PW #301: NA Contemporary M/M Romance: THE MONTH OF FIREFLIES

Manuscript Status: Finished

Mentor Name: Kelly Siskind co-mentoring with Mary Ann Marlowe
Mentee Name: Kate Michael
Title: THE MONTH OF FIREFLIES
Category: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Word Count: 87,000

Pitch:

Still grieving his boyfriend’s death, Jackson has no idea what to do with Julien. Julien knows exactly what he wants Jackson to do with him, and all of it’s dirty—he’s had a three-season-long crush on the shy, brooding wide receiver. But one scorching-hot night together isn’t enough. Knowing an ocean will soon divide them, they agree to pretend their time is easy and their touch easier. But hearts can’t pretend, and saying goodbye might prove impossible.

Excerpt:

Gameday.

Anticipation rippled through my bloodstream even as I cursed the SUV pulling a Miami slide all over the damn interstate. “Thanks, putain cabrón!”

If I had an accident, I’d miss the game and, hell no. Because UM had made it to the championship thanks to the star of my very own X-rated version of Fantasy Football: Jackson Greer. Since the day he stepped on the field, every team we’d played had felt the fury of a hurricane. On rush plays, he was like black ice on a moonless night—no one expected him to send them crashing.

Watching him play was like watching a titan destroy the gods.

Dark and intense, he’d left an impression so bright and deep even my dreams gave him a tangible presence. And left me aching. La douleur exquise. The pain of wanting someone unattainable. It was a stupid, stupid crush, but I’d learned to live with it and hoped his afterimage would cease to blind me once I moved to Paris.

Thank God I’d never actually met him.

Travis’ ringtone blared at me from the console, and I hit the speaker. “Sí?”

“Where are you? We’ll be late.”

“No we won’t.”

I hung up before he could argue with me and got the hell off 95.