Burns! Mystery 7
by
History says a famous villain died on the gallows on October 1, 1788. But what is the real story? And how do two contemporary men fit into this re-telling of history?
M/M erotica wrapped in mystery
The reticent undercover detective Thomas Fitzgerald is already deeply in love…with a man who has just met him in an “alternate reality.” Tight-lipped and uptight as he is, a confession is out of the question. And Burns, not quite the same man he fell in love with, is afraid that his caped hero may misunderstand his own “insta-love.”
How can two stubborn men find that elusive connection between then and now? This is where time-travel, enters the story—a unique wynd in Edinburgh becomes the bridge that connects past, present and even perhaps the future.
Follow two lovers across a bridge spanning more than two centuries as they struggle to reconcile not just the convenient lies of history, but also the truth about their own conflicted relationship.
This full novel is the conclusion to the six-novella Burns! Mystery series and can be read as a stand-alone. Please note that the title has changed, from A Rainbow Bridge.
- 1 To Be Read list
Publisher: New Dawn Press
Cover Artists:
Genres:
Pairings: M-M
Heat Level: 5
Romantic Content: 5
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Gay
Protagonist 1 Age: 18-25
Protagonist 2 Age: 26-35
Tropes: Alpha Character, Badass Hero, Bodyguard/Guardian Angel, Criminals & Outlaws, Fated Mates / Soul Mates, Healing Power of Sex, Opposites Attract, Reunited and it Feels So Good, Second Chances, Slow Burning Love
Word Count: 56782
Setting: Edinburgh, Scotland (ancient and modern)
Languages Available: English
Series Type: Continuous / Same Characters
Burns turned from the window. “This is where he attacked you. From behind, of course.”
“What makes you say that?”
He smiled, another conspiratorial grin that made his dimples deepen around the sensuous mouth. “If I’m a cop, I walk first to the place a burglar would enter a house. The window. This window, the only one here. No one in his right mind would face you and hit you at the same time. So he was behind you. And now I have the benefit of hindsight, I see where your arse made a nice profile here on the floor.”
He walked down the dozen or so stairs and joined Burns. “And you, sir, are a smart ass.” He set two large bags on the floor and encircled his lover’s supple frame, both hands on the hot tight buttocks.
“Have I told you how much I love…ah, these silk trousers, Burns?”
“Nae, never. Tell me, Thomas.”
Their crotches, twin cudgels, met; and their tongues tried very hard to fuck each other’s open mouth.
READ MOREHe attempted to answer. “I do.”
“You do what, Thomas?”
“I, ah, I do favor these sexy pants of yours. Just don’t change anything for me, ever.”
Burns’ hands massaged his ass cheeks. “Like what, Thomas Fitzgerald?”
“Any fucking thing at all. Your trousers. Your beard. Your habit of…of making me say very naughty things.”
“I’ve opened your fly several times today already, Thomas, when you weren’t looking. A frontal attack you never saw coming. Let me do it again.”
Burns’ fingers began to tease the button of his baggy pants.
“Not here .”
“Why the fuck not?”
“Be-because we’d have a concrete floor as a bed. Because this must be the last place on earth you—”
Burns pulled his zipper down and knelt in the dust, lowering the loose corduroys as he did.
“Talk dirty to me, Thomas. This bed is a sodding cloud. I want to suck your fat cock. I want to lift my ass to you. To unfurl my rosebud. To scrawl our own writing over the tired old story.”
Thomas stood with spread legs, his cock thrust damn near into Burns’ sassy mouth, his hands caressing the silken auburn hair.
“No, no. I’m the cop. If there’s any taking to do, if one of us lies on this cold concrete, let it be me.”
Burns ignored him, stroking his balls and testing the tip of his rigid dick with his tongue. “Sweet, sweet. Fucking ambrosia, Thomas. Let your honey drip into my ready ass.”
His hands left Burns’ scalp and grasped his shoulders. Leaning backwards, he sprawled on the floor while pulling his lover onto his heaving chest. “No, damn it. We need lube…”
Above him, he saw the smirk on Burns’ mouth and then the K-Y tube in his hand. “I never leave home without it. Ever since I met Thomas Fitzgerald.”
“Then squat and stand up a little, while I tongue open your rose bud…”
He’d never in his life been so stiff, and his tongue so loose. Bloody hell, I love this man. I need to be careful what I say.
Burns rose a little. Unfastening his trousers, he let his smooth open ass flex just above his face. The light from the window allowed him a view that threatened to force the cum from his fist-hard balls. The bud. The red, red rose. The entrance to his private heaven opened a little, a tiny gasping mouth, and he pushed his tongue into the warmth of Burns’ asshole, denying its pleas for mercy, dicking and flicking and tunneling while above him his lover cried to a new-found deity.
“Thomas, ah, god, Thomas. Love, love, love…”
COLLAPSEK Griffith on Amazon wrote:You have a choice, dear readers, of starting this series from the beginning and whipping through it to the finale, or sampling one of the books along the way. If you do what you should do--read them in order--you, like I, will realize that as much as Erin O'Quinn has risen to the top of MM romance writers, this is the piece de resistance--in every significant way.
This closing chapter took me longer to read because of the way Quinn has woven a comfort blanket of words, phrases, situations, and personalities into a tale that is absurd on the surface--minor time traveling, but please don't put off by the word paranormal because it's as much fun and twice as exciting as "Back to the Future" in its cheery own way. But it's as true to life as one could wish for when it comes to lovers who are fated from the start to capture, cherish, and complete each other.
Robbie (Bobby) Burns, the taciturn Edinburgh scholar and sometimes schemer, and Thomas Fitzgerald, the tall, hunky, insecure, but dynamic detective lover from Dundee, are indelible as lovers as any Quinn has created but with a luscious twist: They are insouciant and insecure at the same time, reticent and plundering at the same time, unable to keep their eyes, or hands, off each other on every single page irrespective of whether that fondling is physical, imagined or metaphorical.
No one was expecting O'Quinn to come back to Edinburgh after the crashing insecurities of the previous issue. We can be grateful that she has, because she has given us hope, tenaciousness, fealty, and incredible love. Bravo!
nrevvy on Amazon wrote:What a fitting end to the Burns and Thomas tale—full of suspense, mystery, and revelations galore. Ms. O'Quinn paints the history of Edinburgh with a brush worthy of Dickens in her use of imagery, but Mr. Dickens would have blushed more than a little at the love scenes between these two alpha men—because love scenes they are.
All these tales together would make for an excellent read, one right after the other. I know because I just did it. Kudos, Ms. O'Quinn--your lyric prose made my day once again.
Yet another enthralling adventure with Thomas and Burns, this time with more of a twist. Starting right where [book:The Burns Enigma|31120410], Thomas is still trying to reconcile the Burns he's with now and the Burns he thought he knew. A mystery from Burns past becomes an adventure that neither expected and Burns historical knowledge is crucial. It's a much more paranormal theme than before.
It was so interesting learning about Edinburgh, past and present. It shows the breadth of research and knowledge Erin has put into the narrative. Not just historical places, but customs, mannerisms, clothing and more. I have to admit, I got a bit lost in some of the storyline, as there were two separate issues occurring. They were somewhat connected, yet not and I wasn't always certain of the relevance of one set of characters. Also, some felt too improbable although it may have been plausible. It could just be me. It was still interesting and a great read as I've come to expect from the author.
This novel may be read as a stand-alone. But it serves as the capstone and climax of the six previous Burns! mystery novellas. The story is based on a historical (18th-century) character and delves somewhat into time-travel, and so I describe it as "paranormal," not wanting to tread on SciFi sensbilities by labeling it as "time travel."
