Thank you to Dawn for having me over
at her place today to entice you all with a teaser from my brand new release, Always
Hope, which is available now (a day early) on Amazon! I will get to Always Hope in a little while…
but first…
Have you ever wondered how little
stories are passed down through the years, or wondered who started them
first? I don’t just mean old wives’
tales because, obviously, they were started by old wives… but little anecdotes
your Dad used to tell you?
When I was a kid, my Dad told me many
a wild story that had me shaking my head and thinking I was definitely adopted
– because there was no way I could be related to this whackjob! These included how he fought for his country
in WW2, where we used to sit transfixed at his feet listening to the ribald
stories of bombs and the blitz… only to realise at a later date that he was SIX
when the war started! Oh and the one
where he explained that the he got the scar on his shin when he drove over a
land mine on his National Service – only to be told years later that he
actually got it falling onto a bus!
But I was at a friend’s the other
night and she was telling us how her brother had just bought her youngest son a
fabulous book explaining why dogs sniff each other’s bottoms. Before she could continue I said, “Wow, my
Dad told me that story eons ago.” And I went on to say how the dogs were all
having a party and they had to hang their bums up at the door and then there
was a fire and so they all grabbed to nearest bum and legged it – only to find
they had the wrong one. So that’s why
dog’s sniff each other – because they’re looking for the right bum! My friend ran upstairs and brought down the
book and I read it, aloud because that’s what you do when you’re four sheets to
the wind, and it was exactly the same story my Dad told me.
It made me smile while I was reading
it. Firstly because it was wonderful to
think that this story has been going around for something like a gazillion
years and someone stopped and thought, that would make a great book so children
everywhere could read it. And secondly,
because it reminded me of sitting on the floor between my brother and sister
and listening with open mouths as my Dad told us about the day the dogs took
home the wrong bums.
So if you want to read the 2010
version, pop over to Amazon and look for Peter Bentley’s “The Great Dog Bottom
Swap.” You’re children will be glad you
did.
Now… for the grown ups… a little
teaser from Always Hope.
BLURB:
Ash Watts has his life exactly how he wants it: burgeoning
career, gorgeous boyfriend, and an apartment with a fabulous view of LA. But
his perfect world comes crashing down around his ears when he learns of his
only sister's untimely death. A small town isn't all he finds when he lands in
Freedom, Alabama for Annie's funeral. This small town is
brimming with secrets; secrets that could change Ash's life forever.
Kaleb Gibson, honest-to-God
cowboy, and native of Freedom, born and bred, found his best friend the moment
Annie Watts breezed into town. Her death left a gaping hole in his heart, and
while Annie's brother may have her same dark hair and green eyes, Kaleb refuses
to lose his heart all over again, and he can’t forgive the man for neglecting
his sister when she needed him most.
Revelations from Annie's Will
throw Kaleb and Ash together in ways they never imagined. Will Kaleb be able to
carry out Annie’s last wishes without killing her beloved brother and without
revealing a secret from his own past that could destroy everything? And will
Ash stick around long enough to see that Freedom may hold an even more perfect
life than he could have imagined?
EXCERPT:
The clock on the dashboard indicated
it was almost four and the California sun was high
in the sky when Mason pulled into the underground parking lot of Ash’s condo.
Their arms full of backpacks and camping paraphernalia, the two men rode the
elevator up to the fifteenth floor and then walked down the hall to Ash’s
apartment. Inside, they dumped everything in the hall and Ash headed to the
kitchen in search of beer before they attempted anything else. Mason had
already made himself comfortable on the sofa, his legs over the arm as he
flicked through his blackberry and checked the myriad of messages, from clients
and colleagues alike, he’d received while they’d been away.
“Here you go, hot stuff,” Ash
drawled, flopping down on the cushion Mason wasn’t occupying and let his
fingers drift through the soft strands of Mason’s strawberry blond hair.
“Jesus, couldn’t those rich bitches survive without you?” he asked, noting the
number of messages his boyfriend still scrolled through.
“You said it yourself,” Mason
grinned, tilting his head to look at Ash, “hot stuff, in demand.”
“Oh, right.” Ash shook his head and
said sarcastically, “Must be such a curse.”
“I’m glad to see you’re noticing all
the sacrifices I make,” Mason countered, then swore loudly. “Listen to this.
Marianne Wheatley, you know she’s on that long running soap thing, I don’t even
remember what it’s called, piece of crap is so dire—anyway, she needs me to
call desperately because her ex took the dog for the weekend as per their
agreement and he failed to return him. Fucking thing’s a cocker-poo for God’s
sake, not a kid.” Tossing his blackberry onto the soft carpet, he shifted so
that his head rested on Ash’s lap. “Remind me why I deal with these people?”
Ash smoothed his fingers over the
frown Mason was now sporting and smiled softly. “Because they pay you
ridiculous amounts of money so that you can keep me in a manner I am totally
unaccustomed to,” he said without missing a beat, leaning down to capture his
lover’s lips.
“Oh yeah,” Mason replied, “I knew
there was a good reason.”
Ash kissed him again and sighed into
the kiss as Mason’s tongue teased along the seam of his lips, and Ash gladly opened
to him, licking his way into Mason’s mouth, chasing his tongue back into its
dark cavern. He slid a hand beneath the hem of the other man’s T-shirt and his
gut tightened at the low growl coming from Mason’s throat. Sliding his hand
higher, his fingers found the flat disc of Mason’s nipple and pinched the
sensitive flesh between a thumb and forefinger.
“Jesus—”
He didn’t find out what else Mason
had planned to say, because of the loud banging at the front door. “Come on,” Ash complained with a whine. “We’re
still on vacation until tomorrow, for crying out loud.”
With a rueful smile, Mason pressed a
quick kiss to Ash’s lips and pushed himself up, “I’ll go, you stay there and
look as sexy as hell.”
A few moments later, the front door
closed and Mason’s bare feet slapped on the wooden flooring of the hallway as
he returned to the living-room. Ash waited with his eyes closed and his head
tipped back on the sofa cushion, a smile playing around his mouth. “Come on,
hot stuff. I’m waiting,” he said in a parody of a come hither tone.
“Ash.”
The way Mason said his name gave Ash
the immediate feeling that he shouldn’t open his eyes. Every fiber of his being
told him not to move. Whatever had caused Mason to sound like that couldn’t be
good.
“Ashdon Watts?”
Ash didn’t recognize the second voice
and he forced his eyes open, a fist tightening around his heart as he gazed up
into the far too sympathetic gaze of an LA cop. He swallowed past the lump in
his throat which may well have been his heart, he wasn’t sure. Ash nodded,
unable to vocalize a response—this is
bad, this is very bad. The way Mason sank onto the cushion beside him and
gripped his hand tightly, wasn’t helping.
“I’m sorry, Mr Watts. I have some
difficult news. There’s been an accident.”
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