Blurb: Winter was Gabriel Wells’ favorite time of year. Having been born in Colorado, snow was in his veins. When his life turned upside down and he ended up in Florida for the winter, Gabriel didn’t handle it well. Who was he kidding? He fucked up royally.
Timmy Shaw had always believed people deserved a second chance to make a first impression. As an occupational therapist, he didn’t always meet people when they were at their best. But after a month, he was sure Gabriel had to have ice in his veins considering how he treated others, especially the man’s own mother.
What neither man realized? There’s a thin line between love and hate. Any other time, they may not have had a chance, but it’s Christmas and miracles are happening everywhere. It may take some work, but if they can find common ground, they may have a chance at happily ever after with the help of a special Christmas List.
Review: Gabriel is stuck in Florida caring for his mother after she has a stroke. He’s not happy and it shows. His mom’s physical therapist helps Dottie to try to be independent again and takes Gabriel to task for the things he says about his mother.
Things change when Timothy’s mom suggests that Gabriel is scared of losing his mother and acting out so they devise a plan to get him to relax by coming up with things to do that are similar to what he did in Colorado.
I loved this story so much. As someone who had something similar to a stroke years ago I could relate to what Dottie was going through. Gabriel for his part began to realize the way he treated his mother and Timothy. The things they did together were funny and sweet and with time Gabriel changed for the better.
Blurb: It’s Christmas and time for those who celebrate to spend hours finding the perfect gifts for those they love. Which also means long lines, angry and rude shoppers who are willing to fight so they can buy their own gifts at fifty percent off, and dealing with overworked and irritated store employees who are out of patience and good cheer. Right?
Except this year, Patrick and Cabot have discovered that the best gift of all doesn’t require any shopping, lines, or rude people. Just the willingness to open one’s heart. For they are not only giving the greatest gift of all, they’re receiving it, too. A family.
Join them on this journey as they discover what the true meaning of giving is. It will take believing in the magic of Christmas, but in return they just might receive the most amazing Christmas Gift ever – a happily ever after. .
Review: A sweet story about two men, Patrick and Cabot, who find each other are exactly what the other needs. Patrick is looking to adopt the two children, Maya and Liam, he is taking care of. Cabot is looking for someone to love.
The family find joy in everything they do together and it shows. I loved how in tune Cabot was to the kids and Patrick. Patrick for his part was adorable when flustered.
Blurb: Do you believe in the magic of Christmas? Tim Richards didn’t, so why had he thought he could make a Christmas wish and have it come true?
Much to his surprise, he met the man of his dreams when Nick Snow walked into his world and turned it upside down. The life he had always hated was becoming something from a dream and more than anything he could have ever possibly imagined. For Tim, to believe childhood fantasies could come true, was impossible.
Nick Snow tended to only think about work. That was, until he met Tim. He’d never imagined anyone would ever come between him and his career. Now he knew that there was so much more to life than a job.
Can Nick show Tim that Christmas Magic is real?
Warning: This book contains frivolity, laughter, and a lot of sex. Nothing is off the table when these two figure out if their reality is nothing more than fantasy, or if their fantasies can become reality, with faith in a little Christmas Magic..
Review: Tim’s life consists of working several jobs to make ends meet. He wishes for something better in his life but thinks it won’t happen. When he meets Nick his life takes a turn he never dreamed would be possible.
Nick is sweet and attentive as he learns about Tim’s life or lack there of. He has all the confidence that Tim will succeed when he gets a new job at a toy store. Along with that Nick dazzles him with things Tim never experienced as a child.
I loved everything about this story. It was heart warming to see so much happiness brought Tim’s way after all he had endured. Fantastic read.
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Blurb: At a very early age, Ben learned that, in life, there was no such thing as something to believe in. What was the point? Each time he did, someone would come along and prove to him how wrong he was. The fact that his sister died by a drunk driver, who’d walked away without a scratch, and forcing Tobias to move to Texas — one of the most homophobic states in the country — to take care of his now motherless nieces, drove home just how cruel life could be. How was he supposed to help two of the sweetest kids he’d ever known deal with the hell their life would be without the one person they’d depended on, when he was fairly certain, his moving to Texas would only show them how horrible people could be to one another?
Darius had seen things that would make most people cringe in revulsion and dread. His parents had traveled, with Darius in tow, all around the world to help those in need. So tragedy wasn’t something new to him. As terrible as some of it had been, Darius had also seen the kindness and sacrifice people made to help others. He was a true believer in the goodness of humanity.
Determined to help Ben discover that though he may have had hit a few bumps in the road growing up, he’d also met people who had been there for him, helping him when they didn’t have to get involved. For life might not always be perfect and at times even cruel, but it was also wonderful and kind if one knew where to look.
Ben had to admit that Darius was causing him to look at the world differently. That there might be a chance he’d been only looking for the negative. But, for him, there was one more test that the world would have to pass for him to truly change and it would take a Christmas Miracle to do it.
Review: A heartwarming story that will make you sad, happy and laugh. Ben gets called home to take care of his nieces after his sisters death. While at the funeral he meets the minister Darius when he comes to his rescue after Ben’s mother starts up with him.
I did not like Ben’s prejudice, homophobic mother. She really got on my nerves. Thankfully Darius was always there to help.
I loved the life changing aspects of the book and how each character dealt with certain situations.
Great read.
Title: Christmas Magic
Series: Believe 02
Author: Shea Balik
Genre: Contemporary, Holidays
Length: Novel (192pgs)
Publisher: Shea Balik (December 14, 2018)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: đź’–đź’–đź’–đź’–đź’– 5 Hearts
Blurb: Do you believe in the magic of Christmas? Tim Richards didn’t, so why had he thought he could make a Christmas wish and have it come true?
Much to his surprise, he met the man of his dreams when Nick Snow walked into his world and turned it upside down. The life he had always hated was becoming something from a dream and more than anything he could have ever possibly imagined. For Tim, to believe childhood fantasies could come true, was impossible.
Nick Snow tended to only think about work. That was, until he met Tim. He’d never imagined anyone would ever come between him and his career. Now he knew that there was so much more to life than a job.
Can Nick show Tim that Christmas Magic is real?
Warning: This book contains frivolity, laughter, and a lot of sex. Nothing is off the table when these two figure out if their reality is nothing more than fantasy, or if their fantasies can become reality, with faith in a little Christmas Magic..
Review: Tim’s life consists of working several jobs to make ends meet. He wishes for something better in his life but thinks it won’t happen. When he meets Nick his life takes a turn he never dreamed would be possible.
Nick is sweet and attentive as he learns about Tim’s life or lack there of. He has all the confidence that Tim will succeed when he gets a new job at a toy store. Along with that Nick dazzles him with things Tim never experienced as a child.
I loved everything about this story. It was heart warming to see so much happiness brought Tim’s way after all he had endured. Fantastic read.
