Angel

By JL Merrow

How do you know if you’re one of the damned?

As a child, Don wanted to become a priest. Now a grown man mostly at ease with being gay, he’s left the Catholic Church and has chosen instead to help people through his work as a parole officer.

His strong faith is shaken when his latest assignment turns out to be Michael, a young man Don hasn’t seen since he took Michael to church as a child -- and saw his parish priest cast Michael out of the church as a demon.

Meeting him as an adult re-ignites the obsession Don had with the boy he couldn’t save. But can Michael be saved at all? Or is the strangely compelling demon with a taste for risky sex as damned as he believes himself to be?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Mar 11, 2017
• ISBN: 9781634863377

JL Merrow

JL MERROW is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again. Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and mysteries, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy, and her novella Muscling Through and novel Relief Valve were both EPIC Awards finalists.JL Merrow is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, International Thriller Writers, Verulam Writers and 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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Angel

By JL Merrow

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2017 JL Merrow

ISBN 9781634863377

Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

NOTE: This book was previously published by Dreamspinner Press.

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Angel

By JL Merrow

Nearly Twenty Years Ago

I’m not allowed to go to church. The new kid said it matter-of-factly, like he didn’t even think it was weird.

Donnie gave him a blank look. Not allowed to? In his ten-year-old experience, parents only got annoyed about missing church services. Suddenly, understanding dawned. Oh—you’re Jewish? Or, uh, Muslim or something?

The new kid—Michael, they’d been told by Mrs. Shriver when he’d joined their class that morning—shrugged bony shoulders. No. We’re not anything, far as I know. I’m just not allowed, that’s all.

Why? Donnie kicked at a Coke can lying, crumpled, on the ground by the school gates, then glanced around guiltily, relieved to find there were no teachers outside to yell at him. School had finished a while ago and most everyone had gone, but instead of running home like he usually did, Donnie had stayed to walk with the new kid. Michael didn’t seem to have made any friends yet. He’d hung back when everyone else rushed out at the end of the day, talking and kidding around. Donnie thought that was sad.

I dunno. Mom’s never said. Just that I can’t go in a church. I’ve never been inside one, not even once.

Donnie tried to imagine that. We have to go to Mass every week. Twice, sometimes. It’s cool, though. I want to be a priest when I grow up, he added in a burst of enthusiasm, then blushed. He didn’t want Michael to make fun of him for being so religious.

Michael just looked interested. Yeah? What’s it like?

Donnie launched into a description of a typical Mass—the incense, the ritual, the surplice he got to wear