A Soldier's Wish by NR Walker
Summary:
The Christmas Angel #5
The year is 1969…
Gary Fairchild is proud to be a hippie college student, and he protests the Vietnam War because he believes in love and peace. To him, it isn’t just a counterculture movement—it’s a way of life. When tickets to the Aquarium Exposition—3 Days of Peace & Music, or Woodstock, as it was better known, go on sale, there’s no way he isn’t going.
Richard Ronsman is a sheltered farm boy who lives in the shadow of his overbearing father. He’s hidden his darkest secret to earn his father’s love, but nothing is ever good enough—not even volunteering for the Vietnam War. And with just a few days left before he’s deployed, he’s invited by a striking hippie to join him at a music festival.
Three days of music, drugs, rain, mud, and love forged a bond between these two very different men that would shape the rest of their lives. They share dreams and fears, and when Richard is shipped off to war, they share letters and love. For Richard’s first Christmas home, he is gifted a special angel ornament that just might make a soldier’s wish come true.
This story is one of seven stories which can all be read and enjoyed in any order.
The Christmas Angel #5
The year is 1969…
Gary Fairchild is proud to be a hippie college student, and he protests the Vietnam War because he believes in love and peace. To him, it isn’t just a counterculture movement—it’s a way of life. When tickets to the Aquarium Exposition—3 Days of Peace & Music, or Woodstock, as it was better known, go on sale, there’s no way he isn’t going.
Richard Ronsman is a sheltered farm boy who lives in the shadow of his overbearing father. He’s hidden his darkest secret to earn his father’s love, but nothing is ever good enough—not even volunteering for the Vietnam War. And with just a few days left before he’s deployed, he’s invited by a striking hippie to join him at a music festival.
Three days of music, drugs, rain, mud, and love forged a bond between these two very different men that would shape the rest of their lives. They share dreams and fears, and when Richard is shipped off to war, they share letters and love. For Richard’s first Christmas home, he is gifted a special angel ornament that just might make a soldier’s wish come true.
This story is one of seven stories which can all be read and enjoyed in any order.
I have to be honest and say I generally don't seek out stories told in the 60s & 70s, maybe its because I was born in 1973 so that time frame isn't old enough to be "historical" and yet its not really new enough to be "present day" either. Don't get me wrong, I don't not read that era if a book that sounds interesting comes along but I just don't go looking for it. So my decision to read A Soldier's Wish was partly the intriguing way the series is connected by a Christmas angel ornament but mostly the author. NR Walker has never let me down before and she didn't here either.
For some Richard and Gary's insta-connection might seem farfetched or reaching but I loved it. Insta-love is not for everyone and I'm the first to admit that sometimes it just doesn't work for the characters or setting but that's not true here. Nope, A Soldier's Wish is well written and completely believable that two people who on the surface are polar opposites but given the right atmosphere you realize that they are only perfect for each other. I really loved how the author used letters and visits to advance the story, giving the boys a piece of each other even when physicality and location wasn't exactly on their side. The letters especially warmed the heart.
As with my reviews for the other entries in The Christmas Angel series, each book is a standalone and can be read in any order. I still highly recommend reading Eli Easton's Christmas Angel first though because I know I would be a bit distracted wondering about the angel's origins and that would take away from completely enjoying the entry I was reading. However, that is just my personal opinion and no matter what order you read this series it is most certainly not one you want to miss.
RATING:
Summary:
717 Miles Novella
I promised myself many years ago that I would never set foot in London again.
I promised. Adam promised. I said I wouldn't. He said I would never have to.
Yet here we are again, and life has become quite surreal. This is us, a good few years later, older and wiser with more baggage than the baggage belt at Heathrow.
And now it is Christmas and Adam is working too much and I have far too much time to think about things that shouldn't really matter. Or maybe they should?
717 miles Christmas Special is a short novella to follow on from 717 miles, the novel, and should not be read as a standalone.
Summary:
Rory & Jack #3
Christmas. A Wedding. Family. It's the Perfect Storm...
For Rory Kincaid marrying Jack, the youngest son of the aristocratic De Lacy family, on Christmas Eve, is a dream come true. Handing over the wedding planning to Jack’s mother, the strong-willed Lady Diana, is turning out to be more of a nightmare.