Title: Christmas Gift
Series: Believe 03
Author: Shea Balik
Genre: Holiday, Contemporary
Length: Novella (150pgs)
Publisher: Shea Balik (December 15, 2019)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: đź’–đź’–đź’–đź’–đź’– 5 Hearts
Blurb: It’s Christmas and time for those who celebrate to spend hours finding the perfect gifts for those they love. Which also means long lines, angry and rude shoppers who are willing to fight so they can buy their own gifts at fifty percent off, and dealing with overworked and irritated store employees who are out of patience and good cheer. Right?
Except this year, Patrick and Cabot have discovered that the best gift of all doesn’t require any shopping, lines, or rude people. Just the willingness to open one’s heart. For they are not only giving the greatest gift of all, they’re receiving it, too. A family.
Join them on this journey as they discover what the true meaning of giving is. It will take believing in the magic of Christmas, but in return they just might receive the most amazing Christmas Gift ever – a happily ever after. .
Review: A sweet story about two men, Patrick and Cabot, who find each other are exactly what the other needs. Patrick is looking to adopt the two children, Maya and Liam, he is taking care of. Cabot is looking for someone to love.
The family find joy in everything they do together and it shows. I loved how in tune Cabot was to the kids and Patrick. Patrick for his part was adorable when flustered.
Fantastic read.
Title: Christmas List
Series: Believe 04
Author: Shea Balik
Genre: Holiday, Contemporary
Length: Novella (144pgs)
Publisher: Shea Balik (December 18, 2020)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: đź’–đź’–đź’–đź’–đź’– 5 Hearts
Blurb: Winter was Gabriel Wells’ favorite time of year. Having been born in Colorado, snow was in his veins. When his life turned upside down and he ended up in Florida for the winter, Gabriel didn’t handle it well. Who was he kidding? He fucked up royally.
Timmy Shaw had always believed people deserved a second chance to make a first impression. As an occupational therapist, he didn’t always meet people when they were at their best. But after a month, he was sure Gabriel had to have ice in his veins considering how he treated others, especially the man’s own mother.
What neither man realized? There’s a thin line between love and hate. Any other time, they may not have had a chance, but it’s Christmas and miracles are happening everywhere. It may take some work, but if they can find common ground, they may have a chance at happily ever after with the help of a special Christmas List.
Review: Gabriel is stuck in Florida caring for his mother after she has a stroke. He’s not happy and it shows. His mom’s physical therapist helps Dottie to try to be independent again and takes Gabriel to task for the things he says about his mother.
Things change when Timothy’s mom suggests that Gabriel is scared of losing his mother and acting out so they devise a plan to get him to relax by coming up with things to do that are similar to what he did in Colorado.
I loved this story so much. As someone who had something similar to a stroke years ago I could relate to what Dottie was going through. Gabriel for his part began to realize the way he treated his mother and Timothy. The things they did together were funny and sweet and with time Gabriel changed for the better.
Everyone hopes his road to happily ever after will be carefree and smooth, but too often hair-pin turns and detours seem to get in the way.
Having thought he was on the road to forever before, former Silicon Valley programmer Dan Lassiter is leery about pedaling down it again. His elderly companion Charlie urges him to get to know Rick Reardon whose bakery is across the street from Dan’s bicycle shop.
Under the watchful eye of Charlie, Dan and Rick take tentative steps towards each other, all the while trying to avoid potholes such as exes, homophobes, and family problems.
As summer turns to fall and then winter, they hope that the road will be smooth going from their first date and first kiss to having what Rick’s sister euphemistically calls their “sleep overs”. At each step, though, they are tripped up and wonder why there seem to be so many bumps in their road.
Maybe Dan and Rick should heed some of Charlie’s sage advice or maybe they should listen to their hearts instead of the warnings from their pasts.
One of the delights of the holiday season is a cookie exchange with friends and coworkers. True, it’s going to be a little light this year, what with COVID restrictions and all. But that makes it all the better to devise a game plan for next year and the one after.
Why a game plan?
Because you don’t want to be the person whose cookies smash and break before they are exchanged. You want to be the one with the perfectly delicious looking stack of an array of different cookie types, each cookie looking enticing in its own right.
But how can you do that with a stack of cookies?
Glad you asked.
You need to come up with your cookie tiers. Or you can steal mine.
The bottom tier for my cookie exchange plate is a pan cookie—usually chocolate chip bars or pecan pie bars—anything with enough internal heft that they can withstand a stack of cookies on top of them and still not be squished.
Stay away from lemon bars or cheesecake bars, which while yummy will yield like sinkholes, making them and the cookies stacked on top into one mega-cookie.
True, that’s great for the person who picks up the top cookie and finds them all stuck together in the jackpot of the holiday season.
Still, if you get caught with the mega-cookie, you are stuck with it and can’t pry one off and leave the rest for another hapless eater.
So be kind and plan a sturdy, non-sinkable bottom tier.
The middle tier is the traditional colorful cookie tier—gingerbread people, cut-out and frosted cookies, and shaped dough goodies.
The key to this layer is color, lots and lots of color. For example, blue, white, and silver for Hanukkah or green and red for Christmas or black, red and green for Kwanzaa or red, green, brown, and white for Solstice. Whatever you celebrate, make sure the colors pop at the mid-level of your cookie tier.
Remember that frosting and piping are your friends at this tier.
Finally, add the touch de resistance to the top tier: light, airy meringue delights and chocolate chip clouds.
Make these small, bite-sized treats so that you can use them to place around the decorated cookies to highlight their colors and decorations. Or you can use them to stack into a pyramid to support the cling-wrap or other protective layer you’re using to transport your exchange plate.
Whether you call them biscuits (like the Great British Baking Show does) or cookies like Americans do, edible exchanges are the highlight of any season, but particularly of those holidays in the winter.
Do you participate in a cookie exchange either during the holidays or during the rest of the year? If so, what’s your favorite cookie type?
Give yourself a gift of cheer with four HEA romances to take the edge off 2020:
Blame It on the Fruitcake where a motorcycle shop owner and a location scout bond over a grandmother’s holiday recipe;
The Orpheum Miracle in which a squatter in a revival theater meets the man of his dreams;
Making the Holidays Happy Again that sees a blacksmith forge a future with a chemist; and
Heart of the Holidays where a bicycle repairman and a baker travel down the road to love.
And whatever you do, remember that Every day is a good day for romance.
Excerpt
The kids and their mom arrived after lunch, right about the time Charlie usually turned in for a nap. He gave them the once over as they got out of the car, nodded to me with raised eyebrows, and ambled back toward the house. I guess he figured he’d meet them sometime, probably sooner rather than later, so he didn’t have to knock himself out now. It was the siesta part of his day.
