Ribbons and Frills by Claire Davis and Al Stewart

Beaten Track Publishing

http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/ribbonsandfrills

Ribbons and FrillsBlurb

Ribbons and Frills costume sewing factory has always been about creating dreams, but when the owner asks his very upper-class son to take over, sparks fly, and not just from the sewing machines. The last time manager Gary Shaw saw Ashley Turner-Hoff was a year ago, when he left Gary standing on the beach with a broken heart and sand in his underwear.

Ashley Turner-Hoff has a plan to save the factory which involves one famous mannequin and a fashion show in London.

Can Gary forgive Ashley and give him a second chance? Can Ribbons and Frills really compete against top fashion designers, and do Gary’s dreams of being on stage finally come true?
Find out in this summer story of sequins, sand, and surprises!

Part of “Summer Bigger Than Others – A Summer Anthology” from Beaten Track Publishing.

Review

This is a very dark romance between a working-class costume maker and an up and coming designer who’s had a silver spoon between his lips all his life.

In the previous summer the two hooked up and it was a BIG MISUNDERSTANDING that kept them apart at summer’s end.

When Ashley, the boss’s son, returns to try to save the sinking ship of a factory where Gary manages a crack team of machinists and designers, Gary can’t let himself get pulled back into the charmer’s arms and get devastated again.

But… Ashley has always wanted Gary and in time he shows him how much.

**

I didn’t care for this story. There was way too much sex and not nearly enough talking between our MCs. I really wanted some heart-to-hearts to clear the air. I dislike plots that hinge on BIG MISUNDERSTANDINGS from the get go, and this one was pretty thin from the outset.

Though I found Gary’s struggle and loss of dreams to be touching – the stolen van, the strange contest and the way Ashley sort of launched himself back into things never felt organic or real to me. It felt very contrived and I wasn’t very invested in the outcome because I was thrown so out of the story by the plot holes.

The writing wasn’t my style either, though it was technically done well.

All in all this just wasn’t my cup of tea.

2.5 of 5 hearts

2.5

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Making Nice Audiobook by Elizah J Davis Narrated by Michael Ferralulo

Dreamspinner Presents
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6768

MakingNiceAUDMEDBlurb

Twins Blake and Bianca Dunlap have always been there for each other, ready to lend support and make sacrifices. Blake can’t imagine a bigger sacrifice than getting along with Bianca’s fiancé, Matt. However, Matt turns out to be more than the meathead Blake had dismissed him as, but Matt’s best friend, Ryan Everett, is a different story. Ryan seems intent on being an insufferable jerk as often as possible. The fact that Blake is undeniably attracted to Ryan only makes the whole situation more annoying.

Since they’ll all be stuck together for the long haul, Blake is determined to make nice. Unfortunately he overshoots, and he and Ryan end up on much friendlier terms than Blake intended. While he and Ryan agree there’s no harm in having a strings-free fling, that changes when Matt and Bianca find out about it. As more complications arise, Blake and Ryan become more determined to do what it takes to avoid letting them down. But the only way to ensure getting through a joyous wedding and avoid the questions neither of them want to answer is to convince everyone it’s something more.

Review

(From previously)

Blake and Ryan meet because Ryan is Blake’s twin sister’s fiancé. They immediately rub sparks off one another and sorta, kinda hate each other and at the same time want to f*ck.

So… they enter into a hate-sex sort of scenario, with neither of them really admitting that beyond the chemistry there might be a bit of something more substantial.

The premise is that at first they really DON’T like each other. Really. Blake is a pretentious prig and Ryan is a cavalier goof. Opposites attract and all that, so they are attracted to each other sexually but not emotionally.

Once they discover/admit this attraction, they want to hide it from their friend/sister because they fear/know that when it ends it will be messy if sides have to be chosen.

But… the family finds out so they admit to a “real” but fake relationship so that they family is comforted … but in fact they are still just messing around… Sound confusing … it sorta is.

And along the way, between the hating and the sexing and the pretending… they end up really caring about each other up to and including loving each other.

But… they still can’t communicate this to one another for various reasons and that keeps them apart for a bit… and then there is a BIG MISUNDERSTANDING which leads to a blow out fight which leads to… you get the idea.

