Summary:
A Nick & Carter Holiday #3
Tuesday, February 13, 1951
What does the man who can buy anything get the man who doesn't want anything?
That's the mystery Nick Williams is trying to solve.
He's a small-time private dick in San Francisco with a big-time trust he inherited from a rich uncle during the war.
With the help of his new secretary, Marnie Wilson, Nick is hoping he can come up with something that will let Carter Jones, the fireman he shares a house and a bed with, know how much he really loves him.
With a little luck, and some help from both friends and family, Valentine's Day of 1951 might just be one they'll both remember for a long, long time.
Welcome to a year of holidays with Nick Williams and Carter Jones!
This is the twenty-third in a series of short stories and novellas all centered around specific holidays.
Each story is a vignette that stands on its own and takes place from the 1920s to 2008.
I honestly am running out of ways to say to express how much I love this series of holiday shorts or how much each one is making the original Nick and Carter journey closer and closer to the top of my TBR list.
A couple of comments I can make without giving anything away to those like me who recently discovered this amazing universe Frank W Butterfield has created. Nick stewing over what to get the man who wants nothing is a delight especially seeing his growing friendship with his new secretary, Marnie. The convo between them that brought up the line of speaking honestly and not discussing with others is brief but goes a long way to showing us the kind of person each of them is all the while remaining every inch of entertaining.
As to what Nick's gift ends up being? Well you have to experience that for yourself but I found it refreshing, unique, heartwarming, and once again showing the truth of each character involved as to the kind of person at heart they are.
Lovely, lovely, lovely and if I wasn't already invested in this series, Valentine's Day, 1951 would definitely cement my need to read on.
Summary:
Williamsville Inn
A pastry chef nursing a broken heart.
A single dad who made the biggest mistake of his life.
One guest room to sleep in.
When Adrian Cobb arrives in New York to help his brother move, he comes face to face with the worst decision he’s ever made—ghosting on a baking conference hookup a year ago. Now, he’s sharing a guest room with Ajay Sunagar, who looks as tasty as the pastries he bakes, and Adrian desperately wants to prove he can handle the heat this time.
But although the attraction’s still there, Jay makes it clear he isn’t ready to forgive and forget. As they spend more time together, Adrian begins to wonder if Jay would rather make him grovel or cover Adrian in frosting and lick him all over.
Will Adrian’s delicious treats and a little Valentine’s Day magic be enough to sweeten Jay’s mood and convince him he’s worth a second chance?
“The Cupcake Conundrum” is a sweet-treat story about a single dad, instant attraction, and falling in love all over again that takes place in the Williamsville Inn series world. It features characters from Brigham Vaughn’s "Snowstorms and Second Chances”, along with "Snowflakes and Song Lyrics" and “The Cupid Crawl” by Hank Edwards but can be read as a standalone story.
This book has sat in my Kindle library for months and unfortunately went unread. Then as February started I was looking for Valentine's Day reads when I remembered The Cupcake Conundrum and decided it was the perfect time to give it a go. I was not disappointed, not that I thought I would because Brigham Vaughn has yet to write a story I didn't like.
The Cupcake Conundrum is another sweet, fun, delightful holiday read for a holiday, that despite the romance genre, gets rarely used for a setting. As I said, this is a fun read but there is more drama("drama" may be a bit strong of a word but the easiest so I'll stick with it😉) than in Hank Edwards' Valentine entry to the Williamsville Inn series, The Cupid Crawl, but you still find yourself smiling when you ride along on Adrian and Jay's journey right from the beginning. There's more than a few times I'd love to bang their heads together till they communicate better but you have to give the heroes a few hurdles to overcome.
As always, this is a spoiler free zone so I'll just stop here before my fingers get to talking too much. I'll just end by saying, The Cupcake Conundrum will not only make your face smile brighter and your heart pound faster, it will probably leave you hungrier more than once(how can you not be with a title like The Cupcake Conundrum?😉). A real romantic gem and another winner from the heart of Brigham Vaughn.
RATING:
Summary:
Harrisburg Railers #12
Family comes first in all things. Whatever the cost.
Ten had always heard the saying, “Out of the mouths of babes,” but he hadn’t expected it to hit home as it had. After a comment from their daughter, Ten and Jared ponder an addition to the family. Moving into the adoption process is nerve-wracking and riddled with anxiety—kind of the way the Railers have been playing as of late. Bringing two young men into their homes and hearts won’t be a smooth ride. But with patience, humor, and love, the bumpy road might just be a little easier to travel.
Expanding their small family was always in the cards, but no one could have foreseen the process clashing with the worst ever start to a Railers season. A string of losses, a vital player missing from the defense, a captain in the emergency room—and winning a single game seems impossible, let alone getting the team to the playoffs. Faced with hard decisions, Jared refuses to take his work home, but it’s difficult when your husband is at the leading edge of the losing streak. His focus fractures when one sibling they’re matched with is frustrated, angry, and has a healthy dose of mistrust.
Jared and Ten’s parenting skills are tested, but they’ll do anything to make a place in their home the perfect gift for two children lost in the system.
Gotta start by saying: YAHOO!!!! Another Railers holiday tale!!!!
