Once again we had a trying year and as much as I had hoped 2021 would refresh my reading mojo that was lost in 2020 but alas books were not my goto mental boost. Add in my mother's health issues and I found I had only read 113 books. So once again my Best of lists may be shorter but everything I read/listened to were so brilliant it was still a hard choice. So over the next two weeks I'll be featuring my Best Reads as well as Best ofs for my special day posts which are a combination of best reads and most viewed, I hope my Best of list helps you to find a new read, be it new-new or new-to-you or maybe it will help you to rediscover a forgotten favorite. Happy Reading and my heartfelt wish for everyone is that 2022 will be a year of recovery, growth, and in the world of reading a year of discovering a new favorite.
Back Check by RJ Scott & VL Locey
Summary:Boston Rebels #2
Meeting Joachim could save his daughter’s life, but it may well cost Isaac his heart.
It’s been one hell of a year for Joachim Löfgren. After a long summer in rehab, he’s been moved to a new town, one far away from the warm Florida sun he so adores, to bolster a struggling Boston defense since the departure of their beloved team captain. He hasn’t even unpacked his skates properly when fate lands another blow, and he’s told that he is dad to a gravely ill child he never knew existed. It’s an easy decision for the burly defenseman to help and he opens up his new home to his child and her guardian Isaac. He’s instantly enchanted with the preschooler as well as her uncle and decides that his life will only be complete if his daughter is part of it. Filing for custody is the only option he feels he has, but this throws his budding relationship with Isaac into utter chaos. The two men soon find themselves on opposite sides of the courtroom as they both fight for the life they feel is best for Sophia.
Despite grieving for the loss of his sister, Isaac doesn’t hesitate to take on the responsibility for his newborn niece Sophia, creating a brand new family of two built on love and laughter. He has a steady income painting pet portraits during the day, but it’s the subversive and satirical cartoons he draws at night that silence his thoughts in the dark. They don’t have much as a family, but he is Sophia’s dad now, and nothing and no one will ever come between them. When a routine pediatric checkup shows that Sophia is ill, it forces Isaac to confront every one of his fears. Finding a matching donor is her only hope, and Isaac begins the journey to find Sophia’s mysterious father. There are no names or dates in his sister’s battered journal, and all Isaac knows is that he’s looking for a hockey player who was nothing more than a one-night stand. Little does he know that finding Joachim could destroy everything.
First of all, the black cover in the authors' hockey universe where the book covers are generally light colored helps to set the tone of heartbreak that starts the story off. Just goes to show you that cover colors can sometimes do way more than the character representation on said cover to highlight a story's emotions. Brilliant work, Meredith Russell on another great cover design!
Second, part of me wants to be upset with Scott & Locey for making me tear up in a crowded hospital cafeteria but the truth is they represented what teared me up so beautifully that I can't be anything but pleased. This isn't a spoiler because we know that Isaac is caring for his niece because his sister died so I'll touch on it. To be honest, the part that made me tear up is not a lengthy scene but still close to my heart. My mom has been in the hospital for over 100 days now and I've been at her side the entire time so that's why I was in a crowded cafeteria when I was reading Back Check. When I was born my mom had pre-eclampsia and was in a coma for 4 days but survived and when I read it in a book it always makes me grateful for how lucky our family was that Mom survived but it also makes me sad for the character that doesn't. The scene is short and only a few pages if that but the authors wrote the emotions so spot-on that I had to start poking at my eyes a bit so I wouldn't go from a few tears to full on blubbering.
As for Joachim and Isaac. My great grandfather was an alcoholic who took his own life a year before my mother was born but it left a lasting impression on the family so whenever I see someone, in fiction or reality, take the path of recovery I will always be rooting for them and it's no different with Joachim. I'll admit, there are a few scenes where I'd like to take a frying pan to his head to knock a little sense in but I can say the same about Isaac. Communication is key and bad communication or rush-to-judgement can definitely be a ginormous wet blanket on a blossoming relationship. But then where would the fun be if there wasn't some tension that makes us readers want to bash their heads together?😉😉
At times I would have liked to seen more of Sophia because she's just so darn cute and adorable and I want to protect her from all the evils of the world but then I thought about it and considering the characters' journey, I think Back Check is a very well balanced story and the authors definitely knew what they were doing.
Anyone wondering about series order for reading, I can't imagine reading any series other than the original release order but truth is, each book has a beginning and end because of the different characters at the center. However, there are a few mentions of previous couples that I think make friendships and teammates flow better but it isn't a must that they be read as written. You won't be lost by any means but I do warn you, you see just enough of the previous characters that you'll be enticed to go back and discover their journeys.
