Today we have over at Love Bytes author Jay Nortcote she is here promoting her new release “Cold Feet”
she is here answering some questions offers an excerpt and there is a giveaway!
also if you scroll to the bottom you will see the free Christmas story Jay wrote and offered to her readers!

Welcome Jay !

 

Cold Feet by Jay Northcote

Genre: contemporary m/m romance

Length: 32,000 words approx

Release date: Monday 8^th of December 2014

Publisher: Jay Northcote

Buy links:

Amazon

Amazon UK

 

Blurb

Best friends snowed in together. When the heat rises, will they get cold feet?

Getting snowed in at a remote cottage in Wales with someone he’d fancied for ages isn’t exactly how Sam expected to spend Christmas. His feelings for Ryan are pointless. Ryan’s straight—or so he thought.

Until now, Ryan’s kept his feelings for Sam buried. Why ruin a friendship over what might only be gay experimentation? Playing it cool seems safer, until a cold snap makes sharing body heat vital. In their Welsh safe haven, anything seems possible.

As Ryan’s reserve melts away, Sam wants more than stolen kisses under the mistletoe. But a sudden thaw means making decisions. They could face the New Year together—unless one of them gets cold feet.

 

Tell us about Cold Feet. What was your inspiration for this book?

Mostly I just thought about the ingredients that I like in winter stories and mixed them all up together. I included some of my favourite romance tropes—cuddling for warmth, being snowed in and isolated, characters secretly being in love and pining. Then I thought about the characters next and started jotting down some ideas for who they were and why they were there.

What is your favorite part about Christmas?

I love getting to spend some with my extended family. I have three sisters and we’re all quite close. But it’s rare that I get to see them all at the same time and hang out with them and their families. We always have a big gathering on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas for readers who don’t get that holiday) and it’s usually a really fun time.

Are you a morning person or a night person? When do you do your best writing?

Neither. I always say I’m neither an owl nor a lark… but I’m not sure what that makes me, possibly a sloth! I write best in the morning, but not too early. I’m not one of those people who can set their alarm for 5am and get two hours writing in before everyone else is up. My most productive time of day is usually between 9am and noon. But if I’m on a roll I will often do some afternoon or evening writing too, but nothing later than about 10pm.

How do you do your research for your book locations?

Sometimes they’re based on real places that I’ve visited. If they’re not, then I use Google Earth a lot, and tourist websites to get info and images. The cottage in Cold Feet is based on a real place that I stayed in once, although not in the middle of winter.

If you could be snowed in somewhere, where would it be?

As long as I had supplies of food and firewood, then somewhere like that little cottage could be pretty romantic. But it might be nicer with better heating. The idea of being snowed in is probably more fun than the reality!

Can you tell us what you have coming up next?

I have a story that I’m hoping to release in February 2015 called Passing Through. It’s a little different to my recent releases in that is has darker themes and more angst than my readers are used to from me. It’s about a man who goes to stay with his elderly uncle—who is dying of cancer—and who meets and falls for someone while he’s there. It deals with loss and bereavement but is, I hope, ultimately uplifting. It’s just a story about life, and how loss is an inevitable part of that, but life goes on regardless. It’s very close to my heart for many reasons, so I hope my regular readers will be prepared to give it a try!

 

 

Afterwards, Sam denied he’d started it.

He’d been aiming for the tree behind Ryan, not at Ryan himself, he insisted. But whatever its intended target, Sam’s snowball hit Ryan perfectly on the back of his neck, exploding on impact and sending powdery snow down the gap between beanie and jacket.

After that, mayhem ensued. Snowballs flying as they ran and ducked, laughing and trash-talking each other. They were in a small copse with a few trees and bushes for cover, but as soon as one of them ventured out in search of a new patch of snow to make missiles with, the other would take the opportunity to release a fresh barrage of snowballs.

Finally, frustrated by Sam’s surprisingly good aim, Ryan reverted to his rugby skills and tackled Sam, knocking him full length into the snow with an “Oomph!” Of course, Ryan went down too. But by then he was too wet and cold to care.

They were on a slope, and the impact caused them to roll together, over and over until Ryan wondered if they were going to turn into a giant snowball like characters in a cartoon. But they finally came to rest, panting and laughing as the slope levelled out.