The authors may have tagged this a Christmas Railers novella but it actually encompasses multiple holidays including Turkey Day and that is a holiday that is rarely touched on, or at least not nearly enough. That right there is worthy of 1 bookmark alone. Being Harrisburg is worthy of another. What gave it the other 3? Read on.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: love, love, LOVE men who care for kids! Seeing Ten and Jared's family grow is so heartwarming, watching them tackle fostering and adoption of older kids turned me into a big puddle of sappy goo. Now that's not to say this leg of the crowned Princes of Scott & Locey's hockey universe is cliche by using the term "sappy" oh no, no, no, no. Sure some moments may seem cliche but that doesn't make it bad. With so many health issues in our family, status quo or cliche, is often a welcomed treat so when I say "sappy" all I'm really saying is "can we bundle those boys in layers and layers of bubblewrap so harm never comes to them?"
Soren and Milo are amazing! Milo is the quintessentially adorably loveable little boy. Soren is the epitome of "give me your best shot and I'll tell you what for" chip on his shoulder older brother. Some might say Soren is a little brat but not me, what I see is a scared boy having to be older than his years to protect his little brother. He's thrown for a loop when he meets Ten and Jared and it raises his guard up even higher. Now I'm not going to say more because despite this being a holiday novella and Scott & Locey are always about the HEA, I don't want to spoil any of the journey the Madsen-Rowe household embarks on, just know that your heart will thank you for the experience. Seeing little, itty bitty Lottie walking and talking and being all kinds cute is plus.
How can I write a review for a Railers tale without mentioning one of the funniest scenes I've read in ANY story in a long time? Adler and Stan loudly discussing naughty Valentine gifts as Ten tries to shut them up as a reporter is only 10' away. How can that not leave you ROTFLYAO? Trust me, I'm glad I read this when I was at home and not in the waiting room at Mayo Clinic, they may just have had to call security because I would literally have been on the floor laughing hysterically. Thank you, ladies for including a convo that could only work with Adler and Stan.
The hockey universe consisting of Harrisburg, Owatonna, Arizona, & Boston Scott & Locey has created should be read in order, especially those involving Ten and Jared. Will you be lost if you read Perfect Gifts without having read any of the other universe? Probably not but there are other characters mentioned and seen who make a lasting impression if you know their individual stories as well. None of the stories will leave you sorry you picked them up. Just so much yumminess all over the place and I don't mean just the sexy times, but overall heartwarminess(yeah I know that's not a word but I think it sums it up pretty spot on).
Summary:
Stealing Hearts #1
Stealing Hearts #1
Some hearts are made to be stolen.
Mark Mannix doesn’t believe in love or romance, which is ironic given his birthday falls on Valentine’s Day. As he approaches forty, Mark is perfectly content with his life and nursing career in Boston, and—outside of his long-time friend-with-benefits, Alistair—prefers his hookups to be one-night stands.
When Mark’s plans for New Year’s Eve fall through, he attends his sister’s party and meets Owen Todd, a graphic designer of Caribbean descent. Owen is more than a decade younger than Mark and, at first glance the two men appear to have little in common. The chemistry between them is potent, however, and Mark breaks his no-strings pattern, seeing Owen week after week.
A connection forms between the two men, leaving Mark in uncharted territory and drawn to Owen in ways he’s never known before. Even so, Mark continues his hookups with Alistair but is startled when Owen withdraws out of a desire to protect himself. His foundations shaken, Mark must decide if he can watch Owen walk away or … if the time has come to follow his heart in a new direction.
Mark Mannix doesn’t believe in love or romance, which is ironic given his birthday falls on Valentine’s Day. As he approaches forty, Mark is perfectly content with his life and nursing career in Boston, and—outside of his long-time friend-with-benefits, Alistair—prefers his hookups to be one-night stands.
When Mark’s plans for New Year’s Eve fall through, he attends his sister’s party and meets Owen Todd, a graphic designer of Caribbean descent. Owen is more than a decade younger than Mark and, at first glance the two men appear to have little in common. The chemistry between them is potent, however, and Mark breaks his no-strings pattern, seeing Owen week after week.
A connection forms between the two men, leaving Mark in uncharted territory and drawn to Owen in ways he’s never known before. Even so, Mark continues his hookups with Alistair but is startled when Owen withdraws out of a desire to protect himself. His foundations shaken, Mark must decide if he can watch Owen walk away or … if the time has come to follow his heart in a new direction.
Thief of Hearts is a 29K age gap sex-buddies-to-lovers novella. It features a dashing Nurse Practitioner who thinks monogamy is a farce, the graphic designer who likes him way too much, a personal epiphany or two, and a satisfying HEA that will warm your heart.
When he finds his New Year's Eve plan fall through, Mark Mannix attends his sister's party where he meets younger man, Owen Todd. Having devoted his life to no-strings hook-ups aside from long standing friends-with-benefits Alistair, Mark is surprised to find a connection with Owen. Determined to not let it be more will Mark change his mindset for the future? Will Owen be satisfied with the casual connection Mark is set on?
I gotta just start off by saying K Evan Coles just keeps getting better and better. Thief of Hearts is the third solo work from the author I've read in addition to the (currently available) four co-authored works with Brigham Vaughn, and each one is absolutely unforgettable! She has quickly risen to my automatic 1-click list and Thief is a perfect example of why she has earned her place on that short list.