RATING:
Summary:
Secrets & Scrabble #4
Mystery Stalks the Cobbled Streets of Pirate's Cove
Who or what is haunting elderly recluse Juliet Blackwell, what does it have to do with mysterious goings-on at the Salty Dog Pub--and why is any of it mystery bookshop owner Ellery Page's problem? According to sometimes boyfriend Police Chief Jack Carson, it's not Ellery's problem, and Ellery should stop asking awkward questions before it's too late.
Ellery couldn't agree more, but it's hard to say no when someone is as frightened as old Mrs. Blackwell. Mrs. Blackwell insists the ghost of long dead pirate Rufus Blackwell has come to avenge himself on the last member of his treacherous clan.
Before Ellery can say, "Yikes!" Mrs. Blackwell takes a tumble down the grand staircase of her spooky mansion, and it's up to Ellery to find who is trying to kill his eccentric customer.
Original Review September 2021:
Scandal at the Salty Dog. I think this is my favorite title in Josh Lanyon's Secrets and Scrabble series yet. Not only a great book title but Salty Dog is excellent for a bar name too. Fun! Yes, I know I use that word a lot when reviewing the entries in this series but it's the simplest and completely truthful word I can think of. . . FUN!
Normally I wouldn't spoil anything but technically it's in the blurb so me saying Ellery and Jack move forward with their relationship isn't actually a spoiler. Watching them take the next step is a delight, both emotionally and comedically. Don't worry, Salty Dog maintains the series' cozy status, the mens' chemistry may be light on the page but you just know the heat is there.
Ellery, who is still recovering from his adventures of Mystery at the Masquerade is trying to stay away from mayhem but it always has a way of finding him. Delivering books can be so dangerous😉😉. Ghosts, thieves, underground secret passages, wills, death . . . where does one start on the factors Ellery, Jack, Watson, Nora, and the Silver Sleuths face?
You'll just have to read this one for yourself to find out.
For those new to the series and are wondering about reading order. My suggestion is to start at the beginning. The mysteries begin and end in each book but the relationships between the main characters as well as other townsfolk evolve and will flow better if read in order.
RATING:
Ravenous by John Inman
Summary:
Terrible things are happening in the tiny town of Spangle, California. Creatures never before seen explode from the shadows. Hunter becomes prey. Man becomes food.
After seeing his lover torn apart before his eyes, Terry Jones sets out with his little pug, Bruce, to escape the mayhem. Secluding himself in a mountain cabin, he lies low, expecting death at every moment. So lonely he almost welcomes it.
From the dreadful emptiness of this terrifying new world where every breath might be his last, a stranger appears. And beyond all imagining, love enters the picture yet again.
With someone at last to hold, Terry rediscovers his zest for life--and his fear of death.
Finally, with Jonas James at his side, he finds the courage to fight back.
John Inman has done it again! 2020 zapped my reading mojo so I just got around to reading Ravenous and I loved it! This book is a brilliant blend of horror, romance, chemistry, and humor . . . everything that makes for perfect October reading.
I won't say too much as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who, like me, arrived late to the party. I will say that from the fear of finding a drop of blood on your loved ones to the flapping of the approaching devastation, you know you won't forget what your about to read. My heart breaks for Terry when he recalls how close to getting away he and his husband were when they heard the flapping. I'm a bit of an introvert and don't mind to spend an evening alone here and there but how he manages it on that mountain with only Bruce the pug for company is beyond me. Which only makes his finding Jonas stealing from his traps that much more compelling, filled with snark and cuddle once they get back to Terry's cabin.
I won't go into any more specifics behind the bat-like creatures that cause so much pain and suffering but I will mention that John Inman's ability to world-build with such fear induced, edge of your seat, horror laced with humor storytelling is brilliant! Brilliant seems like too simple a word but the journey he takes his readers on will leave you breathless, sometimes out of fear, sometimes out of laughter, but always out of completely getting lost in the pages. Ravenous is another one of Inman's can't-put-it-down-because-I-need-to-know-how-it-ends but kicking-myself-when-it's-over-that-I-didn't-read-it-slower novels that gets the blood pumping.
RATING:
Summary:
It may be cold outside, but inside, the temperature is rising.
When grad student Kevin Taggert goes home with his best friend for Thanksgiving, the last thing he expects is to drool over the guy’s dad.
Forty-eight-year-old Drew Freeman would love a relationship, but he never expected to find it with his son’s best friend.
When a last-minute change of plans leaves Drew and Kevin alone in a cabin the week before Christmas, the heat between them is too much to deny.
Although they promise it’ll only last the week, every day that passes brings them closer together. When Christmas Day arrives—along with Drew’s son—can they salvage the relationship and the holiday?
Brigham Vaughn tells the most amazing May/December romances and Cabin Fever is another perfect example. Kevin and Drew find themselves alone with a chemistry that will ignite any fire without even trying. Will they let that blossom into more? You know my answer to that: you have to read to find out but as the author loves a good HEA, I think you can guess what the answer is yourself. But boy will you enjoy the journey these two men find themselves taking.
I have to admit that I forgot about this holiday gem the author released last year until I was looking for stories that had some level or mention of Turkey Day. I didn't forget it because it didn't sound appealing but my year has been kind of a backwards, sideways, mix-mashy journey and unfortunately reading took the biggest hit. I won't go into details about the story because Cabin Fever may have been a 2020 release that's nearly a year old, I'm sure there are others like me that have yet to discover the gloriously delicious duo of Kevin Taggert and Drew Freeman and I won't spoil it for them. What I will say though is that this was my second holiday read for the 2021 season and their ride really got my holiday spirit revved up.
I know that not everyone enjoys May/December romances and frankly I don't really know that it's my go-to trope but when it's done right it can be magical. Brigham Vaughn does it right. There is just enough realism to make one go hmmm! and just enough fiction to make you go huh! and when wrapped in a holiday bow, you find yourself going HO! HO! HO! A delightful gem from beginning to end and to make it even extra yummy, I just found out there is a free follow-up short available and I look forward to checking it out.
RATING:
Desert Dreams by RJ Scott & VL Locey
Summary:Owatonna U #6
When danger stalks their new home, it’s only their strength as a couple that keeps them safe.
Ryker misses Jacob every day he’s away. At the start of a new Raptors season with everything to play for, Jacob, the desert ranch, and their small menagerie of animals have become an oasis of peace in a turbulent world. He’s never ridden a horse, he’s never considered how much this place would mean to him, but suddenly he’s forming a connection with a mare called Tops and loving every moment of this new life. Balancing hockey with his love for Jacob, he feels that nothing can ever go wrong.
With his life finally on track, Jacob is pouring all of himself into the dream he shares with Ryker. Putting the final touches on Mountain Vista Ranch, a halfway home for troubled LGBTQ youth and their families, fills his heart with pride. When their first clients arrive, he finds himself drawn to the small family and their plight. Little does he or Ryker know that the darkness the newcomers have fled from is following them.
Ryker and Jacob just keep getting better and better! Probably my 3rd favorite couple in Scott & Locey's hockey universe. I loved Ryker when we first met him wayback when his dad, Jared fell in love with Ten in Changing Lines and as for Jacob, well as a farmer's daughter in Wisconsin I found so many characteristics I could connect with when he came into Ryker's life in Owatonna U's first entry, Ryker. Together they made a perfect match.
For those of you who think there is no "perfect" when it comes to anything relating to people and love, well I don't mean "perfect" in a Utopian sort of perfect, just that their pros and cons, their strengths and weaknesses, arguments and hugs all compliment each other and make each other stronger.
As for Desert Dreams, I love the whole concept of a place for those in need to regroup and heal and I can't think of anyone better than Jacob to lead the way(well perhaps Jack Campbell-Hayes who BTW makes a cameo and can I just say even without Riley at his side it was still a delicious treat). There is a lot packed into this Owatonna U novella and yet nothing felt rushed or glossed over. As a matter of fact I loved how the authors had Jacob still dealing with the after effects of what happened to him in Valentine Hearts(I won't go into particulars for those who haven't read it yet but it's not a quick fix situation and the authors show their respect for the trauma by "revisiting" the pain).
And I can't forget to mention Stan's security man, Maksim. The blend of humor and heart is delightfully fun and he will definitely be a perfect fit for what Jacob and Ryker are trying to accomplish and provide at Mountain Vista Ranch. From the moment he didn't want to let Ryker through the gate to his tinkling spurs, he has found a home and I hope this isn't a one-time appearance because he put a smile on my face every time he made his presence known.
I also must mention that I loved how it involves Halloween. So many books that have a Halloween-flair are paranormals and all kinds of spooky but this is a contemporary story of recovery and finding your place so I just found the Halloween scene a real treat and that once in a while we all must let our inner child out because you never know just who or how it will help.
RATING:
Back Check by RJ Scott & VL Locey
“Hey, guys, did you see this story coming out of Fort Lauderdale?”
Everyone looked at me.
“I didn’t do it,” I quickly said as I lifted my hands up innocently. “I was here in Boston.”