As their big day approaches, the pressure’s on and the strain is beginning to show. Announcements in society magazines, a guest list that’s growing and growing, and fittings for the best bespoke tailoring in London, it’s all a far cry from Rory’s humble upbringing. Piece by piece, Rory and Jack’s dream of a simple winter wedding is fading fast.
Rory is Jack’s everything. Sweet, kind, and totally adorable, Rory is all Jack has ever wanted. And what Jack wants most of all is to give the man he loves the wedding day of his dreams — and that means taking a stand against the indomitable Diana.
***Warning: this story contains two gorgeous men, a mountain of mince pies and cupcakes, a punk rocker Christmas fairy called Bunty, and a snowy Christmas Wedding.***
Summary:
Christmas, and the man of his fantasies is back in Chris's life.
It's been far too long since Christian Matthews has seen Daniel Bailey. In fact the last time they met Chris was a senior in college and he was the TA tasked with helping Daniel who was a way too confident freshman.
Some years down the road, Chris is licking his wounds after being asked to leave the private school where he was teaching. He has no job, no money, and has to rely on his friend Amelia for the job and a room to live in. He needs a freaking Christmas miracle to make this Season anything other than a total loss.
Then Daniel comes back into his life and suddenly everything seems possible. Not only is Daniel still the man Christian wants more than anything, but this time Chris may well actually tell Daniel how he feels.
My original review from 5 years ago is short and to the point. Well, guess what? Short and to the point states it perfectly. I haven't re-read New York Christmas since, not because I didn't enjoy it, not because I didn't take the time, but because it was a holiday story and unfortunately I just have too many Christmas tales to read each year that I tend to not re-visit no matter how much I loved it the first time. One of these years I will do a Re-Read Christmas in July Edition but until then, audiobooks make for a great chance to experience the magic again.
So the only thing I really have to add to this story is the narration. Once again Sean Crisden brings to life the amazing-ness of RJ Scott's words. Could another narrator do just as good a job? Probably but at this time I can't imagine any other voice other than Crisden's. New York Christmas is a bit sugary sweet(perhaps for some too much so) but if you can't have sugary sweet romance for Christmas then when can you? This is a story of romance, friendship, discovery, all wrapped up in a lovely Christmas bow and Sean Crisden resonates that with every word.
Original Review January 2015:
We all have that one person we wonder about, "the one who got away" or more precisely "the one who never was but always wanted and wondered about." Well this story is exactly that. And perfectly done, in my opinion. You can't help but love both Chris and Daniel and cheer them on from page one.
RATING:
Summary:
Home for the Holidays #1
Can true love warm his frozen heart?
When Casey Stevens went away to college four years ago, he ghosted on his straight best friend, Joel Vreeland. He hoped time and distance would lessen the unrequited affection he felt, but all it did was make him miss Joel more. Home for the holidays, Casey hopes they might find a way to be friends again. But Joel’s frosty reception reminds Casey of just how hard he had to fight to be Joel’s friend in the first place. It’s going to take a Christmas miracle to get past that cool façade again.
Joel isn’t as straight as Casey believes, and his years of pining for Casey have left him hurting and alone, caring for his abusive father and struggling to get by. Unable to trust anyone except his rescue dog—and with no reason to believe Casey is interested in him for more than a holiday fling—Joel’s icy heart might shatter before it can thaw.
Can Casey and Joel’s love overcome mistrust, parental rejection, class differences, and four long years apart? Mr. Frosty Pants is a stand-alone, Christmas gay romance by Leta Blake featuring a virgin hero, childhood friends-to-lovers, second chance romance, and steamy mm first times.
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“Where are we going? The Tube station’s that way.” Rory nodded in the direction they were coming from.
“We’re not going home, or not just yet.”
“Oh? I thought we were going to decorate our living room, drink lots of advocaat, and then get naked on the rug.”
Jack threw back his head and laughed. “That sounds like a plan, but there’s something I want to do first.”
“You mean something is more important than naked advocaat?”
Jack just smiled in response. There wasn’t a lot that was more important than naked advocaat, but what they were about to do next just about topped it.
The tiny street would be so easy to miss in the messy and higgledy-piggledy maze that was the City of London.
“Jack? What—?”
Jack pressed his fingertips to Rory’s lips and gazed into Rory’s questioning, confused eyes.
“Just go with me on this, okay?”
Jack pushed the door open, and he and Rory stepped into another time.
