Title: I’ll Still Be There
Author: Keelan Ellis
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Catt Ford
Length: 200 Pages/63,879 words
Release Date: 1st June, 2015
Blurb: The summer after high school,
Eli Dunn and Jess Early explore an abandoned brothel in the rural Florida
Panhandle. They’ve always kept their mutual attraction unspoken, but in an
upstairs room at the end of the hall, everything changes. Suddenly, all the
longing Eli and Jess have tried so hard to conceal bursts free, and passion
like they’ve never experienced comes to light, along with the ghosts of Clay
Bailey and Silas Denton, murdered owners of the brothel. And Clay and Silas
have no problem possessing Eli and Jess in order to express their love for each
other, without thought for the living.
Deeply disturbed by the experience, Eli and Jess
part and try to get on with life as best they can. But after several years, Eli
returns to Florida, only to find that Jess has made some questionable choices.
These eventually lead him back to the abandoned house and a confrontation with
Eli. Old scores are settled and Eli and Jess reunite. But Clay and Silas’s
ghosts aren’t finished yet, for they’ve always believed in the power of open
and honest love.
One of them, the dark one, looked up at him in
alarm. “Elijah,” the man said, but that wasn’t his name, so he shook it off
like it bothered him.
“It’s not right, it’s not decent, and you can’t
have this.” His body was shaking, but he held the gun steady on the men in the
bed. The part of him he couldn’t recognize anymore was clamoring at him, trying
to remind him of something, but he couldn’t listen and didn’t want to. He was
just too angry.
The other one—Clay, his name was—moved in front
of the dark one and pushed him back. “Get the hell out of here, Brown,” he
shouted. From behind him, the dark man…. Silas, cursed in surprise and pulled
Clay back again, whispered something in his ear.
“It’s not fucking right!” he said again, and then
with a pathetic sob, which made him sick, he said, “It’s not fair.”
“No,” Silas told him in a placating tone. “It’s
not fair at all, but Clay and Silas didn’t make it like that. They didn’t do
that to you.”
He couldn’t understand why he would say it like
that, why he was talking about them like they were separate people, like they
weren’t both sitting there in front of him, half-naked. “You shouldn’t get to
do that!” he cried. “No one should. It’s sick. It’s terrible.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you didn’t have love
in your life. Everyone should have that. Clay and Silas, they just got lucky,
and you didn’t. That’s—that’s not their fault.” He was sitting very still, his hand
resting on Clay’s arm so he wouldn’t push forward again.
He still did not lower his weapon, though he
could feel his mind faltering. He was no longer clear on who he wanted to kill,
who he was angry with. Then he heard it again. “Elijah.” It was spoken very
softly by the dark-haired man. He frowned at the men on the bed, who looked
different now. He shook his head again, less sure now.
“Listen to me Elijah. I know you can hear me. I’m
sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for ever bringing you here. It ruined
everything, and I know it hurt you. It hurt me too, so much. I should have just
told you that I… cared for you—that I wanted you. I know now that it would have
been all right. I didn’t know it then. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do.”
Eli felt himself coming back, but the anger
wasn’t dissipating. He was still staring at Jess, he could see it was Jess now,
but the rage was still there. He did not lower the gun.
“I’m sorry for everything. I never, ever wanted
to hurt you. Remember who you are, Elijah. Try to see me like you used to, when
we were kids.”
Eli blinked a few times and then looked at his
hand, holding the gun. He looked at Jess, and Shawn Kinney, on the tarp
covering the filthy bed. His face went blank with horror, and he lowered the
gun to his side, all of him shaking, unable to get a grip.
Jess got up and went to him, reaching down to
gently pull the gun from his hand. He drew him in close, and Eli went, even
though Shawn was right there, and even though things were still fucked up
between them. He just needed it, and he knew Jess did too.
Shawn had gotten up and walked over to them. He
put his hand on Jess’s arm. “Si?” he said, his face confused. He reached up and
put a hand to Jess’s cheek.
Jess took hold of his hand and smiled softly at
him. “No. I ain’t him anymore,” he said. “Go on, now.”
Shawn looked disappointed for a second, and then
his eyes cleared. All at once he looked mortified, and quickly pulled his hand
away from Jess’s face. Jess was still touching Eli on the waist and standing
very close, and it occurred to him that they might want to cease any more
physical contact until they were out of this room.
“Let’s go. We shouldn’t be here,” Jess said. He moved
away from Eli and started pulling on his clothes, then glanced at Shawn, maybe
to make sure he was with it enough to do the same. The boy looked nearly
catatonic, but he began to mechanically get dressed after Jess handed him his
jeans.
Guest Post:
I have a long road trip planned for
this August. I’m driving from the mid-Atlantic to Austin, TX with one brother,
to visit another brother. My plan is to be finished with the book I’m currently
working on by then, so I’m going to be shopping the world for ideas, and this
brings me to the subject of keeping a journal. I can’t tell you how many
journals I’ve started and abandoned since I was ten. You could probably circle
the globe with notebooks I’ve written two and a half entries in. And yet, I
keep trying--mainly when I find one with a really cool cover, or get one as a
gift. They’re lovely, some of them. Leather bound with scrollwork, or a cloth
cover with artwork, or stiff cardboard with a cool design, whatever it is, I am
sure to covet it. I love them, and yet they are always a source of stress to
me, a reminder of an obligation I’ve abandoned. I have long since stopped
thinking, “Yes, this time I’ll do it for real,” because I am an adult now and I
try not to deceive myself. But still--surely I could keep one up for the length
of a road trip. Eight, nine days, something like that. And not even a personal
journal (I’ve never been big on the confessional form), but a writing journal.
I’d keep notes about people I see or meet, bars and restaurants we go to, funny
things my brothers say (because they are hilarious, it’s a family trait), and
things I overhear. I will commit to this endeavor, and to prove I’m serious
about it, I’m not going to by a beautiful new journal for it. I’m just going to
bring a spiral notebook and a pen and come home ready to start something new.
Wish me luck!
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Ill-Still-There-Keelan-Ellis-ebook/dp/B00Y7I78II
ARe Link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-i039llstillbethere-1803717-145.html
Author Links -
Website: Blogspot
Facebook: Keelan on FB
Twitter:
@KeelanEllisAuth
Tumblr: Keelan on Tumblr
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/43093604-keelan-ellis On GR
Get a chance to win a gift basket containing –
1.
A PAPERBACK copy of I’ll Still Be There.
2.
The I’ll
Still Be There Coffee MUG.
3.
The I’ll
Still Be There BOOKMARK.
4.
A gourmet CHOCOLATE bar.
5.
Some TEA.
Here’s
how it all looks like –
Isn’t
it great?! Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway NOW!
June
1: Queer Sci-Fi || Tempeste O’Riley
June
2: Garrett Leigh || Fangirl
Moments and My Two Cents
June
3: The
Purple Rose Tea House
|| JP Barnaby
June
4: Drops
of Ink || LeAnn’s Book Reviews
June
15: Cate Ashwood’s Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment