Love Bytes is delighted to exclusively share the cover from Marguerite Labbe her upcoming release A Little Side of Geek coming from Dreamspinner Press.

I’m so excited to share the awesome cover Kanaxa created for me for the first book in my Geek Life series A Little Side of Geek. She really captured the comic book feel that I wanted. All three of the books follow characters in the comic book convention circuit of Maryland, DC, and Virginia. It’s a world that has given me so many wonderful memories and friends that have become family.

I was actually at a convention when I first came up with the idea for the series and several of the scenes were written while I was on the road. Morris and Theo, the heroes of the first book quickly became favorites and I hope you love them as much as I do.

Cover Art Designer: Kanaxa

Blurb:

When opposite worlds collide, it’s anyone’s game.

Proud geek and comic book artist Morris Proctor wants nothing more than to live in semiseclusion with his devil cat and gamer friends. Despite what his well-meaning family thinks, he’s perfectly content with his status quo. The last thing he needs is to date another non-geek hell bent on changing him.

Then he meets his adorkable new neighbor, Theo Boarman, who doesn’t know Star Trek from Star Wars, but who tempts him like no other.

Theo has spent the last year recovering from the loss of his parents and trying to play both roles for his teenage brother, while working to keep the family restaurant afloat. Dating is the last thing on the menu, especially with a man who thinks the height of dining is shoving a packaged meal into the microwave.

But if Morris gives him one more shy smile or flaunts that kilt he wears so well, Theo will be forced to convince him that a hot summer fling is just the recipe to let off a little steam.

When that fling gets serious fast, Morris has to decide if he’s willing to give his heart to Theo on the chance that they’re a perfect mix.

Buy Links:

Dreamspinner Press eBook

Dreamspinner Press Paperback

Marguerite has been accused of being eccentric and a shade neurotic, both of which she freely admits to, but her muse has OCD tendencies, so who can blame her? She loves writing stories about the beauty of love with all of its fascinating quirks and the strength of family, whether it’s the family you’re born into or the one you create. Marguerite was born in New Hampshire, grew up as a military brat, moving from one end of the U.S. to the other before settling down in Southern Maryland. She married her next-door neighbor and best friend, and they have one son and two cats who rule them. To her dismay, she has failed to convince her Alabama born husband to move north, where being a passionate Red Sox fan is perfectly normal. She runs Apocrypha Comics Studio with her husband and they often trek off to comic book conventions on the weekend where they celebrate all manner of geek culture. In her spare time she loves reading novels of all genres, enjoying a table top role-playing games with her friends, many which end up on the Role With Us podcast, and finding really good restaurants where she can indulge in her love of food and wine.

I’d be happy to giveaway a copy of one of my Dreamspinner or DSP books
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Theo’s hot neighbor was an artist and a writer. That explained why he was always at home. Theo was beginning to think he was a hermit. Theo moved toward the booth with quick steps, eager to revisit their earlier interrupted conversation.

When he paused in front of Morris’s booth, the man kept drawing, his long fingers gripping the pencil lightly. Curiosity outweighed manners, and Theo went up on his toes to get a better look. The girl in the banner sat amongst a cloud of butterflies with an expression of delight on her face as she leaned forward in her wheelchair, fingers stretching to touch them. It was only a rough sketch, but it was alive with movement and emotion. Theo could imagine it finished, colors blazing.

He wanted it.

“How much for the picture when it’s done?” Theo gestured toward the board.

Morris’s head jerked up, his eyes wide with surprise, and then his gaze warmed when he saw Theo. “Hey.” He glanced back down at the half-drawn sketch. “I’d actually planned this for a new promo banner. I’ve had that one up for over a year now.”

“For your comic?” Theo picked up one of the copies stacked in neat little holders at the front of the booth. It showed the same girl wheeling her way through what looked like a haunted house with spooky eyes staring at her from the darkness. Trotting by her side was the same cat, its fur standing on end. “You do all of this?”

“Yep, pencils, inks, colors, and the writing. It keeps me hopping.” Morris set down the pencil and shook out his hand, flexing his fingers.

“I can imagine.” There were a number of comics in the holders as well as a small stack of books that looked like a compilation. “What’s it about?”

“It’s Scooby-Doo! meets Dora the Explorer with a dash of E.S.P.” Morris crossed his arms on the table as Theo picked up the compilation book and thumbed through it. “It’s a kids’ comic. The hero, Laila, is disabled from a car accident. She communicates with animals on a basic level, mostly her cat. And she goes around solving mysteries and generally taking life on at full throttle.”

Car accident. Those two words struck an icy chord in Theo’s heart and gut. He’d lost both parents, his dad to cancer and his mom from falling asleep at the wheel coming home late from the hospital. Too close together. Too fucking close. And the double punch still hurt.

Theo set the book down as he eyed the pencil drawing again. The way the girl reached as if she was on the verge of flying herself, the simple joy on her face called to him. He wanted the picture as a reminder that life went on, full of joy and pain in equal measure but still beautiful.