“No, it’s nothing bad like you’re used to,” Austin blurted out. Xander swatted him upside the head. The boy’s eyes bugged out, and his soft cheeks turned scarlet. “Oh! No, I didn’t mean you did bad stuff! Being drunk isn’t bad. Well, it kind of is bad when you run off the road and hit a mailbox. It’s not bad in a bad way. It’s, uhm… well, it’s just an addiction right, and you’re not drinking anymore so it’s all okay. No, well, okay in that you’ve stopped drinking and are now—”
“It’s okay, Rowe, I know what you meant, and it’s fine. I did some pretty fucked up things when I was under the influence of alcohol.”
Austin wilted a bit. “Okay, thanks. I didn’t mean to imply that addictions are bad. I mean they are! No, not bad like bad but—”
“It’s okay, kid. Just move onto the news story.” I chuckled. Moral lobbed a chunk of apple at Austin. He ducked it and the glob smacked Kyle in the cheek.
“Right, yeah, so there’s this guy down in Florida who’s looking for a bone marrow donor for his daughter. He showed up at a preseason hockey game to search for some mysterious fan called ‘Hockey Guy’ which the dead mother named as the possible father.”
“Shit, so the guy is raising his daughter alone?” Moral asked, the sad news slowing his inhalation of muffins for a moment.
“Wait…” He placed his muffin on its plate. “If he’s the father then why is he looking for the father?”
“He’s the baby’s uncle but has been raising her as her father. It’s all super sad and everyone in the league is signing up to see if they’re a match for the little girl with leukemia. Look at her.” He showed us all an image of an adorable little girl of perhaps three and her daddy/uncle who was also cute as hell. “We should sign up.”
Scandal at the Salty Dog by Josh Lanyon
Ellery Page was dreaming of New York.
He was standing in line, though whether for theater tickets or Absolute Bagels was unclear, when the person behind him leaned in and kissed the back of his neck.
Ellery’s eyes popped open. He was not in line. He was not in New York. He was in bed at Captain’s Seat—and the life-sized portrait of Captain Horatio Page was gazing down at him with a dubious expression.
“Better get a move on. You’re going to be late.”
That opinion was not offered by Captain Horatio Page. That was Pirate Cove’s police chief and Ellery’s, well, boyfriend, Jack Carson.
Ellery turned his head to answer, and his face was immediately covered in wet, passionate kisses. That was also not Captain Horatio Page. Nor, sadly, Jack. That was Watson, Ellery’s sixish-month-old black spaniel-mix puppy and occasional (according to Jack) partner in crime.
Ellery started to laugh, kissed Watson back—though less passionately. “Good morning to you too.”
Jack bent to scoop up Watson at the same moment Ellery sat up, and their collision ended up in a kiss that went on a little longer than either anticipated—ending in smiles and reluctant parting of lips.
As Jack drew back, Ellery realized he was already dressed—that navy-blue uniform really suited his athletic six foot, one hundred and ninety-plus pounds and rugged good looks—right down to his police boots.
“Yikes. I really am late.” Ellery threw back the sheet and summer blanket.
“No. I’m early. I’ve got breakfast with the State Police Superintendent.”
Ellery’s smile was wry. “That’s right. And dinner with the town council.”
“I could meet you for dessert?”
“Silver Sleuths. I promised Nora I’d look in.” This was his first day—his first official day—back at work after suffering what Jack referred to as an extra-curricular concussion. Amateur sleuthing turned out to be a hazardous hobby. Not that Ellery considered his sleuthing a hobby. Or even something he planned on doing again.
Jack considered. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“You tell me.”
Jack grinned, leaned in to kiss him one final time, and murmured, “I will. In detail.”
Ravenous by John Inman
Chapter One
TERRY JONES opened his eyes to a bombardment of gentle crystal sounds, clearly orchestrated by Mother Nature herself. The noises were so musical, so unexpected and sweet, they yanked Terry upright in the bed and left him sitting there with an insipid grin on his face. He could sense his eyes bulging out as big as melon balls, and there was some sort of weird little shiver of pleasure crawling up his naked back, which made him wiggle around and damn near laugh out loud.
Holy crap! The sounds on the air were beautiful! No car horns, no wailing ambulances, no beeping garbage trucks warning toddlers on tricycles to get the hell out of the way before they got smashed flat. No earsplitting rumble of skateboards or atonal rap crap blasting from passing automobiles. Not even any kids screaming to high heaven on their way to school. Just the sweet cacophony of birds and the lazy rush and scrape of shifting tree limbs swaying merrily in the morning breeze, tickling the cabin walls. Above his head, a plunk and then a gentle rumble scrambling from left to right told him a pine cone had been knocked loose from the tree outside and sent bouncing across the cabin’s roof before tumbling over the edge in what was no doubt a graceful swan dive, to land with a muted thud in the dirt below.
