This press kit for the MM/gay romance novel Hard Hart, by E. Davies, contains:

• Promotion information
• Author headshot & book cover
• Production/ordering information
• Contact information
• Author bio
• Interview resources
• Book club discussion questions
• Book excerpt

Tag line: Can two opposites–an newcomer artist and a construction foreman descended from Hart's Bay's founders–unite to find love and revive the dwindling town?

Paragraph: Jesse Stone is rebuilding his life. The first thing he does after moving to an Oregon seaside town with his four best friends to start a pottery business: he sleeps with his hunky new neighbor. Oops. All he can think about is getting Finn Hart between his hands like a work of clay. Can love bring a new dawn for Jesse, Finn, and all of Hart's Bay?

Blurb:

“I felt all wrong until I met you.”

Jesse Stone is rebuilding his life. He’s ditched his no-good ex, sworn off men, moved to a new town with his four best friends, and started the pottery business of his dreams. And then he slept with his hunky new neighbor. Oops. Jesse needs to focus on work, but all he can think about is getting Finn between his hands like a perfectly-shaped work of clay.

Trouble just blew into town, and his name is Jesse. Finn Hart knows that pursuing Jesse will ignite old family tensions, but he can’t stay away. The construction foreman has never built a lasting relationship. He’s too busy keeping the peace in a town that was founded by one Hart, but is slowly being strangled by another—Finn’s grandfather.

Finn and Jesse are on the same page: they want to save Hart’s Bay, and it starts by bringing tourists in with Jesse’s new art gallery. But their hearts are bruised, and taking a chance comes with a price. Not everyone in Hart’s Bay wants change. For a few narrow minds, nothing good should come to Finn’s branch of the Harts, and that includes love.

Can love wash away twenty years of bad blood and bring a new dawn for Jesse, Finn, and all of Hart's Bay?

Honors and awards:

Silver Medalist – 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards/IPPYs (LGBT+ Fiction)
Finalist – 2020 Independent Audiobook Awards/IAAs (narrated by Greg Boudreaux)

Links:
Full Color – print/high-resolution
Full Color – web resolution

Links:
Black & White – print/high-resolution
Black & White – web resolution

Color – Print
Color – Web

B&W – Print
B&W – Web

• Title: Hard Hart (A Hart’s Bay Novel)
• Author: E. Davies
• Audiobook narrator: Greg Boudreaux
• Publication date: 20 August 2019
• Book genre/subgenre: Contemporary gay romance
• Available at: Amazon, Ingram, Audible, Apple Books
• Paperback ISBN: 978-1-912245-35-2
• Paperback retail price: $13.99 USD, £11.99 GBP, €13.99 EUR, $14.99 CAD, $19.99 AUD
• Ebook ASIN: B07WDR892G
• Ebook retail price: $4.99 USD, £3.99 GBP, €4.99 EUR, $4.99 CAD, $5.99 AUD
• Audiobook ASIN: B07YN8HTHW
• Audiobook retail price: current regional pricing available at Audible and Apple Books
• Page count: 290
• Audiobook length: 7 hours, 19 minutes
• Categories:
  Fiction – Romance – LGBT – Gay
  Fiction – LGBT – Gay

Since 2013, E. Davies has crafted feel-good stories of men in love–stories that are brimming with hope, found families, and realistic guys next door getting their modern fairytale endings. As for hobbies: rescuing bees, dancing badly, traipsing through meadows, and studying photos of cute guys for research totally count, right?

Q: What inspired you to start writing?
A: I started writing as a child and a total book nerd. But I never stumbled on queer stories, and at that point I didn't even have the language I needed to understand my own identity. If I'd seen even one character like me on the pages, I might have realized who I was years earlier. It's profoundly alienating when you can't visualize your future, and the closest vision you can get is decades of stories with tragic endings. So in 2013, I started to write and self-publish gay romance short stories–always with happy endings. I gradually moved into writing novels, where I could better represent a diverse array of queer and trans characters. After more than 40 novels, I think I'm hooked!

