A warm welcome to author Helena Stone joining us today to talk about new release “Ukuleles & Scrums”. book 4 in the succesful Mitch & Cian series.

Check out the wonderful guestpost by Helena, read the excerpt and don’t forget to check out the wonderful giveaway Helena brought with her for our readers!

Welcome Helena 🙂

Thank you for inviting me LoveBytes. I’m delighted to share the release of Ukuleles & Scrums (Mitch & Cian #4) with you and your readers. These two young men have been on quite a journey, and this fourth part of their story is no exception. Please stay tuned for all you want to know about this book, an excerpt, and a giveaway. But first I’d like to talk about the second part of the title: Scrums.

 

Scrums are, of course, a feature in the game of rugby. People who read A Miracle in the Library may remember that Cian played the game while in high school. In Ukuleles & Scrums, he returns to his favourite sport and joins an inclusive (or, as Mitch thinks of it, gay) rugby team in Dublin.

 

I could of course have created a fictional rugby club. But, since Dublin actually has an absolutely wonderful inclusive rugby club called the Emerald Warriors, I decided to ask them for permission to feature the club in my story. I’m over the moon that they decided to allow me to do just that.

 

From the book’s dedication page

 

A special mention goes to Michael Menton, Vice President of the real Emerald Warriors. He went well above and beyond the call of duty when he volunteered to read my story and gave me permission to use the Dublin club’s name in Ukuleles & Scrums. Having said that, the club as portrayed in this book is very much a product of my imagination and any mistakes or discrepancies are my responsibility only.

 

And, since I did fictionalise at least some parts of the club and how it operates, I’ve invited the club to tell us a little more about itself. The following is courtesy of Oran Sweeney, Emerald Warrior.

 

 

Emerald Warriors RFC was formed in August 2003 to provide an open, inclusive, and safe environment to watch, play, and enjoy rugby.

 

The vision of Emerald Warriors RFC is to be the leading inclusive rugby club, not only in Ireland, but in the world, leading by example and achieving success as players, coaches and supporters through pathway development and training.

 

Emerald Warriors RFC offers the opportunity to learn and play competitive rugby in the Irish Leinster Metro League and on the international stage as a member of International Gay Rugby (IGR). The club welcomes all members, regardless of their experience, looking to join, play for, or support inclusive rugby.

 

Emerald Warriors RFC competes with two teams registered in the Leinster Metro League, playing against establish rugby teams in Ireland.

 

The club boasts an ever-increasing membership of 140 members; adding almost 40 members to the previous year’s total.

Emerald Warriors RFC continues to grow from strength to strength. One of our major highlights from last season was to host the Union Cup, Europe’s biggest LBGT+ and inclusive rugby tournament.

 

The Union Cup Dublin 2019 took place from 7-9th June 2019 at the DCU sportsgrounds. Over 45 LGBT+ and inclusive rugby teams from 15 countries came together to compete, with the men’s final refereed by Nigel Owens. Emerald Warriors teams were also delighted to be joined by Ireland Captain; Rory Best, for a surprise training session in the lead up to the tournament.

In conjunction with Bank of Ireland, Guinness, Vodafone and a host of amazing club allies, the Union Cup was a major success, attracting global attention and over 1,600 visitors to the tournament each day.

 

Another success of last season was a club first of entering two teams within the Leinster Metro League; a team in division 9 and 11 respectively. This was a huge achievement for the club, with the division 9 team finishing 2nd in the league and through to the clubs first league final. The division 11 team finished the season strong with some great performances and members gaining their first ever experience of participating in competitive rugby matches.

 

This was a challenging season for the club, however a very rewarding one with even greater ambitions for the future.

 

Club sponsors: Bank of Ireland, Meaghers Pharmacy Group, Mercantile Group, The George, Kukri.

 

If you want to know more about the Emerald Warriors or if you’d like to follow them, you can find the club in the following places:

www.ewrfc.ie | www.facebook.com/emeraldwarriorsrugby/ | www.twitter.com/ewrfc
www.instagram.com/emeraldwarriors/

 

Blurb

 

Falling in love is easy. Building a life together takes more work.

 

Nine months after getting together, Mitch and Cian are studying in Dublin and sharing an apartment. For both, this is a dream come true and even boring household chores become fun when they do them side by side.

 

Tensions arise after Cian joins an inclusive rugby club and Mitch a ukulele orchestra. Insecurities, jealousy, and lack of relationship-experience soon lead to resentment, and each struggles to balance romance with their individual interests. After Cian and Mitch accept separate invitations to Halloween parties, hoping the other will accompany them, their doubts grow.

 

Will All Hallows’ Eve drive a wedge between them or could there be another miracle in the making?

 

Ukuleles and Scrums is the fourth novella in the Mitch & Cian series. While it could, possibly, be read as a stand-alone story, the reader will enjoy it more if they read A Miracle in the Library, Lessons in Love, and Pride of Place first.

