Chestnuts Roasting

Toni Griffin, Angel Martinez, Freddy MacKay & Silvia Violet 

Christmas means different things to everyone, but most often it’s all about pulling loved ones close and brightening the gloom. The fire’s crackling. The snow is piling up outside, even if it’s only in your dreams. Time to snuggle up with some cocoa and some stories carefully crafted by the Mischief Corner Crew to warm hearts and cockles.

Wreath of Fire: Smokey Mountains Bears 2 – Toni Griffin
Michael’s trying to start a new life away from his abusive father, but he’s drifting and not sure what he wants. When he accidentally starts a kitchen fire, the hot new fireman who comes to the rescue is not only another bear shifter. He’s Michael’s mate. Michael desperately needs to get his act together and figure out what he wants if he has any hope of claiming the bear fated to be his.

A Christmas Cactus for the General – Angel Martinez
Exiled to Earth for perhaps the worst failure in Irasolan history, General Teer must assimilate or die. Earth is too warm, too wet, too foreign, but he does the best he can even though human males are loud, childish louts whom he can’t imitate successfully. When a grieving seaplane pilot strikes up a strange and uneasy friendship with him, he finds he may have been too quick to judge human males. They are strange to look at, but perhaps not as unbearable as he thought.

Holly Jolly – Silvia Violet
I’m not gay. I just notice men sometimes. Everybody does, right? I notice Dane a lot, like every time I’m near him, but just because I think he’s an attractive man that doesn’t mean I like him, does it?

I’m also not a fan of Christmas. Too many years “celebrating” with my Bible-thumping family ruined the holiday for me. So what if I envy all these cheerful souls dashing about with smiles on their faces? I don’t have to like Christmas, do I? If anyone could get me in the Christmas spirit, it would be Dane with his easy, relaxed manner and his gorgeous smile. If that were going to happen, though, I’d have to find the courage to talk to him and to admit that maybe I don’t know myself all that well after all.

Snow on Spirit Bridge – Freddy MacKay
Alone in Japan, Finni is struggling against the constant distrust, avoidance, and xenophobia he experiences every day. He misses home. He misses his family. Nightmares come all too frequently because of the stress, and well, Christmas is just not Christmas in Japan. Not how he understands it.

Distressed by how miserable Finni is, his roommate, Mamoru, offers to be Finni’s family for Christmas. Little does he know how much one agreement would change everything between them, because both of them kept secrets neither ever dreamed were true.

Freddy MacKay on Waiting Until Christmas

We have this tradition of either going out and chopping a tree down, or going up the street to our local hardware store to pick one out. It’s usually that last thing we do running up to Christmas too. Initially, we were often at my grandparents’ house for Christmas. So, all the tree stuff and decorating was always done by the time we got there. When I was a little older, when my family was going through some tough times, we waited to buy the trees that last week because we could get these beautiful trees at a big discount. Even when things got better, we never stopped going the week running up to Christmas. We liked the challenge of finding the best tree in slim pickings. Weird, we know.

There are people, when Christmas season starts, who go out and get a tree right away. They spend the weekend after Thanksgiving, pick out the perfect tree, decorate it and their house, and start the season off with a bang. Not our family. It’s like we dread putting away the fall decorations-which is weird because we love winter-but the lights? The tree?

What a pain in the ass.

I know some people think the tree and decorations are fun, festive, and the best part of Christmas. Oh, how we loathe this.

We will go skiing. Take walks through the wood. Bring in firewood. We will even put up decorations on the mantel and piano. But the tree? The lights – even though we’re good and wrap them up properly every year – we avoid. We avoid decorating as long as possible.

We wait. We wait until that last possible moment to get the tree and put up the lights. One time it was two days before Christmas before we went and got the tree.

It’s not that we don’t enjoy Christmas. We love it. It was a festive time for us. My grandmother’s birthday. Huge family coming in together to celebrate. Christmas after Christmas, I enjoyed the love and laughter of my parents, brother and sister, aunts and uncles, and all of my cousins. Christmas equals happy memories for me. *except the one everyone forgot to get me something, but that’s a different story.

But that damn tree and all those lights. *shudders* Once it’s up, and the lights are hung outside, it’s very pretty. We enjoy it, but we don’t want to overdo it. Honestly, cleaning up the decorations sucks. It takes so much longer than when you’re putting them up. Over the years, less and less goes onto the tree. So, the tradition of waiting up until Christmas to get the tree, yeah, it’s partially laziness, but there are so many other things you can have up that bring in that Christmas feeling that we also don’t feel the need to get one right away.

