Book Title: A Conspiracy of Ghosts
Author: Tricia Owens
Cover Artist: Tricia Owens
Release Date: March 21, 2022
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance, Paranormal M/M Romance
Tropes: Former lovers, second chance
Themes: Forgiveness, trust
Length: 52 000 words/254 pages
It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Blurb
As young men struggling to deal with their paranormal abilities, Michael and Dane found relief when they found each other. Michael could hear the dead. Dane could feel them. Together, they seemed the perfect pair. But chasing ghosts is a demanding lifestyle, and despite their attraction to each other, their tumultuous experiences drove them apart.
Eight years later, their paths cross again. They’ve been pitted against each other in a competition to exorcise a ghost from a B&B. Now that they’re changed men, Dane is determined to win Michael back. But Michael is distracted by Jericho, a ghost with the face of an angel but with a core of cruelty. A ghost who knows their deepest, darkest secrets.
Michael studied the walls and the button plate. The Lucite buttons were stained tea-colored from age. Beside them, pale coin shapes had been worn into the brass where decades of guests had aimed for their floor button and missed. The capsule shimmied as gently as an old clothes dryer as it passed the next floor.
“I’ve been keeping track of you,” Dan said. In the brass wall his reflection was diffused and soft-edged, like a memory with all the bad parts forgotten. “You’ve been doing good work.”
Michael glanced askance at him. Compliments from Dane had always been rare; his ego had made it difficult for him to share the spotlight. Michael had never minded. He wasn’t in this for the fame.
“Thanks.” He fidgeted and clasped his fingers tightly to keep his arms as close to his body as possible. It did little to reduce the amount of contact between them. “I nearly didn’t recognize you. This new look suits you.”
“Thank you.”
The reply wasn’t enough for Michael. “When did you…?” He faltered, unsure how to phrase what he wanted to know.
One corner of Dane’s mouth tilted up. He threw Michael an amused, sideways glance. “When did I stop dressing and acting like a rebellious teenager?”
“I never said—”
“You didn’t need to and it’s the truth.” Dane shrugged, moving his arm against Michael’s. “I experienced a revelation, you could say. Or an epiphany. I forget which is which. Anyway, things change, Michael. People do, too.” He paused a moment. “I’m glad you like the way I look. I was hoping you would.”
Michael shifted, uncomfortable. “Why would you want that?”
“Why would I want you to find me attractive?” Dane’s voice was low, pitched so it gained a slightly rough edge. He was, Michael realized with some surprise and alarm, flirting with him. “I’ve never cared about anyone’s opinion of me until I met you. I guess that hasn’t changed after all these years. I’m not bothered by that.”
“You should be. I’m here in a professional capacity. I’m not interested in playing around with you.”
Michael wished his body could back up the words. When had the blood begun filling his cock? He angled his hips slightly away from Dane so he wouldn’t see the growing bulge in his jeans.
“I’m here as a professional, too, Michael. It doesn’t mean we have to be enemies while we’re working.”
“We were never enemies.”
“No,” Dane said softly, “to be enemies we have to care, but only one of us has ever done that.”
Tricia Owens has been writing m/m fiction since 2000, after stumbling onto the term ‘slash’ and thinking it referred to horror stories. She is the author of the Sin City, A Pirate’s Life for Me, and Juxtapose City series, among several others. She lives in Las Vegas.
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