The shop was crammed with tall and narrow display cabinets, all of them holding a treasure of watches. Behind the counter, in a corner and almost hidden, sat a small, round, bald-headed man. A pair of glasses perched on the end of his nose, and another was wedged on the top of his head as he worked on the mechanism of a pocket watch, using what looked like a set of toy tools.
“Mr. De Lacy.” The man put aside his work, stood up and extended his hand to Jack.
“Mr. Hogarth. Let me introduce Rory Kincaid, my fiancé.”
Jack moved aside to allow Rory to shake Mr. Hogarth’s hand. Jack smiled; in a moment everything would be revealed.
“Let me bring your order.” Mr. Hogarth disappeared into a back room.
“Jack, I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
Before Jack could answer, Mr. Hogarth returned bearing a small black box, which he handed over to Jack.
“Please.” Mr. Hogarth gestured to a small table and a couple of chairs on the other side of the shop, in the only space not taken up with display cabinets, before he returned to his place once more behind the counter and took up his work as though he were alone.
“I want you to have this,” Jack said, opening the box as soon as he and Rory were seated.
“What?” Rory gaped at the watch, displayed on a pad of black velvet. “But we agreed a strict ten-pound budget, just something silly this year. I haven’t—”
“No, it’s not a Christmas present.”
“Then what—? I don’t understand.”
Jack took the watch out of the box. Like his own, it was plain and unadorned. The black Roman numerals were stark against the white face; the casing was gold, deep and burnished.
“When I was twenty-one, my father presented me with a watch from this shop. He did the same for George,” Jack said, referring to his elder brother. “My father also had a watch on his twenty-first birthday, as did my grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather. The De Lacy men have had watches in one form or another from Hogarth’s since the late eighteenth century. All those watches came from here, from this very shop.” Jack glanced toward the counter, but Mr. Hogarth had gone and was now nowhere to be seen.
“This isn’t a Christmas present, Ro. This is something every De Lacy man receives. And I wanted you to have one, too, because that’s what you’re on the point of becoming: a De Lacy man.” Jack’s lips lifted in a wry smile. “I didn’t know you when you turned twenty-one, although I wish I did. I’m just making up for lost time. On Christmas Eve, you’re going to take my name. I want you to be wearing this watch when you do.”
“Jack, I–I don’t know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything. Just accept it, along with the words I had engraved.”
Jack held the watch out. All his focus was on his fiancé, reading for the first time the words engraved not only on the watch but on Jack’s heart.
Love, always and forever.
Four simple words which said everything Jack held deep inside about the man he’d found huddled on his doorstep just two Christmases before.
“Where are we going? The Tube station’s that way.” Rory nodded in the direction they were coming from.
“We’re not going home, or not just yet.”
“Oh? I thought we were going to decorate our living room, drink lots of advocaat, and then get naked on the rug.”
Jack threw back his head and laughed. “That sounds like a plan, but there’s something I want to do first.”
“You mean something is more important than naked advocaat?”
Jack just smiled in response. There wasn’t a lot that was more important than naked advocaat, but what they were about to do next just about topped it.
The tiny street would be so easy to miss in the messy and higgledy-piggledy maze that was the City of London.
“Jack? What—?”
Jack pressed his fingertips to Rory’s lips and gazed into Rory’s questioning, confused eyes.
“Just go with me on this, okay?”
Jack pushed the door open, and he and Rory stepped into another time.
The shop was crammed with tall and narrow display cabinets, all of them holding a treasure of watches. Behind the counter, in a corner and almost hidden, sat a small, round, bald-headed man. A pair of glasses perched on the end of his nose, and another was wedged on the top of his head as he worked on the mechanism of a pocket watch, using what looked like a set of toy tools.
“Mr. De Lacy.” The man put aside his work, stood up and extended his hand to Jack.
“Mr. Hogarth. Let me introduce Rory Kincaid, my fiancé.”
Jack moved aside to allow Rory to shake Mr. Hogarth’s hand. Jack smiled; in a moment everything would be revealed.
“Let me bring your order.” Mr. Hogarth disappeared into a back room.
“Jack, I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
“Please.” Mr. Hogarth gestured to a small table and a couple of chairs on the other side of the shop, in the only space not taken up with display cabinets, before he returned to his place once more behind the counter and took up his work as though he were alone.
“I want you to have this,” Jack said, opening the box as soon as he and Rory were seated.