I am the last person to ever judge anyone's lifestyle, let's face it longterm/lifelong relationships are not for everyone so as long as they are true to themselves and to the people they hook-up with, then I don't have issues with them. Mark is upfront from the getgo that he isn't looking for that forever person so he isn't a player, he isn't lying or misleading Owen and for that I respect him, does that mean I didn't want to whack him upside the head once-in-a-while? No because I definitely thought he could use a swift kick here and there but he's in no-way-shape-or-form a bad guy. As for Owen, he is an absolute dream who has this connection to a man who isn't looking for the same things making me want to wrap him up in a big giant bear hug to protect his heart. Some might find their story happening too quick but truth is Thief is very naturally and believably paced, the heart has no timeline after all.
I feel like I'm giving too much away so I won't say any more to the plot other than I loved how the author has these two men who really are on two separate paths as far as their hearts are concerned and she doesn't have either of them try and change the other. So often in fiction one or both try and make the other fit their plan or idea of love which can be entertaining but frankly if I have to change someone into what I want, why would I want them and better yet why would they want me? So for that aspect alone, I want to say a huge "Thank You, K Evan Coles!". Thief of Hearts is truly brilliant storytelling and a prime example of quality over quantity making this a must read gem.
One final note: Mark's long-standing-friends-with-benefits Alistair needs his own story *hint, hint* because he may only be in a few scenes but he owns each one. No pressure, Miss Coles but Alistair really deserves to have his story told😉😉.
Mountain Springs Omega #3
Mason's hated Valentine's Day ever since his fiance broke off their engagement on that most romantic of holidays.
Ten years after his alpha ended their engagement, Mason still feels the hurt and does everything he can to not thing about his lost love or the holiday. But being Mountain Springs' only chocolatier, he doesn't have the luxury of hiding from the day like he'd prefer.
Devon just wants to protect his omega, even though he knows he hurt him.
Ending the engagement was the last thing Devon wanted to do, but he needed to protect his omega, and at the time he thought it was the only solution. Now there's an arsonist running around Mountain Springs, and Mason's shop is in the crosshairs. Devon realizes he'll have to hurt his love again in order to protect him.
When both men are frced to confront the past in prder to prevent calamity, will their history get in the way, or is a little heat just what it takes to bring them back together?
Recipe for Romance
One Protective Alpha
One Emotionally Scarred Omega
1 Failed Engagement
1 Chocolate Shop
1 Arsonist
Candy Kisses for the Omega is a 13K word , non-shifter, M/M, Mpreg romance, featuring two men afraid to confront their past, some knotty fun, and plenty of chocolate.
Over the years I've read a handful of mpregs in fanfiction and enjoyed them all but I'll admit I've only read a few in published works, which I too have enjoyed each time. It may not be a genre or trope I seek out but I don't shy away from either and have collected a fair number on my kindle and TBR list but haven't had the opportunity to discover yet. As for Lacey Daize? This is a new author to me, some find that scary but I find it adrenaline pumping almost as much as the rush I get waiting to discover the end of great book. Lacey Daize is definitely an author to go on my authors-to-watch list and I look forward to discovering more.
On to Candy Kisses. Being a short novella I won't go into much detail so not to spoil it for others who are also new to either the author or this story. Candy is the third entry in the author's Mountain Springs Omegas non-shifter mpreg series and as far as I can tell it is a series of standalones. Being a series-read-in-order kind of gal, it is unusual for me to start in the middle but as I was looking for Valentine stories, what can I say I took a chance😉.
I enjoyed every minute of this short tale of love, friendship, second chances, and it has just a hint of mystery that made it a winning gem. I want to wrap Mason in bubblewrap and though I wouldn't mind giving Devon a good solid shake(and possibly a whack to the back of the head) I understood his thought process wayback when. Can the pair work through the heartache of the past to find happiness in the future? You'll have to discover that for yourself, as it's a holiday that is all about love you can probably guess where the couple will end up but getting there is where all the entertaining discovery lies.
Candy Kisses for the Omega has definitely made me want to check out the rest of the Mountain Springs Omegas series.
Valentine's Day, 1951 by Frank W Butterfield
Chapter 1
137 Hartford Street
San Francisco, Cal.
Tuesday, February 13, 1951
Just past dawn
I opened my eyes. The light in the room was dim but the sun was up. And the room was freezing. Someone had stolen all the covers and I was cold. I rolled off the frigid bed and made my way into the bathroom. The tile was cold on my feet. As I did my business, I remembered that, starting at 4 that afternoon, Carter would be working a forty-eight hour shift at the firehouse, Station Three to be precise.
Carter Jones was my lover of about three and a half years. He was tall, standing at 6'4", and muscular with sandy-blond hair and a ruddy complexion. He was from South Georgia and talked like you'd expect. I loved him even if he did tend to steal the covers on a cold February morning.
As I waited for the hot water tap in the bathtub to deliver the goods, I sighed as I worried, one more time, about what to give him for Valentine's Day. He would be working all that day, so it was going to have be Friday, the 15th, before we could do anything. The obvious choice was to take him for dinner at the Top of the Mark, a swank joint at the top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill. But I wanted to do something more than just dinner. I wanted to give him something to let him know how much I loved him.
By the time the hot water heater began to crank out, I could hear the springs creak a little in the bedroom.
"Damn, son, it's freezing in here."
"How would you know?"
As he padded into the bathroom with a sleepy grin, he said, "Sorry 'bout that." He started doing his business as I plugged the hole at the bottom of the ancient cast-iron bathtub. I walked over to the gas heater that sat in the corner and lit it. I sat on my haunches and held my cold hands in front of the gas flame in an attempt to warm them up.
Carter flushed, walked over to the sink, and washed his hands. He asked, "You first?"
I stood. "Sure."
We both slept in the buff, so I walked to the side of the tub, lifted my left leg over, and gingerly put my foot in the tub, testing the water as I did. It was perfect. Once I was in, I stretched out and looked up at the man I loved. He was grinning down at me. His hair was pointing in every direction.
I looked down at the water and then back up at him. "You gonna help me out here?"
Smirking, Carter walked over to the side of the tub and squatted. Reaching across me and taking the tube of Perl from the little shelf by the tub, he looked at it for a moment. "I've never understood why you like this stuff."
"It's green. And it smells good. Don't you want my hair to be radiantly clean?" I tried to say that last part as dead-pan as I could.
He rolled his eyes, put his big right hand on the top of my head, and asked, "Ready?"
I held my breath as he pushed me down into the sloshing bath water and ran his hand through my hair to rinse out the previous day's mass of pomade. Once that was done, I sat up and wiped the water off my face with my hands.
"See, this is why I don't like baths. Now you're sitting in warm water and pomade." He unscrewed the shampoo tube and, holding it over my head, squirted a little on top.
"I'm still cold."
He didn't reply as he began to rub the shampoo into my hair, creating a lather as he did. The bathroom filled with the aroma of the green shampoo. I'd never been able to figure out if it was supposed to be grass or flowers or what. But whatever it was, I liked it.
After a moment, Carter said, "OK, down you go." He pushed down on my head as I held my breath and slid under the water. Using both of his hands, he rinsed my hair off.
Once that was done, I sat back up and sputtered the water away from my face. He stood, handed me a fresh washcloth, and said, "You're on your own, son. I'm headed downstairs to put on the percolator."
I took the square piece of cotton and, looking significantly at the water, said, "You're missing the best part."
He grinned down at me. It was obvious he was interested. "What about coffee?"
I shrugged. "It can wait."
He grinned and squatted down again. "I was thinking about Mildred's for breakfast anyhow."
As he reached down into the murky water to clean the most important place on a man's body, I sighed contentedly and replied, "Yeah, that's good."
The Cupcake Conundrum by Brigham Vaughn
“Jay?” Adrian said hoarsely.
“Adrian.” The blood had drained from Jay’s face, making his normally rich brown skin tone look almost chalky. But he looked every bit as handsome as he had when Adrian had first seen him a little over a year ago.
“Wait, you two know each other?” Seth’s voice snapped Adrian out of the daze he’d been immersed in.
“Yeah, you could say that,” Jay said. His jaw was clenched and he’d gone completely stone-faced. The warm brown eyes Adrian had loved looking into as Jay fucked him sent an icy shiver down his back now. Double shit.
“What? How?” Seth asked.
“The baking expo!” Adrian blurted out. Seth blinked at his loud tone, and Adrian winced, then cleared his throat. “You remember that international baking expo I went to last year?”
“Here in New York? Yeah. I was mad because you said you were going to visit me while you were here but you punked out on me.”
Adrian had punked out on him because he’d been in bed with Jay. He just hadn’t mentioned that part to his brother. He’d never mentioned Jay at all until today.
“Yeah, you’ll apparently never let me forget it either.”
“Nope. But so … what does that have to do with Jay?” Seth’s puzzled expression smoothed out. “Oh, you met there, huh? Well, that makes sense. Cool. What a small world!”
“Yeah, sure is,” Jay said with a scowl as he brushed past.
Perfect Gifts by RJ Scott & VL Locey
“So, where do we think she got on the brother kick?” Jared asked as he stirred some of the honey that Adler’d brought us into his mug. Ad had taken up beekeeping. Why? Not a clue, but we all suspected that it was so he could brag about having a big stinger in the locker room. They’d found out Layton was allergic, so he watched the bees from a distance.
“Probably at the indoor playground over in Camp Hill earlier,” I said while dunking a Stella D’oro cookie into my tea. I’d have a few. Cookies were not recommended by the Railers nutritionist as healthy afternoon snacks. “She was playing with Michelle Khan.”
“Oh, yes, Mrs. Khan just had a baby,” Jared replied, then added one more dollop of honey to his mug. “A little boy.”
“Yep. She was cooing and cuddling the baby until we left. She even skipped the jungle gym and slide to tickle tiny Joey’s chin.”
Jared’s eyes flared. Lottie never passed the jungle gym and slide. Ever. I’d had to climb in a time or two to extract her when it was time to go. Jared—the old D-man that he was—was too burly to fit. The parents who had gotten to witness a hockey player trying to wedge his shoulders into a skinny tube with monkeys painted on the sides had found it pretty amusing. As had the local press the following day. Nothing says professionalism after just signing a new multi-million dollar contract like being photographed wriggling through the monkey tumble tube.
“That explains it,” he commented as he began thumbing languidly through his daily read of The Patriot News online. The man looked sexy AF in those reading glasses.
“Yeah, I guess.” I nibbled on my cookie, my phone showing a half-read article in The Athletic waiting for me to return to it. “You know we could consider it.” That brought his gaze up from the local news. He studied me over the top of his DILF glasses. “What? It’s not as if we haven’t discussed having another baby. It was kind of always our plan.”
“Well… yes, I know we’ve discussed it.” He removed his glasses, folded them, and laid them by the cookie box. He assessed me intently. “Do you think it’s something we should look at more closely?”
