Overview

Q: What happens when a summer romance ends? A: The Book of Elis. Two childhood friends reunite on vacation. Elis is a vain attention-seeker, yet Ieuan can’t help falling for him. Knowing the clock is ticking, Ieuan records their romance in his diary. But Elis is full of surprises. Is there more to him than it seems? And, with Elis and Ieuan living on opposite sides of the world, can there ever be anything deeper between them? I decided to write this last night after everyone had gone to bed. Elis had sneaked into my room so we could mess around in the dark. For the first time, he kissed me. In four days our holiday will be over, so I don’t have long left. I have to get it all down while it’s still happening; before I forget what it was like. Ieuan couldn’t be less impressed by the self-obsessed Elis, who brags about his life in Australia and who seems desperate for the attention of a girl back home. But, stuck together in a Spanish villa, they are drawn into a steamy and surprisingly tender romance. Once the holiday is over, Elis must go back to Brisbane and Ieuan to a rainy village north of Cardiff. Though they remain in touch, Ieuan’s expectations of Elis are low. He is unreliable and immature—soon he’ll tire of the novelty of their relationship and the distance keeping them apart. Or so he thinks. Because Elis is full of surprises, and Ieuan has to decide how much of his heart he dares to trust him with. - summer vacation romance - bisexual MCs - childhood friends - coming out - long distance relationship - secret diary - setting: contemporary Tenerife, Wales, England, and Australia - feel: angsty young men, plenty of feels and longing - heat level: high - length: 30,000 words - standalone romance with a Happy For Now ending Note: Readers of Lou's short story collection "Send Me One Back" will recognise the main characters of "The Book of Elis", who featured in a story in that collection. The same story is republished in "The Book of Elis" as the first part of a 30k word novella.