Hi guys, we have the pleasure of having Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock stopping by today on their The Two Gentlemen Of Altona blog tour, we have a tantalizing excerpt, a great giveaway and my review for you to enjoy. So check out the post and leave a comment to win some great prizes! <3 ~Pixie~ 

 The Two Gentlemen Of Altona

Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock

Mischief, thou art afoot.

Special Agent Ryan “Mac” McGuinness is having a rough week. Not only is he on a new diet, but he’s also been tasked with keeping Henry Page—the world’s most irritating witness—alive. Which is tough when Mac’s a breath away from killing the Shakespeare-quoting, ethically-challenged, egg-obsessed Henry himself. Unless killing isn’t really what Mac wants to do to him.

Con man Henry Page prefers to keep his distance from the law . . . though he wouldn’t mind getting a little closer to uptight, handsome Agent McGuinness. As the sole witness to a mob hit, Henry’s a valuable asset to the FBI. But he’s got his own agenda, and it doesn’t involve testifying.

When evidence surfaces of a mole in the FBI office, Mac and Henry are forced to go into hiding. Holed up in a fishing cabin, they’re surprised to discover that their feelings run more than skin deep. But as the mob closes in, Henry has to make his escape. And Mac has to decide how far he’s willing to go to keep Henry by his side.

Introducing Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock

Hi! We’re Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock, the authors of THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF ALTONA. We’re touring the web taking about our influences, our processes, anything we can think about actually, and even giving you guys a sneak peak or two! And what would a blog tour be without a contest? Check out the details at the bottom of the post to see what you can win!

THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF ALTONA is the first in our PLAYING THE FOOL trilogy. Book 2, THE MERCHANT OF DEATH, will be available on February 2. Book 3, TEMPEST, will be released March 9.

You can preorder the series, and check out excerpts, at Riptide.

Excerpt

Henry had been in worse holding cells. This one was practically homey. He had it to himself, so he tried to sleep. Which was easier said than done. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Dean Maxfield fire that gun, and Pete’s head come apart like a wet sponge.

He stared at the ceiling.

Poor Gloria.

Not that he had time to worry about her. Dean probably wouldn’t shoot his own aunt in the head. Henry didn’t fall into the same protected category. If Dean found him, he was as good as dead.

Another man in the same situation might be panicking, but Henry didn’t see the point. He was safe for the moment. He just needed to get moving again, before Dean managed to track him down. Shit, he had at least another two clean aliases, and no pressing need to head back to Indianapolis anytime soon. As far as the cops knew, Henry Page was just a dumb guy who’d made an even dumber mistake. If he made bail—Stacy would come through with the cash—the cops in Dayton would never see him again.

Fuck, he really needed to make bail.

Or failing that, a distraction and a five-minute head start.

He closed his eyes again and wondered when they’d give him something apart from lukewarm coffee. And the donut he’d gotten from his arresting officer after explaining he hadn’t had anything to eat in hours. Well, not explained, exactly. All he’d had done was mention it in passing, and the cop’s good nature had done the rest. His name was Rob. Or Rod. Probably Rob. If Henry hadn’t been so tired, he’d have remembered a detail like that. Rob was much friendlier than his last dealing with law enforcement: the cranky bald guy from the FBI. Who had no doubt gotten a lot crankier once he’d found that empty bathroom. Still, Henry felt he’d more than done his civic duty by calling 911, when he could just as easily have hightailed it out of there and not put himself on Dean Maxfield’s radar at all.

Not that he hadn’t already been there.

Shit, no.

Dean hated him.

“Aunt Gloria, that little asshole is trying to screw you over!”

“Nonsense, Dean. Toby’s a good boy, and what I do with my money is my own business.”

In fact, Dean had probably been itching for a chance to shoot him way before Henry witnessed Dean killing Pete. From the beginning, he’d fixed on Henry with the aggressive determination of a pit bull on steroids.

Oh well. Fuck him. He could rot in jail, witness or no witness. That’s what forensics were for, right?

The door opened and Henry sat up straight, hoping whoever was coming in had brought food.

It was the bald FBI agent. McGuinness? McWhirter? Paddy McGinty’s goat? Fuck. He had a styrofoam cup clenched in his hand, and Henry smelled shitty coffee.

Better let baldy make the first move. And hope that move wasn’t slamming Henry’s head against the wall.

McCorkle looked seriously displeased. “Detective Falstaff.”

“H’llo.” Henry kept his tone polite.

“You,” McHappy Meal said, advancing into the cell, “are a witness to a homicide. My witness. Do you want to tell me what the fuck you think you were doing, running out like that?”

“Ah.” He tried for a charming smile. “Impersonating a police officer?”

“Yeah, let’s add that to your list of charges.”

“My list?”

