Hi guys, we have the brilliant J.L. Merrow stopping by with her newest release Played! We have a great guest post where J.L. chats about Dyslexia, there’s a fantastic giveaway and we have Aerin’s review as well. So enjoy the post and leave a comment (with your email so J.L. can contact you if you win) <3 ~Pixie~
Played!
(Shamwell Tales 02)
by
J.L. Merrow
All the world’s a stage…but real-life lessons are hidden in the heart
Though Tristan must join his family’s New York firm at summer’s end—no more farting around on stage, as his father so bluntly puts it—he can’t resist when Shamwell’s local amateur dramatics society begs him to take a role in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The bonus: giving private acting lessons to a local handyman who’s been curiously resistant to Tristan’s advances. Not only is Con delicious, there’s fifty pounds riding on Tristan getting him in his bed.
A late-diagnosed dyslexic, Con’s never dared to act, convinced he’d never be able to learn his lines. But with Tristan’s help, he takes the chance. Trouble is, the last time Con fell for a guy, he ended up getting his heart broken. And with Tristan due to leave the country soon, Con is determined not to start anything that’s bound to finish badly.
Just as Tristan thinks he’s finally won Con’s heart—and given his own in return—disaster strikes. And the curtain may have fallen forever on their chance for happiness.
Warning: contains a surfeit of Bottoms and asses, together with enough mangled quotations to have the Bard of Avon gyrating in his grave.
Amazon US | Amazon UK | ARe | Samhain
Dyslexia
Hi, I’m JL Merrow and I’m delighted to be here today as part of the Played! blog tour.
Today I’ll be talking about dyslexia.
“There’s loads of professional actors who’re dyslexic. Orlando Bloom, Tom Cruise, Keira Knightley… I’m just saying, it doesn’t mean he can’t learn lines.” – a well-meaning if not entirely altruistic Heather in Played!
One half of the romantic pairing in Played!, Con happens to be dyslexic. Now, these days, that shouldn’t be a barrier to anyone achieving their full potential. Ideally, every child with dyslexia should get special help from trained teachers. However, studies suggest UK teachers don’t receive enough training in how to support children who struggle with literacy – less than a day in many cases. Not surprisingly, many feel ill-equipped to deal with these pupils, and this can have wide-reaching repercussions:
-each illiterate pupil, by the age of 37, has cost the taxpayer an additional £45,000 when you add up extra costs relating to the education system, unemployment support and the criminal justice system. – Dyslexia Action (2012) Dyslexia still matters (my emphasis)
Con in Played!, who grew up in a less affluent area, and was brought up by his grandmother who herself struggled with literacy, never received the help he should have had. It’s knocked his confidence—which Tristan, in his ignorance, only makes worse when he mocks Con’s lack of facility in writing, and his poor spelling. (Needless to say, by the end of the book Tristan’s thoroughly mended his ways!)
Poor spelling, like poor hearing, is one of those things that can cause people to make judgements about a person’s intelligence that are entirely unfounded. In fact dyslexic people are frequently of above average intelligence—for example, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, and Agatha Christie.
And while often seen as a disability, dyslexia can confer its own advantages: those on the dyslexic spectrum can benefit from their ability to see the world in a slightly different way to non-dyslexics:
-we don’t as much have a disability as an ‘inability’ to do certain things in the same way and same time frame as the normal world. Conversely we have ‘abnormal’ abilities in creativity and problem solving that can be incredibly enabling – Al Cambell, author of A Dyslexic Writes
And of course, for the purposes of Played!, there’s one more distinct advantage to Con’s dyslexia, although at the start of the book, Con’s more inclined to see it as a disadvantage: it means Tristan’s going to have to spend a lot of time with him, helping him to learn his lines! ;)
About J.L.
JL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again. Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.
She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and mysteries, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy, and her novella Muscling Through and novel Relief Valve were both EPIC Awards finalists.
JL Merrow is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, International Thriller Writers, Verulam Writers’ Circle and the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.
Find JL Merrow online at: www.jlmerrow.com, on Twitter as @jlmerrow, and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jl.merrow
Giveaway!
