About Junkyard Heart
Tired of the London rat race and the heartbreak that comes with it, photographer Jas Manning returns to Porthkennack, the Cornish seaside town where he spent every childhood summer on his father’s farm. Resigned to year-round rain, wind, and homemade jam, he’s sorely unprepared for the impact that artsy carpenter Kim Penrose has on his heart.
Kim’s free-loving reputation precedes him, and he’s as generous with his inked-up body as he is with his time. The sex is hot, the easy friendship even better, and Jas’s time with him building his family’s new farmhouse canteen is everything Jas was missing in his empty city life.
But Kim’s carefree existence isn’t as simple as it appears. He’s worked hard to vanquish his demons and build his dreams, but the devil on his shoulder is ruthless, and when it comes to call, their happy bubble bursts like it was never there at all. The canteen opening looms, but Kim is gone in more ways than one, and it’s down to Jas to shore up Kim’s soul and convince him that he deserves his place in Jas’s heart.
About Porthkennack
Welcome to Porthkennack, a charming Cornish seaside town with a long and sometimes sinister history. Legend says King Arthur's Black Knight built the fort on the headland here, and it’s a certainty that the town was founded on the proceeds of smuggling, piracy on the high seas, and the deliberate wrecking of cargo ships on the rocky shore. Nowadays it draws in the tourists with sunshine and surfing, but locals know that the ghosts of its Gothic past are never far below the surface.
This collaborative story world is brought to you by five award-winning, best-selling British LGBTQ romance authors: Alex Beecroft, Joanna Chambers, Charlie Cochrane, Garrett Leigh, and JL Merrow. Follow Porthkennack and its inhabitants through the centuries and through the full rainbow spectrum with historical and contemporary stand-alone titles.
Reviewed by:
I swear nobody does angst like Garrett Leigh, and I don’t mean in the I want to throw my kindle against the wall way. Junkyard Heart is book 7 in the Porthkennack but can be read as a stand alone although I have read book 4 in the series, which is also by Garrett, and the guys from that book do make an appearance.
These guys just absolutely stole my heart. Jas is understandably jaded after a horrible breakup that brought him back to his hometown of Porthkennack. While helping his family sell their goods at the annual jam festival he meets Kim. Kim is an amazing furniture maker, or furniture artist as I like to think of him as, and they kinda hit it off. Jas is very taken by the man but as he has sworn off men, he’s not giving him a second thought. Well until they run into each other later that night at a concert that Jas is shooting. And boy do they heat up that concert.
Jas just can’t get Kim out of his mind, and as luck would have it Kim’s furniture artistry is needed for a new project on the family’s farm. Again the heat is turned up to maximum level with these two and then a bomb is dropped on Jas that he feels like a bit of his past is wanting to repeat itself.
Both of them bring a good amount of past baggage to the table and once they are able to sort through it, what they are able to have is just beautiful.
Garrett, you have done it again!!!
I give this book 4.5 stars.
About Garrett Leigh
Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.
Garrett's debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.
When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.
Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.
Social media:
Cover art enquiries: blackjazzdesign@gmail.com
Giveaway
To celebrate the release of Junkyard Heart, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 9, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
We got the chance to interview Garrett. Here's how it went <3
We Three Queens: Favorite writing spot?
Garrett: Bed, but my sciatica has started to
object to this so I have to write more and more at my desk like an adult.
We Three Queens: If one song could be the
soundtrack to your life, what would it be?
Garrett: There is a Light and it Never Goes
Out—The Smiths
We Three Queens: Coolest person you ever
met? (Fellow bookish person/author)
Garrett:Rachel Mayberry. She’s my twin.
We Three Queens: What pushed you to decide
to publish? Were you nervous? Why or why not?
Garrett:To be honest, it was quite a while ago
now, so I can’t really remember how I felt or what possessed me to submit, but
I do remember being super excited when I signed that first contract.
We Three Queens: Best coffee table book?
Garrett:Veg, by River Cottage
We Three Queens: What's your favorite way
to spend lazy Sundays?
Garrett:Cooking, eating, walking in the woods
with the dogs, reading books by the fire (imaginary fire, I don’t actually have
one L)
We Three Queens: Where do you look for an
obscure source of inspiration?
Garrett:Everywhere is an obscure source of
inspiration, because you never know something will be until it is.
We Three Queens: Do you normally write with
music in the background? Does it fit the mood of the scenes you’re writing?
Garrett:I tend to have classical or film
soundtracks when I’m writing, or quite easy listening. To many moody lyrics and
I find myself typing them out instead of my own words.
We Three Queens: How far do you go to
research your books?
Garrett: As far as it takes. I like to travel
to get a feel for places, but failing that, eating something from where I’m
writing about always helps, as does stuffing my face in general.
We Three Queens: Do you have a favorite
character? Was it based on someone you actually know?
Garrett: Cass is my favourite character at the
moment, but it fluctuates. Ash and Pete are my babies, but I’m also very
attached to Finn from Lucky Man. I feel like he’s the most underloved of all my
boys.
We Three Queens: Anything new and exciting
you have going on that we may expect in the future?
Garrett: have a brand new series coming in 2018. The
Skins series comprises of three novels, and a Christmas novella. Dream,
Whisper, Believe, and A Skins Christmas. The first book (Dream) is out January
23rd, and I can’t WAIT.
Thank you Garrett for answering all our crazy questions! We can't wait to see what's coming up next for you in the future! <3
~WtQ
