Release Day! Out of Focus

Ta-da! Today is the release day for Out of Focus and here’s a bit about it!

Enemies to lovers, a broken wrist, hurt-comfort and pining. A short contemporary gay romance set in a little Welsh theatre.

Out of Focus. Gay romance, Welsh theatre, hurt-comfort, enemies-to-lovers.

It’s the first of a new series, although it’s not actually a series because that would imply they are going to be in order. Instead I’m going to have a collection of different novellas about different people in the same small town, with the focus being the Theatre Fach or Little Theatre.

Welcome to the fictional town of Llanbaroc, on the north Welsh coast between the sea and the mountains! There’s a decent tourist trade, but there’s also a very close-knit local community, including resident hoteliers, the theatre/community centre, the hospital, the college, the hospital and the donkey sanctuary. There’s a livestock and produce market every Saturday and it’s a centre for the surrounding farming community.

Alex and Luke are well-liked employees of the theatre and have lots of roots in the town—Luke more-so than Alex, because he’s been there longer. I hope you like them as much as I do!

Out of Focus

Cover - A. L. Lester - Out of Focus

Alex has never quite believed he’s good enough. Not as a person and not as a lighting technician. He hates that however hard he tries he can’t get his boss, Luke, to like him. In the two years he’s been in the job it’s become a Thing with him and he’s got a huge crush on the man. He needs to move on for his own sanity and his career and he’s just about to accept a job at a bigger theatre when one of the volunteers he’s bedded and dumped pushes him off a ladder.

Luke likes Alex a lot and has done since the day he walked through the door of Theatre Fawr two years ago. He doesn’t date his staff though, or do casual—and Alex is the epitome of casual. So Luke keeps his distance despite Alex’s constant flirting.

Will Alex’s injury give Alex and Luke the push they need to open up to each other? Or will Luke’s inadvertent discovery that Alex has a secret job offer push them further apart?

A 17,500 word short story in the new Theatr Fach universe.

Amazon US : Amazon UK : Everywhere Else: Goodreads

Read a snippet!

Luke was furious. Bloody furious. His theatre. His crew. Alex.
He’d got back after a leisurely look round a potential new supplier of scissor-lifts and harnesses followed by a pub lunch with the business owner to find the theatre in uproar. Alex had tipped over on the zargees…which was bloody ironic given it was the approaching new height restrictions about using ladders to rig that had sent Luke on his errand.
He’d gone straight to the hospital and found Alex about to check himself out against the doctor’s advice. Bloody Alex, as well. 
Alex had been a thorn in his side since he’d started in post two years ago. It was a tiny theatre and the chief technician was responsible for anything with a plug on it as well as showing the film programme and doing the lighting and sound for shows. They’d done a panel interview and Luke, a couple of members of the board and Lacey the theatre manager had seen half a dozen people. Alex had come out head and shoulders above the rest. 
He’d walked in on his first proper day on the job and looked at Luke from underneath his ridiculously long eyelashes and smiled and said something perfectly professional that Luke hadn’t heard, because he was gone. Gone, gone, gone. His heart had given a big thump, he’d flushed from his chest to his hairline and he’d taken an actual physical step back because otherwise he’d have done something stupid.
Everyone on the circuit knew about Alex Tilsom by reputation. Not his professional reputation, although that was solid. His unprofessional reputation, as Luke privately thought of it. 
It was a small industry. 
Luke had seen whole companies explode because people fell into bed with each other and the detonation when they fell out of bed again meant they couldn’t work together. He’d been at Theatr Fach for a long time now and although there were no actual rules against it, his personal tenet was to keep his professional relationships professional. 
So he let Alex’s good natured flirting roll over him, he didn’t respond like he wanted to and he never, ever commented or ribbed him like the others did about his latest conquest. It was worse because strictly speaking he was Alex’s boss. He tried very hard not to be the older creep who letched on his staff.
Newsflash. In this case he did not always succeed. 
It made him feel uncomfortable and itchy inside his own skin. Alex was a funny guy. He worked hard, he was good at his job. He charmed passing crew and volunteers into bed and out again with no drama before or after. He’d be gone in two or three years…he was the sort of person who saw Theatr Fach as a stepping stone to something bigger and more challenging. 
All Luke had to do was hold on to that thought and not smile back.
He’d thoroughly fucked that up in the last twenty-four hours, hadn’t he? It was his job to go and see what was going on at the hospital. And he supposed he could argue it was his job to stay with Alex overnight if no-one else could, if the stupid arse wouldn't stay in hospital like he should have. 
It wasn’t his job to mostly fail to sleep in the armchair in the corner of the man’s bedroom and creepily watch over him all night. Or was it? Was that on the right side of the line? Fuck it, who knew any more. 

