S.H. Allan

I participated in NaNoWriMo this April during which I wrote Honesty and Artifice. (Actually, I wrote it in two and a half weeks, but that's another story.) As part of that, Lulu gave me a free hardcover of the novel, I just had to pay S&H ($5). I'm sure that deal is available all over the place since the goal is for you to love it and then buy more (or put it up for sale), but it is still nice.

I decided to go all out and make a cover for it. I wanted it to look as authentic as possible, and since it's just for me, not for resale, I took the liberty of quoting a few of the reviews on Goodreads for the back cover. (Hopefully no one will be upset, but if you have been quotes and do not want your quote on this image or want to change how you're attributed, contact me, and I'll take yours off and repost the cover. Please remember, this is not for resale, just for me.) I'm quite proud of it, actually. Let me know what you think. (Click on the image below to see a larger version.)

My most recent story is a gay romance action/thriller called Honesty and Artifice. It's available free from the MM Romance Group website.

Here's the blurb:

He'd trained for every eventuality—
except losing his heart...

Boaz Egan never expected to find another human being on his empty beach, especially one nearly dead. After years of isolation and secrets, he's unprepared for the feelings that Eric Atherton awakens in him. While Eric recuperates, the two men grow closer, and it doesn’t take long for Boaz to begin to question whether his reasons for remaining alone are good enough. 

But Eric has secrets of his own, ones that bring grave danger, and could end what has been building between them, maybe their very lives. For the men to know if they have a chance together, they'll have to brave their fears and face demons from the past. 

In the lonely and vast ocean waters of Alaska, the two men only have themselves to rely on. Can either man trust the other enough to survive the coming storm? Or will Boaz's one chance for love be over before it even began?

Genre: action/suspense/adventure
Tags: first time, masturbation, past abuse, strong HFN, Alaska, series, isolation, boats
Content Warnings: allusions to childhood abuse

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love’s Landscapes" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story. 

This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.

The original prompt:

Dear Author,
I found him in the edge of the surf one morning, on one of my many solitary treks down the beach. Naked, battered, unconscious— just another bit of discarded flotsam on the sand.

Who is he? How did he get here? Is he telling me the truth? Can I trust him at all? Can I help him— or can he help me? Or maybe we can even save each other…

Photo Description: 
A muscular, dark-haired man lies prone on a sandy beach, waves frothing and swirling around him. He is naked save for a tiny bikini or underwear that is barely clinging to the round globes of his backside. He also has on a small, dark, braided bracelet. If not for a mound of sand beneath his head, his face would be immersed in the water. He appears to be unconscious.(less)

Closure was my first novel and it was a great experience. The people over at the Goodreads M/M Romance Group really made me feel special and helped me release something I'm happy with. It's a tearjerker, but with an HEA, of course. 

As the blurb says, "This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story."

Here's what it's about:

What happens when a family comes between love?

Nigel and Derrick are perfect together, happy and in love. Two years ago, Derrick Cole took one of his teenage probationers to learn about a new program that helped at risk kids by teaching them how to train shelter dogs. There he met the executive director and founder, Nigel Rutherford. Although the two men came from different worlds, they immediately found common ground in an interest in social issues and a desire to help others. A strong mutual attraction grew over time into the kind of solid loving relationship that so many people only dream about.

But getting to this point wasn't easy. Bias and intolerance barred the way, and Derrick's foster father, Ronald Bryant, was at the core. When Ronald dies tragically, the couple is forced to face demons from their past that threaten to destroy everything they've fought so hard for.

Death does a lot of things to people. Nigel and Derrick must fight to make sure that their relationship isn't yet another tragic loss.


Warnings: Contains grief and loss, death of a parent, lots of crying, a bit of PTSD, snarky teens, adorable but opportunistic dogs, foul language, emotionally intense hot man on hot man sex action, and an excessive number of pumpkins.

It's sappy and emotional and intense, funny and sad, and a little cheesy. I hope you like it. You can get it for free from M/M Romance Group.

"Reboot" was my first published story and is included in the wonderful Cuddling: A Dreamspinner Press Anthology. The whole book has gotten great reviews and I agree, the stories are really good. I'm honored to have one of my own tales be part of such a great anthology.

This is the synopsis of my own short, "Reboot": 

Josh works in a high tech job that takes up most of his time and attention. Flynn, his boyfriend of five years, is a rock singer, often on the road for weeks at a time. When the stresses of their jobs interfere with their life together, Flynn vows to “fix it,” but Josh is afraid Flynn’s idea of fixing it may be to end their relationship. Will Josh be able to show Flynn how much he means to him before it’s too late?

Cuddling is available in both ebook and paperback from Dreamspinner Press.

That's a pretty cheesy title but that's what this post is: Welcoming you to my brand spanking new blog. I'll keep you posted as I go, letting you know what I'm working on and what's being published. Thanks for reading!