MLR press’s Jackie Nacht has a new paranormal book out, and it looks adorable:
Winslow and his twin are White Pine’s troublemakers, making a path of destruction wherever they go. What most don’t know is that Winslow has been secretly meeting up with a certain Nile croc who has been hinting at wanting more.
Teegan, the owner of Chomp Shop, is ready to commit but Winslow isn’t ready…yet. When Winslow’s family comes to town, Teegan finds himself neck deep in chipmunk antics and certain that Winslow is ready to claim him. Can Teegan handle being thrust into Fieldstone world?
White Pine will never be the same.
Excerpt
Winslow ran his little fluffy-tailed ass down the street, trying to keep up with his brother. In chipmunk form, he laughed and ducked under a pair of legs, causing yet another fine upstanding member of White Pine to curse him. Snow covered his paws as he scurried after his twin, slipping on the icy patches below. Getting a running start, he jumped on a patch and slid, slowly going in a circle until he stopped on the other side, then taking off for the next ice patch.
Sparks was definitely the troublemaker of the pair, while Winslow willingly went along for the ride and tended to add his own flare to their mischief. Taking a sharp left, they went straight toward the gazebo in the center of town where they’d stashed their clothes. Sparks jumped above the snow. Oh shit! Winslow thought as Sparks disappeared in front of him only to spring back out of the snow a moment later. This stuff was deep. Winslow submerged beneath the snow a time or two, trying to make it to his destination.
Sparks shifted into his human form first, shaking off the remaining snow and standing naked in the center in front of a group of carolers. He sang a few notes, and they gasped at the naked man in their midst. Winslow snickered as he shifted into his human form, watching as the carolers hustled along.
Sparks pointed to his chest. “We’re shifters. It’s not like there isn’t a pile of clothes everywhere and lockers for people to stash their clothes. I mean people do go nekkid in this town.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think they expected a naked tenor to join in singing Silent Night.” Winslow chuckled as he grabbed for a pair of sweats. He was damn cold, and his dick wanted to crawl up into his body. He quickly jammed his legs in and hopped as he shimmied into his sweats.
Living in Georgia all his life, he wasn’t used to the cold weather. His chipmunk might be fine with it, but his human side sure as hell wasn’t. However, the cold-ass weather was worth the change in scenery. Living with his family all his life, it was nice to see some fresh faces and interact with them. Well, Winslow was happy about it, but he wasn’t so sure the town was.
Winslow shrugged on his sweatshirt and zipped it up just in time to see his brother put on his parka.
“Hungry?” Sparks asked as he shoved a foot into his boot.
Winslow nodded. “Yeah, but I think we’ll need Jason to go and get it.” They pretty much had a ‘No Winslow and Sparks Allowed’ policy when it came to the fine dining of White Pine. They weren’t that badly behaved… Okay, they were, but he was trying to be better. Okay, maybe not.
Winslow finished dressing, and the two of them ventured back out on the street just in time to see two huge vans pulling into the dentist office two buildings down.
“What day is it?” Winslow asked.
Sparks gazed up at the sky. “Oh shit. We forgot.”
“Family is here.” Winslow started walking down the sidewalk. He and his brother were getting several sideways looks and a few moms even pulled their children out of the way. Winslow snorted as he gave a little boy a high five. The little squirrel had followed them last week and the mom had given Sparks and Winslow a chewing out session that still had his ear ringing. They hadn’t led him astray. Okay, they had a little. They’d ended up decorating several trees from the strings of light they had stolen from the bushes in the dental office. Their brother-in-law Gunner had been pissed. The mother had lectured all three of them on the poor choice of stealing and how the little squirrel would end up like them.
The little guy now laughed while his momma gave Winslow the stink eye. What could he say? It wasn’t so much that he was a troublemaker–Okay, well he was–it was more that he enjoyed messing with the kids in town. Winslow had a crazy childhood full of siblings, but they were all growing up and maturing. Even at twenty-four, he still had a bad case of never wanting to grow up. He liked living life a little mischievously. He never hurt anyone, and he and Sparks were happy.
Sparks came up behind him and gave the kid a head rub. The mother squawked at them, sounding more like a mother hen than a squirrel. “Next week, buddy. Hunting for some nuts.” Sparks winked at the kid.
“Acorns!” He started to follow them.
“Absolutely not.” The mom grabbed her little guy and lifted him off the ground.
“But Momma!” Aww, the poor kid was going to lose this battle. She had that mother look going on that Winslow had seen his own mom wear a time or two.
“You can go with your father.” The mother went to leave, giving them a severe glare. “Those two are trouble. Stay away from them.”
Winslow pointed to his chest. “I’m trouble?” he asked Sparks.
Sparks snorted. “We’d be more fun.”
“I’m innocent, I tell you!” Winslow shouted to the retreating back.
“Me too!” Sparks said as he picked up a snowball and lobbed it at Winslow’s head.
Winslow snickered and twisted around to see his mother getting out of the van. Several members of the town who were out and about turned and ran as his siblings started pouring out of the vans. Mothers picked up their kids, shifters shifted to get the hell out of the way faster. Ridiculous really. It wasn’t like his family was going to start a chipmunk plague or something. Well… the idea did have merit. Winslow could see himself as mayor of the town, crown and all. Shifters paying homage in nuts. Oooh, now that would be the life. You owe me six bars of peanut brittle or off with your head! Okay, now his imagination was just getting out of control.
He began jogging on the sidewalk, shifters maneuvering out of his way. His mother gave him a frown as he approached.
