Hi guys, we have Garrett Leigh stopping in for a quick visit with her new release Strays, we have a great excerpt, a brilliant giveaway and Aerin’s review, so check out the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! <3 ~Pixie~
Strays
Garrett Leigh
Work, sleep, work, repeat. Nero’s lonely life suits him just fine until his best friend, Cass, asks him to take on a new apprentice—a beautiful young man who’s never set foot in a professional kitchen. Despite his irritation and his lifelong ability to shut the world out, Nero is mesmerised by the vibrant stray, especially when he learns what drove him to seek sanctuary on Nero’s battered old couch.
Lenny Mitchell is living under a cloud of fear. Pursued by a stalker, he has nowhere left to run until Nero offers him a port in a storm—a job at the hottest restaurant in Shepherd’s Bush. Kitchen life proves heady and addictive, and it’s not long before he finds himself falling hard and fast for the man who has taken him in.
Fast-forward a month and neither man can imagine life without the other, but one thing stands in their way: a lifetime of horrors Nero can’t bring himself to share with Lenny. Or can he? For the first time ever, happiness is there for the taking, and Nero must learn to embrace it before fate steps in and rips it away.
Excerpt!
The policewoman slid a cup of grey tea across the interview table. “Tell me again, sir. How many times have you seen this man at your place of work?”
Lenny Mitchell sighed and dragged a hand through his electric-blue hair. “I told you. I don’t know exactly. He’s just there sometimes.”
“Standing across the road? At the bus stop?”
“Yes.”
“I see.” The policewoman made a note. “Have you considered the possibility that the man you’ve described is simply catching the bus?”
Lenny levelled the woman with an acid glare. Seriously? “Catching the bus to where? My flat? So he can loiter there too? Or the club where I used to work so he can tell everyone he’s my boyfriend like he did before?”
“Which club is that?”
“Shades, in Brent Cross.”
“The strip club?”
“No, the gay club.”
The policewoman jotted another note. “Okay, so you say this man has been present outside your home and your place of work, and that he’s written you letters, and contacted you on social media. Do you have evidence of this? Copies of the letters? Screen shots?”
I’m such a fucking idiot. Lenny shook his head. “I deleted my Facebook and Twitter when he started harassing me, and the letters were taken from my flat.”
“Taken?”
“Stolen, whatever.”
“Did you report it?”
“No.”
“And you haven’t received any since?”
“No.”
The policewoman’s left eyebrow twitched. “So you have no evidence to corroborate your story?”
“‘My story’? I’m not making it up.”
“I’m not saying you are, Mr. Mitchell, but without evidence there’s little we can do if we find this man and he denies your allegations. Have you reported him to your landlord or your employer?”
“I don’t know who my landlord is. I rent through an agency, and my tenancy is nearly up, anyway. And my previous employers at the club thought I was the fucking lunatic.”
“What about your current employer? At the restaurant?”
“At Misfits?”
“Yes.”
Lenny shrugged. “My bosses are really busy. I don’t want to bother them.”
The policewoman went back to her notes. “Okay, well . . . like I said before, without evidence and an ID for this man, there’s not much we can do except give you some advice on staying safe.”
Unbidden, the dull eyes that seemed to follow Lenny everywhere flashed into his mind, prickling his skin like tiny feather-drops of battery acid. “His name’s Gareth. He told the bouncers at Shades when he was pretending to be my boyfriend. I wrote it down for you.”
“Oh, yes, so you did.” The policewoman cast another disinterested glance at the notebook Lenny had handed over, pages filled with the incidents and sightings, and plain freaky shit that had driven him from Croydon to Camden in the first place. “Well, this is all very helpful, Mr. Mitchell, but as I said—”
“Yeah, yeah. Take a leaflet and fuck off. I heard you.”
Read more at: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/strays (Just click the excerpt tab for more)
About Garrett!
Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.
Garrett’s debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.
When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.
Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.
Social media:
Website: http://garrettleigh.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garrettleighbooks
Cover art enquiries: blackjazzdesign@gmail.com
Giveaway!
