Today I am so pleased to welcome Garrett Leigh to Joyfully Jay. Garrett has come to talk to us about her latest release, Junkyard Heart. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

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Excerpt

Kim touched my arm. “There’s a sleeper heading out from platform nine. We’ll have to leg it, though. It leaves in two minutes.”

How he’d seen that in the mess of red on the screens, I had no idea, but I took his word for it and set off at a run, following the bustle of people who’d obviously had the same idea. The sleeper trains took all night to reach Truro, but a seven-hour train ride was better than no train at all.

At least, I thought so, until I remembered too late that sleeper trains were mainly made up of two-man cabins. And as luck would have it—or not—the only spaces left on the train was a single seat next to the communal toilet, or a cabin with the world’s smallest double cot.

“Take the cabin,” the Network Rail worker said. “Your tickets aren’t usually valid for the Night Riviera, so make the most of it. Got phone chargers and everything.”

Like I gave a fuck about charging my phone, which was just as well as it turned out the phone “charger” was a two-pin AC plug socket.

Kim dropped his bag by the tiny bed. “You can have it, if you like. I can sit in the seat.”

As if. I stuck my head out of the cabin door. “Neither of us can sit in the seat. It’s taken.”

“Oh.”

Oh, indeed. I sat gingerly on the bed and wondered what Kim was thinking. Was the idea of sharing an actual bed with me so horrible? Or was he doubting that we’d make it all the way home without fucking again?

His face gave nothing away as he sat down beside me, but his jaw-cracking yawn implied the latter was unlikely. I leaned into him, closing my eyes briefly as he did the same. “Thank you for coming with me. I’d probably be in some arse-end pub by now if you hadn’t, or some dodgy gay bar. I tend to put my dick in all the wrong places when I’m upset.”

“So much for solitude.”

“Solitude is my sober happy space. Drunk me is a total cock slut.”

“Nice.”

“Not really.” I didn’t have to look at Kim to know he agreed, but I did anyway and found nothing but acceptance in his steady gaze. Part of me yearned for a reaction, for judgement, but most of me was eternally grateful that I could be so freely candid. “Sex addiction is a thing, right?”

“It is. I’ve met a few sex addicts in rehab, and it’s supposed to be one of the hardest addictions to treat.”

“No magic pill, eh?”

“There’s no magic pill for anything.” Kim lay back and closed his eyes, his body rocking with the motion of the train as it pulled out of Paddington. “You just have to find better ways of coping with reality.”

Reality. Huh. For me, that meant a long journey home to a new flat that was, by design, even more lonely than my life in Hoxton had become. Or did it? Perhaps it didn’t need to be that way. I kept my family at arm’s length by choice, and rarely saw them outside of the farm, but Kim and I had vowed to be friends, real friends, and I couldn’t imagine feeling alone with him by my side.

I looked down at him. Lying back with his feet still on the floor, he couldn’t be comfortable. I nudged him, absorbing his sleepy groan like a warmth-starved vulture. “Get in the bed. There’s a duvet and everything. We can top and tail, if you like?”

“Top and tail?” Kim cracked an eye open. “After we’ve both been traipsing around London all day? Fuck that.”

“Fair enough. You take the duvet, I’ll sleep on top.”

Kim sighed and pulled the duvet back. “Jesus, Jas, just get in. I’m sure we can manage a few hours kip without ruining our beautiful friendship.”

Put like that, how could I argue? Besides, as Kim rolled onto the bed, there was no way I could resist the call to slide in behind him, moulding my body to the curve of his, all the while leaving as much distance between us as the narrow bed allowed.

Kim chuckled.

In the dim light of the room I imagined his knowing grin lighting up his face. “What are you laughing at?”

“Would you still be my friend if I said I was laughing at you?”

“Probably.”

“Would you still be my friend if I asked you to put your arms around me?”

I sat up, propping myself on my elbow, and peered over his shoulder. His eyes were closed, but the set of his jaw was different somehow, like vulnerability had crept into him while I hadn’t been looking. I put my hands on him and cautiously scooted closer. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him I’d wrap my arms around him anytime he wanted, but I said nothing as I pulled him close and buried my face against his neck. Didn’t need to. Hundreds of miles from home, rocking in limbo on a train that smelled of damp and stale sausage rolls, I only needed him.


Blurb

Junkyard HeartTired of the London rat race and the heartbreak that comes with it, photographer Jas Manning returns to Porthkennack, the Cornish seaside town where he spent every childhood summer on his father’s farm. Resigned to year-round rain, wind, and homemade jam, he’s sorely unprepared for the impact that artsy carpenter Kim Penrose has on his heart.

Kim’s free-loving reputation precedes him, and he’s as generous with his inked-up body as he is with his time. The sex is hot, the easy friendship even better, and Jas’s time with him building his family’s new farmhouse canteen is everything Jas was missing in his empty city life.

But Kim’s carefree existence isn’t as simple as it appears. He’s worked hard to vanquish his demons and build his dreams, but the devil on his shoulder is ruthless, and when it comes to call, their happy bubble bursts like it was never there at all. The canteen opening looms, but Kim is gone in more ways than one, and it’s down to Jas to shore up Kim’s soul and convince him that he deserves his place in Jas’s heart.


Bio

Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.

Garrett’s debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.

When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.

Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Junkyard Heart, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 9, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  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.
  • All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
  • 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.  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.
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