Get
ready…get set…let’s blast…
Uncommon Valor
Rachel Ravenheart
Release
date: July 22, 2015
Blurb:
“Lil’
Bro,
If you’re
reading this, then something obviously happened and I’m not going to be around.
I wanted to let you know how much I love you, and you don’t have to tear
yourself up over this. I’m the one who chose to enlist, and I believe I’ve
served proudly for the last few years. I know this won’t ease your mind any,
but I believe I’m probably in a better place now. Please don’t be sad. I died
doing what I loved, fighting for my country. I wish I could be there for you
when you tell Mom and Dad about you being gay. Just know that I am with you in
spirit. Look to Chase for guidance. I know he’ll be the big brother for you I
can no longer be. The guys will be a great support for you, and they won’t care
that you’re gay. They’re a great group of guys, and they’ll treat you just like
I would. They’ll be a support system for you when Dad blows up, and you know he
will. Be safe and know I will be watching out for you from the other side.
Love,
Sam.”
Uncommon Valor is not just a story of a gay man,
it is the fulfilling story of a young man who is on the verge of discovering
his true self and he has the perfect prop to do that. He is also about to
become a Dad. Will he pull through as a gay man and a Dad? Or will he fall upon
the wayside and reject his newborn child, and in so doing, also reject the man
of his dreams?
172 pages, 48,661 words
Categories: Military, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance
Publisher:
Cool Dudes Publishing
Cover
Artist: Louis C. Harris
Excerpt:
Last weekend with the platoon was great.
I met a ton of new people, and the guys were really
supportive when I told them. I hadn’t heard anything from my Mom, so I wasn’t
sure what to think about that, but I’d decided I wasn’t going to worry too
much. I was on cloud nine from having spent time with people who didn’t care I
was gay and treated me like one of the guys even though I wasn’t a Marine.
That all came to a halt when I ran into Tina in the dining
hall on campus during the week.
Tina uses her beauty to her advantage. She’s medium height
with red hair and green eyes. Whatever she said was right and she was of the
opinion that no one could outsmart her. Personally, I tried to stay away from
her if I possibly could.
But, she had a crush on me.
I never got the chance to tell my brother that during a
night of drunkenness I had slept with her. There was a part of me that always
felt something else had been involved, but I couldn’t prove it. I didn’t even
know if we did anything. All I knew was I woke up the next morning in the same
bed with her and both of us were naked. It wasn’t something I was proud of, and
I honestly hoped I would never see her again. Unfortunately, we were both in
law school together, so I knew that wasn’t going to be an option.
I’d almost completely forgotten about the incident because
it had happened at the end of the semester and I had taken the summer off. The
new semester had just started, and I had been lucky enough to not see her in
any of my classes or around campus.
I was shocked to see her with what I would consider a baby
bump, but I didn’t want to make any assumptions. I pretended to not see her,
but she saw me.
“Jason! I need to talk to you,” she said, and grasped my
elbow from behind.
“What do you want, Tina?” I yanked my arm out of her grasp
with a snarl.
“It’s a private matter.”
“We can talk tat my house, but that’s all that’s going to
happen.” I turned and walked away, expecting her to follow me to the parking
lot. As it turned out, we were parked fairly close to each other, and I
motioned for her to follow me as I got into my car.
§
We arrived at my house and I was still trying to figure out
what she wanted to talk to me about. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it.
Inside, she headed for the lounge. “Would you like
something to drink?” I asked. When I turned to face her she held her stomach in
a protective manner.
“Water would be nice.”
“Have a seat and I’ll be right back.” I said, placing my
bag on the floor by the door.
When I returned, she was standing in front of the bay
window looking out over the park. “Here you go.” I held out a bottle of water
to her as she turned around.
“Thanks, Jason. I’m sorry to put you out like this, but I
needed to talk to you and I didn’t want to do it with people around.”
“What’s going on? I haven’t seen you since the end of
spring semester.” I walked over and took a seat on the couch and waited to hear
what she had to say.