Terry took a second to dig through the blankets to find his sleeping pug, Bruce. Named for Bruce Willis because the dog thought he was hot shit too—and like the real Bruce, sometimes actually was. Bruce was apparently immune to the glorious songs of nature. Terry pulled his limp body out into the morning light and held him up in front of his face to give him a smooch on the belly. Bruce wagged his tail, yawned, snorted a few times in bliss, as pugs are prone to do, then promptly fell fast asleep dangling there in midair.
“Pitiful old guy,” Terry crooned, tucking the dog carefully back under the covers.
He gazed around the room, and the second he took in where he was, Terry froze. Memories came flooding back, pelting him like hail. Sharp and icy cold. Horrible memories. Bloody memories.
His gaze shot up to the ceiling, and he thought back to the sound he had heard only moments before. The pine cone striking the roof and rolling to the ground. Or had it been a pine cone at all?
He shook the covers off his bare legs and stepped onto the cold floor. His cock, which had been standing at morning attention only moments before, was now shriveled and limp. Warily, holding his breath, Terry walked to the upstairs cabin window and pressed his nose against the glass.
The forest surrounding his acre of land was in a furious state of motion—tree branches large and small twitching and swaying in the wind. Tall weeds were bowing to one another on the banks of the ditch that bordered Terry’s property in the back. Most of the trees were pine and hickory, with a few towering bridges of honeysuckle draping from one tree to another. Their flowers had not blossomed yet, but the twining vines and leaves of the honeysuckle, as green and vibrant as in high summer, still trembled in the breeze and dripped with morning dew.
Terry stood stock-still at the window. The chilly air seeping through the glass in front of him laid icy fingers across his bare chest and belly. Someday he would have to put in storm windows, but not today. Or anytime soon more than likely. Not while his little neck of the woods was still under siege.
And not when every heartbeat might be his last. As that thought struck him, Terry gazed down at himself. At his long fuzzy legs, coated with ginger hair, neatly muscled from years of jogging. At the furry expanse of his chest and abdomen, as lean as his legs, with an added trail of red fuzz leaking down from his navel to lose itself in his nest of coppery pubic hair. His sleeping cock nestled there, one eye peering out at the world as if leery of facing the day.
That little stroke of whimsy almost made him smile. But the smile was short-lived.
Terry held his hands up and surveyed his arms and fingers. Checked around his fingernails for torn skin. He slid those same fingers across his face, up and over his beard to his cheekbones, down his neck, along toward the back of his head. Every couple of seconds, drawing his hands back and studying his fingertips for smears of blood in case he might have scratched himself while he slept.
Nothing. He breathed a sigh of relief.
He gazed back at the bed, where Bruce had poked his nose out of the covers. He was watching Terry for any signs of movement. Preferably movement toward the kitchen where Bruce might find himself being served breakfast.
Terry chuckled watching him, made a motion for the dog to follow, then set off toward the staircase leading down from the cabin’s loft where he kept his bed. Bruce flew out from under the blankets in hot pursuit, bright-eyed now but still yawning. His stubby tail wagged in anticipatory bliss while the toenails on his four little feet tippy-tapped across the icy floor.
With a grunt as stiff muscles stretched, Terry poured a bowl of kibbles from the fifty-pound bag under the kitchen sink. He set the bowl on Bruce’s blue blankie by the kitchen stove, then refilled Bruce’s water dish while the pug burrowed his snout into his food and all but inhaled it to extinction.
With his roomie taken care of, Terry filled a teakettle for instant coffee and placed it on the gas stove, then set about preparing his own breakfast. Eggs over easy and bacon, fried in a skillet on the burner next to the teakettle. He would have liked a baked potato nuked in the microwave and smothered with butter, but he was too lazy to fix it. Instead he made do with cold cereal buried beneath half a cup of sugar for dessert. Terry had a sweet tooth, and donuts were a little hard to come by these days.
While he ate he listened to the mockingbirds who always perched on the chimney above his hearth, sending their voices spilling out across the grate to fill the cabin with song. Of course, the song was one step short of caterwauling, but Terry was used to it. Once in a while, Bruce growled at the racket coming through the flue, but on the whole, Terry figured he was used to it too.
His gaze wandered to the stack of galvanized fence posts piled clumsily against the cabin wall by the back kitchen door. The posts had been glommed from a now defunct home improvement store down the mountain, not too far from the city limits of Spangle, California. Terry’s hometown. Since the invasion came, since the beasts had spewed up from the guts of the earth or spilled out of the depths of somebody’s fucking nightmare—wherever the hell they came from—Spangle had become little more than a deathtrap. A deathtrap Terry Jones had been lucky to escape. So far.
But he wouldn’t think about that now.
He nibbled on bacon and soaked up the egg yolk from his plate with the last of the stale bread before returning his gaze to the fence posts in the corner.