“Maybe?” I reached for another cookie, my sight darting from the cookie to Jared to the window where the glass was coated with a touch of frost around the edges. Fall was here, and it was glorious. We had pumpkins to carve, cider to drink, and Halloween costumes to decide on before the end of the month rolled around. “I mean she is here alone all the time.”
“She’s not alone. She has us, a nanny, and now, a dog.”
“Well yeah, I don’t mean like we Kevin McAllister her or anything, it’s just…” I plucked the cookie from its wrap, then dunked it quickly into my tea, hurrying to get the shortbread treat to my mouth. I chewed, then swallowed. Jared sat across from me waiting patiently for me to make my point. “Okay, so, and never tell them—especially Brady—but having siblings to grow up with was pretty nice. Most of the time.”
Thief of Hearts by K Evan Coles
“Why do you call your sister Lo?”
Mark dredged a piece of maki in soy sauce and smiled. He and Owen were seated in a booth at the sushi restaurant, sharing platters of food and drinking sweet, sticky cocktails. Mark had slept late after his shift in an effort to stock up some energy, but then Owen had run late, and for a few minutes Mark had thought he might back out. Owen had turned up at last, however, and seeing him brought that New Year’s Eve vibe back to Mark, the connection fluid and easy, as if they were already fast friends. Mark liked that very much.
“It’s sort of a twin thing,” he said in answer to Owen’s question. “My sister and I started talking pretty early—”
“Color me surprised.”
“Don’t be a bitch.” Mark smirked. “We were two or so and our mouths couldn’t always keep up with the chatter. I had a problem with the ‘r’ in Lauren’s name and shortened it to ‘Lo.’ The funny part is it stuck and never went away. My parents called her Lo, too, even after we’d both grown up.”
“I see.” Owen grinned. He’d come directly from work, and was dressed in monochromatic navy. He looked both gloriously handsome and far too serious in his dress shirt and tie, but he’d rolled up his sleeves again and tucked his tie in his pocket to keep it neat. “Did Lauren have a nickname for you?” he asked.
“She did. She claims now that she also had trouble with the letter ‘r’ for a while, but I think she just wanted to give me a special name. I’m not sure you need to know the nickname, however. That’s not the kind of information I share with just anyone.”
Mark pursed his lips against a teasing smile, but Owen merely popped a piece of nigiri into his mouth. He chewed for a moment before speaking.
“I plan on sucking your dick again at some point tonight. Does that make me just anyone?”
Mark set his chopsticks down. “No. No, it doesn’t, Owen, and I’m glad you pointed that out. Lauren called me ‘Mac’ when we were kids. She still does sometimes, when she’s feeling sassy or has had too much to drink. I’m surprised she didn’t on New Year’s Eve, to be honest, because she was in exactly the right kind of mood.”
A soft smile transformed Owen’s entire face. “That’s fucking adorable. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I do.” Mark grinned at the platter of rice and fish while fire licked up under his shirt collar.
“And Lauren’s the only one who calls you Mac?”
She is now that Mom and Dad are gone.
Something about that dark thought must have shown in Mark’s face, because Owen’s smile flickered. Mark quickly summoned up a grin.
“She is, yes.”
Owen laid a hand over Mark’s. “I don’t believe it. What about that sort of boyfriend of yours, Alistair?”
“Alistair is not my boyfriend.” Mark laughed. “He’d literally cringe to hear you say that. He’s not the boyfriend type and neither am I.”
“No?” Owen cocked his head. “Why not?”
“Not my thing. I’m not a big believer in love or romance, or anything schmaltzy. Ironic given Lauren and I were born on Valentine’s Day.”
Owen snickered. “That’s way too perfect. So you consider yourself aromantic?”
“Ugh, you’re such a millennial with your labels,” Mark said with a wink. “If I must classify myself, I suppose aromantic fits better than anything else.”
He heard the reluctance in his own voice, but knew Owen had a point. Mark had never felt romantically attracted to anyone. That heart-fluttery, over-the-moon kind of feeling people talked about when they met a special someone? He had no idea what that was all about. To Mark, falling in love sounded a little like being motion sick. Friendships and sex he understood, particularly in combination. They’d always been enough for Mark and he’d never questioned that about himself.
“Alistair would cringe at hearing me called Mac, too,” he said.
“Well, that’s stupid.” Owen glanced Mark’s way and smiled. “You can be the mac to my cheese any time you want.”
Mark tipped his head back and laughed. Damn, but this kid was fun. “Are you comparing me to comfort food?”
“Oh, yeah.” Owen’s eyes heated and Mark fell right into their warmth before he could stop himself. “You’re all kind of delicious, as far as I’m concerned.”
“I’ll accept Mac from you but only behind closed doors.”
The corners of Owen’s lips quirked up. “Okay. It’ll be our secret.”
He leaned in and covered Mark’s mouth with his own and a little while passed before either of them spoke again. A distant part of Mark knew they should ease off with the PDA. Overall, Boston was LGBTQ-friendly and the majority of its citizens didn’t care what two adult men got up to with each another. That didn’t mean bigotry was dead, however, and especially when the nearby sports arena meant a population of boorish homophobes in the crowd was almost a given. Mark didn’t stop, though. The shine in Owen’s gaze when they finally parted made him glad he hadn’t, too.
~ooOoo~
Mark meant to pour drinks once they’d returned to his apartment and stowed Owen’s skateboard in the hall closet, but Owen’s tongue in his mouth proved an excellent distraction. He and Owen were by the bed and tugging at each other’s clothes before Mark really registered what was happening, and the breathless laugh they shared felt damned good.
