The Closet Boy
Author Sean Michael
Artist L.C. Chase
Dreamspinner Press
Sales Links eBook and Paperback
The Closet Boy Cover by Sean Michael
It’s important to me that all the covers for the Iron Eagle Gym books are immediately recognizable as a part of the same series. The first few books in the series were easy enough to do that, but with this one, I really wanted to have the character in the doorway of a closet. And I had no idea how to accomplish that and still make it look like a part of the same series with the color scheme and all. This is why I am not a cover artist – I had no clue.
However, LC Chase, who has done all the other awesome Iron Eagle Gym covers, is a great cover artist. She had plenty of ideas and I’m so pleased with what she came up with.
I really wanted that closet represented, because it plays two roles – the ‘coming out of the closet’ aspect, as well as the fact that at the begining of the book, Way’ra is literally living in a closet. So thank you LC Chase for being able to translate my awkward attempt at describing the cover in my brain and making it happen.
Sean Michael
smut fixes everything
Blurb
Way’ra Bernard is only twenty years old when his parents kick him out of the house. He has been brought up to believe being gay is wrong and he is going to go to hell for it. He tried very hard not to be gay but couldn’t change the way he felt. Now he’s living furtively in a closet on the third floor of the place he’s working as a janitor—the Iron Eagle Gym.
Neal McPherson is an unattached Dom in his midtwenties and a member of the gym. One evening after working out, he notices Way’ra on the stairs, and he’s immediately attracted and intrigued, so he asks Way’ra out. Unable to come up with a reason to refuse, and also interested in Neal, Way’ra accepts.
There are a lot of obstacles to the relationship they attempt to build after their date, not least of which is Way’ra’s upbringing and his lingering doubts about the kinky sex Neal enjoys. But with patience and persistence, Neal might convince Way’ra to not only accept himself, but to loosen his inhibitions enough to explore and find a happy ending together.
Excerpt
Chapter One
God, he was tired.
Way’ra finished his shift with the broom and waved to Dalton, the nice night manager sitting at the counter at the front of the Iron Eagle Gym. “Bye, man. I’m going to check the bathrooms, and then I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Have a good night, Way. Don’t party too hard.”
Right. Because he remembered parties. The last four months had been the longest of his young life. He’d been outed, thrown out of his conservative religious college and out of his house without anything more than the clothes on his back and his wallet.
No phone. No laptop. No cash. No shoes. He’d managed to pull two hundred dollars from the ATM before his dad froze the account.
Still, he’d done it, hadn’t he? He had a job cleaning here at the Eagle, and in a month he’d have enough saved to rent a room. All he had to do was wait it out.
Well, wait it out and pray that no one noticed that someone was sleeping in one of the third-floor broom closets. So far he’d been doing it for a few months and no one was the wiser. He’d tried staying in the park, but between the snow and the cold, it had been so nasty. He’d been hoping spring would be difference, but there’d been so much rain. He only had the one pair of jeans; he couldn’t show up to work with them wet.
When he’d discovered the tiny broom closet with a layer of dust on the floor, it had felt like magic, like it was meant to be. He wasn’t hurting anything. No one was staying there, and he was super careful to sneak out before one of the day managers saw him in the morning, grab his one meal of coffee and a doughnut, and hang out for a couple of hours before he showed back up to work.
He was headed up the back stairs, quiet as a mouse, when a gorgeous stud suddenly appeared at his side. The guy was tall, close to a foot bigger than him, and with the best muscles. He was wearing a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, gym bag slung over one shoulder.
“Headed up too?” Even the guy’s voice was studly—deep and growly.
“Uh. Uh-huh. Just checking supplies.” He kept his head down, his gaze forward. This man was twice his size, easily, and he wasn’t interested in a confrontation.
“Oh right, you work here. I thought I recognized you. Do you like it?” The guy was taking the stairs two at a time, but doing it slowly enough that they stayed level.
“Yes, sir. It’s a good job.” No one asked questions. No one bothered him. No one noticed him. He didn’t exist, and that was just like he wanted it.
Sean Michael Bio:
Best-selling author Sean Michael is a maple leaf–loving Canadian who spends hours hiding out in used book stores. With far more ideas than time, Sean keeps several documents open at all times. From romance to fantasy, paranormal and sci-fi, Sean is limited only by the need for sleep—and the periodic Beaver Tail.
Sean fantasizes about one day retiring on a secluded island populated entirely by horseshoe crabs after inventing a brain-to-computer dictation system. Until then, Sean will continue to write the old-fashioned way.
Sean Michael on the web:
WEBSITE: http://www.seanmichaelwrites.com
BLOG: http://seanmichaelwrites.blogspot.ca
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/SeanMichaelWrites/
TWITTER: seanmichael09
Sean Michael is giving away a eBook copy of The Closet Boy to one lucky reader. Leave a comment below along with your email address where you can be reached if chosen. Contest runs until midnight, November 2. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
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