The stockings hung by the fireplace. The paper snowflakes taped to the windows. The wooden puzzles of Santa and the manger on the piano. Wooden blocks with our last name on them sitting on the mantel. The sleigh bells hung from the door. The lights surrounding the windows on the inside of the house. The single candle put out for grandma. The smell of caramel popcorn wafting through the house. The homemade cinnamon rolls Christmas morning.

All of those things? The not obviously Christmas things? I love them. I adore them. And they are what Christmas is to me. Just like waiting until Christmas for the tree.

Excerpt

From Snow on Spirit Bridge by Freddy MacKay

Chapter One

There should be snow. Lots of it. Moreover, it should be below freezing with clouds, not this sunny and fifties crap. People should be huddled together and hurrying to get inside. It didn’t feel like Christmas otherwise.

With a sigh, Finni glanced around the train platform.

If he’d been home in Chicago, snow would blanket the streets and salt would crunch under his feet. Shop windows with mannequins would line the Magnificent Mile with Christmas winter scenes. The tree would be up at his parents’, decorated with bright lights and homemade ornaments he and his siblings made over the years. One or two presents would lie under the tree as a teaser for the younger cousins. Warm drinks would be waiting for him as he stepped through the door and brushed the snow off his coat. His family would smile at him and voices would call out to him.

If he’d been home in Chicago.

Tokyo wasn’t home.

A big, bustling city, yes, but not home.

As people hurried from one shop to the next, got on and off the trains, and ran about in their jackets and sweaters, Tokyo couldn’t have been farther from home. Yes, decorations were up at cake shops and at the department stores, but they weren’t the same. The plastic Christmas trees seemed more likely to come alive and hunt people down than give off a relaxing pine scent. They didn’t give off the same cozy family feeling Finni connected with. Everything was geared toward couples.

Since when was Christmas about couples?

A pang of loneliness ate at Finni’s gut. All he wanted was his parents, his brothers and sisters, and his cousins, aunts, uncles, and some snow. He needed to see everyone was happy and okay. Was that too much to ask for?

A chilled wind blasted Finni, and he looked up, expecting the train, but nothing rattled down the tracks. Other people grabbed their coats and hunched. Some young girls squealed and huddled closer to each other. Finally, a shiver wracked Finni, clueing him in to the unusual temperature drop.

Temperatures had plummeted from the fifties to almost thirty since he’d arrived on the platform, not normal weather. In only a T-shirt, even Finni felt the cold.

Finni sighed, closed his eyes, and concentrated on sunshine and warm thoughts. He almost laughed under the circumstances. The people would think he was odd and leave an even bigger circle around him. One more oddity to make Finni miss home even more.

The swoosh and rattle of a train making its way down the tracks caused Finni to open his eyes, watching expectantly with the others.

About damn time. Usually the trains didn’t run late unless something untoward happened. Like a jumper, which occurred more often than Finni comprehended. He risked a glance around and saw the people more relaxed, the extreme temperature flux now gone, just an oddity to discuss among themselves.

The train hissed to a stop, the doors popped open, and everyone hurried on, ready to leave the unusual drop in temperature behind them. While the men and women bumped into each other, the girls giggling as they passed Finni, he still got a wide berth as he ducked through. The crowd moved and swayed in a loose circle around him until Finni got to his spot by the doors and faced the window.

Once again, the seat next to him remained empty, no one sitting down even though the train was packed. Not every foreigner got quite the same treatment he did, but his size—not to mention the blond hair and blue eyes—made people’s reaction to him more extreme. Finni ignored the slight, though it stung more than it had the past couple of months. He’d learned not to notice when people stared or jumped in surprised when they looked up at him or moved away as soon as they noticed him after they sat down. Better to stay quiet and pretend nothing happened than draw attention to the behavior. It only made things worse.

Except today, the unfounded fears of the people he’d rode the train with since his move mid-October dug into him like claws. He sighed, leaned against the windows, and closed his eyes, exhausted.

Sleep wasn’t easy lately. Nightmares waited for him, ones that made it harder to be away from his family. He yawned, fighting off the weariness, but the rocking of the train called to him like a siren to a sailor.

No matter the direction he looked in, Finni only saw white. The snow beat down on him as he cried out. Torrents of wind spiraled all around him, the weather mimicking his heart.

