S. B. Barnes
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sbbarnes.bsky.social
S. B. Barnes
@sbbarnes.bsky.social
140 followers 81 following 190 posts
Author of queer murder mystery romances, queer hockey romances, and more. linktr.ee/sbbarnes
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sbbarnes.bsky.social
💫💫 Intro post about me and my books! 💫💫
Petrol background with a black bar at the top reading "Who is S.B. Barnes?". Centered is a photograph of the back of a woman's head. She has light brown hair in a fancy up-do with a wire of pearls over the top of her head. Surrounding her are arrows with various attributes. They read: disembodied head, no face, writes, reads, knits, eats, sleeps, teaches, mom of 2 cats and 1 human, German (sort of), teaches two languages, still sucks at punctuation, teaches computer science, still can't do decent graphics, author of queer romance, terminally online petrol background with a centered black bar reading "My Books". On the top right are the covers for "Heart First" and "Second Chance" beside a text box reading "Hudson Valley Murder Mysteries. #1: Heart First (2023), #2: Second Chance (2024)". On the bottom left is the cover of Two for Holding and behind it three blank boxes for the future installments of the series. Beside it is a text box reading "Minor Penalties: #1: Two for Holding (2025), #2: Two for Boarding (2026), #3: Two for Charging (2026), #4: Two for Roughing (2026/7)" Petrol background with a centered black bar reading "Hudson Valley Murder Mysteries". The cover of Heart First is in the top right corner. It shows a bridge over the Hudson River in a grey-ish color scheme as well as the title with the "S" in "First" red. The bottom right shows the cover of Second Chance, which shows a view of the Hudson Valley on the bottom and a mechanic working on a car above it. Surrounding the books are attributes of the books: One couple, multiple books; found family; academic x mechanic; non-LEO main characters; single POV; 3rd person present tense Petrol background with a centered black bar reading "Minor Penalties". The cover of Two for Holding is in the top left corner. On it we see the title "Two for Holding", the author S.B. Barnes and the series "Minor Penalties Book 1". The art shows two hockey players in a locker room. One is shirtless, sitting on the bench in the background, staring at the other. The man in the foreground is wiping sweat from his forehead with his teal and navy jersey. He's holding a hockey stick in a suggestive position. In the bottom right are three blank covers for the remaining three books in the series. Surrounding the covers are various attributes: 3rd person past tense, dual POV, homophobia, racism, sexism, Islamophobia in professional sports are major themes, one couple per book, hockey romances, MCs of different ages, races, religions, sexualities
November 5, 2025 at 2:51 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Two for Holding is an M/M hockey romance for people who love hockey and romance but can't defend the reality of the NHL

🏒 First in a 4-book series
⛸️ Opposites attract
🏒 Dual POV 3rd person
⛸️ Drift compatible (but for hockey)
🏒 "Practice with me"

#questpit #P #R #A
Petrol background with the headline "Playing defense never won the game...or the guy". The cover of Two for Holding is centered. On it we see the title "Two for Holding", the author S.B. Barnes and the series "Minor Penalties Book 1". The art shows two hockey players in a locker room. One is shirtless, sitting on the bench in the background, staring at the other. The man in the foreground is wiping sweat from his forehead with his teal and navy jersey. He's holding a hockey stick in a suggestive position. Surrounding the cover are various tropes: M/M hockey romance, inexperienced older man/experienced younger man, practice kissing, opposites attract, slow burn(ish), mild animosity to lovers background with the headline "Microtropes except the author doesn't really get microtropes". The cover of Two for Holding is centered. On it we see the title "Two for Holding", the author S.B. Barnes and the series "Minor Penalties Book 1". The art shows two hockey players in a locker room. One is shirtless, sitting on the bench in the background, staring at the other. The man in the foreground is wiping sweat from his forehead with his teal and navy jersey. He's holding a hockey stick in a suggestive position. Surrounding the cover are various tropes: "we have to get along for the good of the team", MC1 teaches MC2 he deserves nice things, inexperienced older man/experienced younger man, supportive best friend, emotional moments in the locker room, standing up to homophobia, "we're just practicing, it doesn't mean anything", mild bashing of St. Louis and hotel breakfasts background with the a centered black bar reading "Minor Penalties". The cover of Two for Holding is in the top left corner. On it we see the title "Two for Holding", the author S.B. Barnes and the series "Minor Penalties Book 1". The art shows two hockey players in a locker room. One is shirtless, sitting on the bench in the background, staring at the other. The man in the foreground is wiping sweat from his forehead with his teal and navy jersey. He's holding a hockey stick in a suggestive position. In the bottom right are three blank covers for the remaining three books in the series. Surrounding the covers are various attributes: 3rd person past tense, dual POV, homophobia, racism, sexism, Islamophobia in professional sports are major themes, one couple per book, hockey romances, MCs of different ages, races, religions, sexualities
November 5, 2025 at 2:36 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
🎊🎉🎊 buy my book so I can hire someone else to make graphics like this because they make me anxious 🎉🎊🎉

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Two-Holding-...