After the kids tumbled from the car and jumped on Rick, he pointed at my open garage and waved at me. I waved back, and they galloped across the street.
“Hi, I’m McKinsey! You can call me Mack.” The red-haired boy danced in front of me. His hair blazed in the sun and was as bright as his green eyes and freckles. He didn’t look anything like his uncle. “So these are all the bikes I can ride? Can I try them out first?”
“Yeah, but don’t go very far. I’ve got an app keeping an eye on them.”
“Cool. Bye.”
He didn’t wait for me to explain further, but ran toward the racks so fast that I thought he would barrel into them. A small hand on my arm stopped me from chasing after him.
“Don’t worry. He’s careful. He won’t hurt the bikes. We won’t go far because of mom.” Since I wasn’t worried about the bicycles, I looked down into brown eyes, a solemn face, and curly sable hair. “I’m Leslie. Everyone calls me Lee. My brother throws himself into his activities. I don’t. Can we choose any of the bicycles?”
I glanced up at their uncle who shrugged at me. The small hand let go of my arm, so I looked down at Lee again.
“Yes. You have three choices. One, you can select a bike and ride it the entire time you’re here. Two, you could come back to the garage and pick another one to ride for the day, the half-day, the hour, or however long you want it. That means if you wanted, you could ride every bike in this place in one day. Or your third choice, you could stay at the bakery and not go bike riding at all.” I winked at her. “I would choose the bakery except then I’d look like a human lead balloon if I did.”
She giggled and put her hand on my arm again.
“I like you, Mr. Dan. I think we’ll get along fine.” She nodded and gave me a long assessing once over. “Don’t worry. You don’t look like a balloon at all. Not at all.”
If she’d been in her teens, I would have thought she was flirting. But Lee seemed as if she was merely making an observation.
I liked both kids and their approaches to life. I’d be willing to bet Charlie would like them too when he got up from his nap and met them.
Unlike her brother, Lee sauntered over to the bikes, many of which were now askew thanks to Mack’s unsorting process. She carefully started to right those tossed aside. She stopped at a turquoise bicycle, hopped on, and waved to me and her uncle as she sped away. Her brother was long gone. The bike rack still needed straightening which would give me something to do while Charlie snoozed.
I started toward it. Rick had surged across the street and was striding up to me.
“Here. I’ll help.” He stood staring down at the mishmash of bikes. “If you show me how to untangle them without making things worse.”
I nodded.
“I don’t get it. Aren’t you afraid people will just take off with your bikes and you’ll never see them again?”
I watched him bend over to pick up one on the ground. My groin tightened at the sight. We were going out to dinner. Together. Soon. My heart and dick lifted as my mind piled up image after image of dinner and afterward. It was about time for me to get back in the saddle as it were.
Author Bio
Pat Henshaw, born and raised in Nebraska, has lived on the U S’s three coasts, in Texas, Virginia, and now California.
Before she retired, she held a number of jobs, including theatrical costumer, newspaper features reporter and movie reviewer, librarian, junior college English instructor, and publicist.
She also loves to travel and has visited Canada, Mexico, Europe, Egypt, Thailand, and Central America as well as almost all fifty US states.
Now retired, she enjoys reading and writing as well as visiting her older daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren on the East Coast and playing havoc with her younger daughter’s life in NorCal.
She thanks you for reading her books and wants you to remember that every day is a good day for romance.
Alvy Lexington has bought himself the best Christmas present in the world. True, the draughty flat on a dingy stretch of the Thames has none of the welcoming holiday warmth of his family’s West London townhouse. That is the entire point! No one who knows him by his given name will ever set foot here. When his old friend Laura Jacobs needs somewhere to spend the holidays, Alvy knows he should keep his distance, but… But Laura makes him do incautious things. Like offering her a job—since when did he manage a printing press?—and inviting her to a certain Christmas Eve masquerade.
Laura knows the lush London of the Lexingtons is only a temporary escape from her grey days as a governess. But she is determined to enjoy this glittering winter wonderland while it lasts, especially her dance with an angel of a man at the masquerade. Why, his French chevalier costume practically glows! While she daydreams about her white knight, an unexpected business opportunity with Alvy makes her hopeful of a new independent life. But first, she is going to have to come to a real understanding with her old friend.
Laura glared up from where she stood doubled over, clutching the door frame with one gloved hand and pressing her side with the other.
“Gracious! Why…why must you take rooms level with…Big Ben?”
Alvy continued looking down at her with infuriating amusement.
“Ah, but the climb is one of the place’s chief charms. Come look at the view of the river. The embankment’s spoilt all its old charm of course, but we must have wide streets and electric lamps apparently.”
Laura’s heart continued to slam against her corseted ribs. She was not willing to praise the view. Or to move a step further.
“The stairs smell of…boiled cabbage and worse. While your place…what is the smell, Alvy? I would say it was tobacco, except I know your mother—”
“Would have an apoplectic fit if she so much as detected a particle of ash on my person? Very true. But then, that is the beauty of taking quarters in such a godforsaken corner of the town. Mother will never visit! I’m rather glad you were intrepid enough to brave Vauxhall. And the stairs.”
Laura had at last mastered her breathing and straightened to return fire on her tormentor.
“What, and miss a chance to see for myself your new, er, work premises? How spacious it is!”
She gestured around the large but scarcely furnished room. The tall sash windows admitted a great deal of midday winter light—and even more of the chill December air. There was no sign of a desk, or worktable, and the domestic furnishings only extended to a day-bed and a pair of battered armchairs before an open fire.
“You forget, Alvy, I am not such a fine lady that I need fear stares outside of fashionable London. The freedoms of being in the governess class are many and varied.”
Alvy flopped down into an armchair and stretched a slippered foot out from under the hem of a heavy silk dressing gown towards the cheerful blaze.
“Are they indeed? By Jove, I should love to know more about these rights and privileges.”
Laura wondered if she was being teased. But then she never could tell with her friend.
“Well, let’s see…There is the right to squash into an omnibus and end up directly next to a gentleman with a dripping hat.”
Alvy grinned at this start. Laura warmed to her task.
“The right to return your library books while enduring the scrutiny of some wire-spectacled gorgon.”
“Very right too! You look just the sort to eat buttered toast while reading borrowed books.”
“And, let us not forget, the preeminent privilege of politely bickering about the bill with other governesses at tea rooms.”
“Harpies the lot of them—yourself excepted. Lord, I’m so glad you’ve escaped those grubby children—”
“Child. And this one is an angel.” Too angelic, in fact. It made Laura worry about the girl’s inner life.
“Sanctimonious parents—”
“Mr and Mrs Shepherdson have been nothing but kind!” Or they had been. Until the discovery of certain books and letters.
“And the atrociously dull company of Dingley Dell—”
“For the tenth time, Alvy, it is Findleys Ford.”