Winslow wrapped his arms around his mom and picked her up off her feet. “Barbara.”
His mom scrambled down and stared at him in disapproval. God, he had missed her, and it absolutely ticked her off to be called by her first name. Winslow winked and she snorted.
“It’s Mother, and I see you two made quite the impression.” Barb glared at them. Winslow knew his mother had figured out the warm reception was due to her twins.
“We try.” Winslow batted his eyelashes.
“The whole town cleared out at our arrival. What the hell have you two done?” Their father, Jeff, came around from the driver’s side and gave Winslow a hug.
“We’re innocent. It’s Phillip. He’s such a rabble rouser,” Sparks said with a straight face. Winslow tried to pull that off but had to turn to stare off at a couple who owned the floral shop in town and had put up their damned “Closed” sign. Honestly!
“Don’t even try to point your finger at Phillip. He’s responsible. The last I heard, you two still haven’t gotten a job,” Mom scolded.
“We tried, but no one is adventurous enough to hire us.” Winslow put on his best all-American boy smile.
Jambrea came up and hugged him. “Probably nobody wanted their business to go up in flames.”
Winslow squeezed his Jambie tight. He’d missed her too. “I’m good with matches. I learned from the best. You.”
Jambrea busted out laughing. “You are such a little shit. I thought a change in scenery would help you two grow up a little.”
“That isn’t any fun.” Sparks ripped Jambie out of his arms and embraced her.
“I’m starved,” Anson said as he stomped his boots in the snow. He was the oldest brother and he and Winslow had never gotten along very well. Maybe it had to do with Anson having this uncanny big brother power over him and not putting up with his shit. Only Anson dared to try and keep him in line. It didn’t work, but Anson tried more than the rest. However, Sparks was another matter. No one had been able to control his twin, not even him. Even Anson had given up on Sparks long ago.
Phillip came running out of the dental office with Gunner close behind him. The family swarmed, talking over one another, hugging, smiling. Yeah, it was one great big chipmunk pile. Some wore the ridiculous Santa hats. Winslow wondered if his family chipmunk one was packed in a bag for this year’s family photo. He hoped so. He had forgotten it when he’d moved up here. He had an attachment to the family tradition, that and he wanted to streak the town naked with his Santa hat–well, the human version one at least.
Winslow still couldn’t believe that his family had decided to travel to White Pine this year for Christmas. He thought for sure they would be flying home, but Dallas and Gunner had worked their magic on getting all the chipmunks up here. White Pine had no idea a chipmunk invasion was upon them. While his brothers and sisters were a lot more mature than he and Sparks, they didn’t get out much. It would be interesting to see what they thought of White Pine.
When Winslow had gotten to White Pine, he knew he would never go back to Atlanta. This was his new home and he was here to stay.
“Phillip, where can we go to eat?” Winslow overheard his mother asking.
“Chomp Shop is just across the street, and Jason is over there with Will,” Phillip said.
“Will!” Jambrea and Theresa took off across the street to the restaurant.
Mom chuckled. “Well, I guess that decision has been made. Wait for the rest of us, girls!”
Winslow followed the crowd of his family, Jambie and Theresa calling to them to hurry from the front of the store. He had been in Chomp Shop a couple of times. The owner, Teegan, was hot, but he eyed Winslow kind of like he wanted to put him as the daily special, which might be why he and Teegan had fucked a couple of times, unbeknownst to everyone else. Winslow wasn’t sure what to make of the Nile crocodile. He really didn’t care what anyone thought of him, but Teegan made him uncomfortable. Winslow had this niggling feeling that Teegan wanted more. It wasn’t so much in the words but in the way he looked at Winslow. Like Winslow meant something more to him than a hook-up. Teegan felt like a hell of lot more than a fuck buddy but the thought of anything more had Winslow breaking out into a cold sweat. Still…
“Come on, Winslow,” Sparks yelled, and Winslow realized he had stopped walking. What the fuck is wrong with me? No one ever made him nervous and no one ever would. Glaring at the sign, Winslow pulled his foot back and kicked a small pile of snow with his boot, then jogged behind his brother into the crocodile’s nest. Just act normal and maybe no one in the family will know that this croc has pulled you by the tail.
“The guy who owns this place is hot!” Sparks said as he opened the door for his family.
Winslow watched as the single chipmunks in his family picked up the pace to the restaurant. Oh God, they were interested and Winslow had absolutely no claim over Teegan. His stomach churned at the thought of someone being with Teegan and not him. Fuck, if this isn’t my wake-up call. Am I ready to commit and be open about this? Hell yeah I am.
“I can’t wait to see him,” Jen hurried to catch up to Dev.
No fucking way! That’s my croc!
Winslow ran after them. He would knock his siblings over if one of them touched Teeg.
Buy Links
MLR Press: Click Here
Amazon: Click Here
Author Bio
Short, sexy and sweet–where a little love goes a long way.
That’s the best way to describe Jackie Nacht’s stories. I was introduced to M/M Romance through my sister, Stephani, and read it for years. Then, I thought it was time to put my own stories on paper. I began writing short and sweet stories that ended with a happily ever after…and sometimes more than one, in the case of my YA Fork in the Road series, which has interactive endings.
Thinking back to my own book addiction, where there were many nights I stayed up way too late so I could read just one more chapter–yeah, right–I decided to write short romances for young adults as well as adults. Hopefully, they will give high school and college students, or working men and women something they can read during their lunch hour, in between classes or just when they want to briefly get away from the daily stresses of everyday life. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter and at my webpage: www.jackienacht.com