Elin Gregory

Sometimes it’s really worth checking out backlists. There are some marvellous books out there but with hundreds of new titles every week it can be very hard to find them.
Authors – have you got a title a year or more old that could do with a little love?
Readers – have you got a favourite book that you think deserves some attention? Message or email me and we’ll set something up.

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My guest this week is Sue Roebuck and I’m going to be showing a bit of love for her absorbing story Perfect Score. Starting in the 1960s and spanning over 20 years, the story of spoiled rich kid Alex and his connection to working guy Sam is complex and absorbing, with many challenges to face including marriage, separation and sickness, before they achieve their happy ending.

Blurb:

Feckless, exasperating Alex Finch is a rich, handsome and talented singer/songwriter who longs for two things: a career as a professional rock singer, and to have his love for Sam Barrowdale reciprocated. But drifter Sam’s two aims are simply to earn enough money to pay his sister’s medical bills and to hide from the world his reading/writing and speech disability. At this time the word “dyslexia” is generally unknown so to most people he’s just a “retard.” From the severe knocks life’s dealt him, Sam’s developed a tough outer coating and he has no time for a spoilt, selfish guitar player. Despite his defects, Alex’s love for Sam never wavers and when Sam unexpectedly disappears, Alex begins a somewhat bungling quest to find him, only to discover that Sam has a fearful enemy: Alex’s powerful and influential yet sociopathic uncle. As Alex spirals downwards towards alcoholism, many questions need answering. Just why did Alex’s evil uncle adopt him at age eleven yet deny him any affection? And what’s the mystery behind Alex’s father’s death? Both seem to face unbeatable odds. Are they doomed to follow separate paths forever?

Buy Links:

Amazon UK | Amazon US | Mundania Press

Sue in Sue’s own words

Born and raised in the UK, but now living in Portugal, I’m a published author who is also addicted to reading beautiful books. My mind’s always a-bubble with ideas for new books.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

As usual I asked Sue to recommend a book that she had found particularly memorable:

“I would like to recommend Alex Beecroft’s Shining in the Sun. I loved her contrasting main characters (a bit DH Lawrence…ish) with the upper class toff who hasn’t “come out” and the lovely golden-haired surfer who couldn’t come out any further if he tried. They were such memorable characters.”

Damn it, a man shouldn’t always have to be afraid-

Alec Goodchilde has everything a man could want-except the freedom to be himself. Once a year, he motors down to an exclusive yacht club on the Cornish coast and takes the summer off from the trap that is his life.

When his car breaks down, leaving him stranded on the beach, he’s transfixed by the sight of a surfer dancing on the waves. The man is summer made flesh. Freedom wrapped up in one lithe package, dripping wet from the sea.

Once a year, Darren Stokes takes a break from his life of grinding overwork and appalling relatives, financing his holiday by picking up the first rich man to show an interest. This year, though, he’s cautious-last summer’s meal ticket turned out to be more pain than pleasure.

Even though Alec is so deep in the closet he doesn’t even admit he’s gay, Darren finds himself falling hard-until their idyllic night together is shattered by the blinding light of reality.