Book Title: Jagged Ends
Author: Thom Collins
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Cover Artist: Kelly Martin
Release Date: April 30, 2024
Genre. Contemporary M/M Romance
Tropes: Suspense, thriller, small town
Themes: Second chance, revenge
Length: 61 912 words/ 248 pages
Heat Rating: 4 flames
It’s a standalone romance that forms part of a wider series
and does not end on a cliffhanger.
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Jerico is about to meet two figures from his past.
One filled with love, the other consumed by vengeance.
Blurb
The coastal town of Nyemouth is the perfect location for celebrity chef Jerico Osman to fulfil a lifetime ambition. With it’s stunning harbour and brisk holiday trade, there’s no better place for him to open his first restaurant. It’s a dream that has been a decade in the making. But there’s another attraction in Nyemouth, one Jerico was completely unaware of.
Andy Quinn is content with his life. He has a great job managing Quay House, the popular waterfront hotel, and a peaceful home with a cat called Patches. Andy spent his twenties working in the cruise industry, exploring the world and has finally settled in his home town of Nyemouth. Those years at sea were a time of adventure and discovery, including a ship bound romance with a young Jerico. After fifteen years, Andy doubts the famous chef will even remember him, but from the moment they reconnect, the time they spent apart falls away.
Andy isn’t the only figure from Jerico’s past. A week before the restaurant is due to open, an act of reckless sabotage puts everything he cares about in danger, including Andy. Jerico has made an enemy, someone who will stop at nothing to see his long-realised dream become a nightmare. As a plan for vengeance is played out, who will survive until the end?
Fall in love with compelling new characters and rediscover some old favourites in the fifth and final instalment of the Jagged Shores series.
Andy went behind the counter and pulled out his stash of take-away menu’s. With an award-winning celebrity chef in the house, he wasn’t about to resort to his Friday favourite of toasted sandwiches. “Got any preferences?”
“Nah. I’ve been too busy to check out the competition. I’ll defer to your local knowledge. Order whatever you fancy. I will eat anything.”
Suddenly, Andy remembered that about him. In their younger days, Jerico had hollow legs when it came to putting food away. He was never full or satisfied. “I’ll go with pizza. It will be the quickest and easiest.” He phoned in an order for his favourite, a large chicken and mushroom pizza with a cheesy garlic bread and a side order of chips, salad and coleslaw. A ridiculous amount of food for two people, but he had a feeling Jerico would finish it.
He opened a bottle of Merlot and put on the outside lights and heater. Patches stuck close to Jerico as they took their seats out the front.
“He definitely likes you,” Andy said, splashily pouring two generous glasses of wine.
Jerico continued to make a fuss of Patches. “I think he’s just checking me out. To see if I’m good enough for his daddy.”
Andy laughed, feeling a heat rise over his face. “You might be right. He’s a smart cat.”
Jerico glanced at him and held his gaze. The voltage in the gesture sent Andy crashing back to his twenties again. This was all so unexpected. It’s like they were picking right up where they had left off fifteen years ago. He wasn’t imagining it. The heat and attraction were still there. He didn’t know how to process it. He was a grown man, three-years off his fortieth birthday and he felt like a kid when he was around Jerico. Was the feeling mutual? It was too early for Andy to even be comfortable with the answer.
“Have the police made any inroads into your case?” The question was sure to cool the mood, but right now, that’s just what he needed.
Jerico grimaced and reached for the wine.
“Sorry,” Andy said, “if you don’t want to talk about it.”
“I’d rather not if that’s okay. It’s a long shitty story and I don’t want to spoil tonight going over it.” He sipped the wine. “To tell the truth, I just want to get the damn thing out of my mind, if only for a couple of hours.”
Andy winced. Total fuck up with that question. “Sorry,” he said again.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I just need to clear my head for a while. Being with you, up here,” he gestured to the view with his glass, “it’s helped.”
Andy smiled again. “I’m glad for that.” He sipped his own wine and then before he knew it, his mouth was running away with him. “I was nervous, about this, about being alone with you. Since we met again on Tuesday, I’ve been kind of…I don’t know. Mixed up.”
Jerico shuffled in his chair, to face him directly. “I’m not mixed up.”
“You’re not?” His light brown eyes were like tigers in the deepening light. “How come?”
He reached across and put a hand on top of Andy’s wrist. The contact sent a heat to Andy’s core. “When I opened the door on Tuesday night and saw you, I knew in an instant that I’d been given a second chance. We drifted apart when we were kids, and I’m not saying that wasn’t the right thing for us to do at the time, we were so young, we didn’t know what we wanted, but I’ve always regretted that it just…”
“Fizzled out.”
“I guess so, yes. I wish I’d tried to keep in touch with you, to stay friends. Who knows what might have happened in another year or two when we knew ourselves a bit better.”
Andy listened, digesting every word. Jerico was given voice to the exact same thoughts he’d had himself this week.
Check out the other books in the Jagged Shores series
Jagged Ends is Thom Collins’ tenth novel. As well as the Jagged Shores series, he is the author of the Anthem Trilogy and Closer by Morning. He has lived in the North East of England his whole life. He grew up in Northumberland and now lives in County Durham with his husband and cat. He loves all kinds of genre fiction, especially thrillers, romance and horror. He is also a cookery book addict with far too many titles cluttering his shelves. When not writing he can be found in the kitchen trying out new recipes. He’s a keen traveler but with a dislike of flying that gets worse with age. Since 2013 he prefers to see the world by sea.
Check out his website for news updates and a free ebook The Night.
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I just tried to buy from the Publisher but I can’t get to the checkout. I’m just told that the page can’t be reached. I have all the other books in the series and really want this one too.