Love Bytes is delighted to have author CJane Elliott stopping by to reveal their beautiful new cover of upcoming release Sand-Man’s Family.
Welcome, CJane!
Thank you, Dani, for hosting my cover reveal on LoveBytes and happy anniversary to the blog! I’ve enjoyed seeing all the festivities over the past few days.
Today I’m revealing the cover of Sand-Man’s Family, the third novella in the Wild and Precious Series. The wonderfully talented AngstyG designed all the covers in the series, and I absolutely love their work.
Blurb:
When Sandy Nixon’s conservative Catholic parents discover he’s had sex before marriage, they are furious. But when he blurts out he’s bisexual, they go ballistic. After they threaten him with conversion therapy, Sandy does what many queer kids long to do —leaves his homophobic parents in the dust. He moves in with his Uncle Phineas and Phineas’s partner Cody in Portland, Oregon, and is finally safe to be himself. Sandy misses his siblings, though, and decides to visit his former home in Rockford for Thanksgiving. On the train, he runs into Jade Byrne.
As the only out gay kid in their Catholic high school, Jade had stared down homophobes while being fabulous in the school musicals. He’s crushed on Sandy for years. But he’s made sure never to show it, even after they had a one-time hookup, because Sandy’s the good Catholic kid, the altar boy, and the apparently straight athlete—all the things Jade isn’t. Traveling back to Rockford together sees the start of a month of adventures, a blossoming attraction, and a chance for Sandy to learn what it means to have a family that hurts and to choose a family that heals.
“Tell me about being bi,” Jade suggested as they sat side by side, shoulders touching. They’d returned to the observation car after having lunch with Phinney and Cody, who had retreated to their love nest, aka sleeper cabin.
“Huh?” Sandy shot a glance in Jade’s direction, trying to determine if he was joking.
“I mean it, doll. I’m fascinated that you’ve had this revelation. I would have pegged you for a curious straight boy all the way.” Jade tilted his head, his eyes sparkling. “I highly approve, of course.”
Sandy relaxed. “Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about it back when… after we hooked up.”
Jade leaned closer. “You did? Why?”
“Because… um, you know, you’re easy to talk to. But we never really hung out.”
“Hmm. True. You were too busy hanging with the jocks and student council types—oh, and the cheerleaders—for little ol’ me.”
Sandy bumped his shoulder into Jade’s. “You should talk. You were too busy starring in all the plays and running around with the artsy crowd for little ol’ me.”
Jade grinned and grabbed Sandy’s hand. “What a pair we were.”
“Uh, yeah.” All his blood had rushed south at Jade’s touch, and Sandy concentrated on trying to seem unaffected. Jade got touchy-feely with everyone, and Sandy had to remember it didn’t mean anything. “So… um, what was the question again?” He shifted away from Jade a fraction, and Jade let go of his hand.
“Questions, babe. I’m full of them!” Jade tucked his legs gracefully to one side and leaned back to survey Sandy’s face. “Let’s start with the hetero side of your bi equation.”
“Okaaay. What do you want to know?”
“You’re still into girls?” At Sandy’s nod, Jade asked, “Do you see yourself ending up married? To a woman? I mean, wouldn’t it be easier?”
“Well, yeah, it’d be easier. But marriage? Come on, I’m barely nineteen. I have no idea who I’ll end up with.”
“Okay.” Jade’s eyes were wide and serious. “But you and Brittany are… what?”
Sandy huffed out an exasperated breath. “How should I know? We haven’t seen each other in eight months!”
“Got it.” Jade gave a satisfied nod. “So it’s not the love of the century, but you’ll see how things are when you get together this week.”
“Jesus, Jade. Me and Brittany were never the love of the century. We lost our virginity together, and that was about it. She’s a friend and she’s a cool person. That’s all.”
“Okay, okay. No need to get testy. Any other females on your radar?”
Sandy wanted to be mad but couldn’t hold on to his anger when Jade smiled that teasing smile. “There was a girl I went out with a few times in Portland after Dare disappeared. Marie. I met her on my Ultimate Frisbee team.”
“Aha!”
“Naw, she had a semi-serious boyfriend who came back to town, so we stopped dating.”
“And you’re still hung up on Dare.”
“Yeah. I mean, I guess? How long can you hang on to a hopeless cause before it gets pathetic, though?” He’d meant it as a joke, but Jade didn’t smile.
“Oh, years. Believe me.” Jade gazed away for a moment, then turned back. “You’re not pathetic, Mr. Nixon. Anything but.” Now he smiled at him, a soft sweetness to his expression that turned Sandy bashful.
BUY LINKS
To preorder Sand-Man’s Family, go here:
To buy the first two Wild and Precious books:
After years of hearing characters chatting away in her head, CJane Elliott finally decided to put them on paper and hasn’t looked back since. A psychotherapist by training, CJane enjoys writing sexy, passionate stories that also explore the human psyche. CJane has traveled all over North America for work and her characters are travelers, too, traveling down into their own depths to find what they need to get to the happy ending.
CJane is an ardent supporter of LGBTQ equality and is particularly fond of coming out stories.
In her spare time, CJane can be found dancing, listening to music, or watching old movies. Her husband and son support her writing habit by staying out of the way when they see her hunched over, staring intensely at her laptop.
To celebrate the release of Sand-Man’s Family, I’m giving away codes for two free audiobooks of the first story in the series, Wild and Precious. The audiobook is narrated by the wonderful K.C. Kelly, who does a great job creating distinct voices for the characters and imbuing the scenes with emotion. I cried listening to him!
To win a free audiobook, answer the following question in the comment section: What’s one thing you’d love to do that you haven’t yet done in your life?
I’ll be back to announce the winners on Friday, April 8, 2016.
I’d love to do the trans Canada railway journey (not very likely to happen as I’m on a pension and live in Australia!)
I would love to go to New Zealand.
Visit the British Isles.
I would love to go to Australia.
Congrats on the release – it sounds great and the cover is wonderful.
I would love to visit England.
I would like to do a road trip or visit Japan or Korea (unlikely since I get car sick and am afraid of heights).
i want to travel to italy
I would love to go to a volcano in Hawaii.
I would love to travel the world 🙂 I very rarely get time off and when I do, it’s to a hotel for an over-night staycation! I would love to “escape” and just relax somewhere new and different! Thanks for the chance! I can’t wait to read or listen to your book!