To celebrate the release of Strays, one lucky winner will receive $25 in Riptide Publishing credit!
Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
Review
Title: Strays
Series: Urban Soul #2
Author: Garrett Leigh
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (249 pages)
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (March 27th 2017)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Blurb: Work, sleep, work, repeat. Nero’s lonely life suits him just fine until his best friend, Cass, asks him to take on a new apprentice—a beautiful young man who’s never set foot in a professional kitchen. Despite his irritation and his lifelong ability to shut the world out, Nero is mesmerised by the vibrant stray, especially when he learns what drove him to seek sanctuary on Nero’s battered old couch.
Lenny Mitchell is living under a cloud of fear. Pursued by a stalker, he has nowhere left to run until Nero offers him a port in a storm—a job at the hottest restaurant in Shepherd’s Bush. Kitchen life proves heady and addictive, and it’s not long before he finds himself falling hard and fast for the man who has taken him in.
Fast-forward a month and a neither man can imagine life without the other, but one thing stands in their way: a lifetime of horrors Nero can’t bring himself to share with Lenny. Or can he? For the first time ever, happiness is there for the taking, and Nero must learn to embrace it before fate steps in and rips it away.
ISBN: 9781626494787
Product Link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/strays
Reviewer: Aerin
Review: For me Garrett Leigh is the author I go to when I need a dark, angsty read, because she never fails to deliver. It takes a lot of talent to write angst with taste’ and without melodrama, but Leigh knocks it out of the park every single time. Strays is a beautiful and dark love story with a constant edge of danger that is anticipated but not overwhelming.
The focus stays on Nero and Lenny, and the slow and steady chemistry that’s building between them, regardless of the element of danger. Nero is dark and broody and remains mysterious for the better part of the book. We know that he’s been to jail and that he’s missing a finger, but it takes a while for Nero to unveil that part of his past. Nero’s nights are plagued by nightmares, and he spends his days trying to keep people away; nothing screams ‘stay the fuck away from me’ more than Nero’s dark looks and constantly pissed off mood.
Lenny is a scared little rabbit when he comes to hide in Nero’s living room and restaurant; a deranged stalker has been tormenting Lenny for a long time now, and it doesn’t look like the cops will do anything to stop him. Staying with Nero does Lenny a world of good, because little by little Nero brings Lenny out of his shell. The chemistry between them is slow burn and delicious as hell, and the sex is much anticipated throughout the book. The sex, when it happens, is steamy and passionate and emotionally fulfilling.
What I loved the most about Lenny and Nero together was the reassurance I got that they’re a solid couple; nothing about their relationship read as fleeting to me, just a sweet affair that weathered the storm and was made stronger because of it. If you haven’t read Misfits yet don’t hesitate to do it, because not only is it an amazing book, but the guys make a lot of appearances in this book and play a very important supportive role.
I hope for more books in this series, but if this is the end, I’m perfectly content.
Congrats on the new release, Garrett. The cover is beautiful.
Excellent review, Aerin! I beg to disagree that we could be settled to only two books in this series, tho. I want more. 😉
And lemme say that I’ve really enjoyed participating on this blog tour as this is the first time that I’ve got to know Garrett better.
mushyvince(at)gmail(dot)com
Thank you for the review and the excerpt, and congratulations on the release, Garrett
susanaperez7140(at)Gmail(dot)com
Good luck with the release!
vitajex(At)Aol(Dot)com
We should all take in strays. LIfe wold be better.
debby236 at gmail dot com
I loved Strays and hope there’s more from the Urban Souls universe!
legacylandlisa(at)gmail(dot)com
Congrats and thanks for the excerpt, and great review. Since reading Misfits, I’ve been anxiously waiting for this to come out. I’m sure it too will be another success. –
TheWrote [at] aol [dot] com
Thank you for the excerpt. Th reviews are really appreciated =D
humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
Lovely review, I definitely want to read this story. Thank you for sharing.
elewkf1 at yahoo dot com