Falling Hard ~ Giveaway and Excerpt

Title: Falling Hard
Author: Dale Cameron Lowry
Length: 233 pages/57,000 words
Publisher: Terrestrial Press
Genres: short stories, contemporary romance, paranormal romance, erotic romance

Falling Hard features nine of Dale Cameron Lowry’s best short romance stories, available for the first time in one book. Meet a sign language interpreter who finds unexpected love at middle-age, college students in their first relationships, a vampire who would rather be a vegan, and a proudly gay ex-Mormon atheist who sells Bibles for a living. From sweet to erotic, this collection exhibits the quirkiness, fun, and diversity Dale’s writing is known for.

Here are just a few of the stories in Falling Hard:

• Ghost of a Chance — When shy Jeremy Anderson meets mysterious and dapper Frank at his spooky old university library, their connection is instant. Their romance waxes with the full moon—but just as quickly, Frank’s interest seems to wane. He insists that he loves spending time with Jeremy, but then why does he keep Jeremy at arm’s length?
• Sweeter Than Blood — Keith was a vegan before a hot encounter with a stranger turned him into a vampire. In the year since, his sire, John, has tried to make up for the mistake by teaching Keith everything he knows about being a non-murderous bloodsucker. But temptation is strong in the form of Andres, a regular customer at the barbershop where Keith works. When Andres finally asks Keith on a date, the real danger begins.
• Rough Love — Blake thinks new boyfriend Michael doesn’t like French kissing. Michael thinks Blake doesn’t like rough sex. Neither are virgins, except in the art of conversation. Can they set things straight before the honeymoon’s over?
• Pacific Rimming — On Mike’s fortieth birthday, his husband, Ken, takes him on vacation to Vancouver Island in Western Canada to celebrate. While Mike mourns his loss of youth, Ken encourages him to recapture it by bedding a gorgeous twenty-something man they encounter while hiking in Pacific Rim National Park. A night of no-holds-barred passion among the three men reveals a sizzling chemistry, and when Mike and Ken return home they find themselves longing to reconnect with the young Jason. Can what started as a one-night stand transform into a threesome that lasts?
  

From Sweeter Than Blood:

The old analog clock on the wall reads 8:37 when Andres arrives. I smell him before the bell on the opening door jingles. He nods when I look up. I turn back to my work, running the clippers through the hair of an old man who smells like talcum powder, Old Spice, and vitamin B shots. His blood has a sterile quality I’m not fond of, common in people who take lots of medications. It’s not bad, but it’s not tempting.

Andres, on the other hand—my mouth is watering already.

I eavesdrop on him talking with Greta, the owner’s daughter and the shop’s factotum, who currently plays the role of receptionist.

“I’ll see Keith when he’s done, if no one else is waiting for him,” Andres says.

“Sam’s free right now,” Greta says.

“I’ll wait.”

Sam is sweeping the detritus from his previous customer off the floor. He makes a scowl Andres can’t see, then looks up and mouths “big shot” at me. Soon another customer arrives and takes Sam’s chair. I finish up with the old guy. Andres’s sweet-salty scent overpowers everything.

The smell grows stronger as I step toward Andres, a bouquet of rough minerals and sharp hormones, savory proteins and sweet sugars: the iron cool as earth, the testosterone musky and strong, and the nitrogenous amines like air after a lightning storm, crisp and pure. “I’m ready for you,” I say. It’s a lie.

The cut is first, and cursory. There’s not much to work with. Andres keeps his hair marine-short and it doesn’t grow fast despite his healthy blood supply. He closes his eyes and sighs as the clipper vibrates his scalp and drops bits of fuzz onto the haircutting cape gathered around his shoulders. I smell his adrenal glands slowing down and blissful oxytocin entering his bloodstream. If a cat’s purr had a smell, this is what it would be, soothing and rich like the texture of velvet.

Andres and I have done this dance together for a long time. He knows each move I’m going to make before I make it. When I recline the chair he cranes his neck back slightly, exposing his delicious throat so I can wrap the warm towel around his jaw. The heat draws his blood closer to the surface, heightening the clean scent of fresh blood pumping through his carotid artery, underlain by the slightly tangier odor of deoxygenated blood in his jugular vein.

Falling Hard is currently available through the secure downloading platform PayHip, Amazon, Apple, and other sellers worldwide.

You can read a preview and find sales outlets at:

dalecameronlowry.com/books/falling-hard/

To celebrate the release of Falling Hard, Dale is running a giveaway. The prize is one of Dale’s short romances that is not in the anthology: Love Unmasked,  a lighthearted romance about Aaron Loreto, a gay man who’s been unlucky in love because he occasionally turns into a raccoon. For some reason, his ex-boyfriend didn’t like the way he’d spend all night digging through the trash. But somewhere out there is a guy who’s more understanding, and Aaron might just have found him at his favorite coffee shop.

You can enter every day to increase your chances. Enjoy!

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Dale Cameron Lowry lives in the Upper Midwest with a partner and three cats, one of whom enjoys eating dish towels, quilts, and wool socks. It’s up to you to guess whether the fabric eater is one of the cats or the partner. When not busy mending items destroyed by the aforementioned fabric eater, Dale is a writer and editor who enjoys wasting time on Tumblr, listening to podcasts, studying anatomy, getting annoyed at Duolingo, and reading fairy tales. Previous careers include sign language linguist, grocery store clerk, journalist, gardener, and camp counselor.

Dale began writing for fun at the age of eight and has been making up stories ever since, from overly workshopped literary fiction to off-the-cuff fanfic. Queer Mormons have a way of popping up in Dale’s work, whether it’s romance or erotica, sci fi or fairy tales, slice-of-life contemporary fiction or spine-tingling horror. So do immigrants and emigrants, people with disabilities, multilingual folks, and others who live their lives navigating multiple cultures.

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