Celebrating the Husky Hero!

by Raine O’Tierney

The main character of Bowl Full of Cherries, Crowley Fredericks, is a big guy. Sure, I mean he’s tall and broad shouldered, but I also mean big. As in heavy, fluffy, husky … Y’know, BIG.

I’m a big gal m’self, but that’s not why I wrote Crowley at his current size. He’s also not meant as a knock to the Adonis-type MC you read in other M/M stories. (I love those gents as much as the next reader!) I didn’t even write him to try and be wild and out of the box.

Instead, Crowley Fredericks is just a love letter to the average guy.

He’s a way to reach into the past and tell my best friend that even if he couldn’t see it, I thought he was absolutely perfect the way he was. He didn’t need to starve himself to make guys like him.

Crowley is a celebration of a pair of husbands who have grown a little round around the middle from two decades of home cooked meals together.

He’s even an ‘I love you’ to my own giant teddy bear of a husband, Siôn, who I’ve thought was absolutely beautiful for the past fourteen years.

In Bowl Full of Cherries, Crowley has some trials to undergo before he can recognize the beauty in himself. He definitely doesn’t feel like a love letter to anything at the start of the story. And while attraction is a powerful thing, it’s not enough for his love-interest Rell to just say to him, “I think you’re beautiful.” Crowley has to do something completely lionhearted to start on the path of self-acceptance.

So he does.

I won’t spoil the surprise—but I think how he takes that first step toward loving his own body is pretty damn incredible.

For all the fluffy boys and boys who love those fluffy boys, Bowl Full of Cherries is for you.

—Raine O’Tierney

About Bowl of Cherries

Porker, Fatty, Tons-of-Fun: Crowley Fredericks has heard it all. He’s dropped a lot of weight since his high school days, but he’s still a big guy, and the painful words and bullying follow him. Rejected—again—because of his size, Crowley is starting to think that maybe love just isn’t meant for huskier men.

Averell Lang and his twin are so different they might as well not even be related. So when Rell’s brother brings his roommate home to snowy Susset for the holidays, Rell expects the worst—another uptight, pretentious hipster. What he discovers instead is Crowley. Nerdy, fascinating, attractive, Crowley. Rell never expected to look at a man this way, and what he sees in Crowley Fredericks is something he didn’t even know he was looking for. If both men can overcome their hang-ups, they might unwrap more than presents this holiday season.

Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon

An Excerpt from Bowl of Cherries

Even through the snow, Rell didn’t feel the cold. His face burned with the excitement of escaping the Livery and absconding with his brother’s best friend. He clasped Crowley’s hand, pulling him through the street. They ran and skidded and laughed, moving farther and farther away from the club.

“It’s beautiful tonight,” Crowley breathed and Rell squeezed tighter. “Doesn’t it weird you out though?”

“Nope.”

Rell knew what Crowley was asking—didn’t even pretend that he didn’t. Stopping, he tugged lightly so Crowley came stumbling up beside him. He twined his arms around Crowley’s waist and held him for a moment, right there in the middle of the sidewalk.

“Does it weird you out? I’m your best friend’s brother.”

“Not weirded out at all.” Crowley shook his head. His dark eyes shimmered with concern. “But for you… I mean, it was loud in there and hot and fun and there was alcohol and… sometimes… things just happen and—”

“Yeah, things happen,” Rell agreed. “Except I’ve been to a lot of stupid hipster clubs with a lot of Tyler’s friends and….” He leaned forward and kissed Crowley again, letting the experience linger, melting the chill between them. He tasted like nogtini. “And nothing like that has ever happened.”

“But… do you even like guys?”

“Owl. You’re a guy. I like you.”

“But have you been with a guy?”

“Why are you over-thinking this?” Rell asked, gently cupping the side of Crowley’s face.

About Raine O’Tierney

Raine O’Tierney, a passionate believer in what she calls The Sweetness, writes positive stories about first loves, first times, fidelity, forever-endings and.friskiness? When she’s not writing, Raine can be found fighting the good fight for intellectual freedom at her library day job.

Raine believes the best thing we can do in life is be kind to one another, and she enjoys encouraging fellow writers. She changes sub-genres to suit her mood and believes all good stories end sweetly. Raine lives outside of Kansas City with her husband, fellow Dreamspinner Press author and sometimes writing partner, Siôn O’Tierney.

Contact her if you’re interested in talking about point-and-click adventure games or about what kinds dachshunds are the best kinds of dachshunds!

Find out more about Raine on her Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads or email her at Raineotierney@gmail.com.

As part of this blog tour, Raine is giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card to one lucky winner!! To enter, just click the link below!

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Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out Nikyta’s review of Bowl of Cherries to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!