“Ah ha! So you at least admit they are dull. But all these country backwaters are the same. London’s the only place to live.”
“A point you are forever making in your letters. It is not like I hied off to Dingley—to Findleys Ford on an idle whim.”
“Well, well, the point is you’ve escaped for the holidays. And, as you see, I’ve escaped too.”
“That fact had not eluded me. Your mother claims you are never to be seen at Norland Square.”
Laura could not imagine ever wanting to leave the ever-so-comfortable surrounds of Alvy’s childhood home. She had dreamt of the sumptuous dinners, the hot baths, and the soft sheets turned down by a maid for weeks now as she lay on her narrow tick mattress under the eaves at the Shepherdsons.
“Your mother is under the impression you are starting some great enterprise that will give work to female printers who are refused employment elsewhere.”
“Ah, not quite. I said I was setting up a printing press—and set it up I have.”
Alvy gestured with a long-fingered hand to a space behind the still-gaping door.
Laura swung the door shut. A great black iron contraption with decorative gold paintwork dominated the otherwise empty space.
“Oh, you have an Albion Press!”
“An Albion? I could have sworn the past owner called it an albatross.”
“Very funny. But the gold finial—that gold crown on top—is unmistakable. How on earth did you get it up here?”
“The men got it up here with a great deal of sweat and swearing. I got it up with bribery. They threatened to quit halfway up the stairs.”
“I am only surprised they did not bring down the whole staircase. But the press looks excellently preserved.”
“And it will remain in exactly the same condition.”
“Do you mean it is truly only for show? That is a rather rotten trick to play your mother.”
“Trick? I have done Mother a great service. She doesn’t know what to do with me. She has finally despaired of my marrying now that I am striding across the wasteland of my thirties.”
“I do not remember her ever being very pressing on the issue.”
“I have given myself some employment. Now she will have something to tell her society ladies at those dreadful committee meetings.”
“That you have dedicated yourself to good works—without the work part?”
Alvy blithely ignored Laura’s sarcasm.
“She will omit the part about Vauxhall, naturally.”
“While you will omit everything else?”
Something in Alvy’s dark eyes suddenly made Laura wish to change her tart tone.
With no doormat or boot-scraper in sight, she had no choice but to track the sludgy London streets into the room. Not that there was a scrap of carpet to dirty. Seating herself in a heap of mud-striped travelling skirts on the lone ottoman, Laura studied her friend.
Alvy’s appearance, especially after a long separation, always rekindled a flicker of Laura’s original awe. She knew that the gaze she held was properly described as brown. It was just the pale skin turning bluish under the eyes that made them look so intensely dark. Likewise, the greying walls and bare floorboards of these new quarters probably made Alvy’s costume of rich browns and blues so transparently costly. Alvy preserved a long-limbed grace even when reclining in a splendid heap in the battered chair.
Laura once assumed that the possessor of such a regal appearance would snub a nobody like her. She had since learnt the error of judging by appearances. She now took up one of those elegantly white hands, trying to ignore how dirty her sensible gloves looked in comparison.
“Tell me really what you mean to do. Come. We have known each other since we were practically children.”
The elegant hand was withdrawn. Alvy sat higher in the chair and broke into a fair imitation of a Scotsman.
“Speak for yourself, lassie. I was a full three and twenty when we met at that bonny brook in Switzerland. Or have ye forgot that day?”
Laura definitely remembered the questioning curve of Alvy’s left eyebrow as they passed each other on the trail; she was looking at it again now. Laura had been nineteen and on her first assignment with a family wintering at Luzern.
“How could I forget? You were wearing the most memorable alpine hat and matching coat. More feathers and frogging I had never seen. And yet, infuriatingly, you wore it all with such ease. Why, you still do!”
Alvy looked confused. “I promise that I don’t strut down the streets of London in alpine dress.”
“I mean that you are able to look well in anything. Take this turban contraption. No one else could wear it without looking foolish. Well, except perhaps a Shakespearean tragedian.”
Alvy gingerly felt the turban in question, silk without a doubt, but burst into laughter upon Laura’s final admission.
“The thing you never do seem to realise, Miss Jacobs, is that all clothes are costumes. All equally ridiculous.”
“Yours are not ridiculous! Eccentric perhaps. But becoming. You always do upholster yourself exquisitely. Which is more than I can say for your rooms.”
Meg moved from the US to England because she fell in love with the Victorians’ peculiar blend of glamour and grime. After a decade of exploring historical excesses in a prim scholarly fashion, she realized that fiction is the best way to delve into that period’s great female-focused and LGBT+ stories. Weaned on the high-seas romances of the 1990s, Meg’s lost none of her love for cross-dressing cabin boys but any tolerance for boorish heroes. She’s delighted to now have a whole raft of quirky and queer characters to cheer for on their quest for Happily Ever After. She frequently breaks off writing for an Earl Grey tea (milk not lemon). She’s trying to learn Polish and Portuguese at the same time. She plans to escape Brexit Britain.
A radical feminist turned cop and a former Lucia candidate are expecting—twins. A gender studies professor burns her candle at both ends. A lovelorn bus driver is feeling fragile, until an unexpected visit brings her some queer holiday cheer; and an obstetric nurse single mother delivers the expected, while her past catches her unprepared.
In the final A Tinsel and Spruce Needles Romance, the crew from Candlelight Kisses, Little x and Wild Bells make their way through Advent 2000, celebrating the first X(X)mas of a new millennium.
Rick’s hand slid over the striated orb of her stomach. She looked like a giant walnut. Yes, a walnut, that was how Padma Lindgren felt about herself as she entered the ninth month of her pregnancy: she was moving slow as a walrus and going nutty into the bargain. Her enormous middle was striped with indelible stretch marks, distended like a carapace, overwhelmingly ever-present, forcing her to sleep in positions she had never slept in before.
The wan white of Rickie’s freckled hand stood out against her belly, her touch making Padma’s skin break out in goosebumps. She hissed out air between her teeth. She knew her registered partner—or wife, as she called her for short—was just saying good morning to the babies. It didn’t matter. Her sex ached in readiness. Her huge, dark mother-to-be nipples puckered. Her pulse pounded in her ears.
“Morning, love,” Rick mumbled into her hair, and Padma whimpered. Erika’s hand stilled. “You okay?”
She turned in her arms, meeting Erika Stolt’s soft, grey-green gaze. Her thin, pink lips were pointing down in an expression of worry. Padma groaned. “Rick, please. Don’t stop. I’m—I’m incandescent.”
Erika smiled goofily. “You really are.”
Padma snorted, but Rickie’s eyes held a promise: one promptly delivered on as she moved her tantalising palms up the sides of Padma’s bump to cup her swollen breasts.