Once Owen’s clothing fell away, Mark drank in the sight of him nude, and the lust in Owen’s eyes seared him in return. Owen ran his hands over Mark’s pecs.
“I love your body.” He wet his lips with his tongue. “The way your muscles feel under my fingers…so sexy.” He pinched Mark’s nipple and both of them groaned.
“Fuck, you are hot,” Mark murmured.
Cock already standing rigid against his abdomen, he urged Owen down onto the mattress. Owen lay still under Mark’s gaze, his head pillowed in his hands, his chest rising and falling with each breath. A flush turned the tips of his ears red, and he sighed when Mark bent and skated his fingers over Owen’s torso.
“Want you, Mark,” he murmured.
Mark sat down beside him. “I want you, too.”
He teased the sensitive skin of Owen’s pelvis before he wrapped his hand around Owen’s cock. The noise that rolled through Owen seemed shockingly loud in the quiet of the apartment, and he brought his hands to Mark’s shoulders, pulling him closer. Mark slotted their mouths together and swallowed Owen’s greedy hum, and pumped him slowly while they kissed. He took his time stretching out on the bed.
They stayed like that for a long while, making out and grinding until they were breathless and Mark thought his heart would beat its way out of his body. With a gasp, he broke away, and pressed deep, wet kisses into the skin of Owen’s neck, licking and sucking while Owen groaned.
Mark worked his way lower, nosing at the sweat that sheened Owen’s ribs, then bared his teeth and nipped in just the right spot. Owen’s bark of laughter made him smile.
“Gah, no.”
Owen brought a hand up and wound his fingers in Mark’s hair, pulling lightly so Mark hummed. Mark moved back up Owen’s body, dropping kisses along the way, but Mark’s cock was hard and he was done teasing, particularly when Owen reached between Mark’s legs and palmed his dick. Mark arched against the touch with a gasp.
“Christ.”
Lust painted Owen’s face. “No religion during naked time,” he murmured, and even through his haze of need, Mark couldn’t stop his laugh.
“You are bananas.”
Owen smiled. “Pot, meet kettle.” Mark took him in hand, too, and Owen actually whined as Mark lined up their cocks so he could frot them. “Oh, my…fuck.”
“I’d love to.” Mark brushed their lips together. “You okay with that?”
“Hell yes.”
Mark dredged a piece of maki in soy sauce and smiled. He and Owen were seated in a booth at the sushi restaurant, sharing platters of food and drinking sweet, sticky cocktails. Mark had slept late after his shift in an effort to stock up some energy, but then Owen had run late, and for a few minutes Mark had thought he might back out. Owen had turned up at last, however, and seeing him brought that New Year’s Eve vibe back to Mark, the connection fluid and easy, as if they were already fast friends. Mark liked that very much.
“It’s sort of a twin thing,” he said in answer to Owen’s question. “My sister and I started talking pretty early—”
“Color me surprised.”
“Don’t be a bitch.” Mark smirked. “We were two or so and our mouths couldn’t always keep up with the chatter. I had a problem with the ‘r’ in Lauren’s name and shortened it to ‘Lo.’ The funny part is it stuck and never went away. My parents called her Lo, too, even after we’d both grown up.”
“I see.” Owen grinned. He’d come directly from work, and was dressed in monochromatic navy. He looked both gloriously handsome and far too serious in his dress shirt and tie, but he’d rolled up his sleeves again and tucked his tie in his pocket to keep it neat. “Did Lauren have a nickname for you?” he asked.
“She did. She claims now that she also had trouble with the letter ‘r’ for a while, but I think she just wanted to give me a special name. I’m not sure you need to know the nickname, however. That’s not the kind of information I share with just anyone.”
Mark pursed his lips against a teasing smile, but Owen merely popped a piece of nigiri into his mouth. He chewed for a moment before speaking.
“I plan on sucking your dick again at some point tonight. Does that make me just anyone?”
Mark set his chopsticks down. “No. No, it doesn’t, Owen, and I’m glad you pointed that out. Lauren called me ‘Mac’ when we were kids. She still does sometimes, when she’s feeling sassy or has had too much to drink. I’m surprised she didn’t on New Year’s Eve, to be honest, because she was in exactly the right kind of mood.”
A soft smile transformed Owen’s entire face. “That’s fucking adorable. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I do.” Mark grinned at the platter of rice and fish while fire licked up under his shirt collar.
“And Lauren’s the only one who calls you Mac?”
She is now that Mom and Dad are gone.
Something about that dark thought must have shown in Mark’s face, because Owen’s smile flickered. Mark quickly summoned up a grin.
“She is, yes.”
Owen laid a hand over Mark’s. “I don’t believe it. What about that sort of boyfriend of yours, Alistair?”
“Alistair is not my boyfriend.” Mark laughed. “He’d literally cringe to hear you say that. He’s not the boyfriend type and neither am I.”
“No?” Owen cocked his head. “Why not?”
“Not my thing. I’m not a big believer in love or romance, or anything schmaltzy. Ironic given Lauren and I were born on Valentine’s Day.”
Owen snickered. “That’s way too perfect. So you consider yourself aromantic?”
“Ugh, you’re such a millennial with your labels,” Mark said with a wink. “If I must classify myself, I suppose aromantic fits better than anything else.”
