Spotlight on Love

By Kristian Parker

FROM EXCITING AUTHOR OF LGBTQIA ROMANCE KRISTIAN PARKER

Book three in the Speak Its Name series

If love conquers all, George Lomax has its biggest challenge yet...

It's 1923 and George Lomax is on the run. Not from the law but from his boss, the predatory stage company manager Waldo Waddington. George came to London from the States in a Harlem-style musical, but Waldo demands more than just a good performance on the stage from the males in his cast.

Fleeing, George arrives at Safe Haven Boarding House in Brighton and immerses himself in the loving, accepting world of Tanner, Charlie, Frank and Michael. A stroll in the local park brings him to Stanley Butterworth, a war veteran who's experienced his own horrors, and it's love at first sight for the two very different men.

But Waldo is hot on George's heels, using George's employment contract and visa to drag him back into his clutches. Can George find a way to not only be free but be free to love Stanley...if Stanley can overcome his own demons to love him back?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: Jul 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781839432187

Kristian Parker

I have written for as long as I could write. In fact, before, when I would dictate to my auntie. I love to read, and I love to create worlds and characters. I live in the English countryside. When I’m not writing, I like to get out there and think through the next scenario I’m going to throw my characters into. Inspiration can be found anywhere, on a train, in a restaurant or in an office. I am always in search of the next character to find love in one of my stories. In a world of apps and online dating, it is important to remember love can be found when you least expect it.

Book preview

Pride Publishing books by Kristian Parker

Speak Its Name

To Light a Fire

Call it Love

Village Affairs

The Rule of Three

Collections

My Bloody Valentine: Venetian Valentine

Sun, Sea and Spotted Squid

Speak Its Name

SPOTLIGHT ON LOVE

KRISTIAN PARKER

Spotlight on Love

ISBN # 978-1-83943-218-7

©Copyright Kristian Parker 2022

Cover Art by Claire Siemaszkiewicz ©Copyright July 2022

Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

Pride Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Pride Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Pride Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2022 by Pride Publishing, United Kingdom.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorised copies.

Pride Publishing is an imprint of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

Book three in the

Speak Its Name series

If love conquers all, George Lomax has its biggest challenge yet…

It’s 1923 and George Lomax is on the run. Not from the law but from his boss, the predatory stage company manager Waldo Waddington. George came to London from the States in a Harlem-style musical, but Waldo demands more than just a good performance on the stage from the males in his cast.

Fleeing, George arrives at Safe Haven Boarding House in Brighton and immerses himself in the loving, accepting world of Tanner, Charlie, Frank and Michael. A stroll in the local park brings him to Stanley Butterworth, a war veteran who’s experienced his own horrors, and it’s love at first sight for the two very different men.

But Waldo is hot on George’s heels, using George’s employment contract and visa to drag him back into his clutches. Can George find a way to not only be free but be free to love Stanley…if Stanley can overcome his own demons to love him back?

Dedication

To my darling, Sarah. Thirty years and still going strong. Let’s always dance in the rain.

Trademark Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Chanel: Chanel S.A.S.

It Had To Be You: Isham Jones, Gus Kahn

KY Jelly: Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC

The Laughing Policeman: Charles Jolly

Chapter One

Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the Black Beauties of Broadway!

The roar of the crowd hit like a tidal wave.

Ray King, the head of our company, stood in the centre of the line. He nodded and, in unison, we bowed. More feverish applause and a few shouts of Bravo came before the curtain fell, cocooning us from noise.

I’ll miss that, I said to the crew member who operated the pulley.

He clapped me on the shoulder. You darkies can’t half dance. The next season is nearly sold out.

We were the oddities of the West End. All-black reviews were commonplace on Broadway, but we were the first to hit London. People had travelled from all over the country to get a look at us. They loved us, which made a change from the heckling we got back home in the States.

We split down the middle and ran offstage, ready to meet in the dressing room. A few stagehands patted me on the back as I dashed through.

I might have been fast, but the room had already descended into a hubbub of noise and activity by the time I made my way through showgirls pulling feathers from their hair and tap dancers ripping off their shoes and massaging their feet.

My chair sat right in the middle of this commotion, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I sat next to Dorothy Brady, who had scooted in behind me and flopped in her seat. A cloud of the powder she covered her body in to make it less shiny erupted around her.

I sat next to her, throwing my boater hat onto the makeup stand.

We did it, Georgie. A whole season behind us, she said, leaning forward and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

We certainly did. They say we’re sold out for the next run. We’d better enjoy the rest. Now let me get this grease off my face. I need a drink.

Dorothy wriggled out of her gold-sequinned dress. She had no qualms about standing there in just her bloomers and I had given up trying to stop her.

Oh, don’t look like that, you prude, she said with a mock scowl. I know I ain’t got anything in here for you, sugar.

I lit two cigarettes and handed her one. She took a long drag, exhaling and sending the smoke swirl up to the already-nicotine-stained ceiling.

This might not be the Palladium, but I sure am going to miss it, she decided.

It’s only a month, I said, checking my neck for that awful tidemark the relentless makeup left.

I nudged her and pointed to the dazzling array of lotions and potions she had on her station.

Get a shift on. I’d like to get out of here before the cock crows.

She groaned, throwing her cigarette into an ashtray before dutifully scrubbing at her face with one of her pieces of kit.

Three claps reverberated around the room and the din suddenly stopped. We all spun around to see our lord and master, Waldo Waddington, standing in the doorway. One of the middle-rank theatre impresarios of New York, he’d seen profit in dragging us to these shores. Luckily, he had a smile on his face. Everyone returned to clearing the last vestiges of the stage from them as he weaved his way through the wooden chairs.

"Well done, Alvin. The highest