Other retailers: books2read.com/two-for-hold...
Cover of Two for Holding with excerpts from positive reviews
November 4, 2025 at 10:59 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Two for Holding is out now! Swipe to read a short excerpt as an enticement or maybe a deterrant. Order here: www.amazon.com/Two-Holding-... or here books2read.com/two-for-hold...
Cover of Two For Holding with header "available now" Excerpt from Two for Holding in which Jax flirts with Tom despite believng him to be a homophobe, like any rational well-adjusted adult would Excerpt from Two for Holding in which Jax tries to convince Tom to get laid for his own good and not at all because Jax has a crush the size of all four Scandinavian states
October 28, 2025 at 6:55 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Two for Holding comes out in two days! You can pre-order on Amazon, or send me proof of a donation to You Can Play to win a free copy!

www.amazon.com/dp/B0FWF1GQP...
October 26, 2025 at 8:35 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Now pre-orderable on your platform of choice! Out October 28th!
www.amazon.com/dp/B0FWFJ4CB...
October 16, 2025 at 11:24 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
As far as I can telll, microtropes are just...things that happen. Preorder Two for Holding here to get it four days earoy! ninestarpress.com/product/two-...

Art by @tuiskuh.bsky.social
Microtropes for Two for Holding
October 5, 2025 at 11:34 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Out on October 28th! Pre-order here and get it early! ninestarpress.com/product/two-...
Trope map for Two for Holding
October 1, 2025 at 8:25 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Mourning that I won't get back to these guys till December
Excerpt from hockey romance Two for Charging Excerpt from hockey romance Two for Charging in which the love interest's comically big dick is revealed
August 7, 2025 at 7:04 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
So tomorrow's my birthday and I am working my way through the second round of edits on this book. And if you follow me on social media a really cool birthday gift would be to shoot me a question anywhere about this series!
Cover and trope sheet for hockey romance "Two For Holding"
August 1, 2025 at 7:14 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
July 15, 2025 at 1:51 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
am i doing this trope sheet thing right?
cover art by @tuiskuh.bsky.social
Cover for a hockey romance novel with one player sitting on a locker room bench shirtless while the other uses his jersey to wipe sweat off his brow. Title: Two for Holding. Author: S.B. Barnes. Tagline: Playing defense never won the game...or the guy. Tropes: mild animosity to lovers, m/m hockey romance, inexperienced older man/experienced younger man, slow burn (ish), opposites attract, practice kissing
July 5, 2025 at 6:24 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Both books available for 3.24$ each on Smashwords! If you want to read about an anxious academic and a gray ace mechanic falling in love and solving crimes, look no further! www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/99625
Book covers of Heart First and Second Chance with the Text "Half-Price at the Smashwords Summer Sale"
July 1, 2025 at 11:33 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
If you're interested in queer academics not trusting the police to competently solve murders, both Heart First and Second Chance are 40% off for the whole month of June! ninestarpress.com/product/hear...
Book covers of "Heart First" and "Second Chance" side by side. Below them text "40% reduced in June! Use coupon code "PRIDE2025"" in fluorescent pink
June 15, 2025 at 5:50 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Proud to announce Second Chance has now sold 69 copies. Nice.
Book cover for Second Chance by S.B. Barnes. Tagline: Will solving the crime mean losing his lover? Cover shows the Hudson River Valley in upstate New York in the lower third and above that a mechanic in coveralls working on a car
June 13, 2025 at 7:52 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Joining the "First lines of dialogue between the couple" trend late but here you go! Two for Holding will be out late this year. Cover art by the inimitable @tuiskuh.bsky.social
Dark turquoise background, title "Two for Holding", tagline "Playing defense never won the game...or the guy". Image showing two hockey players in a locker room, one fully dressed in gear and wiping sweat off his face with his jersey, the other shirtless and watching the first man from the bench. Text reads "That was the energy he tried to project as he walked into the San Francisco Sea Lions locker room for the first time at the tail end of training camp. No one had seen his trade coming, least of all Jax himself, and he’d missed all the team bonding events to start the season out, but he was used to coming in as the underdog. He could make this work for him. He would make this work for him. With that in mind, he strolled up to Tom Crowler, team captain, absolute beast on the ice and averaging comfortably over a point per game for the last decade. “Hi. Nice to meet you. Tom, right? I’m Jax, I’ll be—” “I know who you are,” Crowler said."
May 10, 2025 at 7:58 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Today's writing Progress: important characterization
May 8, 2025 at 1:02 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
What to call this ship dynamic
Navy background with teal text box and an image of a sea lion in the bottom right corner. Title "Two for Charging". Text reads "Luca was clever, handsome, good with women and had fantastic edgework on skates and unbelievable hockey IQ. By contrast, Chris was a solid enough defenseman, more of a protector than a playmaker, with a string of failed relationships and the looks of a potato balanced on a boulder."
April 7, 2025 at 7:06 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Me: I have so much editing to do on the actual manuscripts that will actually be published.

Also me: you know what would be a good use of my nonexistent free time? Doing a quick canva mockup of a cover idea I had for a cozy sapphic horror story that currently only consists of vibes in my head
Black and white book cover with the word "Bloom" above and the word "creep" as a mirror Image. Light grey vines at the top and mirrored dark drey vines at the botton
March 31, 2025 at 11:24 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
so proud my editor called out this scene as one of the high points in the draft
March 19, 2025 at 9:16 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Two for Charging, the third book of the minor penalties series, is getting published! I am so excited about this. Possibly even more so than books one and two.
March 19, 2025 at 8:42 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Meet the MCs of Two for Holding, an M/M hockey romance that will be out later this year! Yes I spent too much time on Canva this week. #hockeyromance
March 18, 2025 at 7:20 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Happy book day to me. Second Chance is available wherever you get books. #mmromance #cozymystery #writesky
February 4, 2025 at 7:56 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Second Chance is out in six days! If you want a chance to win a free eBook of book one, Heart First, comment ❤️1️⃣🏞️!
January 31, 2025 at 2:01 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Since Second Chance is out next week, for the next five days I am giving away a free eBook of Heart First every day! Comment to compete for a copy!
January 30, 2025 at 1:02 PM