Title: Heartwood
Author: Emily Carrington
Publisher: Changeling Press
Release Date: 05/23/2025
Cover Art: Angela Knight
Genres: Action Adventure, Box Sets, Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, New Releases, Romance
Themes: LGBTQ+ /Bisexual, Nonbinary, Transgender, LGBTQ+ Gay, New Adult
Series: Heartwood (#4)
Multiverse: Sticks & Stones (#1)
Book Length: Duet/Box Set
Page Count: 567
Add to Goodreads
Synopsis
Can love be shield, sword, and healing balm for this troubled couple?
White Oak (Heartwood 1): Mike Delaney, a sheltered nineteen year old, is hired to assist Aidan Kelly, a blind high school senior with a rainbow for every occasion. But the man who tormented Mike will stop at nothing, including murder, to ensure his silence.
Black Mahogany (Heartwood 2): When Rick Hanlon, the man who molested Mike as a teenager, escapes justice, Aidan will stop at nothing to keep his lover safe, but Mike can’t let go of his self-recriminations or share his nightmares with Aidan.
Yew (Heartwood 3): Mike and Aidan have raised a daughter together. Now they’re looking to foster a second child. But fear and prejudice are even more dangerous enemies than Hanlon, the man who molested Mike when he was a teenager.
Thorn (Heartwood 4): Hanlon is not the only threat to Mike and Aidan’s happiness. From within their marriage, old arguments and insecurities rear their ugly heads. Can Mike and Aidan’s marriage survive?
Heartwood
Emily Carrington
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2025 Emily Carrington
“Why?” Aidan laughed. “Y’ can’t bean a horny mood.”
Bean a horny… Oh. Be in a horny mood. Mike laughed nervously as he cut a long, thin strip of cloth off his T-shirt. He used this to secure the belt to his jeans, tugging on the knot hard to make sure it would hold. All right. His pulse beat against his temples. Doing this in real life was nothing like talking about it in survivalist training.
“Never mind, Aidan.” He approached the edge of the ditch again, scrambling back when another three inches gave way under the light press of his right hand. Please, God.
He lay on his stomach and slithered his makeshift rope over the edge of the collapsing grave.
Don’t think of it like that.
“Aidan?”
No answer.
“Aidan. Answer me!”
“Kyle? Is that you?” Aidan cursed almost too quietly to be heard. “No. Of course not. Mike. Just go get –“
“If you reach up, you’ll feel a pair of jeans.” He swallowed a mad scientist laugh that bubbled up from his toes. Considering his “horny mood” comment, that probably isn’t reassuring. “Take a firm hold on them. I’m going to pull you up.”
Aidan sounded completely in the here and now. “No, you’re fucking not. You’ll be pulled in.”
“I’m far enough back.” Please, God, let that be true. “I’ve done this before.” On paper. He lowered the makeshift rope another few inches. Soon he’d have to move forward to extend it any farther.
“You’re a stubborn ass.”
“I’ve been called a lot worse.”
“Hold still, pretty one, while I get myself ready.”
Mike clapped his left hand over his mouth as his breakfast made a play for escape. In the process he almost lost his grip on the end of the belt as sudden weight was applied to the other end of the makeshift rope. Aidan’s got hold of the jeans. His urge to puke fled, at least for the moment. He clamped both hands on the belt. “Ready?”
“Yeah. I can’t use my legs, but I think I can climb the… rope.” He sounded amused. “You sure you’ve got that end?”
Mike braced himself as well as he could in the grass, wishing he had a rock to grab on to. Aidan was a lot heavier than him. “Yeah. Go for it.”
The moment Aidan put real weight on the jeans, Mike was dragged toward the edge of the still-collapsing hole. This really isn’t going to work. How do I help him if the edges keep falling in?
Then a large hand appeared at the crotch of Mike’s jeans, clutching them like a lifeline. In the middle of so many more important things, Mike wondered if Aidan realized what he was holding. Or if he even cared. Blood rushed into his cheeks and, to his horror, to his groin.
Purchase at Changeling Press
Amazon
Emily Carrington is a multipublished author of male/male and transgender women’s speculative fiction. Seeking a world made of equality, she created SearchLight to live out her dreams. But even SearchLight has its problems, and Emily is looking forward to working all of these out with a host of characters from dragons and genies to psychic vampires. And in the contemporary world she’s named “Sticks & Stones,” Emily has vowed to create small towns where prejudice is challenged by a passionate quest for equality. Find her on Facebook at Shapeshifter Central or on her website.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Shapeshifter Central
One lucky winner will receive a $10.00 Changeling Press Gift Code!
