Hi guys! Today I am very excited to welcome a group of awesome authors, here to talk about their new anthology, Summer Lovin’. ย They are sharing more about the anthology, and also have brought a copy to give away to one lucky reader. So please join me in welcoming J.L. Merrow, Clare London, Josephine Myles, Lou Harper, and Chrissy Munder!
Room Service or Roughing It?
Can you think of a better way to enjoy the last lingering sunsets of summer than diving into a good romance? How about five stories of summer love that leave you with a smile on your face when finished? In that case, welcome Summer Lovin’, a seasonal anthology from Lou Harper, Clare London, JL Merrow, Chrissy Munder, and Josephine Myles. Five tales set across Britain and the USA that are guaranteed to help you hold on to that summer feeling.
Maybe you’re taking advantage of the last days of holiday break by taking the family on vacation. Are you roughing it, or do you prefer room service all the way? We asked our authors which was their favorite.
Jl Merrow: Oh, room service all the way! I hate roughing it, although Iโve done my share in the past. When I was at university, I Interrailed around Europe on a very strict budget one summer, and ended up sleeping on trains and in stations some of the time. Thereโs a certain camaraderie you get in these situations that was fun at the time, but these days, Iโd much rather stay in a (minimum 4 star) hotel.
Clare London: Room service please! I donโt DO camping J. Though yes, I have done in the past. I remember going to see Deep Purple at a summer festival, then as I was dragging tent gear back and forth from my friendsโ car, someone else in the car park drove their car over the edge of my foot! AND it rained buckets โฆ or was that another camping expedition?! Whatever and whenever, I like my comfort guaranteed.
Josephine Myles: ย I used to enjoy roughing it, but these days I think Iโd rather be in the lap of luxury and city breaks in hotels are my favourite kind of getaway. That said, if Iโm out in the countryside somewhere Iโd rather go self-catering than in a hotel. I prefer the privacy and I do enjoy cookingโespecially when Iโm on holiday. Itโs got to be luxurious accommodation, though. Iโve had my fill of mildewed holiday homes. These days I want somewhere with all mod cons. Also, there must be either an open fire or a woodburning stove. Anything less just isnโt worth leaving home for ๐
Lou Harper: Definitely not roughing it. My first camping experience as a child cured me from the romantic notion of camping. The mosquitoes ate me alive, it was cold at night, and monster winds nearly blew away our tent.
I think I could do glampingโas long as there are comfy beds, hot coffee and shower in the morning, I can “rough” it. I have nice, DEET-free insect repellent for the mosquitoes. It doesn’t even smell bad.
Chrissy Munder: I love the sound of Lou’s “glamping”, but actually, I’m a roughing it kind of gal. I like nothing more than getting as far away from civilization (and my fellow humans) as I can with the minimum of gear. Give me rocks, waves, and a good rainstorm to shower in, and I’ll be happy.
What’s your favorite? We’d love to know. Leave us a comment and then pick up a copy of Summer Lovin’ all your own.
Summer is here, and the loving is easy!
Slake your thirst for romance with Summer Lovin’โan anthology for lazy days and summer sunshine.
Go skinny-dipping in a disused quarry. Hang out with the boys in the band. Meet a bad boy made good, and one with a shy smile that hides a dark secret. Or maybe get your heart pillaged by a Viking re-enactor.
With gentle humour, hot sauce and a hefty scoop of romance, enjoy a quintet of sultry stories of men loving men from Clare London, Chrissy Munder, JL Merrow, Josephine Myles, and Lou Harper.
The mercury’s not the only thing that’s rising!
Get your copy of Summer Lovin’ today:
Kindle US | Kindle UK | All Romance eBooks | Smashwords
Summer Hire by Chrissy Munder
It’s a scene right out of Jim’s porn-fuelled fantasies: the tool-strewn workshop and the hunky, tattooed mechanic with his coveralls unzipped to the waist. But Aaron’s not just Jim’s dream guyโhe’s his new employer.
In the sweltering Michigan heat, Jim struggles to control his libido in the face of endless provocation. But Aaron’s determined not to be Jim’s summer fling. This bad boy made good isn’t looking for a short-lived romance.
If he wants Aaron to take him on as more than an employee, Jim’s going to have to do what doesn’t come naturallyโand think seriously about his future.
