Title: Backup Plans

Author: Lou Kelly

Publisher: Kindle Unlimited

Release Date: August 1, 2023

Heat Level: 4 – Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 259 pages

Genre: Romance, MM sport romance, hurt/comfort, age gap

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Synopsis

Kieran McKinney moved from being a third-string anonymous backup to being a starting quarterback for a brand new NFL franchise. It ought to be a dream-come-true, but with a mentally ill mother, a scheming political snake of a grandfather, a team that sees him as a poor substitution for the first-round draft pick they should have had, and fans that hate him, Kieran is ready to buckle under the stress.

Travis Harris is a small-town sheriff in rural Alabama who has been hiding his sexual identity from his conservative family for years. On the surface, he seems like the perfect catch. A smoking hot southern man who married his high school sweetheart and took up a job in law enforcement. But when his wife passed away, he was finally able to admit that while she’d been his best friend, she hadn’t been the lover he truly wanted. Now it’s been seven years since Rachel died and he still can’t reveal his true feelings to his football loving family.

When fate throws Kieran and Travis together, there doesn’t seem to be a chance in hell that they can make things work. Can two deeply closeted men overcome the obstacles their different world’s present? Or will they both resort to backup plans?

Backup Plans is an MM sports romance with a sexy Southern sheriff, an age gap romance, and hurt/comfort themes. This book can be read as a standalone novel, although there will be a sequel out in November. There is NO cliffhanger, no cheating, and one very steamy Thanksgiving.

Mood Writing with Lou Kelly

What does a football themed sports romance have in common with witches, faeries, and supernatural tales? On the surface it’s tempting to say “nothing”, but look a little bit deeper and the connections become clear. For me, a good book makes me feel something. I’m open to reading (and writing!) in almost any genre as long as it takes me to that place where I’m immersed in the world and how that world makes me feel.

Part of the reason we love certain genres (like those that feature mystery and magic) is because they envelop us in a cocoon of emotion. My favorite writers make use of all the small details in their characters’ world to create the tone of their books, whether that’s suspenseful, curious, comforting, or cozy. 

For Backup Plans, I wanted to create two distinct moods for each of my main characters. For Kieran, who has just taken over as the starting quarterback for a struggling new NFL team, football means stress. Don’t get me wrong – Kieran loves football – but right now it’s giving him a run for his money. His team hates him, he’s not living up to the expectations of the fans or the coaching staff, he has anxiety issues when it comes to the press … everything about Kieran’s world is making him yearn for what he doesn’t have: acceptance, support, love.

That’s where Travis comes in. Travis’s experience of football is weekly get-togethers at his lake house with his large, extended family to watch the game. It’s rural Alabama heat, snacks spread out on the tables, unruly brothers arguing about the plays, and parents threatening to set him up on blind dates. Football for Travis means having everything he wants, but no one to share it with. 

So, when Travis and Kieran finally get together . . . well, that’s the fun part, right? Watching two worlds collide. Together they create a whole new mood: laughter, love, lingering looks. That’s when I got to write the best stuff – moonlit romantic nights in a tent by the lake, scenes where Travis’s football loving family, one by one, learn that he’s secretly dating their team’s new quarterback, silly domestic moments with a farting basset hound and a one-eyed cat. 

Whether it’s magic, mystery, thrillers, or contemporary romance, we love the many moods that books create for us – the yearning and fulfillment, the fun and wonder, and of course, let’s not forget the sizzling sexy times. My hope for my readers is that when they pick up a Lou Kelly book, whether it’s a football themed sports romance, a romantic suspense, a bodyguard/ rockstar romance, or a dark shifter novel, they’ll know they’re in for intense emotions, strong moods, and a great read!

Excerpt

Kieran stroked Travis’s cheek. He knew all about feeling as if you didn’t deserve good things in life. “I’ve never had a relationship either,” he admitted. “Not with a man. I haven’t even had one-night stands. Fooled around with a guy in high school, but my grandfather found out and we moved out of town. After that … I couldn’t risk it. I wanted football more than I wanted sex. Guess that makes me pretty pathetic in the bedroom department.”

Travis laughed. “Somehow I doubt that.” He reached out to trace Kieran’s jaw with one finger. “In the interest of full disclosure, I should probably tell you that you begged me to fuck you last night and it was damn hot.”

Kieran choked, his entire body bursting into flame. “I did what?!”

“You were sexy as sin, lying there soaked to the skin. Kissing me like there was no tomorrow. I could have come just watching you.”

Kieran buried his face in his hands and Travis laughed again.

“Let me tell you,” Travis said, “it was a test of my moral resolve. I don’t think I’ve ever had a man offer himself to me so completely and so beautifully, and then I had to say no.”

“Crap.” Kieran winced. “I’m really sorry.”

“What part of ‘I wanted you’ aren’t you getting?” Travis asked. “You’re a beautiful man, Kieran. Goddamn gorgeous. I wanted you last night, and I still want you.”

Kieran shivered. “You might be disappointed.”

Travis’s eyebrows shot up, and Kieran’s cheeks burned with humiliation.

“I just mean, you’d think you were going to bed with the quarterback, and you might have certain expectations, but I never meet people’s expectations.” Why couldn’t he stop rambling? “Shit. I’m going to shut up now.”

Kieran closed his eyes, willing himself to disappear. He wasn’t sure what he expected Travis to say — he was always too silent or too honest for anyone’s comfort level — but then he felt the brush of Travis’s lips against his eyelids.