Q: What themes do you like to explore in your books?
A: I've really found my own identity, voice, and even my place in the world through writing romance. I was exposed to so many unhappy endings as a young adult that now I enjoy writing feel-good, low-angst stories. I like to play with gender and sexuality the way that I and my community in real life do! My characters tend to be young adults in their twenties just finding their own footing, shaped by the unique social and economic factors that I and other younger millennials experienced. I love economic use of careful details that invite the imagination to fill in the bigger story. I feel it's critical to show all different forms of love, rather than placing romantic relationships as the only type that matters. So nearly all my books have found family, which is a very queer experience. I also tend to focus on sex-positivity, healthy relationships and boundaries, and characters who make consent fun and erotic in my bedroom scenes. There's a lot to explore in romance, and I don't think it could ever get boring!

Q: Where did the inspiration for Hard Hart come from, and what journey led you to write it?
I started writing this town in my head after a major transition-related surgery. I wasn't allowed to use one arm at all for two months, which meant little to no typing. As someone who lives to tell stories, this was enough to drive me up the wall! It was a long, gruelling process and I really needed a mental escape… so I dreamed up this little town where the best and the worst of small-town community would clash. It was driven by the very real impacts of the fishery collapses I've seen the aftermath of, living on both the west and east coasts of North America. I also have a keen interest in co-ops, communal living, and other nonconventional arrangements that revolve around found family, so the artists' shared house and co-op seemed only natural to explore! It felt like a culmination of many similar series I've written–the communal living situation of the Riley Brothers, the interesting life paths and found family of the Significant Brothers, the scorching heat of my earlier books, and the voice I've developed over the past several dozen novels.

Q: What advice would you give a new writer?
Write and publish–as much and as often as you can. You'll only discover your voice through practice. Once you have, your stories will be that much stronger. So don't get wrapped up in perfecting the first sentence or page of your first book. Finish it, and then write another. That will help you learn to tell a solid story first and foremost. Try out different editors until you find one you click with. Make sure you identify what genre the story fits into before you write it, so you can pay attention to your genre's expectations. Read widely in your chosen genre(s), and pay attention to who's publishing successfully in that genre right now. Put yourself out there, fail fast and hard, and write another book… over and over again. Beyond all else: there's no shortcut for hard work!

Q: What formats are your books available in, and where can readers find them?

My ebooks are available exclusively on Amazon, and in Kindle Unlimited for members. This is the most economical way of reading my backlist, apart from ordering paperbacks through your local library. Audiobooks are available on Audible and Apple Books. Most of my titles are in paperback, so bookshops and libraries can order them from Ingram using the ISBNs you'll find on my website. Within the US, The Ripped Bodice is a romance-exclusive bookstore that does phenomenal work and can fulfill online orders. Internationally, there are lots of small indie or queer bookshops, so please support them if you're lucky enough to have one!

-In what ways does Hard Hart compare and contrast different types of family, particularly through a queer lens? Found family, different types of biological families, and the wider community?

-Did you feel a sense of place in Hard Hart, and what contributed to that impression? Could it have been set elsewhere in the USA? How integral is the escape of the artists from a larger city and the gay culture they experienced there to the changes that they inspire in Hart’s Bay?

-In what ways do the characters in Hart’s Bay reflect generational experiences, and transmit them between generations? What about specifically the gay characters—most of whom straddle the divide between millennials and gen Z—and their experiences with gay hookup culture, social apps, gender identity, and sexuality?

-Is Finn’s perspective on his duties as the eldest son of his branch of the Harts reliable? How might characters from the other side of the family, such as Rainier Hart, feel about this sense of responsibility? Other characters in Hart’s Bay?

“Here’s to Hart’s Bay, and our new future!” Beau clinked glasses with them all, and they drank.

The breeze of the door opening caught Jesse’s attention, as did the man walking through it.

Crap.

“Two nights in a row?” Cher greeted Finn, who looked even hunkier in this tight T-shirt. It hugged his biceps. The goddamn fabric even emphasized each little groove between his abs, and best of all, the cum-gutters framing his hips.

This was just goddamn unfair.

“You know how it is.” Finn’s eyes landed on Jesse, and for a long second, he didn’t break the gaze. The heat crackling between them made Jesse’s cheeks burn. “I just can’t seem to stay away.”

