Unsexy Professions
Hi, I’m JL Merrow, and I’m tickled pink to be visiting my good friend Jo Myles today as part of the Caught! blog tour.
Giveaway: I’m offering a free signed paperback copy of my Icelandic-set romantic suspense novel Fall Hard (I’m happy to ship internationally) to a randomly chosen commenter on the tour, plus a $10 Amazon gift certificate!
I’ll be making the draw around teatime on Monday 1st September, GMT. Good luck! 
Some memories are better off lost in the mist… Fall Hard
“Every profession has its pitfalls. Doctors, for example, are always being asked for free medical advice, lawyers are asked for legal information, morticians are told how interesting a profession that must be and then people change the subject fast
There are a lot of books around, particularly in the romance genre, with heroes in sexy professions. Cowboys are a subgenre all by themselves, and the shelves are overflowing with books about firemen, soldiers, veterinarians and cops, to name but a few. People like these guys. They’re masculine as hell, and you know you can rely on them in a crisis.
So why did I choose to write about a rat catcher, possibly the least sexy profession you can imagine?
Well, time to ‘fess up—actually, some of you will know this already: it was entirely down to a jokey Yahoo group discussion of unsexy professions. Someone—possibly even me—suggested rat catcher, and immediately the plot bunny had me by the throat.
You see, I like bucking trends, in a quiet, British sort of way. My characters are not, as a rule, big macho firefighters or armed-to-the-teeth military men—they’re more likely to be bumbling accountants, academics or engineers.
And I’m not the only one, of course: the lovely Jo herself has written about loo cleaners and professional declutterers.
After all, why shouldn’t the less overtly sexy professions have a bit of love, too?
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Question: what’s the least sexy profession you can think of? (Fair warning: if the bunny bites I may write a book about it—if I haven’t already done so!)
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JL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy.
She is a member of the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.
Find JL Merrow online at: www.jlmerrow.com, on Twitter as @jlmerrow, and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jl.merrow
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You can run from the past…but the past runs faster
Shamwell Tales, Book 1
Behind Robert’s cheerfully eccentric exterior lies a young heart battered and bruised by his past. He’s taken a job teaching in a village primary school to make a fresh start, and love isn’t part of his plans. But he’s knocked for six—literally—by a chance encounter with the uncle of two of his pupils.
Sean works in pest control, rides a motorbike, and lives on a council estate. On the face of it, he shouldn’t have anything in common with Robert’s bow-tie, classic-car style and posh family background. Yet Robert is helpless to resist Sean’s roguish grin, and a rocky, excruciatingly embarrassing start doesn’t keep the sparks between them from flaring.
Despite Robert’s increasingly ludicrous attempts to keep his past where it belongs, his past hasn’t read the memo. And soon his secrets could be the very things that drive Sean away for good…
Warning: contains the alarming misadventures of a pest control technician, a stepsister with a truly unfortunate name, and a young man who may have more bow ties than sense.
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Samhain
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