Lost & Found on Lindisfarne by JL Merrow
It was a hot summerโs day on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. The lanes were dusty underfoot, the languid breeze was heavy with the scent of the North Sea, and a Viking had just offered to buy my daughterโฆ
When single father Chris meets a Viking re-enactor on Lindisfarne, he thinks itโs the perfect recipe for a holiday fling โ and nothing more. Chris had a relationship with a free spirit like Ian before, and it didnโt end well for him or for his daughter Kelis.
But Chris hasnโt reckoned with the Viking way of taking all youโre willing to give โ and coming back for more.
Salt โnโ Vinegar by Clare London
Brighton in the summer is a great place to be for a young, gay man looking for a good time with no strings. Psychology student Joeโs spending his uni vacation working in a chip shop with a succession of ever-worse punning names and picking up guys on the beach for casual hook-upsโbut something makes him want to take it slow with gorgeous chip shop regular Steven.
The trouble is, Stevenโs shy smile hides a dark secret, and his past is about to come back to bite them both.
Werewolves of Venice Beach by Lou Harper
The naked man came out of nowhere…
Bryanโs an over-achieving, self-confessed nerdy student, whoโs taken a summer job house-sitting in Venice Beach. Heโs out of his depth when it comes to a guy from the wrong side of the tracks like Slade.
Covered in tribal tattoos and with a penchant for skinny-dipping, Sladeโs the lead singer in a band. Heโs way out of Bryanโs league. But heโs sending out all kinds of mixed signals. And after a pot-fuelled afternoon, Bryan thinks heโs found the astonishing reason why Sladeโs giving so little away.
By Quarry Lake by Josephine Myles
Tommyโs been away from his home in rural Somerset for three years. Long enough to sort out who he is, and to get over the feelings of confusion and shame that blighted his lifelong friendship with farmerโs boy Rob. Heโs out and proud, nowโand heโs coming home to claim back what he lost.
Robโs the one who stayed behind, working on the farm with little time for a social life. With Tommy coming back into his life, he could have a lot to gainโand everything to lose.
Heโs going to have to take a leap of faith. Straight into the ice cold waters of Quarry Lake.
Giveaway
The authors of the Summer Lovin’ anthology ย are offering up a copy to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment to enter, and if you want, share whether you prefer room service or roughing it. ย The contest closes on Wednesday, September 4th at 11:59 pm EST.
- By entering the giveaway, youโre confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number.ย No purchase necessary to win. ย The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
- Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
- Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Readers may only enter once for each contest. ย Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
- Void where prohibited by law.
Definitely a room service kind of girl these days! Usually the kids like to camp in the summer, but I try to limitit to 3 nights – ย 3 days in French camp sites where no one flushes is more than enough!
Ew! Must get a bit, um, ย pungent, Suze!ย
Thanks for sharing. I think…ย ๐
Both are very appealing but walks and games outside with the kids then, when they’re asleep, ย a camp fire, moonlight, bottle of wine and your husband. Nuff said.
You know what? You almost make camping sound appealing, Lorraine! ๐
Thanks for commenting!
Thanks.
ย I mean we are talking virtual camping right? You know, the kind when you’re actually at home just dreaming about it and not dealing with insects and rain and grumpy children and ‘Who the heck left the matches at home?’ kind, right?
I like the campfire and moonlight part too. But I also like comfy beds. ๐
My most favorite place is in the mountains and I don’t care if I am enjoying room service in a hotel or roughing it in my tent just as long as I am in the mountains. ย However, since I am broke the reality would more likely be roughing it in my tent.
Mmm, I love the mountains. The air’s so much fresher and cleaner, and they can be a great place to cool off when it’s too hot in the valleys. ๐
I can go either way >.< I definitely like a nice comfortable bed and big shower/tub but I also like being away from the masses.
