Book Name: Uncommon Valor
Release
Date: July 22, 2015
Goodreads
Link:
Publisher: Cool Dudes Publishing
Cover
Artist: Louis C. Harris
Blurb:
“Lil’ Bro,
If you’re reading this, then something obviously happened
and I’m not going to be around. I wanted to let you know how much I love you,
and you don’t have to tear yourself up over this. I’m the one who chose to
enlist, and I believe I’ve served proudly for the last few years. I know this
won’t ease your mind any, but I believe I’m probably in a better place now.
Please don’t be sad. I died doing what I loved, fighting for my country. I wish
I could be there for you when you tell Mom and Dad about you being gay. Just
know that I am with you in spirit. Look to Chase for guidance. I know he’ll be
the big brother for you I can no longer be. The guys will be a great support
for you, and they won’t care that you’re gay. They’re a great group of guys,
and they’ll treat you just like I would. They’ll be a support system for you
when Dad blows up, and you know he will. Be safe and know I will be watching
out for you from the other side.
Love, Sam.”
Uncommon
Valor is not just a story of a gay
man, it is the fulfilling story of a young man who is on the verge of
discovering his true self and he has the perfect prop to do that. He is also
about to become a Dad. Will he pull through as a gay man and a Dad? Or will he
fall upon the wayside and reject his newborn child, and in so doing, also
reject the man of his dreams?
Pages or Words: 172 pages, 48,661 words
Categories: Gay fiction, M/M Romance, Military
Excerpt:
Last weekend with the platoon was great.
Last weekend with the platoon was great.
I met a ton of new people, and the
guys were really supportive when I told them. I hadn’t heard anything from my
Mom, so I wasn’t sure what to think about that, but I’d decided I wasn’t going
to worry too much. I was on cloud nine from having spent time with people who
didn’t care I was gay and treated me like one of the guys even though I wasn’t
a Marine.
That all came to a halt when I ran
into Tina in the dining hall on campus during the week.
Tina uses her beauty to her
advantage. She’s medium height with red hair and green eyes. Whatever she said
was right and she was of the opinion that no one could outsmart her.
Personally, I tried to stay away from her if I possibly could.
But, she had a crush on me.
I never got the chance to tell my
brother that during a night of drunkenness I had slept with her. There was a
part of me that always felt something else had been involved, but I couldn’t
prove it. I didn’t even know if we did anything. All I knew was I woke up the
next morning in the same bed with her and both of us were naked. It wasn’t
something I was proud of, and I honestly hoped I would never see her again.
Unfortunately, we were both in law school together, so I knew that wasn’t going
to be an option.
I’d almost completely forgotten
about the incident because it had happened at the end of the semester and I had
taken the summer off. The new semester had just started, and I had been lucky
enough to not see her in any of my classes or around campus.
I was shocked to see her with what
I would consider a baby bump, but I didn’t want to make any assumptions. I
pretended to not see her, but she saw me.
“Jason! I need to talk to you,”
she said, and grasped my elbow from behind.
“What do you want, Tina?” I yanked
my arm out of her grasp with a snarl.
“It’s a private matter.”
“We can talk tat my house, but
that’s all that’s going to happen.” I turned and walked away, expecting her to
follow me to the parking lot. As it turned out, we were parked fairly close to
each other, and I motioned for her to follow me as I got into my car.
§
We arrived at my house and I was
still trying to figure out what she wanted to talk to me about. I had a feeling
I wasn’t going to like it.
Inside, she headed for the lounge.
“Would you like something to drink?” I asked. When I turned to face her she
held her stomach in a protective manner.
“Water would be nice.”
“Have a seat and I’ll be right
back.” I said, placing my bag on the floor by the door.
When I returned, she was standing
in front of the bay window looking out over the park. “Here you go.” I held out
a bottle of water to her as she turned around.
“Thanks, Jason. I’m sorry to put
you out like this, but I needed to talk to you and I didn’t want to do it with
people around.”
“What’s going on? I haven’t seen
you since the end of spring semester.” I walked over and took a seat on the
couch and waited to hear what she had to say.
“I went home for summer break and
some surprising news came up just before I came back to school.” She came over
and sat down next to me.
“Spit it out,” I said, frustrated.
I just wanted her gone; something about her really irked me.
“The thing is, just before I came
back I realized that I had missed my period so I went to the doctor and took a
pregnancy test. I’m pregnant.”
“What’s that got to do with me?”
It felt like I had been punched in the gut.
“Well, I hadn’t been with anyone
for a while before you and I hooked up at the end of the semester.” She licked
her lips and wrung her hands.
“We didn’t hook up. I got way too
drunk and don’t remember anything until I woke up the next morning with you by
my side and naked.”
“Why do you refuse to believe that
what we shared was something special?” she whined. “You know you love me, you
only need to admit it and we’ll be happy together as a family.”
“It wasn’t special. What do you
want from me?”
“I want you to be a father to our
child. I want us to be a family.” She tried to put her hand on my arm. I pulled
away.
“We will never be a family. What the HELL were you thinking? Obviously you
weren’t; that’s the problem.” I walked over to the bay window and glared out.
“If the child is mine I’ll support it and even take custody of him or her, but
we will never be together. As soon as
the baby is born I’m going to fight for custody and before I commit to anything
there needs to be a paternity test, until that time you are nothing more to me
than a pregnant woman. Until you have further information, I think this is all
we have to talk about.”
“We’d make good parents together.
Why are you refusing to admit that?” she cried.
“I have no doubt that we will be good parents, but we won’t be a couple. I’m gay and will not
be in a relationship with any woman. Now, if there’s nothing else, I think that
it’s time for you to leave. Let me know when you set up the paternity test and
I’ll be there. We’ll talk more after the test results come back.” I opened the
front door and waited for her to leave. I was being mean and harsh, but I was
pissed about what had happened, mostly at myself because I let myself get
wasted at that party. I wished I could remember what happened that night.
She stormed past me and went out
to her car mumbling under her breath. Part of me hoped I was the father, but
there was a greater part of me that hoped I would have nothing more to do with
her.
Sales Links:
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CoolDudes Publishing
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About the author:
Rachel Ravenheart is new to the
literary world, but has had the desire to write since she was in junior high
school. She moved from a small town in Iowa in time to start high school in
Louisiana.
Rachel lost sight of writing as
she got bogged down with sports and school. Her dream of being a writer
forgotten as she looked to the future to study Political Science with the hope
of going to law school when she moved to Texas.
To make her way in the world she
got wrapped up in the field of nursing when she got a job as a C.N.A. and soon
even her dream of law school was forgotten. Strangely, thanks to an injury she
was at home recuperating and was bored when she remembered her love for
writing. Never thinking she would ever get published she began.
It was writers like Rob Colton,
Mann Ramblings, and Alicia Nordwell that inspired her creativity. She found
GayAuthors.org and after some encouragement she decided to post her first
story. With the enthusiasm of readers her confidence grew and she took the step
to send off her first story to be published. It was with great delight when she
was offered her first contract. Hopefully, the first of many.
Where to find the author:
Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/rachelravenheart
Twitter: @wolfwriter1492
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