Monday, 4 September 2017

Between a Rock and a Hard PLace (A London Lads Story) by Clare London



Buy Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Length: 19,598 words

Cover Design: Tibbs Design

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

London Lads Series

Chase The Ace (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner
How The Other Half Lives (Book #2) Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner
A Good Neighbour (Book #3)  Amazon US | Amazon UK  Dreamspinner 
Peepshow (Book #4)  Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner

Blurb

Garry’s at the end of his tether. He’s waiting at Glasgow Airport to meet his friend Will, on their way to a holiday in a Scottish Highlands hotel. Now there’s a ten-hour delay to incoming flights, the seat in the lounge is more like an instrument of torture, and he’s beyond tired of airport food.

 He’s also dreading having to apologise for the pass he recently made at Will, his colleague at a London bank, under the influence of too many beers and a long-held crush. Now Will’s been offered a new job offer on a continent thousands of miles away, Garry realises it may be the end of their close friendship—let alone anything more.

 To add to Garry’s stress, he’s treated to the company of Emily and Max, two young people who think he needs educating in the ways of the world. Struggling with their well-meaning help and the startling mess from spilled ketchup and noxious-smelling sweets, he’s encouraged to re-examine how he feels about Will and to decide what kind of journey he’d really like them to take together.

 Review
“Gary suspected he knew what tipped psychotics over the edge”

What a fabulous way to start a story. And how very fitting that it should start fabulously, because that’s pretty much how Between a Rock and a Hard Place reads all the way through.

When the story starts we find Gary in Glasgow airport in the foulest of moods. He’s waiting for his friend and colleague Will to return from America before the two of them will join other friends for an annual get-together and holiday, but Will’s flight has been delayed by ten hours.

That set of circumstances would be enough to put dampers on anybody’s good humour, but for Gary it’s really only the first of many issues. While the wait might be frustrating and the environment he finds himself in stress inducing, neither is as bad as the nerves he experiences about his upcoming reunion with Will. And he isn’t sure whether he’s more worried about that the fact that this will be the first time he will be face to face with Will since he spontaneously kissed him before running away or because Will may soon disappear from his life. Self doubt, self recrimination, and nerves keep the poor man pretty much on edge.

Enter Max and Emily, two young kids who more or less take charge of Gary, distracting him, infuriating him, making him smile despite himself and making him eat the lousy airport food. The conversations between the kids and Gary and especially the words and phrases Emily came up with had me reading page after page with a huge grin on my face while trying to snigger quietly since I was in work at the time.

Friends to lovers, forced by an impending separation. There’s nothing like the risk of losing someone to make you realise how important they are to you.

And then, just when you think the story has reached its happy ever after and has ended, there’s a wonderful little surprise (can’t really call it a twist) to make you smile even wider.

There are no two ways about it, Between a Rock and a Hard Place is a charming, uplifting and at times laugh out loud funny story, or, in other words, a full hour of pure reading bliss.

Mum says men like you are happy. 

Related Reviews: Chase the Ace | \ How the Other Half Lives | A Good Neighbour



Author Bio

 Clare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing with the weekly wash, waiting for the far distant day when she can afford to give up her day job as an accountant. Sheís written in many genres and across many settings, with novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say sheís just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, sheís happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters.

Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home.

 All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello!


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