“I think you’re perfect,” Travis murmured. “And if there’s any confusion, yes, I absolutely want to fuck you, and I don’t think I’ll be disappointed.”

Travis’s lips pressed against his, gently at first, and finally more insistent. Kieran slid one hand up Travis’s shirt, clinging to the sensation of bare skin under his fingers.

“Do you want me to fuck you, Kieran?” Travis breathed.

Kieran nodded. He wanted that more than anything, and for once there was nothing holding him back. No NFL scouts. No team to shun him if they found out. No career on the line.

“Yes,” he whispered. “God, yes.”

In answer, Travis’s fingers slipped under the hem of Kieran’s shirt and he pulled the fabric up over Kieran’s head. His mouth found the hollow spot below Kieran’s neck, sucking softly at the sensitive skin. Travis’s fingers traced the lines of Kieran’s pecks, then rolled his nipples, working them one by one until they were hard nubs and Kieran’s breath was ragged. Travis kissed a long line up Kieran’s neck, leading to his earlobe, and Kieran tilted his head back, letting the sensations wash over him.

Finally, Travis’s hands pressed into the waistband of Kieran’s borrowed sweatpants, kneading his ass. Kieran made a tiny noise in his throat and reached over to tug on Travis’s shirt, but Travis swatted him away. “I’m going to take care of you, Kieran. I’m going to be so goddamn nice to you, and you’re going to let me. Understand?”

Kieran almost came right then. He groaned and palmed his crotch.

Travis grinned. “Now, go upstairs and wait for me. My room is the second door on the left.”

Kieran nodded. His mouth was so dry, he couldn’t have gotten any words out even if he’d wanted to. He turned and headed for the stairs while Travis let the dog out the back door.

Was he really going to do this?

A lot of guys had sex with people they’d met at some bar — women whose names they didn’t even know — but Kieran had grown up going to church every Sunday and being told that the kind of sex he wanted was shameful and wrong. Still, he ached for Travis. His ass clenched in anticipation and his cock throbbed.

He found Travis’s bedroom and his eyes zeroed in on the bed. Kieran slipped off his sweatpants, leaving them in a heap on the floor. Nervous heat pooled in his stomach.

Kieran had slept with women in college. Too many of them. He’d figured that some sex was better than no sex, and he’d needed to prove himself to his teammates — but it had never been what he’d wanted. Had never satisfied his desires. Now, it seemed impossible that he’d finally be with a man. A man with sculpted, powerful arms, who probably had an equally powerful cock.

That thought made Kieran shiver. What would it feel like to have Travis inside him? He wasn’t scared of pain. After playing football for years, pain was something he could take, but what would Travis want to do beforehand? Kieran had never gone down on a guy, and it was possible he’d suck at it. Well, of course he’d suck at it because that was the point, but … Kieran rolled his eyes at his stupid thoughts, willing his brain to shut up.

A full-length mirror hung beside the closet door and Kieran caught a glimpse of his reflection. He was black-and-blue everywhere. Huge swathes of skin were missing where he’d gotten ground into the AstroTurf, and his knee looked like some alien body part despite hours of icing. It was hard to feel sexy when you looked like ground meat.

Travis’s low chuckle sounded behind him. “I could hear you worrying from downstairs,” he said, taking off his shirt and slinging it into the hamper. His chest was broad and lightly dusted with hair, and his nipples were dark and tight.

Kieran resisted the urge to cover himself. “I’m not worrying,” he said, but then he added, “any more than normal.”

“Good catch.” Travis pulled off his jeans and approached Kieran wearing nothing but a pair of gray boxer briefs. Kieran’s eyes left the mirror and latched onto the outline of Travis’s cock against the fabric of the underwear. As Kieran had suspected, he filled it out perfectly.

“So gorgeous,” Travis breathed. “Look at you. I want to touch every inch of you.” He pushed the hair out of Kieran’s eyes and kissed him long and deep until they were both breathless. Finally, he pulled away. “Relax, okay? I’m going to call the plays tonight, and all you have to do is execute them. I promise I’ll be gentle. Your body is hurting enough as it is.”

The tension left Kieran in a flood of relief. Execute the plays? That he could do.

“Okay,” he murmured.

Travis smacked Kieran lightly on the ass. “Get on the bed.”

Kieran couldn’t move fast enough. He lay down on his back, even daring to spread his legs slightly, then looked expectantly at Travis, his body keyed-up, waiting for what would come next.

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Meet the Author

Lou Kelly loves a good romance. Having honed her skills as an author through a decade of writing and publishing, she discovered m/m fiction and fell in love. What does she like best? The slow burn.

“No insta-love for me. I adore a well-developed full-length novel with characters who are believable and sympathetic. My favorite relationships are the kind where suppressed desire sizzles with sexual tension struggling for release. Give me a strong Alpha male who has to fight for his mate, or enemies who are shocked when hate turns into love, or a mysterious stranger who doesn’t want his secrets revealed … I crave books that keep me up past my bedtime.”

When she isn’t writing, Lou Kelly loves to travel. Sadly, most of her traveling these days happens between the pages of books, but top on her wish list is a trip to Greece. Followed by New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, and Iceland. *sigh* Someday she hopes to explore them all. Until then, you can find her reading!

Lou Kelly loves her fans, so please visit her on Goodreads: Lou Kelly or Facebook: Lou Kelly

Or e-mail your questions or comments to: loukellyromance@gmail.com

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