Amazon US : Amazon UK : Everywhere Else: Goodreads

Out of Focus. Gay romance, Welsh theatre, hurt-comfort, enemies-to-lovers.

#AmReading

This week I’m all about the gay. A contemporary MM, To Take a Quiet Breath by Fearne Hill, a fantasy YA with a queer background romance (or is it NA? I’m never sure, I am neither and it was right in my ballpark, regardless) Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora and a fantasy MM with dragon shifters, The Dragon Hunter’s Son by Hanna Dare.

To Take a Quiet Breath by Fearne Hill

To Take a Quiet Breath by Fearne Hill

I have a secret yen for books with ex-cons-gone-straight MCs and this fulfilled it perfectly. Guillaume killed a man who was abusing his younger sister and has done his time. He is befriended by Marcel, a high-up in the government department responsible for prisons, when Marcel meets him on an information-gathering exercise. Marcel is a chronic asthmatic and this is so well represented in this book. Stories with good disabled rep are another not-so-secret yen of mine. Disabled people are entitled to happy endings too.

This is perfectly realised in this story–the author doesn’t paper over the difficulties and challenges Marcel faces, but they don’t rule out his desire for (and right to!) love and intimacy. It’s book three of a series and I haven’t read the others yet, but I’m going to. I really enjoyed this.

Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora

Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora

This is a YA dystopian. The main character is Nate, who is sixteen. He’s also genetically engineered and needs the eponymous ‘remedy’ at regular intervals to prevent his body breaking down. This is hard to get hold of, as he lives in the lawless slum he escaped to as a young child to avoid being harvested for his organs.

This has everything you want from your dystopian read. Brilliant characterisation, a gritty plot and an interesting social set-up. The cast is a racially diverse queer found family with good trans rep. It’s plot-heavy with a background romance that chugs along nicely. Highly recommend!

The Dragon Hunter’s Son by Hanna Dare

The Dragon Hunter's Son by Hannah Dare

I’m a Hannah Dare fan from her Mind-Metal-Machine series, so I was predisposed to like this one from the start. It’s about Philip, who is the son of Jaxon the dragon hunter. Jaxon is, quite frankly, a jerk. I hated him. We’re supposed to hate him, so that’s okay–the author has done a brilliant job making that possible! Philip is kind and a bit bewildered by life, but toddles along behind his father because that’s what his dying mother asked him to do. He falls for Ejoler when they stop at a town Jaxon rid of a dragon decades ago. Ejoler is, of course, a dragon.

This was such a lovely take on the shifter trope. It’s a sweet low-heat romance and I thought Ejoler was wonderful, particularly his take on gathering jewels and precious things. It’s a lovely low-drama comfort read and I recommend it.

That’s the lot for this time!

Guest Post: K. L. Noone, Demons and Rock-stars!

Today K. L. Noone is here to talk about her new box set, A Demon in Love!

Hi there! A.L. Lester was kind enough to let me pop in and share some exciting news with you – so glad to be here, and thank you! (You’re most welcome and any time!)

K. L. Noone. A Demon in Love box set.

I’m K.L. Noone, and I write a lot of LGBTQ romance – often m/m, but occasionally f/f, or m/f with bi main characters, or even m/genderfluid fairy-person! My first-ever published novel, back in 2018, was A Demon for Midwinter, which went on to have a few (all right, eight – which is more than a few…) bonus stories and stories for side characters…and that’s the subject of today’s post, in fact!

Specifically, this month JMS Books has released the beautiful A Demon in Love box set, with all new cover art, and all the stories in one place – including the brand-new flash fiction short “A Demon’s Very Good Morning”! (You can buy that one separately if you already have the rest – no worries!)