 

Buy links: Universal | Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

Available to read in Kindle Unlimited and as a paperback

 

 

Since the guest post above focuses on Cian’s hobby, I thought I’d better pay some attention to Mitch in the excerpt. We don’t want the lads to get jealous now, do we? (Oops?)

 

 

Mitch stared at the notice board, amused that in the age of digital everything many student clubs and groups still recruited through handwritten cards on a pinboard that looked as if it had hung on that wall since the building had been first erected.

Yoga and meditation weren’t really him, and he didn’t think the historical club was up his street either. In fact, he didn’t know what he was looking for or even if he wanted to take up a hobby. A week earlier he would have said his life was complete. Cian, the psychology course he’d started about a month earlier, keeping their little household going, and the occasional night out together had been more than enough to keep him happy and content.

He sighed as he mentally discarded a philosophy club and a rambler’s group. It wasn’t that he begrudged Cian his rugby. It was obvious he enjoyed his return to the game. His enthusiasm when he came home from a training session was both beautiful to behold and painful. The idea that he might not be enough to fill Cian’s life had never crossed Mitch’s mind. He hadn’t given it much thought but recognized now that he’d always assumed they’d spend most, if not all their time, apart from lectures, together. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself on his own. Which didn’t make sense because he’d always been perfectly capable of keeping himself occupied and happy. But that shouldn’t be necessary anymore now that he was in a relationship. Should it?

“Can’t make up your mind?” The amused voice pulled Mitch out of his bewildering musings. He turned and blinked when the first thing he noticed was spikey, purple hair. He blinked again, and a smiling face with huge, black-lined yet very kind eyes completed the picture.

“None of that is really me,” Mitch said.

The mystery girl gazed at the board for a moment before focusing on Mitch again. “So what is you?”

Mitch sighed. She’d just asked the million-dollar question. “I don’t know. I want to do something, get to know a few people, but I’d just as soon enjoy what I sign up for.”

“First year?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Me too,” she said. She studied him for a moment. “Do you play an instrument?”

The question was so apropos of nothing it took Mitch a moment to catch up. “I used to play guitar,” he eventually said. “But I haven’t picked one up for at least two years.”

“Perfect.” A huge grin spread across the girl’s face. “You can join my ukulele group.”

“I can what now?”

The girl held up her hand, revealing a, not surprisingly, purple card. “I was about to put this up. A few friends and I are starting a little band. Just ukes and singing and, hopefully, fun.” She reached up and pinned the card to the board.

Mitch read the short message, hoping to buy some time before he had to come up with a sensible-sounding response.

 

 

Ukulele Rainbow Orchestra looking for members

Experience not required and ukes will be provided.

Call Ro on: 08……..

 

 

“Are you Ro?” Mitch asked. It was an easier question than the other one burning in his mind. Rainbow Orchestra?

“Yes. I’m Robin, but I prefer Ro.” She shrugged as if it was the umpteenth time she’d made the statement. “So, are you in?”

Mitch could think of several good reasons why he should say no. He’d stopped playing guitar mainly because he hadn’t been comfortable performing with and in front of others. What was more, he didn’t know Ro, no matter how friendly she appeared, and he hadn’t even seen the others Ro referred to. He also couldn’t imagine how anyone was going to play an instrument without prior experience or instruction.

“Sure, why not?” To say his answer took Mitch by surprise would be an understatement, but much to his shock, he didn’t regret it or want to take the words back.

“Fabulous.” Ro grinned at him as if he’d just given her the best birthday present ever. “Come along, then. I’ll introduce you to the others.”

“What? Now”

Ro grabbed his wrist and pulled Mitch along as she walked away from the board. “Yes. Now. We’re getting together for the first time, so if you’re going to join, you might as well do so from the start.”

 

The Mitch & Cian Series

 

The Mitch & Cian Series:

A Miracle in the Library: Universal | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Lessons in Love: Universal | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Pride of Place: Universal | Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

Helena Stone can’t remember a life before words and reading. After growing up in a household where no holiday or festivity was complete without at least one new book, it’s hardly surprising she now owns more books than shelf space while her Kindle is about to explode.

The urge to write came as a surprise. The realisation that people might enjoy her words was a shock to say the least. Now that the writing bug has well and truly taken hold, Helena can no longer imagine not sharing the characters in her head and heart with the rest of the world.

Having left the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam for the peace and quiet of the Irish Country side she divides her time between reading, writing, long and often wet walks with the dog, her part-time job in a library, a grown-up daughter and her ever loving and patient husband.

 

Stalking links: Facebook and Facebook Reader’s Group | Facebook Author Page

Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page | BookBub | Newsletter

 

Thank you for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed my post and are now curious about Mitch & Cian and their love story. This much reading deserved a reward. 😊 So I’ll give a copy of the e-book of both A Miracle in the Library and Lessons in Love to one of the readers commenting on this post. I’ll leave the giveaway open for a week. Please make sure to add contact details to your comment so that I can find you if you win.