The posts were metal, six feet long, perhaps three inches wide and a quarter inch thick. Strong and unbendable. They were pierced with countless holes, intended for the convenient attachment of fencing wire. But Terry wasn’t interested in fencing wire. Fencing wire wouldn’t fill his needs at all. No, Terry was in the process of using the heavy metal posts to reinforce the outside of the cabin. This included the windows and doors, where he placed the posts like security bars, nailing them two inches apart so he could still see outside but close enough that nothing outside could make its way in. When he was finished with the outside, he would line the walls and ceiling inside as well.
As a second line of defense should the first line fail, Terry was using the metal posts to reinforce the walls downstairs in what he had come to call the blood room. The blood room had once been a fruit cellar, but those days were long gone, Terry told himself with a nasty little smirk aimed at the fence posts in the corner. The blood room was there as a last retreat. A final chance at survival. Sort of like a last-ditch bomb shelter, except nuclear bombs were actually the least of his worries. His and everybody else’s in and around Spangle. These days they were more concerned with flying beasts with fangs and claws and an unquenchable thirst for human blood. And who could ever have seen that coming?
Terry checked the calendar on the wall beside his chair. He reached over and filled yesterday’s square—August 2—with a fat black X, using the Sharpie hanging beside it on a string. There. It was official. He had survived another day and night. Ruffling through the pages of past months, he counted back to May 3. Exactly three months ago. That was the day he hightailed it out of Spangle and entrenched himself here in his and Bobby’s vacation cabin on this measly little mountain in the backcountry, three miles out of town. It had always been a refuge before, this cabin. A place for them to relax. Where they could get away from work and spend quality time together, just the two of them. Plus Bruce.
Now, of course, Bobby was no more. He had been taken only hours after they fled the town, as so many fellow residents before them had been taken. On that day, when Bobby was wrenched from Terry’s side and swept away in the horror, Terry knew he would never go back to their house in town. Not as long as the horror kept escalating. He had no choice but to carry through with the plans he and Bobby had made to escape the slaughter. So with little more than a broken heart, the clothes on his back, and his beloved little dog, Terry slunk off into oblivion. And now, three months later, here he still was. Hiding out. Cowering, to be more precise. Aching not to be alone anymore, but unable to leave his tiny mountain, the only place he felt safe enough now to call home, and the last place in the world he should really be at all.
He had burglarized a few out-of-business clothing stores since leaving town, sneaking back to replenish his wardrobe. He had looted abandoned grocery stores for canned goods to keep himself alive. But there was little he could do about his broken heart. With time, it had healed a bit. But there were still days—and nights—when Terry all but crumbled under the grief, the weight of missing Bobby. There were so many things he missed. The sound of Bobby’s voice across the breakfast table. His gentle snores in the bed at night. The way Bobby inevitably rolled into Terry’s arms in the wee hours of each and every morning, his mouth and hands seeking comfort, his sleep-warm skin nestling close until Terry, his own hunger awakened, sought Bobby’s warmth as well.
They had been good for each other, him and Bobby. Their love had been real. As real as the creatures that tore Bobby away three months back on this very day. As real as the creatures that would tear Terry away today if he wasn’t careful. If he wasn’t diligent.
Once again, Terry searched his hands for any little cut or tear. Any seepage of blood, no matter how minute. He touched his face and checked his fingertips for smears of blood. His beard was getting long, he noticed, since he had stopped shaving. No sense asking for trouble if shaving wasn’t necessary. One slip of the razor and they would be on him in a flash. He didn’t doubt it for a minute.
Them. Terry shuddered, thinking back. Out of nowhere, filling Terry’s mind, was the sound of Bobby’s final scream as he was torn to pieces in front of him.
Terry’s fork clattered to the floor, and he closed his eyes, trying to squeeze the memory away, to head it off before it took hold of him completely.
It refused to budge, of course. It always did. The memory stayed lodged right behind his eyes, where it always lay in wait. Lurking. Hoping to catch him off guard.
As it just had.
God, Terry missed his old life. And oh sweet Jesus, how he hated that fucking memory!
So he plucked it from behind his eyes with trembling fingers and placed it on a dark shelf at the back of his mind. Tucking it away. Burying it among the flotsam, back where the shadows were deepest. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed, but he managed it.
For now.
Cabin Fever by Brigham Vaughn
One
“Hey, are you okay?”
Kevin Taggert looked up from his phone to see his roommate frowning at him. “I’m not great,” he admitted.
“What’s up?” Jason Freeman plopped onto the couch next to him, a concerned expression crossing his face. “You look like you just got dumped and I didn’t know you were dating anyone.”
“I’m not. Just feeling bummed about the holiday.” He sighed heavily.