Why hadn’t anyone come? The sky was dark. Someone should have found them by now. He trembled in the cold and felt so tired. He just wanted to sleep.

But he couldn’t. Not yet.

Finni tried to call out, but his voice had given out long before the sun went down.

He clutched Gunder to him. Realization had finally sunk in, but as he sniffed, Finni knew he’d never let Gunder go. No matter what.

He should’ve kept up with him. Kept Gunder in his sights, but his brother ran so much faster than he did. His legs were so long and big compared to Finni’s scrawny ones. Someday, he’d be bigger than Gunder, though, he just knew it. Then he’d be able to outrun his brother.

When they were grown up, three years wouldn’t be that big of a difference in age.

“Hear that, Gunder?” Finni asked in a whisper, pressing his face against his brother’s. “I’m going to be bigger than you someday. Be able to run faster. So…so…so…”

He broke down, sobs torn from his chest. How did they get home? Finni just wanted Mom and Dad. He just wanted to go home with Gunder.

“Mom!” His voice barely made it out, but he had to try. “Dad! Somebody!”

Nothing. He was alone. All alone.

Mom. Dad. I don’t want to be alone.

He screamed and the wind picked up, whipped around him in a cyclone. The temperature dropped farther.

“Finni! Gunder!”

Who was that?

“Finni! Where are you boys?”

“Gr-gr-grandpa?” Guilt warred with hope. He should hide. Everyone was gonna be mad. So, so mad. They’d never like him again.

The wind’s moaning stopped. The snowflakes stirred no more. Grandpa’s huge, hulking figure appeared.

“Grandpa,” Finni cried out. The hiccups came as he tried to get it all out. “G-G-Gunder fell through the ice… I-I-couldn’t reach him. Gunder…he… I-I-tried to g-g-get us home.”

“Oh, oh. Oh, Finni,” his grandpa said quietly. Tears ran down his cheeks.

Oh no. Grandpa was mad.

“My little boy.” Grandpa wrapped his big arms around them and kissed his forehead. “My poor boys.”

Finni wailed, and the snow picked back up.

About Freddy

I grew up and went to college in the Midwest where I currently reside with my family. I spend most of my time playing sports and running around outside. And honestly, that much has not changed since I was little, except who is included my activities. I also have a healthy geocaching addiction. It’s so much fun! I enjoy spending my time traveling when I can, and I hold the view that a person should continually to learn about new things and people whenever possible. You can email me at: freddy.m.mackay@gmail.com

About Mischeif Corner Books

Mischief Corner Books is an organization of superheroes… no, it’s a platinum-album techno-fusion group…no, hold on a sec here…

Ah, yes. Mischief Corner is a diverse group of authors who met on a mountain in Tennessee and decided since we probably were too easily distracted to rule the world that we’d settle for causing a bit of mayhem instead.

In addition to making mayhem, we publish books with a diverse range of genres and topics… we live to break molds.

MCB. Giving voice to LGBTQ fiction.

Author Contact:

MCB Facebook page: Mischief Corner Books

Giveaway!

First prize: $25.00 GC (choice of Amazon or ARe) and a choice of Tote or Mug from the MCB Redbubble store (choice of graphic)

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Review

Title: Chestnuts Roasting

Author: Various

Genre: Science Fiction, Contemporary, Paranormal

Length: 322pgs (4 Novellas)

ISBN: MSCRBK0000049

Publisher: Mischief Corner Books (27^th November 2014)

Heat Level: Moderate – Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Reviewer: Cat & Shorty

Blurb: Christmas means different things to everyone, but most often it’s all about pulling loved ones close and brightening the gloom. The fire’s crackling. The snow is piling up outside, even if it’s only in your dreams. Time to snuggle up with some cocoa and some stories carefully crafted by the Mischief Corner Crew to warm hearts and cockles.

Wreath of Fire: Smokey Mountains Bears 2 – Toni Griffin
Michael’s trying to start a new life away from his abusive father, but he’s drifting and not sure what he wants. When he accidentally starts a kitchen fire, the hot new fireman who comes to the rescue is not only another bear shifter. He’s Michael’s mate. Michael desperately needs to get his act together and figure out what he wants if he has any hope of claiming the bear fated to be his.