“Car theft.”

He sighed inwardly with relief. “Well, two things is hardly a list. It’s more of a pair. How did you even find me here?”

“You left prints all over Gloria Maxfield’s house.”

“Ah.” Damn it. Henry blamed terrorism. Suddenly every little PD in the nation had one of those fingerprint scanners with the glass plate and a direct damn link to the FBI, instead of doing it the messy, old-fashioned way—with paper, and ink, and a nice healthy delay before they got entered into the system. “I see. I’m sorry, it was Agent McGuinness, right?”

It was only right that one of them remembered their manners.

“That’s right. And you are?”

Whoever his current ID said he was. “Henry Page.”

“Not Richard Falstaff?”

“No. No, I am not.”

“And not Toby Seacoal?”

“Again, no.”

McGuinness regarded him quietly for a moment, then shook his head. “You’re a con man.”

“I categorically deny that baseless accusation.” He’d always preferred the word “grifter.” It seemed a little less . . . polyester suit and hair oil, and a little more Kerouac and the open road.

“Do you?”

“Categorically,” he said again, folding his hands in his lap. Good, solid word, categorically. It had a nice air of authority to it. It wasn’t his fault if MacGyver didn’t understand that.

“Well, bad news. Because I don’t think it’s baseless.”

“Do I get a lawyer?”

“You get to come with me. Immediately.”

“I hate lawyers.”

“I went to law school,” McGuinness said coldly.

“But you’re not a lawyer.”

“Maybe I should have been. Could be putting scum like you behind bars instead of having everyone in my office whispering behind my back about how I let you walk right past me.”

Henry gave him a slight grin. “To be fair, I make a pretty convincing police detective.”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done? The lives you’ve put in danger by letting someone like Maxfield walk?”

He was fairly sure Maxfield was the one putting people’s lives in danger—by ending them. “I didn’t let Maxfield walk. If he shot that guy, you should have found something to hold him on.”

“You were the one who told us he shot the guy!”

Oh, this was fun. Agent McGuinness was going to burst an important blood vessel if he wasn’t careful.

“You know who should be our number one suspect?” McGuinness raged on. “The guy who ran.”

“Why aren’t I?” Not that he was complaining. But he did want to know.

“Because Maxfield shot Pete. You know it, and I know it, and you’re coming back to Indianapolis with me to tell me everything you saw that night.”

“I’m glad you’re not a lawyer. Lawyers make me uncomfortable.”

“And I don’t?” McGuinness sounded a little affronted.

He studied McGuinness. All law enforcement officials made him uncomfortable, but McGuinness wasn’t so bad. Was actually attractive, and would have looked even better without the scowl. His gaze fell on McGuinness’s hand, still gripping the styrofoam cup so hard Henry was surprised it hadn’t split. He looked up at McGuinness and grinned again. “If you wanted me to be uncomfortable, you wouldn’t have put me in this luxury cell.”

“Less comfortable accommodations can be arranged.”

Henry swung his legs. “So am I in protective custody? Or under arrest?”

“Could go both ways.”

“Mmm. I love going both ways.” He saw that little muscle twitch in McGuinness’s jaw again. Delightful.

“If you help me out with Maxfield, maybe you can stay out of prison. Got it?”

He swallowed. Wasn’t going to let McBaldstone know how much the idea of jail bothered him. “I’ll see what I can do.”

McGuinness folded his arms, spilling a few drops of coffee onto the tile. “How long did you stay with Gloria Maxfield?”

“Would have been two months this Saturday.”

“And what exactly were you doing there?”

“She was helping me with my studies.”

“Your studies,” McGuinness repeated. His arms were huge. The rest of him was big and not in the best shape, but his arms were well defined. Not that that was at all relevant to their conversation.

“Italian poetry. She’s got quite a library on the second floor.”

“Where do you study?”

“Jordan.”

“Bullshit.”

“Check the roster.”

“You can bet I will. Let me guess: Gloria was helping you with tuition?”

“She offered.”

McGuinness rocked on the balls of his feet. “You didn’t know who she was.” He didn’t say it like a question.

“I didn’t know who she was related to, no. Do I look crazy?”

“You sound like a scumbag.”

“I prefer ‘opportunist.’” Henry flicked a piece of lint off the cot. “Look, did Gloria complain about me?”

“Gloria’s busy trying to deal with the fact that her nephew shot someone in her kitchen.”

“You talk to Gloria. And you check the admissions list at Jordan. I’m there.”

“No.” McGuinness stepped forward, letting his arms fall to his sides. More coffee spilled. “You’re here. You’re right where you deserve to be. And you’re mine for however long it takes to put Dean Maxfield away. You got it?”

Henry leaned forward. “Do you think you could get my arresting officer back in here for a second?”

