Hi peeps, we have Josephine Myles stopping by today with her new re-release Handle With Care, we have a great excerpt, a brilliant giveaway and Tams’ review, so check out the post and click that giveaway link! <3 ~Pixie~

Handle With Care

Josephine Myles

Great things come in small packages…

Ben Lethbridge doesn’t have many vices left. He lost his youth to raising his little sister to adulthood, then made up for lost time with reckless abandon. Two years of constant partying—and ignoring his diabetes—has left him tied to a home dialysis regimen.

He can work from home, fortunately, but most of life’s little luxuries are forbidden. Except for watching porn… and fantasising over Ollie, the gorgeous purple-haired skateboarder who delivers his discreetly packaged DVDs.

Their doorstep banter is the highlight of Ben’s solitary day, but his paranoia over his illness-ravaged body prevents him from seeing their flirting for what it really is. He knows Ollie is far too young for him anyway, but he figures there’s no harm in sprucing himself up a bit.

Then one day, a package accidentally splits open, revealing Ben’s dirty little secret. But instead of Ollie being repelled they make an unexpected connection that has Ben wondering if he’s been reading the situation wrong all this time. The only way to find out if they have a chance at love is to risk showing Ollie every last scar. And that could take more courage than Ben owns.

Warning: Contains superhero porn comics and a pint-sized, accident-prone delivery guy with colour-changing hair. Readers may experience coffee cravings, an unexpected liking for bad mullets, and the urge to wrap Ollie up and take him home.

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Excerpt!

“Hey there,” Ollie said when I opened the door, that million-watt grin lighting up his face again. “Like the hair. Got another one of these for you.”

“Thanks.” I tried to kick-start my mouth into saying something interesting, but it refused to cooperate and decided it wanted to dry out instead. I suppose it was slightly less embarrassing than drooling over him. In an effort not to stare, I forced my gaze away and fixed it on the front garden next door. There was only a low, brick wall separating my spartan, gravel driveway with Mrs. Felpersham’s garden, but it was like another world over there. She’d crammed it full of blowsy pink flowers, a wooden wishing well and more garden gnomes than you could shake a stick at. Those gnomes always gave me the heebie-jeebies, but at least there were plenty to keep my eyes occupied at times like this.

“Oh, sweet! I’ve got that exact same T-shirt! ’Course, mine’s a bit smaller.” Ollie started bouncing up and down on his heels, and I wanted to lick him all over, he looked so appealing. At that thought, despite being full of dialysate, I felt my cock starting to stir. It’s a good thing I was in the XXX-Large version of the Wolverine shirt. Still, I leant forward a little just to make sure nothing showed.

My mind got stuck on the idea of how much I wanted to see him in that T-shirt and then out of it. I started to worry that I was going to blurt it out by accident, so I kept my mouth firmly shut. I must have looked like a right stuck-up twat. Didn’t seem to bother Ollie, though.

“I should bring some of those comics round for you to read. It would be good to have someone to chat about them with. Most of my other friends think I’m nuts, you know?”

What? Other friends? Did that mean he considered me a friend? We’d only known each other for a few weeks. I realised I needed to speak, and fast, if I wasn’t to make a terrible impression and get struck off that friends list.

“Yeah, uh, great. I mean, I’d like that, if you don’t mind lending your stuff to a stranger.” Great. Now I’d called myself a stranger when he was trying to be friendly.

“Nah, it’s cool. I know where you live, after all.” He gave me another huge grin that made his cheeks dimple. It really wasn’t fair. No one should be allowed to be that cute.

We did the parcel-signing thing, and I instructed my hands to stay where they were and not go straying over to stroke his. He had a graze on the knuckles of his left hand, and I wanted to kiss it better, like I used to with Zoe.

“Looks nasty,” I said.

“Oh yeah,” Ollie said, flexing his hand. “Skating injury. I was going for a 360 kickflip, but I bollocksed it up. Looks worse than it felt.”

Shit, I must have been staring. I hoped I hadn’t started making kissy lips or anything.

“I didn’t know you were a skateboarder,” I said. After all, dressing like a skater was no guarantee of actually taking part in it. “Are you any good?”

He twisted his lips in a half smile and wrinkled his nose, but his eyes still sparkled. “Not as good as I’d like, but that’s okay. I know I’m never gonna compete, or anything, but it’s fun. I like hanging out with the guys, you know? Studying their technique.”

There was this glint to his eyes, and I thought maybe he was trying to imply something, but I wasn’t going to risk making a fool of myself and spooking a straight bloke.

I mumbled something even I couldn’t understand and hugged my parcel close. Then I worried that it would pull my T-shirt in tight and reveal the tube, so I dropped my arms to my sides and tried to look casual.

“What have you got today?” Ollie asked, pointing at the parcel. “Another film? You should sign up for that Love Film thingy, you know? Save you a heap of money.”

“Uh, no… I mean, they’re not all films.” Shit, why hadn’t I prepared a lie for if he asked me that? I was rubbish at making things up on the spot, and I wasn’t about to tell him it was a couple of DVDs about delivery guys who liked to deliver more than just the mail to their eager customers. “This is work stuff,” I added lamely.

“Oh yeah? What is it you do?”