Kassandra
sionedkla@gmail.com
Kassandra, you’re a girl after my own heart! It’s a good thing there are plenty of holiday home owners catering to the glamping crowd ๐
Room service. The rest of the family likes camping but I haven’t gone along in years.ย
Good choice, Kim. Let em get all smelly and insect-bitten out in the great outdoors, while you lounge around with the whole house to yourself ๐
Camping strikes terror into my heart, always has. ๐ Part of me is intrigued by some sort of luxury island villa or something, and the rest would feel guilty and elitist (even if I had the money, which I don’t)! So, I’d probably pick some city getaway if money were no object…
Guilty and elitist? Hmmm, maybe. I don’t know, the only luxury holiday homes I’ve stayed in have been in mid-Wales and the Isle of Wight, so not THAT exclusive ๐
Trix, I’ll join you on that city getaway. I’ve always fancied a tour round Rome, Florence and Athens. Maybe Nice too ๐
Oh yeah, a luxury island villa sound nice. I saw one of those on TV. There was an outdoor shower looking out to the ocean. Who worries about privacy when only the seagulls can perve on you?
HOT TUB!!!!
Lou, I feel a seagull shifter story coming on! ๐
Please include me in the draw. ย Thanksย
You’re counted, Dianna ๐
I definitely agree that camping strikes fear in my heart LOL. Though it’s not like we have bears or anything dangerous stalking the parks of London!
Hmm, not sure about that, Clare. Those urban foxes have been getting a bit frisky lately! ๐
There are more than one kind of bears. *wink-wink*
My ideal would be a quaint B&B in a historic village.
Oh, that sounds lovely too. How long would you stay for, though, Andrea? I can get bored of village life pretty quickly, but perhaps that’s because I already live in a small country town.
I don’t think I’ll survive roughing it. I mean I’m clumsy….I might accidentally trip on something and hurt myself or eat something I wasn’t suppose to. Not to add in I’ve always lived in the city and have never gone camping before and bugs creep me the heck out. Room service definitely.
Oh yes, camping is definitely not a good idea if insects creep you out. And tent pegs / guy ropes are horrible tripping hazards–especially at music festivals where everyone camps way too close together. Then you get noisy neighbours who snore or play music at obnoxious times of night. Ugh.
No way would I even contemplate roughing it. ย My idea of sheer terror is to go where there might be spiders even bigger than the ones that get in the house! Besides where would I plug in my ereader for a recharge?
Spiders I don’t mind, but no ereader charge? The horror!
Definitely room service for me. I spent too many summers as a kid camping with the family. Plus I doubt my body could take sleeping on the ground these days. And let’s not forget about those camp ground bathrooms *shudders*.
Thanks for the great giveaway!
It’s the sleeping on the ground thing that gets me too, Susan. I could probably cope if I had a camper van, but lying on cold, damp ground makes my bones ache.
I get horrible mosquito bites. Last time I went on vacation, I got a bite on my eye lid. It swelled so much that I could barely open my eye and wear my glasses on my face. So, definitely no to camping.ย
Thanks for the giveaway!
Oh no! That is a nightmare sounding holiday. I can see why you’d now avoid camping like the plague.
Cynthia, that sounds horrible! Poor you. ๐
I’ve had some nasty bug bites in my time, but none on such a sensitive area. *shudders*
Room Service definitely. But in a beautiful lodge far away in the mountains with a fantastic view ๐ Or maybe in a cottage on castle grounds. At least I heard you can rent cottages like that some places in Europe. I’d like that very much ๐
Ooh, that sounds lovely! Actually, there are some castles in England you can actually go and stay in, usually with a four-poster bed as part of the deal, like this one: http://www.amberleycastle.co.uk/. I’ve never been, but I have stayed in the house that was the inspiration for Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre. It was a lot smaller than it seemed in the book! ย ๐
I have had many weird and wonderful experiences roughing it. ย There was the time it rained so hard the creek we were camped next to flooded our tent in the middle of the night. ย Kids, hub and I spent the rest of the night in the back of the truck (it had a cover) with lots of wet stuff. ย Then there was the campout that my church youth group went on when I was a teenager. ย Again it was a middle of the night surprise that disrupted things sending teenagers scrambling. ย That time the visitor was a skunk. ย The best were the family campouts with aunts, uncles, cousins and assorted in-laws. ย There was always at least one boat for skiing and fishing, lots of laughing and lounging. ย But those days are gone as I am now the older generation and we have scattered around the country. ย I’ll take a nice hotel, preferably with a casino attached and nice restaurants.