A sharp quiver cut through Padma, from chest to groin. These last few months her tits had been ridiculously hypersensitive. Erika had always been a fan of them, it was true—ever since their school days, Padma suspected—but now she was close to enlisting in the Holy Order of the Sacred Boobs. She grazed the undersides with her thumbs and Padma moaned.
Rick flushed with gratification. She flushed so easily it was just silly. And utterly fucking adorable.
Padma gripped her head, the semi-outgrown buzz cut tickling her fingers. She pulled her face up close. “Yeah, I’m going to need you to suck them. Hard.”
Rick didn’t need telling twice. She crushed their mouths together, swallowing Padma’s rough gasps as she continued to stroke her, but the kiss, for all its scintillating intensity, was nothing but a few seconds of foreplay before she progressed to Padma’s pebbled, painfully erect peaks.
She started with the left one, circling the areola with her tongue as she palmed the right. Padma sighed her encouragement. Her fingers brushed along Erika’s scalp, itching to pull, but endeavouring not to. She had to pace herself, or the moment would be over before it had properly begun; she knew this, although it was only the hard-earned self-discipline of the certified fitness instructor that managed to hold her in check.
Rick licked directly across her nipple and Padma’s hips bucked, her belly jutting into the warm, lean abdomen of her lover.
“Fuck, babe.” Rick’s whisper had a gulpy, watery quality. Her right hand skimmed along Padma’s obliterated waistline, sweeping the underside of her bump before finding the jungle-like swelter of her bush.
Sparks of hot, treacle-sweet arousal ran the length and width of her. Padma’s fingers clamped around Rickie’s skull. She was whimpering again. She couldn’t bloody help herself.
Rick chuckled, but after six years together, Padma knew exactly what that chuckle meant: Erika was skating the edge herself, the joy of sexual fulfilment gathering in her loins.
“Do it. I fucking swear to you, Rick, I— Oh! God!”
Rickie gorged on her breast. There was no other way to describe it. She had been rolling the nipple between her lips, teasingly, but now she was pulling, hard and relentless, and the rush of sensation made Padma cry out, her pussy starting to pound to the rhythm of Rick’s tongue swiping and lapping. Even before Rick pushed inside her, Padma started to flow.
Rickie didn’t let go. Padma’s juices were pooling in her cupped palm, colostrum, no doubt, seeping into her working mouth, but Rick didn’t let go, wouldn’t, as Padma’s hands came down to her shoulders, her nails digging half-moons into her flesh.
She had three fingers inside her now, filling her, pumping and pummelling, and as Rick found her clit and pressed down heavy; as her mouth moved to repeat the exercise with her right tit; as her left hand rested on her belly, protectively, lovingly; Padma’s consciousness of the world around her broke into a million trembling little pieces, her back arching, the howl of her climax loud enough to make the icicles hanging outside their bedroom window dance and glitter in the bright, white December morning.
Well, not really. But it sure felt like it, as far as Padma Lindgren was concerned.
Often quirky, always queer, Elna Holst is an unapologetic genre-bender who writes anything from stories of sapphic lust and love to the odd existentialist horror piece, reads Tolstoy, and plays contract bridge. Find her on Instagram or Goodreads.
What happens when the No. 1 college hockey star in the country falls in love—with a man? Nick Johnson, a top prospect for a pro hockey team, has a secret: he’s gay. Tired of living in the closet for the sport he loves, he sees no way out.
Jacob Meyer’s string of bad boyfriends left him cynical about love. Instead, he focuses on his studies as a third-year law student. With a new job waiting for him, he’s eager to graduate and move on.
On a school-sponsored trip, Nick and Jacob meet in a most unexpected way. When Nick tells Jacob his secret, they decide to hang out, just as friends. But their attraction is too strong to ignore, and they soon begin dating.
Since Nick is a big man on campus, it doesn’t take long for people to notice his attachment to Jacob. All hell breaks loose when the relationship gets out. As the national media descends, university officials try to figure out how to solve their “problem.” Their efforts divide Nick’s team, inflame fans, and put Nick and Jacob’s futures in jeopardy. Will the men be able to survive a plot to destroy them without derailing both their careers?
Nice Catching You is an out-for-you romance featuring a lot of love, exciting hockey, and a beautiful holiday. There’s also plenty of steam and a very happy ending.
Excerpt
JACOB
Sunday, December 4
I haven’t been on many buses, but I was starting to think I might die on this one. The snow began falling before we left Whiteface Mountain early in the afternoon, not unusual for one of the top ski resorts in the Northeast. We were due in Syracuse before six, and I hoped the weather didn’t delay us much. The last week of classes would start the next day, and I had work to do. The snow was coming down hard, and by the time we reached I-87, I could see very little out the window. Many of the cars had pulled over to the side, and others were creeping along with their hazards flashing. Our bus joined the traffic and immediately began slipping all over the road.
With fifty-odd college students on the trip, there had been a lot of noise when we left the resort, but nerves had soon taken over, and people were mostly quiet now. I sat alone, three rows from the back of the bus, trying to read a case for Federal Courts. With only one more semester of law school to go, I needed to do well. A big firm in Boston offered me a job right before Thanksgiving, contingent on my maintaining a 3.8 GPA. Pulling a C in Fed Courts would bring me slightly under the requirement. Although I had high hopes for a job in DC, I couldn’t risk losing the Boston offer.
Between the bus sliding in the snow and the constant chatter from the guys in the seat behind me, I couldn’t concentrate at all. They were hockey players, and they kept up a conversation about the game, other players, cars, and whatever else dumb undergrad jocks talk about. They were the only people behind me except for their friend, who was passed out on a seat in the back.
Whoa! The rear end of the bus lurched violently into the left lane. I tried to grab something to hold onto, but I was already airborne by the time I dropped the heavy casebook. Hands grabbed my shoulders but didn’t slow my momentum. Dreading the impact with the seat across the aisle, I screwed my eyes shut and held my breath. All at once, something stopped me. Rather, someone stopped me, and that someone had brawny arms and a hard body. He’d caught me in midair.
“You all right?”
“What?” On my back in the man’s arms, facing the top of the bus, I couldn’t see much. I turned my head, trying to find out who had hold of me.
“Everything okay?”
I craned my neck in the other direction just as he leaned over, and it was—shit!—one of the hockey guys who’d been sitting behind me. I’d seen him over the weekend with his buddies, at least one of whom had laughed at me the whole time. Now they’d laugh even harder, and I’d be known as the skinny little runt who couldn’t even stay in his seat—the twit who had to be rescued by a real man.
Ryan Taylor and Joshua Harwood met in law school and were married in 2017. They live in a suburb of Washington, DC, and share their home with a big, cuddly German shepherd. Ryan and Josh enjoy travel, friends, and advocating for causes dear to their hearts. Ryan also loves to swim, and Josh likes to putter in the garden whenever he can. The romance they were so lucky to find with each other inspires their stories about love between out and proud men.