So, don’t get me wrong, I actually loved much about this book… the writing is excellent and the wit exceptional (I laughed out loud in places) and the development of the characters is great. But there are a few things that would need to happen to make this a GREAT book.

First: Some major editing. It’s a LONG book that doesn’t need to be. Some have called this a “slow burn” but it isn’t , not really. They get together early on and then waffle about with the “I hate myself for wanting him but I can’t help myself”, guilt ridden booty calls for way too long. Then, once they are “fake-together”, they waffle about their “I love him but I can’t tell him or he’ll freak out” way too long. And the end… well, that’s another story.

Second: I loved the MCs and many of the secondary characters. They were funny and added to the story and added a lot of realism. I loved the exes and how they contributed to the story and the friend and the family, all shaped our MCs really nicely for us. Showing, not telling. But the MC’s lives were confusing to me. At one point Ryan is worried that Blake will judge him for not having a college degree when Blake himself is a nanny. And where does all the money come from? I kept expecting someone to have a trust fund because no one seems to work. And Blake has an interest in teaching Cello lessons but never plays or even listens to that sort of music. Given how long the story is, these kinds of details became more obvious.

Third: The BIG MISUNDERSTANDING leading to reconciliation. What should have happened is this: the big misunderstanding, the laughing and crying and forgiving, the making up and the “I love yous”. Instead we had to insert yet another bout of waffling and indecision that was patently not needed. When they do finally get things together it is rushed and unsatisfying after the pages and pages of waffling. I really wanted to finally see Ryan and Blake expose themselves and show their FEELINGS to one another and make me believe in their happy ending. Though I thought the epilogue was terribly witty and somewhat fitting for the characters, it did not satisfy my romantic heart, or make me believe in the final outcome. At some point the jokes and the insecurities should be laid to rest and the real emotions get their page time.

Overall, I believe this is the first full length novel for this author. As such, I think it is a wonderful start. I would definitely look for her again. However, I would recommend some serious editing in the future, as I think that simply shortening this would have remedied a lot of my “issues”.

Audio

Michael Ferrualo did an excellent job with this. He was believable and did a wonderful job with all the emotion. I really enjoyed listening to this and thought it added to the overall enjoyment of the book immensely.

4.5 of 5 hearts

4.5

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Don’t Judge by A.E. Via

don't judge cover

Publisher: Via Star Wings Publishing

About:Detective Austin Michaels didn’t think life could get any better after he was accepted into the most notorious narcotics task force on the East Coast, headed up by two of the baddest Lieutenants with the Atlanta Police Department – Cashel Godfrey and Leonidis Day.

Michaels knew he would fit right in as the team’s sniper, having received his fair share of commendations for marksmanship. He was just as badass as the rest of the twenty brothers that made up their team. But when Michaels lets their prime suspect get away from a huge bust with over a quarter of a million dollars in drugs, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it right.

Left with no other options, God chooses to bring in outside help, calling on his long-time friend and bounty hunter, Judge Josephson.

Judge was considered one of the best trackers during his enlistment in the United States Marine Corps. After retiring, he used those skills to become one of the most sought out fugitive trackers in the country. When Judge gets a call from his old friend needing his help, he quickly tells God, yes.

Still embarrassed, and intent to prove himself, Michaels immediately volunteers to partner up with Judge to get their suspect back quickly and quietly. Neither man wanted or needed a partner. But, after Judge and Michaels get on the road, the hate/lust relationship they quickly develop between them will either make them heroes… Or get them killed.

Review: Well, Mz. Via has done it again with her rough and tumble, tough and tenacious, gorgeous and sexy, crazy detectives. This book features Det. Austin Michaels, badass sniper of God and Day’s task force.

I really love this series. It’s hard to believe that it sprang from one of my favorite books, You Can’t See Me. These characters are robust in the sense that these guys don’t do anything half assed. They are all out, balls to the wall, tough and they take down the bad guys–hard. There are no sweet and smooth, sassy mouthed twinks in her books. No siree. These are grown, hard men. And that’s what I love about her characters. These men are equals in everything.

There are a few things that I picked up while reading Michaels’ character that I thought the author did a great job portraying. Michaels clearly had anger management issues but I couldn’t quite figure out where the anger was coming from. As I continued to read, I thought that his anger management was one of the symptoms of his depression. If you read it carefully, you can pick up that Michaels was battling depression. I also thought that it was great how Via showed exactly how much love and respect these men have for each other. They saw him struggling and stepped in to help when they saw him before he was able to spiral out of control.

I loved Judge. I didn’t dig his character at first. I had to read it a bit more before I warmed up to him but it didn’t take long. I realized that Judge wasn’t an ass at all. His gruff manner and hard shell was his way of not getting attached to anyone. His interaction with his father, his step mom and his dog showed a tender side you wouldn’t expect to come from a big biker looking type, a bad ass bounty hunter.

I noticed that there wasn’t as much macho posturing in this book and hasn’t been as much of it after God and Day’s story was told. Yes, the men were still the hard as nails, kick ass and take names type of men but it seems like they’ve mellowed out a bit and that may have to do with them being in loving relationships.

Another thing I want to mention is that there are not very many sex scenes written in but when there is, it’s totally hot?.

This author strikes the perfect balance in her stories in terms of plot, storyline, action and dialog; you’re not disappointed. The book doesn’t drag or lag anywhere. Two things I didn’t like about the book though: the spitting during sex (that’s a huge turnoff for me) and the one case of police brutality. I hear and see enough of that going on in real life, I really didn’t to read about it in my M/M romance when I’m looking to escape real life for a while. That aside, this is a pretty awesome story, hell, the entire series is faboulous. My favorites in the series so far are You Can’t See Me and Embracing His Syn.

These books are part of a series and can be read as standalone a but I highly recommend that you read the books in order to familiarize yourself with all of the characters.

 

Buy from Amazon

Rating: amazing

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Wolf’s Honor by Laylah Hunter

GoodReads Presents

http://www.mmromancegroup.com/?p=277783

wolf's honorBlurb

Dear Author,
I almost made it. I wasn’t a mile away from the edge of pack territory, but he managed to catch me. Now I’m pressed against the cold cement walls of this last hiding place. I can feel his heat behind me, his heavy breath on my neck. I absorb the pain as he wrenches my arms high up my back, immobilizing me. I wait for punishment. I’m so tired; I let my body relax into the inevitable. Running had been my last attempt at freedom. It’s been so long since I was free. Most of my life has been spent under the power-mad control of one Alpha or another, the curse of being an Omega. Everyone wants to own you, control you… use you. The image of the man behind me standing over my last Alpha, covered in his blood, eye’s glowing with battle rage; flashes through my head. That was only two days ago. In the chaos that followed, I managed to slip away. I hadn’t been out of the Alpha’s house in two years. I had hoped that no one in the pack would even remember my existence. The hard press of muscle, the scent of blood and power coming from the man behind me smothers my hope. I breathed in the scent of my new reality…

Photo Description:
A young, dark-haired man is pressed up against a concrete wall, face first. He’s held there by a taller man standing behind him, who leans into him possessively and has a hand on his forehead. The young man has his head tipped back and his eyes closed; the man behind him has an ambiguous expression that might be anger.

wolf's honor real

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review

Cory is running from Troy, the new alpha of his pack. All Cory has known is abuse as a lowly omega at the hands of the atrocious alphas. Troy is determined to show him that not all Alphas are the same.

**

This is a very short piece. There is no happy ending, but it’s definitely headed that way. Troy must prove his trustworthiness and Cory finally accepts him. They have a moment of hot sex to cement their bond and it’s left at that moment.

The writing is good, though the tidbit only left me wanting more.

3.5 of 5 hearts

3.5

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Red Dirt Heart 2 by N. R. Walker

NR Walker Presents http://www.amazon.com/Red-Dirt-Heart-ebook/dp/B00MT7VJZM/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408388771&sr=1-3&keywords=red+dirt+heart

red dirt heart 2Blurb

Up until Travis arrived on his doorstep, Charlie had lived a very solitary life. He had surrounded himself with isolation; a couple million acres of red dirt, scorching sun and loneliness.

Six months on, winter has settled over the desert, and Charlie has the life he never dreamed possible. But living and working together, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, for six months straight starts to take its toll.

Charlie is a stubborn, stubborn man, who tends to have more conversations in his head than what comes out his mouth, whereas Travis has no problem saying what’s on his mind. And even as they both struggle to communicate, struggle to make sense of need versus want, Charlie can see that he’s pushing Travis away – yet seems helpless to stop it.

When it all boils down to whether Travis should stay or go, maybe the decision won’t be theirs to make.

Review
(From Previous Site)

Travis and Charlie have been living and working together for 6 months now and things are mostly on an even keel. The two stubborn boys clash now and again, but mostly, they love one another.

They have some minor/major-ish squabbles over Travis wanting to raise a baby Kangaroo and Charlie worrying incessantly that Travis isn’t happy out in the boonies. But then … real trouble hits when immigration pulls Travis’ visa and Travis faces exportation.

Wow oh wow this was a great book! I had wondered what trouble the boys would get into since the last book ended fairly happily settled and boy do they have trouble.

Charlie really fretted this book. Like constantly. He just can’t get his brain wrapped around Travis being happy out there. The two fight and fight about it and almost split up as a result. But then Charlie digs deep and does some really, really amazing growing and – pull out the tissues – the end result is so sweet, it makes your teeth ache. (The scene at the Cattleman’s meeting and Immigration are the places where the Kleenex will come most in handy!)

I love Charlie and Travis as a couple and was so pleased to see them dealing with real life issues but still retaining the fairy tale romance.

I highly recommend this book and the series. 5 of 5 hearts.

5

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Just a Feeling by JH Knight

GoodReads Presents http://www.mmromancegroup.com/just-a-feeling-by-j-h-knight/

just a feelingBlurb

Dear Author,
My name is yours to give, I’m a new father, whose best friend in the world just died and took with her all the magic of being an uncle, leaving only the harsh reality of being a father with no idea how to do that, AT ALL. Thing is, I’m looking for a nanny, my child is a colicky baby trying to wake the dead screaming, I haven’t slept in a while, and this handsome stranger who’s knocking on my door seems to be the answer to my desperate pleas… Only, he seems to know an awful lot of things about me and my baby that even I don’t know, can I trust him? Should I let him near my child?

Photo Description:
A man holds his sleeping newborn. The baby clutches a set of dog tags while resting his chin on the man’s shoulder. The word “family” is tattooed across the father’s back.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s “Love is an Open Road” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

feeling real

Review

This is a sweet short but full story about Mark, an ex-military man who helped his friend with her pregnancy when she found herself unexpectedly pregnant. There is no “father” in the picture and when she dies in childbirth, he finds himself as the best suited candidate for the job.

Though he loved his friend and knows he wants to be the best dad he can, he’s overwhelmed and not at all prepared to be a father.

Luckily, he finds Ian, a nanny with loads of experience and hires him to help him with the newborn, Leo.

Ian has the patience of a saint and never takes anything personally, though Mark is more often than not, kind of a jerk.

Over time, the two develop deep feelings for one another and we get our HEA.

**

JH Knight is one of my favorite authors out there. She is amazingly talented and has a way of tugging at your heartstrings like no other.

This short story is a great example of her talent.

Though, there is only a small amount of sex in this book, there are lots of wonderful feels. Ian’s family is amazing, and has a vaguely sixth-sense which helps them to know when to do the right thing… just a feeling they call it.

I loved the growth Mark experienced it and my only wish was that we could have seen the couple in action for more than a little bit at the end.

4.5 of 5 hearts

4.5

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Lucky Linus by Gene Grant

Dreamspinner Presents
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6672

LuckyLinusBlurb

Is the possibility of fulfilling your heart’s desire worth the risk of breaking it?

Fourteen-year-old Linus Lightman is understandably reluctant to trust his newest foster family, the Nelsons, after he’s bounced through the system since being being taken from his neglectful mother. He’s certain they will reject him when they find out he’s gay, and getting to know them will only lead to hurt later. Trying to cope, he builds a friendship with Kevin Mapleton, and it quickly grows into romance, despite Linus’s fears. Then a video of Linus and Kevin having sex is posted online, and Linus knows from past experience exactly what’s going to happen. This sort of scandal will cost him his new home and Kevin’s love, snatching away his fragile hopes of belonging.

Review

Linus has had a very rough life. We meet him at 5 when he is being abused by his mother’s lover. From foster care home to foster care home he is passed around, abused, neglected and most importantly, not loved or made to feel safe.

He finally finds a home where he can make friends, be part of a family and settle down and plant roots when he meets a boy online. Though the two have a strong connection, there is more to their relationship than meets the eye and drama ensues. (See blurb above and sex tape reference.)

In the end Linus, who has remarkably kept up a warm, caring personality all this time, is forced into therapy – which he desperately needs – and begins the process of healing.

**

Ugh. I hate writing reviews when I don’t love the book but really, really wanted to.

There is so much about this book that I really liked. I liked how straight forward it was. Like the boy telling the story, it’s an accounting of his life, without emotion, without added drama.

I thought the way the sex in this book was handled was very appropriate for the audience.

I also liked the way the dark, ugly abuse was handled. No un-necessary re-creations just a flat telling of events. Nothing was sensationalized.

I liked the characters – on the surface there were countless of very interesting people in this story: the biological mother, the foster children, the social worker, the boyfriend and of course Linus himself.

What I didn’t like: I really wanted the author to take me through the flat, emotionless story-telling phase and then “show” me the colorful, real world, experience of being Linus. It felt like the entire story was a prelude to the real story, wherein some of that emotion from the abuse gets let out or explored or hopefully, reversed.

I just didn’t get that “reward” for all the painful stuff. It was one bad thing after another and only a brief respite at the end with the therapy, adoption and the “maybe we can start over” with the boyfriend.

It was way too heavy a story without something at the end to lighten things.

I also felt very disconnected from everyone and everything. I imagine that this is good – Linus must have felt this way at the beginning as well – but then I wanted to be brought back to the land of emotion and given a real connection again. Sort of like the color in Oz versus the black and white of Kansas. This story was all in black and white. There were many shades of gray and it was very interesting, but lacked the color or zing it could have.

3 of 5 hearts

3

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Piece of Cake (Matter of Time #8) by Mary Calmes

Dreamspinner Presents http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6727

PieceofCakeBlurb

After years of domestic partnership, Jory Harcourt and Sam Kage are finally going to make it official in their home state of Illinois. It’s been a long and rocky road, and nothing—not disasters at work, not the weather, not a possible stalker, not even getting beat up and having to attend the ceremony looking like he just got mugged—will make Jory wait one more day to make an honest man of the love of his life.

Should be a piece of cake, right?

 

 

Review

It’s with a sad, and joyous heart I get to review this – the last in the series of Jory and Sam. This is one of Mary Calmes’ best series, Sam and Jory have gone through so much together. Jory- always into trouble. Sam – always the growly protective Alpha Male.

In this – way too short IMHO – story we see Sam and Jory marrying (again) legally in Illinois. There are short glimpses of many of Mary’s other MCs – Miro and Ian; Aaron and Duncan – which add nostalgia and humor to an already bitter-sweet story. (My absolutely most favorite part of the story had to be the telephone conversation between Miro/Ian and Sam – so hysterical!)

Jory has inadvertently pissed off some woman and she hires a hit man and of course Sam has to save the day – which he does with the same exasperation he always shows in these situations.

Jory and Sam have an explosive chemistry and its shown again and again both emotionally and physically.

I really loved seeing the kids growing up to mimic their dads and of course seeing how well the relationship between Sam and Jory has been maintained.

So, with tears in my eyes, I say good-bye to this wonderful series – and I will just have to start the whole thing over again to experience the wonderful times we shared with these guys.

5 of 5 hearts

5

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Murder and Mayhem Audiobook by Rhys Ford Narrated by Greg Tremblay

Dreamspinner Presents  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6817

murder mayhem audioBlurb

Dead women tell no tales.

Former cat burglar Rook Stevens stole many a priceless thing in the past, but he’s never been accused of taking a life—until now. It was one thing to find a former associate inside Potter’s Field, his pop culture memorabilia shop, but quite another to stumble across her dead body.

Detective Dante Montoya thought he’d never see Rook Stevens again—not after his former partner’d falsified evidence to entrap the jewelry thief and Stevens walked off scot-free. So when he tackled a fleeing murder suspect, Dante was shocked to discover the blood-covered man was none other than the thief he’d fought to put in prison and who still made his blood sing.

Rook is determined to shake loose the murder charge against him, even if it means putting distance between him and the rugged Cuban-Mexican detective who brought him down. If one dead con artist wasn’t bad enough, others soon follow, and as the bodies pile up around Rook’s feet, he’s forced to reach out to the last man he’d expect to believe in his innocence—and the only man who’s ever gotten under Rook’s skin.

Review

(From previously)

This another amazing work by Rhys Ford! Rook is a thief, trying to get clean, but stuck in the middle of family drama “that keeps pulling him in”!

Dante is the cop on the case – at first determined to put Rook behind bars, but later determined to keep the man in his bed.

It’s a wonderful story of enemies to lovers with that special, emotionally charged twist that Rhys infuses into all her work. Rook is such a great character – warm hearted, giving, loyal, and totally unaware of how awesome he is.

Dante is the tough, alpha figure who knows a gem when he sees it. He won’t let Rook slip through his fingers and he’s lucky enough to get Rook’s crazy family, too.

The sex scenes were amazing, the love story so sweet and the action/mystery compelling.

I enjoyed the pop-culture references and laughed out loud many times. It was great seeing Alex again and catching up with him a bit. I also LOVED the pet names they had for each other… so adorable!

I can’t wait for this to be an audiobook – it’s going to go up with my Cole McGinnis stories as those books you just read/listen to again and again.

 

Audio

Greg Tremblay is so amazingly talented! Gah! He gives each character, secondary or main, the full spectrum of his talent, each an individual identity and flavor. I ADORED his Dante… just the right amount of accent to sizzle and Rook was delightfully sweet and vulnerable.

He absolutely adds to the overall enjoyment of this story and makes a great book even more wonderful.

6 of 5 hearts

amazing

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Twelfth Night by Racheline Maltese and Erin McRae Tour

RC

 

Excerpt:

John doesn’t expect Michael to be as weirdly taken with the ocean as he is with the wild woods. It doesn’t seem like his element the way the trees are. But he is mesmerized by the beach almost instantly upon their arrival, insisting they walk along the hard wet sand of the tide line. It doesn’t matter how many times John says their muscles will ache unhappily tomorrow from miles walked at the edge of the frigid fall water; Michael either doesn’t hear him or doesn’t care enough to respond.
John is fascinated as Michael keeps a close eye on shells and rocks. One is shaped like a small egg, and he’s disappointed when it’s not. Still he makes John hold it for him, running ahead to a rock jetty to comb through the midden of mussel shells left by persistent and angry seagulls.

John tries not to be horrified, but the sight of Michael’s fingers picking through the dead bivalves and seaweed stinking in the sun is a bit much.
“What’s this?” Michael asks, eventually, holding out a shell, colored and swirled, to him.
It’s in perfect condition, and John is about to be impressed with the find until he realizes there’s still a creature using the shell as its home.
“That’s an animal in there.” He doesn’t actually know what kind. But it’s gelatinous and of the sea and not really a thing they should be messing with. They’ve seen dozens of jellyfish washed up on the beach already today.
“Does it go in the ocean or not in the ocean?”
“Ocean,” John says. He’s not 100 percent sure, but he suspects, like the jellyfish, the sun and the birds will eventually cook and peck it to nothing if it’s not saved by the sea.
Michael throws the shell back and returns to the tide line as they walk, gaze carefully on the ground and picking at every shell he sees that looks like whatever creature he just rescued. Most of them have their animals in them, and John suspects the coming hurricane that’s going to ruin their trip is churning them up.
As Michael throws each one back into the water, John is charmed that he’s trying to save creatures that have no spine, names he doesn’t know, and forms he’s never seen before.
Eventually Michael decides they can leave and reaches for John’s hand. John flinches away. It’s not the strangeness of the town this beach is attached to, half religious meeting town, half gay beach paradise. There’s even a club down the block from their inn that advertises “Less Lights, More Fun!” It’s that he can only think about whatever bacteria Michael is now coated in from all the dead mussels.
God, but he’s going to look like an idiot explaining that.
When he tries, stumbling through a mini monologue about seaweed and sea creatures and sand, Michael just listens with his head tipped to the side.
Finally John’s speech drags to a halt under Michael’s incredibly unimpressed gaze. He sighs and starts again.
“Okay. I swear the handholding thing has nothing to do with anything except your gross dead bivalve hands. But I think I may be freaking out.”
Michael blinks at him. “Did this start when we checked in and you had to deal with people who know we’re here to fuck?”
It’s sharp, but John knows he probably deserves it.
“You know I don’t mind being out in public with you,” he says cautiously. He wants to be honest with Michael, but he also doesn’t want to provoke anger by being less willing to be out than Michael deems sufficient.
Thankfully Michael considers John for a moment and then grins. “Somewhere in the romantic beach getaway, I got that.”
John lets out a relieved sigh and wraps an arm around Michael’s waist. He wants to prove his willingness to be fully in this relationship without shame, but life is also just better when they’re touching. Michael leans into his side, and they start walking down the sand again.
“But it’s something I can’t help being aware of,” John says quietly as they walk. “What we are and what people see when they look at me. Which apparently means I’ve found my internalized homophobia, and I am completely aware of how gross that is. I’m going to work on that, but there it is.”
“You still want to, like, go out to dinner tonight and make out on the boardwalk, though, right?”
“Oh my God, you have no idea. I want to tell everybody about you.”
Michael smirks. “So why don’t you?”
“Coming out at my age is kind of more complicated than it is at twelve. Or however old you were when you did.”
“I was fourteen, thank you.”
“So how did you come out to your parents?” John asks after they walk for a few minutes in silence.
Michael cracks up.
“I’m serious!”
Michael buries his face in John’s arm and apparently can’t stop laughing. “You do understand how ridiculous this is, right?”
“I understand that I’m forty-two and have to come out to everyone in my entire life that I give a remote shit about, because you are addictive and fascinating and wonderful and also are sadly holding me to some pretty legitimate ethical standards. So help a guy out, okay?”
“I was making out with my first high school boyfriend in the living room, and my mom walked in.”
John is entirely not surprised. “So hey, when you meet my family, let’s not go with that plan, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Michael says, drawing the word out in a way that makes it clear it’s his turn to be defensive and weird.
John smirks, pleased to be off the hook for the moment. “You haven’t told them about us either,” he says smugly.
Michael mumbles something against John’s arm.
“What was that?”
“You’re really old,” Michael says. “And they’re going to freak.”
Sales Links: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6728

TwelfthNight_final

About the authors:
Erin McRae is a queer writer and blogger based in Washington, D.C. She has a master’s degree in International Affairs from American University, and delights in applying her knowledge of international relations theory to her fiction and screen-based projects, because conflict drives narrative.

Racheline Maltese lives a big life from a small space. She flies planes, sails boats, and rides horses, but as a native New Yorker, has no idea how to drive a car. A long-time entertainment and media industry professional, she lives in Brooklyn with her partner and their two cats.

Together, they are co-authors of the gay romance series Love in Los Angeles, set in the film and television industry — Starling (September 10, 2014), Doves (January 21, 2015), and Phoenix (June 10, 2015) — from Torquere Press. Their gay romance novella series Love’s Labours, set in the theater world — Midsummer (May 20, 2015), and Twelfth Night (August 12, 2015), is from Dreamspinner Press. They also have a story in Best Gay Romance 2015 from Cleis Press and edited by Felice Picano. You can find them on the web at http://www.Avian30.com.

Where to find the authors:
Joint Blog: http://Avian30.com
Joint Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Erin.and.Racheline
Erin’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/erincmcrae
Racheline’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/racheline_m
Erin’s Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8323893.Erin_McRae
Racheline’s Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1015335.Racheline_Maltese
Erin’s Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Erin-McRae/e/B00M7A0SVC
Racheline’s Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Racheline-Maltese/e/B001JRVS2C
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25202261-twelfth-night
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Brooke Albrecht

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