McGuinness’s dark eyes narrowed. “What?”

“I’m kind of hungry. And Rob had donuts.” He gave McGuinness what he hoped was a three-legged-cat-in-an-ASPCA-ad look. “Please?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“You want a donut? Rob’s nice. I’ll bet he’d give you a donut.”

“I do not want a donut.”

“Watching your figure?”

McGuinness rolled his eyes. “You’re the second criminal to make fun of my figure in the last three days.”

About Lisa & Henry

About Lisa:

Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.

Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly. 

She shares her house a log-suffering partner, too many cats, a dog, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.

Connect with Lisa:

About J.A.:

J.A. Rock has worked as a dog groomer, knife seller, haunted house zombie, standardized patient, cashier, census taker, state fair quilt hanger, and, for one less-than-magical evening, a server—and would much rather be writing about those jobs than doing them. A lover of m/m BDSM romance, J.A. lives mostly in West Virginia, and always with a beloved dog, Professor Anne.

Giveaway

Review

Title: The Two Gentlemen of Altona

Series: Playing The Fool 01

Author: Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock

Genre: Action, Thriller, Humor

Length: Novel (228pgs)

ISBN: 978-1-62649-218-9

Publisher: Riptide Publishing (29^th December 2014)

Heat Level: Nil – Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Mischief, thou art afoot.

Special Agent Ryan “Mac” McGuinness is having a rough week. Not only is he on a new diet, but he’s also been tasked with keeping Henry Page—the world’s most irritating witness—alive. Which is tough when Mac’s a breath away from killing the Shakespeare-quoting, ethically-challenged, egg-obsessed Henry himself. Unless killing isn’t really what Mac wants to do to him.

Con man Henry Page prefers to keep his distance from the law . . . though he wouldn’t mind getting a little closer to uptight, handsome Agent McGuinness. As the sole witness to a mob hit, Henry’s a valuable asset to the FBI. But he’s got his own agenda, and it doesn’t involve testifying.

When evidence surfaces of a mole in the FBI office, Mac and Henry are forced to go into hiding. Holed up in a fishing cabin, they’re surprised to discover that their feelings run more than skin deep. But as the mob closes in, Henry has to make his escape. And Mac has to decide how far he’s willing to go to keep Henry by his side.

Purchase Link: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/two-gentlemen-of-altona

Review: Henry is a simple con man who enjoys the games he plays until he witnesses a murder, now he’s a reluctant witness who has no intention of testifying but getting away from FBI Special Agent McGuinness is harder than he thought; especially when he isn’t sure he wants to get away from the brooding agent. Mac desperately wants to nail Dean Maxfield any way he can, but keeping hold of the witness of a murder Maxfield committed is nearly impossible when the slippery con man has his own agenda. When evidence of a mole is discovered Mac has to keep Henry alive, holed up in a fishing cabin Mac and Henry discovers that their feelings aren’t as ambivalent as they thought, and both Mac and Henry have to decide just how far they are willing to go for the other man.

This is a great caper filled thriller type story that has quite a few laughs and interesting characters. Henry is a con man plain and simple, he uses his charming nature to get what he wants but when he ends up as a witness to a murder even his skills might not be enough to avoid the mob or FBI. Mac is a brooding and grumpy FBI Special Agent, he’s not very friendly and is quite intense, having to constantly chase down Henry and dealing with his smart mouth drives him insane but he can’t deny his attraction to the pain in the arse.

I really liked this story; it was pretty light-hearted even while there was danger. Hiding from the mob, not wanting to testify and dealing with a mole is something we have seen in books before but Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock have added a huge dose of humor in the shape of Henry, his repeated escape attempts had me snorting with laughter, the way he brazenly charmed everyone had me shaking my head at his gall and the way he got under Mac’s skin was superb. Mac is the exact opposite of Henry, he’s grumpy, growly and determined to do what’s right, and how he never smacked the crap out of Henry showed his steel will as well… because Henry was sooooo annoying the hell out of Mac.

The storyline is great with the mob boss trying to weasel his way out of trouble by eliminating the witness, the stoic FBI agent determined to put the mob boss behind bars and keep the witness safe and then we have the witness who is far from the usual type of witness we are used to seeing and he totally makes this story amazing. Henry cracks through Mac’s walls showing us a side of Mac that can be light-hearted. Henry also has a past that we get a glimpse of and has made me want to read the other books in this series. We don’t get a fulfilling relationship between Mac and Henry, we are actually given just a glimpse of them together but it is enough for us to want more from Mac and Henry so we can discover if they do get a semblance of a happy ending.

I recommend this story to those who love thrillers mixed with humor, witnesses who are far from the norm, an FBI agent whose shell gets cracked, a touch of mystery, a relationship that never really gets started and the promise of more to come.      

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