Checking Him Out: Volume 1

Debbie McGowan

Dec 2014 · Checking Him Out Book 1 · Beaten Track Publishing

About this ebook

Engineer Sol Brooks is a happily married man, so people keep telling him. He and Elise have been in Boston for eight years, he loves her, and she loves him. They’ve got a great apartment that’s kept its value, they’re both up for promotion, and he can hook up with any guy he likes - all the sex he wants, so long as it’s of the “no strings” variety. And that’s all fine and dandy...until a chance meeting at the checkout.

Also in this series: Checking Him Out For the Holidays - a festive novella for Hanukkah/Christmas.

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First published as part of the Love's Landscapes Anthology

(DRiTC 2014, MMRomanceGroup.com), based on the prompt:

Dear Author,

When I met the love of my new life (his words not mine…ass), I was simply waiting in the checkout line. I might have been caught up in a conversation with my best friend/wife of X amount of years about something, I can’t remember at the moment. So anyway, we were distracted and didn’t notice that the line had moved. So after maybe 30 seconds, or a minute at the most (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that long), Mr. Impatient, with an accent like that character on The Originals (not that I watch that show at my age), got our attention in the rudest way in my opinion, or in my wife’s heart-of-a-ho opinion, the kindest way possible for our insensitive asses. I’m pretty sure his accent, mixed with his damn charm, got him out of more trouble than it should. We had a rough start, but we had quiet moments when we weren’t all over each other or fighting, in and out of bed. Anyway, I would love a story about our first year.

P.S. I want a story with interesting secondary characters interacting with the main characters. I want it to be known that the marriage is a *lavender marriage—no one is being fooled here. I want humor mixed in with hot-damn, slightly overwhelming sex. Alpha males with a bad case of the giggles at inappropriate moments. No BDSM please. One other request is that I wish the main characters to be in the age range of late twenties to early thirties.

*A lavender marriage is a “beard” marriage of convenience.

 Sincerely,

T

Ratings and reviews

I adored it very much. I love how the universe bring them together, so fun and warm. I didn't expect there would be that heart-throbbing part (except the obvious). Love love love ❤

Easy jet intreging read. Loved it. Funny at times, serious at the other. Some parts are a little confusing but it suites the story.

Debbie McGowan has told a wonderful story. Irreverent and poignant at times, it is a great way to spend some time.

About the author

 Debbie McGowan is an author and publisher based in a semi-rural corner of Lancashire, England. She writes character-driven fiction, covering life, love, relationships—the whole shazam. A working class girl, she ‘ran away’ to London at seventeen, was homeless, unemployed and then homeless again, interspersed with animal rights activism (all legal, honest ;)) and volunteer work as a mental health advocate. At twenty-five, she went back to college to study social science—tough with two toddlers, but they had a ‘stay at home’ dad, so it worked itself out. These days, the toddlers are young women (much to their chagrin), and Debbie teaches undergraduate students, writes novels and runs an independent publishing company, occasionally grabbing an hour of sleep where she can! 

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ALSO BY DEBBIE McGOWAN

LGBTQ Romance and Relationships
Crying in the Rain (novel)*
First Christmas (novella)*
Breaking Waves (novella)*
Checking Him Out (novel)**
Sugar and Sawdust (short story)**
Checking Him Out For the Holidays (novella)
Champagne (novel) 

General
‘Time to Go’ in Story Salon Big Book of Stories

Sci-fi/Fantasy Light
And The Walls Came Tumbling Down
No Dice
Double Six


*Stand-alone stories from the world of Hiding Behind The Couch.

**Part of the Love's Landscapes Anthology
(Don't Read in the Closet 2014)
MMRomanceGroup.com


HIDING BEHIND THE COUCH SERIES

The ongoing story of ‘The Circle’…
Nine friends since high school;
Nine friends for life.

The Story So Far…
(in chronological order: novellas and short novels are "stand-alone" stories, but tie in with the series - think Middle Earth—well, more Middle England, but with a social conscience!)

Beginnings (Novella)
Hiding Behind The Couch (Book One)
No Time Like The Present (Book Two)
The Harder They Fall (Book Three)
Crying in the Rain (Short Novel)
First Christmas (Novella)
In The Stars Part I: Capricorn–Gemini (Book Four)
Breaking Waves (Novella)
In The Stars Part II: Cancer–Sagittarius (Book Five)
A Midnight Clear (Novella)
Red Hot Christmas (Novella)
Two By Two (Season Six - 2015)

http://www.hidingbehindthecouch.com