Today I am so pleased to welcome Jenna Rose and Katey Hawthorne to Joyfully Jay. Jenna and Katey have come to talk to us about their latest release, Kanaan & Tilney: The Case of the Man Eater. They have also brought along an exclusive except and a giveaway. Please join me in giving them a big welcome!

 

Thanks a million for having us here at Joyfully Jay! Today we’re talking about our second Kanaan & Tilney mystery-slash-romance, which continues Lowell and John’s story. It’s Kanaan & Tilney: The Case of the Man Eater. We’ve brought an exclusive excerpt for you all, too. Drop in the comments to enter the giveaway, and happy reading!


Excerpt

It had been a good night. Hanging out with Macy had run well into the small hours. The drinks had been good, the conversation better, and now Lowell and John were settling in to spend the night in John’s closet of an apartment. Closet was maybe being generous. The space was cramped and cluttered, but it was warm and smelled like John, so Lowell liked it. In this instance, he could understand small-place cozy.

Lowell toed off his boots, too buzzed to care much about anything else, and flopped down onto John’s bed. John had already unbuttoned his flowered shirt; he shrugged it off and laid it on top of a skinny dresser in the corner, then yanked up on his undertank. “Feels like today was long,” he commented, lost somewhere inside the shirt.

“Mmm,” Lowell agreed almost distractedly as he watched John. “Murder cases will do that.”

Another good yank, and John’s ginger hair appeared again. It was longer than when they’d first met, which wasn’t saying much. Nice to get the fingers into, though. John started on his belt. “This one was worse. I mean, it always bothers me when they try and blame Beasts. But…” When he turned his head slightly, there was an unaccustomed frown twisting the corners of his mouth. “But I’ve been thinking about it all day, and it’s more than that.”

Lowell’s brow knit with concern. This…wasn’t like John. He rolled up onto his side, more alert now than he had been moments before. “What is it, then?”

“Not sure, exactly. I mean, I am, but it’s…weird.” John looked down as he unzipped, then dropped his pants and stepped out, leaving him in a pair of short boxer-briefs almost the same shade of orange as his hair. His skin was slightly flushed from all the beer, deepening the brown of the freckles scattered over his shoulders. “I think it’s the packless thing. Maybe it’s unrelated, but someone preying on that guy…” John turned to face Lowell, but his eyes stayed down, and he worried his lip.

It took Lowell a moment, but he realized what John was getting at. “You’re worried about me,” he said, surprised. First, it had been the thing with Jankowski. John had threatened him—a strange, protective gesture that Lowell was still trying to understand. And now this. He wasn’t used to people worrying about him. He knew John cared, but cared and worried were two different animals. So to speak.

John nodded. He knelt on the edge of the bed, then crawled up it slowly. “Not sure why. I know you can handle…things. And anyhow, I’m with you most of the time. But still.” He flopped onto his side, facing Lowell, still frowning.

Lowell had the sudden, overwhelming urge to kiss him. He touched John’s cheek, then cradled the back of his neck with a hand and rolled them over until John was pinned to the bed. Lowell’s mouth caught his softly, lips and tongue slowly working the kiss deeper. He wanted to kiss that frown away.

John melted into his every movement eagerly, lifting one knee to settle a thigh between Lowell’s, re-angling his hips to match up, mouth giving way at first, then pulling Lowell farther still into it. John ruffled the hair at the nape of Lowell’s neck and hummed. It was a happy sound, contented, but with a hint of heat at the end.

It would be all too easy to get lost in this. It always was. But there were still things to be said. Kissing John wouldn’t make everything better. So Lowell stayed like that a little longer, fingers playing circles on John’s bare skin as they kissed, then closed it off with a quick, sweet peck.

“Worrying isn’t necessarily about competence,” Lowell said. “I worry about you, and I know you can handle things.”

John huffed out a little laugh, breath hot on Lowell’s lips. “Do you, now?”

“Never,” Lowell replied, a smile threatening to break free. “I made that one up.”

“Can’t let me hear you say it twice, huh?” John giggled, then arched a little beneath Lowell, applying friction to a few of the more crucial areas between them. “It’s all right. Much harder to worry with you on top of me anyhow. If that’s what it is. Worry, I mean.”

Lowell chuckled. “Guess my plan’s working then.” He tilted his head to kiss John’s neck, nuzzling at an old hickey. “There’s nothing to worry about. If that’s what it is. I’m gonna be fine.”

John ruffled Lowell’s hair again. “I keep thinking this…this weird thing: you can’t know that. What the fuck is wrong with me?” Another small laugh, this time helpless, bouncing against Lowell.

“Johnny baby,” Lowell said softly. That fucking laugh made his heart hurt. He soothed a hand through John’s hair, and the kiss he gave him this time was gentle and comforting. “Nothing’s wrong with you. You’re right—I can’t know that. No one can. But it’s one murder, John. There’s no proof that it had anything to do with him being packless.”

“Yeah.” John sighed and angled up into him once more, this time less distractedly, with greater purpose. Willing to be distracted, if nothing else. Very willing. “Not used to worrying, I guess. I never worry about me.”

Lowell worried about John all the time. “Come here,” he murmured, his touches tender as he kissed John once, then again. “Want me to help you forget for a little while?”

“Yyyyeahhhhh,” This time it was long and drawn out, wrapped around a smile. John wriggled, his cock swelling in his shorts as he pressed it into Lowell’s thigh. “Like to just think about you. You being here. Not not being here.”

Fuck. That one nearly knocked the breath right out of Lowell. He summoned up a smile, trying not to think of those words, and started to kiss his way down John’s long, lean body. “I think I can do something about that.”


Blurb

Kanaan & Tilney: The Case of the Man EaterWolf-Beast and ex-cop Lowell Kanaan recently brought his boyfriend, Elementalist and mystery author John Tilney, into the PI business with him. They’ve been solving cases for Boston’s varied praeternatural communities ever since. So when a young Terran feels that the brutal murder of his Beast boyfriend isn’t being treated seriously enough by the police, he brings the case to Kanaan & Tilney for a second opinion.

Similarly defiled corpses pop up around Boston as they race to find the killer. All the victims are packless Beasts, like Lowell, and the vicious nature of the killings stir up old prejudices in the praeternatural community, Beast and otherwise. Throw a personal vendetta and some ugly family history for Lowell in the mix, and the trails are as muddy as ever.

This case will test Kanaan & Tilney’s strength, both as a PI team and a couple. It’ll take all they have to keep each other alive—and stop a serial killer.<


Bio

Jenna Rose is an avid reader and writer, particularly when it comes to science-fiction and fantasy. Currently, she works as a receptionist, but her real love is writing. In her free time, she likes to read comic books, play video games, and waste time on the internet. She currently lives in Massachusetts with her dog, Harley.
Katey Hawthorne is an avid reader and writer of superpowered romance, even though the only degree she holds is in the history of art. (Or, possibly, because the only degree she holds is in the history of art.) Originally from the Appalachian foothills of West Virginia, she currently lives in Ohio. In her spare time she enjoys comic books, B-movies, loud music, Epiphones, and Bushmills.

Giveaway

Jenna and Katey have brought 2 $10 Amazon gift cards + a Kanaan & Tilney swag pack to give away across their tour. Just follow the Rafflecopter below to enter. 

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