Queer Books Unbound Birthday Extravaganza: Guest Post by Erin McLellan

Posted January 23, 2019 3 Comments by Dale

I am so excited to help Queer Books Unbound celebrate their three year anniversary with an excerpt from my upcoming m/m college romance, Clean Break. This is book 2 in the Farm College series but can be read as a standalone. Thank you so much, Queer Books Unbound, for having me. Here’s to many more years!

Check out the excerpt below, and enter the giveaway for a chance to win an ecopy of Controlled Burn, book 1 in the Farm College series.

TRAVIS

I was thirty minutes early for my first Entomology 101 class of the semester, so I popped a squat on the floor next to the hallway vending machine to watch the thirst-trap cowboys walk by. The Entomology Department was part of the College of Agricultural Sciences, and the class was in the ag building, so the hall was blessedly full of corn-fed eye candy.

The only reason I was taking Entomology 101 was because the teacher, Dr. Greer—who was total Daddy goals—had told me it would be fun. I’d needed to add a blow-off class to my schedule in order to keep my full-time student status, and there was something satisfying about taking the weird bug class during my last semester of undergrad. It appealed to my sense of ridiculousness.

A pair of pristine work boots moseyed up to the vending machine, and I glanced up to get a view of the guy’s long, denim-wrapped legs. They were thick, like tree trunks, stretching the worn jeans in the most mouth-watering way. My perusal lovingly passed the dude’s hips, waist, strong chest, and landed on his face.

Connor fucking Blume.

Out of all the hot cowboys I could have checked out this morning, the first one to catch my eye was the one guy I’d have been perfectly happy to never see again.

I tugged my hood down and drew my knees to my chest, hoping he wouldn’t notice me.

He dropped some quarters into the machine, made a selection, and bent over to pull his food out of the compartment at the bottom, which was when he spotted me, of course. We both froze, eyeing each other. I glanced away, and he straightened with his snack in his hand.

He’d bought raisins. Seriously. Who the fuck buys raisins from a vending machine?

I legit hated him. Everything about him. From his auburn hair to his powerful thighs to his choice of vending machine snack. He sucked.

He just stood there, not saying hi or smiling or anything, so I shoved my earbuds in my ears. Asshole must have gotten the point because he turned on his heels and lumbered off.

Okay, he didn’t lumber. His walk was too precise for that. Everything about Connor Blume was precise. Unless he was tipsy. Then he was a bumbling, insulting mess.

I tried to concentrate on the music blaring in my ears—it was one of my old running playlists—but it was too easy for my mind to wander. And it did wander, straight over to Connor holding up a wall at the end of the hallway. He was surrounded by other students, and they all appeared to know each other.

I didn’t know anyone here.

This building suddenly felt far away from the English building, which was much more likely to have people like me—artsy, weird, queer, Black.

Though, Connor was queer—no doubt about that.

He was watching me now, eating his stupid raisins.

Connor seemed uneasy in crowds. I hated that I knew that about him, but it was one of the things that had enticed me when I’d first noticed him a year ago. Every Wednesday he’d show up with his friends at the Lumberyard—the only gay bar in Elkville, Oklahoma—and sit through the evening like he was in a dentist’s chair. That cautious, uncomfortable cowboy act had made me want to ease him. Draw him out.

Lot of good that had done. I always fell for jerks.

Jerks shouldn’t be hot—it wasn’t fair—but Connor, undeniably, was both. I’d never seen him with stubble, but he had a delicious red shadow on his jaw this morning. He was wearing a Carhartt jacket, like every redneck ever, and it added dimension to his broad chest.

That chest had felt so good under my hands the one time I’d gotten close enough to touch him.

Connor dropped his box of raisins, and they spewed all over the hallway. He kneeled to clean up his mess, and his face was flushed. Oh yeah, he was hot and bothered by my eye-hate-fucking.

Which was good. Because he bothered me right back.

I hope you enjoyed that little sneak peek. Clean Break will be out on March 19, 2019 and available everywhere ebooks are sold. Be on the look out for pre-order links coming your way soon!

Connor’s To-Do List:

Learn to accept my future on the family farm
Be social, to a degree
Make a secret bucket list
Have a real conversation with Travis Bradford

Travis’s To-Do List:

Get into my top law school
Get the hell out of Elkville, Oklahoma
Stay focused on my dreams and goals—no crushes, no distractions
Get spanked by hot and perfectly fussy farm boy, Connor Blume

Travis and Connor do not like each other, but after being paired together in Entomology 101, their mutual hostility explodes into secret after-class hookups and unexpected feelings. With graduation looming near and their careers taking them in different directions, they’ll have to decide if a future together is worth adjusting their to-do lists and letting go of their carefully laid plans.

Goodreads
Release Date: March 19, 2019

Erin McLellan writes contemporary romance, often set in the Great Plains, with characters who are complex, goodhearted, and sometimes a little quirky. Originally from Oklahoma, Erin currently lives in Alaska with her husband.

*click the graphic to get to the rafflecopter giveaway*
Giveaway will run until February 6!