When I wrote Demon, it was very much a love letter to…well, lots of things in my life: paranormal and urban fantasy, romance, queerness, hurt/comfort, pizza, Filipino desserts, and the history of rock-and-roll. It’s about famous-but-getting-older rock star Kris, and his manager-turned-eventual-boyfriend (and secret half-demon) Justin, and the two of them falling in love. It’s also about being lonely, and about not wanting to be lonely anymore, and about trying hard to be a good person, to be there for someone, to help when they’re in trouble.

It’s also got many many sneaky rock band and song references, especially if you happen to like seventies and eighties punk bands – but there’re others, too! (If you think you’ve caught them all, let me know…)

Since Demon first came out, I’ve written more in that universe – like the historical prequel, and the Justin & Kris wedding story, both of which’re included in the box set – and I’ve written other stories too, some high fantasy, some contemporary, some more paranormal, some longer and more complex and more personal in other ways. (Magician, for instance, which lived in my head for a decade!) But your first published novel is always special, I think – there’s a joy about it, a sense of sheer look what I made, I get to do this, this is real! delight, in that first cover art, first paperback, presence of your own book in your hands (or your computer screen; but you get the idea). So Justin and Kris will always be special for me, and I love that people are still finding them and loving them and their love story.

And now we’ve got this luscious new box set, with everything collected, so you can read them all start to finish – all the happy endings, all of Justin’s cheerful noisy family, all the quiet moments of Kris and Justin sitting together and learning how to touch, and of course all the music!

I’m so excited to share this new version (and the new final story, set on a sunny morning, at home together) with you – and thanks again to A.L. Lester for letting me drop by! I hope you enjoy A Demon in Love – I know I will.

Buy A Demon in Love

JMS BooksAmazon : Barnes & Noble

Meet K. L. Noone

K.L. Noone teaches college students about superheroes and Shakespeare by day, and writes romance – frequently paranormal or with fantasy elements, usually LGBTQ, and always with happy endings – when not grading papers or researching medieval outlaw life. She lives with the Awesome Husband and a large black cat named Merlyn, who demands treats on a regular basis.

Twitter : Instagram : Blog (I’ve utterly failed at actually updating the book list on here, but the blog gets updated!) : Facebook : Amazon author page : JMS Books author page

#AmReading

I haven’t done an #AmReading post for a while, largely because my reading has consisted of doomscrolling on twitter and a deep-dive in to the fanfic excellence of AO3.

However, I have begun to surface into actual, purchasable books again over the last couple of weeks and the first one I want to tell you about is a re-read of FF historical The Covert Captain by my dear friend Jeannelle M. Ferreira. I include this to indicate that I am biased! Jeannelle is working on the sequel and I did a reread so I’d be ready. This week I also talk about contemporary MM The Other Boyfriend by Darien Cox and The Green Man’s Challenge by Juliette E. McKenna

The Covert Captain by Jeannelle M. Ferreira

The Covert Captain by Jeannelle M. Ferreira is a f/f regency and I had forgotten how delightful I found it the first time round. Eleanor Fleming (Nora) comes home from war…where she has spent the last decade or two fighting Bonaparte as Nathanial Fleming. She falls in love with her commanding officer’s sister, Harriet. Hijinx of the ‘gosh I didn’t realise you were a woman!’ variety ensue.

I love the historical detail in Jeannelle’s stories (you should check out Your Fingers Like Pen and Ink if this is your catnip, it’s a free transcript and/or podcast) and The Covert Captain is no exception. I felt immersed in the eighteenth century as I was reading—the day to day detail reminds me very much of Dorothy Dunnett’s style.

I should add…this is not a trans story. It’s a woman dresses as a man to survive story. And it’s perfect. Highly recommend.

The Other Boyfriend by Darien Cox

The Other Boyfriend by Darien Cox

Darien Cox is one of my favourite authors and I was delighted when I realised I’d missed a release. The Other Boyfriend should probably be described as a romp. It’s got an unusual plot where our main characters Jonas and Lee, the younger boyfriends of two brothers, work out that actually they don’t hate each other after all. I don’t think I can tell you much more than that without massive spoilers.

I really enjoyed it…it’s a light read with positively Shakespearean undertones. Recommend!

