come to Boston to check over the cargo arriving on one of their ships. This is how he might spend a typical Sunday morning.
William stifles a yawn and leans back on the church bench to catch the ray of sunlight filtering through the stained glass. The minister’s voice becomes a pleasant murmur in his ear, unintelligible, lulling him toward sleep and a dream of brown eyes in a serious face.
His head bobs, startling him awake, and he catches Tiggy’s amused glance from across the aisle and sits up. Good heavens! Had he been drooling? His dream had become heated rather quickly.
His neighbors on the bench don’t seem to see anything amiss with him, and his heartbeat evens out as the minister brings his sermon to a resounding close. Organ music fills the church and William files out behind the others to make small talk in the yard with the various families connected with his own, mostly friends of his father.
Finally he makes his escape and Tiggy catches up with him on the path running behind the church along the riverbank. The air has grown warm and he loosens his cravat, wishing he could remove his coat as well.
“The minister had an interesting sermon today,” Tiggy offers, voice full of laughter, and William flashes him a rueful grin.
“If someone hadn’t kept me up late at cards—”
Tiggy throws up his hands. “Don’t blame me for falling asleep! And by the look of bliss on your face, it wasn’t me you were dreaming of.”
William snorts, but couldn’t deny his words. They walk a moment in silence, William enjoying the flash of sunlight through the trees, sparkling on the swift moving water. The air smells of roses and dry grass. He wonders if Fredrick would enjoy a picnic in the park this afternoon.
It hardly registers when Tiggy takes his arm, but then he suddenly pulls William between two trees, into the graveyard attached to the church. They’re in an older section of the yard and large headstones surround them. Tiggy pushes him up against one and William willingly parts his lips when Tiggy’s familiar tongue seeks entrance. They pass a pleasant few minutes this way, then Tiggy pulls back with obvious reluctance.
He traces William’s lips with his thumb. “You’re thinking of him again.”
“I’m sorry, dear. I don’t mean to ignore you.”
“Never mind. I’m happy for you, in a way. I’ve never seen you this taken with anyone before.”
They part after one last lingering kiss, and William watches him depart with mixed feelings. They’ve been friends for years, intimate for most of them. He’ll miss Tiggy’s sweet flirtations. A robin flies passed him, chased into the trees by another. William’s lips curl into a smile. Maybe he’ll walk downtown and see if Freddie is free for lunch.
DIANNE HARTSOCK is the author of m/m erotic romance, both contemporary and fantasy, the psychological thriller, and anything else that comes to mind. Oh, and a floral designer. If she can’t be writing, at least she has the chance to create through the rich colors and textures of flowers and foliage to bring a smile to someone’s face.
Currently, Dianne lives in the Willamette Valley of Oregon with her incredibly patient husband, who puts up with the endless hours she spends hunched over the keyboard letting her characters play.
Social links
Website: https://diannehartsock.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diannehartsock
Twitter: https://twitter.com/diannehartsock
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/diannehartsock/
by Denise
In the height of the Prohibition era, recent Yale graduate Heath Johnson falls for Art, the proprietor of a unique speakeasy tucked away beneath the streets of Manhattan where men are free to explore their sexuality. When Art’s sanctuary is raided, Heath is forced to choose between love and the structured life his parents planned for him.
Author Name: Suzey Ingold
Book Name: Speakeasy
Release Date: February 18, 2016
Pages or Words: 244 pages
Categories: Gay fiction, Historical, M/M Romance, Romance
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover Artist: Cover Art by Colin Moore; Cover design by C.B. Messer
Heath swallows, playing over an idea that had formed shakily in his head after he saw Frankie, since Art walked through that door and possibly longer without him being fully conscious of it. “Maybe it’s time I was honest. Tell them that I don’t want to marry Ginny or work with my father. Let the pieces fall where they may.”
“You would do that?”
“If it meant being with you, I would do anything.” Heath sits up and the sheets fall to pool around his waist. “I know what I want, now. And it’s you and whatever a future with you brings.”
Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Suzey Ingold, author of Speakeasy.
Hi Suzey, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.
Thank you for having me! I’m a writer and linguistics student, currently based in Edinburgh. I’ve been writing for years and had my first short story, The Willow Weeps for Us, published in 2015, in the Summer Love anthology from Duet Books. Speakeasy is about a recent Yale graduate who must discover what he really wants when he meets the owner of a unique Midtown speakeasy in 1920s Manhattan.
Heath’s best friend Frankie is something of a character. He’s got a large personality and a sharp sense of humor. He’s flirtatious and charming and he cares for Heath very deeply, as though they were family. Heath’s other close friend is his younger sister, Amelia. She teases him something awful, but that’s in her nature. She’s more hotheaded where Heath is calmer, and can be very stubborn when she wants to be.
Heath’s favorite meal is roast duck; especially the way their cook, Louis, makes it. He has a little bit of a sweet tooth and loves ice cream—his favorite dessert of all is the Brooklyn Bridge ice cream sundae he can get from the soda fountain downtown. There’s chocolate, ice cream, cream, and syrup involved—perfect to satisfy his sugar cravings. If he were hankering for a snack, then he’d stick with the sweet things and have a PB&J sandwich.
Heath can’t stand athletics. At Yale, his best friend, Frankie, was on the track team and he tried to get Heath involved too—he told him it would be a wonderful way for him to get out of the library, to get some exercise. Heath went once, to appease him, and came out sweaty, red-faced, and sore all over, and swore he’d never do it again. The closest thing to athletics Heath will do is a leisurely stroll through Central Park in the middle of the day.
I recently finished reading Small Wonders by Courtney Lux, which is also set in New York City, but in the present day. I think Heath could be a great friend to someone like Nate Mackey—although I think he’d be a little alarmed if he met Trip Morgan!
Probably unsurprising given Speakeasy, but it has to be the 1920s. There was magic to that time. The war was over and the Wall Street crash was yet to happen and there was a view that every day should be lived as though it were to be your last. I often wonder if I spend too much time fantasizing of the past, though. There’s a line in one of my favorite movies, Midnight in Paris, that sums up my nostalgia perfectly: “…golden age thinking: the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one one’s living in. It’s a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present.”
Suzey Ingold is a writer, linguist and coffee addict, currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Brought up in a household where children’s books are quoted over the dinner table, literature has always had a strong influence on her life. She enjoys traveling, scented candles and brunch. Her short story, “The Willow Weeps for Us,” was included in “Summer Love: An LGBTQ Collection,” published by Duet, an imprint of Interlude Press (2015).
Where to find the author:
Homepage: www.suzeysays.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/suzeysays
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzeysays/
Tour Dates & Stops:
18-Feb
Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Love Bytes, Kirsty Loves Books, Hearts on Fire
19-Feb
Prism Book Alliance, Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance, Nephy Hart, Kiki’s Kinky Picks, Inked Rainbow Reads
22-Feb
Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, 3 Chicks After Dark, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy, Book Reviews and More by Kathy
23-Feb
Unquietly Me, My Fiction Nook, Havan Fellows, The Hat Party
24-Feb
Dawn’s Reading Nook, Divine Magazine, Bayou Book Junkie
25-Feb
V’s Reads, Lee Brazil, MM Good Book Reviews
26-Feb
A.M. Leibowitz, Boys on the Brink Reviews
28-Feb
29-Feb
Happily Ever Chapter, BFD Book Blog
1-Mar
Three Books Over The Rainbow, Up All Night, Read All Day
2-Mar
Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Alpha Book Club, Cathy Brockman Romances