“You’re staying here in Indiana for Thanksgiving, right?” Jason stretched his legs out, getting comfortable. “I mean, dealing with the airport and flights to Washington State and back again for a few days did seem like a lot, so I didn’t blame you for skipping it this year.”
“Yeah, it just didn’t seem worth the hassle and expense since I was going home for Christmas, anyway. But then I got this email from my mom about my brother and his girlfriend, and now I’m feeling bummed that I’ll miss a big moment with my family.”
He woke up his phone again, then handed it over to Jason. It was still queued up to the email from his mom.
Jason read the message, a frown furrowing his brow as he stared down at the screen.
Kevin didn’t have to see it to remember what it said.
We’re looking forward to spending the weekend with Gabe and Meredith. We think there may be a big announcement soon! We’re so excited for them and their future together. It’s great seeing them settling down and beginning their adult lives.
-Mom
“Oh, man, that sucks.”
“Yeah.” Kevin sighed. “I hate to miss my brother’s big moment, and it feels like I grow a little further apart from my family every year, you know?”
“I get it.”
“I mean, I was the one who came here to Indiana for school so that’s on me, but it’s been hard to get home on a regular basis. And I always feel like I’m letting them down. Like they’re disappointed that I went into engineering and that my relationship with my ex fizzled out. I can’t even meet a guy, much less get engaged like my brother.”
“Is that what your mom meant by big announcement?”
“I assume so,” he said. “They’ve been together fucking forever, so it’s the logical thing.”
“And you said your mom is crazy about Meredith, right?”
“Yeah, both my parents are. I like her a lot too, honestly. I’m really happy for my brother. I’m just feeling bummed that I’m going to miss out. The thought of sitting alone on the couch here while my family is off celebrating my brother’s engagement makes me feel crappy about where I am in my life.”
“You’re a semester away from having your master’s degree in mechanical engineering. You’re doing just fine, man.”
“I know. Seriously, ignore me. I’ll snap out of it in a bit. I swear. I’m just feeling sorry for myself at the moment. I reconsidered going out there but it’s really too late. When I checked flights, it was nearly double what it was a month ago, and that’s ridiculous for a couple of days at home. I was originally planning to catch up on studying this weekend, but now I’ll probably just wind up sitting on the couch, bored and lonely.”
Jason gave him a sympathetic smile before his expression brightened. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you come home to Michigan with me for Thanksgiving?”
Kevin considered the idea. “You’re staying with your dad, right? He won’t mind me crashing your holiday?”
“Nah. Dad’s cool. He won’t care if you tag along with me. It’s usually just the two of us, so I’m sure he won’t mind you being there at all. I was planning to leave Wednesday, drive up that day, spend Thursday and Friday with my dad, go with my mom and stepdad to my grandma’s on Saturday, and then head home Sunday. That work for you?”
“Sure,” Kevin said slowly. “As long as no one minds me intruding.”
“I’ll text them and check, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. You can come with me to my grandma’s too, if you want, on Saturday or just chill at my dad’s place. He won’t care either way.”
“I can decide when we get up there, I guess.” He glanced at Jason. “You going to see Angie?”
He shrugged. “I really want to. She’s been weird about it though.”
“What do you mean?”
“One minute she’s all for it, then next she’s saying it’s a bad idea.” He sighed and rubbed a hand across his bearded face.
“Isn’t that pretty standard for you guys?”
“Kind of.”
In the five years Kevin had been friends with Jason, he and his high school sweetheart Angela Hill had dated and broken up more times than Kevin could remember. After they’d graduated from high school, she’d stayed in Ann Arbor to go to a prestigious cosmetology school, and Jason had gone to Purdue in Indiana. It had become a never-ending cycle of hating the long-distance relationship and missing being together. Which Kevin could certainly understand. But he knew his roommate was going to be miserable until things got resolved one way or the other.
“Just hang in there until you graduate next spring,” he said, patting him on the thigh. “Once you do, you’ll be able to figure out a plan for the future.”
“Since when are you such a romantic?” Jason teased, nudging Kevin’s leg with his knee. “I thought you’d given up on relationships.”
He shrugged. “What I’m doing and what everyone else is doing are two very different things,” he pointed out. “And I’m not against the idea. I just haven’t found anyone worth making all that effort for.”
“You’ll find it, dude. You’re a great guy, and someone’s going to see that.”
Kevin shot him a half-hearted smile. “I hope so.”
“Nah, I know so,” Jason said as he typed out a message on his phone. “You’ll make some lucky guy very happy someday. Now let me message my dad and ask if he’s cool with you joining us for Thanksgiving.”
Desert Dreams by RJ Scott & VL Locey
“This is Max.” Jacob held the phone out to me. “He looks like a happy kid,” Jacob murmured.