It’s been said that if you love someone, set them free. If they come back they’re yours; if they don’t they never were. But what does it mean when they come back into your life—as your sibling’s significant other?
At twenty-five years old, Cal Adams has only ever truly loved one man, the one who broke his heart three years earlier—Andrew Hall. Since then, he has searched for meaningful relationships but cannot smolder the flames of the past his family remains unaware of.
As the holiday season approaches, Cal’s younger sister, Claire, brings her boyfriend home to meet the family. When she arrives, Cal is shocked to meet her boyfriend, who is none other than Andrew. In a darkly humorous tale, Cal decides to show his ex what he missed out on.
Cal Adams sat at his desk and shuffled through some papers as he eyed the clock: 5:47 p.m. A mixture of excitement and anxiety churned uneasily in his stomach as the seconds hand ticked away. In thirteen minutes, he would relinquish his work responsibilities and prepare for what was sure to be a big night. A few days earlier, Cal’s parents had called to invite him to dinner Friday night for a special occasion—his baby sister would be home from college for the weekend.
Claire Adams was a senior in college and only three and a half years younger than Cal, yet he couldn’t help but refer to her as his baby sister; perhaps that was part of being a big brother. As Claire’s older brother and only sibling, Cal was a bit on edge about that night’s family dinner. After all, Claire wasn’t just coming home to visit; she was bringing along her new boyfriend to meet the family.
Cal tuned out the clinking of weight machines and the grunts of fatigued gym patrons as he sat in his office and concentrated on the circumstance at hand. His sister hadn’t had a boyfriend meet their parents since her junior year of high school, which meant this was serious. Cal and Claire had become very close in recent years, but he had not heard much about this boyfriend, including his name. Claire had always been one to maintain a low profile on social media, and only acknowledged she was “in a relationship” a month or so ago—without posting any photos. From what Cal had been able to gather from his phone calls with her, Claire and her boyfriend had only been seeing each other for about six months. So they hadn’t been together that long. Still, this was serious, which worried Cal a bit.
Being the big brother, Cal was somewhat protective of his sister, but he was happy for Claire, and he was sure he’d love her boyfriend. After all, Claire had a good head on her shoulders. However, this whole situation made Cal uneasy since it made him reflect on his own lack of success in the relationship department.
As the eldest sibling, Cal had always anticipated he would be the first to settle down. However, being twenty-five years old and never having been in a serious relationship, he often felt frustrated and unfulfilled—like something was missing in his life.
It wasn’t that Cal was undateable. On the contrary, he was quite attractive, with medium-length, dark-brown hair, piercing gray eyes, sharp features, and a lean build. He was successful, independent, and had an easygoing, fun-loving personality. In fact, he went on plenty of dates, but nothing ever seemed to pan out. Either the chemistry wasn’t there or things just didn’t advance. Cal hadn’t experienced genuine feelings for anyone since—
“Hey,” a friendly voice chimed, which snapped Cal’s attention back to work. A petite young woman with a pretty, freckled face and long, ginger tresses appeared at his office door.
“Hi, Sophie,” Cal greeted. “Getting ready to head out?”
“Yeah, my six o’clock canceled on me,” she informed him.
Sophie was a personal trainer at the gym Cal managed and also one of his closest friends. Sophie was a year his senior, and the two had been friends since childhood. They knew everything about each other’s lives: the good, the not-so-good, and the bad.
Cal glanced at the clock: nearly six now. “I’ll be leaving in a few too.”
“Any fun weekend plans?” Sophie asked.
“Well, I have that family dinner tonight, but I’m not sure if I would call it fun.”
“Ohh, that’s right!” she said. “Claire’s bringing home the boyfriend. What do you know about him?”
“Nothing,” Cal replied. “Honestly, I don’t even think my parents know much about him.”
“So this is a pretty big deal,” Sophie stated. “It sounds serious.”
“Yeah, it does,” he sighed with a lack of enthusiasm before he shut off his computer.
“Uh oh, sounds like someone’s big brother senses are tingling,” she teased.
“It’s not that. I’m sure this guy is great. And I’m happy for Claire, I really am. But I’m twenty-five years old and—”
“Cal, you can’t keep thinking like that. You’re young, and you’ll find someone.”
“That’s what all my friends say, but you guys are all in relationships,” Cal countered. “You and Rich have been together for years.”
“Believe me, you’re gonna find someone. Soon. I’m sure of it,” Sophie reassured him as she gave his arm a squeeze. “By the way, I forgot to ask, how did the date go with that guy last night?”
“Eh, it was fine…at first.”
“At first?” she questioned.
“Yeah, I mean, he was cute. We just grabbed a coffee. And he seemed to have a good personality.”
“So what happened?”
“He started talking about how he loves popping molly.”
“No!”
“Oh yeah. And then he told me Lana Del Rey’s music makes him horny. Those were his exact words.”
“What!” Sophie gasped in disbelief. “He did not!”
“I’m telling you I can’t make this stuff up,” Cal chuckled as he shook his head in disbelief. “And really, Lana Del Rey? I didn’t know melancholic songs could get someone all hot and bothered.”
“You’re such a normal guy. How come you always find these crazies?”
“I don’t know, I guess they’re drawn to me,” he joked. “But, in all seriousness, I hate these stupid dating apps. I wish I didn’t have to use them, but I don’t know how else to meet someone. Every time I do meet someone from the apps though, they’re crazy or—”
“Or you don’t feel the spark.”
“No. At least not like I had with—”
“Hey”—Sophie interrupted in a soft voice—“it’s been over three years.”
“I know. I know,” Cal stated. He stood from his desk and grabbed his charcoal peacoat. “And I’m over it—believe me—I am. I just get scared that—”
“Don’t be. You’ll have those feelings again. You’ll find that spark.”
“Yeah, I know,” he sighed with a slight shrug before he hit the lights and left his office with Sophie. The two exited the gym in silence and were soon embraced by the crisp air of late November.
Rob Loveless is a corporate communications professional, and currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA. He has been an avid reader and writer from a young age, being influenced by authors like J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown. When he’s not working or writing, Rob enjoys being active, exploring what the Steel City has to offer, and traveling.
Blurb: Can Yani and Gavin go from friends to lovers this Christmas?
Yani Nicolaou is sworn off love for good. After fleeing a bad break-up in London, the only blood, sweat, and tears he has left are for his gyro stall at the Christmas market. Rebound fling? No thanks. He’s sticking to one-night-stands.
Ex-army vet Gavin Richie has even less capacity for romance. Managing a homeless shelter while recovering from injury keeps him far too busy. So what if he’s often alone? He’s content being single, or so he thinks until a chance meeting lights a spark he can’t ignore.
Yani is the warmth and affection Gavin hadn’t known he was missing. As Christmas lights up the city, their lives entwine in more ways than one. Falling for each other is easy. Holding on is harder, unless a hometown Christmas proves their love can last longer than the festive season.