Prizes! I’m offering a prize of an ebook of the winner’s choice from my backlist to one lucky commenter at EVERY stop on the tour, plus a grand prize of a signed copy of Caught!, the first Shamwell Tale, which comes out in paperback on 4th August. I’m happy to ship worldwide, and I’ll throw in some small goodies as well. J
Please remember to leave an email addy in your comment so I can get in touch with you if you win.
I’ll be making the draws around teatime on Friday 10th July, GMT.
Good luck! :D
Review
Title: Played
Series: The Shamwell Tales 02
Author: J.L. Merrow
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (235pgs)
ISBN: 9781619225749
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (June 30th 2015)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Aerin
Blurb: Tristan’s in Shamwell for one last summer of freedom before he joins the family firm in New York—no more farting around on stage, as his father puts it. But the classically trained actor can’t resist when members of the local amateur dramatics society beg him to take a role in their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Especially as he’ll also be giving private acting lessons to gorgeous local handyman, Con, who’s been curiously resistant to Tristan’s advances. Tristan’s determined to get Con in his bed—not only is the man delicious, there’s fifty pounds riding on Tristan’s success after a bet made with his drama school chum Amanda.
Con’s never dared to act before. A late-diagnosed dyslexic who had a hard time at school, he’s always been convinced he’d never be able to learn his lines—but with Tristan helping him, he might just be in with a chance. Trouble is, the last time Con fell for a guy, he ended up getting his heart broken, and with Tristan due to leave the country in a matter of months, Con’s determined not to give in and start anything that’s bound to finish badly.
Just as Tristan thinks he’s finally won Con’s heart—and given his own in return—disaster strikes. And the curtain may have fallen forever on their chance of happiness.
Warning: contains a surfeit of Bottoms and asses, together with enough mangled quotations to have the Bard of Avon gyrating in his grave.
Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Played-Shamwell-Tales-JL-Merrow-ebook/dp/B00U3M60TU https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/5481/played
Review: What a wonderful, light, funny, uplifting book! I knew to expect this after reading the first book in this series, but it still took me by surprise! I love British humor, I’m crazy about British hotties, I like British phrases and expressions so this book was a win-win for me because it has everything I wanted and more!
I liked Tristan, even though he came across as a self-entitled princess! He really was, the rich guy who feels bad for himself, but I loved how much he changed and I like nothing more than when I get to see character growth happening. And Tristan grows a lot (no pun intended, heh!).
Con is my favorite, I simply adored him! His dyslexia is the source of Con’s low opinion about himself and his almost non-existent sense of self-worth, but he DOES manage to get past that by the end of the book; he was simply a brilliant, talented, loving man that’s lucky he’s not real, or I’d have snatched it for myself.
The relationship between Con and Tristan is slow to take off because Tristan is not one for short-term fooling around, and I can’t praise him enough for knowing that about himself and not giving in. Is there anything sexier than a man that knows what he wants and will settle for nothing less? I don’t think so!
One thing that dropped this rating to 4 stars from the promising 5 it started with, is the lack of steamy sex! There is some intimacy between Con and Tristan, but it’s only a blowjob or two and it’s not detailed or anything! This book needed some outlet for the obvious chemistry between our main characters, and the lack of it was frustrating (all right, I admit, I was really hoping to see Tristan’s smart-arse fucked into oblivion!).
I can’t wait to read the next book in this series because I love this author! Recommended!!!
Check out the other blogs on the
Tuesday 30th June: Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance: Gotta Love a Luvvie
Wednesday 1st July: The Novel Approach: A Dream of a Play
Thursday 2nd July: Elisa Rolle’s blog: Excerpt
Friday 3rd July: MMGoodBookReviews: Dyslexia
Monday 6th July: Joyfully Jay: Jane Austen’s Bad Boy
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Filed under: Author Giveaway, Blog Tour, Book Review, Guest Post, MM Book Review, MM Romance Book Review, New Releases, Samhain Publishing Tagged: Aerin's Reviews, GLBT Contemporary Romance, J.L. Merrow, Jl Merrow, Samhain Publishing, The Shamwell Tales