He heard the reluctance in his own voice, but knew Owen had a point. Mark had never felt romantically attracted to anyone. That heart-fluttery, over-the-moon kind of feeling people talked about when they met a special someone? He had no idea what that was all about. To Mark, falling in love sounded a little like being motion sick. Friendships and sex he understood, particularly in combination. They’d always been enough for Mark and he’d never questioned that about himself.
“Alistair would cringe at hearing me called Mac, too,” he said.
“Well, that’s stupid.” Owen glanced Mark’s way and smiled. “You can be the mac to my cheese any time you want.”
Mark tipped his head back and laughed. Damn, but this kid was fun. “Are you comparing me to comfort food?”
“Oh, yeah.” Owen’s eyes heated and Mark fell right into their warmth before he could stop himself. “You’re all kind of delicious, as far as I’m concerned.”
“I’ll accept Mac from you but only behind closed doors.”
The corners of Owen’s lips quirked up. “Okay. It’ll be our secret.”
He leaned in and covered Mark’s mouth with his own and a little while passed before either of them spoke again. A distant part of Mark knew they should ease off with the PDA. Overall, Boston was LGBTQ-friendly and the majority of its citizens didn’t care what two adult men got up to with each another. That didn’t mean bigotry was dead, however, and especially when the nearby sports arena meant a population of boorish homophobes in the crowd was almost a given. Mark didn’t stop, though. The shine in Owen’s gaze when they finally parted made him glad he hadn’t, too.
~ooOoo~
Mark meant to pour drinks once they’d returned to his apartment and stowed Owen’s skateboard in the hall closet, but Owen’s tongue in his mouth proved an excellent distraction. He and Owen were by the bed and tugging at each other’s clothes before Mark really registered what was happening, and the breathless laugh they shared felt damned good.
Once Owen’s clothing fell away, Mark drank in the sight of him nude, and the lust in Owen’s eyes seared him in return. Owen ran his hands over Mark’s pecs.
“I love your body.” He wet his lips with his tongue. “The way your muscles feel under my fingers…so sexy.” He pinched Mark’s nipple and both of them groaned.
“Fuck, you are hot,” Mark murmured.
Cock already standing rigid against his abdomen, he urged Owen down onto the mattress. Owen lay still under Mark’s gaze, his head pillowed in his hands, his chest rising and falling with each breath. A flush turned the tips of his ears red, and he sighed when Mark bent and skated his fingers over Owen’s torso.
“Want you, Mark,” he murmured.
Mark sat down beside him. “I want you, too.”
He teased the sensitive skin of Owen’s pelvis before he wrapped his hand around Owen’s cock. The noise that rolled through Owen seemed shockingly loud in the quiet of the apartment, and he brought his hands to Mark’s shoulders, pulling him closer. Mark slotted their mouths together and swallowed Owen’s greedy hum, and pumped him slowly while they kissed. He took his time stretching out on the bed.
They stayed like that for a long while, making out and grinding until they were breathless and Mark thought his heart would beat its way out of his body. With a gasp, he broke away, and pressed deep, wet kisses into the skin of Owen’s neck, licking and sucking while Owen groaned.
Mark worked his way lower, nosing at the sweat that sheened Owen’s ribs, then bared his teeth and nipped in just the right spot. Owen’s bark of laughter made him smile.
“Gah, no.”
Owen brought a hand up and wound his fingers in Mark’s hair, pulling lightly so Mark hummed. Mark moved back up Owen’s body, dropping kisses along the way, but Mark’s cock was hard and he was done teasing, particularly when Owen reached between Mark’s legs and palmed his dick. Mark arched against the touch with a gasp.
“Christ.”
Lust painted Owen’s face. “No religion during naked time,” he murmured, and even through his haze of need, Mark couldn’t stop his laugh.
“You are bananas.”
Owen smiled. “Pot, meet kettle.” Mark took him in hand, too, and Owen actually whined as Mark lined up their cocks so he could frot them. “Oh, my…fuck.”
“I’d love to.” Mark brushed their lips together. “You okay with that?”
“Hell yes.”
Candy Kisses for the Omega by Lacey Daize
Chapter 1 - Mason
I sat at the kitchen counter and picked up the newest edition of Mountain Springs’ bi-weekly newspaper. Given the overall state of the print media industry, I was glad to support the town paper and they did good work. However, the headline on the front page made me scowl: Arsonist Continues to Elude Fire Investigators.
The news made me worry for two reasons. The first was that it meant there was still somebody out there setting fires with no clear motive. The other was my friend Liam. The first incident had been a stand of bears set aflame in front of his parents’ gift store, and though the arsonist hadn’t targeted any single place twice, it couldn’t be ruled out either. It was stressful enough already, but Liam was pregnant on top of that.
I skimmed the article, but wasn’t too hopeful about finding anything of use in it. The title seemed to sum it up pretty well.
I picked out a few more articles to read while I drank my coffee, then it was time to get ready for work. As the town’s chocolatier, one of my busiest seasons was upon me and I had orders to make.
Eleven months out of the year I loved my work. I got to be creative, making new shapes and flavors of treats for the various holidays. Rose and lavender infused chocolates for Mother’s Day, beer and whiskey for the dads. My white chocolate green caramel eyeballs were Halloween favorites, and I’d had lines before Christmas for my chocolate-coated gingerbread men.
But the next holiday was the one I wished I could shut down the store for. Each chocolate-dipped strawberry and heart-shaped confection was like a dagger in my soul. Every one a reminder of the betrayal I felt.