The Green Man’s Challenge by Juliet E. McKenna

The Green Man's Challenge. Juliet E. McKenna

Another wonderful Green Man story. This one is set in White Horse Country in the south of England. Dan is called to the area both by a night-time visit from the Green Man and a phone call from Fin, his river-ecologist, swan-maiden lover. She just happens to have seen a giant on her way home from a job in Wiltshire. As you do. I love the magic in these books. It’s very strongly tied to the earth and to English myth and it resonates really deeply with me. The giant isn’t a force for good in the world; but the white horses that populate the chalk hillsides of the area are. This book also introduces good witches that turn into hares, which is brilliant. It’s set in the summer of 2020 or 2021, in the pandemic, and it’s very well done–there in the background, with Dan’s worry about his elderly father, he and Fin’s confusion about whether it’s safe for them to sleep together, all those little things. But it’s not overwhelming or intrusive. The way the real world and the magical world are interwoven is superb as usual.

This is definitely worth your time.

That’s the lot for this time!

Victorian Nurses in the British Army

The Quid Pro Quo is the second in the Bradfield trilogy, although it will stand alone. It’s set a few months after the end of The Fog of War and stars Sylvia’s friend Walter Kennett, and Simon Frost, a detective who comes to Bradfield to investigate a murder. It’s a gay, historical, paranormal, romantic murder-mystery with a m/transm couple set in rural England in 1920.

quid pro quo banner

One of the things I researched when I was beginning to think about Walter’s background was exactly what training he’d have had as a nurse (or an orderly) in the British army. The answer to that question was ‘not a great deal’ in that Victorian army nurses seemed to have been expected to pick things up as they went along. Before the advent of Florence Nightingale and her cohort during the Crimean War in the mid-nineteenth century, nurses had all been men and they had been attached to individual regiments.

Outrage at the terrible conditions in the Crimea led to the development of a Medical Staff Corps in 1855, which recruited ‘Men able to read and write, of regular steady habits and good temper and of a kindly disposition’. This was renamed the Army Hospital Corps in 1857 and reverted back to being the Medical Staff Corps again in 1884*. Confusingly, the medical officers were known as the Medical Staff…and in 1898, the Medical Staff Corps and the Medical Staff were combined into Royal Army Medical Corps.

This is where Walter comes in.

In my head, he joins up as the two organisations are being merged together and he sort of slips through the gaps, staying hidden as a trans man with the help of the doctor who did his medical when he recruited him and possibly with a bit of a blind eye being turned by his army mates. He serves in the Boer War in South Africa and subsequently all over the British Empire before ending up at Sylvia’s hospital in France in World War One. By the time we meet him 1920, he’s forty and had served in the army for twenty-one years.

That brings me to a really interesting blog post about male nurses in the 1920s I found at This Intrepid Band-a blog dedicated to the history of military nursing. Nursing regulation was pretty slapdash until the end of the First World War. Hospitals trained nurses for between one and three years and gave them a certificate. But…anyone could call themselves a nurse even without that training.

After 1919, that changed. I won’t replicate all the qualifying criteria here, you can read it at This Intrepid Band if you want to…but Walter would have fallen under the ‘three years military experience’ criteria. However, as a man, he would have been singularly alone. Even in 1928, although there were forty thousand women on the new register, there were only two hundred men.

I don’t know whether there were any male nurses working at village practices in the early twenties; but I suspect it’s very unlikely. Most of the nurses in 1928 were in prisons or mental hospitals, presumably dealing with men who were considered dangerous and perhaps unsafe for women nurses to care for. Walter’s like Sylvia though, in that he feels that he’s done his bit keeping other people safe and looking after strangers. He wants to be part of a community and part of family as much as he can. So a small village, with his friends, suits him fine.

I hope you like his story!

The Quid Pro Quo

The Quid Pro Quo cover, A. L. Lester

Village nurse Walter Kennett is content with his makeshift found family in tiny Bradfield. However, when a body is found floating in the village duck pond one midsummer morning, danger arrives too.

Between his attraction to detective Simon Frost, concealing Sylvia and Lucy’s relationship and not knowing how much to reveal about the paranormal possibilities of the murder, Walter is torn all ways.

The Quid Pro Quo is a  50,000 word romantic historical paranormal murder-mystery set in 1920s rural England where nearly everyone is queer and the main couple is m/transm.

Amazon : JMS Books : Everywhere Else

(Some of this post was published as a guest post at Addison Albright’s blog in November ’21)