Title: Jingle Jingle KILL
Author: C. Quince
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 12/09/2025
Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 32300
Genre: Contemporary Holiday, MM romance, intercultural, spies, secret agents, covert missions, mystery, British humour, holidays, contemporary, action-adventure, action comedy.
Add to Goodreads
Description
Arthur is a Romeo agent for British Intelligence, a gentleman spy. His ex-lover, Harun, a former assassin for the terror cell Al-Qaum, is now a foreign diplomat.
They haven’t seen each other in over twenty years, ever since they stopped an assassination attempt during a Millennium celebration in London. No one has been able to get close to Al-Qaum during that time, either, until now when they resurface with a new assassination plot set for this Christmas Eve, bearing a remarkable similarity to the Millennium event.
Arthur and Harun reunite to take down their old enemy, Al-Quam, but not all is as it seems with either the new plot or their estranged relationship, and the two men find that the danger to their hearts is as real as the danger to their lives.
Step into a world of career spies, shadowy allies, secret orders, and killer holiday jingles.
Jingle Jingle KILL
C. Quince © 2025
All Rights Reserved
It started to rain, just a drizzle. The sky was grey with a teasing patch of sunshine in the distance.
A handful of embassy workers streamed out the building’s main entrance. Two walked off down the street, while a trio crossed the quiet road, obviously headed for the park.
Harun was one of them.
While Arthur did keep tabs on him, admittedly he hadn’t looked at a close-up photo of Harun for a while now. Sometimes it was simply too painful. But there was no mistaking the man now. His hair had grown out, past his ears and cut into a fashionable, wavy style. He wore a navy-blue suit with an open grey trench coat and was holding up a large black umbrella as he chatted with his colleagues.
He looked well. Content.
And now here was Arthur, come to mess up his life again.
Dinah cleared her throat delicately. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go?”
Arthur pulled himself together. “No, no,” he insisted, hand gripping the door handle. “I’ll go.”
“Here,” she said, offering him her umbrella. “You can use it as a weapon if the need arises.”
Arthur chuckled wryly. “You jest, and yet…”
He left that suggestion incomplete, swiftly getting out of the car. Arthur opened the umbrella and held it up, protecting him from the light smattering of rain. It was warm outside, muggy.
Harun and the two people with him were about to enter the park. Arthur stepped forward.
“Afedersiniz!” Arthur called out, the polite way to say, “Excuse me”.
Harun spotted him and stopped.
He looked in good shape, and he was a bit younger than Arthur. He’d be forty-five now.
After a long moment of staring, Harun excused himself from his colleagues and approached Arthur alone.
This was the closest they’d been in twenty years, standing opposite each other in Berlin, both holding umbrellas in the rain. Harun wore a pair of clear rim glasses, but his eyes were the same piercing grey. A few wrinkles showed around the eyes—laughter lines hopefully. And a few salt and pepper streaks were in his hair and the short beard on his face.
Still the most dashing fellow Arthur had ever laid eyes on.
“Hello, old boy,” Arthur said in English, aiming for levity, but the way his voice cracked probably gave him away. “Long time.”
“Arthur,” Harun replied. “What are you doing here?”
His accent had changed some, Arthur noted. Now he sounded more European when he spoke English.
“I’m afraid it’s business, not pleasure,” Arthur told him. “We appear to have a new lead.”
He watched Harun’s face for any sign of emotion, but the man was too good at masking it. Excellent poker player.
“What new lead?” he asked evenly.
“A sleeper agent has been apprehended in London,” Arthur explained. “I’m on my way there now. Hoping you would join us and lend your… expertise.”
“Have you identified the agent?” Harun asked, straight to business.
“No, it’s a young fellow,” Arthur said. “Apparently hasn’t said a word and seems confused. The bosses asked for you.”
“Hm,” Harun said. “Val is your boss now?”
He may not have been wielding a gun, but the man was still deadly with his aim.
Arthur forced a smile. “She’s one of the bosses, yes.”
Harun smiled back at him, a smug twist to it. “Oh, I bet you love that.”
“We all have our cross to bear, darling,” Arthur quipped, and immediately felt self-conscious for using the endearment.
Slip of the tongue.
Harun didn’t say anything, but his smile evaporated. “And I suppose you wish to leave as soon as possible?”
“Well, you know how impatient they get,” Arthur said.
Harun sighed. “Fine. Let me go back in and get my bag. You may wait for me here.”
“As you like,” Arthur said. “Please don’t do a runner, old boy. You know how cross Val gets when she’s kept waiting.”
“I am coming with you; make no mistake,” Harun said firmly. “I hope this lead isn’t another dead end, Arthur.”
And with that, he turned on his heel, coat swishing with the motion, and marched back across the street.
Arthur smiled in his wake. “So do I, dear boy. So do I.”
Purchase
NineStar Press | Books2Read
Amazon
Quince is a MENA-British author who lives in England, enjoys sci-fi and fantasy, history, and Halloween.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky
