Hi guys, we have Love Lane Books Lillian Francis stopping by today with her brand new release Theory Unproven, we have a great excerpt, a fantastic giveaway and Prime’s review for you to check out. So enjoy the post and click that Rafflecopter link <3 ~Pixie~
Theory Unproven
by
Lillian Francis
Working with elephants in their natural habitat has always been Eric Phillips dream. Getting what he’s always desired introduces him to Tyaan Bouwer, the bush pilot that flies in his supplies, and Eric discovers the allure of South Africa goes beyond the wildlife and the scenery.
But in an area where bushveld prejudices and hatred bleed across the borders, realising their love will be a hard fought battle. Keeping hold of it might just kill them.
http://lovelanebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/theory-unproven-by-lilian-francis.html
Excerpt
Preparing to ask the stranger his name, Eric opened his mouth to speak, when he was interrupted by a doleful bleat. Startled, he glanced over his shoulder, scanning the airfield expecting to find signs of a wayward sheep. The forlorn stuttering cry came again, and Eric whipped back round, suspiciously eyeing a crate that was securely strapped to the internal wall of the plane.
“Goat,” said the pilot—Eric had decided that’s what he was—as he came back down the ramp.
The deep timbre of that one word surprised Eric. It was rough and low, with an unfamiliar accent Eric’s subconscious demanded to hear more of. That wasn’t likely to happen, though, because the pilot was already surveying his cargo with his back to Eric. He bent to hoist a crate into his arms, leaving Eric to stare dry-mouthed at the enticing pull of khaki for several seconds. Then the pilot straightened and carried the crate into the plane.
Eric wondered if he should offer to help, but despite the ease with which the crate had been hefted into the air, Eric thought they would probably be too heavy and he didn’t want to make a fool of himself. Not in front of this man.
The blond wore the almost obligatory light khaki bush clothes similar to his own uniform The Foundation had provided. Eric hadn’t noticed a logo on his shirt, but he could hope. If this man worked for The Foundation, Eric could at least enjoy the view, since it was unlikely he was gay. He hadn’t even looked twice at Eric. Not that Eric considered himself drop-dead gorgeous or anything, but he was used to getting his fair share of interest back home in England.
Eric caught a glimpse of Akibo gesticulating wildly at the cab driver. His holdalls were piled at Akibo’s feet, Eric noticed thankfully. At least if the altercation didn’t go well and the cab driver took off, he wouldn’t abscond with Eric’s luggage.
The hollow echo of footfalls on the ramp drew Eric’s attention back to the pilot. Tiredness was pulling on Eric’s nerves, leaving him out of sorts, and the lack of conversation was doing nothing to ease his irritability.
Taking the bull by the horns, Eric graced the pilot with the brightest smile he could muster. “So, do you work for The Foundation too?”
“No.” The man’s stride didn’t even falter as he continued toward the next crate.
Not chatty, then. Downright rude, in fact.
The firm slap of a hand on his back caught him just off centre, almost pitching him forward, and Akibo’s fingers curled over his shoulder and squeezed.
“I see you’ve met Tyaan. Tyaan Bouwer. He’s the local freight pilot. He’ll run your supplies into the research station every week.”
It was almost as if the pilot finally saw Eric as anything other than an annoyance for the first time. Tyaan stepped toward him, straightening to his full height, and Eric resisted the urge to check out the breadth of his chest, instead raising his gaze the few inches’ difference in their height to meet Tyaan’s eyes head-on.
“Tyaan, this is Eric. Eric Philips. He’s the new researcher out at olifant velde.” Akibo turned back to Eric. “That’s the local name for your part of the reserve. It means elephant fields.”
“Howzit.” Tyaan stuck out his hand. Eric extended his own automatically, and Tyaan pressed their palms together, enveloping Eric’s fingers in warmth. He gave Eric’s hand a short, sharp shake before releasing him from the firm grip. “The elephant man, hey?”
Eric smiled. “I know I’m no oil painting, but I hope I’m not that bad.”
Tyaan’s top-to-toe appraisal was so fleeting that Eric thought he’d imagined it. An expression skittered across the pilot’s face. Interest, curiosity—Eric wasn’t sure. It manifested itself as a bright spark in his eyes and the faint quirk of his lips, as if he were biting the inside of his cheek. The look vanished before Eric could really work out what it meant, but the amber-coloured eyes still seemed to hold a welcome within them.
“Tyaan’s a man of few words, but you won’t find a finer bush pilot. He’s reliable too. He’ll never leave you wanting.”
Wanting. Despite the pilot’s brusque manner, Eric wasn’t surprised he already wanted to press Tyaan up against the shiny metal body of his plane.
“I’m going up front,” Akibo said, blissfully unaware of the thoughts rampaging through Eric’s head. At least Eric hoped that was the case, since he followed that statement with “Coming, Eric?”
In his dreams, maybe.
About Lillian
An avid reader, Lillian Francis was always determined she wanted to write, but a ‘proper’ job and raising a family distracted her for over a decade. Over the years and thanks to the charms of the Internet, Lillian realized she’d been writing at least one of her characters in the wrong gender. Ever since, she’s been happily letting her ‘boys’ run her writing life.
Lillian now divides her time between family, a job and the numerous men in her head all clamouring for ‘their’ story to be told.
