The Man Who Loved Cole Flores
— You want revenge? Dig two graves.—
Ten years ago, a vicious gang called the Gotham Boys descended on a homestead in the mountains like a pack of wolves, leaving nothing behind but death and destruction.
Ned O’Leary was the only one to survive the ordeal.
He lost hope for revenge long ago, but its flame erupts in his heart when the gang is spotted again. By a stroke of luck, he is recruited to infiltrate the Gotham Boys and bring them all to justice. Ripped out of his wholesome life on a ranch, he has to find his footing with a band of ruthless outlaws who challenge his morals every step of the way
But the one who tests him most of all is Cole Flores. Deadly, full of himself and unpredictable, the gang leader’s adopted son should be a man easy to hate, but instead, he sparks illicit desires Ned has never felt before.
Cole Flores is forbidden.
Cole Flores is corruption.
Cole Flores is everything Ned O’Leary craves.
Torn between love and revenge, lust and loyalty, Ned has to face impossible choices that are bound to leave scars, no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing.
“I don’t know what this means, or how to do this with you,” he whispered as his heart broke into a gallop. “But I want to. I need to.”
Dark, dangerous, yet desperately romantic, “The Man who Loved Cole Flores” is a gritty western M/M romance novel. Prepare for violence, emotional turmoil, and scorching hot, explicit scenes, as well as a heart-pounding cliffhanger to book 1.
Themes: Enemies-to-lovers, first love, revenge, undercover, friends-to-lovers, forbidden romance, outlaws and cowboys, crime, gang, secrets, loyalty, betrayal, period-typical homophobia, Old West, survival, corruption of the innocent, self-discovery, opposites attract
Length: ~155,000 words (Book 1 in a duology)
WARNING: This story contains scenes of violence, offensive language and morally ambiguous characters as well as sensitive topics of child abuse and suicide
Boots thumped against the saloon’s wooden porch, and as Ned looked up the long legs, he already knew his blunder had been spotted by the stallion’s owner. The man was clad in solid black, like a city man in mourning, and as he leaned against one of the wooden columns supporting the balconies above, one side of his open duster coat got pulled back, revealing a gun sitting at his hip.
Had this happened by chance, or was this man threatening him?
Either way, Ned swallowed, sitting still as his gaze wandered farther up the long body, to a patch of tawny skin revealed by the open collar. This man was not from around here, and Ned couldn’t stop staring at his angular face with eyes like coals and jet-black hair falling to his shoulders from under a flat-crowned hat with silver studs shining like stars from its leather trim.
Ned stalled with his hand still reaching to the horse. He could swear he recognized those eyes from… somewhere, yet he’d never met this man in his life.
“Fine animal,” he said, his heart rattling like dice in a game of high stakes. It took Ned endless seconds, but he managed to compose himself and dismounted without acknowledging the stranger again as he hitched his horse close by.
The man’s raspy laugh tickled the back of Ned’s neck, making him look back just in time to meet the smoky gaze again. “Is his name Lion?”
“No, why?” Ned eyed the tall stranger again, unable to avoid those oddly familiar eyes.
The man offered him a roguish smile, biting the side of his lip as he nodded at Nugget. “The markings on his hindquarters form the Leo constellation. My star sign,” he said and tipped his hat.
Blood drained from Ned’s face. “Nugget, ‘cause he’s golden,” Ned muttered, unable to pinpoint what about this man’s gaze made him so unsettled. The stranger was friendlier than most, so there was no reason to fret, was there?
Ned turned to catch another glance of him despite his better judgement, but paid for it with tripping over the last step up the porch. He managed to save himself from falling, but he still caught the stranger smirking as he lit himself a cigarette.
