Blog & Instagram, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway:
The Orc and the Manny
By Chloe Archer
Monsters Hollow, Book 1
Welcome to Monsters Hollow, where love knows no bounds—even in a town full of monsters!
Targan Wildethorne
A confirmed bachelor, and a historian by training, I haven’t the faintest clue how to care for twin orclings when I unexpectedly become their guardian. I’d love to retreat into the comforting sanctuary of my study, surrounded by my books and papers, but first I need to hire someone to help me with the children. Someone who can teach me the ropes of this new role.
Thank the Light for the All-Species Specialized Employment Services! In my most dire hour of need, they find the perfect nanny—ahem, manny—to help me look after my young wards. Now I can finally get back to writing my history of orc folklore for a few hours a day.
Or so I thought.
Instead I find the captivating new man in my home far too distracting. Max is so much more than I had expected. I’ve never fallen for a human before, but I can’t get him out of my mind. Could he ever feel the same about an orc? Humans are usually too intimidated by our large size and outer appearance. Can Max look past my green skin and tusks to see a man with a heart that yearns for him? And if he does, when he learns the truth about the children will the danger on the horizon send him running?
Max MacLeod
Working with kids is totally my jam and I’m damn good at what I do. Just call me Maxy Frickin’ Poppins! When a new job prospect comes my way, I’m intrigued. A chance to move to Mystic Hollow (aka Monsters Hollow) to be a well-paid manny for two adorable orclings? Talk about a dream position. Sold! But when I lock eyes with the seriously sexy orc who’s their guardian—and my new de facto boss—for the first time, I’m a goner. Big, muscular, and green all over–he’s giving me full-on Hulk meets stern professor vibes—and I likeit.
As I get to know him, over meals with the kids during the day and soft-spoken conversations about history at night, I soon realize there’s so much more to Targan than the gorgeous orc who keeps starring in all my naughtiest dreams. He’s quite possibly the kindest, gentlest man I’ve ever met. And he accepts and appreciates every part of me and my flamboyant, full-figured fabulousness. I just want to feed and take care of him—and find out if he’s so deliciously big everywhere. Before I know it, I’m dreaming of being part of a forever family with him and his adorable twins. But an unexpected threat looms in the shadows that could threaten the safety of us all…
The Orc and the Manny is a (94k words) cozy small town M/M monster romance featuring a Hulkalicious silver fox orc professor who’s better with books than kids, a flamboyant human manny with ALL the skills (think Nathan Lane in The Birdcage meets Mary Poppins), an age gap, a size difference, a three-headed hellhound and a feisty rescue Chihuahua, two adorable orcling twins, and copious amounts of orc…joy!
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Exclusive Excerpt
When the children and I leave our appointment, we find Max waiting for us outside. As always, he’s a flamboyant flower that magically blooms to brighten everyone’s day. This morning he’s wearing silky bright yellow harem pants, a multicolored sequined camisole, and a diaphanous purple shawl. To complete the ensemble, he carries a frilly rainbow pride parasol in one hand and Princess Peach in the other. Enormous mock-jewel-encrusted sunglasses cover his eyes.
Not surprisingly, Princess Peach has a mini matching pair perched on her tiny face.
“Hello, my darlings,” he says to the children as they race up to him and Princess Peach, already full of things they want to tell Max about their counseling session. He listens to them patiently with a broad smile on his open face.
He sets Princess Peach down on the ground and takes a firm hold of her leash. Instead of her usual shirt, today she’s wearing a bejeweled collar that sparkles in the light in an almost blinding fashion around her throat. It matches the glasses, and just the sight of it makes something in my chest swell as I think of Max coordinating this little ensemble with so much care. Princess Peach shows signs of a hard life on her body, from her torn ear to quite a few missing teeth, but Max dolls her up every day because he genuinely believes everyone deserves to feel beautiful. Max is truly one of a kind and I’m so grateful to have him in my life.
“Are we ready to go have our tour of the school?”
The children’s enthusiasm immediately diminishes at Max’s question.
“Do we really have to go?” Yara tugs on one of her braids with a pout.
Harn kicks his foot on the sidewalk. “School is stupid.”
Max bends down and lowers his glasses to the end of his nose so he can address each of them. “Remember what we talked about before? If we go in with a negative attitude, we’re going to have a negative experience. We don’t want that, now, do we?
“No, Max,” they agree sulkily.
He reaches into his voluminous manny purse, as he likes to call it, and pulls out a rainbow-colored lollipop for each of them. Their eyes light up and that special ache in my chest when I look at Max flares again.
“Since both of you did such a great job in your counseling session, and you’re being such good sports about going to check out your new school today, I decided you deserved a special reward.”
The lollipops, which look to be about half the size of their heads, are taken enthusiastically. With a twirl of his hand to gesture where we need to go, Max leads the way to the school. The children and Princess Peach follow him like he’s the Pied Piper, licking their lollipops, and I scurry after them, moving so I can walk alongside Max but still keep an eye on Harn and Yara. They’re surprisingly docile now that they have candy to keep them occupied.
I chuckle. “You know, you remind me a little bit of Willy Wonka,” I say, giving voice to my earlier thoughts.
He throws his head back and laughs. “I like to think I’m more like Mary Poppins, just the gayer and more fabulous version—and that is no shade on Ms. Julie Andrews, who is a wondrous gay icon in her own right.” He does a little pirouette, twirling his parasol as he dances along the sidewalk. “Maxy Poppins at your service.” The horrible attempt at a prim British accent, along with the grin he directs at me, make my heart thud loudly in my chest and a strange, bubbly feeling starts up in my stomach.
Enter the Giveaway:
To celebrate the release of The Orc and the Manny, Chloe is giving away a $5 Amazon Gift Card, and a Signed Copy of the release!
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!
Direct Link: https://bit.ly/TOatMGiveaway
About the Author:
Chloe Archer writes M/M sci-fi and paranormal rom coms with laugh out loud humor because she’s all about bringing the funny-sexy back. Oh, yeah!
She currently calls Minnesota home, but has lived abroad in places like Montreal, Edinburgh, and Tokyo. She’s hoping to relocate to Scotland permanently one day if the stars align.
Chloe is a fur mama to two adorable Yorkies, Jasper and Teddy, and she loves them in a crazy dog mama kind of way. When she isn’t busy writing, she enjoys visiting friends and family, traveling, reading, binge watching movies and TV shows, and practicing her karaoke skills. She does a mean cover of Pat Benatar and Cher, or so she’s been told.
Connect with Chloe:
Website: https://chloearcher.com/
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