Lillian lives in an imposing castle on a wind-swept desolate moor or in an elaborate ‘shack’ on the edge of a beach somewhere depending on her mood, with the heroes of her stories either chained up in the dungeon or wandering the shack serving drinks in nothing but skimpy barista aprons.
In reality, she would love to own a camper van and to live by the sea.
You can read more about Lillian here:
http://lillianfrancis.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lillian.francis.100
https://twitter.com/LillianFrancis_
Giveaway!
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(Ends 5th March 2015)
Review
Title: Theory Unproven
Author: Lillian Francis
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (395 pages)
ISBN: 978-1-78564-003-2
Publisher: Love Lane Books (20th February 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Reviewer: Prime
Blurb: (Extended blurb from Goodreads) Working with elephants in their natural habitat has always been Eric Phillips dream. Getting what he’s always desired introduces him to Tyaan Bouwer, the bush pilot that flies in his supplies, and Eric discovers the allure of South Africa goes beyond the wildlife and the scenery.
But in an area where bushveld prejudices and hatred bleed across the borders, realising their love will be a hard fought battle. Keeping hold of it might just kill them.
* * * * *
An unexpected job offer finds zoologist Eric Phillips transported from the elephant house at a zoo just outside London to the wildlife reserves in the South African bushveld. Being able to work with his own herd of elephants, and analysing their behaviour, more than makes up for the remote nature of the research station. The one bright spot on the horizon, quite literally if the sun hits it at the right angle, is the silver freight plane that brings his supplies and half an hour in the company of Tyaan, the gorgeous but taciturn pilot.
With wide open spaces and clear skies, Tyaan Bouwer is never be happier than when he’s flying over the bushveld, the landscape beneath him a changing vista of colour and texture. It’s that view and the freedom to be able to climb in his plane and fly that’s kept him in the small town where he was born and raised. South Africa might be a rainbow nation but in the northern regions where neighbouring countries are far from liberal minded, prejudices and hatred bleed across the borders. Tyaan’s not in the closet, not really. Get him to the city and with his strong, silent routine he can pull a guy without even trying. He’s fine with that as long as they don’t press him into trying to see them again. It’s not like he wants a relationship. And just maybe when he gets home he’s hovering in the doorway of that closet, but he’s never met anyone worth taking the risk for.
The day he’s sent to Limpopo to collect Eric that all changes. He tries to bury the feelings of want that Eric conjures in him, but he can’t resist the bonds of friendship that forms between them.
As a zoologist Eric likes to think that he’s adept at anticipating how a creature will react in any given situation, and they don’t come any more beautiful and skittish than Tyaan. Despite Tyaan’s jittery behaviour Eric has a theory they could be good together but when things go catastrophically wrong it appears their relationship will remain a theory unproven.
Product Link: http://lovelanebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/theory-unproven-by-lilian-francis.html
Review: The setting of this book really makes the story and is a massive hook, particularly for me, to keep on reading. Though let’s face it, my knowledge of South Africa is limited to the World Cup and what I’ve picked up from my friend who grew up in Johannesburg.
Eric got a job on a wildlife preserve where he cares and studies for the herd of elephants. He’s signed on for a five year contract and so he’s completely picked up his life from England to South Africa. Life with his new job is fairly secluded except for a handful of people, including the local pilot contracted by the preserve to bring Eric his supplies. The pilot is Tyaan, on the outside he is a carefree man who enjoys his job flying his plane, Gilda, albeit he comes off rather surly. But there is more to Tyaan than meets the eye. He isn’t exactly closeted but away from the city being gay in South Africa can be fatal, especially near to the border of neighbouring countries where it is still illegal. He has some experiences in his past which has left his cautious about having a relationship outside of the city, though even when he went to the city that was just a quick trip to relieve his itch.
The story is simple enough, though the ideas involved are complex (probably due to cultural differences involved, though these were only briefly touched upon). The passion between Eric and Tyaan is both sweet and explosive. Eric is a warm and welcoming person and his biggest job in the story is to get Tyaan to open up. For a book this length there needs to be some sort of drama that is somewhere beyond simple hissy fits. There is this drama and I think it was tastefully done and not to the point of me internally yelling at the screen “I call bullshit!” The characters develop really nicely, particularly Tyaan who has more “growing up” to do than Eric. Additionally, I also like the fact that Tyaan’s reluctance to get into a “real relationship” or be “obvious” with Eric is not too over the top dramatic. It’s just there, a natural part of his character. That being said, the first half of the book is rather light hearted and relaxed before really going into the action.
I really got into this story from the start. There is a lot of sweetness to be had set in an amazing landscape with some pretty damn intelligent animals. In fact, a couple of the elephants, named Jack and Ianto by Eric, are minor characters in their own right and thoroughly enjoyable (though their involvement is rarely scientific at all!). A third of the way through when I came across the Torchwood (i.e. Jack and Ianto) reference followed by a Nirvana reference – amongst other pop culture references, the deal was sealed for me. Seriously, when the drama was happening and there was the briefest mention of Firefly, I was grinning.
After reading Tyaan and Eric’s story, I have to admit I’m suddenly very curious about Benedict, the PA to Eric’s mysterious boss, Mr Cowdrey, and the odd relationship going on there!
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