Okay, this I could handle. The trick was trying to make it sound interesting enough so as not to send other people into a coma. “Software design. I’m currently working on the code for a complex payroll system.”

Ollie nodded, and I was pleased to see that his eyes hadn’t glazed over. “So does that make you your own boss? Nice one.”

“Not exactly, but I only have to check in with him now and again. I’m mostly left to my own devices.”

“Ah, that’s not so bad, then. I wanna be my own boss one day. I’ve got two bosses, and they’re both bastards, but at least the one in the café lets me have free coffee on my shifts.”

“You work in a café too? How on earth do you fit that in?” And how the hell did he have the energy to get up in the morning after holding down two jobs? “You must be knackered.”

“Nah, it’s no trouble. I just do a couple of hours there early evenings and on weekends. Need to save up some money coz I want to open a little café by the ramps in Caversham Park. I could sell proper coffee and watch the guys skate all day, and whenever it gets quiet, I could draw. That’d be well sweet.” He had this faraway look in his eyes that made him look so young and innocent. He had to be at least eighteen, though, right? It’s not like they’d let someone who’d just passed their driving test out in a big van like that.

Then the sparkle was back. “Shit, man, I’d better get going or someone’s gonna wonder where I am. Listen, I’ll bring those comics next time, all right?”

“Yeah, great. I mean, that would be really kind of you.”

“No trouble.” He grinned, and for a moment, I thought he was about to hug me or something, but then the moment was gone, and he was bouncing down the drive.

“Bye, Ollie.” God, I envied that energy. And I was so fucking desperate to get my hands on those pert buttocks and squeeze.

“Laters,” he threw over his shoulder with a smirk, and I flushed as I realised I’d been caught in the act again. Damn it! It was such a tease, trying to work out just what his arse looked like under those baggy trousers.

About Josephine!

English through and through, Josephine Myles is addicted to tea and busy cultivating a reputation for eccentricity. She writes gay erotica and romance, but finds the erotica keeps cuddling up to the romance, and the romance keeps corrupting the erotica. Jo blames her rebellious muse but he never listens to her anyway, no matter how much she threatens him with a big stick. She’s beginning to suspect he enjoys it.

Jo’s novel Stuff won the 2014 Rainbow Award for Best Bisexual Romance, and her novella Merry Gentlemen won the 2014 Rainbow Award for Best Gay Romantic Comedy. She loves to be busy, and is currently having fun trying to work out how she is going to fit in her love of writing, dressmaking and attending cabaret shows in fabulous clothing around the demands of a preteen with special needs and an incessantly curious toddler.

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Review

Title: Handle with Care

Author: Josephine Myles 

Genre: Contemporary

ISBN: B071FVD9WS

Length: Novel (149 pages)

Publisher: Josephine Myles (6^th July 2017)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Blurb: Great things come in small packages…

Ben Lethbridge doesn’t have many vices left. He lost his youth to raising his little sister to adulthood, then made up for lost time with reckless abandon. Two years of constant partying—and ignoring his diabetes—has left him tied to a home dialysis regimen.

He can work from home, fortunately, but most of life’s little luxuries are forbidden. Except for watching porn… and fantasising over Ollie, the gorgeous purple-haired skateboarder who delivers his discreetly packaged DVDs.

Their doorstep banter is the highlight of Ben’s solitary day, but his paranoia over his illness-ravaged body prevents him from seeing their flirting for what it really is. He knows Ollie is far too young for him anyway, but he figures there’s no harm in sprucing himself up a bit.

Then one day, a package accidentally splits open, revealing Ben’s dirty little secret. But instead of Ollie being repelled they make an unexpected connection that has Ben wondering if he’s been reading the situation wrong all this time. The only way to find out if they have a chance at love is to risk showing Ollie every last scar. And that could take more courage than Ben owns.

Warning: Contains superhero porn comics and a pint-sized, accident-prone delivery guy with colour-changing hair. Readers may experience coffee cravings, an unexpected liking for bad mullets, and the urge to wrap Ollie up and take him home.

Product Link:  Amazon US | Amazon UK

Reviewer:  Tams

Review:  Ben Lethbridge is all but a recluse. He was barely 18 when his parents died, leaving him to care for his young sister. Now he’s on daily dialysis due to failing kidneys and diabetes so he’s resigned himself to never having a life, much less a love life. Who would want an aging, out of shape gay man with a permanent tube in place for his treatments? He manages to bide his time working from home and has amassed a collection of porn that would put TLA Releasing to shame! He fantasizes about the hot, young delivery guy that brings him his daily packages, Ollie.

Ollie is an enigmatic, free spirit. His hair transforms from purple, to red and back and he sports several tattoos and piercings. He’s quite smitten with the middle-aged man he delivers to daily, but he can’t seem to grab Ben’s attention. These two slowly become aware of their mutual attraction, but two vastly different personalities as well as self-esteem issues threaten to put the brakes on any type of relationship.

I enjoyed reading these two characters as they came together and fell in love. They had to learn not to jump to conclusions, to talk to each other, communication and trust is key to any relationship. Once Ben and Ollie figured this out the story really took a turn. If you’re looking for a short, fun read with some pretty good guy on guy scenes and a love story with a HEA, you should give this one a try.