Review: Hometown Christmas is a standalone Christmas story by Garrett Leigh.
I love a good Christmas romance and I looked forward to this one. Leigh is a fantastic writer that I’ve always loved for the sweetness in the romance, although Hometown Christmas also has the teeniest dash of angst (it works well, I’m not one for much angst in my stories, I love my sweet romances). I also love Leigh’s really down to earth and totally relatable characters. Overall, I find their books full of characters with big hearts that feel real.
Hometown Christmas follows the MCs Yani Nicolaou and Gavin Richie. Both men are at a cross roads in their lives. Yani has decided to make some massive changes in his life after a messy breakup and general dissatisfaction with where his life was going. He leaves London and sets roots in Leeds, where Yani finds the new lease on life he had been looking for. He is passionate about working for himself, where he gets to meet plenty of people and is now near one of his good friends, Bex. Yani isn’t looking for romance, he wants to make it on his own first and doesn’t feel the need for a string of one night stands.
But everything changes when he meets Gavin at a cafe. Gavin is ex-military and is back home in Leeds (has been for a couple years now), where he finds happiness in managing a homeless shelter. He is always in need of volunteers, and it seems like it’s chance that they guy he met at a coffee shop is now volunteering a shift cooking at the shelter.
This sets the scene as their lives bring them together. Gavin and Yani have a lot in common and are a really, sweet and gentle couple. While I wouldn’t call it insta-love, their romance explodes and despite a few bumps it’s clear that things will eventually fall into place for this two kind-hearted men.
Blurb: A match as perfect as cold nights and cozy fireside heat.
Gentle giant Matt Haskell and urbane teacher Mikah Cerullo are as opposite as the Teton Mountains and downtown Manhattan.
Hardworking organic farmer Matt has little time to think about love, but when Mikah, a sexy and snarky New Yorker, arrives at his farm to buy a Christmas tree for the family’s Jackson Hole mansion, the attraction is immediate for both of them, and they agree to share a cozy cabin in the Idaho woods. The clock is ticking on their holiday fling, since Mikah is due to take a teaching position back in the city, but as the holiday magic envelops them, they wonder if their budding romance might withstand their differences.
Review:A Christmas Cabin for Two is a very sweet standalone Christmas romance by KD Fisher for Dreamspun Desires. Fisher is a new author for me, however, reading the blurb I saw the sweetness that I’ve come to expect from Dreamspun Desires so I was keen to give this a go.
This is a story where opposites truly attract. Matt Haskell is a small town sort of guy, he’s an organic farmer and takes enormous pride in his work. Mikah Cerullo is as equally passionate as Matt, however, he is city guy – a typical New Yorker – through and through and his passion lies with his career as a teacher.
Mikah is with his family in Jackson Hole, where they own a mansion, for Christmas. Mikah has the typical feelings you generally encounter in romance books where a single MC is forced to spend time with family, especially one that is outside of their comfort zone in the big city. Matt is at home minding his own business, literally, running his farm, which during Christmas means that he’s selling Christmas trees. Immediately he comes across as the strong, silent and studious type of person (my type of guy, really). He’s no nonsense, that I believe comes to any character that has a farming background.
When the two men meet when Mikah goes to buy a Christmas tree sparks fly. There isn’t any angst or even angry tension between the two guys. They are two contrasting characters that feel an instant spark of attraction. As they get to know each other and as Mikah gets to know the small town more, the two men have to eventually face what could happen after their idyllic Christmas romance
This is a book that is full of heart and sweetness. If you like a romance in a secluded area and the whole trapped in a cabin in the woods type of story, this is a good book for you.
Reluctant socialite Kai has thirty-five days before his family starts shooting the next season of their reality TV show, revealing a life he’d rather keep private—and one that feels increasingly scripted. Desperately needing a break, Kai escapes to his childhood best friend Hiro Asada’s inn in rural Japan. He finds peace in the thousand-year-old hot springs, but his yearning for Hiro resurfaces at the worst time: Hiro is about to inherit the inn, and his parents expect him to marry within the year.
Hiro’s traditional family loves him for who he is, but they can’t imagine two men running the inn. Meanwhile, Kai has a TV contract his lawyer insists can’t be broken. Hiro and Kai need to think outside the box—and solve their problems before Christmas Day, when Kai’s show shoots its annual holiday special.
Review: The Winter Quarters is a standalone Holiday novel by Anna Veriani for Dreamspun Desires. Veriani is a new author for me, however, reading the blurb I saw the sweetness that I’ve come to expect from Dreamspun Desires so I was keen to give this a go.
Kai is a reluctant socialite to say the least. His family have a reality TV show that is somewhat comparable to Keeping Up With the Kardashians where his mother is the self-proclaimed matriarch of the family. And he really doesn’t like the attention or the whole farce of the thing. He only has little over a month before the show starts shooting again, so Kai decides to escape to the one place that had always made him happy as a child, the picturesque inn that is owned and run by his best friend Hiro in rural Japan. Spending time with Hiro leads to revealing a number of untold revelations and leads Kai to finally take the plunge to get out of his hated reality TV show contract.
Both Kai and Hiro are sweet characters, and while not overly developed I found it so easy to connect to their emotions. The romance was really sweet and satisfying.
This is a book that is full of heart and sweetness and very little angst. For people that like friends to lovers storylines, this is a book I recommend for you. I also recommend this book for people that like the glitz and glamour of a socialite family.
That’s how the letter Satan received starts. The little girl who wrote it asking for her father to be happy again meant it for someone else, and while that’s obvious, Satan doesn’t care. Santa will never find out, as long as Satan’s nosy assistant, Jasper, doesn’t tell him. Satan isn’t sure why he decides to watch Zoe and her dad, except that he’s bored and lonely. He surprises himself when he moves into the house next to theirs and introduces himself as Sam—because he couldn’t exactly give Riley his real name, could he?
Riley has been divorced for years, and he doesn’t have time for a relationship. He has trust issues and no will to get over them, not when his daughter is the center of his life. Then a new neighbor moves in, and he’s adorably awkward and sexy. Riley tries to keep Sam at arm’s length, but he can’t help but fall in love with him, and he’s pretty sure Sam is falling for him, too.
Then Sam confesses his real name is Satan, and that he’s the king of Hell.
Review: Zoe wanted a doll, Lego’s and for her dad to be happy for Christmas. However she made one little mistake in the name. Now Satan was probably going crazy but he wanted to give the little girl what she wanted. To bad for him he had no clue how to make her father smile. Time for a walk on the human side.
Riley has been divorced for three years and had partial custody of his daughter. He never wanted to trust any man again. Then in walked Sam, but Sam is Satan with a big secret.