“I went home for summer break and some surprising news
came up just before I came back to school.” She came over and sat down next to
me.
“Spit it out,” I said, frustrated. I just wanted her gone;
something about her really irked me.
“The thing is, just before I came back I realized that I
had missed my period so I went to the doctor and took a pregnancy test. I’m
pregnant.”
“What’s that got to do with me?” It felt like I had been
punched in the gut.
“Well, I hadn’t been with anyone for a while before you
and I hooked up at the end of the semester.” She licked her lips and wrung her
hands.
“We didn’t hook up. I got way too drunk and don’t remember
anything until I woke up the next morning with you by my side and naked.”
“Why do you refuse to believe that what we shared was
something special?” she whined. “You know you love me, you only need to admit
it and we’ll be happy together as a family.”
“It wasn’t special. What do you want from me?”
“I want you to be a father to our child. I want us to be a
family.” She tried to put her hand on my arm. I pulled away.
“We will never be a family. What the HELL were you
thinking? Obviously you weren’t; that’s the problem.” I walked over to the bay
window and glared out. “If the child is mine I’ll support it and even take
custody of him or her, but we will never be together. As soon as the baby is
born I’m going to fight for custody and before I commit to anything there needs
to be a paternity test, until that time you are nothing more to me than a pregnant
woman. Until you have further information, I think this is all we have to talk
about.”
“We’d make good parents together. Why are you refusing to
admit that?” she cried.
“I have no doubt that we will be good parents, but we
won’t be a couple. I’m gay and will not be in a relationship with any woman.
Now, if there’s nothing else, I think that it’s time for you to leave. Let me
know when you set up the paternity test and I’ll be there. We’ll talk more
after the test results come back.” I opened the front door and waited for her
to leave. I was being mean and harsh, but I was pissed about what had happened,
mostly at myself because I let myself get wasted at that party. I wished I
could remember what happened that night.
She stormed past me and went out to her car mumbling under
her breath. Part of me hoped I was the father, but there was a greater part of
me that hoped I would have nothing more to do with her.
You can find Uncommon Valor here:
Let’s talk about Rachel Ravenheart:
Rachel Ravenheart is new to the literary world, but has
had the desire to write since she was in junior high school. She moved from a
small town in Iowa in time to start high school in Louisiana.
Rachel lost sight of writing as she got bogged down with
sports and school. Her dream of being a writer forgotten as she looked to the
future to study Political Science with the hope of going to law school when she
moved to Texas.
To make her way in the world she got wrapped up in the
field of nursing when she got a job as a C.N.A. and soon even her dream of law
school was forgotten. Strangely, thanks to an injury she was at home
recuperating and was bored when she remembered her love for writing. Never
thinking she would ever get published she began.
It was writers like Rob Colton, Mann Ramblings, and Alicia
Nordwell that inspired her creativity. She found GayAuthors.org and after some
encouragement she decided to post her first story. With the enthusiasm of
readers her confidence grew and she took the step to send off her first story
to be published. It was with great delight when she was offered her first
contract. Hopefully, the first of many.
Find Rachel here:
**Remember…the more
blasts you visit the higher chances of you winning the Rafflecopter prize!
Tour Stops on July 22, 2015
Parker
Williams, Wicked
Faerie's Tales and Reviews, MM Good Book Reviews, Divine Magazine, Velvet Panic, Molly Lolly, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Bayou Book Junkie, Inked Rainbow Reads, BFD Book Blog, Havan Fellows, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye
Candy, Bike Book Reviews,
Ogitchida Book Blog, Jessie G. Books, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Happily Ever Chapter, Multitasking Mommas, Vampires, Werewolves,
and Fairies, Oh My, Scattered
Thoughts & Rogue Words, Mikky's World of Books, Hearts on Fire
Time to play with the
Rafflecopter…go on, you know you wanna twiddle with it.
And Pride Promotions strikes again…
:)
No comments:
Post a Comment