Hi guys, we have Suzy Ingold popping in with her new release Speakeasy, we have a short interview with Suzey, a great excerpt, a fantastic giveaway and Cat’s review so enjoy the post and click that giveaway link <3 ~Pixie~
Speakeasy
Suzey Ingold
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.
Interview
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.
Describe your favorite rainy day activity.
Unfortunately, this winter in particular it has rained quite a lot where I live. My favorite kinds of rainy days, though, are the ones that I spend at my parents’ house up north. I love to bake and it’s something that’s been passed onto me from my mother, and that I used to do with her as a child—and still do, when I go to visit. Even when I tried to bake things by myself there, as a treat for her, she would intervene; she’s not very good at relinquishing control of her kitchen. The perfect way to spend a rainy day would be tucked up in my parents’ warm house, baking with my mother. There are a few recipes that we would always make together at Christmas time, many of which are special Finnish recipes, like cardamom buns, prune tarts, and gingerbread, because my mother’s Finnish. In January, we would bake Runebergin tortut, which are little almond cakes, made to celebrate a famous Finnish poet. In the summertime, we always bake strawberry and cream cakes. Quite a lot of my family members have birthdays in the summer, so we get through quite a few of these cakes during the course of the season! Other times, I like to find new, interesting recipes, and my mother will come to help and advise (and criticize). She’s taught me about cheesecakes, and biscuits, and dough, although I still got the last one wrong when I tried to bake bread when I was last there, on a particularly rainy day. Even though where they live is grey at the best of times, and even worse in the rain, there’s something soothing about sitting inside the warm house with a mug of hot juice in a Moomin mug between my palms and the log fire crackling, as the rain pitter patters down outside.
Excerpt
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.”
About Suzey
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:
Giveaway!
Win! $25 IP Web Store Gift Card Grand Prize + 5 eBook editions of Speakeasy to randomly-drawn winners!
Suzey Ingold Rafflecopter giveaway!
Review
Title: Speakeasy
Author: Suzey Ingold
Genre: Historical (Prohibition era)
Length: Novel (244 pages)
ISBN: 1941530699
Publisher: Interlude Press (February 18th 2016)
Heat Level: Low (no sex)
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Cat
Blurb: 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.
Product Link: http://store.interludepress.com/collections/frontpage/products/speakeasy-by-suzey-ingold-print-edition
Review: Heath has just graduated Yale. His parents have his life planned. They want him to work for his father and get married and have children to carry on their name. They even have a sweet girl they like chosen for him. They are giving him a choice of his job, but he has to choose after the summer. His friend Frankie takes him out to celebrate his birthday. He thinks he has found a place perfect for Heath. It is a speakeasy for like-minded men like Heath. Though Frankie brought him there to meet up with Heaths college crush Julian, Heath quickly fell for the owner. In a time of prohibition and when it’s dangerous for gay men can have this relationship last or will Heath choose to follow his parent’s wishes.
Speak Easy a beautifully written story of the prohibition eras which is my favorite historical period. Suzy Ingold does an excellent job giving the book that nostalgic feel. Speak Easy is character driven as we follow Heath through his summer and his decisions. It’s very clean with no sex, but a beautiful, bittersweet romance with a satisfying ending.
If you like the 1920 prohibition era, coming of age, new adult, clean stories, I think you will like this one!
Check out the other blogs on the blog tour
Thank you for having me, and for taking the time to review the book!