Maybe I’d hire and train a new employee over the summer so they’d be ready to take over the following February and allow me to go on vacation—preferably somewhere warm and where I could avoid all the couples kissing and being lovey-dovey.
I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and studied my beard in the mirror. I’d need to trim it soon or the health inspector would insist on a net for it. I liked the length, especially in winter, but the nets were uncomfortable and it was better to keep my facial hair neat than have to constantly be dealing with the net while trying to work.
I ran a comb through my beard to be safe, and made a mental note to book an appointment with my barber. Then I headed downstairs from my apartment to the kitchen of Mount Chocolate.
One of the nice things about running a candy store rather than a bakery was that I could keep slightly more normal hours than a baker would, at least most of the time. But today the sun had barely cleared the horizon when I walked in and flicked on the lights, which reflected off the stainless-steel work tables.
Even when I hated the holiday, I never hated the sight of my passion ready for me each morning. In a few hours those same tables would be filled with confections in various stages of making, the scent of chocolate filling the air.
I wandered over to my calendar and compared the schedule with pre-order quantities, trying to decide if I needed to shuffle anything. Chocolate-covered strawberries were flying off the shelf, but I couldn’t start on the bulk of the orders for them until the thirteenth so that the fruit remained fresh on the big day. Which meant it was other chocolate and gift basket prep with things that could last the week until February fourteenth.
Satisfied that my schedule was still fine, I started gathering my ingredients. First up was a big batch of red chile chocolates. They’d been popular the year before, and I decided to spruce things up with special boxes that read ‘Hot Stuff for my Hot Stuff.’ The special box meant that a number of people had ordered them, and as it would be shelf-stable longer it was a good choice to get a head start on.
Soon I was fully immersed in the work, tempering the chocolate to glossy perfection and mixing in the spicy chile. I then spread it to cool before breaking it into bark-style pieces.
I’d been so immersed in my work that I jolted when I heard the little bell over the front door chime.
“Mason?”
I breathed out a sigh, calming my nerves. It was just Andrew. He’d breezed into town the month prior, but had only been working for me a week, since a receptionist job fell through almost immediately after they’d told him he’d been hired. But he’d shown himself more than capable of the work and a trustworthy employee.
He’d also fit right into my circle of omega friends, and after a love-at-first-sight romance was mated to a local alpha and had announced his pregnancy a few days before.
“Back here,” I called.
Andrew came back and smiled. “Where do you need me today?”
“Hop on the register until Daniel comes in, then you can come back and start prepping the hot stuff boxes.”
“You got it,” Andrew said as he grabbed an apron and a little candyman hat. A minute later I heard the sound of bills being counted as he prepped the register.
I had to admit, the other omega had come in at just the right time. I’d steadily been getting busier and with the dreaded holiday only a week away it was time for all hands on deck to push through.
I just had to hope he’d be willing to stay after February. He’d mentioned that he preferred office jobs, and was considering going back to school, but having him even on a part-time basis would be great.
I got the second batch of chile chocolate cooling and started on another specialty, Love Bites, which were small chocolates with a hot cinnamon kick.
Soon the sounds of customers drifted in from the front: people placing orders for gift boxes, excited children squealing with delight, and the sweetest of them all was the compliments as people tasted my creations.
Daniel came in around noon, which gave me a chance to head to Glen’s Diner and grab lunch for the three of us. Then Andrew and I spent the afternoon filling boxes and bags of candy while Daniel sold it out the front almost faster than I could make it.
Finally it was closing time, and after Daniel cleaned up the front he joined Andrew and I in the back on the assembly line. Soon we had stacks of boxes and gift baskets ready for both orders and regular store stock.
We were wiping down the tables when we heard the blare of sirens, followed by the low blast of a fire engine’s horn. The three of us ran to the front and out the door, eyes tracing the direction of the emergency lights until we saw black smoke rising from the direction of the community center.
“Think it’s the arsonist again?” Andrew asked quietly.
I nodded. “It’s a reasonable bet.”
Frank W Butterfield
Frank W. Butterfield is the Amazon best-selling author of 89 (and counting) self-published novels, novellas, and short stories. Born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, he has traveled all over the US and Canada and now makes his home in Daytona Beach, Florida. His first attempt at writing at the age of nine with a ball-point pen and a notepad was a failure. Forty years later, he tried again and hasn't stopped since.
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.
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.
V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, 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 flock of assorted domestic fowl, and two Jersey 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 hand.
K. Evan Coles is a mother and tech pirate by day and a writer by night. She is a dreamer who, with a little hard work and a lot of good coffee, coaxes words out of her head and onto paper.
K. lives in the northeast United States, where she complains bitterly about the winters, but truly loves the region and its diverse, tenacious and deceptively compassionate people. You’ll usually find K. nerding out over books, movies and television with friends and family. She’s especially proud to be raising her son as part of a new generation of unabashed geeks.
K.’s books explore LGBTQ+ romance in contemporary settings.
Lacey lives in New Mexico with her four critters. She’s a Jill-of-all-trades by day, but loves writing in her spare time. She dabbles in a variety of pairings, but jumped feet-first into the deep end of omegaverse the first time she read it. She loves the play on social expectations and the different ways to express romance.
Frank W Butterfield
Brigham Vaughn
Valentine's Day, 1951 by Frank W Butterfield
The Cupcake Conundrum by Brigham Vaughn
Thief of Hearts by K Evan Coles
Candy Kisses for the Omega by Lacey Daize