The corner of his lip curved up in a sinfully delicious half-smile, and his eyes were half-lidded like that had been an invitation. Straight into his bed.

“Well, no complaints from me. Beer?” Cher offered.

An elbow landing square between ribs made Jesse gasp, tears springing to his eyes. He whirled around and glared at Aaron. “What?”

“That’s that guy from earlier,” Aaron hissed as the others put their heads together. It looked like they were trying to pull him in for a huddle.

Annoyance flared in Jesse’s chest. Of course they were into him, too. And Finn had been clear that it was only an offer valid for one night. With someone as hot as any of his friends, no way would he turn them down. Only a matter of time before it happened.

“Yeah. You fight it out over him,” Jesse said coolly instead, hoping his blush had faded into the ice of his tone. “Since ‘no chasing guys’ is too hard to keep up for two days, apparently.”

He grabbed his glass and headed for the door. He’d spotted a couple of plastic lawn chairs and a patio table out front of the bar. It wasn’t like the liquor laws of Portland applied here.

Sure enough, nobody stopped him—the others were too busy whispering to each other, probably planning their attack.

Jesse breathed in deeply once he stepped outside, closing his eyes to enjoy the breeze. This close to the water, he could still smell the sea.

And he could reflect on how damn good that hookup had felt, even if he hadn’t really meant to get involved with the town that way quite so soon.

But no way was he able to commit to anything more permanent than the next ten minutes. Not until he had a stable studio running and sales to cover the bills, at least. He didn’t want to be famous—just make a living.

“Cooler out here.”

The voice made him jump. He turned and spotted Finn standing by the door, a pint glass in his hand.

“You like following me around,” Jesse told Finn, but despite his disapproving tone, he couldn’t resist a smile. Who could, faced with those eyes?

“I think you followed me last night,” Finn countered, pointing his glass at Jesse. “But I’ll admit: I was curious what brought you back here. Usually tourists are gone the next day. And then I saw where you’re living.”

“Bad news. Or is it?” Jesse bit his lip and looked up at Finn, trying his damnedest not to flirt. It wasn’t working. “I’ve had worse neighbors.”

“Another argument for you following me.” Finn winked and sauntered closer. And even though Jesse knew he should keep his distance, he couldn’t account for the way the stress melted from his body.

His body had made quite a different decision on Finn than his brain. So when Finn nodded toward the rickety bench in the middle of the dead square, he nodded.

“Is it safe to walk through?” He lingered on the corner, eyeing the tufts of unruly grass.

Finn looked offended. “It’s safe around here. Just… down on its luck.”

“So I heard. That’s why I moved here.”

“Not a sentiment I usually hear,” Finn said, his lip quirking up in that damned attractive half-smile again. “What’s up with that?”

“Property’s cheap, workshop and studio space is cheap.”

“Studio? You an artist or a painter? Oooh.” Finn leaned in, his eyes gleaming with intention. There was no way he could mistake that as anything but flirtation. “Can I ask you to paint me like one of your French boys?”

“No, you want Ezra for that. The redhead who was with me. He’s the painter. I just do pottery.” Jesse resisted the knife-twist of jealousy in his belly.

“But I don’t want him.” The emphasis on don’t was slight but definitely there. Finn wanted him to hear it.

Jesse licked his lips and downed a few more gulps of mojito. “What’s your deal, then? Why are you here if you think the town is falling down?”

“I’m kinda stuck here. Oldest kid. Feel like I owe it to the town to stay around.”

“Why’s that?”

Finn hesitated and then stared around the square like the shabby buildings held the answer. “I’ll get back to you on that.”

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. Jesse might have expected it to be awkward, but it wasn’t. It actually felt kind of good not to feel the pressure of making conversation and connections, like it was a speed date in the big city.

A lifetime of getting to know everyone here, if all went well. Or at least a few decades. It was hard to think even that far ahead. A few years?

Finn’s voice interrupted Jesse’s thoughts at last. “So, when are you gonna tell your friends we fucked?”

That was a good question. A really good question. And Jesse had no fucking idea what the answer was. Before long, people would see them together and make assumptions anyway.

What the hell were they going to do now?