About the Book:

Huddled in a doorway, unseen by the men passing on great horses, Meredith watched from within the hood of her cloak. The pain of the cold, wet morning impaled her, rooting her in place, even as the cat rubbed against her shins with a force that should have felled her. She shooed him away. Go home. But he would not.

She wished she had died that night. She wished she had died, for to live like this was not to live at all.

* * *

When Richie Moorcroft takes a housekeeping position to finance his studies, it means moving back to his childhood home: an ancient, almost-derelict cottage locals claim is haunted. But he never believed those stories; he knows where they came from, and in any case, he has a job to do: keeping nineteen-year-old Julian Denby on the straight and narrow without Julian realising his wealthy parents are paying Richie to do so.

Luckily, Julian’s not very astute, although the same can’t be said for their newest housemates: Richie’s bestie, Anneke, and Julian’s older sister, Tamara. Add in George, the cat who appeared from nowhere and is in no hurry to leave, and that makes five…about to uncover the sinister history of their new home.

About the Author:

Debbie McGowan is an award-winning author of contemporary fiction that celebrates life, love and relationships in all their diversity. Since the publication in 2004 of her debut novel, Champagne – based on a stage show co-written and co-produced with her husband – she has published around fifty further works. She is the author of two ongoing series: Hiding Behind The Couch (a literary ‘soap opera’ centring on the lives of nine long-term friends) and Checking Him Out (LGBTQ romance)... Read More

Other Publications by Debbie McGowan:

• Play On...
• The Great Pretendo
• Seasons of Love
• The Great Village Bun Fight
• Never Too Late
• So Long, Little Black Diamonds
• Of The Bauble
• Take A Chance Anthology: A Collection of Gay Romance for New Adults
• And The Walls Came Tumbling Down
• Love Unlocked
• Cherry Pop Valentine
• Coming Up
• Boughs of Evergreen: A Holiday Anthology
• Sugar and Sawdust
• Champagne
• Double Six
• No Dice
• Time to Go (in Story Salon Big Book of Stories)

Checking Him Out (Series)

• Checking Him Out (Checking Him Out #1)
• Checking Him Out For The Holidays (Checking Him Out Novella)
• Hiding Out (Checking Him Out / HBTC Novella)
• Taking Him On (Checking Him Out #2)
• Checking In (Checking Him Out #3)
• Checking Him Out Box Set One
• The Making Of Us (Checking Him Out #4)

Gray Fisher (Series)

• The WAG and The Scoundrel (Gray Fisher #1 / HBTC Spin-Off)
• Tabula Rasa (Gray Fisher #2 / HBTC Spin-Off)
• Distractions (Gray Fisher #3 / HBTC Spin-Off)
• Gray Fisher Trilogy (HBTC Spin-Off)

Hiding Behind The Couch (Series)

• Beginnings (HBTC Novella)
• Ruminations (HBTC Novel)
• Class-A (HBTC Short Story)
• Hiding Behind The Couch (HBTC #1)
• No Time Like The Present (HBTC #2)
• The Harder They Fall (HBTC #3)
• Crying in the Rain (HBTC Novel)
• First Christmas (HBTC Novella)
• In The Stars Part I: Capricorn-Gemini (HBTC #4)
• Hiding Behind The Couch Box Set One (HBTC Box Set)
• Breaking Waves (HBTC Novella)
• In The Stars Part II: Cancer-Sagittarius (HBTC #5)
• Chain of Secrets (HBTC Novella)
• A Midnight Clear (HBTC Novella)
• Red Hot Christmas (HBTC Novella)
• Two By Two (HBTC #6)
• Hiding Out (Checking Him Out / HBTC Novella)
• Those Jeffries Boys (HBTC Novel)
• The WAG and The Scoundrel (Gray Fisher #1 / HBTC Spin-Off)
• Reunions (HBTC #7)
• Breakfast at Cordelia's Aquarium (HBTC Short Story)
• To Be Sure (HBTC Novella)
• Hiding Behind The Couch Novellas & Short Stories (HBTC Box Set)
• Hiding Behind The Couch Box Set Two (HBTC Box Set)
• What A Scorcher! (HBTC Flash Fiction)
• Tabula Rasa (Gray Fisher #2 / HBTC Spin-Off)
• Goth of Christmas Past (HBTC Novel)
• The Lost Mitten
• The Advent of Reason (HBTC Novella)
• Not My Christmas (HBTC Novella)
• Distractions (Gray Fisher #3 / HBTC Spin-Off)
• Gray Fisher Trilogy (HBTC Spin-Off)
• Perfect Tenor (HBTC Novella)
• Reverberations (HBTC Novel)
• Alumni: Reverberations (HBTC Novel)
• Alumni: Resolutions (HBTC Novel)

Seeds of Tyrone (Series)

• Leaving Flowers (Seeds of Tyrone #1)
• Where the Grass is Greener (Seeds of Tyrone #2)
• Christmas Craic and Mistletoe (Seeds of Tyrone #3)
• Seeds of Tyrone Box Set

When Skies Have Fallen (Series)

• When Skies Have Fallen
• A Snowy Ball (When Skies Have Fallen #1.5)