Sam ended up pinned beneath Ryan, laughing out loud. He’d lost his hat at some point in their tumble, and his hair was in his eyes. Snow crystals had caught in it, glinting in the sunlight. His smile was wide and infectious, and Ryan laughed too, dazzled for a moment. Then Sam’s gaze drifted over Ryan’s shoulder and focused on something above them.

“Is that mistletoe?” he asked.

Ryan pushed himself up and offered a hand to Sam to help him back onto his feet. Then he tilted his head back to squint at the spherical tangle of leaves in the bare branches of the tree above them. “I think so.”

Ryan met Sam’s eyes again, then realised he was still holding his hand. They each had gloves on, and Ryan wished they didn’t. He wanted to feel Sam’s skin. They stared at each other for a moment, and Sam licked his lips. They were pink, a little chapped from the cold, and Ryan’s gaze locked onto them. His heart surged, and panicky heat flooded him.

Jay lives just outside Bristol in the West of England, with her husband, two children, and two cats.

She comes from a family of writers, but she always used to believe that the gene for fiction writing had passed her by. She spent years only ever writing emails, articles, or website content. One day, she decided to try and write a short story–just to see if she could–and found it rather addictive. She hasn’t stopped writing since.

Links

www.jaynorthcote.com

Twitter

Facebook profile

Facebook Author Page

Jay’s books

Read Dan’s review of Cold Feet HERE!

Jay is kindly giving away a backlist title of the winners choice (excl Cold Feet) to one Lucky commentor

enter the rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Did you all know Jay has a FREE Christmas story up !

Title: First Class Package

Genre: contemporary gay romance, short story, free story

Author: Jay Northcote

Word count: 7377

Buy links:

ARe

Smashwords

 

Blurb

A geeky science writer has a crush on his postman—but will he ever make a move?

Working from home suits introvert Jim until he gets a special delivery—an extremely cute, temporary postman called Patrick. Jim’s drawn to his wide smile and sexy legs, while Patrick can’t keep his eyes off Jim’s package.

 

Their doorstep attraction seems mutual, so asking Patrick out on a date should be easy. There’s just one problem—Jim could fit all the pick-up lines he knows on the back of a postage stamp.

 

As Christmas approaches, Jim knows the end of Patrick’s postal-delivery contract is looming. Taking a chance might be worth it if it keeps Patrick coming to his door.

 

The sound of the doorbell jarred Jim out of the article on climate change he was working on. Having barely started his first draft, with a deadline forty-eight hours away, he wasn’t too chuffed about being pulled out of the zone. Sighing heavily, he set his laptop aside. As he moved to answer the door, he realised how stiff he was. How long had he been sitting immobile on the sofa? It must have been at least a couple of hours. He was still wearing the ratty old T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms he’d slept in, he realised. But that often happened when he was writing. Getting dressed was just another distraction he didn’t need.

He spotted the flash of a red and navy uniform through the frosted glass panel in the front door and opened it, expecting to see his usual postman Keith.

But on opening the door, he found himself facing a stranger—an attractive stranger with a cheeky grin and twinkly blue eyes under dark spiky hair.

“You’re not Keith,” Jim said.

“Um… no.” Not-Keith’s grin slipped a little. “He’s off work for a few weeks. Had an op on his knee.” He gestured down and Jim’s eyes followed the movement, getting stuck on a delightful pair of muscular legs that emerged from beneath the postman’s navy shorts.

Shorts, in the middle of December? Jim shivered at the thought of it. It was bloody freezing out there, but sunny at least, he supposed.

Jim realised he was still staring like an idiot at the poor bloke’s knees. He quickly looked up again.

“I’ve got something you need to sign for.” Not-Keith pressed a few buttons on his electronic signature gizmo and held it out. A rainbow braided bracelet slipped out from below his sleeve. “Give us your autograph then.”

Jim squiggled something that looked completely unlike his signature, then took the parcel Not-Keith offered him. “Cheers.”

Not-Keith flashed him another devastating smile that did funny things to Jim’s belly. “You’re welcome. Have a good day!”

He turned and hurried off.

Jim’s gaze dropped back down those bare legs: furry, muscular calves over thick socks and boots. The sight of those did funny things a little further south than Jim’s belly.

He shook his head as though to clear it. He didn’t have time to indulge in dirty fantasies about his postman today. There was work to do.