I glanced at my husband to see the light in his eyes. One day he might want kids—surrogacy, adoption, somehow, we’d be extending our family—and how could we do that if I was traded up to Montreal or Vancouver and he was here in Arizona?
“He’s the best.” Jack beamed. “All four of the kids ride, and because of Max we have a horse therapy program for children at the D.”
Of course, they did, because Jack clearly had a grip on his life and could work magic, and managed to have his whole world on an even keel.
“We’re uncles,” Jacob said proudly. “Show Jack a photo.” He looked at me pointedly.
I could see the tension bracketing his eyes. I was fucking up, and he’d been planning for this visit for weeks. After all, it had been Jack’s Legacy Ranch that had inspired Jacob.
“Sorry, yeah.” I scrolled to a picture of little Charlotte on my cell, my heart swelling with love at seeing her cheeky smile, and showing Jack who made all the right noises, and called her hella cute. She was hella cute, and in that particular photo, she was in a tiny Raptors shirt that I’d sent to Dad and Ten.
“I’m actually kind of her big brother, Jacob’s like an uncle, but biologically—it’s complicated.”
“Life always is.” Jack laughed. “And that’s your team?” he asked, smiling at me, waiting for me to give the best answer I could think of.
“Yeah, the Arizona Raptors, in Arizona.” Duh. The fuck, Ryker?
“I never get that.” Jack wrinkled his nose. “I get ice in Canada, that’s perfectly okay, I mean, it’s cold. But we have a team in Dallas, you know them, yeah?”
“There are only thirty-two teams, so we play them.” Jeez, way to sound condescending.
Jack shook his head. “Ice. In Dallas. Makes as much sense as ice in Arizona.”
Writing love stories with a happy ever after – cowboys, heroes, family, hockey, single dads, bodyguards
USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott has written over one hundred romance books. Emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, single dads, hockey players, millionaires, princes, bodyguards, Navy SEALs, soldiers, doctors, paramedics, firefighters, cops, and the men who get mixed up in their lives, always 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 box of chocolates she couldn’t defeat.
USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.
V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.
When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.
Bestselling author of over sixty titles of classic Male/Male fiction featuring twisty mystery, kickass adventure and unapologetic man-on-man romance, JOSH LANYON has been called "the Agatha Christie of gay mystery."
Her work has been translated into eleven languages. The FBI thriller Fair Game was the first male/male title to be published by Harlequin Mondadori, the largest romance publisher in Italy. Stranger on the Shore (Harper Collins Italia) was the first M/M title to be published in print. In 2016 Fatal Shadows placed #5 in Japan's annual Boy Love novel list (the first and only title by a foreign author to place on the list).
The Adrien English Series was awarded All Time Favorite Male Male Couple in the 2nd Annual contest held by the Goodreads M/M Group (which has over 22,000 members). Josh is an Eppie Award winner, a four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist for Gay Mystery, and the first ever recipient of the Goodreads Favorite M/M Author Lifetime Achievement award.
John has been writing fiction for as long as he can remember. Born on a small farm in Indiana, he now resides in San Diego, California where he spends his time gardening, pampering his pets, hiking and biking the trails and canyons of San Diego, and of course, writing. He and his partner share a passion for theater, books, film, and the continuing fight for marriage equality. If you would like to know more about John, check out his website.
Brigham Vaughn
Brigham Vaughn is on the adventure of a lifetime as a full-time writer. She devours books at an alarming rate and hasn’t let her short arms and long torso stop her from doing yoga. She makes a killer key lime pie, hates green peppers, and loves wine tasting tours. A collector of vintage Nancy Drew books and green glassware, she enjoys poking around in antique shops and refinishing thrift store furniture. An avid photographer, she dreams of traveling the world and she can’t wait to discover everything else life has to offer her.Her books range from short stories to novellas. They explore gay, lesbian, and polyamorous romance in contemporary settings.
To stay up to date on her latest releases, sign up for the Coles & Vaughn Newsletter.
RJ Scott
BOOKBUB / KOBO / SMASHWORDS
EMAIL: rj@rjscott.co.uk
VL Locey
Josh Lanyon
BLOG / NEWSLETTER / CHIRP
EMAIL: josh.lanyon@sbcglobal.net
John Inman
iTUNES / GOOGLE PLAY / AMAZON
EMAIL: John492@att.net
Brigham Vaughn
SMASHWORDS / PINTEREST / SCRIBd / B&N
EMAIL: brighamvaughn@gmail.com
Back Check by RJ Scott & VL Locey
Scandal at the Salty Dog by Josh Lanyon
KOBO / WEBSITE / GOODREADS TBR
Ravenous by John Inman