I have to admit, those sound like great memories, although I wonder how much the older generation enjoyed it at the time?! Still, makes for great anecdotes years later ๐
I just flashed on another camping memory. ย When I was a kid every summer we went to this weeklong rodeo and camped on the fairgrounds. ย Heaven for a teenage girl; all those cowboys to ogle. ย Hot, dusty, sweaty cowboys! ย July in Oklahoma is not the most pleasant time to be camping in a tent, yes it was one of those smelly green waxed canvas ones. ย One of the highlights was getting dunked in the horse trough; ย at least we cooled off for a bit. ย Sorry, didn’t mean to ramble, it’s a product of old age.
I camped once as a child. It rained. That was many decades ago when tents were still made of canvas and leaked if touched. Never tell children not to touch the tent walls! LOL! By the time my cousins and I were done, I don’t think there was a square inch of tent surface not seeping rainwater! Nowadays these old bones could not tolerate sleeping on the ground – once down, I’d never get back up! ๐ So it’s luxury accommodations for me all the way… Amberley Castle looks about right!ย
Ha! Yes, I remember camping in those old tents. My parents used to drag us to Big Tent Revival style meetings. No, seriously, I was brought up in a proper baptist church here in England. Where no one could sing gospel properly.
Used to love the camping part of it all when I was a kid, though. Funny how things change…
I do not camp for many reasons including the fact that insects freak me out. Let’s just say I’m not the outdoorsy type! Give me a hotel with a nice comfy bed. ๐
I’m not so bad with the insects, but I totally agree about the necessity of a comfy bed! Air mattresses are the biggest thing putting me off camping these days.
I’m not into roughing it (I’m one of those who attracts mosquitoes like you wouldn’t believe), but how luxurious the place is doesn’t matter as much as long as it’s clean, warm, and has mod cons. Mostly we’ve stayed with relatives and friends, including at a cottage/camp (Aframe) on a lake in Maine.ย
Mozzies hate me for some reason, but I really feel for everyone who gets attacked by them. Must make being outdoors a nightmare at times.
Staying in the cottage by the lake sounds lovely ๐
There is nothing better than room service. However, roughing it with the right person can be lots of fun!!
Oh yes, good company can make or break a camping holiday, I quite agree!
I could maybe try glamping but I’m very much a room service kind of girl and pretty much always have been. ย Thank you for the giveaway!
You now what, I don’t think I’ve ever called room service. How bizarre… I suppose it’s because I’ve always been holidaying on the cheap! Maybe I’ll have to try it in Atlanta, Allison…
I enjoy walking and hiking in the great outdoors, but when it’s time to rest and go to sleep, I’m definitely a room-service kind of person. ๐ This sounds like a great anthology! Please count me in. Thanks!
I think you have the best of both worlds there, Marie. Plus you get to walk without having to carry around your tent and kit all day. That’s just nightmarish.
Please count me in on the contest!!
And well… I’m not really a camping type of girl… It’s Room service for me. during the day I love the outdoors. the sound of the birds, the crunch of rocks under my feet, the water and all that jazz… but… at night… no… the only sound I’ll stand are the crickets… I really like the peace and quiet for when I’m sleeping… LOL…
Thanks again for the contest! :3
Peace and quiet is a good one–I’ve stayed in some pretty noise hotels, but they’ve always been cheap ones in cities. In fact, I’ve stayed in a few fleapits that made me think I’d rather have been camping!
*snuggles up to lovely British authors*
What a lovely anthology – please add me too ๐
*snuggles back* You’re added, Sue ๐
Sound interesting…. please count me in!!!
You’re counted, Loren ๐
I like both…not at the same time of course ๐
but both can be fun in their own way
Most people are coming down strongly in favour of one of the other, so it’s nice to hear a vote for both in their own way!
I love anthologies, and this one sounds awesome!
tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com
Hi Emily–I like to think it’s pretty bloody awesome, although I’ll admit there might be some bias there ๐
Room service without a doubt! ย My husband claims that my idea of camping is staying in a 3 star hotel! ย ๐
Leisa, I’m not so sure about the 3 stars, but 2 stars can definitely feel like camping at times! In fact, camping can be more luxurious. At least you know the bed’s clean.
Room service all the way for me. Roughing it sounds uncomfortable at best. I went camping enough as a child.
So many childhood campers growing up to eschew canvas! Surely there must be good memories of camping too…