GUEST POST ~ A Dash of Town Bronze by Ellie Thomas #Excerpt #GuestPost
✨ GUEST POST ✨
Thanks for having me as your guest again, lovely Addison! I’m Ellie and I write MM Historical Romance. I’m here today to chat about my latest release, A Dash of Town Bronze.
This under-4k-word release consists of two Town Bronze bonus chapters I wrote for my newsletter subscribers, now published by JMS Books as a freebie. Nothing like a free read! These two short stories were originally titled Not in the Petticoat Line and Country Matters.
Not in the Petticoat Line takes place in the autumn of 1812, towards the end of Pantaloons and Petticoats, Book 2 in my Town Bronze Trilogy set in Regency London.
My MCs in Pantaloons and Petticoats are Barney and Ross/Rose. When Barney first meets Rose in a tavern, he quickly discovers that she wasn’t born female, which leads to a tentative but sincere romance after an initial misunderstanding.
By Not in the Petticoat Line, their relationship has progressed. Barney meets Rose’s alter ego Ross, a clerk at Coutts Bank, so they can snatch a quick midday meal together at a coffee house. The story is written from Barney’s point of view and contains all the yearning of first love. The first half of this short story comprises Barney and Ross/Rose’s romance.
However, once Ross has departed, Barney espies Sir Mortimer Cleverly, an intimate of his friend, Jasper Goodhew. Mortimer and Jasper are the couple in Town Bronze, the first story in the series. In this instance, Barney finds that Mortimer is lunching with his old friend Nathaniel Brooks from my Twelve Letters series.
A few of my Twelve Letters boys have cameo roles in the Town Bronze series. As Twelve Letters begins two years after the start of Town Bronze, these appearances act as a prequel, especially in this bonus chapter.
Barney can’t help overhearing Mortimer confiding in Nathan about his feelings for his new lover (unnamed for discretion, but of course, as Jasper’s former roommate, Barney is all too aware of the implications.) With the events of Twelve Letters to come, I couldn’t resist a bit of humorous foreshadowing about Nathan’s love life that I hope readers will enjoy.
A Dash of Town Bronze
by Ellie Thomas
Release Date: June 29, 2024
Publisher: JMS Books, LLC
Genre: Gay Historical Romance
Length: Bonus Chapters / 2,471 Words / 19 Pages
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A Dash of Town Bronze by Ellie Thomas
Blurb
These two under-2k-word stories are bonus chapters for the Town Bronze novella trilogy. In these short scenes, two out of the three couples in the ensemble cast deepen their romances, together with the guest appearance of Nathan Brooks from Twelve Letters.
Barney and Ross/Rose from Pantaloons and Petticoats, Book 2 in the series, snatch some precious time together at lunchtime in a busy coffeehouse.
Then Jasper and Mortimer from Book 1, Town Bronze have their long-awaited chance for a happy ever after, away from the distractions of London and their friends’ love lives.
Excerpt
Sir Mortimer Cleverly felt unduly gratified, regarding the young man sitting at his fireside as though he belonged there.
At the end of London’s autumn Season, it felt like a natural progression to invite Jasper to Gloucestershire to break his journey home.
Their bond had strengthened over several months since their first inauspicious meeting. Mortimer was persuaded they would benefit from some days alone together, away from the constant bustle of London.
Previously, Mortimer had conducted his fleeting affairs with sufficient tact that avoided unpleasantness and unwelcome notoriety. Yet, he acknowledged the situation with Jasper was entirely unprecedented. Despite his considerable experience, Mortimer was subject to an emotional pull that surprised him by its strength.
Nearly twenty years Mortimer’s junior, Jasper was very green when he’d arrived in London last spring, unleashed from the constraints of formal education and his overprotective parents. Since then, he had started to find his feet amongst the hazards of the social whirl with a distinctly coltish grace that occasionally faltered.
Looking over at Jasper, far more comfortable in a country sitting room than a Mayfair ballroom, Mortimer smiled to see the younger man so at ease.
“Yes, you need attention, too,” Jasper crooned at Pepper, one of Mortimer’s house dogs, pawing at his knee. Pepper licked his face, making Jasper laugh, while Mungo, the aged terrier, nudged his hand for an ear scratch.
I needn’t have worried, Mortimer thought with a smile, watching the show of indulgence towards his household pets.
About the Author
Ellie Thomas lives by the sea. She comes from a teaching background and goes for long seaside walks where she daydreams about history. She is a voracious reader especially about anything historical. She mainly writes historical gay romance.
Ellie also writes historical erotic romance as L. E. Thomas.
It sounds delightful!
It does! ❤️
Thank you so much for having me as your guest again, lovely Addison! ❤️
My pleasure! ❤️