Book Title: Long Past Dawn
Author and Publisher: J.K. Jones
Release Date: March 23, 2022
Genre: M/M Romance
Tropes: Forbidden love, friends to lovers, Gang Romance, High School Romance
Themes: Coming out, drug addiction, abuse forgiveness
Length: 54 858 words/250 pages
It is a standalone story but has a soft cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Blurb
Thug.
Delinquent. Savagery runs hot in his veins. Miguel González doesn’t have any memories that don’t include cruel fists raining down on him. The only light in his life had been his younger sister Valeria, who was slaughtered during a drug run by the Gulf cartels.
Vengeance is the only answer.
War is brewing between the Gulf cartels and Los Zetas. With it, a rising drug lord threatening to destroy everything he’s working towards. Miguel will need to claw his way to the top if he wants justice.
It’s a new school year. There are a bunch of new faces, fresh and eager to learn as they navigate through high school. Most people fear him.
Then there’s him.
Javier Hernández isn’t afraid.
There’s something strange about Javier, something lethal. His gaze is deep, penetrating. Like two blades covered in frost, sinking into his chest.
Javier breaks beautiful things.
But Miguel begs for it.
Warning: Novella, gang wars, deals with alcohol addiction, substance abuse, HFN ending.
Miguel curls on his side, dragging in breaths through his clenched teeth. What the fuck happened? A migraine pulses behind his eye. He vividly fantasizes plucking his eyeball out to escape the pain. He drowns in memories— open-handed smacks and close-fisted swings.
A fight with Alejandro at the club. He’s too drunk to remember most of it. All he can taste is iron and bile in his mouth. What time is it? Miguel groans, rolling onto his side and staring at the blinking clock on the night table.
Shit, it’s eight-thirty. He’s late for school again.
Miguel cleans himself up as best as he can, making sure his shirt is somewhat clean. Some stains never seem to wash out. He rubs his shaved head, sighing as he looks in the mirror. At seventeen he looks like shit warmed over twice.
Whatever. It’s not like his life means anything anyway.
Tomorrow he’ll get wasted again. Same people. Same scene. Nothing ever changes. Especially in this crappy place. Juan isn’t there when he goes downstairs, so Miguel grabs his knapsack and heads to class.
Miguel shows up dirty and disheveled, a snarl on his lips. The teacher gives him a scathing look for interrupting her class, but it’s happened too many times for her to do anything about it.
He’s already been given detention and suspension. The next level will be expulsion. Not that he gives a shit. Miguel sags into one of the chairs near the back, throwing his knapsack on the ground loudly. He doesn’t take out his books or look at the textbook. Miguel stares out the window until the bell rings.
His eyes dart to the clock above the door.
Five more minutes.
At the sound of the bell, he rushes out the door before anyone else manages to. God, I need a cigarette, he thinks. His stomach is still roiling from whatever he’d thrown up this morning. Miguel stands near the door, taking out a pack of smokes and lighting one. The smoke cascades around him, a sense of relief filling him as it expands in his lungs. He knows what he looks like, tattooed and dangerous with buzz cut hair.
Students and teachers pass by him making faces at the stench. It’s a new school year. There are a bunch of new faces, fresh and eager to learn as they navigate through high school.
“Is that him?’ someone whispers.
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“I heard his sister cracked her head open on the concrete.”
“Really? I heard she choked on her own blood on the way to the hospital.”
“That’s nothing,” someone else says. “I heard their foster father was raping her, then killed her to cover his tracks.”
“Seriously?”
“Disgusting.”
“I heard Miguel was hurt so badly he was in a coma, then when he woke up he had total memory loss. He couldn’t even remember his name!”
“Really?”
“How awful!”
“My source is very reliable…” The group walks off into the distance, their voices trailing behind them.
Miguel doesn’t give a fuck. By now he should be used to it. He’s been to five schools in five years and never cared for anyone—especially gossips that spread nothing but lies and hatred everywhere they go. He doesn’t even remember how he landed in this Godforsaken place to begin with.
About the Author
Heaven and hell, demons and angels. J.K Jones has always had an affinity for otherworldly things. From her debut novel, it’s easy to see she loves all things crawling in the shadows. As it so happens, J.K Jones is the author of a gritty, fun, action-packed, soul-rending novel. Her characters are so dark and twisted they defy the dimensions of this world. She does not believe in HEA, she does believe in writing a suitable ending for her characters. Never will you read any of her works where the characters ride off into the sunset together. Not going to happen. There is nothing J.K. Jones loves more than a tragic ending. She is an avid reader, poet, and LGBTQ activist. She is a University graduate with a BA in Sociology, also has a TESOL certificate for teaching English as a Second Language.
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