“What?” Rory gaped at the watch, displayed on a pad of black velvet. “But we agreed a strict ten-pound budget, just something silly this year. I haven’t—”
“No, it’s not a Christmas present.”
“Then what—? I don’t understand.”
Jack took the watch out of the box. Like his own, it was plain and unadorned. The black Roman numerals were stark against the white face; the casing was gold, deep and burnished.
“When I was twenty-one, my father presented me with a watch from this shop. He did the same for George,” Jack said, referring to his elder brother. “My father also had a watch on his twenty-first birthday, as did my grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather. The De Lacy men have had watches in one form or another from Hogarth’s since the late eighteenth century. All those watches came from here, from this very shop.” Jack glanced toward the counter, but Mr. Hogarth had gone and was now nowhere to be seen.
“This isn’t a Christmas present, Ro. This is something every De Lacy man receives. And I wanted you to have one, too, because that’s what you’re on the point of becoming: a De Lacy man.” Jack’s lips lifted in a wry smile. “I didn’t know you when you turned twenty-one, although I wish I did. I’m just making up for lost time. On Christmas Eve, you’re going to take my name. I want you to be wearing this watch when you do.”
“Jack, I–I don’t know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything. Just accept it, along with the words I had engraved.”
Jack held the watch out. All his focus was on his fiancé, reading for the first time the words engraved not only on the watch but on Jack’s heart.
Love, always and forever.
Four simple words which said everything Jack held deep inside about the man he’d found huddled on his doorstep just two Christmases before.
NR Walker
She is many things; a mother, a wife, a sister, a writer. She has pretty, pretty boys who she gives them life with words.
She likes it when they do dirty, dirty things...but likes it even more when they fall in love. She used to think having people in her head talking to her was weird, until one day she happened across other writers who told her it was normal.
She’s been writing ever since...
Sophia Soames
Sophia Soames should be old enough to know better but has barely grown up. She has been known to fangirl over tv-shows, has fallen in and out of love with more popstars than she dares to remember, and has a ridiculously high-flying (un-)glamourous real-life job.
Her long-suffering husband just laughs at her antics. Their children are feral. The Au Pair just sighs.
She lives in a creaky old house in rural London, although her heart is still in Scandinavia.
Discovering that the stories in her head make sense when written down has been part of the most hilarious midlife crisis ever and she hopes it may long continue.
AE Ryecart
I love all kinds of MM romance and gay fiction, but I especially like contemporary stories. Born and raised in London, the city is part of my DNA so I like to set many of my stories in and around present-day London, providing the perfect, metropolitan backdrop to the main action. I write at home, in the gym, in cafés —in fact I write any place I can find a good coffee!
RJ Scott
USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott writes stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, a happily ever after.
RJ Scott is the author of over one hundred romance books, writing emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.
The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.
She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the links below.
Leta Blake
Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.
Sophia Soames should be old enough to know better but has barely grown up. She has been known to fangirl over tv-shows, has fallen in and out of love with more popstars than she dares to remember, and has a ridiculously high-flying (un-)glamourous real-life job.
Her long-suffering husband just laughs at her antics. Their children are feral. The Au Pair just sighs.
She lives in a creaky old house in rural London, although her heart is still in Scandinavia.
Discovering that the stories in her head make sense when written down has been part of the most hilarious midlife crisis ever and she hopes it may long continue.
I love all kinds of MM romance and gay fiction, but I especially like contemporary stories. Born and raised in London, the city is part of my DNA so I like to set many of my stories in and around present-day London, providing the perfect, metropolitan backdrop to the main action. I write at home, in the gym, in cafés —in fact I write any place I can find a good coffee!
USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott writes stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, a happily ever after.
RJ Scott is the author of over one hundred romance books, writing emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.
The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.
She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the links below.
Leta Blake
Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.
NR Walker
AUTHORGRAPH / KOBO / PINTEREST
EMAIL: nrwalker2103@gmail.com
Sophia Soames
AE Ryecart
RJ Scott
BOOKBUB / KOBO / SMASHWORDS
EMAIL: rj@rjscott.co.uk
Sean Crisden(Narrator)
EMAIL: crisden@seancrisden.com
Leta Blake
A Soldier's Wish by N.R. Walker
717 Miles Christmas Special by Sophia Soames
A Christmas Wedding by AE Ryecart
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