When I first got this book I swear I kept looking at it wrong, till I realized it said Satan instead of Santa. I got a kick out of this story and lets just say that Satan was a cutie. He made me smile and lets face it so did the cat. It was entertaining as hell and I spent part of the time laughing my ass off.
I had a blast reading this and can guarantee that it will be read many times over and not just at the holidays. It was a big hit with me and I can’t wait to read it again now. I also can’t wait to see what the next story this amazing author is going to come up with.
Hi guys! We have Doreen Heron stopping by with her new release A Husband for Santa, we have a great excerpt and a brilliant $10 NineStar GC giveaway, so check out the post and enter the giveaway! ❤️ ~Pixie~
A Husband for Santa
by
Doreen Heron
Father Christmas knows his time delivering presents is coming to an end, and his son is more than ready to take his place at the helm of the sleigh. But family tradition stands in Turk’s way.
He must find a Mrs. Claus to help share the burden. Unfortunately for tradition, he would rather a husband than a wife, and he doesn’t have time to meet anyone anyway.
At the same time, Christmasologist and PhD candidate Symeon Golightly finds himself sad and alone over the holidays.
Maybe a chance encounter and a Christmas wish will bring them together.
Hi guys! We have Nell Iris popping in today with her new release Four Christmases, we have a great excerpt and a fantastic giveaway so check out the post and enter the giveaway! ❤️ ~Pixie~
Four Christmases
by
Nell Iris
Will a decade-old family feud and long held secrets stand in the way of love?
Auden Whipple is searching for a bit of peace and quiet from his loud family when he stumbles across the neighbor, Porter Eldin. Porter is scorching hot on a freezing Christmas Day, and nothing like Auden expected. A moment shared by the creek begins a relationship that surprises them both.
As the Christmases pass, Auden and Porter’s relationship deepens. But the obstacle of the unresolved conflict between the Whipples and the Eldins makes Auden worried. Worried to tell his family of his new-found love, worried that the conflict will come between them.
Can two men truly in love help mend fences that have been broken for too long? Can the holiday spirit help Auden and Porter find their happily ever after?
Hi guys! We have J.R. Lawrie stopping by today with the tour for her debut release Let Your Heart Be Light, we have a brilliant giveaway so check out the post and enter the giveaway! ❤️ ~Pixie~
Let Your Heart Be Light
by
J.R. Lawrie
This holiday season, celebrate with a trio of festive gay romances by debut author J. R. Lawrie. This anthology features three stories sure to warm the heart and captivate the senses. Full of romance, humor, sweetness, and the perfect amount of heat, this collection is perfect for an evening by the fire.
FOR SERVICES RENDERED
Dr. David Christmas has heard every joke in the book when it comes to his name. Weary of the festive season and from his long shifts in the emergency room, David is also tired of his lonely single life. His only hope for Christmas is a glimpse of the shy but gorgeous neighbour who lives above him.
Christmas-loving Julian has nurtured a crush on the grumpy man downstairs for years now. Still hurting from his ex-boyfriend’s cruelty, he hasn’t yet dared to say hello. When an injury on Christmas Eve puts Julian directly into David’s careful hands, a little healing might be on the way.
KIND OF A BIG DEAL and THE FARRINGDON CLUB
Up-and-coming comedian Zack Wynn splits his time between the stage and the London pizza restaurant where he works, until life hands him one hell of a Christmas present. Richard Garston is the handsome and clever older man of Zack’s dreams, but what exactly is it that Richard does?
Soon, Zack learns the truth: Richard’s classified role in the British government makes him a much bigger deal than he claimed.
Is Zack ready for the politics and power of Richard’s world? And is Richard’s world ready for him?
Genre: Holiday, Paranormal, M-Preg, The Twelve Days of Christmas
Length: Short (78pgs)
Publisher: eXtasy Books (December 6, 2019)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: đź’–đź’–đź’–đź’– 3.75 Hearts
Blurb: Would serenading be enough to convince a mate they were meant to be?
Cole Burns doesn’t suffer the cold or feeling the holiday spirit, but dreams of having a family by thirty, preferably with two or three children, are slowly fading into the fog of winter. It’s a sad, sad situation he cannot seem to escape.
For John Michael Diamond, being CEO of Diamond Corporation equates to never finding the perfect mate to share his nest. In fact, it’s next to impossible. Through a twist of fate, he discovers his mate not only lives nearby but is on his family’s estate.
Cole never thought he’d fall for such a crazy, insanely gorgeous rich guy, and yet here he is, wrapped in shifter eagle who serenades him with love songs. This is going to be an interesting Christmas.
Review: CEO Michael gets a call about a hacker on his way home for the holidays. His assistant Giles tells him that Cole Burns, who works from his home is perfect the job and living close by. As fate would have it Michael and Cole are mates.
There is some uncertainty between the two after Michael explains things and Cole for his part tries to process everything. I liked the story.
Hi guys! We have Elna Holst stopping by today with her new release Wild Bells, we have a great excerpt and a brilliant $10 NineStar GC giveaway so check out the post and enter the giveaway! ❤️ ~Pixie~
Wild Bells
(Tinsel and Spruce Needles 03)
by
Elna Holst
Lund, Sweden, 1998
Mia Andersson is not a nice person. She is a sharp, sensational-looking, aloof lawyer-to-be, and the busiest sapphic player in town. Mia Andersson takes no prisoners, tells no tales, and if you gave her your number, chances are she won’t call. But this holiday season, at age twenty-seven, wheels that are out of her control have been set in motion, and it looks like she might just get caught in the spin.
Hi guys, we have Lane Hayes stopping by today with her new release Stick to the Script, we have a great excerpt and a fantastic $25 Amazon GC giveaway, so check out the post and enter the giveaway! ❤️ ~Pixie~
Stick to the Script
(Ace’s Wild 13)
by
Lane Hayes
Jamie is a wedding photographer in need of a break, and a sexy freelance assignment on the East Coast sounds like an intriguing getaway. He makes his flight to Vintage Ridge just before an epic storm wreaks havoc on holiday travel. But when his friend is delayed, Jamie finds himself alone at the bed-and-breakfast for the night with the owners’ son…a hunky contractor with a wicked smile and a commanding presence. Not a problem. Jamie can handle light conversation with a ruggedly handsome man for a few hours. Maybe. If all else fails, he can read the script.
Wyatt loves remodeling old homes like his parents’ B and B. Spending an evening entertaining their guest while he finishes up his project doesn’t seem like a big deal, but Wyatt can tell there’s something special about the nervous younger man. He suggests reading the racy script that accompanies Jamie’s assignment to get his mind off the weather, but neither is prepared for what happens next. Their explosive attraction encourages them to bend the rules and stick to their own script…together.
PLEASE NOTE: For the first 90 days of this title’s publication, all sales and page reads will be donated to PFLAG.
Title: Christmas List
Title: Christmas Miracle
