Title: I’ll Still Be There
Author: Keelan Ellis
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Catt Ford
Length: 200 Pages/63,879 words
Release Date: 1st June, 2015
Blurb: The summer after high school, Eli Dunn and Jess Early explore an abandoned brothel in the rural Florida Panhandle. They’ve always kept their mutual attraction unspoken, but in an upstairs room at the end of the hall, everything changes. Suddenly, all the longing Eli and Jess have tried so hard to conceal bursts free, and passion like they’ve never experienced comes to light, along with the ghosts of Clay Bailey and Silas Denton, murdered owners of the brothel. And Clay and Silas have no problem possessing Eli and Jess in order to express their love for each other, without thought for the living.
Deeply disturbed by the experience, Eli and Jess part and try to get on with life as best they can. But after several years, Eli returns to Florida, only to find that Jess has made some questionable choices. These eventually lead him back to the abandoned house and a confrontation with Eli. Old scores are settled and Eli and Jess reunite. But Clay and Silas’s ghosts aren’t finished yet, for they’ve always believed in the power of open and honest love.
One of them, the dark one, looked up at him in alarm. “Elijah,” the man said, but that wasn’t his name, so he shook it off like it bothered him.
“It’s not right, it’s not decent, and you can’t have this.” His body was shaking, but he held the gun steady on the men in the bed. The part of him he couldn’t recognize anymore was clamoring at him, trying to remind him of something, but he couldn’t listen and didn’t want to. He was just too angry.
The other one—Clay, his name was—moved in front of the dark one and pushed him back. “Get the hell out of here, Brown,” he shouted. From behind him, the dark man…. Silas, cursed in surprise and pulled Clay back again, whispered something in his ear.
“It’s not fucking right!” he said again, and then with a pathetic sob, which made him sick, he said, “It’s not fair.”
“No,” Silas told him in a placating tone. “It’s not fair at all, but Clay and Silas didn’t make it like that. They didn’t do that to you.”
He couldn’t understand why he would say it like that, why he was talking about them like they were separate people, like they weren’t both sitting there in front of him, half-naked. “You shouldn’t get to do that!” he cried. “No one should. It’s sick. It’s terrible.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you didn’t have love in your life. Everyone should have that. Clay and Silas, they just got lucky, and you didn’t. That’s—that’s not their fault.” He was sitting very still, his hand resting on Clay’s arm so he wouldn’t push forward again.
He still did not lower his weapon, though he could feel his mind faltering. He was no longer clear on who he wanted to kill, who he was angry with. Then he heard it again. “Elijah.” It was spoken very softly by the dark-haired man. He frowned at the men on the bed, who looked different now. He shook his head again, less sure now.
“Listen to me Elijah. I know you can hear me. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for ever bringing you here. It ruined everything, and I know it hurt you. It hurt me too, so much. I should have just told you that I… cared for you—that I wanted you. I know now that it would have been all right. I didn’t know it then. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do.”
Eli felt himself coming back, but the anger wasn’t dissipating. He was still staring at Jess, he could see it was Jess now, but the rage was still there. He did not lower the gun.
“I’m sorry for everything. I never, ever wanted to hurt you. Remember who you are, Elijah. Try to see me like you used to, when we were kids.”
Eli blinked a few times and then looked at his hand, holding the gun. He looked at Jess, and Shawn Kinney, on the tarp covering the filthy bed. His face went blank with horror, and he lowered the gun to his side, all of him shaking, unable to get a grip.
Jess got up and went to him, reaching down to gently pull the gun from his hand. He drew him in close, and Eli went, even though Shawn was right there, and even though things were still fucked up between them. He just needed it, and he knew Jess did too.
Shawn had gotten up and walked over to them. He put his hand on Jess’s arm. “Si?” he said, his face confused. He reached up and put a hand to Jess’s cheek.
Jess took hold of his hand and smiled softly at him. “No. I ain’t him anymore,” he said. “Go on, now.”
Shawn looked disappointed for a second, and then his eyes cleared. All at once he looked mortified, and quickly pulled his hand away from Jess’s face. Jess was still touching Eli on the waist and standing very close, and it occurred to him that they might want to cease any more physical contact until they were out of this room.
“Let’s go. We shouldn’t be here,” Jess said. He moved away from Eli and started pulling on his clothes, then glanced at Shawn, maybe to make sure he was with it enough to do the same. The boy looked nearly catatonic, but he began to mechanically get dressed after Jess handed him his jeans.
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie in exchange for a honest and fair review. ***
I adored this story! Getting two romances instead of one was awesome, and I absolutely loved how it all played out.
We get two POVs throughout the book, Eli and Clay, and through them we meet Jess and Silas.
Eli and Jess met when they were kids and became fast friends, along with Cassie, who was their best friend. Cassie realized early on that Elijah was in love with Jess, but he was afraid of accepting his feelings for Jess and disappointing his parents by coming out. Then Jess drives them both to a haunted house and they are possessed by ghosts there—Clay and Silas—and after that, Eli decides to enlist in the Army and go as far away as he can from Jess and the feelings he elicits in him.
When he returns, four years later, many things have changed. For one, now Eli is sure that he's gay and that he still loves Jess and has come back for him. Only it won't be that easy since now Jess is engaged to Cassie.
Clay was born in 1922 and by 1938, he realized he was different from the rest. He wasn't attracted to girls, and in that time, that was definitely not accepted. After his father finds him kissing a boy, he runs away from home and has to resort to prostituting himself in order to survive. After a while, he manages to start running his own operation and meets Silas, his true love, and after several things happen, they bought a house in Pensacola, where they lived in until they died tragically.
Both stories get merged after a while, and I just love how rather than creepy, the storyline was full of love and hope for the future.
The plotline is intriguing and engaging and kept me at the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen after with both main pairings. If you like some mystery in your romance, this is definitely the story for you. And even if you aren't all that keen on ghost stories, I'm pretty sure you'd still enjoy this one, it was so good! This is a love story that transcends time and that leaves you smiling as they all get their HEA.
Rating: 4.5 Haunted Stars!!!
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Ill-Still-There-Keelan-Ellis-ebook/dp/B00Y7I78II
ARe Link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-i039llstillbethere-1803717-145.html
Author Links -
Website: http://keelanellis.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keelanellisauthor
Twitter: @KeelanEllisAuth
Tumblr: http://keelan-ellis.tumblr.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/43093604-keelan-ellis
Get a chance to win a gift basket containing –
1. A PAPERBACK copy of I’ll Still Be There.
2. The I’ll Still Be There Coffee MUG.
3. The I’ll Still Be There BOOKMARK.
4. A gourmet CHOCOLATE bar.
5. Some TEA.
Here’s how it all looks like –
Isn’t it great?! Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway NOW!
June 1: Queer Sci-Fi || Tempeste O’Riley
June 2: Garrett Leigh || Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents
June 15: Cate Ashwood’s Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment