A Thousand Word Thursday Story from Sara York

The Grudge Match

Philip hadn’t played volleyball in five years and his serve still stunk, but he’d be damned if he would let Adrian win. The bastard pissed him off last week when he made fun of his ten year old car. So what if he wasn’t driving the latest sports car.

His last serve had been a total fail. Billy, the guy he’d wanted to date since he’d seen him at Jay’s bar two months ago, stood off to the side, his plump cock visible through his shorts. God, Philip wished that woody was for him.

“Come on, Philip, you can do better than that,” Billy called out.

Their gaze met and Philip’s heart squeezed. Lust bubbled through his belly as Billy gave him a lopsided smile. Heck, with Billy cheering for him, he felt like anything was possible.

Adrian snorted and called to Philip before he tossed the ball high for his serve. Adrian’s body flew through the air as he smacked the ball, sending it over the net. Philip dove for the dig, blasting the ball over the net. He crawled to his feet, jumping as the ball sailed towards him. His hand connected and he smacked the ball over the net and directly into the sand.

His gaze darted to Billy, catching the grin on his face, and the wink he threw his way. Heat rose on Philip’s neck and raced down his body. God, getting a boner in his Speedo’s would be embarrassing.

Philip turned away from Billy, trying to concentrate on the game and not the beautiful Billy. He served again, this time the ball sailed over the net, falling to the sand on Adrian’s side. Billy cheered and winked at him.

Excitement wound through Philip. He’d never dreamt he’d have a chance to date Billy. Hell, the guy hadn’t paid any attention to him before.

Maybe it was the clothes he was wearing, or not wearing today. With Billy cheering for him, it made all the difference in the world. Philip made digs, smacks and sets he’d thought impossible. Only one more point and he’d win.

“Philip, you win this and I’m taking you out to dinner,” Billy called to him.

Philip almost dropped the ball when he looked up and saw the excitement on Billy’s face. The guy wasn’t joking with him about the date, they were going to go out.

With a high toss, Philip jumped forward and smacked his serve, sending it over the net. Adrian volleyed the ball back to him, and Philip set the ball over the net, right into Adrian’s bump. The ball almost fell to the sand, but Philip saved it at the last second. Over the net the ball went again. They volleyed back and forth, Adrian moving with skill and Philip matching his moves.

Philip’s big break came after the eleventh ball over the net. Adrian dove in for a dig and was slow coming to his feet. Philip jumped up and smacked the ball, sending it to the opposite corner of the court. There was no way for Adrian to recover.

Billy raced over, hugging Philip and kissing him on the cheek. “That was magnificent.”

Philip gulped down his nervousness, hoping like hell he could stay standing once Billy let him go.

“Thanks. Um, about dinner,” Philip said.

Billy stepped back, his eyes traveled down Philip’s body and back up, “Yes, tonight, you don’t mind, do you?”

He shook his head, “No, I want to go out with you.”

The blush on Billy’s cheeks looked good. “I didn’t think you were interested in me.”

Their gazes connected and Philip couldn’t help but smile. “You’re the reason I won.”

Adrian came over to shake Philip’s hand, his mouth in a sour pinch. “Guess you’re better at volleyball, but I’m still hotter because of my car.”

Billy turned to Adrian, but he didn’t drop his arm from around Philip’s waist.

“Adrian, just because you have new car doesn’t make you hot. Philip has more sex appeal in his little finger than you have in your whole body.”

Billy pulled Philip into a wet kiss, cupping his ass. They broke the kiss, their breaths coming in gasps.

“Babe, you are hot, and don’t forget it,” Billy said.

Philip had never felt so good in his life. He’d showed up Adrian, beating him in a game of volleyball, and he got the hot guy too. Talk about an excellent start to a wonderful weekend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Thanks so much, Sara! There's more of Sara's work to be enjoyed here:

Passion and lust brings them together, what they don't expect is to fall in love.

Jake Grant is a sexy personal trainer not looking for anyone after his long-time partner passes away. He's ready to throw away his dreams by selling the gym just to get away from the ghost of his past. But once he meets Lance everything changes.

Lance Abbott is an orthopaedic surgeon who specialising in sports medicine and is completely in the closet. He is convinced that if his clients found out he was gay they would all leave his practice and he would have to abandon the work he loves. When he meets Jake, a man who is totally out, all of Lance’s perceptions about being “out” are challenged.

Passions and lust drive Lance and Jake together. But they soon find out their relationship is deeper than the physical heat between them. Can what they have last without anyone finding out? Or should Lance give up his insecurities and embrace Jake fully?  

Find it here at Totally e-Bound, or  here at Amazon.

Blue Notes by Shira Anthony

Title: Blue Notes
Author: Shira Anthony
Cover Artist: Mara McKennan
Publisher: Dreamspinner
Genre: contemporary
Length: 227 pages



Blame it on jet lag. Jason Greene thought he had everything: a dream job as a partner in a large Philadelphia law firm, a beautiful fiancée, and more money than he could ever hope to spend. Then he finds his future wife in bed with another man, and he’s forced to rethink his life and his choices. On a moment’s notice, he runs away to Paris, hoping to make peace with his life.

But Jason’s leave of absence becomes a true journey of the heart when he meets Jules, a struggling jazz violinist with his own cross to bear. In the City of Love, it doesn’t take them long to fall into bed, but as they’re both about to learn, they can’t run from the past. Sooner or later, they’ll have to face the music.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Jason Greene, or Jaz, as he’s also called, wants to put an ocean between himself and his usual life. Forced to reassess his priorities after his fiancée Diane steps out on him, he takes a couple of months off to stay in his sister’s Parisian flat, and meets Jules, a young, talented, and nearly destitute violinist. Jules becomes a fixture very quickly, making breakfast, going sight-seeing, and provoking questions about Jason’s sexuality.


Jason doesn’t spend a lot of time pondering, leaving the feeling that his willingness to spend so much time away from Diane has plenty of basis in denial. He considers, but doesn’t angst over this somewhat new development, growing willing to have public displays of affection rather early on. A vacation romance allows more latitude perhaps; no one on the street knows him.

Jules is pleased for the attention, and more than a little grateful; his living conditions are about two steps off the street, and his violin the one valuable he owns. At no time is there a hint of exchange of favors for shelter, which could have easily happened; it is a strength of the writing that Jules’ interest always feels genuine rather than commercial. In fact, Jules is used to being self-sufficient, he’s managed to make a life from an earlier age than a loving family would have set him on his own. He’s so used to it that he doesn’t quite know how to ask for what he needs or for explanations; instead, he runs. He sometimes seems much younger than twenty-two, creating a certain plausibility to Jason’s feeling like his father, though there’s only twelve years between them.

Both men have secrets, which unfold through the book with lovely pacing, and each finds the way to help the other, using his own particular skills. Whether it’s fixing Jules’ present or touching the scars of Jason’s past, there is a feeling that only the other man could have been the one to help. A last minute problem threatens to break everyone’s hearts, including the reader’s.

The author’s love of Paris comes through very clearly, although it does sound a bit guide-book-like at times. She clearly knows her way around. Her love of music is equally clear; giving Jules and Jason reason to play. The music is Jules’ present, Jason’s past, and in a wonderful way, the future for them both.

The writing is generally clear and descriptive, and enjoyable until one hits one of the approximately one million uses of the older man/the younger man/the American/the Frenchman. At least one of those on every page, sometimes more than one, it seems: anything that inspires me to stop reading and start counting does not improve the reading experience, nor did a fascinating passage that switched POVs 5 times in 125 words. Fortunately that was a single occurrence, but a serious bounce out of the story.

A secondary character that appeared toward the end caused some dragging toward the resolution; he seemed inserted as sequel bait, and diverted attention from Jason, who had serious issues to resolve. Diane, the wandering fiancée, was refreshing: she was neither an evil harpy nor entirely too understanding, she was just a flawed and seeking human being, so kudos there, as with sister Rosalie, who interferes just enough.

This was a charming read, even with the flaws; I will certainly look for more stories from Shira Anthony. I enjoyed the unrolling of the relationship and the entwining of the men, the setting, and the music. Paris was almost a character in its own right, and the romance is between Jason, Jules, and the City of Light. 4 marbles

A Picture is Worth...

Hmm, will this fellow spark your muses! Who has 100-1000 words of story or excerpt to tell about our beach volley ball player? I'll post it here with covers, links, and blurbs. Or a previously posted pic? We love it all.

Title: Zombie Wonderland
Author: Piper Vaughn
Cover Artist: Aisha Akeju
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Genre: paranormal
Length: 34 pages

Nothing says Christmas like droves of the undead…

All Emery wants for Christmas is someone to share it with. It looks like he might finally be getting his wish in Ross, the sexy customer he’s been crushing on for months. But neither of them counted on the zombies, or on being caught in the worst blizzard in half a century. Even with a plan for contending with the zombie hordes, surviving will take a miracle.

It’s not exactly how Emery dreamed of spending Christmas with Ross, but he can’t think of a better way to spend a zombie apocalypse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emery’s just hanging around the empty diner on Christmas Eve, waiting for the moment he can lock up and go home. The holidays aren’t terribly cheery for him: he’s alone, and even the handsome customer hasn’t shown up. Ross has been in every day for three months to write, fortified with pie and coffee. When Christmas rolls around, they’ve barely gotten to the “what’s your name?” stage.


Everything happens very fast. Ross turns up, pursued by the very quick-shambling undead. Emery’s role seems to be in slow motion: while Ross has already figured out that something is dramatically wrong and he’s got to move if he wants to survive it, Emery’s stuck in “wait, what?” even after he watches a zombie nearly kill Ross on the diner floor.

The contrast between fast-reacting Ross and disbelieving Emery is pretty stark. Ross does what he must to win through to safety; Emery tries to process what he’s seeing and experiencing, then getting bogged down in asthma attacks and nausea. For two guys who barely know each other, all the danger has to fast-forward the relationship, which they’ll have plenty of time to explore if they can just reach the cabin out in the country.

No one knows how or why the zombies have appeared; the focus is on the two men who are trying to escape the hordes of flesh-eating undead. The zombies are pretty danged lively, too: they run, beat on windshields, snarl with rage and eat whoever they can catch. The horror of them is strong, because not only are they relentless and hungry; they are fast.

Emery would have had no chance at all without Ross, who takes care of him during and after their flight from the city, and refrains from exasperation when Emery does something really dumb; he just fixes the problem. A little too good to be true, and his odd collection of skills don’t quite match the bookish exterior. There are a lot of unanswered questions about him, and no place in the story to explore them, not while they’re running, and not in the collapse afterward.

While I could see the solidification of a budding relationship in the face of danger, I just wasn’t convinced by the great vault from a waiter serving a customer without any conversation to Ross’ wish for Emery to spend Christmas with him. That they’d do it accidentally because of the zombies would make sense, but they’d never had a first date or even a real conversation, so Ross’ plans of a holiday together before the zombies came along seemed really premature. That they’d draw together in the face of danger was sweet and almost inevitable.

It may be that there is a sequel planned, because this does have the feel of being only part of the story arc. What’s here is good, just unresolved. 3.5 marbles

Let It Snow by Devon Rhodes

Title: Let It Snow
Author: Devon Rhodes
Cover Artist: Paul Richmond
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: contemporary holiday
Length: 44 pages

Since he’s housesitting a gorgeous inn over the holidays, Garrett invites his single friends to help keep Christmas merry. Then the snow hits and his friends can’t make it up as planned. Alone on Christmas Eve, Garrett makes a private Christmas wish for Ethan to see him as more than a best friend and a willing sub to spank. When the snow stops, will Garrett’s hopeful wishes come true?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Normally I'd shy off at "sub to spank" because I don't care all that much for BDSM, but I think I must have hiccupped on that phrase and missed it, and in this case, that's a very good thing. Enlarging my horizons by accident, you could say.

Garrett's friends have promised to join him at the ski-resort inn he's babysitting—they'll have the place to themselves, but not until later in the holidays. Alone in an inn full of sturdy four-poster beds and wishing he wasn't, Garrett gives us the back story on his and Ethan's relationship as his fantasies while playing with himself and a toy. This was nicely done and very hot, and a good thing Garrett's physical needs weren't left as unfulfilled as his emotional needs. He and Ethan have a "friendship with scenes" but Garrett wishes they were really lovers.


He wakes up Christmas morning to find his friends have fought their way into the mountains to be with him. Chris and Will's personalities are deftly drawn in a handful of sentences; they feel very well rounded in a small bit of page time. They have their own problems, which don't overshadow Garrett and Ethan's, but do throw them into sharp relief and spur a resolution at the same time. It comes to a head here:

Chris remained motionless for a moment, accepting the comfort as the focal point of the four-way hug, then lifted his head. “You know, this is pretty touchy-feely considering only one of us is gay.”

And then all the cats come out of their bags in some well-paced revelations.

The story is short and really consists of two sex scenes and conversation, but so much unfolds within it that I found it highly enjoyable. Devon Rhodes did some really nice characterization and relationships; the friendship between all four men was palpable and important to the storyline, so it wasn't just two onlookers cheering the main couple along.

The really implausible element is why the owners of the inn would abandon their money-maker during the peak of the high season, but the characters do make very good use of the place.

The domination elements were very mild, which your light-weight reviewer appreciates, but felt honest and real. The second sex scene, where Ethan brings Garrett's dreams to fruition, lapses into the "only anal sex is real sex" fallacy, but in more than one way it does show how their relationship is changing and deepening. There's also a nice streak of humor to keep them from going totally mushy at one another.

The Christmas elements are very subdued, serving more to point out the gaps in the relationships that need filling, and the story would be equally pleasing to read out of the holidays. I closed the file with a big case of the warm fuzzies. 4.25 marbles 
 

A Lie I Can Live With by Eden Winters

A Lie I Can Live With by Eden Winters
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: GLBT Contemporary
Length: 67 pages


With a few extra pounds and a geek reputation, Otis Tucker despairs of ever finding someone to share his life with. When the GLBT dating service GetaDate.com matches him with handsome hunk Garret, he thinks it's some kind of joke. But the more he learns of Garret, the more he realizes that even gorgeous people can be taken at face value and that Mr. Perfects come in many different sizes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now and then you meet a secondary character in a story you love, and yearn to find out more of what happens to him, especially if he's in dire need of an HEA of his own. Otis Tucker, who was one of Barry's "this isn't Mr. Right!" dates in The Match Before Christmas, really deserves some happiness. Eden Winters has brought him to the forefront in A Lie I Can Live With.


Otis could be called an uber-nerd, but it's a good question whether he's withdrawn into a fantasy world of video games out of loneliness, or if he's lonely because he spends so much time with a controller in his hands. Fortunately, the baby steps he's taken to finding a social life led him to Barry, who spends two stories of his own (Match and Fanning the Flames) making things happen for other people. Otis and Barry have a business relationship that disqualifies them from a romance, but Barry's fix-it-ivity is just what Otis needs. A bigger dollop of self-confidence wouldn't hurt either, but it's that insecurity which makes Otis someone I can identify with.

Those who have read the first two stories might suspect that Barry steered Garret in the right direction just a little, and a good thing, because these two guys hit it off well from the start. Not in any diving into bed way, but slowly, as friends, something that neither one has as much experience with as you might think. Nothing is exactly what it looks like here, whether it's the reasons Garret seems standoffish or why Otis' pies don't taste quite right, but what it looks like and what it really is are both just what these two need to get together.

The readers get to share all of Otis' inner thoughts and can really relate; when is he going to decide I'm too much of a loser? Or I'm not as physically perfect as he is... Or OMG he wants me to WHAT? And again, nothing is quite what it seems, including that this is a holiday story, because it holds up well out of season.

The video game references are all over, close to once too often, and a TV show reference dragged a bit, but all in all, if that's how Garret's inner nerd-lovin' comes out, okay, as long as they're happy. And I’m happy, because Garret doesn't want Otis to change in order to find him loveable. A Lie I Can Live With will bring out the inner nerd-love in the rest of us too. 4.5 Marbles

A Picture is Worth...

We got a nice little excerpt from Chrissy Munder for our poor cold boys with grocery bags; that was fun! Who has a ficlet or an excerpt for this guy? What's he reading? Or why? Or who will find him with a book in hand? (I have serious book envy for that library...) If you have 100 to 1000 words to tell us, send them to CryselleC @gmail Dot com with your cover blurb and link, which I will post here.

A Calling for Pleasure by JL Merrow

Title: A Calling for Pleasure
Author: JL Merrow
Publisher: JL Merrow
Cover Artist: Lou Harper
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 10k

If you summon this demon, he's guaranteed to come!

With a killer succubus leaving a trail of desiccated corpses around town, Detective Lars Thornsson knows he shouldn’t be falling for a suspect, but a hot little piece of demon tail like Rael is impossible to resist.

Sexy male succubus Rael has an insatiable appetite for men that can get him into all kinds of trouble. And he's just found his favorite flavor: a hunky blond detective. When those cool Nordic looks combine with Rael's smouldering dark charms, all Hell could be let loose!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JL Merrow's biography explains that she's "frequently accused of humor," and I'm going to shake that finger at her again. From the opening scene between the demon Rael and the pimply teenager, aka the "sebum king" who's summoned him, to the climactic declarations at the end, this story pushes expectations in one direction and then takes a sudden left turn.

They’d been on this case for three weeks now, and were getting nowhere fast. The succubus they were after had put, at last count, thirteen men in the morgue, their souls literally sucked out through their dicks. Just contemplating it made Lars simultaneously wince and think damn, what a way to go.

Yeah, like that. Every few pages.

Rael hasn't been 'topside' for quite some time: he's quite bemused over the changes in society. Good times for him: what he wants is offered everywhere. For a male succubus, it's easy pickings in the clubs and the streets. When this story came out originally in a Torquere anthology titled Care and Feeding of Demons, the author took some heat for the term, some folks insisting that Rael had to be an incubus for being male, but looking at who he's having sex with rather than how he's plumbed, it both makes sense and provides a little skew. The story has been reworked and expanded to stand alone: it's about twenty percent longer now and the stronger for it.

Detective Lars Thornsson and his partner Detective Rochelle of the Paranormal Enforcement Agency are on the case; he's got Immortal parentage, she's got the magical skills, and they make a good team. The banter between them is funny, particularly as she hasn't got any detectable sense of humor to appreciate the things coming out of her mouth. She's a little put out by Lars being attracted to their suspect. Big, blond, hunky Lars has to keep hauling his attentions back to the case, because they keep straying to Rael's ass and mouth.

Rael's so danged cute I want to squish him: demonic but sweet, worrying about what his momma will say (Demons have mommas? I never knew.) and offering sympathy like only a gay best friend can do. He's also accused of thirteen murders and an assault.

The police procedural end of the story had the perfect villain committing crimes for the most fitting of reasons, and has a solution Horatio Cain couldn't improve on. Then Rael and Lars, who are perfect for each other in ways that become clear as the story progresses, can act on their mutual interest, and this is where the story fell down for me. I'm all for hot sex, but the couple goes from interrogations in silver handcuffs and a rowan wood chair to bed with declarations of never leaving, with barely a pause to get out of their clothing. It works better if taken as the babbling of men who are too horny to make actual sense.

There are two more stories with this couple, which I am now anxious to read.

The cover artist, Lou Harper, has a sly sense of humor. Giggle: look closely. 4.5 Marbles

For a brief time, the author is offering a coupon for a free copy: find it here.

Always Faithful by William Neale

Title: Always Faithful
Author: William Neale
Cover Artist: Kris Jacen
Publisher: MLR Press
Genre: contemporary
Length: 65k words


When Cade and Mark said their vows it was for always and forever. But that was before Mark entered the Marine Corps and before Cade enrolled in college. Four years later, with Mark's impending discharge and Cade's graduation, they're seemingly ready to finally have a long-awaited life together. Their hot and passionate attraction to each other remains as strong as ever. But their long separation has changed both men. And even the strongest of marriages can be threatened by temptation, suspicion, and broken promises. Can their love survive? Or, will they discover that "always" does not always mean faithful?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Always Faithful follows on from A New Normal, which I have not read, but stands on its own. Enough backstory wove through the text that I didn't feel lost, although it did appear in the occasional "As you know, Cade" chunks. There was plenty going on around it.

Cade and Mark pledged their commitment to one another while they were still teenagers, and are still going through their growth as young adults. Cade, on the brink of college graduation, is poised for some huge changes; the one he longs for is to have his husband home full time. Mark is still finding his strengths too; the Marine Corps has definitely made a man out of him, and maybe not one that Cade recognizes. I was thinking that the stats on teenaged marriages might not be all that different if they're both male.

The pair have had only four weeks of every year together for four years: they are still in the honeymoon phase and have had little opportunity to work on the mechanics of being a couple. Money and possessions are still "his" and " his" rather than "ours," joint decision-making is a skill they have yet to master. This flows out to the people around them; not everyone recognizes them as a married couple with the same rights and responsibilities to each other as a het couple. One pointed example of this ended with me pumping my fist and saying "Go, Mark!"

Mark's father, Jake, and his husband, Grant, are having their own set of difficulties in maintaining their marriage; Jake administers a VA hospital and its demands always seem to come ahead of Grant. Their path is littered with good intentions that don't come off, and Grant is understandably tired of always coming second. I do think having the GAO show up on your doorstep qualifies as an emergency, but the situations aren't always that dire. Jake is forced to assess his priorities, and then make good on them, because his actions haven't been matching his words.

I enjoyed watching both couples struggle with their relationship traumas, which were variations on "what's most important to you?" Mark and Cade had an additional stinger in their troubles, which resolved too easily. It involved an action that some readers will find distasteful, but one that I had wanted to do at intervals throughout the book and found completely understandable in the situation.

For all that the couples were dealing with highly charged emotional situations, I didn't feel entirely invested in their feelings. Part of this was due to occasional dialog with the tone of a self-help book. Cade, a relatively inexperienced drinker at first, was dealing with his anger using two bottles of wine a night, and didn't seem to feel the effects. Jake worried about him, but wasn't putting two and two together: twelve drinks a night for months on end is a serious alcohol problem. The sections where I connected best emotionally were Cade and Mark's reunion at the beginning of the story—their desperation to touch rang out loud and clear, and in the stinger situation, where Mark's explosion felt genuine.

Having two couples' stories wound together didn't dilute either, although I did feel that their resolutions depended too heavily on large doses of "I didn't mean it." Of the four men, Grant put the most thought into what he wanted and was willing to give; I liked him a lot. Jake's understated paranormal ability played next to no part here, getting mentioned as something he would not use, and if this was meant to show him as honorable, it was really only a distraction. He did find a way to make his intentions concrete and meaningful, even if I was a little dubious about how that would work out in practice. Cade and Mark still have some growing up to do, but I think they'll make it. 3.5 stars

A Thousand Word Thursday Excerpt from Josephine Myles

I went hunting for more information on fire dancing after reading Josephine Myles' 5 Marble story, Boats in the Night. She's shared an excerpt about what Smutty's doing in his performance. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later, Giles stood in a shady spot outside Bath Abbey, watching the man he’d spent the last week with turn into someone he barely recognised. Someone who spoke with an Australian accent and worked the crowd like a born raconteur, all the while quite literally playing with fire.

“But Kun Man Gur, the rainbow serpent, was so angry with the flying fox he blew out a stream of fire that burnt the land.” Smutty punctuated his story by taking a quick swig from his flask, then holding one of the flaming torches to his lips.

Flames rolled out of Smutty’s mouth in a blast of heat and Giles recoiled, stepping on the foot of the woman behind him. She drew in a sharp, annoyed breath. “So sorry,” he mumbled, before turning back to the performance. Smutty was juggling the torches again, sending one leaping high above the others that whirled between his hands. And all the while he continued telling his strange little tale of Aussie talking animals to the audience that had gathered around the fragile barriers they’d constructed earlier. The crowd must have been about ten deep by now, and Giles calculated that if they all left Smutty as little as a pound, he’d have made at least a hundred from a mere twenty minutes of work.

Not that it was easy work. Giles watched the sweat rolling down Smutty’s bare chest, the flames licking at his fingers. His body was smeared with sooty marks and his voice sounded distinctly raw since the fire-breathing stunt. He wasn’t going to hurt himself, was he? Giles watched keenly for any sign of exhaustion or impending disaster, but all he saw was a man perfectly at ease with his movements, his body gliding almost effortlessly, muscles rippling in synch with the flickering of the flames.

The story ended with the creation of the desert, and the flying foxes temporarily chastened. With his last words Smutty fell to his knees, arms outstretched, catching the remaining torches as they spun down towards him. He bowed his head for the burst of applause then rose, grinning widely, as the tourists continued to cheer.

“Just put the torches out,” Giles muttered underneath his breath. Seeing this many people so close to the flames made him twitchy—especially when some of them were children, and the only thing holding them back was a lightweight barrier constructed of posts and rope that had all come out of Smutty’s backpack. He breathed a sigh of relief when Smutty extinguished the torches in the bucket. Coins were already starting to fly through the air towards the battered old top hat on the paving stones. Many were missing their target, but Giles noticed a couple of people bending over the barrier to place bank notes in there as well.

Smutty glowed with the exertion and attention, and Giles also flared into warmth as he watched him crouch down to talk with the children, setting them all giggling with something he said. Smutty’s hands were constantly on the move, Giles realised, like birds flapping around him, but perfectly controlled and graceful.

When Smutty rose again Giles managed to catch his eye and mouthed “coffee break?” hopefully. Smutty had said he’d need a good break after his first performance, and Giles was parched just from watching him. Giles dreaded to think what the state of Smutty’s mouth must be like after that little stunt. His overactive imagination conjured up a horrific vision of blistered gums and tongue, but the way Smutty smiled and shook his head at him didn’t suggest he was in any kind of pain.

Wait a minute—shook his head?

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, thank you for your generosity,” Smutty began, in a hoarse voice. “I’ve had a request for an encore, so I’d like to show you something from my ancestral homeland, New Zealand. The Maori people have a traditional weapon called poi, and while theirs aren’t usually on fire, I like to think a few flames improve just about anything.” Smutty winked and twirled, showing off his tattoo to a round of wolf-whistles from the women.

Giles groaned as Smutty pulled another contraption that looked like an instrument of torture out of his backpack. A tennis ball sized metal cage with the wick inside, strung onto a long chain that ended in a rubber coated grip. And a second one to match. Smutty drenched both the wicks with paraffin and touched a match to them as they lay on the ground, smiling like he was satisfied with the way they blossomed with sooty flames before settling down to a more controlled blaze. What the hell was he going to do with those? Giles had to fight the urge to stride through the barrier and throw Smutty over his shoulder then march him off to the coffee shop. The man needed to rest, damn it. It was dangerous, playing with fire.

But when Smutty began spinning the poi, Giles forgot to worry. This was completely different to the torches leaping high into the air—this time the flames were attached to Smutty’s hands via the chains, but somehow that gave him even more opportunity to make them dance. Fire whirled around Smutty’s body in wheels and spirals. One moment he had his arms outstretched, his hands making tiny motions while the poi raced and darted in a mesmerising pattern each side of his body. A slight adjustment to his limbs, and the poi spun in front of him instead, weaving in and out of each other’s orbit in a way that just didn’t seem possible. Giles had to tear his eyes away from their blinding display to concentrate on Smutty. He hardly seemed to be moving at all, but Giles could see the strain in his body and the intensity in his expression.

Smutty’s eyes gleamed with reflected fire and a dark excitement that stirred up something inside Giles. Something wild and painful. Something unlooked for.

As his heart squeezed tight, Giles’s stomach lurched.

He had the horrible feeling he’d just fallen in love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like two ships passing in the night—if one was a narrowboat and the other a luxury yacht.

Disgraced private school teacher Giles Rathbourne has been sent home on extended sick-leave and is stuck in a rut of obsessive housework and drinking. His ex may have been a snobbish bastard, but without him, Giles is adrift, rattling around his huge, lonely house. When a dreadlocked narrowboater’s engine breaks down at the end of his canal-side garden, Giles is furious at this invasion of his privacy—for a while.

Smutty might not have ever held down a proper job, but the fire-dancing, free-spirited traveller can recognise an opportunity for mutual benefit when he sees it. Giles’ extensive gardens are in as desperate need of attention as the upper-class hunk is himself, whereas Smutty knows a thing or two about plants and needs a place to moor up.

A simple business arrangement between two men who have nothing else in common? It would be—if they could keep their hands off each other!

A Picture is Worth...

Vers le village

After all the chilly cold pictures, I had to post something to warm us up. Thanks to Chrissy Munder, who rescued those two young men from the snow!

Where are these men, and what do they have in their packs? If you have 100-1000 words to tell us, Ill post them with news, blurbs, covers, and links. See the page at upper left for more details. I'm at CryselleC AT gmail.com.

A Thousand Word Thursday Excerpt from Chrissy Munder

This picture made me shiver and reach for my furry boots. The thick drifts reminded me of Adam and Michael, stranded in Michigan's Upper Peninsula by the snowstorm of the century.

Excerpt from The Reason for the Season by Chrissy Munder

Adam collapsed on the motel bed. His back flopped onto the faded, blue plaid bedspread with boneless satisfaction, long legs dangling uselessly off the end. He knew he should take off his coat and boots, hang his wet pants to dry and see if Michael needed help with his hand. But right now he just wanted to lay back, bask in the heat produced by the rattling unit under the window, and do absolutely nothing. “We made it,” he said, staring up at the stained ceiling tiles.

“We sure did,” Michael replied as he picked up the remote control for the television and clicked through the stations to the weather channel. “I think those were the longest miles of my life.”


Adam nodded in agreement. His eyes closed as he remembered their slow journey to find an exit from the highway. The single wiper only worked a short distance before being overwhelmed by the volume of snow and needed repeated stops to be cleared off enough to continue. They had been lucky to find a development off the exit complete with services. Most of the off-ramps in this part of the state were miles away from any type of population center.

“I’m sorry about the motel room.” Michael sat down on the other bed and unlaced his boots, grimacing as he irritated his cut. “You sure this is okay?”

“It’s not like we have a choice.” Adam propped himself up on his elbows. “Besides, I live in a dorm. This is four times the size.” He tried to sound unflustered, but the truth was Adam was a little weirded out by the situation. Sheer luck had scored the last available room at the motel; with the roads being closed they weren’t the only ones seeking shelter. But no matter how comfortable he felt around him, Michael was someone he had just met today and didn’t know anything about. Sharing a motel room was a lot different than riding in a car for a few hours.

“Right. I forgot.”

Michael’s boots hit the floor with a thud, and Adam watched as he pulled his socks off as well and rubbed his feet. He didn’t want to be caught staring, but this was his first real chance to get a look at Michael. Adam was surprised at how much he liked what he saw. His initial impressions had been accurate, but not nearly enough to do Michael justice.

This guy was absolutely gorgeous, with high Slavic cheekbones and an amazingly shy smile. Adam had yet to get a chance to see the color of his eyes as Michael seemed uncomfortable meeting his gaze, and it eventually dawned on Adam that Michael was nervous.

Well, damn. Adam thought he knew what the problem was. “Look, Michael,” he said slowly, the words bitter on his tongue. “Yes, I’m gay, but that doesn’t mean you have anything to worry about, okay? I appreciate you footing the bill here. I’m not looking to jump you.”

“What?” Michael’s head jerked up and his eyes, a rich, espresso brown met Adam’s. “No, that’s not… I’m not….” He took a deep breath. “I don’t want you think I set this up, you know?”

“Right, like you’d conjure up the storm of the century just to get a chance with me,” Adam joked, more interested than he wanted to be in Michael’s unspoken acknowledgement. The monosyllabic hardass who had picked him up had been lost somewhere along the snow-covered miles.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Reason for the Season available from Dreamspinner Press.

All college student Adam Everett is trying to do is get to his sister’s house for holiday break. First his car breaks down, then his ride takes off to Vegas with his gas money, forcing Adam to come up with a Plan C. His last hope is a campus ride exchange, where he ends up with the reluctant Michael Brennan. When a “snowpocalypse” forces them to share a motel room, they soon find out there's more than one reason for the chance happenings of the season.



~~~~~~~~

Warm up your Winter with other stories by Chrissy Munder:



To learn more about Chrissy and her work find, friend, or follow her on the web:

Website: http://www.chrissymunder.com
Blog: http://chrissymunder.livejournal.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chrissymunder
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChrissyMunder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you, Chrissy! What horrid weather in your story and the pic! (And that's what it looks like outside right now.) Now I need to read the rest!

Landfall by Lori Toland

Landfall by Lori Toland
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: GLBT Contemporary
Length: 41 pages


ER nurse and hospice worker Jared White is caught up in more than just high winds when a hurricane traps him with Deputy Fire Chief Mike Brown. The handsome firefighter has had Jared drooling every time he visits the ER, but as far as Jared knows, Mike is straight – until a downed bridge strands them alone in an empty firehouse. Will their passionate encounter outlast the storm?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Severe weather makes a sexy backdrop, as long as you're inside watching the elements rage on the other side of a window. Landfall, by Lori Toland, lets a nurse and a fire chief have their moments. It's in the middle of a hurricane, so the moments should be awfully good.

The story unfortunately requires severe suspension of disbelief, and I was tired of the logical inconsistencies by page eight. The island is being buffeted by ninety mile an hour winds, the roads are closed to all but emergency vehicles, the bridges are collapsing of the storm surge, but a hospice nurse has to make a non-emergent house call, the emergency equipment becomes his personal limo, and getting him back to the mainland when he was in a safe place is the fire chief's concern. The hospice nurse, Jared, doesn't have the sense to follow directions or to come in out of the rain, even when it's being driven into his face at ninety miles an hour.

Jared is a romantic, though, and he's harboring a secret crush on Mike Brown, the sexy fire chief who becomes his chauffeur and rescuer.

I was a dreamer deep down, always hoping one day my prince would pull me up on his white horse and we would ride off into the sunset together. Maybe his red fire truck is a white horse in disguise.

Part of this meet-wet scenario involves Mike carrying Jared back to the truck. This, a few pleasant but non-committal remarks in public, and some wild sex back at the fire station bring out the romantic in Mike: this is the sum total of their interaction but Mike is already dreaming too.

Mike pressed his lips together and then sighed. “I realize where we ended off that morning, and I feel terrible. I left abruptly and… I thought… I hoped you knew how much you meant to me.”

Readers who enjoy insta-love stories will probably like this; the weather and the sex are raging, but readers who want to see some development will be disappointed. I was rather sad, because the set up had a great deal of potential for adventure with two strong characters, which did not materialize. 2.5 marbles

Boats in the Night by Josephine Myles

Title: Boats in the Night
Author: Josephine Myles
Cover Artist: Unknown
Publisher: Josephine Myles
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 44K

Like two ships passing in the night—if one was a narrowboat and the other a luxury yacht.

Disgraced private school teacher Giles Rathbourne has been sent home on extended sick-leave and is stuck in a rut of obsessive housework and drinking. His ex may have been a snobbish bastard, but without him, Giles is adrift, rattling around his huge, lonely house. When a dreadlocked narrowboater’s engine breaks down at the end of his canal-side garden, Giles is furious at this invasion of his privacy—for a while.

Smutty might not have ever held down a proper job, but the fire-dancing, free-spirited traveller can recognise an opportunity for mutual benefit when he sees it. Giles’ extensive gardens are in as desperate need of attention as the upper-class hunk is himself, whereas Smutty knows a thing or two about plants and needs a place to moor up.

A simple business arrangement between two men who have nothing else in common? It would be—if they could keep their hands off each other!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giles and Smutty are opposites in every way—you'd think. Giles comes from money and lives in the ancestral house, which he's trying to take care of himself. The light bulbs are dusted, but the gardens are going to jungle, because Giles' obsessive cleaning keeps him indoors, fretting and drinking, trying to wash away the pain his stuck-up ex left behind. He's got a trace of whimsy, nearly dead and buried under the weight of Fabian's disapproval, but still hanging on, or he would never have gone out to the garden to chase away the intruder while wearing slippers with claws on.


Buying a wreck of a narrowboat with the last of his funds leaves Smutty depending on the goodwill of the property owner nearest where his engine expires. Raised in a commune that fell prey to developers and with a first love who ran out on him, Smutty's resisted forming ties anywhere else. A narrowboat's just the thing for a man who doesn't want to put down roots, until it won't run. With his dreads in bleached colours and tattoos blazing up his torso, Smutty looks like the flames he dances with; he's much too wild, and yet oddly too conservative, for a man like Giles.

Yet as they work out how to mesh, even if temporarily, the two are more alike than it seems at first glance, and if they don't mesh, the friction is interesting. Giles is teetering on the brink of alcoholism; Smutty shuns the stuff. Smutty dances with fire; Giles has reason to fear it. Yet they come together.

Fabian, the horrid ex, casts a very long shadow, even though he's offstage for most of his role. The author tweaks the reader's expectations of him masterfully; his truths are buried deep. Giles is still living in reaction to Fabian's expectations; this was a toxic relationship but repeated exposures to Smutty's herbal teas draw the poison from Giles' heart. Kindness and real love are so far in Giles' past he has some trouble recognizing the signs now. Fabian gets mentioned at times when I really didn't want him intruding, but I could see why Giles would think of him then.

The gap in social status weighs more heavily on Smutty, whose off-the-grid lifestyle lifts a lot of eyebrows. His Maori heritage is his pride, the source of his livelihood, and cause for discrimination. He's feeling the tick of time, not wanting to get too attached because he'll be moving along soon. A posh fellow like Giles surely can't want him long term, can he? The man who tends the gardens is only help to be dallied with, Smutty fears. A wanderer who accidentally boated into his life is only going to sail away again, Giles is sure. The gardens, long untended but starting to recover under Smutty's care, are a lovely metaphor for the relationship, with roots, blooms, and a lot of work.

This was a charming journey, as the two men find the way to be together, and around the barriers to happiness that their pasts have erected. I read this in one sitting, thoroughly engrossed, and wishing I could watch Smutty dance with fire.

The story was originally serialized on the author's blog, and is still there, but it's more than worth the modest cover price to have a nicely formatted version where all the text is in one place. If Josephine Myles wasn't already on my must-read list, this story would put her there. 5 marbles

Because I was so intrigued by Smutty's fire dancing, I went looking for more information. This has to be really cool to watch!

The Tea Demon by Cornelia Grey

The Tea Demon by Cornelia Grey
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Steampunk/fantasy
Length: 52 pages



Thief Eric Devon wishes one thing: for people to leave him bloody well alone. And maybe for more whiskey. Until a mysterious stranger offers him a job so dangerous that no one has ever attempted it and survived to tell the tale: recover a priceless object from the Turtle Merchants’ impregnable palace. Intrigued by the man and the challenge, Eric accepts—but the stranger is none other than the legendary airship captain known as the Tea Demon, terror of the Sea of Clouds. Eric must come up with the best plan in history if he wants to complete his job... and survive it too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cornelia Grey layers a fantastical world with steampunk details in this entertaining romp of a story. The Tea Demon mixed whimsy with sexiness and adventure to create a lively story well worth the read.