A Christmas Cactus for the General – Angel Martinez
Exiled to Earth for perhaps the worst failure in Irasolan history, General Teer must assimilate or die. Earth is too warm, too wet, too foreign, but he does the best he can even though human males are loud, childish louts whom he can’t imitate successfully. When a grieving seaplane pilot strikes up a strange and uneasy friendship with him, he finds he may have been too quick to judge human males. They are strange to look at, but perhaps not as unbearable as he thought.

Holly Jolly – Silvia Violet
I’m not gay. I just notice men sometimes. Everybody does, right? I notice Dane a lot, like every time I’m near him, but just because I think he’s an attractive man that doesn’t mean I like him, does it?

I’m also not a fan of Christmas. Too many years “celebrating” with my Bible-thumping family ruined the holiday for me. So what if I envy all these cheerful souls dashing about with smiles on their faces? I don’t have to like Christmas, do I? If anyone could get me in the Christmas spirit, it would be Dane with his easy, relaxed manner and his gorgeous smile. If that were going to happen, though, I’d have to find the courage to talk to him and to admit that maybe I don’t know myself all that well after all.

Snow on Spirit Bridge – Freddy MacKay
Alone in Japan, Finni is struggling against the constant distrust, avoidance, and xenophobia he experiences every day. He misses home. He misses his family. Nightmares come all too frequently because of the stress, and well, Christmas is just not Christmas in Japan. Not how he understands it.

Distressed by how miserable Finni is, his roommate, Mamoru, offers to be Finni’s family for Christmas. Little does he know how much one agreement would change everything between them, because both of them kept secrets neither ever dreamed were true.

Purchase Link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-chestnutsroastinganthology-1674411-166.html

Review:

Toni Griffin – Wreath of Fire: Smokey Mountains Bears 2

Shorty’s Review: Moderate ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Twenty two year old black bear shifter, Michael McKenna has had a rough life. Now he lives with the Packard’s and it’s almost Christmas. After wanting do something special he accidentally sets the kitchen on fire. When the firefighters show up and put out the fire Michael is stunned that one of them is his mate. Feeling self-conscious about what happened and things in his past, Michael runs to the woods.

Camron Marsh is a grizzly bear shifter and a firefighter. After seeing the sexy young man standing outside after a fire he knows he’s his mate. He doesn’t understand why he runs though. Taking the time to get to know Michael and hear about things that have happened Cam does everything he can to help the young man overcome his insecurities.

Wonderful story. I really loved the way Cam assured Michael he’d help him in any way he could and also the way he helped him with the nightmares after the fire. Loved the Christmas setting of family, friends and those they cared for as that’s what christmas is all about, being with those who accept and love you for you. Hot sex added spice to this story.

Angel Martinez – A Christmas Cactus for the General

Shorty’s Review: Moderate ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

General Teer is exiled alien from his home planet to Alaska. He studies the human’s habits for a while to better blend in. He gets a job at a florist shop, he has a tiny apartment, and hardly eats as most earth food hurts him. He meets Bruce, a pilot, who comes in every week to buy a single flower.

This was a really good story about two different species who come to each other’s aid when they are in danger. I loved getting to know them both. I was really sad about their painful pasts but glad they opened up to each other.

The descriptions of the cactus flower were beautiful. Loved how they decorated the house and how Bruce convinced Teer to stay. The sex between them was hot. Great read.

Silvia Violet – Holly Jolly

Cat’s Review: Explicit ♥♥♥♥ 4 hearts

Tom is a straight man or at least he always thought he was until he met Dane working in the Coffee Bean. When he finds out the Dane is gay and interested in him it confuses him more.

This is a beautiful story or warring emotions. It’s a character-based story without much plot. The character growth is the key story. I loved how Tom came to term with his feelings and sexuality. The story is extremely hot and sexy and I wanted more.

Freddy MacKay – Snow on Spirit Bridge

Cat’s Review: Low heat ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 hearts.

I loved this story. I will say I wasn’t sure on the rating until the very end. The story is fabulous with very intriguing characters. It’s beautifully written. Being based in Tokyo there is a lot of Japanese customs and language. The way the names changed from first to last quite a bit confused me at first, and some of the words I had no clue what they meant so I thought of giving it a 4, but there are lots of twists and turns in this story. My mouth dropped when I found out Mamoru’s secret. The more twists and I found out Finni’s secret as well. The dreams and memories of Finni’s past brought tears to my eyes. I think with all the twists and emotions this story has a 5 is well deserved. I loved it.

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