Never one to shy away from the gritty details, Ms Grey starts us in a seedy bar, where a thief can be found for a fearsome job. A mysterious stranger approaches Eric Devon for a caper, but first has to challenge him into taking the job. The forfeit? A kiss that curls Eric's toes, and the caper? Steal the ultimate treasure from the impregnable fortress. The penalty for failure? Horrible, and it's a long way down.

Captain Jonathan Tea, that sexy beast, is the most fearsome sky pirate in this cloud based world, where airships tie up to bronze sky ports miles above ground and larger installations ride on the backs of turtles. Readers of Discworld will feel right at home, with the unquestioned oddities and strange characters who communicate in snappy one-liners. The Captain, prone to flying into rages that make his crew fear for the ship, has a whim of steel and can only be calmed with fine tea, or steamy sex.

Ms. Grey paints wonderful pictures with her words: she's becoming an autobuy for me, and here she's taking sly pokes at a lot of the fantasy/adventure tropes, making me snicker. She gives Eric a plan that's perfectly ridiculous and its execution outlandish -- between laughing and groaning I attracted a considerable amount of attention to myself at the coffee shop, but who cares, it was worth it.

The story ends in a big OH NO and a bigger AW, and was pure over the top fun. 5 marbles

A Picture is Worth...

Wow! Our last pics generated some real heat, enough to melt the Christmas snows! Thanks, Eden Winters, Tam Ames, and Chrissy Munder!

Who knows why this poor fellow is in prison? (It's John Barrymore in Don Juan, but a general inspiration is fine, it doesn't have to be him.) If you have 100 to 1000 words of ficlet or excerpt, I'll post it here with covers, blurbs and links. Send it to CryselleC AT gmail Dot com. If any of the older pictures inspire you, great, send it along and tell me which pic.

Blue River by Theo Fenraven

Title: Blue River
Author: Theo Fenraven
Cover Artist: Deanna Jamroz
Publisher: MLR Press
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 14k words


Photography genius Ethan Mars unexpectedly travels back in time and meets Quinn, a sexually-innocent farmer just begging to be corrupted. Falling in love is the last thing Ethan expects, and when he abruptly finds the way back to his own time, he is faced with an impossible decision. Stay...or go?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That Ethan considers Quinn an innocent to be corrupted tells you a lot about Ethan. Very full of himself, Ethan's figures a little pleasure trip into another time via a handy fog-portal is a pleasant day's jaunt. If there's a cutie on the other side to mess with, so much the better. Quinn and his sister Hester have already had one fog-traveler drop in on them, so they aren't exactly taken by surprise when Ethan appears. They're willing to be hosts for as long as it takes the fog to return to take Ethan back to 2011.

Ethan's a crude young man, never using plain speech if a vulgarity will work, and not shy about revealing his gayness right off the bat before recalling the reality of frontier 1863. Quinn admits his own lack of enthusiasm for his upcoming marriage, and Ethan's ready to show Quinn everything he's been missing.

It takes Ethan a while to adjust to a previous time's way of doing things; he fluctuates between understanding that survival means a hell of a lot of work if you have to do everything yourself, and enjoying the vivid tastes and smells that come with this way of life. Some of the smells, at least. Unwashed bedding grossed him out but he wasn't offering to do the laundry either.

Quinn's pretty certain about what his life is going to be like: he sees his responsibility to marry and to be part of the community, no matter what his sexuality is. Never having been able to act on his desires before, he hesitates at first, but he quickly learns all that Ethan can teach him in bed and out. And while riding a horse backwards, too.

Somewhere in Ethan's desire to debauch Quinn—'corrupt' is Ethan's own word—his feelings turn to love, but the choices aren't really his anymore.

The necessary HEA happens, but at the cost of Quinn's turning his back on everything, including his honor, an idea that hovers in the background without being stated. Ethan, the POV character, possibly doesn't recognize the concept. For Quinn's sake, I was ready to sniffle for the star-crossed lovers until I didn't have to, and then I just hoped that Quinn was an adaptable sort and recalled where the fog was.

This probably should be considered a fairy tale with realistic elements and therefore I shouldn't be so picky about the sacrifices being made, but Quinn was a significant element of a small community, a responsibility he considered vital until he got laid. I couldn't help but think he'd given up the more important part of his manhood in exchange for sex with a not especially likeable guy, and was confusing love with Hobson's Choice. 3.25 marbles

The Zero Knot by K.Z. Snow

The Zero Knot by K.Z. Snow
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, M/M, GLBT
Length: 220 pages


Eighteen-year-old Jess Bonner is casting off pretense—and, with it, some friends from his past who aren’t particularly trustworthy. In just a few months he’ll be starting college, and it’s time for him to admit the truth: he’s gay, not bi, and only one of his old friends holds any kind of real interest for him. When Dylan Finch, aka Mig, follows his lead and puts some distance between himself and the old crowd, he and Jess give in to a mutual attraction that’s been building for years.

But navigating a fledgling relationship isn’t easy for beginners, and forces they can’t seem to control keep tripping them up: sexual appetite, personal insecurities, fear of discovery, and more. They need clarity. They need courage. Just as they’re on the verge of finding both, a vindictive act of jealousy sends one of them to jail. All their hard-won victories are in danger of falling to dust. And the only way to save what they have is to recognize it for what it is… and fight for its integrity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part of growing up is figuring out who you are, what you want, and what you're willing to do to get it. In The Zero Knot, KZ Snow gives us a coming of age story where three young men arrive at two different answers.

The blurb describes the story rather completely, so the question here isn't so much what happens as how it happens. It's a bumpy road for Jess and Mig; their interest in one another is blooming to love, but the call of the hormones drags them in several directions. Jess in particular is having a rough time of it; he wants Mig but the lure of casual sex is hard to resist. A sordid encounter at his Renfaire job opens his eyes to the path he's starting to tread, as do the wise words of an older friend:

“The scales will always tip in favor of what enriches your life. That's the thing you'll end up choosing.”

Mig is a more thoughtful young man from the beginning; he's concerned that what Jess wants may not be the same as what he wants and is willing to spare himself the heartbreak while Jess grows up a bit more. Sometimes Jess calls him Mig, sometimes Dylan, his given name, and it's a pretty good symbol of how mature Jess is capable of being at the moment.

Sometimes it's not much – a heavy frotting session in the driveway of the untrustworthy friend's house isn't exactly discreet. Other times, it's admirable, such as how he looks for the solution to the legal problems.

The secondary characters don't come off so well: Tomby the Meddlesome Female at least has an unique method of meddling and the beginnings of a conscience. Any growth displayed by Brandon, the fourth of the formerly close knit group, is backwards, towards spoiled brathood. All sets of parents, who hover in the background, have their own maturity issues to work through, with varying success. The one totally bright spot is irritating kid brother Jared, all intrusive, perceptive, and with the absolutely best lines.

KZ Snow lets the young people flounder with skillful and imaginative writing; we can see them growing up, sometimes one sentence at a time. Some of their adventures are a bit stomach churning, particularly the casual acceptance of drugs, but feel like real youth happening. How much one enjoys the story may depend on how accepting one is of adolescent angst, it could be entertaining or just aggravating. I hovered on the edge of wanting to slap everyone at one point or another. The vindictive act that sends Mig to jail was wanton cruelty, and I did spend part of that sequence trying to puzzle out the time line and did it match the way the justice system is supposed to work, which it didn't really.

A zero knot, as Tomby tells the young men, has no beginning or end, it can be distorted, but remains an unbroken loop unless it's completely destroyed, and as Jess finds, sometimes its other name is love. Jess and Dylan end well on their way to forging an unbreakable loop. 4 marbles